The state of Relaxation at the Lodge

Terry and his All Star visit

And now for a special shout-out to Terry, for pulling off an All Star weekend. Two things we noticed about Adam's dad...he doesn't really sit still, and he eats like a bird. Not passing up a challenge, we gave him enough work to do around the house to keep him occupied to his heart's content, and we fed him enough grilled beef to satisfy a bear right before hibernation.

The list. We created a list of chores that kept Terry busy for about three days. We literally wrote it out, and crossed out items as we (I mean, he) accomplished them. We tried to pretend we were helping with the first item or two, but that didn't last long. Eventually we succumbed to our true nature...lazy observers.

The good news was that we racked our brains to create this list and could only come up with cosmetic "to-do"s. Terry thought the house was in great shape, and that obviously gives us great peace of mind. So the list was comprised of mostly cosmetic work...a new lock on the living room door, fixing a bunch of door knobs, hiding those ridiculous speaker wires that hung down from every corner of the house, fixed the screen doors, hung some stuff on the walls, fixed the adirondack chairs, fixed some loose steps on the deck, taught us how to use the generator, etc. etc.

In return, we fired up our new grill and never turned it off. We grilled a flank steak, burgers, brats, pineapple, peppers, and two huge slabs of bbq ribs. Rock on.

And with that, we closed out the month of May, aka Parent-palooza '09.

The Poplar's bring Christmas to May

Time to catch up on some much needed Buck Lodge blogging. Props (Pops?) go to Jack and Ebby for coming to town with more loot than Santa Claus. First and foremost, the food. Lets start off with the best sauce ever, loaded with meatballs and italian sausage that was out. of. this. world. Friday night, we had a massive pasta gorge-fest. Ebby thought she brought us enough sauce to last us for weeks, but we managed to polish it off that weekend. Also, there was a five-bean soup that was devoured before Adam could even get up here from the city. And of course, she showered us in pizzelles, one of our all-time favorites.

Inside Santa's sleigh we also found a hammock (from Kristen) which is our new favorite napping spot, a brass tub for holding firewood, some of Craig's artwork from his childhood (appropriately embarassing), his NYU Stern diploma, dishtowels and aprons, metal skewers for roasting marshmallows (Craig doesn't like using sticks), Craig's childhood animal figurine collection, and this amazing brass lantern that used to belong to Craig's grandpa Poplar. Clearly we hit the jackpot, and Jack and Ebby are encouraged to bring a U-Haul next time.

Saturday night we took a trip out to Saugerties, which is near Woodstock, NY. We took a lightning-speed hike out to the lighthouse. We beat the rain, but could not keep the bugs at bay (Ebby is a bug-magnet, don't stand to0 close). We did get a great view of the Hudson river and a gaggle of swan, which was quite cool. Dinner was at Miss Lucy's Kitchen, which we highly recommend. Miss Lucy was six years old when her mom opened the restaurant which she named after her daughter. Most of the food was organic and local...even the herbs were grown out back. Ebby's steak with roasted bone marrow and the rhubarb icebox cake were the standouts in a great meal. This place has Al and Penny written all over it. http://www.misslucyskitchen.com/

Their visit was short and sweet and we look forward to many future visits soon.

recent visitors

A glimpse of recent guests...






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The 3 Magi...I mean, 4 Margoli

Time to catch up on some blogging! Fan favorites Lee, Stacy*, Hudson and Lola were here about three weeks ago. Hudson was our first kid visitor. Buck Lodge isn't exactly PeeWee's Playhouse, but I think it was a pretty successful weekend. High points included:

• Craig and Hudson spent most of Saturday afternoon planting herbs (a present from Matthew and Danny), as well as an eclectic collection of seeds and plants that Hudson brought from Brooklyn. Lets see, what was planted...sugar snap peas, bean sprouts, pumpkins, arugula, cilantro, dill, basil, oregano, a nectarine pit, and an old shoe. I fully expect that in six months a large Venus-flytrap named Audrey will be threatening any deer who approach Craig and Hudson's plantings.

• Lola was treated to a low-end photoshoot on the balcony. As any serious model would, she feigned disinterest, a distaste for working with 'local talent,' clearly unimpressed with the working conditions outside Manhattan. Yet, she was always professional enough to never present a bad angle to the camera.

• The agenda for the weekend included naps, naps, and more naps. Treating pregnant ladies to naps is our specialty. Lee on the other hand...

• It shouldn't be possible, but Stacy's apple pies just only seem to get better and better. She made one for Craig's birthday and we devoured it. We took what was left back to Brooklyn and finished it there, not offering the Margoli any of what was left. 

• The swingset, which has yet to be picked up by the previous owners, was a huge hit. More so with the adults than with Hudson. That structure is strong! and the swings are class A1. Warning: the slide is a thousand times scarier than it looks.

• We used our outdoor firepit for the first time. Homerun! All I can say is more Smores for me please.

• Hudson's plans for two connecting treehouses with a zipline is most exciting. We plan to rent it out to wayward lost souls from Manhattan looking for a Central American-esque retreat. Complimentary applie pie included, of course.

Felt great to have family up here, especially the best godson ever!!

* Oddly enough, this was not our first pregnant Stacy at the Lodge.