Summer Days 8/20-8/24: New Hampshire
Lost some days in here but I'll try to recap the past few.
Sat., 8/20
Did a preschool cleanup in the morning, then went to a rummage sale, then spent a lot of time losing my mind over the sheer intractable mess that was our house in preparation for a weeklong trip away, during which time the cleaners would come, so the house had to be both vacation-clean and cleaners-coming-tidied. Not fun.
I gave the girls their first week's reading-practice prize--a blind bag pony and blind bag Shopkin. Lucia's been doing great with her daily reading practice, and as everyone knows I like to buy the girls their favorite tiny things, so the reading-practice incentive is win-win for all of us.
In the evening, Katherine, Patrick, and Thomas arrived, to much excitement. L&G had been eagerly awaiting their arrival all day. A whirlwind of Shopkins and pony introductions ensued.
Sun., 8/21
Katherine and I went to yoga first thing in the morning, and then we packed up the cars and set out for NH. It was a long drive. L&G played with their ponies and Equestria Girls so intensely for the first part of the drive that they forgot to even ask about watching a show. They watched a few My Little Ponies for the last hour or so of the drive. When we finally arrived, we made a grocery store stop then went to the house in time for dinner and bedtime.
Mon., 8/22
First full day in NH. Glorious to be here. We hung out outside almost all day. In the morning, we went to the girls' favorite creek. Thomas wasn't a fan, but L&G got swept up right away with their Equestria Girls adventures. In the afternoon, we swam in the pond (I went out in the raft). We went to our favorite ice cream place, despite it being a very chilly evening. We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner. After the kids' bedtime, we made a fire pit.
Tues., 8/23
We all hiked to the top of Mt. Ascutney today, which is so much fun. We spotted two small brown tree frogs. L&G were intrepid hikers. Thomas was so worn out by the hike he fell asleep in Patrick's arms on the way back down.
In the afternoon, we played outside, read some books in the elephant tent, and prepared for some dinner guests. One of the cutest things this trip is when Lucia reads Elephant and Piggie books out loud to Thomas and Greta--they all love it.
Seven relatives came over for dinner, and we had a lovely tiki-torchlit setup in the front yard. We even made a fire pit for smores after dinner. The kids had a blast running around together, up and down the front hill, laughing hysterically. It's so cute to see them play together--Lucia told Katherine later how much fun they'd all had.
Wed., 8/24
Andrew and Patrick spent the morning fly-fishing. Katherine and I hung out with the kids. We took them down to the dock, where they tried to catch fish in their new extendable nets. Lucia caught two fish, thrilling everyone.
Once everyone reconvened this afternoon, we went for a swim in William's pool. Unfortunately, Lucia is sick. She was grouchy and whiny this morning--totally unlike her these days--and even agreed to a nap in the afternoon (though she failed to actually fall asleep). She was excited about going swimming, but once we got there she was listless and quiet, sitting in a lounge chair wrapped up in towels the whole time. Usually we can't get her out of the pool. I took her temp at home and she has a fever of 100. She and I stayed home while everyone else went to dinner at the Pizza Chef. We read, had some dinner, she watched some YouTube videos, I gave her a bath, and she went right to sleep--could barely make it from my room to hers. Fingers are crossed that a good night's sleep makes a difference.
She was alarmed that she'd neglected to write her daily journal today and kept asking if she could do it before bed, even though she was barely standing upright. (I assured her she could do a journal entry tomorrow and her reading/writing prize would not be affected.) She was also alarmed that she had so many things she wanted to write in her journal--had no idea how to choose just one thing and was relieved when I suggested she write a couple of sentences instead of just one. Pretty cute, though I'll still be pushing computer engineering.
Greta, meanwhile, had fun tonight out to dinner with Andrew and everyone, and she was so excited to bring home a ring pop and a gumball-machine "real live diamond" for Lucia. She can't wait to present them to her in the morning, which is sure to be heartbreaking as feverish Lucia will fail to give the appropriately exuberant reaction. Ah, sisters.
We're supposed to drive out to Lake Winni-something or other tomorrow for the day, to meet up with some of Andrew and Katherine's friends, so let's hope Lucia feels better.
Sat., 8/20
Did a preschool cleanup in the morning, then went to a rummage sale, then spent a lot of time losing my mind over the sheer intractable mess that was our house in preparation for a weeklong trip away, during which time the cleaners would come, so the house had to be both vacation-clean and cleaners-coming-tidied. Not fun.
I gave the girls their first week's reading-practice prize--a blind bag pony and blind bag Shopkin. Lucia's been doing great with her daily reading practice, and as everyone knows I like to buy the girls their favorite tiny things, so the reading-practice incentive is win-win for all of us.
In the evening, Katherine, Patrick, and Thomas arrived, to much excitement. L&G had been eagerly awaiting their arrival all day. A whirlwind of Shopkins and pony introductions ensued.
Sun., 8/21
Katherine and I went to yoga first thing in the morning, and then we packed up the cars and set out for NH. It was a long drive. L&G played with their ponies and Equestria Girls so intensely for the first part of the drive that they forgot to even ask about watching a show. They watched a few My Little Ponies for the last hour or so of the drive. When we finally arrived, we made a grocery store stop then went to the house in time for dinner and bedtime.
Mon., 8/22
First full day in NH. Glorious to be here. We hung out outside almost all day. In the morning, we went to the girls' favorite creek. Thomas wasn't a fan, but L&G got swept up right away with their Equestria Girls adventures. In the afternoon, we swam in the pond (I went out in the raft). We went to our favorite ice cream place, despite it being a very chilly evening. We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner. After the kids' bedtime, we made a fire pit.
Tues., 8/23
We all hiked to the top of Mt. Ascutney today, which is so much fun. We spotted two small brown tree frogs. L&G were intrepid hikers. Thomas was so worn out by the hike he fell asleep in Patrick's arms on the way back down.
In the afternoon, we played outside, read some books in the elephant tent, and prepared for some dinner guests. One of the cutest things this trip is when Lucia reads Elephant and Piggie books out loud to Thomas and Greta--they all love it.
Seven relatives came over for dinner, and we had a lovely tiki-torchlit setup in the front yard. We even made a fire pit for smores after dinner. The kids had a blast running around together, up and down the front hill, laughing hysterically. It's so cute to see them play together--Lucia told Katherine later how much fun they'd all had.
Wed., 8/24
Andrew and Patrick spent the morning fly-fishing. Katherine and I hung out with the kids. We took them down to the dock, where they tried to catch fish in their new extendable nets. Lucia caught two fish, thrilling everyone.
Once everyone reconvened this afternoon, we went for a swim in William's pool. Unfortunately, Lucia is sick. She was grouchy and whiny this morning--totally unlike her these days--and even agreed to a nap in the afternoon (though she failed to actually fall asleep). She was excited about going swimming, but once we got there she was listless and quiet, sitting in a lounge chair wrapped up in towels the whole time. Usually we can't get her out of the pool. I took her temp at home and she has a fever of 100. She and I stayed home while everyone else went to dinner at the Pizza Chef. We read, had some dinner, she watched some YouTube videos, I gave her a bath, and she went right to sleep--could barely make it from my room to hers. Fingers are crossed that a good night's sleep makes a difference.
She was alarmed that she'd neglected to write her daily journal today and kept asking if she could do it before bed, even though she was barely standing upright. (I assured her she could do a journal entry tomorrow and her reading/writing prize would not be affected.) She was also alarmed that she had so many things she wanted to write in her journal--had no idea how to choose just one thing and was relieved when I suggested she write a couple of sentences instead of just one. Pretty cute, though I'll still be pushing computer engineering.
Greta, meanwhile, had fun tonight out to dinner with Andrew and everyone, and she was so excited to bring home a ring pop and a gumball-machine "real live diamond" for Lucia. She can't wait to present them to her in the morning, which is sure to be heartbreaking as feverish Lucia will fail to give the appropriately exuberant reaction. Ah, sisters.
We're supposed to drive out to Lake Winni-something or other tomorrow for the day, to meet up with some of Andrew and Katherine's friends, so let's hope Lucia feels better.
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