This turned out to be the most successful school vacation we've ever had. I wrote about the first part of the week a few days ago, but the last few days of vacation were even more fun.
We spent a morning at the fun library, one that has lots of toys and computer games as well as a big playground outside, but which is a lot further from our house so a trip there is something of a special occasion. James used his own library card for the first time in months, and I was pretty sure one kid wouldn't be able to read the massive pile of Pokemon books he checked out, but he's proving me wrong already.
We spent an afternoon mini-golfing with friends. James had a good time hanging out with some of our adult friends who he looks up to, and I got to spend a little time with a friend visiting from out of town. I think Evan managed to avoid any full-blown tantrums, although he came close a few times. He spent most of his time sulking, pouting, and not playing, but then told me a couple of days later that putt-putt was so! much! fun!
Saturday was totally gorgeous, so we went for a hike, then to the beach for some ice cream. I stole these photos from my friend Leslye who was smart enough to remember to bring her camera and its memory card, unlike a certain scatterbrained blogger.
It was still a bit cold for the beach, but it was nice to be out in the sun and the breeze, sunburns notwithstanding.
I think this is the first vacation we've had where I was actually a little sad to see James go back to school. Not that I don't love spending time with him, but having an extra kid at home for five extra days is usually not much of a vacation for a stay-at-home parent -- just more work. But my kids are old enough and helpful enough now that we can all enjoy ourselves. This is making me hopeful for summer vacation!
27 April 2009
spring break part 2
08 October 2008
scene from the bus stop
Waiting at the bus stop with Neighbor Girl and Neighbor Girl's Dad:
James, to kid across the street: Hey, Captain! Hi, Captain!
Me: James, why do you call that kid Captain?
James: The first time I met him, he just told me his name was Captain.
Neighbor Girl's Dad: And Tennille?
James: I can kneel! [drops to knees on the sidewalk]
Me and NGD: [cannot contain laughter]
It's my least favorite part of day, morning, even when I don't have to drag myself out of bed and down to the bus stop in the chilly autumn air, twenty minutes earlier than the scheduled time due to the unpredictability of the new bus driver. (Of course, it's the days we're out there twenty minutes early, in the rain, when she comes nearly on time, and the days we only make it out ten or fifteen minutes early, we barely catch the bus.)
But early mornings are made infinitely more bearable when you spend the worst part of it with a thirty-year-old guy who cracks pop culture jokes and starts singing "Substitutiary Locomotion" when you mention the kids have just watched Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Then it's actually a pretty good way to start the day.
08 July 2008
20 August 2007
okay, FINE.
I had no idea there would be so much demand for pirate photos. I don't even have any very good ones -- Greg and I made pretty mediocre pirates, and we are (or at least I am) incredibly unphotogenic. But you asked for it.
I feel the need to explain that in my attempt for authenticity, my hair looked like that on purpose. I figured that with all the humidity on the open sea, and lack of conditioner or anti-frizz hair products, a pirate lass would have pretty unkempt hair. Don't ask me to explain Greg, though:
And as long as I'm posting photos, I've got some from the weekend as well. We spent the weekend at a cabin in the Adirondacks with friends, and did a little dressing up there too.
Exhibit A: Heidi and friends from high school went a little crazy with a box of hats found in a closet:
Exhibit B: Greg, who forgot to bring warm clothes even though we were camping, had to rummage through the closets as well, and made do with the warmest items he found. He made quite the fashion statement:
More impressive than either of us, though, was Cooper, the chihuahua who had more clothes for the weekend than I did. Here are a couple of my favorites:
And finally, a normal photo of Greg and me (before Andrea dropped her lunch in Greg's lap) in front of Snowbird Lake, where we spent time swimming and boating and generally relaxing, when we weren't experimenting with fashion:
Oh, how I wish every weekend could involve dressing up ridiculously with old friends in beautiful remote locations, but unfortunately, we must return to real life eventually.
14 August 2007
weekend wrap-up
If I was expecting our weekend away from the kids to be restful, I must have forgotten what it's like to spend time with our friends. We spent the weekend in Alexandria Bay for a wedding, and coincidentally, it was Pirate Days in Alex Bay as well. So in addition to seeing friends we haven't seen in 4 or 5 years, celebrating the marriage of two people we love, lake and river swimming, soaking in the hot tub, crazy dancing, eating tons of delicious food, and stargazing (and spotting a few meteors) at a giant bonfire, we also had the opportunity to dress up as pirates for a night out on the town. That includes the bride and groom. There was much merriment and revelry, and perhaps a little mischief and mayhem. Unfortunately the photos of me as a pirate wench are not terribly flattering, so they will not be making an appearance on the blog.
We had a ton of fun, but I got even less sleep than I normally do and that's really saying something. At least I got to sleep through the night, though -- no midnight crying, bedwetting, falling out of bed, or little bodies crawling into our bed. I can't wait until the day when those things are not regular features of my life. Even with the lack of sleep, it was one of the better weekends I've had in a long time.
27 July 2007
friday photos
After several nights of staying up way too late, I have finished reading Harry Potter, all seven books in a row, from beginning to end. Lots of crying, of course, but overall very satisfying. Now that that's over, I can return to the real world and start blogging again.
Last Friday, before I got into full-swing Potter-mania, I met up with my friend Jessica and her family in Ithaca for the day. James got to play all day with his old friend K (Jessica's 7-yea-old daughter) and we all got to do some sight-seeing and relaxing. We had a lot of fun. It was so good to see you, Jessica!
We went to Taughannock Falls to hike and play:
One of few recent photos of myself that I've liked -- it helps that the world's cutest toddler is perched on my shoulders, of course:
Jessica's family, my boys and me at the falls:
And Evan, who won't actually get into a pool, but feels that he needs goggles to look into the water from a distance:
And now that Harry is through, I have to get serious about packing, so I'm not sure how soon or often I'll be back to the blog in the next couple of weeks.
30 August 2006
i hate being busy
Well, even when all the travelling is over, things still don't slow down. After returning last week from Washington, we made a short trip out to my mom's last weekend to spend some time with her and go to the State Fair together. It was a nice weekend, if a bit rushed -- we went hiking on Moss Island*, where we managed, somehow, to not get poison ivy despite traipsing through a patch of it; the fair, of course was lots of fun: rides, farm animals, and greasy and/or sugary food. What could be better?
We've been home for several days in a row, but my preschooler is once again in high demand for playdates, so we've had lots of kid time. We also had the first parent meeting of the year for James' nursery school (though school doesn't start for another couple of weeks yet). Greg has been coming home for dinner and then going back in to work after the kids go to bed, so I haven't gotten to see much of him lately -- luckily I got my fill in Washington. And now that the fall semester is close to starting, I suspect I'll have some things to do for my community assistant position pretty soon. I feel like I should already be doing something, but I haven't heard from my employers in over a month, and haven't seen them since the orientation in June. I'm not complaining about getting paid for doing nothing, but I do feel a bit guilty about it.
This weekend we're going to a friend's for a Labor Day barbecque, at her parents' house on Canandaigua Lake. If the weather is nice, we're also going to try to do a little hiking. We have a book on local hikes, and we haven't done a single one -- kids are a little restrictive when it comes to good hiking -- but after the successful hikes we took them on on our vacation, we're ready to tackle the Finger Lakes.
In other news, my good friend Melissa is now blogging -- she is a wildly intelligent and wonderful woman, so check her out.
I'll close with a photo of my poor, accident-prone toddler. Today he was trying to climb on a tricycle that's a little too big for him; he tipped the trike over and landed pretty spectacularly on his face. The picture doesn't do it justice, but that is a big bruise on his forehead, and his nose is cut in several places. Poor baby.
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*Moss Island is a really cool place in Little Falls, NY, for which I can find very little online information, and no good pictures. It's an island with the Mohawk River on one side, and the Barge Canal on the other, accessible by a lock on the canal. It's geologically fascinating, with all kinds of unique rock formations, and it's popular for rock climbing despite being so small. Of course, I forgot to bring my camera.
24 August 2006
and we're back
Clearly, I lied about updating from the west coast. Who has time for blogging when you're on vacation? We're still getting settled here at home, so I still don't have a whole lot of time for blogging, but I thought I'd let my loyal readers know that I am still alive. And I'll give you a brief summary of the trip. And I wish I had some photos to post, but it appears that we've lost our memory card, so you'll have to make do with my descriptions and some internet photos.
Our kids were phenomenal on all of the flights, thank goodness. We got to see lots of Greg's family -- his sister came for a surprise visit; his 7-year-old cousin visited for a week to attend the horse camp Greg's mother was running; we were able to visit a few times with Greg's aunts; and we spent some time at his grandparents' house. We got to see Dawn and meet her boyfriend Derek; we got to see some of Greg's friends and have a kid-free couple of days in Seattle all at once.
Lots of outdoorsy goodness: we hiked at Hurricane Ridge, Sol Duc Falls, the Spruce Railroad Trail*, and I think there was one more hike I can't recall right now. We went to Salt Creek to look at tidepools, we went swimming at Lake Crescent, we picked millions of wild blackberries, and we went to the Clallam County Fair where we fed our boys nutritious foods like cotton candy and elephant ears.
Other fun included James' and Evan's numerous dance parties, Mentos-and-soda volcanoes, a little horseback riding for James, games of Settlers (and Seafarers) of Catan, Burnout Revenge (Evan is already becoming a video game addict), a viewing of Munich (which wasn't really "fun", but instead sobering, depressing, and disturbing, in an interesting way), and a visit to Herkimer Coffee.
All in all there was a lot of much-appreciated relaxation, and our boys got the chance to be just a little spoiled by Greg's family. I really wish we had photos -- I'm going to be annoyed if it turns out that our memory card really has disappeared for good. But anyway, we did have a lot of fun, though it's nice to be home again, too.
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*See the cliff on the right of the photo? Greg jumped off of it (only at a point highter than the picture shows) because the pool at the bottom ("the Devil's Punchbowl") is very very deep. It's safe, but it is a bit harrowing to watch your boyfriend jump off a cliff. Also, there is a very dark, cold, scary old railroad tunnel along this trail. Greg and his friends have even been known to go through it, but just standing at the mouth of the tunnel gave me the heebie-jeebies. Alas, I cannot find a picture online, but trust me. Creepy.
04 August 2006
westward bound
Tomorrow by this time we will be en route to the west coast, where almost two and a half weeks of fun and freedom await us. In addition to seeing Greg's family, I'm looking forward to more pleasant temperatures, beaches, mountains, horses, people to help us with kid care, time to read and perhaps even play the piano, a visit with Dawn, and hopefully getting to spend some quality kid-free time with my boyfriend. I'm not really looking forward to the many hours of airplane travel ahead of us, espcially considering that Evan's molars are presently coming in, but I think we will have enough books, food, and toys to survive.
I'm sure I'll be updating the blog from Washington; I'm less certain that I'll be able to post photos, but Greg's younger brother is a computer whiz, so we should be able to figure something out. I'll probably be even more sporadic than usual, though.
Until next time, whenever that may be!
25 July 2006
becoming a connoisseur
I haven't had much time for blogging because I'm trying deperately to read as much as I can of Collapse for my book club meeting next week. It's a really interesting book, if a bit dry and slow at parts. I'm not hoping to finish it before the meeting -- I'm only about 150 pages into a book of 500+ pages -- but I'd like to make it maybe halfway through so I have something to add to the discussion.
But I did take a break from reading this weekend to go on my first-ever wine tour! It was a friend's birthday, so her boyfriend arranged for a van to drive a large group of us down to Seneca Lake to tour some of the many, many wineries there. I've never been much of a wine drinker, but I'm determined to make myself like it at least a little, partly because of the health benefits of red wine, and partly because wine carries a certain sophistication that beer and other alcohols do not, and I've spent far too long being completely, utterly clueless about wine. So I went with an open mind and tried lots of different kinds of wine. And now I have a little bit better of an idea what I like and what I don't.
We visited six or seven wineries. My favorites -- where I had what I thought were the best wines -- were Torrey Ridge and Red Newt Cellars, though at Wagner Vineyards I had one of the best ice cream cones I've ever tasted: amaretto cream sherry swirled with chocolate. Yum. At Torry Ridge I bought the one and only bottle of wine I purchased that day -- Summer Delight, a sweet, scrumptious wine that is described as tasting just like strawberry rhubarb pie. It is indeed strawberrilicious.
An all day wine tour was, I think, a bit long for my taste, but I'm glad I got to go and experience some of what the Finger Lakes are famous for, and expand my own tastes at the same time. The Finger Lakes area is such a beautiful setting for sampling wines on a perfect summer day. So even though I'm now behind in my reading, it was very much worth it.
26 June 2006
weekend photos and a video
James loved the disposable cameras on each table at the wedding reception
James and Evan hugging
James jumping around like a crazy child And the video, of our adorable son dancing his heart out at the wedding reception -- he was the hit of the dance floor that night. Unfortunately the video is kind of dark and not great quality, but I think you'll get the idea:
22 June 2006
on the road again
So tonight, we are off to Vermont by way of Ilion. And for this weekend's long car trip, we are bringing the kids, which I expect to be a rather disastrous experience. James is easy, and used to riding in the car, but Evan is a bit less predictable. Evan also has a good ear-splitting shriek. So I'm a little worried. Hopefully he'll sleep a lot, and be content with snacks and toy cars. But with a needy, shrieky baby, you never can tell. Wish us luck.
We'll be going to another wedding this weekend, but probably having considerably less fun than last weekend, thanks to having the kiddos. I mean, kids are obviously fun in their own way, but we haven't yet done a wedding with them. Well, James has been to one wedding, a couple of summers ago, but there we had a set of grandparents as well as an aunt to help keep him entertained and supervised. So we'll see how this goes. And this is actually our last wedding until next year, so even if it goes badly we won't have to do it again anytime soon.
Hmmm... it sounds like I'm complaining there, which I really don't mean to do, because I am looking forward to the weekend. But I'm trying to have realistic expectations -- with children, you learn to expect the worst, and then you're often pleasantly surprised. Hopefully this will be one of those occasions.
19 June 2006
there's nothing like a weekend away from the kids
This weekend, for the first time since before Evan was born, Greg and I ditched the kids for a weekend away. We went with some of our friends to the wedding of some of our other friends on Long Island, and it was really only an overnight -- we got there Saturday afternoon and left early Sunday afternoon -- but that was more than enough time to cram in a healthy amount of fun, and even a little craziness.
The wedding was lovely, and it was nice to see so many of our college friends in one place, but for me the best part was really that lack of parental responsibility. I felt years younger for a night -- which is to say that I actually felt 24 for once, instead of the 30 or sometimes 40 I usually feel. And spending some carefree, uninterrupted time with Greg was really wonderful too -- we got to hang out with each other, and actually have complete conversations! Amazing. There was lots of food, drink, and dancing, and good time spent with good friends. And no diapers, no crying or screaming, no whining, no nose-wiping or being climbed on. Relaxing.
Of course, it was nice to get back to my mom's and see the kiddos again. They had a great time with Grandma, but they missed us a lot too -- particularly Evan, who hates being away from us even for an hour or two -- so we did have a nice reunion. Greg had to leave early this morning for a two-day trip to Delaware and Maryland, so I've quickly gone from childfree to single parent, but I'm feeling so satisfied after the weekend that I don't even mind Greg being away for a couple of days -- though it's pouring rain and thunderstorms today, so I may change my mind about that before too long.
24 January 2006
saying goodbye
I hate saying goodbye. One of the drawbacks of living in student housing, though, is that it happens on a pretty regular basis. Everyone leaves sooner or later, and now that we're halfway through our fifth year, families we've come to know and love are all starting to leave. By the end of this summer I don't think there will be anyone left in the neighborhood who was here when we moved in.
Today is a sad day. One of my close friends, who I've known for over three years now, and her daughter, who's been a close friend of James' for that time, left to move to Missouri this afternoon (with the rest of their family). I managed not to cry when saying goodbye, but it'll come later. She was of the first friends I made here who was also a mother, also a liberal in this conservative neighborhood, also into good books and girl talk -- none of these things is enough on its own, but combine them with a sense of humor, warmth, and good conversation and she's a friend who will be very much missed.
James will also be losing a good friend -- someone with whom he's spent hours and hours of playtime, at each other's homes and at the playgrounds and sandboxes, someone who he bickers with like a sibling, someone he looks up to, someone he has learned from, someone he loves. It will be a hard adjustment for both of us to lose our friends.
