Rainy, then not-so-rainy weekend

So Friday night as we ate dinner, we had pouring rain, and thunder and lightning. Saturday morning arrived with gray skies with rain ranging from drizzle to downpour. I had to work on and off throughout the day, but was able to take a break long enough for us to drive 15 miles or so to a local furniture store that carried a bed we wanted to buy (which we had only seen online and we wanted to see in person before buying). The kids were in good spirits, but as soon as we arrived at the furniture store, it became apparent that they would have no part of furniture shopping. As a result, we made the salesperson's day by walking into the store, finding the bed we wanted and literally saying "we'll take that bed, those bedside tables, and that dresser" and then paying and leaving - all in the space of about 10 minutes.

Sunday morning we awoke to sunny skies and 70+ degree weather. A friend of ours who went to college here (Hi Amanda!) once told us that on a good day, Boulder sparkles, and Sunday was one of those days.

After breakfast we loaded the kids into the bike trailer and went for a family bike ride - me with kids in tow, and Jeanne with fetus in tow (in case you haven't heard, we're expecting again - early October - yeah!). We rode from our house down the Boulder Creek bike path which winds through town, past the most gorgeous creek and woods you could imagine. After toodling along for about 30 minutes we came to a park with a giant rocket for the kids to play in, so we pulled over for 45 minutes or so for them to play.

By the way, in case you haven't noticed this, if you click any of the pictures we post on the blog, it will pop up full size so you can see more of the detail. Try it!

After the park it was getting to be lunch time, so we cruised back into town to Pearl Street where we grabbed lunch at the Boulder Cafe. Zach was enjoying the bike ride so much he refused to remove his bike helmet when we got off the bike, so he ended up wearing it throughout lunch, despite Jeanne asking him every five minutes if he wanted to take it off. Zach's new favorite word, by the way, is "Nope". Not "No", but "Nope".



















So the lunch conversation went something like this:

Jeanne - "Zach, do you want to take your helmet off"
Zach - "Nope".
Jeanne - "Ok. Logan how is your hot dog? Good? Zach, do you want to take your helmet off"
Zach - "Nope"
etc.

So after lunch, Jeanne and - I stuffed to the gills with shrimp Quesadilla, pulled pork sandwich, and french fries - proceeded to bike home with the kids. One minor problem. We live right up against the foothills. Hence, everything in Boulder is DOWNHILL from us. Hence, if we start from anywhere in Boulder, we have to go UPHILL to our house. Hence, if we eat a big lunch and try to bike home we are going to be VERY unhappy. Well, long story short, we made it home with a bit of huffing and puffing (especially me, since I was pulling 70 pounds of kid and bike trailer) and spent the rest of the day relaxing at home, and running around the back yard enjoying the sun.

Sunday was one of the days that made us 100% confident we made the right choice moving to Boulder - we were outside as a family, getting exercise, and enjoying beautiful scenery. Truly idyllic.

Jason

And today...

Don't miss the post below recapping our visit with Herb...but I had to do a quick post about today...the big event for today was Logan's first playdate with a classmate. A week or so ago as we were leaving school, a little boy who was leaving with his mom told her "look mom, that boy is new in my class." We stopped to chat and she (Pam) was wonderfully friendly and suggested we get the boys together for after-school play dates. Patrick is just a few months older than Logan so it's a good match, and they seemed to get along well. Today after school we met at a nearby park, and the boys ran off and played together the whole time while Pam and I chatted. She and her family moved here from New Jersey two years ago, and she just seems like a really nice person. The boys were disappointed when it was time to go, which was a great sign. So, Logan has a school friend. yay!!!

I wanted to post this cute picture of the kids playing in the massive pile of packing paper we've accumulated in the living room. With any luck we'll eventually replace the paper with leather club chairs and lovely library furniture. But for now it's Logan's place to pretend he's an ant in an ant farm.
Good night all!

Recap of Herb's visit

Had a few busy days and wasn't able to get to blogging while Herb was here, so here's a quick summary of what we did while he was here:

Monday March 19
Herb didn't get in until fairly late in the evening, so we did the mandatory house tour and fed him some frozen pizza (which we did reheat, of course). Then we caught up for a while before turning in for the night.

Tuesday March 20
Logan slept in later than Herb, so no rude awakening for Grandpa. We decided to keep Logan home one more day out of respect for the other families at his school, so he and Herb got a lot of quality bonding time. Which was especially helpful since we foolishly scheduled a lot of moving related activity for the day - we had a handyman in for most of the day taking care of our punch list, had a guy come by to pick up our moving boxes (gotta love Craigslist) and also had to wait around to receive a delivery of four 100-pound boxes that would eventually morph into basement furniture (see below). In the meantime we spent some time showing Herb around our back yard and then sitting in the side yard to escape the intense sunlight and heat. In an excellent grandparenting moment, Herb redirected Logan's destructive impulses from some desirable garden plants to dandelion weeds, and a marathon weeding session ensued. While scouting the garden, I noticed all sorts of pretty little flowers that I've never seen before all over the garden. Some were definitely wild violets, and then there were a number of other bulb-type flowers that I am not sure about. I'm going to need help figuring out what are weeds and what belongs in this yard!

In the afternoon, a playdate with some friends, and then dinner at the Walnut brewery, where Herb discovered that the altitude affect one's ability to hold his beer. After putting the kids to bed, Jason and Herb set to building one of the pieces of furniture for the basement. Witness the explosion of the box into a million pieces. It took three hours, but the cabinet is done save for one hinge that was missing from the box. Hence no "after" picture yet...




Wednesday March 21
Had a little more freedom today, so Herb accompanied me to drop Logan off, and then he, Zach and I headed down to the Pearl Street Mall to check out the Boulder city center. Had a nice, leisurely walk and a tasty lunch at the Boulder Cafe. Picked Logan up and played around the house and yard, and then we took the whole crew to "Protos Pizza" in North Boulder. Logan and Zach were both very hungry and Logan was demanding pasta, which we knew the place didn't have. He also doesn't like pizza, but for some reason we stubbornly decided we wanted to go to this place and he would just have to find something to eat. Thank GOODNESS we ordered a "white pizza" and he and Zach devoured the whole thing, with Logan happily declaring that he now loved pizza. The evening could have been disastrous but it turned out just fine.

Thursday March 22
Herb's last day in town. Jason played hooky from work for the morning so he could take us on a scenic drive after dropping Logan off at school. It was very scenic! Then back home so Herb could have some R&R while I took Zach shopping for new shoes. While Zach napped, Herb and I picked Logan up and ran a few errands (including new shoes for Logan). Then home to pack and the whole family drove Herb out to the Denver Airport to see him off. Poor Logan fell asleep on the way, and though he did rouse briefly to say goodbye, he didn't remember it later. He loved having his Grandpa visiting and we hope Herb will return (with Kathryn!) very soon!

A rough morning, but we're good now

So what I left out of last night's post is that just before bed Logan was really listless, feverish and I was getting worried, and then suddenly he barfed all over himself and Jason, and then his fever came down and he cheered up considerably. We did get a pretty good night's sleep and his fever was very low-grade in the morning, but he had trouble keeping anything down for the first part of the day. But suddenly he was asking for food, and ate every bit of toast and white rice we would give him. He was back almost at 100% this evening, including running around, wrestling with Zach and jumping from chair to bed in his room. We'll keep him home from school again tomorrow out of respect for the other families, but we expect to be back to normal operations tomorrow.

We were very excited to welcome Herb to our house this evening for a visit. The boys had to go to bed before he arrived, but as I tucked him in Logan was asking me if he could play with Grandpa Herb as soon as he (Logan) woke up in the morning. Sounds good to me...the guest room is in the basement, so I am all for Logan heading straight down the stairs to play with Herb while I get a little extra shuteye.

We'll be sure to get Herb's assessment of the guest accommodations and post any glowing reviews so you all know how great it will be when YOU come visit us! And tomorrow we'll take and post pictures of our adventures. G'night!

It moves through the family...

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Zachy recovered fully from his very uncomfortable fever, and did get what appeared to be a very faint, very brief rash so I think the roseola diagnosis was correct. He's back to his cheery old self now, but poor Logan woke up feverish in the middle of the night and has been miserable all day. He seems to have cheered up this evening so with any luck he'll be done with this by the middle of tomorrow. We're really crossing our fingers that Jason and I got our exposures out of the way when we were young - possibly without our parents' awareness, as sometimes happens with this illness.

Jason got out on his bike to run errands today. He's got a rear rack and panniers, and actually went to the grocery store on his bicycle to pick up a few things for the ailing kids. Also, we are preparing for our first visitor, Jason's dad Herb, who gets in at about 7pm tomorrow night. We're very excited to show him this great place we've discovered.

That's all for tonight. Hoping for a good night's sleep. Love to all.

Rain clouds...literally and figuratively

Had a lazy morning - a little too lazy - and ended up having to rush to get the boys out the door in time to get Logan to school. As we walked out the front door we noticed the walkway was wet, and there was a rainy sound in the air, but it didn't sound just right. Turns out it was sort of a frozen rain - not quite snow, but not really hail either. The temp was 34 so it just wasn't sticking. Logan elected to take lunch to school and stay until 12:30, and had a great time. The teacher says he's doing great and really seems to be comfortable with the peaceful pace of the classroom.

When I got home, I noticed Zach was a little more mellow than usual, yawning a lot and more interested in reading and cuddling than usual. By late morning he was definitely feeling warm so I put him down early for his nap, and an hour or so later he woke up crying and feverish. A shot of ibuprofen and a drink of milk helped him get comfortable and he ended up taking a FIVE HOUR nap. He was OK in the evening until the medicine wore off, so I dosed him again and now I can hear him and Logan chatting happily while they're supposed to be sleeping. Unfortunately I suspect he has roseola, since our friends' daughter had it last weekend and they played together a few days before she showed symptoms. Fortunately, roseola is a pretty minor childhood rash/fever that most people get by the time they're three or four. Boy do I hope that's true for Jason, Logan and myself. I guess one of my phone calls tomorrow will be to the pediatrician we're hoping to use.

In other news, I picked up my bike this evening. Between the weather (the temp dropped low enough for icicles in the afternoon, then rose enough to dry everything up before sundown) and Zach's illness I haven't gotten a chance to really ride it yet. But I am excited to try it out as soon as possible. We're still hopeful for that family ride this weekend.

Another "reasons we're liking Boulder more and more" observation: Drivers here actually take their time, and drive the speed limits on the main streets through town, even when they're wide open. So far no one's been in such a rush that they need to tailgate or be rude. The pace of life here really is slower. It's a little hard to get used to, but very relaxing and soul-lifting.

Real pictures...

Another nice day, although chillier. Logan is still having an easy transition into school, and this morning amazed me by demonstrating that he can thread an actual sewing needle with no assistance, and sew a button onto felt. Love his new school!

The big event for the day was the maiden voyage of the Berkowitz Family Bike Trailer. The boys LOVED it and Jason is going to get into really great shape really quickly. My bike isn't quite ready at the shop yet, but we're hoping that by this weekend we'll be able to do a family expedition. Here are a few shots of Jason and the kids enjoying the ride and the scenery in our neighborhood (right).

Since I had the camera, I also took a quick shot of our street, Hawthorn Ave., looking West from 4th street up toward Mt. Sanitas. You can't see our house or driveway, but they are on the left just beyond the gray building.

Before

We also wanted to show you all some of the minor but great improvements we've made to the house using some paint. Unfortunately in this picture of the front entry, our camera angle, lighting and decorating aren't as good as in the "before" picture, but we hope you can see that by painting the banister and closet doors white we added a little bit of visual interest. It's much brighter in person! We'll have to post photos of the dramatic changes to the master and 3rd bedrooms later, because those two rooms have been seriously neglected in terms of organizing (i.e., they are disaster areas).

After

Other than these things, a fairly uneventful day. Love to all!

Jeanne

School is a success!

Hello all! First may I say thank you to everyone who has persisted in checking the blog despite the intermittent posting schedule...and also thank you a million times for all of the kind words of love and encouragement you've posted. It really helps to know we have people rooting for us!

On Monday morning Jason and I took Logan to school (Zach was along too, although we strapped him in to a stroller so his curiosity wouldn't be disruptive to the big day). Logan was so eager to get there, and the minute we walked in to class he ran right up to the first child he saw and introduced himself. He then proceeded to bounce around the room looking at all of the great "works" they have out, and his warm and wonderful teacher got him settled into a fun activity right away. He barely acknowledged us as we left, which is how we had hoped it would be. The teacher asked me to come get him at 10:30 instead of finishing out the day, but when I showed up he was engrossed in a project with another boy, looked up at me and asked "What are you doing here, just coming to say hi, right?" So I left and came back to pick him up at 11:30, which will be the end of his day until we start up lunch bunch in a week or so.

This morning went just as smoothly, and on the way home he was asking if he could stay through lunch tomorrow. So with that piece of the puzzle starting to fill in, we're feeling much better.

In addition, our friends the O'Connors had a barbecue (yes, a BBQ...remember that snow last week? Well on Sunday it was in the 70s and we had dinner out on their deck) with us and several other families. It was so nice to talk to grown-ups! And one of the moms called me the next morning to meet her at the park, and then introduced me around to some of her friends. And then my mortgage lender called today to check on us and hooked me up with his wife and their two kids, aged four and six. People out here are so nice!

Another observation...kids are really adventurous & physically adept here. I have seen kids younger than Logan doing amazing things on the monkey bars at the great parks they have here, and I'm also amazed at how young they learn to ride bicycles. I don't know why I should be surprised, the outdoorsy, active culture is one reason we moved here, but I'm really excited about it. Already Logan is stretching his abilities as he takes cues from the other kids. And Zach is going to be a rock climber, I can tell already. I have a feeling I am going to get to know the ER docs pretty well here. Yikes.

Still buried in boxes and packing paper. Still living in inadequately furnished rooms. But it's coming together. Love to all and have a great night!
Jeanne

PS We're still working out e-mail/networking/technology issues so I am not checking e-mails very regularly...just once every couple of days. Please bear with us for a few more days while we get all of this straightened out and then I will be able to correspond more regularly. xoxoxo

Getting into the biking scene

One of the big selling points for me in choosing Boulder was how strong the biking community is here and how great the riding is.

This past weekend, on Sunday, I went out for about an hour ride just to explore the area around our house. I discovered that our nearest cross street runs directly into the start of the Boulder Creek bike path, a gorgeous dedicated bike path that parallels Boulder Creek for 8-10 miles. I only rode about 6 miles of it, but it was amazing - going through Downtown Boulder, through the University, past locals fly fishing in the creek, past fields of prairie dogs, and past about 5 great playgrounds for the kids.

I was so inspired that last night, the whole family went to a local store called Trail Kids to buy a bike trailer so I can tow the kids. This is a picture of what the trailer looks like - those aren't the kids, this is a stock image I downloaded. The store was amazing and we ended up leaving with a bike trailer, a helmet for Zach, a bell for Logan's bike, used snowsuits for both kids, a backpack/baby carrier combo so we can take Zach hiking, and a trail map of Boulder.

This morning, my friend Ryan took me on my first "real" ride. We met at 7am at the Amante coffee shop, about 10 minutes from our house. Amante is a true European coffee shop serving amazing pastries and shockingly good coffee. Ryan beat me there and was sipping a latte and eating a nutella croissant as I arrived. I ordered and drank a quick double espresso and we went out the door. We biked about 15 minutes North out of town and then made a quick left hand turn up Lefthand Canyon which climbed gradually into the hills. We climbed Lefthand Canyon for about another 20 minutes and in that time only saw about 5 cars. We could hear a bubbling creek nearby, birds chirping, the gentle breeze through the trees, and my wheezing. I am REALLY out of shape. The scenery was amazing as we climbed through a deep canyon surrounded by cliffs soaring 1000 feet on each side.

After 20 minutes we took another left onto another canyon road which took us back toward town. The return trip had a nasty little climb in the middle that I suffered up. We returned toward town through a twisty, fast descent. The total ride was about an hour and a half and it was amazingly beautiful.

Tonight, I put the kids to bed while Jeanne went out to a local bike shop to buy a bike for her to toodle around town on. She ended up picking a Trek 7000. This weekend we are all going out on bikes as a family - me pulling the kids and Jeanne on her new bike. It should be a ton of fun, and I'll get a nice workout by pulling 70 pounds of kids and trailer!

We are loving Boulder and really getting into the swing of life here. Getting out of our cars and onto our bikes is part of it.

P.S. We figured out tea

We just had to overcome our tea kettle snobbery. Three minutes in a microwave, one bag per cup makes a nice, flavorful cup. :-)

(Incidentally, Jason also found that if you follow the British ritual of pre-heating a tea pot with boiling water, then steeping twice as much tea as you use at sea level, that also works. Haven't attempted baking anything yet.)

We're back...but no fun pictures today. We'll post some soon!

Sorry to all for the long gap in postings. After our stuff arrived we went into full-out unpacking mode and completely exhausted ourselves every night for the next week or so. We also dealt with trying to get the kids properly outfitted for snow (and keeping them amused indoors while we tried to get the right shoes, pants, etc.). But, true to our Boulder friends' assurances, the snow was gone from the roads within a day, the weather began to warm up within another day or two, and the last few days we've been out and about in single-layer, short sleeves with no jackets. The snow is all but gone, except in a few shady patches here and there.

So we made a lot of great progress on unpacking and then just kind of stalled out - we over-did it and then Jason had to head out on a business trip Wednesday morning so the only "progress" I've made is in attempting to keep us from backsliding into squalor. Hey, I thought I bought an immaculately clean, orderly house and it would just stay that way...the sellers didn't give me any disclosures about the (four) toilets needing to be cleaned and the extensive sweeping, mopping and vacuuming needed to maintain the 4000 square feet of hardwood and carpet!!!

The other big accomplishment is that we found a wonderful school for Logan. We went through several visits last week and Logan went for a brief "assessment" with his prospective teacher, who told me he was "wonderful" and "a keeper," which I could have told her but I was glad she saw things my way. So on Monday he will start at Jarrow Montessori School. He seems very anxious to go, keeps asking when? when? when? what day is today? Is it Monday yet? I think he's finally gotten his fill of playing with me and wants some kids his own age to play with (as it should be). Today I took him and Zach to the park and Logan made an immediate beeline for the first preschool-aged kid he saw. A big contrast from three days ago, when he wouldn't leave my side at the park to play with any other kids.

The rest of what's gone on in the last ten days is pretty dull moving minutiae...on a more emotional/personal note may I say that even though we are pretty sure we're going to be happy and find a place for ourselves here, I'm definitely feeling a little isolated. We've been to the park a couple of times and I've seen what I think are moms groups like the one I used to belong to in LA, but it's intimidating to approach a bunch of women who obviously know each other and strike up a conversation. I have talked to a few parents here and there but so far I keep meeting people who live in neighboring towns or whose kids aren't the right ages or whatever. People here have been very friendly so far and I know eventually we'll start making new friends but it's tough to be patient. Anyway, I think it will help a lot for Logan to start school, since I can try to get involved in the parents' association.

Well, it's 9:15 and I promised myself I would go to bed early tonight. Good night and we'll try to get back on a more regular posting schedule. Love to all!!!
Jeanne