Skipping Town

These summer posts are winding down. But it makes me happy to have this record of our days--I should challenge myself to do daily fall blog-journalings as well. Today was fine, but I'm on edge--the big transition to school is overwhelming, with so many details to get in place, and I begin to fixate on less-than-urgent things that have sent me to Target about four times this week. I'm done. I can't shop anymore. Target and I need a break. I feel this way two times a year: after back-to-school shopping, and after Christmas shopping. Like if I have to go back into that store I'm going to have some kind of suburban meltdown. I'm not sure what that would involve (maybe some overturned bins of unreasonably early Halloween decorations?), but I know it'd be epic. Lucia had a birthday pool party to go to this afternoon, and she had lots of fun seeing some of her friends. Greta and I went to Target (blech!!!) and then ate cookies and read books. L&G had a calm day...

We're leaving Friday morning for NH for the weekend, and school starts next Wednesday, so we did lots of last summer things today. First, we went to the zoo. We ran into friends there, which was fun. Zoo train, hyenas, butterflies, carousel, prairie dogs, sting rays. After lunch, we went to the library for a final round of summer books; I need to find something new to get excited about, now that the Doll People books are finished. Then it was on to the pool for one final swim. We didn't stay long--the water was too cold--but it was really just to have a chance to say goodbye. Next year they'll be even better swimmers, and it will be even more fun. This was the best year yet for sure. Then I dragged them to Stop N Shop and was suddenly less mournful about summer being over, because I realized that--come next week--I won't have two silly appendages with me as I try to run necessary errands. I can just...hop out to the store. Easy, breezy. Just me and my shopping list. N...

Mon., 8/28 School shopping day. I've been slowly accumulating things for the school year, but we needed to get a few clothes and shoes. L&G like to shop, and they like picking out clothes, but they just get so silly sometimes that it was really anyone's guess how the outing would go. Happily, it was okay. We went to TJ Maxx and DSW first, and each girl got a pair of shoes. (Lucia: sparkly fun sneakers; Greta: light-up sneakers.) Then we went to the mall, where we found a handful of cute dresses at Land's End. They also each selected a Beanie Boo backpack clip. Finally, Target, where they got shirts and jeans. Done. We're set now. They'll need fall things once it gets cooler, but for now they're ready. We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. It was sunny but too mild for swimming, and L&G just wanted to stay home and play, so we did. I made kale quiche for dinner. Tues., 8/29 A cold, rainy day. L&G played the morning away, covering the entir...

Sat., 8/26 A lovely summer Saturday, with fall definitely in the air. We had the Kecks over for the afternoon--they drove in from Brooklyn. Barbra and I left the kids with Andrew and Chris and went to a rummage sale, and then we relaxed while the kids played in the basement and outside. We had lunch on the patio. A great visit. None of the kids wanted the day to end. Later, I worked on a photo book and watched House of Cards, and Andrew went to a neighbor's to watch a boxing match. Sun., 8/27 I went to yoga this morning and then we just relaxed around the house. L&G got some Splashlings, played outside, put on some dress-up clothes. We read some of The Doll People Set Sail. Later in the afternoon, we all went for a walk on the Fairy Trail in the reservation. Super fun. Back home, the kids played while I worked out some of my back-to-school anxiety by organizing anything that crossed my path. You should see my makeup drawer! And the space under the bathroom sink! And t...

A day at home. Too mild outside for the pool. L&G played outside for most of the day, mainly riding flash riders and playing in the playhouse. We read more of The Doll People Set Sail. We looked at some pictures of them as toddlers (my first photo book arrived today!). The day progressed. They colored in their metallic coloring books in the basement for a while, which devolved somehow into arguing, and they wouldn't stop or come upstairs or listen, and I threw their coloring books in the trash, to much hysteria. (I took them back out, of course.) Keeping it real, people. It ain't all DIY Calico Critter furniture around here. (But we/I did sew tiny Calico Critter sleeping bags today, later, and before bedtime Lucia set up a little CC campsite, with a little elephant in the sleeping bag, claiming that camping was the elephant's dream come true.) That's it, really. Flash riders were the focus, with some reading and Calico Critters thrown in. I went to the dreaded...

Wed., 8/23 The cleaners were here for the morning, so the girls and I went to the zoo. We rode the zoo train, fed birds, rode the carousel, saw hyenas and prairie dogs. L&G had each brought a couple of Calico Critters, and they spent some time gathering weeds for their food. We spent two hours at the zoo, then headed home for lunch. L&G were involved with all manner of toys in the afternoon, mostly Calico Critters, which are having a huge resurgence. They were so wrapped up in playing that they almost decided not to go to the pool. But they changed their mind, and we got there around 4pm. They went down the water slides about a hundred times. (I was in the pool, hanging out nearby, in case Greta took a wrong turn after splashing in and couldn't make it to the ladder. This happened several times.) They even jumped off the diving board (the low one) a couple of times. So many things at the pool have opened up to them this summer. Dinner was macaroni and cheese. They wat...

Sat., 8/19 Spent some time today hanging stuff that needed to be hung, and organizing things that needed to be organized. House stuff. Later in the afternoon we all went to the pool. Pesto (with basil from my plant) and grilled chicken for dinner. Sun., 8/20 I went to yoga, and then a rummage sale. There were no good finds, but I stumbled on a yard sale on my way back and found an amazing cedar chest for $5, exactly the size trunk I've been looking for. It is now the designated spot for all my childhood treasures that I'm slowly excavating from Mom and Dad's attic. I've imbued the trunk and its contents with mystery, telling the girls they can't ever open the trunk without me--but this is mostly because there's no way to keep the lid from crashing down onto their heads if they try to lean in and rustle around. They were captivated by the things I put into it and played with some of them. Meanwhile, Andrew organized the garage, which mostly involved getting...

Thurs., 8/17 A good day. I tried to get L&G to go to the zoo in the morning, but they just wanted to stay home and play with their Shopkins, which they did, out on the patio. Then they swung on the swings, rode their flash riders, and played in the yard till lunch. Then they did a little math and writing work. In the afternoon, one of Lucia's friends came over for a playdate. They played with puffy slime and played outside. Greta--for some inexplicable reason--didn't want to play with them, despite their repeated invitations to her. Greta boggles the mind sometimes. After the friend left, L&G and I headed to the pool for a couple of hours. L&G--who hadn't taken off their ankle bands since they'd gotten them--went on the water slides nonstop for an hour. They had so much fun. Then they played in the little pool with their Splashings for a while. Dinner was leftovers. A pretty great summer day. Fri., 8/18 Blech. Bad days come out of nowhere, and ou...

Today was a pretty perfect summer day. I tried to get L&G to go to the zoo this morning, but they just wanted to play at home, which was fine. I'm not sure what the context was, but they both packed their small Hello Kitty suitcases full of socks and tights, and they were both wearing tights with socks over them and were sliding around the house. Then Lucia said she really really wanted to make puffy slime (which we'd made once during the winter), so we went to Target to buy shaving cream and Elmer's glue. They also asked if they could buy a little box of blind bag Shopkins, with Lucia making grand promises of doing extra math workbook pages, and they were so excited when I said yes. (And she did do the math pages, as soon as we got home.) The new Shopkins are as tiny and cute as ever. This purchase rekindled their love of Shopkins, which had waned for a while, and they got out ALL their Shopkins after that (which are now carpeting the floor of the living room). We ...

I registered L&G for swimming lessons this morning--they'll be in Level 2 and Level 3. Greta probably isn't *quite* ready for Level 2, and Lucia is *almost* ready for Level 4, but this was the best I could do schedule-wise (and it's what their teachers from the last session recommended). It was a rainy day. We played games in the basement (the family fun room, as we call it): two rounds each of Uno, Chutes & Ladders, and dominoes. Then I taught them Parcheesi. I'd forgotten how many rules there are, but they were getting into it. We finished The Runaway Dolls and read some of a Heidi Heckelbeck book. There were mentions of mimes and moonwalking in the Heidi Heckelbeck book, which led to me showing them YouTube videos of mimes and Michael Jackson, including the Thriller video. After lunch, we went to the library, the post office, and Target. When we got home, I made a huge bowl of popcorn, and we sat on the couch for an hour and read the new library books. Th...

This morning I had a piano tuner come in to tune the piano, in preparation for the girls' piano lessons that start in September. L&G played on the stairs while he tuned. This has been their activity for the past couple of days--making elaborate setups on the steps with Calico Critter foods, eraser foods, Splashlings, Shopkins, Squinkies, and Num Noms. It's time-consuming and hazardous. Today it finally degenerated when Greta put a foot on one of Lucia's stairs. We had lunch, read some more of Runaway Dolls, cleaned up the steps, swung on the swings, did math and handwriting pages, and then went to the pool. It was an overcast afternoon, and hardly anyone was at the pool--but L&G ran into one of Greta's friends, who ran into another friend, and the whole group of little girls played together with Splashlings in the little pool. I made eggplant parmesan for dinner, using the friend eggplant Andrew made for dinner yesterday. Then the girls and I drove to Millbu...

Fri., 8/11 Our last day at Bethany Beach. I went to yoga at 7:00 a.m. again--three times in one week. So lovely. Molly gave all the kids a set of Squinkies Do's when they got up, which they all loved. Then we put in another full beach day--lovely weather, despite the prediction of rain from earlier in the week. In the morning, the kids mostly played in the sand. "Remember when we were being chased by that baby?" Greta said to Luca. "Yeah," Luca laughed. And Greta said, "That was so fun."  One notable part of our week--Andrew twice found a horseshoe / helmet crab in the sand. Huge and monstrous. Once he picked it up and threw it into the ocean, tail thrashing. The next time it was already in the water. Everyone hoped to see it on our last day, but it didn't appear. After lunch, when the tide was further out, we all swam. Lucia, like in previous days, was in a new kind of watery, wave-jumping heaven. Molly carried Luca out a few times, and...

Beach week! I’ve neglected to blog. I’ll try to capture the highlights of our week at Bethany Beach. Sat., 8/5 Long traffic-y drive. But the beach house we rented for the week is beautiful--it’s two separate apartments on two floors, and we rented both, so there’s lots of space and bedrooms for everyone. One block from the beach and boardwalk. It couldn’t be better. The four of us headed to the beach after we unpacked, and Mom and Dad met us there after they arrived. We got dinner from DB Fries and ate it on the picnic table in the backyard of our house. Then we went out for ice cream. A perfect first day. Sun., 8/6 Beach morning. I went to yoga on the beach at 7:00 a.m., and then we all went out around 9. Molly arrived around lunchtime. The waves are really big here so we didn’t do too much swimming. Lots of digging, sandcastle-making, and collecting stones and shells. Obsessively collecting stones and shells. It was a beautiful day and we made the most of it, kno...

A full, nice day. As soon as L&G woke up this morning, they wanted to go into the basement playroom to continue coloring in their metallic coloring books. Usually they play for a long time in their rooms, but this morning they had a single focus. We added metallic gel pens to the markers that came with the coloring books, which work splendidly. With our beach week coming up, I spent some time getting things organized and packed. We read together, worked on our yarn wall hangings, and played a game. L&G swung for a long time outside. After lunch, they did their summer work (math, handwriting) and then we went to the pool. It was a good swimming day. Unfortunately, at 5:00 p.m., there were dark clouds and thunder, and everyone had to leave the pool. We were nearly ready to go anyway. At home, I "cooked" dinner (more random leftovers from the freezer--I was loathe to grocery shop since we are only here for three days) and the girls watched an Elena. A nice day all in a...

Whew. Getting a little behind but I'm *determined* to note at least something about each day. Sun., 7/30 A lovely day in NH. We went to the creek today--always a favorite place. A few Splashlings mermaids joined us, and L&G did their best to make them little boats out of pieces of bark. (This was only marginally successful.) We went out for ice cream after lunch, and on the way home we stopped at Dollar General so I could buy a few supplies to make better Splashlings boats. The only thing I ended up really needing was a pool noodle--sliced into segments and then sliced lenghwise, they were perfect little boats. I also made some rounds, which were inner tubes. We used all of these things when we went swimming (with Splashlings) at William and Nelly's pool later in the afternoon. We had a big dinner Sunday night--William, Butch (Andrew's cousin, staying in the house for the weekend), Andy, Cindy (both also staying in the house), and the four of us. Andrew made gaz...