Category: General News

Sept. 6: I never got around to posting pictures and a write up of our mid-August, pre-DC activities.  Pictures from just before and just after our trip are in the gallery.
On August 20, my family gathered at Ginza of Tokyo to send Joe and Becky off to college with a feast.  Becky called us yesterday morning while she was on her way to her second day of classes.  Sounds like things are going really well.  Her hiking trip was a lot of fun, she said her roommate is a great fit, and she’s loving her classes.  She sounded really relaxed and happy.  Makes me glad!
Joe is up at Bowdoin now.  I haven’t talked to him since getting back from my trip, but classes should have started for him as well.

Just as Becky and Joe were heading out to their colleges, Terry was heading out west for a month of scenic exploration.  He was going to be  totally crazy and reckless and go without a schedule, but that didn’t end up working out.  His detailed travel itinerary is attached below.

Bryan’s dad came into town on Friday, August 22 to spend the weekend with Bryan when the kids and I left for DC.  It worked out really well…we got to spend a nice morning with Grandad, and then Bryan got to spend three days with his dad.  They explored Milwaukee, went to a Brewers game, enjoyed some music at the Orton Park Festival, played chess, and just got to spend some good one-on-one time together.  Bryan really loves his dad, and we all miss spending regular, good, unstructured time together.  This weekend was a good antidote to the gaps in our time together.  Thanks for coming up to spend time with my boy, Grandad!

Sept. 3: Last night I downloaded 650 photos from my week in DC.  It took a while to weed through them all, pick the best ones, put them in albums, upload them, caption them, and sort them.  But it’s done.  And I plan to soon do several posts describing our fun times during our trip, but for those of you who would like to see some sneak-peek pics, here’s the link to our DC album.  Enjoy!

Sept. 2: After being in Washington DC for ten days, we’re all back home again.  It was a positively wonderful vacation.  Kacy’s wedding was just beautiful.  And the first anniversary of Mom’s departure is behind us.
I have loads of photos to download, edit, upload, and post about.  Stay tuned!

Aug. 27: It’s late and I should really get myself to bed.  But I’m checking up on the computer instead.  We’re enjoying ourselves here in DC.  We spent the day hanging out with Heather and Evelyn.  Took a walk again to a playground and spent the afternoon at the National Zoo whilst Heather worked.  Lots of people thought I had twins (one in the Ergo and one in a stroller), and I was happy to tell them that I was helping a friend!  Andrew loved seeing the Asian elephants, the pandas, a HUGE hippo, an elephant shrew, prairie dogs, and meerkats.  He’s animal-crazy, that kid:)
I’d think of something else to say about our day, but my brain has ceased to think, so instead I’ll say goodnight and head to bed.  I’m sleeping with Andrew, and he’s decided to sleep perpendicular to me.  Fortunately he doesn’t seem to kick much!

Its a boy!

Sarah and Wes welcomed little Charles Lambert Bramhall
to the world on Monday, August 18, 2008, 3:23 a.m.
He weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz., measured 19.5″ long, and is just as beatific and perfect as can be.

Aug. 25: Greetings from Washington DC!  The kids and I arrived on Saturday, and we spent a nice weekend with Grace and Tim and John.  We all had a fun afternoon at the Wheaton Park playground and botanical gardens, and on Sunday, Grace and I went to a pottery studio that I have long-admired.  Then today (Monday), Grace, Tim, and John drove to New York for a week-long vacation, and I took their car (thanks!) and went to stay at Heather, Michael, and Evelyn’s for the week.  We’ve got fun activities planned, but for today I just enjoyed getting to know sweet four-month baby Evie.
And now there are no more Olympics, and I am off to bed.

Aug. 22: Last night I went to American Players Theater with Jessica’s family and with Terry.  Both had invited me to go with them, so I picnicked with Jessica and watched the show with Terry.  Bryan was home alone with the kids all evening long (5pm until 11pm), and it sounds like they did really well.  What a guy!
Andrew, Sylvia, and I are flying out to DC tomorrow to visit Heather, Michael, and Evelyn and Grace, Tim,and John.  We’re staying with Grace this weekend and next weekend and with Heather through the week.  Next Saturday my friend Kacy is getting married, so it should be a really fun vacation and wedding!  This will be my first flight solo with both kids.  They’re good fliers, and it’s a direct flight, so I’m not particularly worried.

Bryan will be home alone for the week, and as a fun surprise, Bryan’s dad was able to get tickets to come up and spend the weekend here.  Bryan got Brewers tickets, and I am so very, very glad that he and his dad will have the opportunity to spend one-on-one time togehter.  We both really wish that we lived closer to Bryan’s family.  I know that Bryan would love to be able to just hang out with his parents more often.  So this should be a real treat.

Sylvia just woke from her morning nap.  It’s been about an hour.  She’s crying hard, and I’d like her to wake happy…indicating that she’s had enough sleep and not just somehow woken up.  Hmmm.  How to know whether to go get her.

Andrew and I watched some video this morning of him when he was Sylvia’s age.  Gosh was he cute.  As he watched the video, Andrew was saying, “I love my sweet little hands!  I love my cute little mouth!”

Tonight we’re going to a baby shower for one of Bryan’s co-workers.  Should be fun!  I’ll be back on Sept. 2, so ta-ta until then!

Aug. 19: Bryan and I support a variety of charitable organizations.  Since I was about eight, I’ve been giving money to environmental groups – the Natural Wildlife Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Federation, the Humane Society.  I’ve also supported animal therapy groups like Paws for a Cause.  In times of crisis (9/11, Katrina), we support the Red Cross or the United Way.  We support Wisconsin-based environmental groups like Gathering Waters.  We give to Carleton, and when Wisconsin’s ban on gay marriages was on the ballot, we gave significant donations to Fair Wisconsin.  We’re also starting a small endowment at the Madison Community Foundation in order to cement our family’s charitable giving tradition.
But I’ve never been that inclined to support organizations that help people in need.  I’m not sure exactly why, but it hasn’t been my focus.  However, after reading this article, I feel pretty moved to do something…either financial or personal…to help the women in the Congo.  This article moved me profoundly.  I also watched a show on PBS called A Walk to Beautiful about doctors who are helping Ethiopian women with heartbreaking childbirth injuries.  I’m thinking about supporting the Fistula Foundation.
I think that being a mother of  two kids makes me feel some kinship with these African woman.  Living such a comfortable life, having had good labors and healthy kids makes my heart goes out to them and to want to help them with their sorrows and celebrate their strength.  I want to help make life a little bit more OK for these people who could, I’m sure, be my friends…

Aug. 19: Sylvia is taking a nap.  Ahh, relaxing one-child home.  Andrew woke up around 5 this morning and wanted breakfast.  I was dimly aware of Bryan emphatically informing Andrew that it wasn’t time to be out of his bed yet.  Andrew’s been pretty interested in learning to tell time.  He doesn’t get the whole big/little hand thing, but he likes to look to see when it is snack time (10am and 4pm).  Just now he looked at the clock in his room and told me that it is 9am.  It’s neat to watch him learn!
I’ve been loving watching the Olympics every night.  I really, really like the Olympics.  It’ll be a little sad when they are over…
On Saturday, Joe and I hung out and went shopping for new shoes for him for the fall.  I love spending time with my siblings:)  He leaves for Bowdoin on Friday.  Egad!  Becky is starting school at Williams this fall in Massachusetts.  I’m really proud of her…for those of you unfamiliar with small liberal arts colleges, Williams is regularly ranked #1.

Dad came over for lunch on Sunday, and we had a brat and hot-dog picnic.  Dad had some fun Sylvie and Andrew time, and Andrew again requested that he be able to “go to Grandpa’s house with no Mommy and no Daddy.”  We could drive him there “and then leave.”

I went through all Sylvia’s clothes on Sunday and pulled out outgrown ones and added in the six-month-sized ones.  This was pretty exciting for me because a) I LOVE baby clothes and b) because my favoritest clothes that I got for Sylvie before she was born were of the 6 month variety.  See her for a sample.  Oh, I love baby clothes!  When Maretta was in town, the two of us went through four boxes of children’s clothes from Dana and my mom to identify clothes we thought we’d use.  I then compiled those clothes with the bags upon bags of clothes that my friend Pam had passed on to me, the items I’ve received from Kathy, and the items I’ve purchased myself or been given as gifts.  My basement shelves of children’s things have now transitioned from a complete disaster to a harmonious, well-labeled piece art. (well, maybe that’s overstating things slightly).

Yesterday the kids and I hung out with Jessica, Eli, and Celia for the morning.  It was so nice to see them again!  I think it’s been almost a month!  Then I braved both the post-office and Woodmans (I now have several gray hairs and wrinkles forming), and my car overheated.  So it’s in the shop.  Terry came over for supper.

Andrew’s begging for a snack.  He no longer likes to eat food at meal time and is constantly asking for snacks (than he then doesn’t tend to eat).

Me: “Andrew, is there anything you would like me to write for you?”
Andrew: “Noooooooo!!!”  (runs away)

OK, that’s it from us today!  Joe and Becky are coming over to play, so we’re looking forward to spending time with them!
Ta ta!

Aug. 16: Grace and I had a great time in Vermont at Jennifer’s wedding.  Vermont is such a beautiful place.  I was there several years ago with Wes and Sarah.  This was a very short visit, but it reinforced my opinion that I would get along very well living in Burlington.
Pictures from the wedding are now in the gallery.
Grace and I met on Friday late afternoon at the Burlington airport.  We met up with Jennifer and her friends and family at a park on Lake Champlain for supper.  We were all staying at the same hotel, and our room was a nice suite, so after putting Sylvia down for bed, Lara, Reid, and Jennifer came over to watch the Olympics and hang out.

On Saturday morning, we met up with Jennifer, bridesmaids Amanda and Lara, and Do’s sister to watch Jennifer get her hair coiffed.  Afterwards we ate breakfast at a delicious creperie called The Skinny Pancake.  Thumbs up for nutella and strawberries on crepes!  The wedding was at 2:30, so we headed back to the hotel to get dressed and then drove about a half hour south of Burlington to the beautiful park where the wedding was held.  I had fun taking pictures as the wedding party got ready.  Thunder rumbled in the distance as the wedding began…and about 10 minutes into the ceremony, the thunder and lighting got close enough – everyone headed to the backup indoor location.

I thought it was pretty cool that while having a wedding rained out mid-ceremony could be a worst-case scenario, in this case everyone was calm and happy and it didn’t seem to be a problem one bit.

After the ceremony, I took loads of pictures while a) grace took care of Sylvia b) some other interested person took care of Sylvia or c) Sylvia was happy on my back in the carrier.  She did splendidly for the whole trip.

On Sunday, Grace and I met up with the bride, groom, and bridesmaids for a breakfast at the Penny Cluse Cafe.  Again, VERY good.  Afterwards, Grace and I spent a couple hours wandering around the Church Street Marketplace, a pedestrian mall with some really great shopping.  Some of my favorite stores were Hatley, Sprout, and a cool camping store called the Outdoor Gear Exchange.  Then Grace and I took a tour of Lake Champlain Chocolates and partook of some hearty samples.  We also left with chocolate to take home:)  I prefer dark, Grace prefers milk chocolate.
We had a late lunch at Vermont’s Culinary Resort before running back to the airport.  And the whole time, Sylvia did great!

What a great trip!  Grace, I hope you didn’t come down with whatever I got sick with on Tuesday!