I've been home since Saturday and I'm not done unpacking yet. Literally and figuratively. Our vacations were great and so much more. I feel this kind of (good) calm like I haven't felt in awhile. Its good, but I cant pin it on anything. So I will continue to unpack.
School started yesterday. We've had a rough getting back, though. We are all sleeping too late in this nice pre-fall cooler morning weather. Both yesterday and today the kids arrived moments before the second bell. I don't like to feel rushed, neither do they, and I really don't want to teach them that being late is okay. Time to set our alarms.
I had this crazy idea to set a goal with my Runkeeper app to walk 200 miles between June 25 and August 30. As of yesterday I had only done 142 miles. I'm not going to make the goal. I'm a little bummed, but the goal was a tad bit high considering all the overtime I was working. I did the bulk of the miles on vacation which was totally unintentional, but they felt really good! I think that is part of my calm, getting out doing something. That, and we are eating a LOT better for the past few months too. Cut out chips and beer and all the crap food.
And there is a lot more to go through, but I have some miles to tick away.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
*SIGH*
Well, Hannah and I are back home tonight. I'm glad to be here. The boys will be back tomorrow with the trailer and all the stuff we didn't bring back today. I hope they have a nice evening, the two of them.
We had the trailer parked north of Winthrop for 18 days this month. We were there for 10 straight, home for 3, then back for 3 (or 4). Not sure we will do that again. Maybe we would if we had someone meeting us there. Camping with ourselves is just plain boring! The kids need someone to play with and we need other adults!
During our 10 day stay we had amazing "neighbors." The first couple nights was an older lady. We struck up a conversation the the first night as I was hooking up he trailer water, sewer and power. She commented that it was good I knew how to do all that stuff because you never know when you will need those skills. Turned out, she was camping during what would have been her 32nd wedding anniversary. She and her late husband had always camped for their anniversary so she continued the tradition without him. He passed away suddenly in March. It was kooky the things we had in common; she was a retired dispatcher, her son works in Wenatchee, her husband was from Issaquah. She was very tolerant of our kids (bless her heart).
The day after she left a new family moved in. Lucky for us, they were very friendly! The men hit it off right away and us Renee's (yeah, that was the wife's name) did okay. They had an 8 year old and 6 year old girl who pretty much lived at our place (we had A/C and a DVD player). Finally, the day before they left Bubba and the 8 year old started to figure out it was okay for them to hang (you know, the boy-girl thing). They took the kayak across the lake to the beach and searched for turtles and all the kinds of stuff kids do. It was cute.
We came home and I got back to work for a few days and took off again,, with an extra kid in tow, on Wednesday afternoon to finish our time. Hindsight: Next time I work at 1am and think I'm going to take three kids under age 11 camping? Two hours away. Remind me its a really BAD idea. Really. Bad. At 10 when the kids still weren't asleep I was done. D-O-N-E. Done. It was Mama-meltdown-time.
After a good nights sleep we were significantly better. We played in the water, the kids played some mini-golf and we went to town for dinner. I was too lazy to cook. Or shop. Friday we all went to town for what ended up being nearly all day. We had ice cream, mini-golf and a walk-about in my favorite park on our agenda. We did it all, and then some. It was fun. Finally, My Honey arrived around 8 pm. I was sure glad to see him, two days with the kids (plus one), alone, far away from normal, was about all I could handle!
Today we all just hung around, sat in the sun. I was able to get out for a walk with the dog. I really, really missed my morning walk. Not sure where to work it in, but I need the little break mentally and the challenge physically that walking the dog gives me. Plus, she is so much better when shes had a walk! In the early afternoon we packed me, Hannah and our plus one up and headed for home. I have a baby shower to go to tomorrow, our plus one needed to be home for some back to school shopping and I just decided to take Hannah with me. I think she will have fun going to the baby shower.
Yeah, there are more pictures, I'm just too lazy to go through the process tonite of plugging in my phone. My Honey tried to get some of us out on a paddle boat - Oh yeah! I spent an hour paddle-boating those three kids around. I really am a stud!
PS: Hockey starts next month!
Yes, I'm gonna play.
We had the trailer parked north of Winthrop for 18 days this month. We were there for 10 straight, home for 3, then back for 3 (or 4). Not sure we will do that again. Maybe we would if we had someone meeting us there. Camping with ourselves is just plain boring! The kids need someone to play with and we need other adults!
During our 10 day stay we had amazing "neighbors." The first couple nights was an older lady. We struck up a conversation the the first night as I was hooking up he trailer water, sewer and power. She commented that it was good I knew how to do all that stuff because you never know when you will need those skills. Turned out, she was camping during what would have been her 32nd wedding anniversary. She and her late husband had always camped for their anniversary so she continued the tradition without him. He passed away suddenly in March. It was kooky the things we had in common; she was a retired dispatcher, her son works in Wenatchee, her husband was from Issaquah. She was very tolerant of our kids (bless her heart).
The day after she left a new family moved in. Lucky for us, they were very friendly! The men hit it off right away and us Renee's (yeah, that was the wife's name) did okay. They had an 8 year old and 6 year old girl who pretty much lived at our place (we had A/C and a DVD player). Finally, the day before they left Bubba and the 8 year old started to figure out it was okay for them to hang (you know, the boy-girl thing). They took the kayak across the lake to the beach and searched for turtles and all the kinds of stuff kids do. It was cute.
We came home and I got back to work for a few days and took off again,, with an extra kid in tow, on Wednesday afternoon to finish our time. Hindsight: Next time I work at 1am and think I'm going to take three kids under age 11 camping? Two hours away. Remind me its a really BAD idea. Really. Bad. At 10 when the kids still weren't asleep I was done. D-O-N-E. Done. It was Mama-meltdown-time.
After a good nights sleep we were significantly better. We played in the water, the kids played some mini-golf and we went to town for dinner. I was too lazy to cook. Or shop. Friday we all went to town for what ended up being nearly all day. We had ice cream, mini-golf and a walk-about in my favorite park on our agenda. We did it all, and then some. It was fun. Finally, My Honey arrived around 8 pm. I was sure glad to see him, two days with the kids (plus one), alone, far away from normal, was about all I could handle!
Today we all just hung around, sat in the sun. I was able to get out for a walk with the dog. I really, really missed my morning walk. Not sure where to work it in, but I need the little break mentally and the challenge physically that walking the dog gives me. Plus, she is so much better when shes had a walk! In the early afternoon we packed me, Hannah and our plus one up and headed for home. I have a baby shower to go to tomorrow, our plus one needed to be home for some back to school shopping and I just decided to take Hannah with me. I think she will have fun going to the baby shower.
Yeah, there are more pictures, I'm just too lazy to go through the process tonite of plugging in my phone. My Honey tried to get some of us out on a paddle boat - Oh yeah! I spent an hour paddle-boating those three kids around. I really am a stud!
PS: Hockey starts next month!
Yes, I'm gonna play.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
A little sad
I had to leave all this... But we will be back. Wednesday or Thursday to be precise. Anyone with some days off want to join me?
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
Supper
Instead of "make your own pizza" night we had "make your own salad" night! Mmmmm! And the kids loved it too.
On our salad bar: spinach, bacon, almonds, hard boiled egg, mozzarella cheese, red onion, garden-fresh tomatoes. For fun we also added fresh peaches and corn. Not bad, not bAd.
On our salad bar: spinach, bacon, almonds, hard boiled egg, mozzarella cheese, red onion, garden-fresh tomatoes. For fun we also added fresh peaches and corn. Not bad, not bAd.
Monday, August 06, 2012
Words to pictures
So I thought I might want to put some words to those pictures from the past couple weeks.
Obviously, I was on vacation from work, but not from family! We had a nice time, the kids and I and then the kids and My Honey and I, but I must admit, I am looking forward to a hockey tournament or two where I can get away from them ;)
Lets begin with Beach Love. I kind of explained what we were up to, crashing my Dad's vacation, but not where. The kids and I took off on a Wednesday after work and stayed with my Dad in Issaquah, then we all caravaned to Long Beach (WA) which was a 4-ish hour drive from their place, and it was as beautiful there as the pictures show. They rented a cute little house a half-mile from the beach and a couple blocks from downtown, so we were set. We spent a fair amount of time at both places. Both kids have gotten more into shopping since they are earning a little of their own spending money and its interesting (albeit frustrating) to watch them make buying decisions. I must admit they did a great job, both of them even came home with money left over.
Saturday we left to head home. I had my nephew staying the night so we had to gitty-git-git!! The drive home was just over 6 hours. I must say it wasn't nearly as bad as some of my other travels with the kids, which seem to be getting better as they get older. They are both finally into listening to music and we upgraded our car stereo so it was a much more entertaining ride. I tried to find some fun, kid-friendly (but not kids singing) music to keep them and me entertained, and I must admit I did pretty good. Or at least I thought so.
As far as the pictures go, there was this crazy HUGE snail on the path by the beach. I took a walk one morning (6 miles, baby) down this wonderful Discovery Trail, what a treat! I'm glad it was there. While out I nearly stepped on this poor guy. But I thought he was cool so I took a picture. There are a couple of the kids playing on the beach, an adorably noisy birds nest above a women's restroom door at the beach, some crazy rained on dandelion-type thing, a heart in some drift wood and finally, exactly what I would do if I had to live in a rainy world. Paint it BRIGHT! COLORS! And use FUN! fabrics! I loved the interior with all the fun, bright-ness. Just what a place on the beach needs.
Mo Beach Love were just some other things I took pictures of. Some funky purple flower I saw everywhere, one of the many dew-dropped spider webs I came upon on that trail and a crazy white door on a blue building. I see doors photographed all the time, I never see ones I like so it was a win-win.
We came home for one night, packed up Sunday and headed to Leavenworth for some Campin Love. I gotta tell you, KOA camps ROCK! Pool, store, outdoor theater, full hook-ups... It was pretty nice. The kids could ride their bikes around, I could sit by the pool, Leavenworth wasn't far away. Probably a do-over. So there is a picture of the pool which I posted to FB with a note to all my friends "How are you spending YOUR day? What day is it, anyway?" a picture of Bubba whittling (toward his chum, not his thumb) me in my new Maui Jim's (LOVE those glasses), and the juvenile fishing pond we found by accident.
The Last Bit of Vacation Love includes a picture of my niece dressed for her Shakespeare play. They did the Taming of the Shrew this year. She was Tranio and she rocked it! My sister, our kids, my mother in law and I were all there for opening night. What a treat! Its fun to watch kids interpret Shakespeare, throw in a few lines about current events and get all dressed up. There is a fish from the juvenile pond that Hannah caught. Crazy story; we were shopping in Leavenworth and one of the guys at the sporting goods store just loaned us two fishing poles to take the kids fishing with. It was super nice! A picture of the kids fishing and a picture of the moon on Friday night, my last day of vacation, from a moonlight cruise on Lake Chelan. It was a really lovely evening, warm enough I didn't need a jacket at all even on a boat, and the moon was gorgeous!
And that, friends, was our vacation. Oh wait! There's more ... We head back out on vacation Thursday! hahahaha!! Just a couple more work days to get through and another ten days off. We are taking the camper north for most of the month of August.
Standby, there will surely be pictures of our adventures.
Obviously, I was on vacation from work, but not from family! We had a nice time, the kids and I and then the kids and My Honey and I, but I must admit, I am looking forward to a hockey tournament or two where I can get away from them ;)
Lets begin with Beach Love. I kind of explained what we were up to, crashing my Dad's vacation, but not where. The kids and I took off on a Wednesday after work and stayed with my Dad in Issaquah, then we all caravaned to Long Beach (WA) which was a 4-ish hour drive from their place, and it was as beautiful there as the pictures show. They rented a cute little house a half-mile from the beach and a couple blocks from downtown, so we were set. We spent a fair amount of time at both places. Both kids have gotten more into shopping since they are earning a little of their own spending money and its interesting (albeit frustrating) to watch them make buying decisions. I must admit they did a great job, both of them even came home with money left over.
Saturday we left to head home. I had my nephew staying the night so we had to gitty-git-git!! The drive home was just over 6 hours. I must say it wasn't nearly as bad as some of my other travels with the kids, which seem to be getting better as they get older. They are both finally into listening to music and we upgraded our car stereo so it was a much more entertaining ride. I tried to find some fun, kid-friendly (but not kids singing) music to keep them and me entertained, and I must admit I did pretty good. Or at least I thought so.
As far as the pictures go, there was this crazy HUGE snail on the path by the beach. I took a walk one morning (6 miles, baby) down this wonderful Discovery Trail, what a treat! I'm glad it was there. While out I nearly stepped on this poor guy. But I thought he was cool so I took a picture. There are a couple of the kids playing on the beach, an adorably noisy birds nest above a women's restroom door at the beach, some crazy rained on dandelion-type thing, a heart in some drift wood and finally, exactly what I would do if I had to live in a rainy world. Paint it BRIGHT! COLORS! And use FUN! fabrics! I loved the interior with all the fun, bright-ness. Just what a place on the beach needs.
Mo Beach Love were just some other things I took pictures of. Some funky purple flower I saw everywhere, one of the many dew-dropped spider webs I came upon on that trail and a crazy white door on a blue building. I see doors photographed all the time, I never see ones I like so it was a win-win.
We came home for one night, packed up Sunday and headed to Leavenworth for some Campin Love. I gotta tell you, KOA camps ROCK! Pool, store, outdoor theater, full hook-ups... It was pretty nice. The kids could ride their bikes around, I could sit by the pool, Leavenworth wasn't far away. Probably a do-over. So there is a picture of the pool which I posted to FB with a note to all my friends "How are you spending YOUR day? What day is it, anyway?" a picture of Bubba whittling (toward his chum, not his thumb) me in my new Maui Jim's (LOVE those glasses), and the juvenile fishing pond we found by accident.
The Last Bit of Vacation Love includes a picture of my niece dressed for her Shakespeare play. They did the Taming of the Shrew this year. She was Tranio and she rocked it! My sister, our kids, my mother in law and I were all there for opening night. What a treat! Its fun to watch kids interpret Shakespeare, throw in a few lines about current events and get all dressed up. There is a fish from the juvenile pond that Hannah caught. Crazy story; we were shopping in Leavenworth and one of the guys at the sporting goods store just loaned us two fishing poles to take the kids fishing with. It was super nice! A picture of the kids fishing and a picture of the moon on Friday night, my last day of vacation, from a moonlight cruise on Lake Chelan. It was a really lovely evening, warm enough I didn't need a jacket at all even on a boat, and the moon was gorgeous!
And that, friends, was our vacation. Oh wait! There's more ... We head back out on vacation Thursday! hahahaha!! Just a couple more work days to get through and another ten days off. We are taking the camper north for most of the month of August.
Standby, there will surely be pictures of our adventures.
Saturday, August 04, 2012
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