Visiting Mt. Constitution

The last day on Orcas Island was a fun one- a short drive to the top of the mountain and a pb&j lunch there while watching the islands appear and disappear like magic. The grand finale of our  trip was taking turns rowing the boat on one of the lakes. What a great vacation !

Miss my girls!!

I am so glad Melissa and Sylvie are having such fun in WA... Also so glad they are coming home tomorrow!

Orcas Island

Sylvie is having a blast with Aya and Steven in Washington. So much cousin fun!

Orcas island

Today begins a 2 day stay in a beautiful cottage overlooking the harbor . Some of the best entertainment so far has been looking in shops (Steven is happy to announce that they have "good stuff "), finding a family of snails in front of the pet store , and scaring Melissa with the disappearing head and hand game.

Fun on the waterfront

Delicious tea and crumpets for breakfast, Pike Street Market, meeting a huge squid and then a Ferris wheel ride. Rain can't spoil Sylvie's Seattle fun !

Lunch with cousins

Sushi at Owajimaya is so good! Now off to the zoo!

Seattle fun

Sylvie, Aya and Steven really liked being up so high on the roof deck where we're staying in Seattle. Mom, Dad and I really liked bringing them back inside, away from the edge!

Best Sylvie and Daddy Day yet - Six Flags!!!

It has been a long time since Sylvie and I spent the whole day together. So yesterday I took a day off of work and surprised her with a trip to Six Flags New England.

I pondered trying to drum up a little buddy to bring with her, but decided not to. I'm so glad. Turns out Sylvie not only loves rides--which we knew.  She loves SCARY rides. If there weren't height requirements there isn't a coaster in the park that she wouldn't have boarded without hesitation. As it was, we spent most of the day on some pretty intense rides. And she was such a pal all day.

We started out with two roller-coasters, both of which had me yelling more than she was.

I spied the kids' section of the park and we headed there next. Sylvie took one turn on the "Krazy Cars," pronounced the ride "so boring," and asked if we could go find another roller coaster. We didn't see the kiddie section again.

Okay, so this is the Slingshot. Click here and read the description, and ask yourself if this is something the typical six year old would want to try (or the typical 41 year old).

Syl insisted, so I made her stand and watch the people in line before us... thinking she'd back out. Here's what happened:

The exchange Sylvie is bragging about happened after our initial launch and free-fall. I yelled, "are you okay!!???!!" thinking she might be freaked out. In response she dead-panned, "I'm not the one screaming." She was right!

After we got off the ride there was a group of women waiting to high-five her.

From the slingshot we hit a water ride and then grabbed a slushie.

Blizzard River is one of those rides where you either luck out and come out the other side bone dry, or you don't and you don't.  I didn't, much to Sylvie's profound and vociferous amusement.

From there it was off to Pandemonium, which I really thought would be Sylvie's limit. This one is a roller coaster on which the cars only hold four people, two pairs facing each other. And the carts spin freely. 

How did she like it? Judge for yourself.

We rode five times!

There's nothing like "play 'til you win" games...

This candid clip toward the end of the day captures what Sylvie thought of her Sylvie and Daddy Day... the kid cracks me up.

Free Spirit from Dan Haley on Vimeo.

And on the way home...?

Sylvie and Melissa are right now on a plane to Seattle to see her cousins for a few days. I had to stay behind for work. So it's extra-awesome that we had such a great day yesterday. When they get back we start planning for Grammy and Grampy's visit and our End of Summer BBQ!!

Have fun in Seattle girls! Daddy misses you!

Happy 45th Grammy and Grampy!

Can you believe these two have been married 45 years?? Me neither!

Looking great Grammy and Grampy!

Pan Mass Challenge the second time around

For the second year, this weekend  I rode 192 miles across Massachusetts, from Sturbridge to Provincetown at the tip of the Cape in the Pan Mass Challenge. Again we rode with the psycho-fast group of triathlete colleagues, who had us done with the 100-plus miles of day one yesterday before noon, and brought us in to P-town by 10 AM this morning. It was a haul, but absolutely incredible once again.

It rained like heck the first day, which made it all the more amazing to see so many people outside at the ends of their driveways, cheering and yelling "thank you." An awful lot of people are impacted by cancer. Today's weather was better.

A very few photos:

First of all, the race shirts this year were ridiculous. I mean, come on.

5 AM Saturday at the start...

Water break

Day 1 finish. Soaked to the bone.

A few beers helped. I was just kidding here. Really, I was.

Day 2 finish.

On the ferry home.