Grandma Pam spent the day with us in the new house today. She was a godsend, bringing us some delicious food, helping to unpack boxes in the kitchen, and spending hours rehabilitating our mangy couch.
This might not look like much, but the back of the couch previously featured a large original art piece by Oliver (“Untitled,” Sharpie on Upholstery).
Ok, it’s a work-in-progress, but you can walk to the door now. (You can slide the slider back and forth between yesterday’s picture and today’s.)We’re spending more time than expected on the front porch; it’s lovely in the morning and evening. (Alas, the green couch in the background doesn’t fit where we were hoping it would go.)Ice cream brings the smiles.The water table wasn’t a one-time thing. Piper generally hops up into it anytime I play ball with her and she gets hot.
Maggie is getting rather clever. Conversation this evening, starting with my question:
“Should we go exploring after dinner?” “No!” “We can walk down the sidewalk and see where it goes. There are some trails in the park up there.” “That sounds long.” “Not too long!” “What about ticks?” “The ticks won’t get us.” “Hmm. But don’t you think mama would want to be with us for our very first hike at the new house? I think we should wait until she gets back on Friday.”
Our first full day in the new house was focused on our movers. They unloaded our 13 crates of stuff and hauled away a moldy piano left by the previous owner. Our spacious, spartan new home has become a cardboard labyrinth. It’s a bit overwhelming.
In the midst of the moving chaos, I found many moments of joy today playing with Piper and the kids in the back yard.
Sunrise over the house. Enjoying the piles emerging from the truck. The garage begins to overflow.Piper doesn’t know what to make of everything. Somehow we will find a place for everything. Grandma Pam’s stupendous pasties for dinner. We began decorating while Sarah is out of town. 😋After some awesome sprinting, Piper decided to curl up in the water table, happy as can be.
As posted previously, we received the keys and moved into the new house this morning. In short order, Sarah headed up north for her new job. She’ll be back on Friday, returning with Griffin. Until then, Oliver, Maggie, Piper, and I will hold down the fort.
Despite the many tasks we needed to tackle today, we had a lot of fun in the new place. My favorite part was throwing the ball with Piper in the back yard. She loved that she could sprint!
Maggie and Oliver, I suspect, had their best time when our friends came over and they played some epic games of hide-and-seek.
We’re all a bit ragged, but thrilled to be in the new house. Now we begin the epic task of unpacking, and, more importantly, finding all the things we need in the interim.
Life was a whirlwind in April with spring break, the long-awaited start of in-person school for Griffin and Maggie, three birthdays (plus Piper’s), a cabin visit, and much that I’m forgetting. Lacking the time to write everything up in detail, here’s a selection of photos to remind us of these many events.
In the late 1970s and early ’80s, maps for Dungeons and Dragons adventures were often printed in blue ink, ostensibly to prevent easy photocopying. (Photocopier technology has evolved since then.) A cartographer that I follow on social media, Tim Hartin, sometimes produces “old school blue” maps, hearkening back to the early days of the hobby.
I follow a thread where Tim posts a free map every week. It’s called Turgenev’s Friday Freebie Maps. I’ve been following it for years, enjoying his retro map style. (Tim Hartin, incidentally, is a big name in the industry, often producing maps for D&D adventures, such as CandleKeep Mysteries, published this past March.) A few months ago, Oliver saw me looking at one of these maps on my phone. He asked me about it, so I started explaining the symbols and whatnot. We got in the habit of looking at one or more of these maps every night as part of our bedtime ritual. We would read a book and then look at a map together. Oliver became very good at reading the maps, pointing out secret rooms, traps, statues, and even the occasional sarcophagus or other exotic, multisyllabic feature.
I recently saw that Tim posted a map that he was also offering as a print on mugs, t-shirts, and the like. I thought it was fun, so I bought a version printed on a tote bag. (We can’t have too many totes in this house.) Here’s the original post:
After receiving the bag, Oliver was astounded that one of the maps from my phone had appeared on something in real life. Maggie, nearby, didn’t immediately understand how to read the map, so Oliver excitedly sat down on the kitchen floor and gave her a lesson on old-school D&D cartographic symbols. I snapped a photo and posted it back on Tim’s thread. Here’s the shot:
Tim then sent me a direct message telling me that the post made his day and asking if he could produce a custom map as a “thank you” to Oliver. Um… Yes, of course! I mentioned that Oliver especially loved secret rooms. A few hours later, I received this fantastic map, replete with numerous secret chambers (the “S” symbols are secret doors):
Oliver’s bespoke dungeon.
This brought a lot of joy to our family, and I know that Tim Hartin was also warmed by the experience. The internet, for all its ills, is definitely capable of adding some light to our lives.
Oliver continues to love his time at Dodge. The weather has been variable over the past month, with both snow and mud. The pictures below are a small sample of Oliver’s many adventures.
