March 2016 U.S. trip

Being bad parents, we again took our kids out of school a couple of days before their break started.  It was a couple of days after my break started, and we returned a couple of days after my break ended.  So we split the difference so to speak.

About the only trouble on the trip was the car rental.  I won't bore you with the details, but neither rental went particularly smoothly.  We were actually happy with the big SUV we had in Colorado as we could put all our ski stuff in the back rather than messing with a ski rack on the roof.

It was great to catch up with our friends in Chicago, even if we only stayed one night.  Girls slept until 5am on the first morning, which wasn't too bad.  We had an uneventful drive to Iowa to see my family.  We were long overdue, as we weren't able to see my parents last summer.  My mom broke her ankle the week before our visit, so she was in a wheelchair (she's out of the cast now and in theory is doing PT so she can walk without a walker).

I felt bad for LBJ, who was pressed into duty twice.  My first trip was to Grinnell to give a talk.  It was nice to be back, and I got great feedback on the paper I presented.  My dad even got to see me present.

Second was a trip to the NCAA basketball tournament in Des Moines.  We went to 2 games - Indiana beat Kentucky (my former employer), and Kansas beat UConn.

View from our seats in Des Moines

Perhaps all too soon, we were off to Colorado.  I promised LBJ a week of skiing, and it did not disappoint.  We stayed in Keystone, although the girls and I did 3 days of lessons (separately) at Arapahoe Basin.  The lessons were great - excellent value and we learned a ton.  I ended up with 1 private lessons, and my other two lessons had only one other student.  We also skied two days at Copper Mountain, which was only 30 or so minutes away (and was much cheaper than Keystone).

FABJ's highlight was skiing down a blue (intermediate) run with her mother.  That wasn't probably ORBJ's highlight, as she turned unexpectedly in front of me and I ran her over.  I'm not a great skier, I admit.  But she did get to go on a snowmobile earlier in the day, which she loved.

Two ski bunnies at Arapahoe

ORBJ on the slopes

Yes, we've introduced the kids to yet another expensive hobby that they love.  Along with LBJ, they'd like an annual ski trip.  Admittedly, the conditions and facilities were great - it snowed several times, giving us a lot of fresh powder.  The resorts there are very nice (although expensive).

We did take one day off from skiing, and I discovered a great sledding hill a few miles away.  Although the kids complained at first about not getting to go tubing ($40 an hour per person!), they had a great time:

Friendly locals even lent us a "tube"

FABJ on a saucer that reminded me of childhood

Our last day of skiing was on Easter, so the girls took a break from skiing to collect some Easter eggs.

Eggs everywhere!

By the end of the day, they needed a rest...

Honey I shrunk the kids again?

The drive back to Denver wasn't too bad.  We had two nights (one day) there as I presented again, this time at Colorado State University.  It was a nice group there, so I enjoyed my visit.  The girls and LBJ had a great day at an amazing science museum (I dropped them off there on my way out of town).

All in all, a successful trip.

singing and snowing

FABJ had a singing event a couple of weeks ago when LBJ was in Florence for work.  In advance, I was dreading the event: 8 primary school choirs singing out of tune for two hours on a Tuesday evening?!  Plus, FABJ is not the best singer, largely due to genetics (apparently I am the better singer of the couple, which is not good).

At least ORBJ was home with grandma (to avoid a 930pm bedtime for her, not to mention her attitude at the concert).

As this picture clearly shows, the event went well:

Ok, so I couldn't get a decent picture from my phone.

But I was pleasantly surprised.  The bands were good.  The songs weren't terribly long, and usually each act had one fun / contemporary song (such as "Let It Go", "Imagine", "Twist and Shout").  Plus, one school didn't show up.  Still, I think 6 schools would have been the right amount, as I was getting bored and tired by the 7th and last band.  Fortunately, I ended up sitting next to the father of one of FABJ's classmates, so we chatted between acts.  And, importantly, it was not a competition - no judges, winners, or losers.  Just a concert (in the National Basketball Arena - need to see a game there someday) to promote singing and bands in school.  A great cause.

Most importantly, FABJ had a good time and was not too nervous.

That same week, it snowed in Dublin.  It didn't last long, of course, but it was quite pretty to wake up to such snow.  The ground was warm (at least in Dublin) so no worries about ice on the roads or anything.  The girls tried to catch snowflakes on their tongues on the way to school.  Reminded me of real snow back in Iowa.  Ah well, we're headed to Colorado for a week in March so should get some decent snow there!

Let It Snow ...

Speaking of snow, here are the girls getting a ski lesson indoors on a giant treadmill.  I'll have a lesson at the same time this Saturday - we'll see how that goes!

Our two little ski bunnies

Ok, admittedly, ORBJ can't stop very well - she nearly ran into the bar at the bottom.

London calling (January 2016)

I had a short work trip to London in January.  Short because I had to squeeze the trip in between my Tuesday and Thursday lectures.  So I left on Tuesday afternoon and returned on Wednesday evening.

London calling, right?

Workwise, the trip was ok but not great.  I received good feedback at my talk, and I met briefly with the director of the center (where I presented) and with some of the graduate students there.  But I didn't get a chance to meet with any other researchers / faculty, so I didn't spend much time at LSE.

That being said, I still had an enjoyable trip.  I had an enjoyable dinner Tuesday evening at an Indian restaurant.  Graduate students / research assistants may not have a well-developed research agenda to discuss, but they appreciate a free dinner!

View from just outside the Tate Modern

Wednesday morning, I walked over to the Tate Modern.  To be honest, I was disappointed - too modern for my taste.  I like SF MOMA, so I thought I liked modern art.  Still, I enjoyed the works by Piet Mondrian.  Best of all, ORBJ tried to copy / imitate one of his works the next week at school, so I could tell her that I saw one of his paintings.

Quality Parenting right outside the Tate Modern

 Whenever LBJ have a questionable parenting decision (ex: trying to push FABJ in the swing while balancing the stroller with ORBJ, leading to ORBJ falling over in the stroller getting a face full of sand at 9 months old), we call it "QP" for quality parenting.  Apparently parents in London have a place for such parenting (or parents, I'm not sure which).

view of Trafalgar Square from the National Gallery

After the talk, I went to the National Gallery to admire the impressionists and post-impressionists before getting a train to the airport (which was so full that I had to stand!).  Even saw Buckingham Palace on my walk to Victoria Station.

Slightly blurry picture of Buckingham Palace

So I'm glad I visited even if I had hoped for more work-related meetings.  On the other hand, they invited me back to visit again.  I think that June or July is a good time, say when there is tennis going on nearby ...

Go west young man

We had the brilliant idea - at least it seemed so at the time - to take a little break between Christmas and New Years.  We found a good deal for a one-bedroom apartment (we'd sleep on the sofabed in the living room) in Bantry, in West Cork.

It rained pretty much the whole drive there.  Still, we found an excellent restaurant for lunch in the middle of nowhere thanks to LBJ's searching on TomTom (our GPS).  It was in Fermoy, but I can't remember the name.

It was also a bit of challenge finding the parking lot for the hotel, the entrance to which was across the road (next to the bay).  Still, we arrived, got checked in, and had a swim before dinner.  The hotel had an excellent location, as it was walkable to the town's restaurants.  We went to a very nice seafood restaurant called O-something (O'Connor's maybe?).  Anyway, the food was excellent.  The girls complained later in the trip - why are you always getting fish?  Because it was really good!

The sofabed, however, was not very comfortable.  And it rained most of the trip.  Still, we had a good time.  I went for a couple of hikes in the rain / drizzle.  LBJ got a spa treatment (a birthday or Christmas present, I can't remember which).  The girls went to kids' club and seemed to have a good time.  However, LBJ pointed out that this was probably FABJ's last kids club.  She's getting too old.  It's sad in a way - deposit the kids for a few hours and do the stuff that they don't like (hiking for me; spa for LBJ).

With the lousy weather, the highlight was the food.  Still, LBJ and I did a brief driving tour (during kids' club, of course) of the area and had yet another excellent meal at a pub / restaurant on the Sheep's Head peninsula: Arundels by the Pier. My favorite was the deep fried cheese.  The other stuff (which I can't remember) was good too.  I tried to take a couple of pictures from the restaurant, by they did not turn out well.

Our lunch destination

LBJ was kind enough to drive to the restaurant and she had to dodge a lot of downed branches, etc. on the road.

Anyway, we had a good time.  This is clearly a great place to visit in better weather.  I'd like to do a 3-4 hiking trip on the Sheep's Head Way, but I have no clue when I'd find the time.

Bantry Bay on a cloudy day

Oh, one last thing - we were there for LBJ's birthday, so I asked about a low-key candle or something to note the occasion.  Instead, the server got the dining room (of the restaurant at our hotel) to join in singing happy birthday.  Fortunately, LBJ didn't mind the song and the girls were very excited about being able to celebrate her birthday that way.  (If memory serves, we also got a cake when we returned to Dublin the next day.)

Nov / Dec 2015

The rest of November was rather uneventful. We started bathroom renovations that lasted until Christmas.  In fact, a couple of things remain undone (2nd coat of paint, hanging of a mirrored cabinet).

We had an early Thanksgiving that was quite enjoyable as always.  11 of us and a moderately sized turkey - the leftovers didn't even last a full week (i.e. I wanted more turkey cranberry sandwiches!)

ORBJ's birthday was on December 1. We celebrated with dinner at a new gourmet burger restaurant, which was pretty tasty (and much better than last year's option, Eddie Rockets aka Johnny Rockets).

For her party, ORBJ had a cooking party, where someone came over and baked pizzas and cupcakes with the girls (although a couple of them did very little cooking, so to speak).  It seemed to go over quite well, which is what really mattered.

ORBJ's cake, make by LBJ of course

Note the penguin that just dove in the blue water - very impressive (in case the picture does not do it justice).

ORBJ and her biggest present (from PL and UM)

The chaos of ORBJ's party

Then, before we knew it, Christmas was upon us.  We managed to get all the presents sorted with a couple of days to spare (and no unshipped items like last year's Amazon / An Post debacle).  I finished grading in time to share a whiskey with Joe Elliott from Def Leppard.  Ok, we were in the same whiskey bar, and he was about 10 feet away from me.  I couldn't figure who he was, as the years have not been especially kind to me (perhaps not surprisingly).  I didn't tell him that I saw him in concert in 1988 in Iowa - let's face it, he'd probably like to forget that he performed a concert in Iowa in 1988!

Ah, Christmas.  It was nice although I would have enjoyed seeing my family.  Still, no travel or jet lag, presents and dinner in my own house (with a closely guarded cat who did not get any turkey, not due to a lack of effort).  LBJ's dad brought a great selection of wines (there were leftovers).

The girls in their new outfits from Nana and Papa

The only downside to the holidays was the weather - lots of wind and rain.  Very little time for FABJ to get out and ride the new bike she got for her birthday.

Bonn / Cologne (Koln) - November 2015

Just a week after the Paris trip, I attended a conference in Bonn for work.  It was a useful conference, although the quality of papers presented was quite uneven.  Still, I received useful feedback on my presentation and was able to meet several established researchers in the area.

The conference finished with lunch on Friday, so LBJ's parents offered to take the girls for the weekend.  So LBJ arrived around 4pm or so and we had a lovely weekend in Cologne (i.e Koln -  sorry I can't figure out how to put dots over the o).

Although it was strange not to have the kids around, we managed to enjoy the weekend. We met up with a local whom I know for a drink after work at an "old man pub" in Cologne, where we had a couple of mini beers of Kolsch, the local beer.  The waiters were very grumpy (part of the charm of the place).

The church is so big it can't fit in the picture!

We enjoyed the sights of the town such as the famous cathedral. We did an hour boat cruise on the Rhine. We saw the Roman museum (which was huge).   We enjoyed several good meals, including one in a restaurant for locals with no English menu.

View from the river

Our boat

Alas, the weather was lousy in Dublin and the girls had colds, so they did not have the best time without us.  So I'm not sure we'll get another weekend away any time soon.

Quality German sausage!

The street with our hotel

Roman ruins

Paris - October 2015

The girls have the last week of October off from school, so we decided to spend part / all of that week in Paris.  (I had to return on the Wednesday morning to teach, but LBJ and the girls stayed until the weekend.)  I spent a productive day at the OECD and had a meeting on Sunday, so we could legitimately expense the apartment, my flight, and my per diem.

We rented an apartment through AirBnB and it worked great. It may not have been the most exciting location, but it had plenty of shops and restaurants within walking distance, a bus route very close by, and walkable to the metro.  We felt like Parisians for the week (at least those who speak very poor French, except for LBJ who is, as far as I can tell, fluent).

The weather was quite warm, so we spent a lot of time outdoors.  On Saturday, we went to the Magic Museum and then walked around a lot.  Including this spot on the Seine...

My girls along the Seine

This chocolate shop had some great Halloween themed chocolates, so the girls each got one.  FABJ got a bat and ORBJ got a pumpkin.  Hmmm....Parisian chocolate.

How do you say Halloween in French?

Another thing to love about Paris is that kids are free for the art museums.  And the girls loved the ipads which some museums rented. The audioguides were good but not quite as good...

Little miss art critic at the Musee D'Orsay

Needless to say, we ate well.  We particularly like the "old man bistro" - clearly a sign of good value if "old men" eat there.  The markets had great food as well, not to mention the boulangerie.

My meetings went well, and it was a pleasure to see my friend PS who works there.

Ladies enjoying some chocolat chaud

Ah, it was a good trip (except that FABJ was very stressed in the morning for some unknown reason).  Very sad to think that only two weeks later, such bad things happened.

Look - no jackets!

One last thing - the weather was amazingly warm.  Sadly, the best day (60s) was my day of meetings (where I was inside from 10 to 4 except for the walk to / from lunch!).