Jeff at Jake

I'm in Cleveland presenting at the Public Affairs conference, and tonight was a beautiful evening to visit to one of my favorite downtown ballparks, Jacobs Field. The Indians' 3-1 loss to Texas — unfortunate. Peanut hulls in my shoes — priceless.

Macro

Tiger lilies are a sure sign of summer in New York. You see them springing up on roadsides everywhere you go. When Malcolm was a little kid we taught him what these were called and he would yell out "tiger lilies!" every time we went out — the kid's always been loud. Here's also an interesting view of Queen Anne's Lace. Can you tell I'm reading a book on macro photography?

Weekend Outdoors

I got a new telephoto zoom lens this week and finally got a chance to take it out for a spin. The first picture is Carter at the new and improved Indian Meadows Park through the forest behind our house, it now has a giant new playground with two new three-story slides. Joanie said Carter was too little to go on them; of course, this was the first thing he went on once we arrived. The second shot is from Malcolm and my expedition of the Indian Kill that runs through our neighborhood. We went past our previous farpoint and discovered a new waterfall today.

Claire Crawls

No, it's not a picture of her crawling, but the news flash is she's getting into everything these days. This is why we keep her on our laps: so we know where she is. Claire can also now pull herself up to a standing position. Don't let that cute baby face fool you — her options for destruction have increased dramatically.

A Visit to Ben & Jerry's

Road trip! This week we went to Vermont to visit the Ben & Jerry's headquarters. To get to central Vermont from New York you have to get around Lake Champlain on our eastern border. We went the fun way — by ferry across the lake. After taking the tour and learning how ice cream is made we became honorary quality assurance agents and sampled the Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream. Six thumbs up! They actually have someone on staff who samples the ice cream ... he eats a pint a day out of different containers; he gets a free gym membership and regular cholesterol checks. Joanie is posing in front of the Ice Cream Wall of Fame, which shows the top ten best selling flavors.