Writing to you from Upstate NY

We arrived in upstate NY late Wednesday night, and we got to our rental house Thursday around lunch time.  There are lots of knickknacks, antiques, treasures, and art pieces very low to the ground that are quite intriguing to an 11 month old. Our first order of business was to baby proof one room. That is mostly done, but we are still working to find nooks and crannies to fit all of the stuff we brought with us.

Yesterday we took a break from the child proofing and unpacking to visit the Oneida County Public Market. It was so cold!! I thought maybe we were just wimpy because we were fresh off a plane from Phoenix, AZ, but my sister-in-law visiting from VT also thought it was cold.  It's a great market with 30-35 vendors with lots of choices for meat and vegetables. The vegetable farmers were mostly selling greens because it is so early in the growing season here. It really drove home that we crossed the country and ended up somewhere in a totally different climate. It was 108 the day before we left Phoenix, and yesterday in Utica it was in the 50s. Phoenix is just wrapping up their Spring growing season, and then a new growing season will start in the fall after the worst of the high temps are over (two short growing seasons each year). Around here corn plants are only 4-6 inches tall and the only vegetables that are available are various greens, baby carrots, and baby radishes.

Last night we needed a nice hot dinner to help warm us up, and chose to roast a chicken with herbes de provence and served it with garlicky greens. What a change from the salads we were eating on a regular basis in the Phoenix heat.

Roasted Chicken seasoned with sea salt and herbes de provence. It's a perfect comforting meal for a cold early summer night.

We're back

Our last blogging effort was derailed by a stomach flu that hit the whole family. Hard. It was our first time with both parents sick at the same time. Whoa was it tough. The toddler watched a lot of TV and the baby spent large chunks of time in the swing. We were in basic survival mode. That was November, then there was Christmas... and somehow it is already June. Time really does fly by with two small children underfoot (currently 11 months and 2 and 11 months).

We are getting ready to embark on a big adventure, so I want to get back into blogging to help document this exciting time. We currently live in Phoenix, AZ which get REALLY hot during the summer. There is talk about how it is a dry heat, but a sauna has dry heat too, and I don't want to live in a sauna. We have managed to arrange 2 1/2 months away in upstate NY this summer near family and cooler weather (hopefully). I have idyllic images in my head of practically living outside, swimming, picnicking, chasing fireflies, etc. If the summer lives up to half my expectations, it will be a great time.

We leave in eight days, but we are just getting down to serious preparation now. We have had a few other things going on. While we are away, we will have a bathroom and kitchen completely redone, so we have been busy picking out all the details before we go. We had family come visit. Plus, we threw a big birthday party for both the girls because we will be away for their real birthdays.

More on the birthday party and the renovations in upcoming posts. Looking forward to rejoining blogland.