the squibix family blog

The children are not fans of ice skating. I can't understand it; to me, there's nothing finer! Maybe they'll work up to it later. For now, there's plenty of fun to be had in just running and sliding. On feet, on knees, on stomachs—the boys have tried it all. They've had plenty of falls too, this and other years, but so far no head injuries. Last week the ice on Spy Pond (pictured above) was as slick as can be, and it was super satisfying to get a good run up and slide for 20 or 30 feet.

We've also been enjoying the ice for exploring. Bedford is a swampy town, so there are lots of spots that are downright inaccessible through the summer. Winter is our time to explore the marshes by our house or the swampland on the edge of the Concord River.

And then there's the thrill of exploring on the ice itself. We enjoy being on the water in the summer, so it makes sense that we're excited to visit those same spots on foot in the winter. On Spy Pond Zion was very happy to get to check out, and stand on, a ball buoy he'd barely been able to touch when we canoed by it back in July. And of course, nothing can compare to standing the middle of the Concord River!

(OK, so we weren't totally in the middle. But we could have been! Probably. As much as I love the ice, I figured it was better to be safe than sorry.)

It's not so bad: most of my ride is on the bike path, which besides being straight and close to level is also pretty empty in the winter. Not a lot can really go wrong. But the first part of the trip, after I drop the boys off with Grandma, is down a big hill towards a busy street. For the last several weeks—months?—I've found that on the steepest part of the hill, pulling the break lever as far as it can go will keep me from accelerating further, but it won't slow me down—to say nothing of bringing me to a stop. Never mind, that's why I wear boots with thick soles I can drag.

My history of deferred maintenance is a long one. And I haven't come to any serious grief yet! The worst part about the current situation is that I could fix it in just a couple minutes by putting on some new brake pads. I have the technology. But I never think of it until the morning I have to use the bike, and at that point I have no time. I've got to get the kids out the door and get to work! Then by the time I get home—and the ride away from work is all uphill—I'm ready to lay the thing aside and forget about it until next week. Of course, I was clearly thinking about it this evening, so I suppose I could have taken care of the problem... but I thought writing about it would be more interesting. And now it's time for bed. So, another time!

[If you're wondering about the post title, it's from this. Hard to believe I've been reading Bike Snob for 10 years!]

I tend to get in kind of a rut with my cooking, both because I don't want to put a lot of effort into new recipes when there's a good chance the kids won't like the results, and because I tend not to plan very far ahead (like with the pancakes, see). It's not the end of the world—we have more than seven recipes we know we like, so we're not getting the same thing more than once a week unless we do it on purpose—but on the other hand I don't want to miss all the other good things the world might have to offer in the culinary line.

Not quite at the same level, but this evening I made a potato-and-cheese omelet for supper. That was a new one too. Me and Harvey enjoyed it; Lijah liked the bread and the roasted cauliflower, and Zion liked the bread. In his defense, it was just about right out of the oven, so while in no way ground-breaking it was certainly good. Not everything has to be new and exciting.

(Also we got to hang out for like an hour after the kids went to bed. Don't worry, it's totally fine!)

And... I guess that's all we did. But that's lots more than usual! A good time was had by all. Happy Valentines Day!

It's maybe easy to get discouraged homeschooling three boys who are a lot like me. Our discouragements all reflect on each other until none of us is doing anything at all. But since it's on me to break the cycle and inject some energy into things, I need to get going. I want Harvey to work on some writing; I can't ask him to write if I'm not doing it myself! It's not like I don't have things to write about (leaving aside their interest to any potential audience; I try not to think about that!). Maybe one day I'll even have another go at that Discovery Museum post.

The next day saw us in Lexington for a tournament at Omar's. No championship points at stake, but Omar's is now our local shop and we want to show our support! We brought the same decks, and did almost as well: Harvey won again, and I was second in Masters. It was a tiny tournament and my two wins were against Juniors playing not-really-competitive decks—which meant those games weren't as fun as my round one loss against a very good player. I almost pulled it out! The event finished early enough that we contemplated driving to one more tournament, out in Worcester. We could have made it... but in the end we decided to accept an invitation from friends for dinner and a movie at their house. Probably a good call.

This past Sunday saw us in Saugus for another Challenge. This one was much larger: something like eighteen Masters and six Juniors. Harvey had a tough loss in his first game and, even though he won the next two, finished up third. There five rounds in Masters; I started off with two wins then lost my next three in frustrating fashion I'd be happy to recount if you care to listen. It was still super fun, though. My second loss was to Darin O'Meara, fresh off a fine performance in Australia the previous weekend, and he didn't entirely blow me out.

It's nice for Harvey and I to get out together, and win or lose we both really enjoy being part of the scene; all the more so now as we get to know more and more people playing. Plus it's fun going all these places we'd never visit otherwise: imagine, Saugus! We'll be doing it again in Londonderry, New Hampshire this weekend.. wish us luck!

Being cheap we did some walking to get to the train, stopping by fields and streams on the way and not quite falling into the water of Alewife Brook (Zion always insists on testing the cat ice to prove, yet again, that he is heavier than a cat). Zion and Lijah haven't been on the T in a while so they really enjoyed that part of the trip.

Arriving in Cambridge we went first to the Kemp Playground. Well, we went first to the public restroom that's perched precariously on the intersection where Garden Street meets Mass Ave, where we enjoyed the sight of ice in the toilet bowl. Then the playground, which we had to ourselves for close to an hour of climbing and imaginative play. It's fun being there with lots of other kids, but there's also something to be said for a solo visit.

The main reason I chose Cambridge for a Wednesday visit is that on Wednesday afternoons Massachusetts residents can get into the Harvard Museum of Natural History for free. Since there's no chance I'd ever pay $45 for the four of us to visit, Wednesday is it! There's definitely some interesting stuff there: dinosaur bones were the main draw for us this time, but we also enjoyed the dead animals—especially the animals of the northeastern woodland—and the minerals.

Lijah also enjoyed that I brought a snack; otherwise he might not have survived the hour-and-a-half we spent in the museum.

Heading back to the train the most direct route took us through Harvard Yard. That was great because it let us enjoy one of the perks of first-class university education: free games and entertainment! (assuming you're not the one paying for your schooling). It was "Winter Fest" outside the Science Center building, and among the offerings were bowling, shuffleboard, and curling. How could we resist?!

Even the train ride towards home was entertaining and educational, as Harvey and Zion explored momentum by jumping while the train was braking. The other passengers were very patient with them.

It was a good time. Plenty of walking, plenty of intellectual stimulation, and a fair bit of adventure. I picked up a Charlie Card at the train station, since we might be doing more urban adventuring soon.