Saving Daylight

  Day 8 (August 9) Another day, another round at Boots and Birdies.   They've added batting cages that they just opened during the days we were in town.  Unfortunately, they're still learning how to use it so the machine only pitched at one speed - fast.  But Arthur was a good sport and tried it anyway.  Dusk in the back yard with food I can't remember but am sure was excellent.  This was our last full day of staying around Lake Placid, so we took it very easy.  Day 9 (August 10) We decided to spend this day venturing out to the nearby town of Saranac Lake.  A little tradition we've forged is getting lunch from Blue Moon Cafe, a local brunch place, and taking it over to the lakeside park for a picnic.  In the park there's a small amphitheater where 3yo Arthur and 4yo Arthur enthusiastically "played show" with me - one of the many adorable memories attached to this vacation.  This little stage was where I once taught him, at length, ...

Day 5 (August 6th) My birthday morning started out with a walk and a sit by the edge of the lake near the beach.  This is a popular lake for triathlon training and generally active people, so we enjoyed watching people get at it on a gorgeous morning.  While sitting.   Morning snuggles with this little fella. A Not-Pictured but Significant Ambition of the Day Being that it was my birthday and I was more in the mood to try something deemed “significant” by comparison to other, more predictable days, I enthusiastically decided to try the adventure course at a nearby zip line park.  Matt of course tried it with me and it felt exciting to get to do something off the beaten path together.  (We don’t get out much these days, particularly not out together.)   I should open with the fact that I’ve never zip lined before, but have wanted to try it.  It has never presented itself as an easily available option with available people and available time.  Since...

Day 1 (August 2nd) After doing our best to leave by noon after some unforeseen circumstances, we drove almost five hours to Highland Falls, New York.  We stopped once at the Delaware “Catch-All” Station off the highway for PB&J, a surprisingly tasty ham and cheese sandwich, Doritos, and expensive bottled water.  Otherwise, it was a mission to get settled in for one night, rest, then be ready to tour West Point the next morning.   Getting a little zany after being in the car. Dinner at Park Restaurant, directly across the street from part of West Point.  Notice the Luca shirt. Quaint family restaurant with decent food and obvious small-town pride on its walls.  Got some pool time at the hotel. Day 2 (August 3rd) Matt has wanted to tour West Point since forever.  We started coming to Lake Placid in 2020 when of course they had paused tours due to the pandemic.  This is the first summer that they’re back, so he planned our drive up around this stop. ...