Oregon Country Fair 2013

Seven under seven!  That's a lot of little ones to have camping behind the button booth.  As always, the Fair was a lot of fun for all of us, young and old.



 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whew.

It's been a while since I got around to updating the blog, and of course now it's harder than ever because I feel like I have to "catch up" all the things that have passed before I can post the current stuff.  I'm not going to do it though.  I'm going to summarize the last few weeks and then move on; I'll go back and expand on some of these later if I find the time.  I just have to break the log-jam and move ahead now, or I never will!

So, since the last time I posted, the following exciting and important things have happened:

• Cary turned 40, and we celebrated with a grand party on January 19th.  Friends came from far and wide and we had a terrific weekend - not just the big party Saturday night, but also great visits and huge breakfasts and dinner feasts on Friday and Sunday as well.  'twas truly an EVENT.
• On January 23rd, my Dad suffered a hemhorragic stroke and was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.  I joined him, my mom, and my aunt Pam there for the next three days while they tested him to ensure that there was no further danger (luckily, it seems to have been a one-off event) and then further tests to determine the extent of the damage.  Again, we were very fortunate: he suffered no damage to his physical abilities, no loss of memory regarding his life or relationships, no change of personality.  What he did lose was his ability to read, do math, and some aphasia that effects his ability to remember the correct words for things.  He's home now and making great improvements in all these areas through cognitive therapy.
• February 1st we went to Olympia for a visit with the Taylors and Eric and Miriam.  We spent a fun few days with them and especially enjoyed visiting the health club pool and the new Olympia Children's Museum.  Except for the part where we brought the flu with us (and then left it behind for them to enjoy - sorry guys!) it was a great visit.
• Feb 5th we drove from Olympia to Portland where I attended the Organicology conference while Conan and Cary explored the city for 5 days.  The conference was good, but the boys had a lot more fun than I did; they went to the zoo, the children's museum, Powells, several parks, the farmer's market, and generally had a great time riding the streetcars and the train, not to mention the gondola!
• Back home again lastSunday night, we settled back into our regular weekday routine and Conan resumed his swimming lessons, which are going very well.  He's really turning into a water baby, and loves jumping in and paddling around with his water wings on.  He even puts his face in the water sometimes!
• Last night we hosted a party for Charlotte's 35th birthday, which was great fun.  We even had Karaoke!  Everyone took a turn, including the children: highlights included Cohen's rendition of the ABC song, Conan belting out Twinkle Twinkle, and a group effort on Down by the Bay.  

So, there you have it.  Eventually I'll get the pictures off the camera from our time in Portland and Olympia, and there may even be some pictures from the birthday parties.  I have a lot of thoughts about Dad's stroke and the wake-up call that has been for me; it feels like I've entered a new phase of life, similar to leaving home or becoming a parent myself.  It's the Age of Knowing That Your Parents Could Die, with a side order of Recognizing Your Own Mortality.  I'm not ready to write that yet though, it's still percolating in my brain.  

And now, as a reward to anyone who actually read all the above, here's a video of another milestone: Conan has mastered the juicer.

Olympia

This past weekend we went to Olympia for Eric's "Barty" celebrating his completion of the Bar Exam. He looked far more relaxed than I've seen him in the past several years - it's good to be done with school and tests!

 

Our visit also happened to coincide with the "Paddle To Sqauxin" with canoes from as far north as Alaska arriving in Olympia Sunday morning for a day of ceremony and celebration. We went down to the beach to watch them come in.

 

Some of the canoe crews sang beautiful chants as they came into the inlet. I caught a little bit on video:

We also spent some time at one of Conan's favorite pastimes: looking under rocks for crabs.

 

Morgan is sure growing up. She's 3 now, and so confident and independent!  It's really neat to see her turning into a big girl.

 

Lots of people were out to watch the canoes come in, including large flocks of kayakers. It was very festive.

 

Back at Casa Taylor, the backyard fun complex was very popular. Conan and Morgan played together for hours.

 

It was wonderful to sit in Gabe's lovely gazebo and listen to the kids playing happily.

 

It's a long drive to Oly, but it's always worth the trip. We'll have to visit more often!

Peru!

Click through for larger images, complete with captions.

I didn't get to spend very much time at all sightseeing, but the little bit of Peru that I did see was really nice. I was able to get out of the hotel for a few hours before the conference started on Wednesday and after it finished on Friday, otherwise all my time was spent networking and listening to presentations on various aspects of the international produce trade. My own presentation was the final one of the day on Thursday, and it went really well. I was a bit nervous - sweaty palms, a few mispronounced words, one flustery moment when I lost my train of thought - but everyone I spoke to afterwards kindly said that it didn't show. The best compliment I received was from an older gentleman from one of the large conventional growers, who approached me after my presentation and told me that he understood organics for the first time, but it had never made any sense to him (as a market or a production method) before. My goal at the conference was to present organics as a legitimate, logical, and profitable global market segment - to counteract the perception that it's run by wild-eyed hippies who want to turn the clock back to stone age agricultural technology - and I think I succeeded. :)

Update: If you're interested in the current state of the US organic market (or just a fan of power point) my presentation is now available online.

Travel

I'm sitting in the airport at SeaTac, waiting for my flight, thinking about Conan. I'm heading to Peru (Yes, Peru!!) for a business conference. While I don't usually get to go to such exotic locales, business travel is an increasingly frequent occurance for me. I enjoy it, for the most part, but it's without a doubt the most difficult part of my career to balance with motherhood. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who does a great job holding down the fort, but it's still hard on all of us.

I've learned not to tell Conan about upcoming events too far in advance, because he doesn't really grasp the idea of waiting for more than a couple days of future time to pass. So I waited until last night, when I was doing my final packing, to tell him I was leaving. "Mama's going away for a few days, on an airplane, for work. Then I'll come back!" He's always taken this in stride before, but it's been less than a month since my last trip, so he remembers it clearly. This is the first time he's really understood what it meant that I would be gone.

He seemed OK with it at first, asking some questions about where I was going, and what kind of airplane ("A big one? A really REALLY big one?") I would be flying on. He played normally while dinner was cooking, but then he refused to sit down and eat. That in itself is (sadly) not that abnormal these days, but he didn't even want to play "hungry Tyrannisaurus-T-Rex", which usually gets him to eat like a charm. He really started to act out - yelling "You don't talk to me!" and "Don't look at me!" whenever I spoke or looked at him, stomping his feet, throwing toys, and generally being as bad as he knows how to be. So, as is our practice, we declared dinner time forfeit and moved straight to bedtime.

He continued to misbehave, physically trying to push me out of his room, crying and demanding that Papa ALONE handle bedtime. Somewhat confused, I stepped out and shut the door. I stood in the hallway, wondering what was up, and feeling sad that on my last night at home this week I wasn't going to get to spend any nice time with my baby. Then, with one of those sudden 180 degree reversals only a preschooler can manage, from inside the bedroom came shrieks of "I WANT MAMA!"

In that instant I realized what was going on. This was not a standard dinnertime meltdown. This was "my mama's going away and I'm mad and scared so I'm pushing her away but I also want her and this is NOT getting me what I want but I don't know what else to do." I went back in the room, got down at eye level with him, and asked him "Are you mad and scared because I'm going away?" "Yes" he wailed, and colapsed into my arms. So we cuddled and hugged. We talked about the things we would do together when I got back. He calmed down, and we got his teeth brushed and jammies on, and then we cuddled some more and he went to bed happily.

This morning I kissed him goodbye, and he waved happily as he drove off with Papa on the way to Preschool, his fears and insecurities banished, at least for now. But it was a real wake-up call for me, that as he's understanding more ane more about how the world works, some things which didn't previously cause anxiety are now pretty scary. I'm not sure what I can do to make my travel easier on him, other than to make sure I tell him very clearly that I'm coming back, and that I love him more than anything.

And bring him presents, of course.

Oregon Country Fair

We traveled this past weekend to the famous Oregon Country Fair, or as Conan likes to call it, the

Conan had a great time at the Fair. The last time we were there was in 2008 when I was pregnant, so technically this was his second fair, but who's counting? He enjoyed the parades, costumes, music, food, face-painting, as well as dancing, playing and riding around in the wagon with his "sisters" Moira and Kiah and Trixie. He went full hippie on us - flowers in his hair, a big smile, a dirty face, socks with sandals - the whole nine yards.

My beautiful boy.

It was a long long drive, but it was worth it overall for some great family entertainment. We were lucky enough to get invited (at the last minute) to work for Will & Keron so we received vendor passes into the fair in exchange for working in their booths. Not a bad deal at all!

Click through the slideshow for larger versions with captions.

There are a lot of stories to tell about all we saw and did at the fair, but you'll have to catch up with me in person to hear them - there's way too much for me to write it all out here. As fun as the fair was, it's good to be home!

Visiting the Family

Conan and I are in Plain for a visit with my family. (Papa stayed home, he had to work.) It's really nice to be here, just kicking back enjoying a relaxed visit. Yesterday we went down to Wenatchee and had lunch with (L-R) my Uncle Kenneth, Aunt Eleanor, Aunt Patty, and Cousin Joyce. It was the first time Conan had met any of them, and I think it's safe to say he charmed the socks off all of them. My mom & dad and Nadege and Chloe were also there, at the other end of the table. We had a really nice meal, and afterwards moved outside into the restaurant's yard where the babies played in the flowerbed and the adults chatted and enjoyed the sunshine.
Chloe doesn't walk yet, but she doesn't let that stop her! She climbed all over the rocks, very bold and determined; not to mention cute. She will be turning one on Saturday. It's hard to believe it's already been a year!

Conan was a pretty tired boy by the time we got home. He and Grandma Debbie enjoyed some some nice snuggle time together.

Today Chloe is here at mom & dad's place; mom babysits her on Fridays. She and Conan had fun playing together for about and hour and then both went down for their morning naps. So now it's just me and mom, enjoying a quiet cup of tea and watching the snow fall outside. What a perfect way to spend my vacation!

Chicago & other updates

Whew, it's been quite a week! On Sunday I flew out to Chicago for a conference and learned all about the new canadian national organic standards. (Pretty exciting stuff, really!) It was the first time I'd been away from Conan overnight, he and Papa had two nights and two mornings alone together. They did great, but it was sure hard on me! I missed Conan terribly. And I really can't reccommend a breastpump as a travelling companion, nor airport and airplane restrooms as pumping locations. All in all though, it was a good trip and Chicago had beautiful weather while I was there. The day after I left some big storms came in and they broke the reccord for rainfall - 3 inches in 24 hrs! The highlight of my trip was going up to the 96th floor in the Hancock Tower to look at the night view. It was amazing:

Conan has started eating solid foods, we gave him his first Avocado on Saturday at his "half-birthday" party and he loved it. Since then we have also introduced rice cereal, and yesterday he decided he was ready for watermellon too, so he grabbed a slice off my plate and thoroughly enjoyed sucking the sweet juice out of it. MMM!

He's getting closer to crawling every day. He can scootch along on his tummy pretty well now, and he can get up on his hands and knees and hold it for longer and longer every day. It won't be long before he puts the two together and really takes off.

He's also really good at standing. He can't pull himself up yet, but if he is helped into a standing position next to a chair or something he can hold onto, he can stand there for a long time. He still needs a spotter, though, because sometimes he expiriments with letting go, and then he'll fall.

Speaking of falls, he's had a couple big tumbles and bonked heads already. Poor little guy! I know a lot more of them are in the future, but it still makes me cringe. Learning to walk is scary (for me).

The best new development of all though is that he's sleeping through the night more and more often. We got THREE nights of uninterupted sleep this week - two of them consecutive! I really cannot describe how wonderful that is, but those of you with kids know what I mean. Those of you without kids think you do, but you don't - yet. ;)