Summer: Mon. 6/29
Today was a blur of packing. We leave tomorrow for a prolonged stay in NH, which requires a substantial amount of preparation. In true family fashion, our most pressing concern was packing enough books. We're probably staying for two weeks but then we thought we MIGHT stay for three, sending all of us into a flurry as we made a few additional selections. I have a lot of amazing books in my TBR right now. I'm looking forward to doing very little but reading and walking in the woods and fields for the foreseeable future.
I forced L&G to help with a massive cleanup today, too, because their rooms and the basement had become untenably messy. There's nothing I hate more than coming home from a vacation to a messy house, so besides packing I also cleaned, which--as you should know by now!--is not my preferred way of spending even one second. But at least the house is ready to be returned to. We do have to pause with our Great Whole-House Cleanout while we're away, but that's alright. I'm ready for a little break from all that excavation.
We're all excited about NH. I love every trip we make there, but the Fourth of July trip is always particularly fun. Of course, this year there won't be a proper Fourth of July celebration, which the kids are surprisingly upset about. After all they've missed and all that's been taken away the past few months--in-person school, Greta's First Communion, our big trip to Costa Rica, all the favorite foods from Trader Joe's, normal life--this is the one they've gotten really really sad about. The candy thrown at the parade, the chocolate milk handed out from the dairy, going to see fireworks. We have a real tradition of celebrating the Fourth in a very specific way, and this year it just won't happen.
So we've promised to take them to the store and let them buy a bunch of candy; we'll be doing lots of sparklers; we'll buy chocolate milk; we'll roast s'mores. We'll do our best.
And hopefully we'll get to do most of the other things we always do during our July trip--pick strawberries and go river rafting in particular. (We also usually do a day trip to a lake but it's always really crowded so we'll probably skip that this year.)
What We're Reading
Margo: Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby (I was cry-laughing on my porch this morning, reading this)
Andrew: John Baldwin essays
Lucia: Charmed by Jen Calonita (#2 in Fairy Tale Reform School)
Greta: School for Good and Evil #6, Fourteen Goldfish by Jen Holm, and a Puppy Place book
I forced L&G to help with a massive cleanup today, too, because their rooms and the basement had become untenably messy. There's nothing I hate more than coming home from a vacation to a messy house, so besides packing I also cleaned, which--as you should know by now!--is not my preferred way of spending even one second. But at least the house is ready to be returned to. We do have to pause with our Great Whole-House Cleanout while we're away, but that's alright. I'm ready for a little break from all that excavation.
We're all excited about NH. I love every trip we make there, but the Fourth of July trip is always particularly fun. Of course, this year there won't be a proper Fourth of July celebration, which the kids are surprisingly upset about. After all they've missed and all that's been taken away the past few months--in-person school, Greta's First Communion, our big trip to Costa Rica, all the favorite foods from Trader Joe's, normal life--this is the one they've gotten really really sad about. The candy thrown at the parade, the chocolate milk handed out from the dairy, going to see fireworks. We have a real tradition of celebrating the Fourth in a very specific way, and this year it just won't happen.
So we've promised to take them to the store and let them buy a bunch of candy; we'll be doing lots of sparklers; we'll buy chocolate milk; we'll roast s'mores. We'll do our best.
And hopefully we'll get to do most of the other things we always do during our July trip--pick strawberries and go river rafting in particular. (We also usually do a day trip to a lake but it's always really crowded so we'll probably skip that this year.)
What We're Reading
Margo: Wow, No Thank You by Samantha Irby (I was cry-laughing on my porch this morning, reading this)
Andrew: John Baldwin essays
Lucia: Charmed by Jen Calonita (#2 in Fairy Tale Reform School)
Greta: School for Good and Evil #6, Fourteen Goldfish by Jen Holm, and a Puppy Place book
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