Glasses!

I have since taken the plastic out of these "cheaters" so she doesn't actually require these any time soon. This is what she was doing this morning...reading to all the "kids."

(I feel the need to explain the large cardboard box in the background.  It is a makeshift play house.)

Despite the fact that these two photos appear to have been taken during the same photo op, a lot actually happened between them.  Lucy had her usual breakfast of cereal, blueberries and milk (twice-over), several different outfits, bike to school, Apple school (swimming activity today), bike home, costume change at least twice, lunch with Pippa, nap, snack, free-play...back in her morning outfit. As you can tell, she likes these hand-me-downs. Even though the temperature outside continues to reach well into the 90's, she is only allowed to wear such skimpy clothes in the privacy of our home. We are in the midst of Dengue Season and this requires us to be outfitted in long sleeves/pants/hats etc any time we are outdoors. 

She was again....."reading to the kids" when I got home from work.  

I love that they all have mats.

Thinking about Peace

Friday was the United Nations International Peace Day. It was also the first time, in at least 17 years, that the school sent its students home early in response to the threat of a potential protest at the Embassy. I was in the middle of parent conferences when I saw an Embassy employee rush out of the room and, moments later, received a text from Amie that she was going across the street to get Lucy after she got word that they were shutting down the US Embassy. Within a couple hours all students were sent home during a controlled release and we went home as well, waiting to see what would happen in the streets around the Embassy and school. Thankfully, nothing materialized. That said, it certainly gave us a chance to practice such protocols and also gave us some things to think about. The growing resistance to the film and other unrest within the Muslim world has seemed distant from our little bubble here in Delhi, despite our close proximity to the Middle East. That changed on Friday, and although the events that unfolded proved to be nothing out of the ordinary, it certainly makes us think.

The monsoon is over, which means beautiful weather will surround us for the next six weeks or so. We spent a lot of time outside this weekend enjoying the sunshine. This afternoon we ventured over to Gandhi Smriti, the home where Gandhi lived for the final 144 days of his life, and also the site where he was assassinated. Amie and I have been meaning to go here for a while, having twice been turned away because it was closed. Today we had no trouble getting in and we were both very moved by the visit.

We have always been the type of parents that try to give honest answers to Lucy's many, many questions. Living in a place such as India has certainly given us pause from time to time about this parenting choice. It is not always easy to give the honest answer to questions about subjects such as beggars, children defecating on the sidewalk, dead dogs in a market, etc, etc. Most of the time, we try, so when Lucy immediately started asking questions about Gandhi's life and assassination, we did our best to give her sincere responses. We talked about how Gandhi loved everyone and was always nice. We talked about how important he was for India. She was really interested in him and expressed true sadness when we told him he died. She actually said in the car ride home that she missed him and wanted to give him a hug. We also talked at length about how he was killed, and the questions just kept coming.

Tonight at dinner she brought up the conversation again and asked the same question again, "But why did someone shoot Gandhi?".

How can you answer that one?

Gandhi's birthday is a little over a week away, when all of India will take a day to remember its most beloved leader. I hope we can all be reminded of the many remarkable lessons Gandhi taught the world about love and peace, and in this time of unrest, try to see the so many more ways we are alike than different. 

Passing by the Salt March Statue on the way to Gandhi Smriti

Training run

Several AES runners are training for the Delhi Half next week.  Here we are at India Gate.

Twins

This day Lucy wanted to be twins with Daddy.

Wedgie

This is how we SQUEEZE a few more weeks out of our outfits.

Hair

Thanks to Marmar, Marmie and Dimple....Lucy has really gotten herself into some hair accessories.

Weekend Update

It was a typical weekend for us.  

We  ventured out into Delhi to Mr. Khan's with some friends. Mr. Khan has great business sense! You go to his house for a carpet-showing.  You take home as many beautiful antique carpets as you like at no charge.  He even delivers and will pick up the ones you don't like. And if you change your mind a year later...no problem!

We spent a good deal of time at the pool this weekend.  Lucy flings herself off the diving board at will and swims the length of the pool unassisted.  It is quite an amazing thing to watch your kids learn to swim!

Then Ted got crazy in the kitchen.  I will admit, he has perfected the balance between healthy and delicious.  These scrumptious muffins have a pinch of sugar, little to no oil and I think I heard him saying, "buttermilk...buttermilk...what can I substitute for buttermilk."

My granola on the other hand is purely good for you. No substitutions permitted, I only omit things I don't want like sugar and oil.   It is packed full of only healthy ingredients...sesame seeds, wheat germ, almonds, walnuts, grapenuts, cinnamon, water, oats...and a little molasses...I don't think it tastes bad!

Lucy is getting too cool for school on this bike with training wheels.  

I have a feeling they are coming off soon. 

Increased security around here.  

I am getting the pointer finger for taking a picture outside the US Embassy. 

Scout is on the move at 6 months!

Lucy's creativity is taking off!  I couldn't believe it when we merely suggested that she go draw a picture.  She came back with this sail boat.  I then suggested that she write MOMO on the top.  She insisted that she knew how to spell and draw the letters.  I was in disbelief...and then proven wrong. 

"These are bad-guys.  Their names are Thomas and Percy.  They shoot fire!"
I will admit they don't look quite as friendly as the one above.  

Lucy practicing for our trip to New Zealand in a few months. 

The not-so-short summer recap...

Where to begin? I guess at the beginning...

We left a hot, crowded and dirty Delhi on May 31st, and arrived in a warm, clean, beautiful Barcelona. After hopping in a rental car (apparently"economy" means Mercedes coup in Spain), we drove three hours north to Cadaques. The clean air, uncrowned roads and breathtaking views of the Mediterranean were almost too much for us to take. We found our hotel after losing our way a few times in the tight cobblestone roads lined with old whitewashed buildings. As beautiful as our drive had been getting to Cadaques,we simply were not prepared for what we found the next morning. Cadaques is a small port town on the Costa Brava, north of Barcelona (about 20 km shy of the French Border). Made famous by Salvador Dalhi, who called it home, there is no question why scores of artists travel to, or live, here. It is nestled between the beautiful, clear waters of the Med, and impressive mountains of the Cap de Creus National Park. 

Still not quite the tourist season, we found it relatively empty,especially at 5:45 am, when our jet-lagged family couldn't stand lying awake any longer. Needless to say, we HIGHLY recommend Costa Brava to anyone. We can't wait to go back.

As wonderful as Spain was, we were so excited to finally return home after 10months. Landing at Logan was truly an emotional experience, and we literally ran through the concourse to Ned and Janet who were waiting at baggage. After 36 hours in Duxbury, we loaded the caravan and headed south to Annapolis to finally meet Momo in person. Our amazing family basically dropped everything they were doing in their busy lives to come meet us in Annapolis. At one point we had 14 people at the Port Annapolis Marina, helping to prep Momo for her splash.

We love to celebrate monumental events with T-shirts. The "50" T-shirts were for Barb's birthday.

After 4 days of incredibly busy work, lots of laughs, quite a few frustrations, help from new friends we met, and so much wonderful help from family, Momo did in fact, splash. And after a few anxious minutes of trying to locate some drips, we released her from the slings and she was on her own.

We spent one night at the dock, before the boys (Ted, Ned, Ted, Duke), said goodbye to everyone else and made way for the Chesapeake.

The cruise north featured a lot of frustration before a lot of fun. Day one had us going north up the Chesapeake towards the C and D canal. Relatively uneventful,though it was exciting to see how well a Valiant 40 sails. We were running before southerly winds and at times hit 9 knots.

Day two was also relatively uneventful as we ran down the Delaware, this time in front of mostly northerly winds. Unfortunately that didn't bode well for our turn around Cape May. The forecasted NE winds were just that, and blowing a steady 25 knots with gusts higher. We decided to duck into Cape May for the night, but I spent the evening in the cockpit , waking up every fifteen minutes to see if we were dragging anchor towards the pile of rocks only 100 ft aft of the stern. Thankfully our anchor held firm. We repaired some tears in the mainsail and other items that seemed to break at will, before heading out the next morning. Winds were still NE (the direction we wanted to be sailing) when we headed out of the cut, but we were hoping they would shift more northerly, allowing us to make some decent headway. We were wrong. Stiff winds and steep seas, both coming from NE all day and all night resulted in a 24 hour period of 140 miles under the keel, but only 40 in the direction we wanted to go. Tired, seasick and beat up, Momo and her crew of four headed for Atlantic City. Ted (Larson) and Duke had to be back at their respective jobs two days later, and so the hard decision was made that they would leave the boat in Atlantic City and depart by train. So Ted and Ned remained as a crew of two. After some provisioning and more repairs to seemingly everything, Momo once again left the Jersey shore. At this point,winds had finally done some clocking towards the east, allowing us to fetch the coast on a starboard tack. Conditions improved by the hour, and after a 4pmdeparture through the cut, we were enjoying a hot dinner at 7pm, underway and about 15 miles off the coast. 

The monitor wind vane worked beautifully, and we had a lovely night sail towards New York harbor, sailing past lady liberty around 10am the next morning. 

We decided to go inside Long Island, due to more forecasted NE winds, and after a day of motoring past Manhattan and through Hell Gate, we sailed into Long Island Sound with a southeasterly breeze off our starboard beam and a nearly cloudless sky. After another night of good sailing, we spent the next day inching closer and closer to the Cape Cod Canal. 

Scheduled to arrive around midnight and an unfavorable tide, we ducked into Marion harbor, where Ned traded places with Amie, Lucy, Scout, Jenny and her friend Brian (two heroes from our time in Annapolis) and special guest Rob Lloyd. We met at the Beverly Yacht club shortly after midnight and grabbed an empty mooring. Boy was it niceto see the girls after a week! (They had spent the week going to doctors appointments to get casts removed and vaccinations in Williamsport, followed by a short visit to Duxbury and the Hydes house in Sherborne, and generally being incredibly supportive of the crew at sea!).

We motored off the mooring just before 5 the next morning, headed for the canal and a favorable 4 knot current.

We sailed into Duxbury shortly before noon,exhausted and relieved to finally be home. Momo settled onto her mooring at Two Rock while we settled into our room at on Sunset rd.

Five days later we headed by car up to Maine for an incredible week on North Haven with all of the Lawsons, followed by a wonderful weekend celebrating Cabo and Kai's marriage in Tenants Harbor. 

It was fun to reminisce at Toots!

On our way south we stopped by our house in North Yarmouth, and after a $1000 septic system debacle, we headed back to Duxbury. There, we met Barb for a 4th of July celebration and then together departed the next morning on Momo, headed again for Buzzard's Bay. We motored through the canal and then had a beautiful sail to Fairhaven, where we sailed through the hurricane gate just as the sun hid behind the horizon. Apple Duke met us in Fairhaven,and after a night on the mooring there (thanks Benny!), we sailed for Cuttyhunk. Another nice sail and afternoon of exploring Cuttyhunk, was followed by some scrumptious lobsters and cornbread by Barbie. The next morning we sailed for Vineyard Haven.

We had a great run down Vineyard Sound, setting the chute and hitting 10 knots over ground (admittedly with a favorable current). We rendezvoused with Benny, his new boat, Apollo 8, and the rest of the Urmston crowd that evening at their home in West Chop, where we were treated to a wonderful lasagna dinner (thanks Tom and Sheila!). After two more days of exploring Martha's Vineyard and messing about with the Urmstons, we departed for Hadley Harbor on the northwest side of Wood's Hole. For an hour or so, we were accompanied by Apollo 8, crewed by Benny and Chetron, which gave us each a chance to get some action shots of our respective boats.

"Living the dream!"

We had a nice sail across the sound to Wood's Hole, again with the chute up (have I mentioned how nicely Momo sails?!!!).

It was our first time in Hadley Harbor and though not alone, we really enjoyed this beautiful little anchorage. The next day we motored across a glassy Buzzard's Bay to Mattapoisett, where our friends and fellow AES family, the Rosenfields, have a house. We had a short AES reunion before heading once again for the canal. We tucked into Pocasset Harbor to wait for the flood and then shot through the canal the next morning, arriving back in Duxbury midday. It was a truly wonderful 8 day cruise, aided by awesome weather and even better company.

 Thanks to Barb and Duke for all their help! This cruise was exactly what we needed. The girls became much more comfortable aboard. Lucy became a boat monkey, happy to play down below or explore up on deck. Scout began to get her sea legs (can you call it that for someone who can't even crawl?) and slept extremely well in her little cocoon in the pilot berth.

Her little cocoon

We got to know Momo's systems better, and much to our delight, we managed to break very little!

Most importantly, this little trip gave us confidence that we had made a good decision to commit ourselves and our family towards a goal of living aboard in a couple of years, and that this boat would be very well suited to doing so. 

After our return to Duxbury, we had a fun wedding weekend, celebrating cousin Molly's marriage to Dave Barrett. Lucy came down to see the bride.  Lucy is sporting Meg's fancy flops, Woody's purse, Molly's dress from when she was young and my cheaters "because (she) can't see anything without them AND because they are bug-protection".
 

She just looks like she is on a mission.

We also took the chance to surprise Janet with "60" shirts to celebrate her start of another decade. The same photo was taken 32 years before to celebrate her father's (Pop-pop) 60th. Notice Ted in Janet's arms at 2 months old in the far right of the bottom picture.

We then had a week of living again at Sunset Rd, working in the garden and spending as much quality time with Ned and Janet as possible.

The summer she started to accessorize!

Rainy days and swing sets

Lucy carries her new found friend, Mrs. Pteranodon!

The following weekend Barb (incredibly) made the 8 hour drive to Duxbury again, this time with Ted. Duke and Maria came down from New Hampshire and we all met on Momo. We headed out into Cape Cod Bay the next morning, but poor winds thwarted our efforts to make Provincetown. We bailed after a few hours and headed for Plymouth instead, and after some milkshakes and pizza, the crew returned to Two Rock. We had a beautiful sunset on a completely glassy Duxbury Bay, interrupted only by the waves we created during an impromptu back dive competition. 

We woke early to watch the sun rise over Duxbury Beach on our last morning aboard Momo.

A week later, Momo was hauled at Long Point in Duxbury, but not before getting struck by lightening (more on that later!). We spent 3 days readying Momo for a winter without us, and then sadly said goodbye to her, our families and America, and headed, once again, for the biggest democracy on planet Earth.

And so here we are, one month into year number two in India. Before I reflect on the last month here, I feel the need to say a few more things about the summer.

1.    We are so incredibly grateful for our wonderful and supportive families. THEY are the reason we find it so hard to live so far away. It would be so much easier to be here if we didn't miss you all SO MUCH.

2.    We are so grateful, as well, for the time off that this lifestyle gives us as a family. We had eight weeks of travel together this summer and it was wonderful.

3.    This summer gave us some great perspective on why we are here. We look forward to our plans of sailing full time, even more so, having spent our time aboard Momo this summer, and when things look bleak over here, we try to remind ourselves and each other why we are here. 

4.    Our families continue to overwhelm us with their generosity and we can't thank them enough!

Ok, so one month into year two. Despite a weekend bout of Delhi Belly that spared only Scout, and the usual discomforts that 95 degree heat, 90% humidity and 1.2 billion people can bring, I think we are doing pretty well. Lucy's swimming has improved leaps and bounds, Scout is just about crawling, Ted is happier with work, and Amie feels a million times better than she did a year ago during the first-trimester-from-hell. We continue to look for sources of inspiration around us and are intent on trying some new things this year. 

We are planning on going to New Zealand at Christmas, which will mark the 10th anniversary of when we met and began this crazy adventure together. It is hard to believe that we are finally returning to that wonderful country that we both hold dear in our hearts, 10 years later and with two daughters in tow!

If you are actually still reading at this point, my apologies.  We have been dragging our feet for a month, knowing we had so much to catch up on, and finally decided to just do it all at once. We promise the next post will be shorter!!! 

Lucy ponders life in Delhi on our balcony...over a cup of ice cream.

Have you met Ollum?  He is the one in the green shirt.  In his daily life he runs through Lucy's imagination (he is her imaginary friend, who regularly morphs between a baby you can hold in your hands, and a grown up man).  Here he is running in the London 2012 Olympics. We had no idea he was an elite runner from Africa until Lucy looked up at the TV a few weeks back and exclaimed "Hey, there's Ollum!"