Destination Birthday Partay!

Lucian and Mama handle the candles

Over a month ago now (yep - still catching up) I drove my lil' ole '89 Toyota truck up to Asheville, NC to be with some of my best friends on the planet in order to help celebrate the 23rd anniversary of Vivian's 17th birthday. Bennett and Vivian and their two sons Lucian and Jules, live in Brooklyn. Most of the party attendees were from the south but nobody was from Asheville itself. Everyone drove, thus making just being there together that much more special. To top it all off, Viv wanted a pig roast. So 117 lb Porky Bacon Pig (as he came to be known) gave himself to the cause. This pig was more of a Phoenix, it seems, for after Bennett buried it 4' in the ground, on a bed of red-hot rocks, it emerged as the best dern pulled pork I've ever had. Here's how it went...

The affair was well attended. 

Cook pig: Check. Open cooked pig: um...

 Porky Bacon Pig was rubbed with spices, stuffed with pineapple and butternut squash, and wrapped in banana leaves and burlap.

"You want us to....EAT that??!"

Mama V took the pictures

 This was my first introduction Jules, a cute and mellow little guy. I was stunned by his New Yorkese ability to sleep through most anything.

 

Papa B and Baby J.

4 Boys - Me, Toph, B, and PBP's head, which is prolly on B's bookshelf at home

Toph and B put things back the way they were.

 And then we roasted marshmallows.

What pig pit?

V enjoys sitting. B enjoys a marshmallow.

Happy Birthday, Vivian. 40 more; better, wiser, happier.

The Haps of Late...

Yep - standing. That was the last time we put the swaddle on her.

"Ha! No, I'm not going to wash those dishes, Dad!"

6 teeth - things are looking up

I actually like the accordion. H, though, is just interested in the leather straps.

Practicing for the bike seat

Standing everywhere. And she can get there, too.

At the end of the day, there's nothing like some good old-fashioned relaxation... while mama folds clothes

Mom, Lo, and Ash.... oh, and my birthday

Where's Ashley?

 So how bad have I been about keeping up with this blog? Ril, ril bad- that's how bad. A month ago I turned 35 years young and my Mom, my sis, and my niece came out to share in the joy and I'm only now getting around to telling the world about it.

It was a great weekend (if sweltering). I only had the presence of mind to keep my camera around me for the first day of their visit. If this blawg is any indication, my camera seems to be the only way things get remembered in my life. Case in point, only the first 1.5 hours of the visit actually happened; the Georgia Aquarium was a dream - my party at Memorial Park, and all the people who came to well-wish me, heat-induced hallucinations.

Here's what really happened:

My sister and her daughter sat in the pecan cathedral of our back yard in blissful peace.

 

Then we all went inside and the Wild Rumpus started!

 

...Until Mom cried, "Stop!" and everyone mellowed out. Ashley paid Mom back all the money Lo and I had ever bummed off of her (Thanks, Ash!). 

 

Then Hannah told Mom a really dirty joke.

 

...And then crawled off to cook me the finest meal I've ever eaten. 

 

It was the best birthday ever - and it wouldn't have been if Mom and Lo hadn't bent over backwards to get themselves here. Thanks, ladies. Indebted. 

All true, I swear. 

-r

Yay Bikes! My quiver.

Yes, Sarah will roll her eyes when she sees this, but I'm doing it anyway.  I have four (4) complete bikes and each serves a different purpose. Here they are:


First up is my geared Cyclocross bike. If you missed my, "What is cyclocross?" post way-back-when, follow this link.

Contemporary: aluminum frame, carbon fork

As if that's not bad enough, some of us do this on bikes with only one gear. Below is my SSCX (single-speed cyclocross) bike.

Traditional: Steel frame, steel fork, high spoke-count wheels

 I commute on an old Peugot steel frame from the '80s. Again, just one gear- easier to keep the gears clean. Yes, the blue-white-orange color scheme is completely gratuitous, but really - it looks nice, no?

Deep dish rims and a spoke card. Maybe I am a townie!

 But for long rides on the road, I have one of those new-fangled swoopy carbon fibre things. Crazy stiff and stupid light, this thing will go as fast as I make it (my unofficial top speed is somewhere between a dashing squirrel and a Clarke County public vehicle, speeding, trying to hit said squirrel).

Meeting up for a group ride one morning, an octogenarian stopped in his tracks after seeing my bike. I thought he was going to start on the whole, "You cyclists..!!" thing. Instead he just said, "Pretty."

 Still, all good things must come to an end. The Specialized has been good to me but carbon fibre tends not to age gracefully. I'd rather not wait to see how ungracefully this bike will decline. To that end, I present my new frame:

The Raleigh International, new and improved for 2011, complete with "rock out," courtesy of the most over-qualified bike shop employee in town.

After 100+ years of making bicycles, Raleigh has incorporated new alloy technology into their framebuilding in the last few years. It is my hope that this frame will be my road flagship for many years to come. I'll  post a pic once it's built up.

Thanks for indulging me.
More family-centric stuff soon.
-r

Kate and Cody and some New Shoes

Our friends Kate and Cody paid us a visit while they were in from Oxford, Miss, and they were kind enough to think of Lil' Hannah before they came.
See?

, 

First "steps" in the new shoes

Yes, really.

2 happy girls.

It was great to see you, K & C!

Ooh, that Baby!

 

So my Mom, my sister and my niece are coming this weekend to visit. This'll be the first time Lo's ever met Hannah and this will be the first time Lil' Ashley and Lil' Hannah Mo get to size eachother* up. As a preview to this grand event, I am offering Le Grande Preview Pictorale so the ladies can fix in their minds what they're going to be up against. Allez!

Who's that?

Momma Donna loves that Duck!

In the office

Below the office. Man, those legs!

That hat?

The neighbor

Those eyes

Those girls

Aw, Dad...!

The burgeoning editor

Not to be forgotten, that cat.

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but hoo-boy- have we been busy!
Best to all - more when I can.
r


*Remember, I'm starting a quiet revolution to make "eachother" one word as it should be!

At the Beach

S & H & I met up with our friends Jacki and Cash and their son Lachlan at Momma Donna & Grandpa Wayne's house a few weeks back. Donna and Wayne have built a beautiful home for themselves north of Myrtle Beach, SC and were kind enough to open it to us and our friends for a few days. It was a great trip, complete with shopping trips, beach time, and a beach cruiser time trial (for me). Sarah and I hit a milestone though. We got to the house, made sure all was well, and left H with Momma Donna and went to see our first movie since H arrived! Super 8 was good, but the hour and a half of uninterrupted audio-visual diversion was great! Sigh...

We flew (Note: beware the $9 ticket. Hidden fees'll eat you up and the seats will make you envy a sardine! Spirit Air bad). Still, the trip was over relatively quickly. 

"This train is departing. Please hold on."

This is what Momma Donna's house looks like. She has a show-stopper garden just off to the left.

6'8" man included for scale.

 It was a great visit with plenty of time to relax.

Morning on the back deck.

And of course there was the beach.

The now famous "Two Cuties" photo.

 Myrtle Beach is home to copious amounts of the strange stores that sell only beach chairs and hermit crabs and coconut bras and such. It's very bizarre - Grandpa Wayne thinks they're all covers for money laundering operations. How cool would that be?! Cash and I had to investigate.

Going out "for" business?? Hmm.

 And what could possibly be inside Alvin's Island (I'm still stunned they actually managed to use the apostrophe correctly) worth having? Well, besides the towels and taffy and free beach bags, of course.

Visors with fake hair! Yes! Cash's head exploded moments after this picture was taken.

 

 

 

Ah yes, there  something about a place where land meets water, something elemental that requires... shot glasses?