Skipping Town

L&G slept until 10am this morning. They were beyond exhausted, and they finally finally got caught up on sleep. It was pouring rain for most of the day, so we couldn't go to the creek as planned. Instead, we all worked on a puzzle for a while, and then drove into West Lebanon to run errands at Walmart, Price Chopper, and Dollar Tree. There was a bit of excitement on the way, because Andrew spotted a small turtle swimming in a puddle at the end of our driveway. We all got out and watched it swim around, and then Andrew picked it up and delivered it to the side of the pond, where it promptly crawled into the water. After shopping, we ate clam strips for a very late lunch at the Weathervane and then went home. It had finally stopped raining, so the girls changed into bathing suits and toted their rafts down to the pond, where they played for the next two hours. They were hovering for most of the time near the dock, calling each other by fake names, dragging large sticks and lo...

Thurs., 6/27 I had to wake up the kids at 8:30 this morning because the cleaners were there and had to clean the upstairs. I hustled them into clothes and out the door, first to the UPS store so I could send an Amazon return and then to Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. We headed to the library next to get some books and redeem their latest round of reading hours for prizes. When we got home, we cleaned up the tinker space, getting it back to zero so they could start fresh potions when we return from NH. Cleaning it up was no joke--so many bowls of chalky, soapy mixes. Then the bowls to wash and the tables to hose down. But we did it. The Clarks arrived in the afternoon, with their cat. Greta was ecstatic. The kids all played for a short while and then we headed to the train. Beth and I had planned this adventure months ago, and it was finally the big day. We met Andrew in the city and had dinner all together at Rosa Mexicano, and then the girls split off to go see Swan Lake, and A...

We packed a lot into today. The morning was a downward spiral thanks to Greta's inability to conceptualize the idea of "making change." Andrew was trying to give the girls each $5, since they've each read two books so far from their Bonus Books, and he had a five and a ten. He gave the five to Greta, and gave the ten to Lucia, and Lucia gave him five back from her wallet. Greta FREAKED OUT, thinking Andrew had given Lucia $10 and her only $5. Etc. We finally just had to take all the money back, and we'll try again once we have two fives. Even by the end of the day Greta was still upset about this. She was just so MAD that Lucia had gotten a TEN and she'd only gotten a FIVE. Sigh. Andrew went off to work, and Greta spent an insanely long time just stewing in her room. Finally she got dressed and we all went to Target (believe me, I wouldn't have attempted this if she hadn't fully recovered), because we were out of bread and my kids are now apparently ...

Busy busy day. Each girl had a friend over in the morning, reminding me how much I generally dislike having children who aren't mine over to our house. There are easy playdates and not so easy playdates. It's better when only one kid has a friend over at a time, I think. Anyway. We got through that and then had a little downtime in the afternoon. L&G are really obsessed with making Rainbow Loom jewelry, so they did that for a while. Both did some reading. (The bonus book bins are a big hit.) We headed to the pool in the late afternoon, for Float Night--a favorite. The kids brought duck floats I'd gotten at Rural King last year. They had a blast. The pool is a solid sea of floats on Float Night, a nightmare for the lifeguards, but it's always fun. We had to leave early, though, because it was also the opening night of the Turnover Sale--my own favorite summer event. I'm going to miss almost all the sale dates this summer, but I'm so happy we got to go on op...

Summer. Greta slept till 8:45am this morning. Lucia got up earlier than that but didn't tell anyone, and just stayed in bed reading for what she claims was two hours. It's possible: she has a clock in her room. A nice slow start to the day. We hung out at home in the morning. L&G played outside in their tinker space / chalk lab, and I made banana bread. Then we went to the library so they could redeem their first round of hours for summer-reading-program prizes. We got out a bunch more books, too. We had lunch at home and then headed to the pool. This was the day's only hiccup: I had no idea the pool didn't open till two today. No email was sent from the town, nothing was posted inside the pool on Sunday when we were there. So we had an hour to kill, just reading on the grass outside. Not great. But L&G had a great time once the pool finally did open, and we didn't leave till almost 5pm. Then they played outside some more and we had leftovers for dinner. L...

Saturday, June 22 The glorious first true day of summer. The girls played outside all day, mostly in the tinker space, finding joy in shaving cream. They made a giant, giant, giant mess mixing their bowls of shaving cream, chalk dust, and dish soap, and then covering their hands and arms in clouds of shaving cream and running all around the yard. Andrew was taken aback by the mess but gamely helped me hose it all down. They got a little testy with each other later in the afternoon, and there was some controversy about a bag of marbles, so I took Lucia to Target with me. We bought new beach towels and by the time we got home all was right again. Saturday night was our annual Crab Feast, which we've been hosting every summer for the past few years. We set up tables on the patio, Andrew strung up festive new lights, and he and a neighbor picked up three dozen crabs from a place in Linden, NJ. Everyone brought a side dish and it was a festive evening as always. We always do it to...

SUMMER!!! This school year seemed to last a hundred years, but today was FINALLY the last day of school. Last day of first grade for Greta, last day of third grade for Lucia. It was a half day. Lucia went right to a friend's house for an end-of-year party, with a backyard inflatable waterslide contraption that looked amazing. When Greta came home she ate lunch and read for two hours, determined to catch up to Lucia for the library's summer reading program. We signed up on Tuesday and they're already obsessed with racking up hours. I gave them each an end-of-school gift of a rainbow of model magic colors--they've been asking for this for months--and a divided organizer tray of Rainbow Loom bands, plus a sun-shaped cookie from the Able Baker (a bakery in town). When Lucia got home, they played outside a bit (the rain has finally stopped) and then got into a giant argument about these two hobby horses they use as "crutches," but the argument was stupid and no...

We've adopted an imaginary labradoodle named Shumai. After looking at some pictures of labradoodles on Instagram over the weekend and musing about what it'd be like to actually have a labradoodle puppy in our house, Greta began talking to and interacting with a labradoodle puppy who somehow came to be named Shumai, Greta's favorite kind of dumpling. This dog does not exist, but over the past few days she's become part of Greta's life. Greta makes a blanket bed for Shumai in her room each night, but sometimes Shumai winds up sleeping next to her. When we sit on her bed, Greta admonishes us to be careful not to sit on Shumai. In the morning, she carries Shumai downstairs, and puts on her leash when it's time to go to the bus stop. She holds the leash and walks Shumai to the bus stop, stopping now and then so Shumai can pee on trees and fire hydrants. When Greta wanted to take her sweater off yesterday morning, she asked me to hold Shumai's leash while she di...