March 12 - 22, 2015 - Disney World and Grand Cayman Island - Spring Break 2015

Four Days in Disney World with Two Five Year Olds

Alle’s Band was going to Disney World for part of Spring Break, so we decided that it was a good excuse to take the boys and meet Alle there. We went there for four days, staying at the Wilderness Lodge and visiting Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. Not being a Disney expert, I wanted to make sure we saw all the right things for the boys. I had the deadlines for reservations in my calendar – booked the lodging in September, the meals in December and our Fast Passes for rides 60 days in advance in January.

It was a busy whirlwind, but the boys seemed to have fun. The things we liked were taking the boat from Wilderness Lodge to Magic Kingdom, seeing the characters at the character meals such as Pooh and friends at Crystal Palace, Belle and the Beast at Be Our Guest, and Mickey and friends at Chef Mickeys, finding some of the more interesting events and rides such as telling a story with Belle, the Safari and shows in Animal Kingdom, and happening upon a parade at Magic Kingdom.

Some of my favorite photos include our first view of the Wilderness Lodge lobby.

A view of Cinderella's castle

A distant view of Rapunzel's tower,

Pooh, wandering around Disney World,

Waiting to get into Beast's castle,

The Beast's Castle and Ballroom

The carved Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom.

Minnie Mouse and friends at Chef Mickey's.

A Week on Grand Cayman Island

After going non-stop for three days at Disney World Alle joined us, we packed up and we all flew to the Cayman Islands. We flew to Grand Cayman and spend a week at a lovely, relaxed condo on Seven Mile Beach. 

Our condo was right on the beach and the boys could walk out our door and run in the sand to the water. Here was our view as we walked to one of these beach chairs. 

The sand was fine and white and stretched forever, or perhaps for seven miles. The water was warm and wonderful shades of blue. Our area was remarkably quiet. We were often the only people on the beach and in the water. There was also a pool that the boys loved to swim in. One of our days, we left the beach and set sail for a few hours on the Jolly Roger pirate ship. 

Our favorite outing was to spend a day on a boat making stops to snorkel, see starfish, and swim with the rays.

The snorkeling was some of the best I've done in turquoise clear, warm water. Even Peter and Ted were able to see the varied and beautiful fish with their kid goggles. We all swam with the rays and fed them. In Stingray Cove, there were over twenty swimming around us. 

Cayman was so relaxed and very sunny - the perfect balance to Disney. We didn't want to return home.

Rebuilding the Studio - September - November 2014

In April 2011, I put together an exciting new design for my glass studio. But as life, scheduling and remodeling go, it took me three years before I actually brought in a contractor to help me with the work. And, just as on schedule, it took another five months before he was actually able to bring his team in to do the work. He thought it would take “just a week” after Labor Day, but we completed the project in early November 2014. When it comes to construction projects, one has to practice the gift of patience.

It is so wonderful to have a new studio that it was worth the wait. My old studio work tables were once the kitchen cabinets of the previous owners of our house in Burlingame, California that my daughter’s father and I purchased in 1993. The kitchen cabinets were very fashionable when the McCormicks put them in in the mid- to late-1960’s, but they were a bit outdated 30 years later in the 1990’s. Since they were solid wood, David and I decided they would make great work tables. So, he screwed them back to back, put them on casters, placed doors on them for tops, and I worked happily on them for 20 years. One was my kiln table, one was my central work table and the last was a long work table, which sat against a wall. The rest of my motley studio crew was an old desk one of our neighbors had put out for trash. My 75 jars of powdered glass frit were sitting on the shelves of a large, old bookcase my grandfather had made which is in the next door laundry room. The largest item was my grandfather’s old work desk.  My sheets of glass sat on the floor in six crates from Bullseye Glass and it was getting nearly impossible to tell what colors of glass I had anymore. It was time for a change.

One day in April 2014, while having a morning snack with my friend Darca, she mentioned that she liked working with the contractor who was remodeling her kitchen. I asked her for a recommendation. When I asked her contractor to come over and quote on my studio project, it turned out that the work tables I wanted to construct were very similar to the work tables Matt used in his shop and so it seemed like a good fit. Unfortunately, as the months wore on, it became clear that his team would not have time for the project during the Spring or during the Summer… they started the day after Labor Day. The work tables, drawers and cabinets were custom built based on my design and to accommodate my cases of glass. Here are photos of how the studio looked during and after their work.

East Corner Before

East Corner Glass Cases Going In (and Old Work Table)

Northeast Corner Glass Cases Going In

Northeast Corner Moving In

Frit and Glass Wall Before (with Old Kiln Work Table)

Frit and Glass Wall (with New Kiln Work Tables)

New Work Tables and Drawers In Process

New Tables and Shelving Complete

Moving Back In

Now that it’s starting to snow in Iowa, I will have to share some of this space with our outdoor furniture and a car during the winter months, but it will still be wonderful to continue my current series in this new space. 

August 2 - 12, 2014 - 10 Days in North Carolina

10 Days in North Carolina August 2 – 12, 2014

Before we left for 10 days in North Carolina, the boys and I harvested their carrots. They had planted the seeds in their preschool class in April and we transplanted them to our veggie planter earlier in the summer. The boys pulled them in bunches from the soil. The carrots looked and tasted “like real carrots” and we ate them at dinner; the boys were so pleased and proud.

I also packed up a piece of glass from my new sunset series and delivered it to the Iowa State Fairgrounds, where they were gearing up for the biggest fair in the world, August 7 - 17. Here is my glass that was on display at the Fine Arts exhibition there (more information at www.tbsglass.com). Alle and I also each had a photograph at the Cultural Center of the Fair this year.

Alle arrived from California on the evening of August 1^st and bright and early the next morning, we all left for Norfolk, Virginia. From there, we rented a minivan and drove south for two hours in the pouring rain. The rest of the country was enjoying sunny summer weather, but the Carolina coast was in thunderstorms. Saturday is the turn-over day for rental properties on the Outer Banks, so the other 100,000 families who were renting places for the next week were also on one of three approaches headed east to the tiny strip of islands that holds four lighthouses, highway NC-12, and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Here's one of the entry points on a sunnier day.

We finally picked-up our keys (the rental company had happily gone for the day, but left us a bag outside with keys and slightly damp toilet paper for the week), found a small seafood shack to eat dinner of crabs and shrimp, and made our way south to Nags Head, NC, arriving far after bedtime. The Cape Hatteras Seashore is a 70 mile stretch of wind-swept dunes and beach islands which frame the North Carolina mainland. It is beautiful in spite of the tall vacation homes which dot the shore towns and the strip malls which are along the commercial parts of the road. We stayed in a VRBO beach house which was right on the beach.

We were so happy to be on the beach, so the boys could run out our doors and play in the sand and be near the waves. We could see and hear the surf from our windows. Here's our view looking east to the Atlantic. 

Since it was still pouring with rain on our first day at the beach, we drove 40 miles south to visit the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. While we were there a thunderstorm hit, so only Ricardo and Alle made it up the stairs to see the view before it closed due to lightning.  The Cape Hatteras Light is a classic, well-known stripped black and white lighthouse that is used in so many lighthouse images.

Our house was near the Bodie Island Lighthouse, which is slightly shorter than Hatteras, but also black and white for daytime visibility. The Bodie Light warned ships coming down the eastern coast from the north that they were near Hatteras.

Hatteras marks where two ocean currents meet and form large sand bars or diamond shoals 15 miles out to sea. As a result it is the location of around 600 shipwrecks. When ships saw the Bodie Light, they knew to head out to sea to avoid Hatteras. Here are a few photos from my climb to the top of Bodie a few days later.

North of us was the Wright Brothers’ Memorial, which we visited twice. Our first visit there was late in the afternoon. Since the national park service there closed right at 5 pm, we only had time to see the museum. The museum has a replica of the Wright Brother glider and their first plane. In addition, the track and route of the Wright Brothers’ first flight in the field at Kill Devil Hills is marked out. Here is a modern plane landing at the airstrip in view of the marker of the first flight of the Wright Brothers.

and there is also a playground model of the plane that kids can climb on.

All in all, it is an interactive memorial and the boys were fascinated to learn about the early efforts, process and accomplishment.

Close to Kitty Hawk is the East Coast’s largest sand dune, Jockey Ridge. Being from Michigan and knowing the sand dunes on the west coasts of the Great Lakes, I wondered what the big deal was. But, the dune area was long, had trails and a nice walking space, and the views were great.

We climbed up to see the hang gliders and all of the kites. The boys loved running around in the sand.

The week at the beach was relaxing and fun. I would have happily stayed another week.

From Nags Head, we drove west 450 miles and eight hours to Asheville. We crossed all of North Carolina, from the beach, through the wet lands and areas called Alligator River. We saw farm lands growing tobacco, cotton and soybean and drove into the mountains and smoky Blue Ridge hills. We were traveling to Asheville to join the Board, management and spouse meetings for Ricardo’s bank. We arrived there at the end of a long day, ate dinner at a wonderful organic café called Sunny Point Café in West Asheville, and then drove to the Biltmore Estate to check in at the Inn.

It wasn’t until the next morning that we awoke to see our view of the Blue Ridge hills from the Inn at the Biltmore.

We drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway, only driving on it for a few miles, but still enjoying the serenity of not seeing anything commercial and driving at 45 miles an hour in park-like surroundings.

We love the Folk Art Center and shop near Asheville on the parkway. While there, I strongly hinted that one of the art pieces would be great for my birthday.

Before the meetings started, we also toured some of Asheville’s galleries. The Blue Spiral used to be in our price range, but only a few pieces were on this visit. We also looked at the Haen, Bellagio and Minerva galleries. These have all become more upscale as well. Twenty five of us from the meetings visited a few of the studios in the River Arts area to see the ceramics, painting, weaving and other artwork there – a great group of people to wander around and have lunch with as always.

It was fun to have a chance to visit the River Arts artist studio area to see the artists at work and get a sense for how they approach their work.

The Biltmore Estate required a whole day on its own. The house can be seen on a self-guided tour with audio and by asking questions of the docents in every room. It takes hours to see the whole house, including the kitchens and food storage downstairs. One forgets how complex it was to store food in the days before refrigeration and how difficult it was to cook with imperfect ovens and stoves. The Vanderbilts changed clothes four or more times a day to be dressed appropriately for their activities. All of the clothing was washed by hand in the basement rooms. It was an incredible set-up.

Since we were asked not to take photos inside, here's the view out the main floor veranda. 

George Vanderbilt designed the house with architect Richard Morris Hunt in the 1890s. The outside gardens were designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead (the same designer as NYC’s Central Park). The project was said to be the pinnacle of their careers. Olmstead also designed the roads around the estate and the approach to the house and his goal was to have a visual surprise around every bend.

Vanderbilt collected artwork and design ideas from many visits to Europe, so each room is unique, filled with interesting artwork and decorated on a grand scale. The gardens are also inspiring and need another hour or two to tour.

We got caught in a thunderstorm and cut our visit short.

We had another lovely evening at the Biltmore with old time folk music at the Winery Barns on our last night. As we flew from Asheville to Atlanta and back to Des Moines the next morning, Ted had a minor meltdown stating that we HAD to go back. He wanted to visit North Carolina again, perhaps tomorrow. 

July 2 – 12, 2014 - Summer Visit to Seattle Area

Visit to Seattle Area July 2 – 12, 2014

The maybe-world famous, definitely-annual Des Moines Art Festival was the last weekend of June and the boys were in town for the first day of it this year. They left for Seattle on June 28^th right after they each completed one square of a huge mural for the festival of Seraut's Sunday Afternoon painting. Their squares were part of the prominent woman’s umbrella and hat in the upper right part of the painting.

I stayed home for three or four extra days for some time on glass and to move three bedrooms of furniture around to create a new “big boy bedroom” in our guest bedroom. On July 2, I flew to Seattle and joined the boys in Seattle. They had been staying at the houseboat on Portage Bay, near University of Washington (and had seen lots of other friends and family I didn't get a chance to see), but the four of us stayed downtown for my first night. We stayed at the Mayflower, a lovely, small old downtown hotel on 4^th Street. While I was flying in, I looked up good restaurants for kids in Seattle and one, Lola’s was also a Tom Douglas restaurant and close by. When in Seattle, it is always a good bet to try a Tom Douglas restaurant or two.

We checked in and decided to be real tourists while in the city. We immediately headed out to try the monorail to the Space Needle. The monorail only has two stops, but the boys loved it. We went from downtown to the Pacific Center and the base of the Space Needle. We had planned to walk through the new Chihuly Glass Garden, but when we saw the $30+ each price tag (and since we have seen a lot of his work), we decided not to go. We got a ticket instead to the top of the Space Needle and headed up. Luckily, the elevator to the top also offers views of Chihuly’s Gardens, so we had the best of both worlds.

At four years old, the boys are not tall enough to see over the viewing wall, so they could only see the long views from the Space Needle. Here's the view of downtown to the south.

We decided to head back down and go to dinner. We LOVED Lola’s and recommend it highly. It features Greek and Mediterranean food, such as various hummus-type spreads, many kebobs, flat bread pizzas, and salads. The boys also love this type of food, and sat happily coloring, naming every passing vehicle from our window seat, and munching on food.

We spent the next three days on the houseboat. While there, we enjoyed a meal with Ricardo’s older daughter and son in law, visited a few friends (including an old friend of mine from Microsoft; Thanks Candace), visited the Woodland Park Zoo, the Seattle Aquarium and went to Pike Place Market almost every morning. 

On the 4^th of July, we piled into our boat and made our way to Lake Union for the annual fireworks display. There are hundreds of other boats all anchored in Lake Union for the 4^th of July, but it’s the closest one can get to the barge firing the downtown fireworks and so the display is quite dramatic. Here's a view of downtown from south Lake Union.

After waiting for darkness until after 10 pm, both boys fell asleep after the first burst or two.

On the 6^th, took the ferry from West Seattle and spent three or four days on Vashon Island. Although, we have a small farm there, we rent it out and so we can only visit. We stayed with Aunt Shirley and Uncle Bill in their wonderful studio flat above the woodshop. Here's some of the poppies in their extensive vegetable and flower gardens.

While there we enjoyed beach picnics, 

horseback riding (Thanks Linda), 

swimming (Thanks Pam), art projects, walks in the woods 

and cook outs every evening. 

Alle flew in from her choral festival near Vancouver and joined us. Shirley and Bill also have two new kittens, so the boys were very well occupied. 

We all had a grand time.

After four perfect summer days on Vashon, we headed north on another ferry to the Hansville area and stayed at a small lighthouse. Here's the view from within the light.

While there, we visited the Point-no-Point lighthouse, a southwestern beach which is more secluded, tracked and watched all of the boat traffic into Puget Sound, 

and ate lots of Norwegian baked goods from Poulsbo, where I also got a chance to meet up with an old friend from college (thanks Lynn).

The weather was sunny and clear most of our ten to fourteen days and so we enjoyed the Seattle area at its summertime best.