Friday, March 25, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
spring break 2011
Spring weather arrived, warmer than usual, breezy. The boys were on spring break last week, spending most of their time on a new Wii game and playing with their Legos. Ry had baseball practice on Wednesday, and it looked like we could get away for the rest of the week in Santa Fe, about an hour away. We made reservations at the Inn of the Governors for Thursday and Friday nights, planning to return Saturday morning for Jack's practice.
The Inn included a free breakfast in the mornings and a daily credit in their restaurant, which we took advantage of. We arrived Thursday afternoon. Our first stop was Target, where Cyndi found some shoes. The stop was really for some Advil; Cyndi had pulled a back muscle in her power class. The Inn was packed; lots of spring break vacationers. After settling into our room, we walked over to the plaza. Cyndi went to J. Crew but didn't find anything she liked. The boys, however, found some Legos at the toy store, and we splurged more than usual. Later that night, we walked to a sushi place we had gone to before. There was almost no one there. We sat in a tatami room, and it was enjoyable. The boys woofed their rice. We arrived to our favorite ice cream place on the plaza just minutes after it closed, but we promised we would not linger inside if they would let us in to get some ice cream. We walked back to our room with our ice creams.
After breakfast the next morning, we went up to Museum Hill. We arrived just before the museums opened. In the Milner Plaza there, there is a labyrinth made from pavers, and in the center there is strange phenomenon where you can hear your voice reverberating as if you are in an enclosed auditorium when you are standing in the open. We went to the Museum of International Folk Art. Several exhibitions were being renovated, but we saw the Girard exhibit, a permanent collection, or part of it, which is really the highlight. It includes a huge number of dolls and toys and other folk art from around the world, many of which are displayed in dioramas of Pueblo life or Mexican, Indian, or Guatemalan villages or old Americana towns. The boys' favorite was a diorama with angels and devils depicting heaven and hell.
We were probably only there for about an hour. After lunch we drove up Artist Road along the ridges through the canyons and into the forest to Ten Thousand Waves, where we parked and climbed almost 100 steps to the Japanese spa. There is a small lobby, where you check in at what looks to be the front desk of a hotel. In the lobby, the boys found some red squirting fish toys. Outside the lobby, in the interior of the spa, is a waterfall where people in robes and sandals sat, waiting for their appointments. The boys and I got Kimono robes (the boys' robes had cats on them) and changed and showered in the men's room. We waited by the waterfall for about five minutes, while the boys soaked their feet in a warm foot bath. We then went to our private hot tub, the Shoji. The Shoji was enclosed except for a fence facing the forest. To one side of the hot tub was an extremely hot sauna, and on the other a cold (they called it ambient) plunge. Jack and I tried the sauna, and we all tried the plunge. I got to the point where I rotated among the hot tub, the sauna, and the plunge, sometimes just sitting in the sunlight.
It was a beautiful spring day in the mountains. We stayed about an hour, lingered at the waterfall and the foot bath for a bit, then changed. We drove further up the mountain to Hyde Park, but it was pretty closed up. We drove a little further until we found a pull out to what I thought might be an overlook. We walked up the hill on a short trail, the boys playing in patches of snow, climbing rocks and logs, and finding sticks for imaginary battles. Then it was time to get Cyndi.
Cyndi, meanwhile, had gone to the Woman's Bath after changing and then to an 80-minute therapeutic massage. After her massage, sometime while the boys and I were off hiking, Cyndi had some time to herself to enjoy a soak, a sauna, and the Relax Room, a Zen-like hall, where you could relax on pillows and mats, listen to music on headphones, or read your Kindle.
That evening we went to another restaurant nearby, nothing really noteworthy, where Jack tried a bean and bacon soup and we all shared some cheese pizza, fettuccine and garlic bread, with a pretty impressive list of microbrews from all over.
In the morning after breakfast, we drove home in time for Jack's baseball practice. The rest of that day went by pretty quickly. On Sunday, Cyndi went to Belen to help her parents while they boys and I went to baseball practice again. I started a spring cleaning project that afternoon. I started in one corner, painting, and then installed a cabinet for bicycling, roller skating, and skateboarding gear (helmets, pads, skates and shoes), and a rack for the bicycles underneath. There's much more to do in the garage. I broke a large bathroom mirror I had stored in the garage. I actually salvaged half of the mirror, but a breeze caught the remnant later and it crashed again. I'm not convinced it will be a double dose of bad luck. We could use some good luck for a change.
The Inn included a free breakfast in the mornings and a daily credit in their restaurant, which we took advantage of. We arrived Thursday afternoon. Our first stop was Target, where Cyndi found some shoes. The stop was really for some Advil; Cyndi had pulled a back muscle in her power class. The Inn was packed; lots of spring break vacationers. After settling into our room, we walked over to the plaza. Cyndi went to J. Crew but didn't find anything she liked. The boys, however, found some Legos at the toy store, and we splurged more than usual. Later that night, we walked to a sushi place we had gone to before. There was almost no one there. We sat in a tatami room, and it was enjoyable. The boys woofed their rice. We arrived to our favorite ice cream place on the plaza just minutes after it closed, but we promised we would not linger inside if they would let us in to get some ice cream. We walked back to our room with our ice creams.
After breakfast the next morning, we went up to Museum Hill. We arrived just before the museums opened. In the Milner Plaza there, there is a labyrinth made from pavers, and in the center there is strange phenomenon where you can hear your voice reverberating as if you are in an enclosed auditorium when you are standing in the open. We went to the Museum of International Folk Art. Several exhibitions were being renovated, but we saw the Girard exhibit, a permanent collection, or part of it, which is really the highlight. It includes a huge number of dolls and toys and other folk art from around the world, many of which are displayed in dioramas of Pueblo life or Mexican, Indian, or Guatemalan villages or old Americana towns. The boys' favorite was a diorama with angels and devils depicting heaven and hell.
We were probably only there for about an hour. After lunch we drove up Artist Road along the ridges through the canyons and into the forest to Ten Thousand Waves, where we parked and climbed almost 100 steps to the Japanese spa. There is a small lobby, where you check in at what looks to be the front desk of a hotel. In the lobby, the boys found some red squirting fish toys. Outside the lobby, in the interior of the spa, is a waterfall where people in robes and sandals sat, waiting for their appointments. The boys and I got Kimono robes (the boys' robes had cats on them) and changed and showered in the men's room. We waited by the waterfall for about five minutes, while the boys soaked their feet in a warm foot bath. We then went to our private hot tub, the Shoji. The Shoji was enclosed except for a fence facing the forest. To one side of the hot tub was an extremely hot sauna, and on the other a cold (they called it ambient) plunge. Jack and I tried the sauna, and we all tried the plunge. I got to the point where I rotated among the hot tub, the sauna, and the plunge, sometimes just sitting in the sunlight.
It was a beautiful spring day in the mountains. We stayed about an hour, lingered at the waterfall and the foot bath for a bit, then changed. We drove further up the mountain to Hyde Park, but it was pretty closed up. We drove a little further until we found a pull out to what I thought might be an overlook. We walked up the hill on a short trail, the boys playing in patches of snow, climbing rocks and logs, and finding sticks for imaginary battles. Then it was time to get Cyndi.
Cyndi, meanwhile, had gone to the Woman's Bath after changing and then to an 80-minute therapeutic massage. After her massage, sometime while the boys and I were off hiking, Cyndi had some time to herself to enjoy a soak, a sauna, and the Relax Room, a Zen-like hall, where you could relax on pillows and mats, listen to music on headphones, or read your Kindle.
That evening we went to another restaurant nearby, nothing really noteworthy, where Jack tried a bean and bacon soup and we all shared some cheese pizza, fettuccine and garlic bread, with a pretty impressive list of microbrews from all over.
In the morning after breakfast, we drove home in time for Jack's baseball practice. The rest of that day went by pretty quickly. On Sunday, Cyndi went to Belen to help her parents while they boys and I went to baseball practice again. I started a spring cleaning project that afternoon. I started in one corner, painting, and then installed a cabinet for bicycling, roller skating, and skateboarding gear (helmets, pads, skates and shoes), and a rack for the bicycles underneath. There's much more to do in the garage. I broke a large bathroom mirror I had stored in the garage. I actually salvaged half of the mirror, but a breeze caught the remnant later and it crashed again. I'm not convinced it will be a double dose of bad luck. We could use some good luck for a change.
Monday, March 14, 2011
spring training 2011
Rylee and Jackson had their first practices this past week.
Ry's playing for the Cubs. He has practice midweek, just once a week before the games begin. I think he may be one of the youngest out there, which may show when he starts batting against the pitching machine. But his fielding-and-throwing is great! While balls are going through other players' legs or just rolling past them, Ry gets in front of the ball, scoops the ball up in his glove on the bounce off the field, and turns and throws with accuracy and distance. He and I play catch while Jackson practices and minutes go by without a dropped ball and his throws go right to me every time. He can manage to catch each overhand I throw him, no matter what direction he has to turn his glove. It's true catch, with a fun rhythm, and most boys in that league still can't catch a ball across the chest or overhead. He also got to run the bases hard during Jack's practice on Sunday, and that's a good skill in itself for his age.
Jack has two practices each week on the weekends before opening day, plus a weekly session at the batting cage. He's playing for the Red Sox, which is coached by the same two coaches he's had since he's started. Most of the same boys, too. While Jack was playing soccer in the fall, the other boys played fall ball, but I can see already that Jack is right where he needs to be. He's alert on the field, running much better this year, and I saw him this weekend playing third base with excellent fielding and accurate throws all the way to first in time to make the out. He's wearing glasses this year. He is having trouble with batting; his hand-eye coordination is good but the "bat shock" is really hurting his hands. So I've asked the coaches about that, and I may invest in a good bat for him.
I've talked to Ariel on line a few times this week. That's always fun. She's looking into a number of promising positions but no news yet.
Ry's playing for the Cubs. He has practice midweek, just once a week before the games begin. I think he may be one of the youngest out there, which may show when he starts batting against the pitching machine. But his fielding-and-throwing is great! While balls are going through other players' legs or just rolling past them, Ry gets in front of the ball, scoops the ball up in his glove on the bounce off the field, and turns and throws with accuracy and distance. He and I play catch while Jackson practices and minutes go by without a dropped ball and his throws go right to me every time. He can manage to catch each overhand I throw him, no matter what direction he has to turn his glove. It's true catch, with a fun rhythm, and most boys in that league still can't catch a ball across the chest or overhead. He also got to run the bases hard during Jack's practice on Sunday, and that's a good skill in itself for his age.
Jack has two practices each week on the weekends before opening day, plus a weekly session at the batting cage. He's playing for the Red Sox, which is coached by the same two coaches he's had since he's started. Most of the same boys, too. While Jack was playing soccer in the fall, the other boys played fall ball, but I can see already that Jack is right where he needs to be. He's alert on the field, running much better this year, and I saw him this weekend playing third base with excellent fielding and accurate throws all the way to first in time to make the out. He's wearing glasses this year. He is having trouble with batting; his hand-eye coordination is good but the "bat shock" is really hurting his hands. So I've asked the coaches about that, and I may invest in a good bat for him.
I've talked to Ariel on line a few times this week. That's always fun. She's looking into a number of promising positions but no news yet.
Monday, March 7, 2011
whew
It was an amazingly busy three weeks, a whirlwind. Ariel was in town but I only got to see her a brief time one evening. She spent a little more time with Cyndi and the boys one afternoon. At some point the boys, Cyndi and I had some pleasant dinners at the Chinese restaurant next to us, another sushi place also nearby, and the burger place, where the boys got chocolate shakes and new Lego minifigures from the Borders next door. We also went to the little league meeting. Ry will be a Cub this year, and Jackson a Red Sox. Practice starts this week, with games a month away. At the Cub Scout banquet, Jack got a year's worth of awards and his Bear. The latest Lego story is that they've pretty much disassembled all the sets and, Ry especially, is building things from scratch from all the little pieces. The minifigures have lots of tiny pieces, and the boys use bits from all to create new figures. This seems to be a favorite thing to do.
The trial ended at 5 on Friday, and it took me a long time to decompress. I wanted to get out of town, but the closest we got was Belen. Cyndi needed to be there Saturday night to care for her parents and do some cleaning, so the boys and I stayed at a motel there that night. We visited in the afternoon and again early evening. I cooked some steaks I got from Costco. In the morning we visited after our little breakfast, tried the Harvey House museum down by the old depot, but it wasn't open, checked out, and spent another hour visiting before heading out. The boys and I also bought a ball for $30 at Costco, which we took to the soccer fields that afternoon, inflated with a small hand pump for at least a half hour, and then the boys took turns crawling inside the ball and tumbling around the field. Cyndi even tried it.
I thought I had mentioned the boys roller skating night for school, but I see that I have not. It was a school night, and both boys got to go. Jackson brought his own roller blades and took off, often skating alongside his classmates. It was Ry's first time, and he got the hang of it pretty quick. He didn't want help. He was the fastest 5-year-old out there. Even Cyndi took some laps. Actually, a nice event and maybe a place for a birthday party. The music included teeney Justin Bieber, and every single kid was singing "Baby, Baby" when his song came on, despite the fact that, according to Jackson, no one likes his music.
Around the corner from sushi this past weekend was a new shop called Love Yogurt Bar, which was a nice discovery for us. It looks very popular, and I'd swear it was a franchise but it's not. Only one of its kind, so far.
The trial ended at 5 on Friday, and it took me a long time to decompress. I wanted to get out of town, but the closest we got was Belen. Cyndi needed to be there Saturday night to care for her parents and do some cleaning, so the boys and I stayed at a motel there that night. We visited in the afternoon and again early evening. I cooked some steaks I got from Costco. In the morning we visited after our little breakfast, tried the Harvey House museum down by the old depot, but it wasn't open, checked out, and spent another hour visiting before heading out. The boys and I also bought a ball for $30 at Costco, which we took to the soccer fields that afternoon, inflated with a small hand pump for at least a half hour, and then the boys took turns crawling inside the ball and tumbling around the field. Cyndi even tried it.
I thought I had mentioned the boys roller skating night for school, but I see that I have not. It was a school night, and both boys got to go. Jackson brought his own roller blades and took off, often skating alongside his classmates. It was Ry's first time, and he got the hang of it pretty quick. He didn't want help. He was the fastest 5-year-old out there. Even Cyndi took some laps. Actually, a nice event and maybe a place for a birthday party. The music included teeney Justin Bieber, and every single kid was singing "Baby, Baby" when his song came on, despite the fact that, according to Jackson, no one likes his music.
Around the corner from sushi this past weekend was a new shop called Love Yogurt Bar, which was a nice discovery for us. It looks very popular, and I'd swear it was a franchise but it's not. Only one of its kind, so far.
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