Warning: this activity is highly contagious. It involves ink, stamps, maps, compasses, clues, and an internet connection. It will make you look at your neighborhood differently. It will make you get on your knees a lot. You will spend time hunched down poking through bushes, counting trees, peering into hollow logs, …

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Amtrak carried us to Richmond, Virginia on July 1, where we were warmly met by Grand-mère, Pop-Pop, and Grandma Carolyn: The next day, Sam turned three and three quarters, a fact which she shared repeatedly with everyone she met. We picked up a rental car and then drove to Charlottesville, where AC and I lived for 10 …

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Sam’s first trip to the Jersey shore (that’s New Jersey, USA). We started with a visit to the Cape May Courthouse Zoo. This is a free zoo. It was nice, although we worried that several of the animals didn’t have enough room (at least as not as much as the animals at Oakland and San Diego have). Sam said that the zebras …

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Sam and I have been at my parents’ house in PA for the past week. And have they been keeping the girl busy! The program includes… Tree-climbing Cookie-baking Cookie-Dough “Testing” Strawberry-picking Hayrides Batting practice Mowing the lawn Dressing up in Mommy’s old clothes I thought I had a few more years till Sam …

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We return to the States tomorrow! We’re all quite sad to leave Brighton again. More later, once we’ve survived the long day of travel tomorrow. In her bath tonight Sam was telling her comb (yes) that we’ll be taking a taxi to the bus station. Then a bus to Heathrow Airport. Then an airplane to S.F. Then BART to our …

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People are often surprised that Sam and I aren’t traveling around the country every day seeing historical sites or spending loads of time in London. One reason for that is that we value spending our time in the U.K. as temporary residents and not as tourists. Another reason is that Sam is three (three and a half, Mom!) …

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In an episode of Dollhouse I watched just before we left the U.S., Adele Dewitt, the very proper, very British director of the Dollhouse proclaims in a drug-induced rant: “I don’t say hard R’s.” I’ve been thinking about that phrase a lot over the past couple of weeks. Indeed one of the major differences between British …

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When AC took Sam to get her hair cut at “Mr. Topper’s” last November, we learned that the Brits say “fringe” and not “bangs” for the hair that lies upon one’s forehead above the eyes. But apparently they use “fringe” also the way we Yanks do– to describe something on the periphery or the outer edge of something central …

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When AC was in Europe for two weeks this past March, he managed to send Sam a postcard nearly every day. One of them was titled “Castles of Sussex” and featured mini pictures of six castles. At the bottom of the postcard where the names of the castles were listed, AC had circled the two that we had visited last fall, …

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In January I enrolled Sam in a “Music Together” class and in February she started a gymnastics class for 2.5-4 year-olds. Both classes require parent participation, so I have been able to follow Sam’s progress and see what she does and doesn’t like. Despite the fact that the gymnastics class is often a swarm of kids …

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