Father’s Day Weekend

It’s been a great but exhausting Father’s Day weekend! I have spent a ton of quality time with my family, doing all sorts of things!

Friday, after I got home from work, I went out and got some Thai food for dinner (Siam Delight, of course). After eating dinner, we drove up to Rockport to visit Halibut Point State Park. We had a nice, tiring time hiking around there and seeing the beautiful scenery.

You can view more photos of our adventure in the Halibut Point gallery.

On Saturday, after heroically rescuing Mama who had suffered a flat tire on her bike ride, Catherine and I went out to Home Depot and picked up some supplies I needed for a few projects around the house. One of the gutters had some spikes that had popped out, and I got a set of gutter screws and ferrules to replace them and create a better hold for the gutter. I also got a strip of metal to make a nice transition between the flooring in our laundry area and the flooring in our new family closet. When I got home, I worked on these projects (both successful) while the girls worked on making some strawberry jam and a strawberry rhubarb pie.

Saturday night, we ate dinner at Qdoba. They had provided a BOGO coupon for Father’s Day weekend, and while we’re much bigger fans of Chipotle, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity for one free entree. At home we enjoyed the strawberry rhubarb pie that Rebecca had made. Mmmm… delicious.

Sunday morning, I received some great Father’s Day gifts! I got a Nikon DSLR Mode Dial decal for my MacBook Pro (by Suzie Automatic):

I also got a new tin of shaving soap (by Ethically Engineered):

And I got another book in the series of attempts to build up a library of children’s books that refer to fathers as “Papa:” “I Love You, Papa, In All Kinds Of Weather.” I have the sweetest and most thoughtful wife and kids!

Also in the “Papa” vein, I received a picture frame with “Papa’s Pride and Joy” printed on it, to be filled with a favorite photo of my favorite girls.

On Sunday after church, we drove up to Portsmouth, NH. We had lunch at Dos Amigos Burritos, a favorite of Rebecca’s from when she worked at Strawbery Banke. After lunch, we boarded the M/V Thomas Laighton of the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company for a Father’s Day cruise! The cruise lasted three hours, and took us around Portsmouth Harbor, and then nine miles out to sea to the Isles of Shoals, a group of small islands on the border of Maine and New Hampshire. We hadn’t been out to the Isles of Shoals before, so it was a very cool experience. The boat was somewhat similar to the Island Queen which we occasionally take to Martha’s Vineyard.

Of particular interest to me was Star Island, which is owned by the Star Island Corporation (which, frankly, sounds like something out of LOST or some other science fiction series). The corporation runs a conference center, mainly catering to religious groups such as the UCC and UU churches, but also open to other conferences (in particular, I noticed a digital photography workshop scheduled there later this year… hmm…).

You can see all of the photos from Portsmouth and the Isles of Shoals cruise.

It’s hard to believe, but this is my fifth Father’s Day! This has been the best one so far. I am so fortunate to have two great girls – funny, clever, creative, loving, caring. And to have a wife who is also a great mother and very supportive of my fathering. I’m looking forward to many more Father’s Days, and many more days, weeks, months and years with my family! I love you girls!

By Peter | 06.21.2010 | 12:00 AM | Permalink | Categories: Occasions, Parenting | No Comments

Memorial Day and Catherine’s Birthday

Over Memorial Day weekend, we visited Martha’s Vineyard and celebrated Catherine’s birthday. Rebecca’s parents have a cottage on the Vineyard, and having a celebration of Catherine’s birthday there has become a tradition.

While we were staying on the Vineyard, I did a lot of reading, Rebecca did a lot of bicycling, and Catherine and Esme did a lot of playing. I took the girls to the playground a few times, Rebecca and I went out for lunch at the Plane View Restaurant, we had some delicious home-cooked meals and enjoyed great hospitality thanks to Ken and Dianne.

The highlight of the weekend was Catherine’s birthday party on Sunday afternoon. We had some friends from the campground come over. There were balloon animals, rocket balloons, bubble wands and bubble guns, butterfly cake, and many laughs.

I also enjoyed a ‘digital vacation’ of sorts, thanks to inspiration from Leo Babauta of mnmlist.com. I didn’t access the internet at all while I was away, from Saturday morning through Monday evening. It made the weekend much more enjoyable – gave me more time to think, more time to take in my surroundings, and more time to relax and slow down. I’d definitely consider doing it again. I had decided to take this ‘digital vacation’ in advance of our trip, but it didn’t hurt that it just so happened the internet connectivity at the Lowes’ cottage wasn’t working while we were there…

To see all of the photos from our weekend, check out the gallery.

By Peter | 06.08.2010 | 11:36 PM | Permalink | Categories: Occasions | No Comments

Four Years?

My, how time has flown. As of four years ago, Facebook was only available to college and high school students and Twitter hadn’t yet been opened to the public. We were still living in a basement apartment in downtown Beverly, MA, and we were wondering when we were going to have our baby. And then, Catherine came along. Things haven’t been the same since! Here is a photo montage of her first four years:

Watching her grow up has been the most amazing experience. She went from a little tiny thing who didn’t do much more than lay there to a girl who can ride a tricycle like lightning down the sidewalk. She is constantly dazzling us with her observations about the world, her memory of people, events, and places, her ability to read, her wide range of emotions and facial expressions, and her ability to love her friends and family. If you haven’t met Catherine, you’re really missing out on a treat!

We’re glad to be her parents, and we are looking forward to whatever the future holds for her! Happy fourth birthday, Catherine!

By Peter | 05.26.2010 | 07:11 AM | Permalink | Categories: Catherine, Occasions | 4 Comments

Easter

I’ve been trying to write about Easter Sunday, but I think I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. They are worth a thousand words, after all!

By Peter | 04.05.2010 | 11:01 PM | Permalink | Categories: Occasions | 1 Comment

Birthday Girl

Ok, so she’s not just a girl. She’s a hard-working woman. She’s a great wife and mama and deserves all kinds of congratulations for keeping our home running as smoothly as it is. So please join me in wishing Rebecca a Happy 31st birthday!

By Peter | 01.10.2010 | 09:19 AM | Permalink | Categories: Occasions | 1 Comment

The 2000s: Decade In Review

Rebecca and I have now lived in at least part of five decades: the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, the ’00s, and now we’re on the first day of the ’10s! It seems somewhat appropriate that this most recent decade was the 00′s, as in many ways we were starting over from scratch. This was the decade when our adult lives started to form, the decade when many of the foundational moments happened. Now, let’s review.

2000 – The Start of Something Beautiful

The start of a new decade! Rebecca and I finished our junior years at Gordon College and went into our senior years. We had started hanging out in the last semester of our junior year, corresponded over the summer, and then started dating the first semester of our senior year. That first date will forever be commemorated as 091600! May of 2000 was also when I first started my job at CBD – full-time co-op during the summer, part time during my senior year.

2001 – Goodbye Gordon

We graduated from Gordon in May of 2001, I with a BS in Computer Science, Rebecca with a BA in History. I moved to Woburn and started working full-time at CBD. Rebecca moved back to Townsend and started working at the Tsongas Industrial History Center.

2002 – Wedding Bells

Rebecca and I got engaged in 2002, at a Cranberries concert in Boston. We spent the next five months planning our wedding, and were married on October 26, 2002. We had a beautiful reception at Townsend Congregational Church’s brand-new reception hall, and flew off on a honeymoon that took us to sights in Spain: Malaga, Marbella, Seville, Ronda, and also into the British Territory of Gibraltar.

2003 – Travel!

This was a huge year for travel. As a newly-married, double-income, no-kids couple, we drove and flew all over the place. We visited Portland, Maine, Portland, Oregon, San Francisco, Mount Vernon, Ohio, Boston, Lenox, MA, and more. We took every opportunity we could get, and then some!

2004 – Lying Low

After all of the travel in 2003, 2004 was a bit more subdued. We started paying off the debts that I had accumulated during my pre-married years, but still managed to do a bit of travel. One highlight was taking a camping trip to Niagara Falls with Mark and Kirsten! Yes, you can camp just down the street from all of the casinos and waterfalls! We also started making plans for the next few years…

2005 – Russia and the Road Ahead

One of our big plans was to travel to Russia and visit my cousin Kim. We researched, planned, bought plane tickets, got visas, and finally took our trip! We spent nearly two weeks visiting Moscow and Saint Petersburg, meeting Kim’s friends, visiting historic sites, seeing beautiful Russian architecture and culture, and expanding our horizons. We just happened to be there for the Victory Day celebrations, as well as for Orthodox Easter, both of which brought many colorful traditions and celebrations. It was definitely one of the most amazing trips we’ve taken.

2006 – Catherine

One other big plan was to start a family, and on May 26, 2006 we welcomed Catherine Elinor! Catherine charmed us and everyone she met with her “alertness” and general curiosity about the world around her. This was also the year that Rebecca made the decision to become a full-time mama – the job she’d had her eye on for a long time! We were happy to be able to rearrange our finances to make it happen. We spent a lot of time with folks who had come to meet Catherine, or traveling to visit friends and family.

In 2006, we also started looking to buy a house of our own. We looked at many different places, but finally found one we liked right at the end of 2006…

2007 – New House

…and in the beginning of 2007, we went to take a look at it! It was a foreclosure, and on first glance looked a bit small for our needs, but we soon discovered that it had an unfinished basement. So we went ahead and made the purchase! We spent much of 2007 making improvements to the house – painting, furnishing, making small repairs, having the deck redone, and finally having a set of stairs built down to the basement. This paved the way for our basement finishing project in 2008.

2008 – Finishing the basement

In 2008, we spent much of the year on and off working on the new house. The biggest project was finishing the basement. We did most of the work ourselves, with some help from my father-in-law Ken, and some local electricians and plumbers. It was an incredible learning experience with building codes, permits, planning, framing, drywalling, painting, and flooring. When we were finished, we had nearly doubled the square footage of our home and created a place where our family could work, play, craft, code, and be together.

2009 – Esme

The highlight of 2009 was the birth of our second daughter, Esme, on March 5. Suddenly, we had become a family of four! We spent the year getting adjusted to our new life, visiting with family and friends, and watching Esme grow. We also got more involved with our church this year, made some new friends, and took our first big road trip as a family of four.

Looking Ahead

Now it’s time to think about the decade ahead. In the past decade we’ve gotten married, traveled, started a family, bought a house, and learned a lot. In short, we’ve put together the pieces to start building a future. But what does that future hold? We don’t know right now, but we’re excited to figure it out!

How was your decade?

By Peter | 01.01.2010 | 12:19 PM | Permalink | Categories: Family, Friends, Occasions | No Comments

2009: The Year In Review

Here we are at the end of another year. It’s been a wonderful but exhausting one for me and the rest of the Wood household! Here are some of the highlights of the year:

Peter’s big project

In February of 2009, I coordinated the launch of a project at work, one which was the biggest of my career so far. This project had taken up much of the year in 2008, but ultimately culminated in 2009. I also ended up getting pretty burned out from this project, and Rebecca and Catherine put up with plenty of grumpiness from me. Shortly after the project was launched, and coincidentally, we had a layoff at work. Thankfully I was spared from the layoff, but many people I knew were not, and it created added stress for us all.

Esme

Rebecca gave birth to Esme on March 5, 2009, just weeks after I completed the aforementioned big project. Interestingly, her pregnancy and this project lasted about the same length of time!. Since then, we have enjoyed watching as Esme grows up, interacts with her big sister and the world around her, and learns new things. Her latest talents are pointing at things, saying the rudiments of some words, crawling, standing, and cruising. She even has a ‘rascally’ attitude when we catch her doing something she’s not supposed to. So cute! It’s true that we have also endured many sleepless nights and the stresses of adjusting to two children, but I feel that it’s a small price to pay for a relatively short time for the privilege of raising these two girls.

July Road Trip

July saw our first big road trip as a family of four: we drove from Danvers to Stony Point, NY to attend the wedding of our friends Jenn and Matt, where Rebecca was the matron of honor, then on to Philadelphia for some sightseeing, then out to Mount Vernon, Ohio to visit my parents and for the wedding of our friends Will and Michelle, then back to Danvers with stops in Mentor, OH and Rome, NY. We had a great time being together as a family for that whole time, seeing some fascinating sights, and also a wonderful time at the weddings.

Peter R. Wood Photography

This summer, I started my photography business, Peter R. Wood Photography. I had some great clients and I’m looking forward to more in 2010. If you’re interested in getting some great portraits for just $50, head on over to prwphoto.net and check our my portfolio, services, and pricing.

Vineyard

Every summer, we get to spend time on Martha’s Vineyard at Rebecca’s parents’ summer cottage. This summer was no different, though for money-saving reasons we didn’t make as many trips as we have in the past. We went down for several weekends, the girls went down for a week while I stayed at home, and then we all came down for a week in late September as a family vacation. It’s always a relaxing time, such a nice getaway from every day life, and a welcome respite from the hectic nature of life at home.

Birthdays and Anniversaries

Rebecca turned 30 on January 10, Esme turned 0 on March 5, Catherine turned 3 on May 26, and I turned 31 on October 6. That’s 64 collective years of life experience! Rebecca and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary on October 26. On April 1 we celebrated two years of living in our new home. And on May 19 I marked nine years of employment.

Financial

The biggest financial accomplishment of the year was paying off my student loan! Now we have our sights set on the car loan and Rebecca’s student loan.

In Closing

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this look back at our year of 2009. If you have any favorite memories you’ve shared with us, please leave a comment. We’d also like to hear about your year, so please feel free to link to your own site or just share your own stories in the comments.

Stay tuned for “2000s: The Decade in Review!”

By Peter | 12.31.2009 | 09:43 PM | Permalink | Categories: Family, Friends, Occasions | 1 Comment

Christmas Day, continued

Everyone else is asleep, and I should be getting to sleep too… but I wanted to post a final update on Christmas Day.

Rebecca and Esme took a nice four-hour nap this afternoon, a Christmas present of sorts for the tired Mama who hardly ever has a chance to catch up on sleep. Shortly thereafter, Corey and Vicky arrived for Christmas Dinner! Dianne cooked up some delicious food: ham, cheesy noodles, mashed sweet potato, cranberry sauce, broccoli, brussels sprouts, fresh baked bread. The ham was flavored and stuffed with something green and tasty, but the people who might be able to remind me of what it is are asleep at the moment.

After dinner, we opened up the rest of the presents. Catherine had an interesting way of finding presents. She preferred to start all the way in the back of the tree, and then crawl out from underneath:

One highlight was this sweater which Rebecca knit for Vicky:

After dinner, we enjoyed a dessert of Crème brûlée, prepared by Dianne:

We’re here in Townsend for tonight and tomorrow, when we’ll have some more festivities with some of the Lowe side of Rebecca’s family. Then we’ll be heading home to unpack and get ready for the new year!

P.S. We have all of the photos from Christmas Day in our gallery.

By Peter | 12.26.2009 | 12:49 AM | Permalink | Categories: Occasions | No Comments

Christmas Day so far

Catherine was the first of us to wake up this morning, and shortly thereafter she woke me up: “It’s daytime, Papa! It’s Christmas day!” I returned the greeting with a kiss and a little joke: “Merry Kiss-mas!” Catherine went and woke Rebecca and Esme up, and then we all headed downstairs.

Opening stockings was the first order of business.

After stockings, it was the traditional breakfast of waffles. Very filling!

After breakfast, it was time to start opening presents. Here’s Nonni opening her new printer/scanner/copier.

Of special note to Build Guild folks was the knitted mustache that Rebecca made for me:

Catherine actually got a bit overwhelmed with the gift opening, so we’re taking a break right now. We’ll have some lunch, possibly some naps, and open the rest of the gifts later. Corey and Vicky will be here later on today for more celebration.

So far it’s been a great Christmas day – and a great first Christmas for Esme!

By Peter | 12.25.2009 | 01:22 PM | Permalink | Categories: Occasions | 1 Comment