Summer: Fri., 8/17 - Mon., 8/20
Fri., 8/17
Grandma D. turned 99 today, so we went to Beechwood to have some cake and see her and Florence. Then we went to Target for a bit more school-clothes shopping--the girls are fully set now; maybe they'll want some warm things once winter comes, but last year they preferred t-shirts all year in their overheated classrooms. After they tried on clothes, Mom let them buy new PJs for their American Girl dolls. (They had only one set of PJs, and two dolls. The horror.)
We left L&G with Mom and Dad at 5pm and headed into Pittsburgh to have dinner with Beth and Nate. Lots of fun as always, and as always, these visits make us want to move to Pittsburgh. After dinner at Noodlehead in Shadyside, we met up with Erin for drinks at the Ace Hotel. We drove home after that. (In our absence, the kids had watched The Greatest Showman with Mom and Dad.)
Sat., 8/18
It was a gloomy day, so I wasn't able to ride on the bike trail as I'd hoped to in the morning; but I did get to ride around the neighborhood for about half an hour after lunch. Andrew and I made our requisite trip to Rural King, where I bought jelly shoes for the girls for 51 cents (they didn't fit), and faux Birkenstocks for Greta for $4 (they fit perfectly). Then Andrew picked up a few things at Pechin's while I went into the flea market inside the Laurel Mall. I am a little bit obsessed with this flea market--not because there are treasures (there aren't) but because the entire thing is so very, very weird. I took some pictures of creepy dolls, browsed in stalls that featured little but clothes in overflowing cardboard boxes, and inquired about an interesting two-tiered rock collection that was priced an incongruous $80 (I left it behind).
Saturday afternoon was the Orlando family picnic, which we very fortunately were in town for this year. We all had so much fun. We met our new baby cousin, and Andrew got his baby fix (WHY DO PEOPLE ALLOW HIM TO HOLD BABIES??). Greta won two of the three games of Bingo, and Lucia won the third. We won a few raffle prizes. We ate a lot of food. There was a pinata, and fireworks, and a young cousin who introduced the girls to Silly String. It was a great picnic.
Sun., 8/19
Alas, alas, departure day. I didn't set my alarm when we went to bed after the picnic, assuming I'd be up around 7 as usual with the kids; but they--and us--slept the sleep of the dead until 9am. So I wasn't able to get in a bike ride as I'd hoped. This was probably for the best, since packing up was a real trick. We hadn't brought very much, but we accumulated quite a bit this week--odds and ends that didn't fit into a regular scheme of packing: an envelope of scissors from Uncle Michael's house; old prom shoes and jewelry for the girls' dress-up collection; new wicker bike baskets. We'd had such a great week that I was afraid the girls were going to be in tears when we left, but they were okay, perhaps because Dad had hidden two little gifts in the car with clues for them to find once the drive started.
Our week in Cville flew by. We did so many fun things, and had lots of time to just relax around the house, too, printing out pictures to color (L&G) and reading teen novels from the eighties (me). This was our last big trip of the summer--and even though there are still two and a half weeks until school starts, the end of this trip means the end is near.
I had to pick up some prescription vitamins at Target when we got back to Maplewood--they were going to be restocked if I didn't get there to pick them up--so even though we were all worn out from the drive we decided to do a grocery shop. Lucia and I got some things at Target, while Greta and Andrew went to Whole Foods. We wound up with two huge bags of grapes (unnecessary) and no parsley, salsa, or avocados (required for our planned dinners). Sigh.
Mon., 8/20
L&G were so glad to be home that we didn't leave the house today until 5pm, when I took them to Trader Joe's to pick up the items we forgot yesterday. They played nonstop the entire day, mostly with their American Girls. The dolls spent time at a horse camp, had a sleepover, and who knows what else. L&G were sometimes in regular clothes, sometimes in dress-up clothes (with my old prom jewelry and shoes, of course). We played two games of Quirkle--Greta played for the first time, and she was a whiz at it, beating me and Lucia handily the first game. We read some of our new read-aloud book, The Worst Witch. There was some scootering and biking in the driveway.
It was just a summer day of fun, the way summer is supposed to be. It's the kind of day that gives me a panic attack about the start of the school year, when the days are so full and busy and the kids don't have the freedom to just play with their stuff. Two more weeks isn't enough. This summer has flown faster than any other summer I can remember.
Here are a few pics (I've been lax with pics; adding pics to this blog is annoying and multi-step).
Grandma D. turned 99 today, so we went to Beechwood to have some cake and see her and Florence. Then we went to Target for a bit more school-clothes shopping--the girls are fully set now; maybe they'll want some warm things once winter comes, but last year they preferred t-shirts all year in their overheated classrooms. After they tried on clothes, Mom let them buy new PJs for their American Girl dolls. (They had only one set of PJs, and two dolls. The horror.)
We left L&G with Mom and Dad at 5pm and headed into Pittsburgh to have dinner with Beth and Nate. Lots of fun as always, and as always, these visits make us want to move to Pittsburgh. After dinner at Noodlehead in Shadyside, we met up with Erin for drinks at the Ace Hotel. We drove home after that. (In our absence, the kids had watched The Greatest Showman with Mom and Dad.)
Sat., 8/18
It was a gloomy day, so I wasn't able to ride on the bike trail as I'd hoped to in the morning; but I did get to ride around the neighborhood for about half an hour after lunch. Andrew and I made our requisite trip to Rural King, where I bought jelly shoes for the girls for 51 cents (they didn't fit), and faux Birkenstocks for Greta for $4 (they fit perfectly). Then Andrew picked up a few things at Pechin's while I went into the flea market inside the Laurel Mall. I am a little bit obsessed with this flea market--not because there are treasures (there aren't) but because the entire thing is so very, very weird. I took some pictures of creepy dolls, browsed in stalls that featured little but clothes in overflowing cardboard boxes, and inquired about an interesting two-tiered rock collection that was priced an incongruous $80 (I left it behind).
Saturday afternoon was the Orlando family picnic, which we very fortunately were in town for this year. We all had so much fun. We met our new baby cousin, and Andrew got his baby fix (WHY DO PEOPLE ALLOW HIM TO HOLD BABIES??). Greta won two of the three games of Bingo, and Lucia won the third. We won a few raffle prizes. We ate a lot of food. There was a pinata, and fireworks, and a young cousin who introduced the girls to Silly String. It was a great picnic.
Sun., 8/19
Alas, alas, departure day. I didn't set my alarm when we went to bed after the picnic, assuming I'd be up around 7 as usual with the kids; but they--and us--slept the sleep of the dead until 9am. So I wasn't able to get in a bike ride as I'd hoped. This was probably for the best, since packing up was a real trick. We hadn't brought very much, but we accumulated quite a bit this week--odds and ends that didn't fit into a regular scheme of packing: an envelope of scissors from Uncle Michael's house; old prom shoes and jewelry for the girls' dress-up collection; new wicker bike baskets. We'd had such a great week that I was afraid the girls were going to be in tears when we left, but they were okay, perhaps because Dad had hidden two little gifts in the car with clues for them to find once the drive started.
Our week in Cville flew by. We did so many fun things, and had lots of time to just relax around the house, too, printing out pictures to color (L&G) and reading teen novels from the eighties (me). This was our last big trip of the summer--and even though there are still two and a half weeks until school starts, the end of this trip means the end is near.
I had to pick up some prescription vitamins at Target when we got back to Maplewood--they were going to be restocked if I didn't get there to pick them up--so even though we were all worn out from the drive we decided to do a grocery shop. Lucia and I got some things at Target, while Greta and Andrew went to Whole Foods. We wound up with two huge bags of grapes (unnecessary) and no parsley, salsa, or avocados (required for our planned dinners). Sigh.
Mon., 8/20
L&G were so glad to be home that we didn't leave the house today until 5pm, when I took them to Trader Joe's to pick up the items we forgot yesterday. They played nonstop the entire day, mostly with their American Girls. The dolls spent time at a horse camp, had a sleepover, and who knows what else. L&G were sometimes in regular clothes, sometimes in dress-up clothes (with my old prom jewelry and shoes, of course). We played two games of Quirkle--Greta played for the first time, and she was a whiz at it, beating me and Lucia handily the first game. We read some of our new read-aloud book, The Worst Witch. There was some scootering and biking in the driveway.
It was just a summer day of fun, the way summer is supposed to be. It's the kind of day that gives me a panic attack about the start of the school year, when the days are so full and busy and the kids don't have the freedom to just play with their stuff. Two more weeks isn't enough. This summer has flown faster than any other summer I can remember.
Here are a few pics (I've been lax with pics; adding pics to this blog is annoying and multi-step).
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