Dining Alfresco

Thank you to Robby & Kristy for the Home Slice pizza.

Thank you to Mom for planting the garden so we can pick a fresh salad each night.

Thank you to Shiner for creating a new light beer that I actually like.

And thank you to the little monkey for letting me eat these for dessert:

Quotes from Childbirth Class

"Oh Roger, Oh Roger, Oh Roger...[sees baby's head crowning]...that doesn't look like a baby."

--Lady in birthing video

"[Scream] Brian, her teeth are falling out! Are my teeth going to fall out?!?"

--Squawked by me during birthing video (They were not teeth but ice chips, thank the Lord.)

Man: I've never seen that before.

Wife: Never?

Man: Never.

-- A couple sitting next to us after seeing a baby's head crown in a birthing video. The guy kept his head down for the rest of the video while his wife rubbed his back.

"I should bring a flask to the next class."

--Brian, to another guy as a joke

"I'm going to bring a flask to the next class."

--Other guy to Brian, for serious

"I can't believe there's one of those in my stomach."

--Me, looking into the room of brand new babies on our hospital tour

"Do I have to pick just one?"

--A mom-to-be during our lesson about medication options

"Now lean against your partner, or if you're alone, the wall."

--Narrator in childbirth video

"There's the creepy shower."

--Me on the hospital room tour referring to all of the women in the birthing videos who sit naked in the shower hosing themselves down.

Big Mushy Post About Brian

Brian and I just returned from a 10 day trip to London. Our trip was a last hurrah of sorts. Both a farewell to life in the northeast and life without kiddos. The following are a few of my favorite pics that I snapped of Brian. I think they all encapsulate perfectly why I'm so lucky to have him. (Sorry if that last bit made you wanna barf.)

At the Tower of London....

I am the one who reads the trashy King Henry VIII novels.
I am the one who wanted to see all of the sparkly crown jewels.
Brian is the one who had already been to the Tower but went again so I could see where Ann Boleyn had her head chopped off.

Having lunch in St. James Park...

I am an incredibly indecisive orderer. Brian always offers to order my second choice and split it with me so I can try both. Then, when I like his better, he lets me have the rest.

At a pub in Covent Garden...

I had to work for an hour before we met my family for dinner. Brian sat patiently while I worked, offering helpful suggestions when I needed them, and letting me steal sips of his beer so I wouldn't feel guilty for having one of my own.

And my favorite of all, outside Buckingham Palace...

Brian will simply do anything in the world to make me laugh. Anything. We noticed that with his map, camera, and back pack (of which was full of my stuff) he looked like the quintessential American tourist. To my delight he did not argue when I asked him to pose as such.

Adios Park Slope

How do I say goodbye to what we had?
(I'll miss you, rooftop)
The good times that made us laugh
(Like when I woke Brian up at 3am, certain there was a rat in the living room. After a 10-minute face off we turned on the lights and it was Casey's ball.)
Outweigh the bad.
(Crazy landlord? What crazy landlord?)

I thought we'd get to see forever
(Not true, I always new Brian had me on a 2 year time limit.)
But forever's gone away
(Well, technically it's just moving back to Austin)
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

I don't know where this road is going to lead
(First to the Upper West Side for a few months, a long trip to London, and then home at last.)
All I know is where we've been
(A trip to Europe with me, my two best girlfriends and sweet, patient Brian all sharing the same room.)
And what we've been through.
(Nine and a half years of Team: Brian, Claire, and Casey.)

If we get to see tomorrow
(Well that's morbid.)
I hope it's worth all the wait
(I sure hope Brian thinks all this waiting on me to get NYC out of my system was worth it.)
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

And I'll take with me the memories
(My Dad showing Brian how to do a "real" push up in our tiny apartment during Brooklyn Thanksgiving 2009.)
To be my sunshine after the rain
(Sunshine after the snow is more like it. So. Much. Snow.)
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

Our NYC home as empty as it was when we found it.

Like anyone addicted to something, Brian is having me detox on the Upper West Side for 2 months so that I don't have NYC withdrawals when we move back to Austin.

We've begrudgingly traded Prospect Park for Central Park. There are an equal number of squirrels and tourists. Casey has her eye on the former.

Our sublet is literally a block from a famous Magnolia bakery. They don't have cupcakes in Austin so I better eat a lot while I'm here.

The view from Riverside Park where the boats dock on the Hudson River near 79th St. There's a great outdoor restaurant out on the water. I went, ate a hamburger, and felt like I was sitting beside Lake Travis.

Punch me if I ever call it "the Vineyard"

Last year for Brian's birthday we went to Shelter Island, the laid back alternative to the Hamptons. It was as lovely and unpretentious as promised. So this year, when I got a tip from a co-worker that Martha's Vineyard was a prime location for fly fishing I was torn. Brian likes fly fishing a lot. But fanciness, not so much. Would Martha and her vineyard be too snooty for the likes of us?

The answer was no. I mean, there was some showiness afoot, but nothing overt or bothersome. Mostly we found cute little seaside towns with great food, shopping, and lots of beaches.

This was the ferry ride over when we were still a little suspect.

We stayed at a wonderful B&B in the town of Oak Bluffs. They were very nice to Casey so she asked me to take this picture.

Casey loves swimming at the beach. Actually, she loves standing in the water and staring at you until you throw a stick that she can swim after and decide at the last minute not to retrieve.

A boy and his dog.

We miss having a porch.

On Saturday night we had a grocery store picnic in the tradition of the Watkins family.

Sunday we took a bus to nearby Edgartown, passing over the bridge that was in the movie "Jaws." And then we got in the water. Eeek.

I will let you all guess whether or not Brian said "Ahoy matey" while posing for this picture.

All of the houses on Martha's Vineyard are beautiful

and so many of them are lined with overgrowing hydrangeas.

One of the most popular attractions in Oak Bluffs is the colony of "gingerbread houses" built after the civil war by Methodists who would come here for annual tent revivals. Apparently, they got tired of setting up their tents and taking them down each time. I bet the wives just threatened to check into a pricey hotel and so the husbands started building.

The funny thing was, the houses were about 85% the size of a normal house. At first glance you were like, "okay, this is just a bunch of houses." And then you get closer and you're like, "wait a tick, did I just grow a foot?"

Other notable highlights were:

• the arcade where we spent an hour bringing the median age up to 13. Brian is really good at the punching bag and I am amazing at the dancing game.
• an old movie theater where we saw Inception after a few drinks. Bad idea. I had no idea there was any sort of cliffhanger ending until we got home.
• an amazing fight we saw between a young Russian couple on the beach that involved the girl taking off her flip flops to hit her boyfriend with them, grabbing his sunglasses off his head and breaking them apart, and tearing his shirt in half as he tried to walk away. But the most impressive part was when he came back and started apologizing to her. Then they started making out. It was delightful beach theater.

Songwriting Formula = Guitars + Park + Dog

Working on a new song in the park.

Casey thinks the second verse could use a little work.

Memorial Day Picnic in Prospect Park

We arrived early to get things properly set up...

"When you picnic or camp you always need a good log.

That's just how I was raised."

--Brian Jordan

Brian's thought bubble:

Hmm, it's heavier than I thought.

I'll just have to roll it. Like a man.

Casey's thought bubble:

That is the biggest stick I have ever seen.

If you try to throw it I'll try to bring it back.

Thanks to George for organizing a lovely Memorial Day Picnic in Prospect Park. Brian and I made sausage wraps (which blew some Yankee minds) and Joel made his amazing white wine potato salad. Amy of course supplied potato chips and Erin brought her favorite picnic beverage: red wine mixed with Sunkist soda which she swears they serve at the Hotel San Jose. Things got a little tense when Brian scolded me for buying Mexican beer on Memorial Day. But a few Tecates later he didn't seem to mind so much. Joel and Kathryn's 2-year old son, Jackson, kept us entertained by letting his wind up airplane loose to terrorize other picnickers. All in all, it was a wonderful way to memorialize.

Brian makes a new friend

Brian: Hey, look there is a tree right by me.

Claire: There sure is.

Brian: Give me your hat and your sunglasses.

Claire: Why?

Brian: Just do it.

Claire: Fine.

Brian: Does this tree look like my friend?

Claire: Sure baby, it looks like your friend.

Casey: My humans are crazy.

Letter to Brian's Beard

Dear Brian's Beard,

Please don't take this the wrong way but I must ask you to leave. It was fun to watch you grow and curl and do all sorts of fun new tricks every morning. But I feel like you have overstayed your welcome. Emily Post says guests should stay no more than 3 days. It has been 6 months. So far you have shared your strength with Brian, but according to wikipedia is it a fine line between symbiotic and parasitic. I fear a day will come when you try to take over. Besides, it's almost summer and I really don't want to see you in a bathing suit. Please understand that it's not personal. I just miss the shape of Brian's face. And maybe if he would have let me braid you things could have been different. But alas, until the next time our band plays an event based on the theme of facial hair, goodbye.

Sincerely,

Claire

PS. Please tell your cousin, Normal Beard, he is welcome to stay as long as he wants.