Class Reunion 2011

 Party in Connecticut

More Snow, Again

 

More Pictures

Ice Dam

All this snow and cold weather caused formation of ice dams on the edge of the roof and the backflow of melted from the house heat snow into the walls and windows. We were inventing all sorts of creative ways to trap water (see picture) and to melt snow. Turns out, all these "salt socks" (pantyhose filled with salt and thrown on the roof) don't work. What works is Carlos and his helper precariously balancing on a tall ladder with buckets of hot water, shovel and a hammer.

It's good to know that we are not the only ones suffering from this - apparently this condition is quite common, but last time it happened so wide spread was in 1993. Come summer, we'll be putting new roof and electric ice melter.

P.S. They promise more damn snow this Friday - kids hope for no school, while I'm dreading the consequences.

Конфеты

Вернулась с зимних каникул Ольга, привезла мешок "русских" конфет.

More Snow

With Piskunov's

We met with our university friends Piskunov's who were in New York to catch up on the past 18 years. We spent an evening in the city and at our place and then we went to see "Billy Elliot", which was very disappointing.

 See more pictures here

Winter Sports

Alik and I went for some cross country skiing in the nearby Huntington State Park in Redding.

Click here to see more pictures.

The roads are all clean and snow is starting to melt, so Leon, meanwhile, went out on his bike.

Snow Day

We've got about a foot of snow this past Sunday and spent some fun time on Monday digging out.

Click here to see more pictures.

Killington 2010

Leon and I just came back from the 11th annual trip to Killington. It was overcast all three days but not too cold or too windy. Temps around 25F. Snow was okay, mostly man-made, but not too icy.

Leon with Sergey, Alex, Dennis and Alex's friend

An iPhone video of Leon going down the Chute

Max's Performance at Steinway in Westport Dec 16

This is seriously good! It's only a minute - it's worth a listen.

(sorry for smallish video)

Leon's page for Senior Year Book

 (designed by Leon)

My son and money go to...

 

We haven't signed the papers yet, but it is almost certain.

Celebrities Among Us

 

"... попал под лошадь..."

Here is the link: http://www.greenwichtime.com/default/article/New-ice-age-Skaters-revel-in-expanded-Westport-834313.php

B-Day and T-Day

This Thursday we had lots of friends & family over for Irene's b-day and Thanksgiving. We cooked proper holiday meal, turkey and all, and used the occasion to makeover downstairs rooms (essentially, by pushing all the garbage into my office).

Sorry, we didn't take any pictures hoping that some of our guests would do. So, guests, please add  your pictures to this post.

Max Run at Sherwood Park

Here are some pics from Max's run at Sherwood Park early November.

More Pictures

Happy Halloween

 

... more pictures ...

Hallway Photoshoot

Ольга

The Diary of Anne Frank

Yesterday we saw "The Diary of Anne Frank" at Westport's Playhouse. It's a hard to watch play, obviously. It was well set and well played. I think no one in the audience remained unmoved and the closing scene brought tears to many. But a somewhat unexpectedly lighter moment came at the very end, when actors came out for a bow. After all actors playing the main characters in the play got their share of applause, the three actors who played Nazis showed up and people in the audience just didn't know how to react... A wave of nervous laughter and some light boos rolled through the audience and then some scattered applause here and there.

Welcoming Fall

We celebrated the formal arrival of the fall season with the following (all in the space of 4 days):
 1. Power Outage (two) - have to install the transfer switch, $700 and buy new generator, $500
 2. Fallen tree limb precariously balancing over the power, cable and telephone wires - emergency tree removal, $600
 3. Bent front wheel - hit it on a pothole, had to be replaced, $350
 4. Leaky skylight - for now, I just threw some blue tarp over it.

For tonight and all day tomorrow, they promise "heavy, drenching rain, 2-4 inches and gusty wind". Joy.

Max Runs his First Race

Max's afterschool activity this quarter is cross-country and this Thursday was his first race - about 1.5 miles on the trails in Waveny Park. He finished in the middle of his middle-school field, which is great, especially provided that he is one of the youngest in the group.

Max Invents Rifle for "Lefties"

Max designed a rifle (well, a Lego rifle) with the bolt action that swings over the barrel to work for "lefties" like himself. Said, happen by accident - true invention.

Homebrew

Dad made his first clam chowder. See more in our "sister" blog here.

Facebook "Invite"

BASE jumps at Martha's Vineyard

The wind at the South Beach was too strong for any swimming or sunbathing, but Max and Leon braved the dunes (before got yelled at by the environmentally minded coastguard) and engaged in a little parkour competition.

See more (but less dramatic) parkour pictures here.

Last day at Martha's Vineyard

We really tried to make the last day of our stay at the island last, moving from town to town, visiting beaches, shopping and eating along the way.

See more pictures at the back of this updated album here.

After Earl

The preparation for the hurricane Earl were well organized (we were getting regular updates via the house phone), though the road closure curfew kept on changing, and we ended up wasting a good part of Friday couped up at the house watching old DVDs (the Dish lost signal about 8 hours before the storm arrived). The hurricane turned out to be not much more than lots of rain. The morning after, our motorboat had rainwater up to the brims (or whatever it is called on the boat), but the sandy soil was mostly dry and very much driveable. The wind was not that strong, though the waves on the pond were quite high, with enough white heads to make the boat ride to the beach challenging and scary at times. After some struggle, soaked to the bone we made it to the beach. There the ocean waves were high and unruly, coming seemingly from every direction at once. On the beach, we ran into Muneys who came for some wave watching.

Tomorrow morning, we are packing up and leaving this place. The new school year, the last for Leon, starts on Tuesday.

See more pictures here.

Before Earl

This year we are vacationing on Martha's Vineyard, in a beautiful secluded spot on Edgartown Great Pond here. The house is located at the end of a mile-long unpaved sandy driveway (which, turns out, is quite challenging to navigate on a roadbike). The house came with a fleet of kayaks, a motor boat and a sail boat (non-functioning). 20 minutes on a motor boat gets you to a deserted beach. At times, we were the only ones there for miles in each direction, but the waves on this ocean facing beach were rather harsh, so for swimming we drove to a state beach, protected from the ocean by a smaller island Chappaquiddick (the name is the source of non-stop amusement for Max).

So far, before the hurricane Earl arrival, the weather is great and the water is warm. Plenty of swimming, biking (Leon circled and criss-crossed the island and Dad managed to brave the sandy road once too), fishing (yes, fishing!) and crabbing (oh, yeah, the best crabs ever, including what we had in Maryland).

Leon's friend Matt is around this week too (their house is also on the pond, but the next cove over), so Leon went there by the boat and by the bike a couple of times.

See some selected pictures here.