summer

This post is not only for the historical record, but to finally put something for Moriah's Fun Mom Friday, because I really went over and beyond Fun Mom last week. I took the kids on a road trip to the north of Vermont to visit our friends. That is approximately 430 miles with almost half of those on state/backroads. With red lights and traveling with kids, it took 10 hours going up and 12 coming down. The stats.

The kids really did great. We went straight up north through the eastern part of New York. The Adirondacks were stunning. I had never been to this part of the country before. We got off the main highway and zoomed around lakes, and came to the top of a mountain, and the valley stretched out with Lake Champlain shimmering at the bottom and the blue silhouettes of the Green Mountains of Vermont stretching out layer upon layer.

Then we got to ride a ferry across Lake Champlain. Little boys + cars + boats = WIN!

It was a beautiful drive, but really nice to get to our friends' house out in the country. They were so far north, we were nearly to Canada. We each have two boys approximately the same ages, so they set about playing pretty quickly. The 5 year olds jumped their hearts out on the trampoline. I think every toy was brought out. And did I mention that my friends have a hot tub? Yea, I think the O fam are keepers.

We were there for two days.
The first day we went for maple syrup ice cream and then a hike in the mountains, passing ski trails along the way. The walk was fairly short. We followed the stream down through the rocks, over the falls. The boys were pretty happy with plenty of water and rocks to play in.

Then the next day, the boys patiently suffered through the mom's shopping and browsing before heading off for a dip in Lake Champlain. Just as clear and beautiful as ever.

Unfortunately, we had to go home the next day. Gallon of maple syrup in hand we bade farewell, and wound our way back to the interstate, ferry trip included.

It was such a beautiful Saturday, though. I saw summer slipping away and thought that we really needed to take advantage of it for just a little bit more. We stopped by the infamous Lake George for one last dip in the mountains before heading back down to civilization. We took a long stretch down the interstate, aided with the handy-dandy DVD player. A quick stop at Princeton for coffee and frozen yogurt on the lawn of the university seemed in order.

And then we were home. It was a fun trip. It was nice to just spend some time focusing on my boys and hang out with friends. Thanks so much to them for a great tim!

I awoke yesterday feeling grumpy. It was a beautiful, late summer day. It needed to be enjoyed by children. But I was having trouble finding enthusiasm for doing anything that required getting out of bed. My friend and I had talked about going to the shore, but I just couldn't pull the gumption to head to New Jersey on a Friday. I went to the gym and then we decided to try out this (free!) lake north of Allentown. I had been there once before on a hair-brained bid to get out of the house with a 3yo and a 6week old. Not one of my finer moments. This was my first time returning.

It was perfect. The water was absolutely clear, and a refreshing temperature (not too hot, too cold), and shallow enough for the younger kids to enjoy playing. The man-made beach provided plenty of sand for digging. And the backdrop of the mountains gave a relaxing vista. They cleverly set up the boating area beyond the swimming area, so that the swimmers could enjoy the "faux" waves from the wake of the boats.

We stayed for four hours, still finding difficulty in prying ourselves away, though the shadows were long. It turned out to be the perfect day.

My blog has had some problems this summer, which are now resolved--making it much easier to post. So a little back-blogging is in order. Namely, our big family vacation that we take every year to Maine.

Usually we go in August. This is our fourth year going, but this year we went at the beginning of July.

On Friday morning of July Fourth weekend, we loaded up the car, bikes on the roof, camping stuff stuffed in with duffels, and fairly effortlessly coasted our way north. There was a cool breeze that morning (which is a little uncharacteristic of this hot summer), which seemed fitting to send us off to New England.

We had a great trip and made excellent time, until about the last 50 mi, which took approximately 3 hours--even with using my phone's GPS to navigate us down some side roads. But, hey, at least we got to wave "hi" to Robert Frost's farm. I love New England.

Weeks before our travels, I obsess over campgrounds at which to stay. Pouring over state park websites to find just the right park and just the right site. And I don't know why I have such a fascination of being by water. I often try to find a place by the ocean, but I was getting really annoyed by the Massachusetts State Parks, so I looked to New Hampshire, which turned out to be perfect.

We arrived at our lakeside campground in the early evening to find the water delightfully accessible and most suited for splashing in, clear and not too cold and just for us. It was a perfect way to soothe the traffic angst of the past three hours. Marlowe surprised us by being a total fish.

Everything about that campsite was perfect. The wood was perfect for campfire burning. The rocks were perfect for sitting. There was good distance between campsites with plenty of trees, so it felt more private. We roasted hotdogs and broccoli and marshmallows.

This was our first time camping this summer, and I have to say, that camping with a 2yo is much improved from camping with a 1yo. From the moment we arrived it was clear that Marlowe thought camping was the best thing ev-ar and embraced everything we did with tons of enthusiasm. We already knew Ellis thinks camping is the best ever. He enjoyed being a big boy and riding his training-wheel-less bike around and around the loop.

Packing food for camping on a road trip can be a little tricky--especially when you don't have any kind of camp stove. So I was kind of proud of what I came up with. Hot dogs, veggies, chips, and marshmallows for supper. And I got a little hot pot for heating water. It's actually not too hard to find an outlet at a state park campground. Usually there's one in the bathroom. So I heated up a pot of water for instant oatmeal and the new Starbucks Via instant coffee, which is decent and great for traveling.

We left our site in the morning, making our way towards the interstate via a Target stop for some forgotten items and lunch supplies. We looked forward to stopping at our favorite park in Portland, ME for lunch. When we arrived M had just fallen asleep, and the water in the splash pond was so uncomfortably cold that it wasn't fun. And we had just missed the farmer's market. We ate our lunch, had some play time on the playground and then went on our way, arriving at our friends' house in Bangor in time for dinner.

We had a great Sunday with them and then jumped into our week of Maine activities. On Monday we went over to Acadia National Park, where we had a picnic and climbed a mountain. Six kids and three adults hiked up Mt. Champlain. I love a good view, and between the shrubby pines and low-lying bushes--including many wild blueberries eagerly harvested by the young hikers--there was nothing to obstruct a most fantastic view of the mountains and ocean. I was so proud of Ellis. It wasn't an easy hike, and downhill was very steep, zig-zagging trail. It was his second mountain summit climb, with last year's great Maine hike being his first.

While Philly was having triple digit temps when we were gone, Maine was having unseasonably warm temperatures, as well. It almost got to 90! We enjoyed a nice cool-off at our favorite swimming hole, Craig Pond, more like a small lake. It's fed by a spring, so the water is crystal clear, and abounds with frogs to be caught.

We chilled with our friends, the Curlyheads, and did some errands on Wednesday.

On Thursday we said goodbye to our dear friend in Bangor and headed down to Portland, where we were going to visit some friends of mine from college. I actually hadn't seen them since college. But we keep in touch a little over blogs/FB, and it was a good excuse to see Portland, too. We had an absolute blast with them. And with four boys and a girl, there were plenty of playmates. It was great to meet their sweet, sweet kids, who basically set about trying to learn everything there was to know about ASL from the minute we stepped in the door.

They took us to see the Portland headlight after dinner.

After sundaes and bidding the kids goodnight, the adults stayed up until nearly 2am talking, shivering in the cool Maine night air.

After a little beach time in the morning, we got on the road again, heading towards our campground in Connecticut. We got there at sunset, though, so even though the little beach area on Long Island Sound was perfect, we couldn't really play there long. And the wood we bought was damp and wouldn't light, and then it started to drizzle. And the kids were tired and crazy. So it was a little lack-lustre.

we got an early start Saturday morning and were shocked as we sailed along I-95 with no traffic through southern Connecticut and NYC. We got home mid afternoon.

It was an absolutely wonderful time, and we were totally not ready to come home yet, and keep scheming of ways to never have to leave Maine again. Thanks, also, dear friends, for your wonderful fellowship and hosting us!

Blueberries go "kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk" into buckets.

Marlowe, where do the blueberries go?

Enjoying apple cider ice in the shop.

And so another step towards instilling into my poor city kids that food comes from plants that grow in the dirt.

Ellis was actually a really good picker. He could've kept going longer than we did. It was end of season, though, and the bushes were pretty picked over. Marlowe did a good job of eating blueberries. Though i'm afraid more work in color recognition would be in order.

Recently I joined a gym. Shocker, I know. Yes, it's the first time I have ever joined a gym. I was terribly nervous about it, being the nonathlete that I am. I don't know how to use anything. I didn't want to look stupid. I'm just totally out of my element. Anyway, this isn't really about the gym, but I will say, that in order to make this worthwhile, I decided to just jump in. I got a few sessions with a trainer, gone to a few of the classes, and am working on a 5k training program. I'm figuring out the gym thing.

But one of the things I totally didn't know about was the whole community aspect of a gym. Seeing the same people over and over. Making connections.

Yesterday, I was picking up Marlowe from the (free!) childcare (ok, maybe not free--but included in the gym cost), and another mom was picking up her kid, and she said something about their going to a sprayground later.

At that my ears perked up. I've been looking all over for such fun. I found a couple listed online, but in faroff parts of town, so I haven't ventured forth yet. I was starting to feel like spraygrounds were things other cities had, and our poor city who can barely keep its libraries open just wasn't going there.

But, lo, and behold, this park that I pass all the time has a newly refurbished playground and sprays for the kids to play in! I didn't know there was more to this park than the basketball courts. Best of all, it's only about 10 minutes away. And the new playground part is really, really fun, too.

Later, it occurred to me that this is what you people in the 'burbs call "running through the sprinkler." Well, we do what we can do.

FIVE!! Five, five, five. I have a five-year-old. A handful. A veritable kid!! with a long, lean body, the baby fat has gone from his fingers and toes, his shoulders feel firm, strong, muscular.

And what a birthday! Of course, one's fifth birthday must be epic.

Treats for school, ice cream cupcakes with family, chocolate cupcakes for a party.
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

His birthday was on Tuesday. I sent him to school with Rice Krispie treats. (Ok, because i totally forgot until about 7 pm the night before about the whole treat thing.) I made him a 5 shirt. Just in case anyone was wondering.

I bought five helium balloons and one that said happy birthday.

In the evening we ate outside. I scooped ice cream into cupcake papers and let it harden again. (it worked sort of okay) But it was chocolate ice cream. And that's all that mattered.

(Oh, and the bandaid on his forehead, he got at school. It was barely a scratch. But the bandaid was very important to complete the costume of Five Year Old.)

We got him his first baseball glove and a bat and ball. Because apparently baseball is his "favorite." Hubby and I are wondering if we can find a glove at thrift store that we could kind of share. Because apparently we have to play sports now.

The following Saturday we had his birthday party. A small little group. Our Deaf friends, the "O" family, were in town. Their boys and my boys are the same age. We were so happy they could join us. Then we had the families of a friend from school and a friend from church. So in all, two Deaf families and two hearing families. (Though, what are we?? a hearing family with a Deaf kid? not exactly a Deaf or a hearing family...)

I had the crazy idea of hiking along half a mile in Fairmount Park, to my favorite spot along the Wissahickon. So I hauled in a picnic and told everyone to bring their camp chairs. The kids romped in the water and one dad even caught a fish with a makeshift fishing rod. It was lovely.

I think he feels properly celebrated. I love having a 5yo. He's such a big kid and is interested in things and can do so much. But he still likes to curl up in my lap for snuggles.

More bloggy catchup.

A month ago I took my Do it With Kids policy to a whole new level by taking my boys down to Lookout Mountain for my sister's college graduation. It's about 700 mi. At the last minute, my mom did the drive down with me, which was really helpful. We did it all in one day. What took me 12 hours in college took about 17hrs with kids. But it was a great trip. I plotted the whole trip in terms of Chik-fil-a and its great indoor playground. I actually found a fun castle playground just off the interstate in Virginia, with a Starbucks nearby. That was fortuitous! And I bought a portable DVD player. Result, kids with nary a squabble about being shoved in the car over the course of 17 hours.

We stayed with our old friends, the "other" Joneses, of Jonesville fame. Their youngest two are the same ages as my two, almost literally. Just weeks apart, the both of them. It was way fun meeting Jonesgirl for the first time, too. Really the Jones's house was like Graduation Resort Paradise, an oasis in the midst of a crazy weekend. So, thanks, friends.

Since my sister's college is my alma mater, as well, going down to the Chattanooga area is a familiar, happy thing. I run into old friends at every turn. Literally, turn. Driving up and down the mountain remembering each curve.

The first day I drove down into Georgia a bit to meetup with my old friend, Joanna. We were in freshman music theory together and have been friends ever since. I FINALLY got to meet her twins!

I had lunch with an old professor, walked around a campus that looked totally different with all the new construction, but still felt the same. The students looked the same, too. Just younger than I remember. I still feel like I just graduated from college like last year or something...but it's been nine years, which admittedly isn't a huge amount of time, but it's a lot longer than yesterday.

And my sister done got graduated. Congratulations, Luisa!!

I did the drive home by myself. I spent the night with another college friend just north of Chattanooga. So I head start the next morning. I did the drive home in two, spending the night half way in Roanoke, with Chris's grandma. It was a long trip by myself, two long days of driving. But, again, my kids were awesome!

Sure, the calendar gives us a few more weeks until summer solstice. But in these parts, Memorial Day ushers in the season and Labor Day closes. Now you have to have beach tags to go to the shore or plan ahead for camping in the Poconos. It's the summer season.

We celebrated Memorial Day yesterday in Lancaster with my family. As we were driving along I thought of the many men and women who have served our country in the military. And then I wondered why we don't memorialize the many laborers that have served our country on Labor Day. Especially those who work in horrible conditions, like in the meat industry, while we blithely chow down on burgers. Remind me to revisit this in September.

My mom and Marlowe and I jaunted around a little. She showed me their garden lot in the community garden they are a part of. We went to an Amish farm, said "hi" to cows, and I got a gallon of raw milk for $3. We went to the store to get ice cream for the freshly picked and irresistably sweet strawberries. We said hello to some of their friends with a free potential piano for me. (stay tuned! *haha*--still haven't decided)

Then we went to my sister's way out in the country, splashed in their pool, watched storms in the distance pass us by, ate yummy food and teased each other. A good day.

Last Saturday we went to the beach. Because we only go to the beach in April or September. It would be too obvious otherwise. We went with Grammy and Poppy. It was Grammy's idea, and it was a good one! It's been so crazy and intense here that it was just what we needed. And, of course, it was not crowded, because Memorial Day switches the shore on, and Labor Day switches it off. I found a state park on one of the barrier islands of New Jersey, and it took us just under two hours to get there. It was such a perfect day. Cool breeze, warm sun. The dunes were beautiful. We took a little bike ride and played in the sand until the shadows were long.

The day we left New Orleans, and the most fabulous place we've ever lived, in 2005, our dearest friends left, too. Like, we pulled out three hours after they did. They moved to Maine, we moved to Philly. When we first visited them in 2007, I began to wonder if we got the short end of the stick. We've gone back every year, and every year, we have to pry ourselves away from Maine, scheming of ways to never have to leave. This year was like every other year, crawling through amazing amounts of traffic all the way up to Maine, wearing ourselves out with activity and fun with friends while there, and crawling back home, cursing the Massachusetts Turnpike in the summer.

This year we kicked things off by spending our first night camping in Salisbury, Mass. Right on the coast. At a state park where the Merrimack River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Due to aforementioned crazy amounts of traffic, we didn't get there in time enough to enjoy as much as we had hoped. But we did have a good time riding bikes at dusk, roasting hotdogs and marshmallows, curling up in our cozy tent (only I'm not sharing my sleeping bag with Marlowe any more, because I was freezing), and playing at the beachside playground.

Because of our camping plans, not only did we pack our Honda Civic with all that a family of four needs for a week's vacation, but also a tent, extra food, three sleeping bags, and three camp chairs. In addition, to the equipment for our new family hobby, biking. Read: four helmets, a baby bikeseat, three bikes. Yes, we're that good. We got it all in, with a little room to spare.

We had hoped to have some beach time in the morning, but it took us awhile to pack up again and get all the bikes situated, and then we were hungry, so we found a great place in Salisbury for breakfast. And then we decided that it was getting late, and we didn't really want to deal with so much sand with so much travels yet ahead of us. So we didn't have a lot of beach time there. I did walk around the night before, and enjoyed the magical effect of the full moon over the water. It was so beautiful.

We decided to amble up the bit of the New Hampshire coast. And encountered a tremendous amount of beach traffic, because I had no idea the extent of the sandy beach there. But once we got past that, we had a beautiful drive along the coast, including a pit stop at the state park where my friend got married two weeks ago. We popped back up to I-95 at Portsmouth and went a little while 'til we got to Portland, ME, which I love.

Last year we stopped at Deering Oaks Park and had such a great time, that we planned to stop there again, though this time we missed the farmer's market. They have a great water play area for the kids, and we ended up staying for almost three hours. It was just a perfect day.

From Portland, it was just a couple hours more, and the kids slept after all their fun. We had a great reunion with our friends, the Curlyheads. Enjoyed a wonderful Sunday with them. And Monday began our week o' crazy vacation madness.

Monday morning: bike ride through woods. about 4miles. Chris, me with Marlowe in baby seat, and Russell and oldest Curlyhead.
Monday afternoon: trip up to lake. After we waited for a band of rain to pass we enjoyed swimming, canoeing, mud digging, and coffee sipping.
It was Marlowe's first ride in a boat. He did not enjoy it. I think he enjoyed the lifevest about as much as he enjoys the bike helmet, except the boat doesn't go fun and fast to distract him from it.

Tuesday. Same biking crew plus Ellis headed out to Acadia National Park. We rented a tagalong bike attachment (and bike, since it didn't fit on C's) in Bar Harbor, and biked around Lake Eagle on the old carriage trails in Acadia. Probably about 10mi. There were a couple crazy uphill moments, and a couple of awesome downhill moments. Chris and I wonder how it would be without the accompanying weight. I'm beginning to think that I'm going to need to train for next year's vacation.

Marlowe does pretty well in the babyseat, though he begins to fuss if we're going too slowly for too long (like for a long uphill), and cheers for fun, fast downhills. In other words, Marlowe likes to go fast.

And then since we were in Acadia anyway, we had to drive around at soak in the scenery. We stopped for awhile to throw rocks in the water, poke around tidal pools, and look for sea glass.

Wednesday. I declared a Day Off. Even though I ended up taking a little hike on the trail behind our friend's house. But that was mostly to hang out with C and get M to fall asleep on my back. Our friends have four kids, the youngest of whom--and the only boy--is just a couple months older than Ellis, so there was plenty of playing and fun.

Thursday. Chris and I took all 6 kids (their four, our two) up to the top of a mountain and down again. There's a great mountain, Great Pond Mountain, that I climbed two years ago. It's about 1100ft, and is manageable for the young kids, though they did put forth a valiant effort to manage. (Marlowe was on my back.) About two-thirds the way up, the vegetation dwindles to mostly conifers and shrubs, including the Maine wild blueberry. So we had to keep stopping to pick blueberries. Marlowe thought this kind of hiking suited him just fine. The view from the top is incredible. We can see over towards Acadia, the Penobscot Bay and river, various mountains and hills and islands dotting the landscape. And, our favorite swimming hole just at the foot of the mountain which received our hot, sweaty bodies, just as soon as we could hike back down the mountain. This was Ellis's first mountain summit!

Craig Pond has got to be one of the best swimming spots. The water is always perfectly refreshing, not too cold. It's so clear. It's called a pond, but really it's more like a small lake. There are many canoeing and kayaking and fishing on it. The kids catch frogs. It's absolutely delightful. We go every year. I think Ellis remembered it this year, because as soon as he got there he asked where the frogs were. He promptly caught his first frog and lovingly befriended it for the rest of the afternoon.

On Friday we knew we had to go home. Though it took a tremendous amount of willpower not to stay another day. I think the drive home was a little less hectic for not being on a Saturday, though the traffic was still thick.

We had such a good time visiting with our friends, who took such good care of us. It was a refreshing time, even though we wore ourselves out a bit. (After all, one really isn't going to rest on vacation with little kids anyway.) We are already dreaming of next year.

p.s. It's a good thing I uploaded every last stinkin' picture onto Flickr through iPhoto, because my hard drive crashed yesterday.
You can view the whole set here.