NY trip!

I am already several weeks behind on the blog so I will have to give some summaries. After our crazy travel day I ended up in Rochester and Kim and Morhéa were in Syracuse. I got late enough that I decided to stay in Rochester for the night and drove to Syracuse the next day. While I was away the Buytaert’s and the girls went to the Syracuse zoo. The next day André got the great idea to go fly a kite. Morhéa had never done this and he had a pretty high tech kite. It had 2 strings attached handles that you held which allowed you to steer the kite in different directions. It was a lot of fun. Morhéa enjoyed playing in the fields and watching us fly the kite.

The next day we goofed around and then went to Cazenovia Lake for some splash time. Aunt Steph and Morhéa had a blast in the water while the rest of us read books and lounged around.

The next day we took Morhéa to story time at the local Library which she loved. We weren’t sure if the weather was going to hold up but we got lucky and André and I got our annual round of golf in. New York does do a great job with its state courses. Much better than Colorado does. We played the Green Lakes State Park Golf Course. They have some of the cheapest green fees and best courses. In Colorado the golf courses are beautiful but most are privately owned and they charge a premium for their beauty. There are some great county courses around but in NY they seem to be better. The girls went to a duck pond and fed the ducks.

We finished the visit off with a visit to another local park where Morhéa got to play on the swings and hang out with the family. The night ended with a good home cooked meal.

The next day we headed out to Rochester. Grandpa and Grandma were eagerly waiting for us along with Uncle Jeff and Aunt Heather. Grandpa’s house was an instant hit with a combination of the unlimited supply of raspberries for eating in Dad’s garden and the tractor rides. Every morning Grandpa and Morhéa would wakeup and take a tractor ride to the woods and back. Morhéa even got to make the front end loader go up and down.

It was at this point in our trip that Morhéa decided to revolt on taking naps and going to bed. Carolyn scored us a Pack N’ Play for Morhéa to sleep in. Morhéa is in the transition to a big girl bed and in Syracuse she slept on a mattress in Aunt Steph’s room. We decided to try the Pack N’ Play because it was a little more secure. The first day we were there we put her down for a nap and usually she will cry a little but will be out within 10 minutes. Not this time! We tried the nice way for a little while but eventually closed the door and decided she would fall asleep on her own. Much to our surprise a minute later she was standing at the top of the stairs crying for us. We put her back in and she just crawled right back out. The next day I went and got one of the childproof doorknob things. We put it on and put her down for a nap and within a minute of closing the door we could hear her climb out of the crib and then proceed to open the door within 20 seconds! The rest of the week we struggles with naps and bedtime but eventual got her to sleep every day.

Since we missed our annual pilgrimage back to Rochester for the 4^th of July we decided to go to Paul’s house and have our own beach day. For those that don’t know we have a Hoefen family gathering at a beach house on Lake Ontario every year. We have been doing this as long as I can remember and as long as I can remember everything has remained the same. It is the ultimate tradition. Kitt owned the house for a long time and now her son Paul owns it. Before that I can’t remember. What I do remember is that there is always Dan’s wilted cabbage salad (which he won’t give up the recipe), Dad’s German potato salad, Kitt’s meat hot sauce (which I finally got the recipe out of her a year or two ago), white and red hots (white hot dogs are big in Rochester), macaroni salad, potato salad, jello salad, iced tea in one of those large Coleman containers with the spout at the bottom, desserts, washers and much more. Fireworks are illegal in NY but the lake always has the best fireworks display. It rivals that of large cities but from the locals. As far as the eye can see there are fireworks. I always thought that as you got older and taller things seem to get smaller but not the bonfires. Every year they get bigger and bigger. I heard this years was so big it moved the crowd back a good 50 feet. Anyway, Paul and Robin let us play at their house for the afternoon. Dad, Jeff, Heather and I took the Dad’s boat out and met them there. Morhéa got her 1^st boat ride! She put on her lifejacket and we took a good 20 minute spin in the boat. She loved it! A bonus is that one of the local eateries that Jeff and I enjoy immensely is around the corner. The problem is that Kim and Heather don’t really like it. The best hamburgers and dogs you have ever had. All coated with a wonderful meat sauce that is unlike anything you have ever had unless you have lived in upstate NY. Many of my friends know the garbage plate and this rivals the glorious garbage plate! I think Jeff ordered 1 hamburger, 1 white hot and 1 italian sausage all with everything. I wasn’t that far behind. Soooooo goooooood!

We also were pleasantly surprised to find out that our visit was also during the Hilton Carnival!! Again, something that you just have to experience. Someone once told me it was one of the larger carnivals in NY? It really is big. We held off a little and decided to take Morhéa to the parade. They have two parades. One is the kiddie parade and the normal parade. We took her to the normal parade which was fun but not like I remembered. They had tons of fire trucks which Morhéa loved but they also had a lot of political stuff going on which was annoying. Morhéa had fun and that was all that really counts.

The next morning we went to Brown’s Berry Patch. This is another local place that has been around for ever. A mom and pop farm that has had u-pick everything. They also have a little petting zoo and a kid’s playground that we had a blast on. We picked tons of blueberries and headed home. I think that night was our anniversary. We celebrated by going to The Zoo a.k.a the beer garden at the Hilton Carnival. I had flashbacks to the 80’s and early 90’s. They had a band playing that kicked it all off with Kiss’s Detroit Rock City. That was followed by a lot of 80’s hair band rock. It was great. Everyone there was loving it. In true Rochester fashion they pretty much only served Genesee Beer (the Coor’s of upstate). They had Genny light and old school Genny regular in the white cans. Jeff and I got a Genny and headed straight for the steamed clams. One dozen clams and side of clam broth for a few bucks. You can’t beat that! Instead of garbage cans they had apple crates which were piled 5 feet high with Genny cans. Hilton is apple country. By the time we got out the carnival was over and Jeff never got his funnel cake but overall we got what we all wanted (at least Jeff and I did).

Our last day Dad and Carolyn threw a big family gathering. We had all sides of the family there. The Hagenbach’s, the Hoefen’s and even the Parker side (my Mothers side of the family). It was great to see everyone. Morhéa had a blast with her cousin-in-laws. Dad was once again a hit with the wagon rides. I think the kids loved it so much he had to make two runs. We cooked barbeque and played bocce and washers. We had a blast! Morhéa even tried to leave with her cousins she loved it so much

Our trip home went much smoother. No delays and Morhéa did pretty good. Since then I went back to NY pretty much as soon as I got home. This time to go visit my buddy Scott for his birthday. It was good to see him, wife and son as well as my good friend Mike and his wife, Vanessa. For those movie fans out there Mike is currently showing his new film “Jeffrey” which he produces as stars in. He just got accepted to the LA film festival and hopefully we be coming to a theatre near you!! If you get the chance you should check it out.

We have a busy few months here. I head out to the Sacramento ValleyNapa Valley) for some field work and then next month go to Libby for some seriously nasty field work. (just north of Kim heads to Edinburgh, Scotland and Atlanta and Anaheim.