Only 40 years to wait

We are just back continental side from an amazing birthday week in the Hawaiian sun. Whose birthday? That would be mine. The 40th. And I can think of no better way to have spent it than with my family, and no better place than Hawaii.

A few years ago I took stock of my lifetime of travel and decided to set a goal of seeing all 50 states by the time I reach 50. At the beginning of this year I had been to 44 of them, so it's a reasonable goal, but the states I have yet to see are strangely strewn across our continent. Alabama and Georgia in the Southeast, Maine in the northeast, Idaho in the Northwest, and the outliers, Hawaii and Alaska. And now, thanks to this amazing trip, I can move Hawaii to the done list.

There are lots of ways to do Hawaii, and I'd categorize our trip as thoroughly relaxing. Our goal was to spend as much time together as possible while soaking up sun and beautiful views, and we accomplished this by renting a house just outside Kailua-Kona, on the west side of the Big Island, through VRBO. I'll say first that the house we rented was amazing. While we've never had a bad VRBO experience, this one outdid all the others by actually surpassing our expectations. The home was updated, the kitchen well appointed, and the views breathtaking. For us the best part of renting a house is having the family living space. We spent nearly every afternoon playing in the private pool, nearly every evening enjoying the sunset on the Lanai before grilling a delicious dinner to enjoy together, and many a night introducing Calvin to the Hawaiian wonder of Magnum P.I.

While some people take on Hawaii with a "collect them all" attitude, coptering from island to island, since our goal was just to relax and be together, we picked one island and stuck with it. We opted for the Big Island in large part because it is less developed, less touristy, and for Volcanos National Park. We wanted to see lava, and boy did we. Our National Park excursion was a full day experience. Driving on the island is a tortuous experience, and nobody is moving very fast, but the scenery all the way there was brilliant, and the park well worth the effort. We arrived at midday and stopped for lunch in the Lodge overlooking the active caldera. Lava isn't visible from that vantage point, but having just arrived we were perfectly entertained by the trail of smoke that was. After eating we spent some time at the Visitors Center so Calvin could earn his Junior Ranger badge before heading to Jaggar Museum where we were treated to a great view of the active lava spouting and roiling. This was amazing. Our next stop was to hike the Lava Tubes, which I found disappointing, but we followed up with a hike across the cooling, inactive crater at Kilaeua Iki, and for those who can swing the incline and uneven terrain, this is a must do. Walking across the now hardened waves of lava and feeling the hot steam rising from still cooling vents was an amazing experience (made even more so by having watched the video in the Visitors Center earlier about the crater's earlier eruption). Our final stop, and one I wouldn't have missed for the world, was back up to Jaggar Museum to view the lava after dark. This, too, is a must do. 

A note about lava in Volcanos National Park. The viewing varies greatly, even from minute to minute. We arrived during daylight hours to see two large tongues of lava lapping at the sides of the caldera, bright orange cracks forming across the black, molten surface, but just a half hour later one of those tongues was no longer visible and the other greatly diminished. Of course the same is true at night, and we were lucky enough to be treated another great spectacle on our after-dark return, but be forewarned: it gets chilly on top of the volcano after the sun sets, and the crowds are something to contend with (think small town fireworks display), but it is totally worth it to see both day and nighttime lava.

Another note, there aren't many restaurants near the park, and the choices become even fewer that late, so it's good to go with a meal plan.

Another goal of our trip was to take in the varied terrain of the Big Island. Dry and almost desert-like on the west side, the east side of the island is a rainforest, and the two are separated by entirely undeveloped lava fields. We took a day, or really a long morning, to drive across the relatively new highway that runs through the middle of the island to see the waterfalls and vegetation that clutter the island's east side. The drive across was alone worth the trip. We saw lava flows of many different ages in various stages of reanimation. we also got a good look at the main peaks of the island, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, and the observatory on top. Although you know that you are climbing in elevation much of the way, it is still a surprise to begin the descent into Hilo to find yourself above the clouds. On the day that we drove over, we descended into completely cloud cover that hid the road below us. The effect was at first disorienting, and then completely stunning. Our time in Hilo was spent on light hiking to visit three falls sites: Pe'epe'e Falls, Rainbow Falls, and 'Akaka Falls. The first two were very short walks on paved paths, with optional easy hikes on the side. Rainbow Falls was a longer walk with greater elevation changes, but still a paved path. All three were beautiful, and the vegetation and wildlife (lizards and birds) were an added pleasure.

A final goal for our trip was to attend a Luau. Now, we understood going in that luaus these days are but a dim reminder of what was once a culturally significant part of island life, but arguments about authenticity vs. kitsch aside, we knew we wanted this unique experience while we were there. My dad did his research and made reservations at the Mauna Kea Resort Luau to ensure our place at a highly rated luau on my actual birthday. It did not disappoint. The views alone were spectacular, and the food was great fun, but the dancing...oh the dancing. Authentic or no, it was amazing to watch, and it came with a bit of a history lesson, which I loved. 

Other things we did on our trip included a tour of the Kanaloa Octopus farm, and a tour of Kuaiwi Coffee Farm. I highly recommend the octopus farm if you have any interest in wild creatures at all: the tour was very informative, and the octopi highly entertaining. The visit needs to be booked ahead of time, although we booked ours only a week in advance. In other good news, your visit helps to fund this important program aimed at saving wild octopus populations. The coffee tour was also a complete joy. The plantation we visited was on old one, and today is a very small, family run affair, so our tour was private and unique. The air was cooler and cloudy up in the hills, and when we were there the coffee crop had already been brought in, but the land is planted with a wide variety of fruit and other trees and plants and we were treated to a taste test at nearly all of them. The owner/guide is immensely knowledgeable and very warm. We ended that tour with a sampling of coffee and chocolates on the family deck, that's how private and homey an operation it is. Highly recommended.

Then, like I said, the rest of our trip was an exercise in relaxation. Vibrant, welcoming mornings, long pool afternoons, delicious dinners, stunning sunsets, and restful evenings. It was everything I wanted, and I only had to wait 40 years for it.

The following photos were taken by several photographers, mainly myself and my wonderful sister-in-law, who was too gentle to rib me about my age even though she's nearly ten years younger and I gave her permission to do it all week.

(10) things we always pack for trips

Traveling is wonderful. I love discovering new places. I love making a home in a hotel room, tent, or other temporary dwelling. I love planning, executing, and recording all the wonderful things there are to do. But traveling can also be stressful. When all your usual items of comfort and ease are not at your fingertips coping with unusual situations becomes difficult, and even on a good trip, often on the best of trips, unusual situations abound.

So, whether flying, driving, or hitching a ride on an elephant, there are a few non-essentials that we always try to bring with us. I'm not talking the usual clothes or toiletries, but things you might not think of automatically yet will likely find useful along the way.

A checklist of small items. I don't list everything, mind you, but I try to keep track of chargers, tiny electronics, and definitely stuffed animals or other toys. And if not a detailed list, then at least a count (5 cords, 12 stuffed animals, 47 books...)

Ziplock bags. I'm not usually a proponent of expendable plastics, but it is surprising the number of times a good ziplock back comes in handy on a trip...for bring home rocks, for keeping wet bathing suits separated from dress clothes, for toting snacks or leftovers. Especially on long trips we generally conserve space by packing our clothes in the bags with the air sucked out. Not great for wrinkles, but hey, it's only vacation.

Camping silverware and a multi-tool. I've heard that there is a trick that uses the chain on a hotel door top open...is it a bottle of wine or beer? I can't remember because it seems ludicrous, and because we always pack a multi-opener for beer and wine. Because...travel. Also, we have these neat camping tools we always pack, too—a cross between a spork and a knife. I call them Sknorks (with a silent "k", like in knife, of course), or sometimes spifes.

Backpack. Not a lot of people think to pack a bag in a bag, but a lot of our trips include trail hiking, museums, or long days on the town, and having something other than a purse or suitcase to lug your sunscreen, camera, and travel guides is pretty handy. When flying we'll use a backpack as one of our carry-ons, or on occasion we'll fill it with clothes before throwing it in a suitcase.

water bottles. That thing I said about hiking and long days on the town? Long days get long, and depending on what you're up to, water isn't always easy to get, or it costs a fortune. Plus I try to avoid every buying or using water in plastic bottles. On drives we obviously take filled bottles, but on flights we stuff them with packed items and slide them in the suitcase or the carry-on. 

journal and tape. This might sound like two totally different items, but it's not really. I usually try to pack a journal or other notebook to commemorate our trip. We take turns writing about our days and reviewing things we've seen it in, and I use the tape to secure ticket stubs, maps, and other ephemera we can't seem to part with. It's true, though, that tape could come in handy in other ways.

Book light(s). Fairly self-explanatory, these insanely helpful for keeping passengers occupied while driving after dark, but it's also handy for reading or playing a game in the hotel room after the kid has fallen asleep.

At least one travel game. Standard playing cards are a never-fail, but sometimes we'll throw in a couple of other games that are small not only in physical size, but playing size as well. Love Letter, Oz Fluxx, and Frog Juice are some of our favorites.

Sewing kit. I started carrying one of these with me on trips after I read it in a list of things to pack for camping. It's especially helpful then because a tear in a sleeping bag or tent could be catastrophic, but a needle with thread has lots of uses and I try not to go far without one. 

Olympic National Park, an awayschooling family travel log

A continuation of our trip log started in the San Juan Islands

Friday

Another early morning, up, packed and ready to go. We shared breakfast together, and Calvin and Uncle Michael spent nearly an hour in the radio room again before we left. A ride to the airport, sad goodbyes, and the next leg of our journey began. The 10-seater flight back from the island was as smooth and easy as the flight out. We were early, and our shuttle driver took us directly from Boeing Field to the rental car building at SeaTac, meaning we were on the road over an hour earlier than expected! This was a good thing, and something we really hoped for, because the weekend forecast is now all rain all the time, and our best hope was to make it early enough to get in the mountaintop hike we'd planned for tomorrow morning tonight before the rain came in. The plan worked. The weather held! We even had some sun. We saw beautiful birds, the Olympic Chipmunk (only found here!), and Mountain Goats! A mom and baby who passed so close we could almost have touched them (but didn't! They get violent, we'd been warned). We to the actual mountain top (eek!) as the sun lowered and the wind picked up. As we drove back down the mountain the rain started up, punctuating the success of our changed plan with a satisfied "!" Back in town, our hotel turned out to be very nice and cozy. Exhausted, we picked up pizza and wine and took it back to our room, settled in away from the rain for the night. 

Hurricane Ridge Visitor's Center, Olympic National Park












Olympic Chipmunk



Mountain goat and baby






Hiking Hurricane Ridge

Saturday

We woke up to rain this morning. We knew we would, but it was still very disappointing. Breakfast in the hotel, then off to the Visitor's Center where we saw a great video on the park, picked up the assignments for Calvin's Junior Ranger Badge, and met the information that the pass we'd hiked the night before was closed due to the rain. Win! Then the word of the day was slugs! We started with a short hike at a falls (slugs! birds!), our first rain forest adventure, then moved on to a Bigger adventure at one of the parks main ranger stations—a three mile hike to a four story waterfall. Enormous trees draped in moss, plus slugs! beetles! Birds! So much gigantic beauty, and the rain slowed down to intermittent drizzle. After our hike we had lunch in the park lodge on a glacial lake partially obscured in misty clouds, and finished his assignments to earn his Junior Ranger Badge for the park. Then a two mile hike to another waterfall after lunch, shorter but more powerful affair, where we saw an Olympic squirrel (only found here!) before driving to our stop for the night. Our Bed and Breakfast stay in Forks (the supposed inspiration for the Twilight novels), was surprisingly nice. After check-in and a quick snack, we booked it to Rialto beach to catch the most beautiful misty day close at what felt like the end of the earth. 

In the Olympic National Park main Visitor's Center

Madison Falls Hike





Storm King Ranger Station, Olympic National Park (getting assignments for Junior Ranger badge)

Marymere Falls Trail, Olympic National Park















Lake Crescent and Lake Crescent Lodge, Olympic National Park







Back at Storm King Ranger Station, earning his badge


Sol Duc River and Sol Duc Falls trail, Olympic National Park





Rialto Beach, Olympic National Park

Sunday

Started this morning with eggs benedict in the B&B—not bad, very friendly for a breakfast. Saw elk grazing at the end of our road before heading out. Our first hike of the day was a rainforest with more maples draped heavily in mosses and ferns, the floor so heavily littered as to be impassible. No rain, but certainly wet! Our second stop was back out to the beach where we watched a surging tide as it started coming in, and splashed Calvin where he sat on a washed up tree, watching the world roll in. The rugged coast is a beautiful surprise. We stopped at another park lodge overlooking the ocean for a snack and rest before making our way around the south of the park for our final park hike—another rain forest location, but this one almost all maples and red alders dripping in a thicker, darker moss. Then our final park stay was our first in an actual National Park Lodge, and it was memorable—a sweeping lawn overlooking the lake, Calvin read by the fire while we had drinks just outside the door on the large porch, then we splurged on a nice meal in the lakefront dining room. Our lakefront room was a comfortable place to sleep, listening contentedly to the thunder as storms swept through overnight.

Miller Tree Inn, Forks, WA





Hoh River and Rain Forest Trail, Olympic National Park













Glacial river, very cloudy and gray





Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park







Tide coming in!


Quinault Rain Forest and Farm trails, Olympic National Park










some really, really old signage

Lake Quinault Lodge, Olympic National Park





Moby Stick...

Monday

We woke up still in the park and enjoyed breakfast at the lodge in the same 1926 dining room, with Calvin reading again in front of the lodge fire—a perfect way to say goodbye to the park. A fairly quick drive, mostly through fields and forest on a two-lane country road brought us back to the bustle of Seattle. There we visited the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Site where Calvin earned not only his Junior Ranger badge for that park, but also turned in the Centennial Junior Ranger booklet he'd been working on all week to earn his Centennial Junior Ranger Badge as well. Then, because Jon had never really done Seattle before we took him down to Pike Place market for a late lunch at Lowell's and a quick tour of the famous fish market and the original Starbucks (replacement) storefront, but it was too hazy to make the Space Needle a worthwhile trip. Our final fun was to visit our friend and his girls for dinner at a local brew pub. Our final hotel was a disappointing run-of-the-mill airport job so we could make it to the plane early, and by this time tomorrow night we'll be in our own beds at home.

San Juan Island, an awayschooling family travel log

Monday—travel to San Jaun

Up well before the sun and out the door with its rise. Our flight left at 10:30, but we like to be plenty early. The flight to Seattle was easy and we landed with plenty of time to spare. Plenty enough time for a wine and smoothly stop at an airport bar and some good reading (Moby Dick—I'm finally going to do it!), and we were off to the island on a 10-seater plane. We made it. Aunt Cookie and Unlce Michael picked us up with snacks in teh car. They live ten miles from town, and a beautiful ten miles it is. n our drive home alone we saw black-tailed deer, rabbits, and a fox who waits for people to stop and feed him, so he's this close to you, always. Back at "home" we fed the black-tailed deer, practically by hand. Also an Anna's hummingbird and local sparrows. Their inlet is beautiful—serene and lovely. Our first fun (or second, or even third, if you count the wildlife) was to go right out on the boat to retrieve the crab pots put down earlier in the day. No keeper crabs, but several to put back, which Calvin helped with in great delight. And after that work was done, we took a spin around a rocky island to see the Harbor Seals and sea birds (gulls and Oyster Catchers and a Great Blue Heron). Back on land, a delightful dinner of salmon far surpassing any store bought fish, and after dinner a trip down to the dock with flashlights to view the night aquarium: the sea anemone, shrimp, ghost shrimp, and a fascinating array of zooplankton that call the area around and under their dock home, viewed to best advantage after dark with flashlights. We are exhausted but content.

Tuesday

Up earlier than expected (or later than expected if you consider that it was already eight back at home), and nothing is boring here. The sun rises to reveal wildlife galore on the serene inlet: Blue Herons, gulls, grebes, the hummingbird is back, and the deer want their breakfast. Before anything else this morning, Uncle Michael and Calvin disappeared into the Radio Room (where all his radios are kept) and made contact with the outside world. They did this for a first time last night, and I'm not sure I've seen Calvin so thrilled about something in a while. After that and breakfast, our first order of business today was a hike up Mt. Young—a moderate hike with beautiful views at the top. Then lunch at the northwest end of the island, at the marina in Roche Harbor, a stop to get Calvin a fishing license, and a stroll among the marina boats—not unlike the Lake Michigan boat collections, although skewed to the larger side as a whole. After lunch? A stroll in the woods to a hilarious mausoleum (I'm sorry, I can't hep it: the people were buried in chairs around a table). The stroll and the woods were beautiful. On our way back to the southeast tip of the island we stopped at English Camp National Park, the English encampment from the pig war (which we will learn more about from the American Camp side in a couple of days), where we sighted an Osprey and some enormous Maple trees of a special breed, and then at Lime Kiln State Park, where we found Harbor Porpoises, Harbor Seals, Ravens, and beautiful water views. The day was so beautiful, and our hosts so accommodating, that when we got home we headed right back out on the boat in search of sea lions. And wouldn't you know? We found them exactly where we'd hoped they'd be! Yet the seals from yesterday were not on the island where we'd left them; it's as if the wildlife is on parade expressly for our pleasure. Crab and steak for dinner before collapsing into exhausted sleeps.

Wednesday

This morning started almost as early as yesterday, but I have hope that we may adjust to the time, probably just before heading home. This morning all three guys went out for a fishing adventure (Calvin caught 5 king salmon, but all just too small to keep), while I sat and watched the inlet wake up before Aunt Cookie and I went for a walk to the beach where the driftwood is the size of a mast head (reading Moby Dick, remember?) and covers the entire shore, then up a grassland hill and through a forest of still more sizeable trees. After a companionable lunch together, our family of three went into town to the whale museum there. It was a thrilling stop, especially since we are reading Moby Dick, and I believe the artifacts from Melville era American whaling vessels may have delighted Calvin as much if not more than the bleached bones suspended from the ceiling. On our way back we spotted a bald eagle in a pine near the road where we stop every day to visit the fox we now refer to as Tommy. And after a relaxed happy hour at home it was back to town for Thai dinner (yum!), and before bed another go at the ham radio. Those two, Uncle Michael and Calvin, are now referring to themselves, and each other, as hamsters.

Thursday

Our final full day on the island. It started out like yesterday with the guys out on the boat, only this time their efforts yielded not even a thing to throw back, only the hope of later crabbing success in the pots they put down. And again Aunt Cookie and I hiked, this time to the top of the hill that is big enough to have its own name: Mt. Finlayson. Lunch was a calm affair at home, and then we shoved off to see the last of the island parks: American Camp, South Beach, and Cattle Point. At American Camp (vast, coastal grassland with more rugged, debris strewn seashore) Calvin proudly earned his Junior Ranger Badge by learning about the Pig War and exploring the park in great detail. At South Beach (more coastal grassland but made largely barren due to an overabundance of rabbits) we observed Surf Scoters diving en masse for their food while Calvin combed for rocks and constructed with the smaller pieces of wood. And at Cattle Point Glacier Learning Center we observed glacial striation on the exposed rocky outcrop, which we also enjoyed climbing upon. Back at home a boat ride out to the crab pots yielded the promise of a fresh dungeness crab dinner! So Calvin was able to participate in the entire process from dropping the pots through collecting them, killing, cleaning, and cooking the crab, and finally to cracking and eating it. For our final night we took another trip to the night aquarium (back to the dock with flashlights), another hour on the ham radio, and music and dancing late into the night. 

Tomorrow we leave the island for peninsula. I have no doubt that our adventure will be as exciting there, but it is hard to leave our time here with family and all the enriching experiences they so lovingly provided. I have always referred to these trips as our fall awayschooling adventures, but when we left for this one I had no idea how great the learning part of the adventure would be. For Calvin especially the time on the sea alone has been wholly new and enriching, a time submerged in a new vernacular and a new way of living, plus the radio time, the American history time, and all the physical activity. I call it science, history, ecology, and even art. Plus the reading—this really was a great time to tackle Moby Dick together. 

To be continued in our travel log on the Olympic Peninsula...

Pools, gardens, ducks, and lions (a circuitous journey to Stratford)

We are just back from our final summer trip, and the last of our traditional it-isn't-summer-without-it trips: Stratford. Only this year it was a little different. Jon was headed in that direction to present his company's summer lecture series in a few different towns, and rather than have him go and come and go again, we tagged along with him for his week of work preceding our weekend theater tickets. This was a new thing for us, and one which required a lot of planning and a little getting used to. Let's just say that to make a tagalong trip successful, one really only need add pools.

Yes, throughout the week, while Jon was busy presenting to adoring masses of piano teachers (autographs are a common request, I kid you not), Calvin and I were busy becoming hotel pool connoisseurs. This was where the planning came in, because we had to make sure that the hotels Jon booked had pools to begin with, then we had to organize our time so that Calvin and I could take advantage of said pools while Jon worked, keeping in mind check-out times. It ended up with Calvin and I showering, throwing things in suitcases, and dashing out of hotel rooms just before the noon bell chimed, only to spend the next hour lounging in the lobby on our suitcases, eating lunches packed from the family cooler. It was a nifty system, once we got the hang of it, which was, oh, about Jon's last day of presentations.

So pool connoisseurs we have become, but we also made good use of travel time between cities, for though Jon was working, we ended up spending his family time in the afternoons, sight-seeing on the road, and reserving the evenings and nights (and mornings, of course) for work. Like I said, we really got our stuff together by about the last day, but we had a good time doing it, and we saw a lot of things—cities, and pools, and gardens, and shacks, and pools, and rain showers, and sunshine, and did I mention pools? All on our way to one of our favorite summer destinations: Stratford.

There were a lot of stops, and there are a lot of pictures (many from the phone this time, too, because so often I found myself in a place where I never expected to want pictures, then was glad to have the phone—which is good, because that's why we got it).

Day one is always the worst: the most driving combined with the most eagerness and the most impatience. That, and we got a little lost in Windsor when the money exchange was closed (how on earth do they expect people to spend money in their nightclub dives without a money exchange???), but we got it together eventually, then rewarded ourselves with root beer floats at a rest area (note to U.S. road commission: get A&Ws in the rest areas stat).

Day two saw a lot more action. Pool notes first: pool number one was warm and was a great size, but it was in the hotel basement and felt a little secluded. 

After swimming all morning we did our first shower-and-pack dash, then ate lunch and read in the lobby. It was actually kind of relaxing. Toronto was less so, but since we've become regular visitors to Chicago, we didn't find the city as taxing as some might. We found the CN Tower almost as underwhelming as the beer at the Steam Whistle Brewing, but enjoyed the trains at the Toronto Railway Museum.

Day three. The pool was actually pretty great, except that two hours of the morning it was being used for swim aerobics and water workouts for the (elderly? geriatric? local old folks?). We were still welcome to partake of the pool's wateryness, but there wasn't any room for us to swim, so instead we hung out in the deep end, getting a kick out of the collected grumpiness that filled the rest of the pool.

The afternoon was more successful. After our lunch/reading time in the hotel lobby, we all stopped at the Royal Botanical Gardens where we found bees, chipmunks, and a long dead and burried horse, but not as many flowers as one might expect. We stopped at three of their garden sites and their quaint tea house before heading to our final pre-Stratford stop, London (where our hotel looked delightfully like a castle).

Day four. The best pool yet, in part because it was really three pools in a fun atrium setting, but also because we stayed two nights there, so we had two full mornings to swim. Plus the hotel, in addition to being awesome because it looked like a castle, had a fascinating interior, including putt putt golf.

An added benefit of our castle hotel was its downtown London location, which allowed us to go for afternoon and evening walks between rainshowers. 

Day five: probably our best day outside of Stratford. On day five we enjoyed the castle hotel pool one last time before shoving off for the Fanshawe Pioneer Village. This is a quaint collection of old buildings (and some replicas), assembled roughly in the order of a timeline, yet somehow also in the shape of a town. We started off at a mid-1800s log cabin and moved through several other buildings from that era before entering the late 1800s, then the early 1900s. Along the way we saw demonstrations of varying sorts—blacksmith, wood working, sheep, an osprey, even a groundhog (okay, those last three weren't exactly demonstrations). We also met a period actor who was delighted to know that we were enjoying ourselves, even as frequenter visitors of Greenfield Village, and we got to see real live Indian Runner Ducks. We had a great time. I have only one warning: don't bother with the food.

Day five was also Jon's first day of actual vacation, and the day that we finally arrived in Stratford. It's hard for me to explain or describe our love affair with this town. The natives there are short of friendly, everything is overpriced, and getting service anywhere is difficult. But over the years we've come to look forward to our time there, staying in the family-owned motel with the perfectly quaint breakfasts, going for walks along the man-made "Avon" and talking to all the entitled water fowl, eating hand-dipped soft serve like you've never had anywhere else at Jenn & Larry's, and, of course, taking in the expertly produced plays (this year? The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and As You Like It).

can you spot the two baby bunnies in the open grass?










wine sippy cups at intermission...