Poetry and film

Well after a very active week (not to mention the activity of the weekend prior), Liam's weekend was decidedly low-key. He napped like crazy on Saturday, but I'm getting ahead of myself. We had a small adventure on Thursday night when we took the ferry over to Swan's Island to attend the poetry slam at Tara's school. The poetry slam was fun. One of the kids wrote a poem about his favorite NASCAR team that I literally can't get out of my mind. Seriously. We spent the night out on Swan's at Mimi and Gary's house. It was a little wild to spend the night on the island, knowing we were a 45 min ferry ride away from MDI.

Liam's weekend was rather mellow. After some much needed R & R around the house, we hired back to back babysitters (cha-ching) on Saturday and Sunday nights and T and I went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival world tour as it swung through Ellsworth. The film festival is an annual rite - something to look forward to during the long and dark winter. If the festival hasn't come to your area yet, you should should check it out. If you love anything outdoor (mountain cultures, snow sports, insane freeride mountain biking, free climbing, ice climbing on icebergs, etc), you will love this show. More than anything, it was another reminder of the fun ahead with Liam on skis. Safely away from his father, of course.

The photo is in honor of Melanie Ganim, Liam's godmother, who sent Liam this awesome onesie. Thanks Mel, have a great tour! And good luck to Liam's godfather, my brother Matt, as he heads out on tour with his band (sorry, no web link).

Christmas trip to OH

Merry Christmas to everyone in Who-ville! We're currently in Ohio enjoying a Christmas vacation with Tara's parents. We arrived on Wednesday, flying from Portland to Columbus through JFK. Liam did a great job during his first flights. He was a little fussy when we left PWM, but then he fell into (we think) a stress - induced sleep. The rest of the flights he slept through from takeoff to landing. I was glad I didn't have to pass around earplugs to our fellow travelers (I had some just in case). Perhaps on the flights home. My recommendation to fellow travelers - avoid JFK, especially Delta at all costs. The terminal is nutty and overcrowded, and most flights are delayed. As we waited at JFK (our flight was delayed ~2 hours), Liam was doing his usual happy pterodactyl-esqe screeching. A recently studied-abroad and "cosmopolitan" college chick cleverly observed that 'babies in Europe are so much quieter than babies in the US'. T went into mother wolf mode, and said that if she said another word, there would be issues. Luckily for the college chick, she kept additional observations to herself. It was a long travel day, but we arrived in Ashland safe and sound.

Liam's having a great time meeting new friends and family members. We actually celebrated Dunlap Christmas on Dec. 22, when everyone could get together before going separate ways for Christmas Eve and Day.

Liam was baptised at Trinity Lutheran in Ashland on Saturday evening. We had a private ceremony with family and friends. Tara's brother Tyler (an ordained pastor, but not practicing), performed the baptism. Liam was good until I passed him to Ty, and he was pretty displeased until Ty passed him back to me. After the baptism, everyone had dinner in the church home (an incredible turn of the century mansion donated to the church). Thanks Sarah, Leanne, and Terrie for putting everything together!

Tara, Liam and I had Christmas Eve with my parents at my uncle Scott and aunt Linda's house. It was wonderful to catch up and see aunts, uncles, and cousins some of whom I hadn't seen for several years. It was a great evening - good wine, food, and catching up with everyone.


So, it's Christmas Day and the house is fairly quiet. The big event for the day will be making Hungarian nut roll and chicken paprikash. Nut roll is pretty involved pastry to make - part of the process is rolling the dough on a bed sheet, lifting one end of the bed sheet to create a hill, and letting gravity take over to roll everthing up into a log. I'll have to post some pictures later. It's a pretty neat process.














Tara and Liam and I wish everyone a very happy Christmas. We hope everyone is having a warm and cheerful celebration wherever you are.