Turning 40 at the Loop Ice Carnival

If you'll recall, somebody got to go to Prague when he turned 40.

So, it seemed like the pressure was on for my big day to be that big, too. But, come on... Steve had to work, I had to work, and let's face it: There weren't going to be any passports involved!

But that was just fine with me, because my dear little family and I ended up at the Loop Ice Carnival, and we had a really great time! Right here in River City! Well, University City...

For starters, I had a bowl of happiness at Ginger Bistro... delicious bulgogi beef, a fried egg and just the right amount of Sriracha sauce! (heeheehee) The kiddos and Steve even won stuffed penguins by shooting baskets near the bar area of the restaurant. There was fun for everyone!

While we were eating, I couldn't help but notice the crowd across the street at the Craft Alliance... Well, heck, that explains it... they were making free s'mores over there! Oh, yeah!

The weather really was just perfect for an ice-themed street festival. About 33 degrees, periodic sun, and no wind to speak of.

Nearly every business had an ice sculpture out front... Even the local head shop, Sunshine Daydream, and the nearby Smoothie King (filled with real smoothie)! "What a looonnnnnng strange trip it's been..."


We headed around the corner to Dough to Door, where you can get a custom dozen fresh baked cookies with any dough and mix-ins you want. Ummm, yeah! They were just opening as we walked in, so they could take advantage of all the extra foot traffic for the ice fest. Our cookies took a little while, but they have games that you can play while you wait! And then they were out of the oven... piping hot! Mmmmmm. I got chocolate dough with peanut butter cups, peanut butter chips and chocolate chips. I could only eat one and a half!



When we waddled back outside, we saw the warmest guy in the place, juggling torches... and the coldest guy in the place, covered head to toe in slush while working on an ice sculpture of an eagle. I had to go to work, but the gang stayed and watched, and Emilyn got a picture of the finished product.



For all the rest of the pictures from my big birthday, click here.

Well, the choir thing . . .

... was a big bummer, because we showed up on the wrong day, and Emilyn missed a chance to sing with the
All-Suburban Choir. But we did see these totally ginchy half-picnic-tables!

And, OMG, it converts into a bench! If Dad had seen these, he would have to have built one.

Rambling around the wilds of NEPA

Well, Caurie had to go home early Tuesday... Sigh. But, fortified with Aunt Laurie's famous M&M pancakes, the rest of us headed off, in three cars, to see some highly rock-oriented sites in northeastern Pennsylvania -- which, for real, is called NEPA by the locals. Go figure!

First stop was the Starrucca Viaduct, a true and amazing place that is very hard to capture in one photograph! Unless you're in a helicopter or something, I guess! The huge stone bridge was built in 1847 by the Erie Railroad and is 1,200 feet long and 110 feet high. Really. Big. Bridge.

Then, we drove around for a long while, over hill and dale, looking for Steve's mythical Internet hobby store. Surprisingly, it does exist! As he likes to say, he drove over 1,000 miles for a $30 refund! After the shopkeeper expressed his disblelief, Steve said, "Well, you don't answer your e-mails!"


Next up, the incredible backyard castle Valhalla in New Milford, Pa. This guy built a huge castle in his yard, by hand, with rocks, and absolutely no mortar! It even has a moat and a wall and everything!


There are stairs and turrets and bridges -- even a suit of armor, which I hear that Allen loved! Whenever someone other than Mommy took his picture, he smiled really nicely!


We saw a lot of the back end of Derek's and Laurie's cars... And when our next journey took us on several dirt roads, we could almost hear Derek cackling at the front of the pack! But somehow, we made it to Salt Springs State Park, home of some beautiful waterfalls -- and treacherous rocks, for people who have not worn the correct footwear! And that was pretty much everyone! But Steve was prepared... and he even carried my pocketbook -- like the wonderful husband he is -- so that I could use both hands to clamber up and over rocks and roots.


Ashley turned out to be the biggest little mountain goat... She went hiking all the way with Steve, even after her daddy went kerploosh! into the water. (Wish there was a good picture of that!)

Because Steve had my bag, and my camera, I grabbed Larry's for a few shots...


A very pretty place... and home of what's gotta be the world's longest tap root!


All of these sites get the unequivocal Critchlow Seal of Approval! Great job, Laurie!

The rest of our photos from Tuesday are here. All the pictures from Larry's and Caroline's cameras are here.

On to Aunt Laurie's

We crammed as much eating as we could into our remaining days in Rockland, with a Father's Day trip to Zlata Praha -- just Steve, Ellen, Sean and me, which was very fun! And delicious! -- and one more run to the Rockland Bakery. I could have spent a great deal of money in there. No question. You can pick bread and bagels right off the line!

Then it was off to Aunt Laurie's, where as many of the Critchlows as possible were gathered for burgers on the grill -- and projects aplenty! (Caurie even flew in from Florida! But we were sad that Lori and Hannah couldn't make it... there's that darn school thing getting in the way again!)

Doing projects is a Pillar of Critchlowism, and there were plenty to choose from. Soon after we got there, Aunt Laurie broke out the acrylics and brushes and set everyone to painting rocks for her garden. Included in the bright ideas were a Czech flag (Prague rock!), an 8-ball, a foot in a flip-flop, and a couple of Swedish flags from Allen. I was too busy taking pictures to paint, but later on I found one just the right shape and painted it up like candy corn. And of course, lest we forget, Trains Rule!


Heck, while we've got the paint out... Aunt Laurie appeared with a big piece of muslin, and we all proceeded to make imprints with our hands and feet. Except for Allen, who's way too finicky for that big of a commitment. He just dipped his finger in the paint and made dots and smears. Party pooper. Caurie was designated the official baby lifter. And who could forget Derek's giant, flat Sasquatch feet?




Thank goodness Caroline was busy taking actual pictures of actual people actually looking at the camera... There are a lot of cute portraits here!


For the day's third project, after Bill and Ally and Gio had gone home, Tyler, Ashley, Allen and Emilyn worked on loosing a pirate's treasure from a block of sandstone. Eye protection is key! And there was plenty of plastic booty to go around, me hearties. Arrrrgh!


A great day at the Waddells' new home!


All of our pictures from Monday are here. All of those from Laurie's and Caroline's cameras are here. There are way too many good ones to choose from!

25 years of Bruce Hornsby

The best thing about being a Bruce Hornsby superfan is the chance I get to meet other Hornsby superfans, and the best place to do that is at Si Twining's website Bruuuce.com.

A while ago, Si was planning the site's big celebration of the 25th anniversary of "The Way it Is" album. 25 years!?! Yes, indeedy. He asked for submissions of stories and photos, any memories we wanted to share from 25 great years of music. Mine got a page of its own, and Emilyn is featured, too! (Just click on the image of the screen to read the story.)


For more stories from Si's excellent 25 years in review page (it's important for you all to know there are lots more people like me out there!), click here.

Actin' all cheesy - in the pages of the Post

So... thanks to my good friends Norma and Carlos, I got roped into being a "model" this week!

They conceived of a cover for our food section, Let's Eat, that involved two football fans fighting over pizza... They figured a girl going after a guy's pizza would be funny... and they picked me as the most rabid female football fan in the newsroom!

Well, that's probably true. But for this shoot I had to play the role of a crazy Cheesehead Packer fan, and my colleague Rich had to play one of the Steeler faithful, defending his "Roethlis Burger" pizza. Our chief photographer, J.B. Forbes, took about 100 pictures, and of course they settled on the one where I look the most insane -- or probably because the pizza in the shot is most prominently featured. The fact that I look like a nutjob is just a side benefit!

So, here's the finished page, plus the original photo of me and Rich... Rich was such a good sport. He had to deal with my headlock plus the lights plus the hot and cramped helmet! I just had Cheesehead hair and a stained face from the green and yellow makeup.

Click the picture to see me and Rich in all our silliness... If you click the newspaper page, it'll take you to the food section of our website. Don't forget to try our Super Bowl pizza recipes!

What's all this Luxe 365 business, anyway ?

You may have gotten some e-mails asking you to vote in the Luxe 365 poll, to help pick our weekly selection. Well, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm taking part in a photography project this year, where I have to take a photo a day, every day, based on a weekly theme.

Thanks to everybody who voted so far... Our skipper, Brian, won the Roy G. Biv balloting, with his picture of the girl in the orange gloves. I made the finals again this week, so, head over there and vote -- if you haven't already!

I'm darn proud of all my work these past two weeks, so I wanted to share my photos here on The Crabbe Trap! You can always go to my Luxe 365 DropShots page and see them all. They'll be piling up there all year!

Week 4: Generations

Week 3: Roy G. Biv