Two Little Ladybugs

A picture of a picture

2011-12-22T09:53:00.002-05:00

Now this is what a Santa picture is supposed to look like.

Weekend in the city

2011-12-20T08:01:00.004-05:00

Craig and I flew up to DC a couple of weekends ago to enjoy some adult time, plus visit with my fabulous cousin, MIndy and her husband, Ryan at their home in Baltimore. We had a really wonderful time. We ate good food, walked a lot, talked a lot, and let go of some of the stress we've been toting around all semester (incidentally this is part of our plan to buy a little happiness--we're disproving the myth that money can't buy such things).

Anyway, we took all the obligatory shots--Craig at the Lincoln Memorial, Ellen at the White House, Craig at the Capitol, Ellen at the Occupy Washington Encampment--but there's really only one that I want to share:

The squirrels in DC live like fat cats. I swear, this is the chubbiest squirrel I have ever seen. In contrast, the squirrels in Macon look underfed with wispy hair and limp tails. On second thought, maybe those are rats.

For the record, kids, that guy is not Santa

2011-12-19T08:35:00.010-05:00

The other night we attended the Christmas Tree lighting in Mercer Village, complete with a professional singer who filled the air with beautiful carols, professional artists selling their wares, and Santa. Now I've seen a few Santas in my day, and let me tell you, this guy takes the cake as possibly the least inspired Santa ever. I have to wonder if the guy was roped into this by his friends, "Come on down, we'll pay you 20 bucks if you dress up as Santa." In the photo with him and Grace, they look equally uncomfortable. Her eyes read, "Do I really have to sit on this guy's lap?"

Nevertheless, we will be purchasing the picture below (and yes, this is a screen shot, naughty me, there will be coal in my stocking for sure).

An education

2011-12-18T08:46:00.005-05:00

I don't know if this is true of all kids or just my kids, but to Grace and Julia, their dad is the playful parent. Craig will lay on the floor and act out scenes, including sound effects, with animal figurines or army guys--an activity that would last only five minutes with me. He doesn't mind being used as a jungle gym, and he can provide horseback rides upon request. I'm not a total slouch in this area, but play with me tends to be more crafty and doesn't require a falsetto voice.

I think Craig takes the girl's education on all things play very seriously or maybe it's just that he's still a kid at heart. Over the last several years he has tried to cultivate in them an appreciation of toys from his past (which is partly why I think his efforts aren't really about Grace and Julia, but about playtime for him), so it should be no surprise that Star Wars is very, very important in our lives. Now the girls haven't actually seen much of the movies--their education centers primarily on play with figurines and storytelling. By the time they do see the movies, I imagine each of them will be able anticipate the plot-line and cite arcane details.

Why am I telling you this? Well this whole post is geared to show you some of Craig's night-time ritual with the girls. I can't remember when this started, but for some time he has been reading old Star Wars comics as bedtime stories. I wish you could actually be in the room to watch Grace and Julia pepper him with questions or hear his impersonation of C3PO. Life is made of moments, right? And I love these moments.

Mary's in the house

2011-12-17T08:41:00.003-05:00

At this rate, I may manage one post per month. Stifled. That's all I can say.

Moving on. Julia was chosen to play Mary for her school Christmas pageant, and let's just say she relished her part. Her bunny was continually swaddled, and she roped a stuffed duck into playing Joseph. She practiced her part all the time. I can't say that her behavior was very Mary like; in fact, she was pretty much a diva by the time the performance came. Well, I should clarify that she was a diva with Craig and me, but a perfect ANGEL to her teachers. You cannot imagine how many times I was told what a perfect Mary she was and how much she deserved to play the part. Sigh. I only wish her teachers didn't give that praise within her earshot. Next she'll be asking us to move to LA to jump-start her acting career.

Still, Craig and I hurried to the church to get good seats for her performance, and it was absolutely priceless. To see her swaddle the baby doll, oh, it was too much. Afterwards she heard from at least ten other people about her perfect portrayal of Mary. She'll be playing that part for a at least another couple of months. Below are pictures I took (Craig also shot video so the grandparents can get the full experience later).

One moment in a million that I don't want to forget

2011-11-28T18:02:00.013-05:00

For several days Grace has followed her father around with questions about Santa Claus (several months ago she asked similar questions about the tooth fairy after reading a book in the school library). He pushed the questions off, worrying that I would be hurt if not included in the discussion. Finally this morning she wrapped her arms around my waist and said, "Mom, I keep asking Dad about Santa, can you talk to me about it now?" She asked me this 15 minutes before school started, so I put her off one last time, "We'll talk about it tonight, okay, before you go to bed."

She had come to her own conclusion, of course, and hoped against hope that somehow her Dad and I might be able to extend the illusion a little bit longer. Oh, how I wanted to extend the illusion. Nearly every day I almost gasp at the passage of time. Where is my wee toddler, the imp, the squirrelly little Grace who made me want to scream in exasperation and kiss her all over at exactly the same time? Now she's seven year old Grace--smart, inquisitive, thoughtful--when she tilts her head in thought, concentrating on her homework, I catch a glimpse of the Grace she will be years from now. Talk about heartache.

So tonight, as her sister slurped on a popsicle in the kitchen, the three of us cuddled on the sofa. Craig opened the conversation, "So you wanted to ask us about Santa?" Her eyes said everything, and Craig and I started to squint our own eyes to keep the tears from falling.

"I think Santa maybe isn't real."

"Have kids been talking about this at school?"

"No, no they haven't."

"So what made you wonder?"

"Well, the tooth fairy made me wonder since I know about that."

Her voice was starting to quiver at this point, and I asked her "how does that make you feel?"

Tears trickled down her cheek, "Well, it breaks my heart because I can feel the imagination going away, because Santa is part of my imagination."

In tearful chorus, Craig and I answered, "yes, yes, we know, we know." And then we went on to confirm her suspicions and to talk about the spirit of Santa Claus and how this knowledge won't change the contents of her stocking. But I don't think she was too worried about her stocking. I remember all too vividly that feeling--that the ability to lose myself in an imaginary world was slipping away. I didn't want that to happen, and neither does my girl.

She will take this confirmation in stride, as most kids do. At fifteen, I still remember running down the stairs to check my stocking, wondering aloud at what Santa had brought. He never really went away completely, and I hope he'll stay for her too.

Our bunny

2011-11-02T14:02:00.002-04:00

Just days before Halloween Julia's school celebrated a Noah's Ark Fall Festival where children were instructed to dress as animals. Last year, the first year for the festival, we dodged the event. I was knee deep in costumes, and the idea that I would have to come up with another one was not palatable. In my mind, this time of the year is for Halloween, but I live in a place where Halloween makes some people squeamish (neither Grace nor Julia's school celebrates the holiday). Then again, I'm clearly a square peg in Macon's round hole, so no surprises that a Noah's Ark festival in place of Halloween makes me feel a bit squeamish.

Given that Julia is four (and far more tuned in) there was no way we could skip another year, and really, I didn't want her to miss out on the fun (even if I was grouchy about the idea of a second costume). I also didn't want her to miss out on being Princess Leia though, so we would have to get another costume. Thankfully, two things happened: 1) Julia wanted to be a bunny and 2) Craig offered to go out and buy the costume (bunny ears and a tail).

I have to admit she made an adorable bunny. And she had a really great time (even better for me, her dad accompanied her).

The Day After

2011-11-01T09:36:00.002-04:00

Trick or Treat! Halloween was a great success. Rather than brave the crowds in Macon's premier trick or treat neighborhood, we walked the Intown Macon route. This meant a lot of walking and not quite as much candy, but really, how much candy does one need! We still came home with two full baskets.

So, costumes. You had already previewed little Laura Ingalls. I had a few more modifications (buttons and elastic) before she was ready to go. Then it was all about Princess Leia. Craig made the ceremony belt (which, with the hair, really makes the costume), and I finished the hem on the gown. We dressed the girls, and I did their hair. I tell you, a four dollar beard from Party City totally rocked Leia's hair! We met up with Grace's buddy, Noah, and stormed the neighborhood.

I love Halloween. I wish I lived in a neighborhood with trick-or-treating (we had zero last night), but you can't have everything. I hope you all had a awesome night. I'm already looking forward to Halloween 2012!

Pictures from last night:

A little more prairie girl:

A blog lost

2011-10-30T11:21:00.006-04:00

Where the heck have I been?

Sitting at my desk, butt glued to the chair, analyzing a 35 by 45 matrix of answers (about a topic I can't discuss). I have worked my arse off the last two weeks. There were low points--competency low points--when I felt, can I really do this? But today, after countless emails, more phone calls with my boss, tweaking and parsing, I received this email:

"Huge thanks for a very hard job well done."

A literal weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Days ago I told Craig, "This job makes me act like the mother of a newborn. I don't shower until the afternoon. I'm irritable and anxious, and I'm not sleeping at night."

And I'm probably going to do it all over again. Perhaps I'm crazy, or more likely I'm actually happy to have a job where my skills are appreciated. A huge thanks is due to my mother-in-law who landed me the job. Who would have thought? She did, and I'm deeply grateful for her confidence.

Alright, so where does this leave poor old Two Little Ladybugs? Well, Halloween is tomorrow, and I could care less that I live in a place where Halloween gives people the willies (being Satan's holiday and all). We will be celebrating. I will dust off my camera (I've missed you camera. I'm sorry you've been abandoned) and take pictures of Laura Ingalls and Princess Leia. I will gorge on all the halloween candy my kids don't like (and some that they do--snickers are mine). But mostly I will breathe deeply, relax, and feel thankful for my family.

Happy Halloween, ya'll. I hope you have been well.

We live in the corridor

2011-10-28T20:10:00.001-04:00

Below is the latest marketing piece by the College Hill Alliance (one of the partners revitalizing our neighborhood). Our house (the one with the bike parked on the porch) is shown twice.

It's a long video, but worth it if you want to see a stylized view of the place we call home.

On the prairie

2011-10-03T16:24:00.003-04:00

October is going to be an insane month for us. We are both traveling this week, and then once we return, Craig departs for Paris. The day after he leaves I start a three week long contract, which my boss tells me will be much more challenging than the previous job. So, knowing that the month will be busy and that I'll be alone for a spell, I decided to do Halloween costumes a month in advance. I sewed all weekend long, and today, finally, one is done.

Inspired by a trip to Conner Prairie (where we purchased the bonnet) and the Little House books, Grace asked to be a prairie girl. Turquoise isn't really a prairie dress color, but she loves it (and isn't that the most important thing anyway).

There are buttons to be added, but Grace couldn't wait to get it on. As I write this, she's gathering pecans from the yard. True Prairie Girl! Up next are the finishing touches on Princess Leia for my darling, Julia. Given that Julia's hair is only three inches long, it's going to be a challenge to fashion Leia's hair.

It's been a long time

2011-09-29T13:52:00.001-04:00

And I almost thought I was done. Who knows, maybe I am. Still, a friend who works with chimps sent me a link to this video and I had to share.

A deer in the woods.

2011-09-01T09:56:00.006-04:00

I've meant to detail our trip north this summer, and I'm obviously failing on that count. I don't think I've sorted out the trip in my mind yet. It was good, parts were difficult, a lot like life only we were on vacation (and one sometimes expects vacation to be less like life). So, while I let the trip rattle around my cranium, I will work to upload the remaining pictures (you've seen some of South Carolina in the sidebar, which truly lived up to the term vacation, so much so that Julia tells us regularly that she would like to live in South Carolina, in cabin 5 specifically).

Here is one image near and dear to me: the girls and me in the woods behind the house where I was raised.

We're standing on the remnants of the trail I took every morning, just in time, to catch the school bus. At this particular spot I once startled a young female deer. I was late, running full speed with my head down. I raised my eyes and saw her. I skittered to a stop only steps from where she stood, our eyes met, and we each ran screaming in the opposite direction. I don't recall whether I made the bus that morning. I do recall panting as I hit the door to the house and yelling at my mother, "I almost ran into a deer on the trail." My children are more likely to run into feral cats than deer here in Macon.

There are many more pictures (and stories) to share. I will get to them soon.

PS. For all of you worried by my last post, we're okay. I don't want to write much more because I need to have boundaries about what I share about my kids.

Lemonade

2011-08-28T13:57:00.003-04:00

When life hands me lemons, I don't make lemonade. I cry. And then when I've cried myself out, I look for some sun, some happiness. We've had a lot of lemons around here lately, and today after crying off and on for a week, I'm making my lemonade, finding my sunshine.

I put on an apron my grandmother made and wore. I love that I have her with me (even though I miss her so much at times that I feel her loss like a weight). The girls and I made muffins.

Then I turned on some music, stuff that my kids love, and we danced around the kitchen.

I remember that I have her:

And her:

And I have a partner in all this. He's working overtime to make sure we're all okay, and we will be, no matter what happens.

Pain in the neck.

2011-08-14T20:37:00.004-04:00

Lit-er-ally. The last ten days have been about pain, more pain, and even more pain in my neck. How it started is still unclear. Was it craning my neck to talk to a friend at a restaurant? Was the workout I did the night before too strenuous? It doesn't matter. What I know is that a week from last Thursday, I felt a searing pain light a fire from my neck into the base of my skull. A thinking person, a practical person would have slowed down, taken a break, but not me. I had school shopping to do, and a birthday party to plan. I wouldn't take a break, so my neck gave me the finger and made me slow down. It enlisted my shoulder and upper arm to go on strike. I couldn't move easily or well. I spent a lot of time lying on the floor until Craig said, "you really have to go to the doctor."

Which brings us to today, a full three days after I crawled in to see a doctor, and the drugs she prescribed have finally brought me some relief. I don't have to lie down every ten minutes, hooray! Cervical sprain is the term the doctor used, though I could have cared less. I cared about the words "muscle relaxant" and "pain killer."

But enough about me. There were other important things going on in our lives, like...

the first day of school.

Both girls are doing well. Grace likes her teacher and her teacher likes her. WIN. On Julia's second day, she brought home this gem, "You get what you get, and you don't pitch a fit", which really only works if you say "get" like "git." That's my Georgia peach.

All in all, life is okay. My neck will be alright. My freelance job will get done (damn you neck). And we'll prepare ourselves for the next unexpected twist (I put my money on a kid getting sick).

7 on 7

2011-08-07T10:53:00.000-04:00

Happy 7th birthday, darling girl, on this 7th day of August, 2011. For fun, let's review:

Here you are the day after your birth. However did the nurse tie that bow in your hair? To this day I swear it was superglued.

Here you are at the house on Lake Michigan, the morning after your first birthday party. We spent the day before on the beach watching you crawl after seagulls.

What a serious face on the day you turned two. We had just moved to Macon the month before and both sets of Grandparents traveled to see you for your birthday. You had also just received your first ever haircut.

You turned three when we were visiting Maine. You had been a big sister for a little over two months. At age three you were a ham.

You turned four when we were in Michigan. We had a party with Grandma, Grandpa and GG. Then you went to spend a week by yourself with Grammy and Poppy.

You started kindergarten and Grammy came to visit right when you turned five. You requested a cake with mice on it.

You were missing a few teeth by the time birthday number 6 came around. We went bowling and to a waterpark to celebrate your special day.

Now you're seven, and I can't believe it. I would tell you to stop growing, but it's so much fun to see the world through your eyes as you mature. You're about to start second grade (which I really can't believe). You're kind, loving, and considerate. You're smart as a whip, and I'm so proud to be your mom. I couldn't love you more--it's just not possible.

Georgia on my mind

2011-08-03T08:16:00.002-04:00

We're home, welcomed yesterday as we passed the state line with "We're glad Georgia's on your mind." Yes, it has been. It feels like ages since we've been home (if ages equals five weeks, that is). There is still a wee bit more unpacking to do and then we turn our attention to school (which starts next Tuesday, yikes). I have much to share (PICTURES!) and stories to relate, but this will have to wait because 1) did you hear me? SCHOOL IS STARTING; 2) I have a new freelance job and it starts on TUESDAY; and 3) It's been FIVE WEEKS and I have to reacquaint myself with my house (still love my house, not loving the yard--it looks homeless).

I'll be back soon, promise.

PS. We had a wonderful time--who doesn't love the upper midwest in summer?

Check. Check. Check. Check.

2011-06-26T13:55:00.003-04:00

House clean. Check.
Newspaper stopped. Check.
Lawn mowed. Check.
Suitcases packed. Check.
Outdoor gear packed. Check.
House sitter. Check.
Coolers packed. Almost Check.

We are nearly out of here, headed north for cooler temperatures and family adventures. We'll see you in the Midwest!

ol' girl

2011-06-22T10:40:00.015-04:00

When I adopted Zuzu, back in '98, I couldn't bring her home with me from Florida because she was too sick to travel by plane. My parents still had Sam and Miss, aged felines themselves already, so I asked my grandparents if they would keep Zuzu until I returned a few months later. With a twinkle in his eye, my grandpa said "well, she's the ugliest looking mongrel I've ever seen, but I guess we can keep her." My grandparents got a big kick out of Zuzu, in all her kitten ways, skittering around the house at Lake Jem. Part of her daily routine included jumping onto the kitchen table and knocking their pills to the floor. No matter, she was still treated to a small bowl of yogurt courtesy of my grandma.

A couple of years later, when Craig came into my life, I warned him: "If Zuzu doesn't like you, you're out. She's a very good judge of character." He passed her test and went on to be her true favorite. He has a way with animals. I wish I could say that for the next two humans to arrive on the scene, but my babies don't have the softest touch, and Zuzu spent a large amount of her time hiding out, waiting for the girls to go to bed, so she could join Craig and me on the couch.

In the last year we've made frequent trips to the vet for my ol' girl. Renal Failure. We did what we could, prescription food, vitamin injections, IV hydration, but I knew we were marking time. In the last several weeks I found myself waking at night, thoughts of Zuzu foremost in my mind. I knew a decision needed to be made. I knew I had to make it. Late Sunday night, I called Craig at work, and I told him what I thought needed to be done. I told him I couldn't be the one to do it, so he did what partners do, he took up my slack. He called the vet on Monday morning and made an appointment. I spent Monday afternoon with Zuzu cuddled alongside my lap, and when the time came, Craig gently took her from me.

We buried her in the back yard, tears streaming down our faces. The girls had drawn pictures, and we'd each written a few words to be buried alongside our girl. Grace hiccuped with tears, and Julia, like many little ones who want to emote like those around them, squinted her eyes, willing tears to come. It took a long time before our faces were dry. I think both Grace and I shed a few more tears before bedtime.

Oh, Zuzu, we miss you. We're still crying for you, but we're also relieved that you're no longer in pain. We buried you close to the birdbath. I think back to all the times you stalked birds through our windows in Augusta and Ravenna. I can still hear you chattering, with a bird in your sight.

Dad's day

2011-06-19T18:41:00.003-04:00

We're home, finally, after a day spent out with our favorite guy, the man we Byron girls love most.

Happy Father's Day, Craig, and happy day to the other two dads in our lives, Marv and Dan.

Summer Reading is serious business

2011-06-08T14:37:00.003-04:00

IMG_4883, originally uploaded by phocina.

We picked up our summer reading logs from the library a couple of days ago, and Grace has almost completed hers. She told me last night that her goal was to read ten chapter books in one day (her max has been four so far).

I know I'm just at the tip of experience when it comes to parenting, but this seems pretty dang great.

When it's 104 outside

2011-06-06T10:39:00.003-04:00

You do not take your children to a water park (even though you promised this for one child's birthday). Instead you head to an aquarium (which is insanely cold). This makes the child a little bit happy, but not really. She would much rather you roast her on a spit over the wave pool.

mix tape

2011-06-02T14:32:00.007-04:00

In lieu of photos, which are trapped in my camera, let me share some highlights.

Number 1. The birthday.
Imagine you're at a sporting event, the crowd is eager to see the champion crowned. The PA crackles, "Announcing, our phenomenal four year old, Julia Byron." The crowd cheers.

Reporters surround the champ, "Julia, do you feel like you're four?"

With a slightly stunned expression on her face, she replies. "Um, no, I don't feel like I'm four."

And there you have it, Julia's fourth birthday. I'm happy to report that the following day she started to feel "a little bit four" and the day after that pronounced that, indeed, she feels Four Years Old!

She (and Grace) were extremely surprised when my parents arrived on her big day. They had guessed nearly every other relative (Uncle Paul, Aunt Wendy, Cousins Anne and Whitney, Quentin and David), and they were ecstatic that Grandma and Grandpa drove for three whole days to get here. We had a wonderful time, but like most events where I am intimately involved in the preparations, there are very few photos. Typical.

Number 2. A word for summer.
Last year, the word was "travel" or maybe "camping" and this year it will be "sorbet" (and later "Yooper"). If you haven't noticed the weather channel, then perhaps you don't know that it's REALLY EFFING HOT down here. 100 yesterday. 101 today. I'm not happy. Yes, we're going to the pool almost every day, but the pool is starting to feel like warm backwash. For sanity and happiness, I'm combatting this heat wave with homemade sorbet: watermelon, cherry, strawberry, YUM. At some point my love affair with sorbet will end and then I will cling to my next summer word, Yooper. We'll be headed north to the itty-bitty town of my childhood next month. One week with family where we'll celebrate (early) my parents 50th wedding anniversary.

Number 3. Speaking of anniversaries.
It's number ten for us on June 30th. Months ago, as I contemplated No. 10, thoughts of a romantic weekend away flitted across my mind. Then reality set in, so we adjusted expectations and plans. The Byrons of Georgia will spend a week together in the mountains of South Carolina (with a cabin on a lake). My sister, who hasn't yet experienced the joys of coordinating romance when you have children, was slightly horrified that we are taking Grace and Julia along. As I described Betsy's response to Craig one evening, Grace interrupted "But Mom, Grandma and Grandpa are taking their kids with them on their anniversary."

Right you are, Grace. We're going to have a blast.

So that's us. It's hot. I'm cranky, but we have sorbet and plans for lots of fun. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

swimsuit season

2011-05-24T20:05:00.004-04:00

One would think that a post like my last one might open the flood gates. Nahh. Okay, so I've wanted to post, really, truly. I've just been busy (and by busy I mean going to the beach, attending end of the school year festivities, and playing at the pool--you can say it, I suck). Anyhoo. Here's life in some pictures (with more to upload after I go through all 394 of them, yeesh).

Let's start with Folly.

The water was rough, but that didn't stop these three.

We traveled to South Carolina to attend the wedding of a dear friend (from Michigan whom we met in Augusta). He and his bride decided to tie the knot on Folly Beach.

Bryan works the shalwar kameez.

What a great excuse for a beach weekend (with the added benefit of renting a condo with my best friend and her best baby).

With my best babies, all dressed up.

I don't think I can ever get enough of this baby.

And neither can Julia (or Grace for that matter).

Then it was back home for the end of the school year. Our 1st grade girl came through with FLYING (best reader in class) colors.

With best teacher (trademarked) ever.

And our other girl rocked the 3K stage.

Singin' about Jesus. Apologies for the low quality picture.

What's an end of the year without dinner out at their favorite restaurant (parasols optional).

And, drumroll please, sleeping on the Star Wars sheets from their daddy's youth (thanks, Grammy, for making the night special).

Now we're in summer break mode, which means swimming lessons in the morning and the Mercer Pool in the afternoon. My house isn't clean, my hair feels like a bristle brush, and I don't care. Julia's 4th birthday is this Friday. Give me a moment while I suppress a sob. My parents are due to arrive on her big day (SURPRISE, SURPRISE), and you are guaranteed more pictures to come.

Cat wearing glasses.

2011-05-09T13:01:00.003-04:00

This kind of stuff makes me happy.

Belated

2011-04-28T13:33:00.006-04:00

I think about blogging every other day or so. I just can't come up with much to say. April has been a particularly unfriendly month to us, and we've retreated to lick our wounds, both figurative and, in Julia's case, literal (she's added a scar to her chin, knee and foot--her new name is Craig Jr.).

The low points include spring break, which came carrying a suitcase full of viral and bacterial illness. Ever heard of rotavirus? The girls got it, and everyone, including Grammy who so kindly agreed to watch the girls while Craig and I were in Maine, suffered. Oh yeah, we went to Maine for very quick trip (48 hours). The visit wasn't a low point necessarily, but it also wasn't the high point we anticipated. Then Easter came and we felt exhausted (and still sick), and it was hard to be enthused about anything. I did take a few pictures of the girls, but after reviewing them, I realized that Grace is a sickly shade a green in all the photos (I won't be sharing). Finally on Wednesday the girls returned to school, in time for Julia to attend her field trip, and I am hopeful (please, Please, PLEASE) that we are truly on the mend.

I'm wallowing. I know it. Sick kids do this to me. In a little over two weeks, we will be sitting at the beach with our best friends, and my attitude will be forced to adjust. Folly here we come.

Army men

2011-04-08T17:18:00.003-04:00

Discovered in Dad's closet. Battle ready in the living room.

Last two photos by Grace.

Dad and daughter

2011-03-31T09:25:00.001-04:00

Jump Rope for Heart

2011-03-30T10:34:00.005-04:00

A little over a month ago Grace participated in the American Heart Association's Jump Rope for Heart. She raised over $50 and jumped in honor of her cousin, Whitney, whom underwent open heart surgery when she was a teeny-tiny baby.

Naturally, we were proud of our girl. We didn't know then that she would top off the experience by showing even more selflessness. Yesterday during the AHA recognition ceremony, a classmate had his prize broken by another student. The boy was understandably upset, and Grace stepped in, giving him the speed jump rope she received in appreciation for her fundraising. She didn't think twice. She saw someone hurting and knew she could ease his pain.

36 is the new 6

2011-03-29T21:00:00.005-04:00

Ever since the girls received kickboards for Christmas, Craig has been green with envy. By New Year's, Grace was telling me, "We NEED to get one for Dad!" Three months later his wish came true: a Monster Kick Board just for him. While it would have been great to surprise him, Grace was a bit too excited (she told anyone who would listen, often with Craig in the same room). In any case, he did his part by feigning complete surprise. Not that his surprise mattered, he LOVES it.

Thirty six today, but not a minute older than six in his mind.

Röyksopp

2011-03-25T13:31:00.005-04:00

Really, we had no idea what to expect from the show. I was a teeny bit worried that we'd be the straightest people in the room, but when I saw another minivan pulling into the parking lot at The Masquerade in Atlanta, I knew we were good. Turns out we were entirely average, if by average you mean thirty somethings obsessed with Röyksopp.

All descriptors fall short to describe our night. It was awesome-amazing-kick ass-best night in recent memory. It also reminded me of something: I do know how to have fun. Sometimes I'm so straight-laced I can hardly stand myself, so penned in by habit and schedule and expectation that I've forgotten something key. It's good to let the freak within breathe. I did more than breathe on Thursday night, I let go and felt the music vibrate my cells. I was still vibrating on Friday (after very little sleep) with a permanent grin plastered on my face. The show was that good.

For the uninitiated, go here to see what we saw.

Censorship

2011-03-23T09:20:00.006-04:00

If I were to write a blog post in real time, including all the details of our current lives, it would read like a classified pentagon document, with long sections blacked out. There's nothing horrible happening, just life, and yet our lives are intersecting with so many people that I'm unable to write a single thing without providing details for which I have not been given permission to share. On the one hand, who wants to hear the dailies of our life. On the other hand, the daily moments rule our life, so what can I blog about?

I can tell you that negotiating with a three year old is like negotiating with a terrorist.

I can tell you that being pretty is the single most important aspect of Julia's life at the moment.

I can tell you that for homework Grace wrote a poem about our family that included the word "farting".

I can tell you that Grace found her poem hilarious and so did her teacher.

I can tell you that my old cat, Zuzu, is not long for this world.

I can tell you that thinking about Zuzu's death overwhelms Grace with emotion, and I feel humbled to hold her hand and talk with her as she processes this experience.

I can tell you that when I see coffee, smell coffee, watch a commercial about coffee I feel a deep sensation of happiness and longing. I'm sure my brain lights up like an addict.

I can tell you that Craig and I are going to a concert in Atlanta on Thursday and that I haven't been to a concert since before we were married.

I can tell you that it really bums me out that people guess my correct age.

Hopefully this net in which we find ourselves entwined will release a little, and I'll go back to writing more. Until then, I can tell you that we're good, and really, there's nothing more important than that.

Spring Break = Spring Work

2011-03-09T20:11:00.006-05:00

Craig is on break, so of course we're having a leisurely time, ranting about novelty pencils and other nuisances in the world. We sleep in late, drink coffee slowly, and lounge in our pajamas all day long.

Isn't it great to have a rich fantasy life? Yes, Craig is on break, which means that I haven't let him sit still for a single moment. Work! Work! Work! Do this, man. Do that, man. My bidding, I tell you, do my bidding! Hah, another fantasy. Truth: we've both been working our fingers raw.

Project One: Build and install shelving in my office (and also completely clean and reorganize the office, find pictures from ten years ago and laugh until we cry at our younger selves, cringe at stack of old college exams, and die of embarrassment over old journals stuffed in the bottom of a box). This project required that we cut, sand, prime and paint the lumber and 18 brackets (yes, 18 brackets with two coats of primer and three finish coats). It took us two days to go from this:

To this:

Those books have been in storage for four long years. Liberation!

Project Two: Repaint exterior trim on three windows. Three of our windowsills rotted. Yes, our house is old, but the windowsills were relatively new (circa 2003). Don't get me started on why they rotted (caulk does not serve as a replacement for real woodwork). Thankfully, we paid someone to replace the sills, so Craig just got stuck with the finish work.

Project Three: Finish what we started. Remember this?

Back in November, just before the weather turned cold, we started to refinish our front door (genius move on our part). Fast forward 4 months and one sunny day, and this was the scene in our front yard:

What's not pictured are the HOURS we spent stripping and sanding (and stripping and sanding some more). We had one day of sunshine in between rain, and we made it work. By the end of the night the door looked like this:

Now, some might be wondering why we repainted the door. Well, our door's been around the block. It's got wood filler in many places and caulk too (oh, those guys who rehabbed our house loved that caulk), so taking it back to its original glory was never a possibility. However, the work we did will ensure that the paint doesn't chip off all over our front porch (which is why we refinished it in the first place). We still need to paint the topcoat but that requires sunshine.

Project Four: Replace the master bathroom floor.

What can I say? This one is on hold. We're tired and our hands are sore.

So that's us these days. In my mind, it's been a great spring break. We like to work side by side, so it's been good. I mean, vacation on a beach would probably be good too. Okay, it would be better. On the other hand, if we were at the beach, I'd be feeling self conscious about my mommy flab. Instead I'm feeling pretty righteous about our home improvement skills.

Novelty Pencils... (Dad rants)

2011-03-07T15:57:00.002-05:00

Just a quick rant about novelty pencils that Grace and Julia have received as gifts...

If you want to buy Grace and Julia a pencil I support you wholeheartedly. Pencils are great for kids learning to write. However, please buy a normal pencil from a drugstore or stationary store. Generally these are yellow, have a working eraser, and have a lead that sharpens. Pencils with princesses, flowers, rainbows, or other such designs are the type I am ranting about. They are a pain in the butt because the erasers break or just smear graphite all over in a big messy blur. Furthermore, the graphite leads do not hold any kind of tip and are often already shattered within the pencil itself. So as I sharpen one I go all the way to the end and never find a proper writing tip.

The irony is that these kinds of "designer" pencils cost more money than just a standard pack of pencils that are reliable and useful. So again, please buy Grace and Julia pencils. Just buy them the kind of pencils you used when you were a kid. They still make them and will provide much more enjoyment for the whole family.

Love,

Craig (Dad)

To Do List

2011-03-06T17:15:00.001-05:00

What did you get done this weekend?

That's paint on my fingers, so you can guess what I did.

Training Children to be like Mice

2011-03-05T07:47:00.007-05:00

Greetings readers,

It's Craig here to add an entry describing the lab activity I hosted for Grace's school on Mercer's campus. The actual events took place on four days for two consecutive weeks. I had the 3rd graders in on Wed. Feb. 16, the 5th graders on Fri. Feb. 18, 1st and 2nd grades together on Wed. Feb. 23rd, and 4th grade on Fri. Feb. 25th. Now I did not have all the kids from those grades nor did I have them all day long. (I am not insane.) I did have them between 9:50 and 11:10 AM but I only hosted those kids involved in the REACH program. This is the elementary school's gifted and talented program.

The purpose of bringing them to my lab on campus was to let them participate in a lab exercise where they carried out a few activities related to their central nervous system. Specifically we were talking about balance and proprioception (body awareness) while they attempted to walk across balance beams of varying thinness. They recorded some limited data and then watched videos of mice doing the very same thing (walking across tight ropes of varying thinness). They also collected data from the mouse videos to compare to their own from balance beams. Students worked in groups of 2-3 and used stopwatches to time these crossing events but they also counted the frequency of arm waving (or tail waving in the case of the mice). These data were then entered into some pre-designed spreadsheets where graphs would fill in with their data for easy comparison. Ideally they would see some sort of relationship between branch thinness and slower crossing speeds and increased arm waving in both themselves and mice. Afterwards we talked about the human nervous system and proprioception and how mice have these same attributes. The lab was fun to do and it involved several of my undergraduate students. They were great and very helpful managing the kids on all the beams and computers. Grace was there too in the 1st and 2nd grade group. On that day Ellen also assisted (thanks hon).

One funny story... in the 1st and 2nd grade crowd this little boy immediately put his hand in the air as I began my introductory spiel. He was eager to say something but I was eager to get started so I waited until I had finished before calling on him. He then said "You know you look a lot like Bill Nye." Of course everyone started laughing, including my undergrads who immediately began downloading pictures of Bill Nye onto the lab computers as their new wallpaper. For those of you who don't know, Bill Nye is the Science Guy that all kids know from educational films and television. He is tall, skinny, and dorky, wears a lab coat and a bow tie. For the record I look nothing like Bill Nye. I don't wear bow ties and I don't wear a lab coat unless I am dissecting things. I am kind of dorky though, especially when I get started talking about animals that climb (like my specially trained lab mice). Here are some pictures.

February in Georgia is like June in the Midwest

2011-03-02T11:24:00.004-05:00

Grammy and Poppy arrived to unseasonably warm temperatures in Georgia. On Sunday the mercury crept above 80 degrees. They didn't complain (though Craig and I have wondered, nervously, what 80 in February means for June, July and August). With sunny blue skies, we spent a lot of time outside, on the swings:

And beside the fire pit, where we roasted marshmallows and stargazed.

The girls, with help from Poppy and Dad, also planted a tree Grace received for Arbor Day.

We ate well, talked a lot, and relaxed, which is exactly the kind of visit we love to have. Thanks to Grammy and Poppy for a wonderful time (and for making MBC very, very happy with his fire pit). Hopefully the next time we travel north, Indiana will supply equally good weather. We know the company will be great.

Oh, and here's the rest of the pictures:

coming soon

2011-02-28T11:38:00.001-05:00

A proper update with pictures of our visit with Grammy-Bonnie and Poppy. We had a great time. More later.

husband wrangling

2011-02-23T17:07:00.004-05:00

I plan to wrangle mine into writing a post about the lab he did with REACH (gifted) kids from Grace's school. The first and second graders had their session today, which included two people bursting with pride: Craig (so, so proud of his girl) and Grace (super dooper proud of her dad). I actually overheard some second graders point to Grace and say, "Dr. Byron is her dad, wow!" There should be pictures too, so stay tuned (but don't check too regularly because this wrangling could still take another week).

On a totally unrelated tangent, I read a post on an advice blog asking readers to chime in on the question "what do you want to do when you grow up?" The question wasn't posed to kids; this came from and for an adult. I didn't add to the conversation (I'm a terrible commenter), but I remember very clearly asking that same question when my kids were younger, back when I still felt rather unworthy being a stay at home parent. Thankfully times have changed, and my answer to what do want to do when you grow up comes a lot more easily:

I am grown up. Whatever I'm doing right now is my job. I may do something different in the future, but it won't be because I've grown up. I've already done that.

What sweet, sweet relief to have finally reached that conclusion.

Lean.

2011-02-22T14:48:00.004-05:00

In one month Grace jumped an entire shoe size. Her pants skim the tops of her ankles, and her long sleeve shirts now have 3/4 length sleeves. If there is any remaining baby fat on my baby, I simply can't find it. She is long, lean, and muscular. Thank goodness Julia still has some chub on her cheeks, my computer doesn't do well with mommy's tears.

done.

2011-02-20T18:06:00.003-05:00

The bathroom is finished. It took a few extra days (because I'm a freak when it comes to paint and imperfections make me nuts). I'm not going to post all the photos here (who wants to see a rotten floor, can you say coliform bacteria!). Here's the link though.

Instead, here are a couple of my faves from the last several weeks.

Still here, really

2011-02-14T09:28:00.005-05:00

It's just that I've been wearing the same pants and shirt for a week, and even though you can't see me, I was embarrassed.

The reason for same pants? We have been re-doing our bathroom (and thankfully we're almost finished). We hoped to reset the toilet last night, but it just didn't seem like a good idea at 11pm, after a full day of laying tile. I give it three more days (which really means nights when Craig is home) and we will be done. So hooray for us.

Now why did we decide to do this? Well, because the yahoos who rehabbed our house didn't seal the toilet properly and we had rotten floors. Yuck. Don't get me started. Once we ripped up the floor it seemed like a good idea to repaint, and once we repainted it seemed like a good idea to change fixtures. You get the idea. In the end we turned something unhappy into happy, and for that I'm thrilled (if you hadn't noticed it had been a little bit grouchy around these parts). Pictures to come.

Oh and Happy Valentine's Day, the holiday best celebrated by those under the age of ten.

Harsh.

2011-02-03T08:34:00.006-05:00

Perhaps my attempt at humor was a little harsh. I had a day filled with Macon moments (no, you don't want to know what those are), so I wasn't in the best place mentally. No worries. We have a good life, I'm aware, but there are days when I wish for something different (don't we all).

So back to humor. Here's another blast from the past. I do believe this picture shows the last time I wore a halter top (thank goodness). Also notice, my fly is down. Believe it or not, I still have that panda (and no, it does not rest on my bed, it's stuffed in a closet). Talli also noted in a previous comment that Grace and I look A LOT alike. Grace should thank me that I don't cut her hair like a boy's (I haven't forgiven my mother yet). A Dorothy Hammil wasn't a good look for any girl in my generation.

Breaking up is hard to do.

2011-02-02T13:45:00.005-05:00

And it takes a long time. I told you Macon and I were breaking up some time last week, and here I am, still stuck with the jerk. Just yesterday, I think I may have yelled, "I don't want to live with you anymore!" So much for being friends. It's like we're married and in a protracted bad phase (the kind people warn you about). I keep channeling Scarlett O'Hara: Tomorrow is another day, and then tomorrow comes and it's no better than the day before. Macon and I are married, with no hope of a separation, much less a divorce, and we're not even talking. Friends is going to be a stretch.

A resolution about my boyfriend

2011-01-24T09:13:00.003-05:00

I've come to a realization. I treat Macon like a bad boyfriend, the kind that doesn't bathe regularly, never pays for a date, and talks too much but says very little. I started dating him because I didn't have other choices, and I didn't want to be single anymore. I suffered the delusion that many young women fall prey to--I can change him, make him better.

And here's where my metaphor breaks down because, obviously, I've needed to break up with this loser for a long time. And when your boyfriend is the place you live, you can't break up. Now some might argue that I shouldn't have dated him in the first place. Going out with someone because you feel sorry for them is never a good recipe, and all I can say is that I got something great out of the relationship: Julia (albeit I was with another man at the time).

Where do Macon and I go from here? Well, we have to break up, but we're still going to live together (weird, yes). I'm going to try to accomplish what I never could before: I want to be friends with my ex. I want to appreciate his good qualities and laugh off the bad (which is a lot easier when you're not dating). There's probably a lot I don't know about him, because I never wanted to listen as he droned on and on. So here's to us, Macon, you and me. Let's be friends.

If I had to guess: 22 years ago

2011-01-21T09:42:00.004-05:00

We got my dad one of those digital picture frames for his birthday, and I loaded 350 images onto it, including some scans from my scrapbook. This must have been taken in the fall because our dog, Christie, has red streamers tied around her collar (so hunters wouldn't confuse her tawny coat with that of a deer). Check out the boxer shorts worn outside the sweatpants--what a look.

If Grace and Julia like stories about me as a kid, they absolutely love stories about Christie. They have serious dog envy, and who wouldn't, she was THE BEST.

Freedom

2011-01-20T11:06:00.008-05:00

Disclaimer: For those with children older than mine, please feel free to laugh, loudly I'm sure, at my expense as I unravel one of the most basic tenets of parenting. I'm only managing a C in Parenting 101.

Grace loves to hear stories about my youth. Craig's too, but she seems to have a particular fascination with my rural upbringing. "Tell me about the time you cut down the Christmas tree all by yourself"*, "Tell me about the time you went out on the ice when you were in 1st grade"**, "Tell me about the time you jumped off the roof of your house."*** There are many reasons she likes these stories: they're about me as a kid, they take place somewhere she's only imagined, they involve a bit of danger, and almost always there are no adults involved.

Last night, after another story, she asked me why she can't do any of the things I did. Fumbling, I told here that I had a lot of freedom when I was a kid, and that because we live in an urban neighborhood, she couldn't have that kind of freedom. "But why?" she wanted to know, and so I dug my hole a bit deeper:

"Well, a few blocks away, there are some people that do bad stuff, and I wouldn't want you to interact with them."

"Do they live next door?"

"No."

"Then why do you think I would be with them?"

"Well, I don't know, it just makes me nervous."

"Oh."

We moved on to other topics, but I felt unresolved. Why exactly didn't I want her playing in the yard alone? Because some characters in another section of the neighborhood (who I've never seen in our area) might come around? And do what exactly? The chances that Grace would have some sort of negative interaction with anyone in the neighborhood is very, very low, and yet I hover. I don't give her freedom, and by doing so I send the message, "I don't trust you." Now, how in the world can I expect her to be a trustworthy adult, and more importantly trust in herself, if I don't provide her with the same courtesy.

Oh, this hurts my poor parenting brain. I don't want to beat myself up. Mostly, I'm just learning. I've never had a six year old before. She was a baby (or at least a toddler) not that long ago, and she's not anymore. I need to adapt. Adjust. Accept. She's older. She deserves more trust and more responsibility. I need to make reasonable assessments about the real dangers in her life (driving in a car with me is the most dangerous thing she does, not because I'm a bad driver, but because according to the National Safety Commission car accidents are the number one cause of accidental death among kids one and older).

This whole gig is a work in progress (obviously). Grace has been chomping at the bit to walk herself to school (like the other kids in our neighborhood), and we'll work up to it. Dropping her off at the school steps as opposed to walking her to class seems to be a start.

*For the record, I asked permission first
**I got in trouble for this. Note that when I write the word "ice" I mean the stuff that froze over the bay.
***First of all, it wasn't that high, only the first story, and second, I got in trouble for this too.

I like the age I am

2011-01-17T19:16:00.008-05:00

I like the age I am
It's a wonderful life no matter when
So if I'm a hundred or if I am ten
I like the age I am
~Carol Johnson

We traveled to Florida over the weekend to help my dad celebrate his 75th birthday. Yes, seventy-five. For as hard as it may be for me to believe that my dad's 75, it's probably just as difficult for him to accept that I'm 37 (and that his baby, my sister, is 30). The weekend was such a treat. The last time we saw my parents they were both suffering from acute bronchitis. We had limped our way through Christmas, and at the time I could hardly imagine they would recover so well. The weekend was filled with laughter (so much so that I nearly choked more than once) and we repaired our Christmas woes.

Grace and Julia started my dad's day on the right note, serenading him with the song lyrics written above. That's the same song I sang to my grandpa (with the help of my sister and cousins) when he turned 70. Dad was tickled. That night we took the whole family and some surprise guests (thanks, Pete & Leslie) out for dinner. There were a few wistful moments as we missed my brothers and sister-in-law, but Grace and Julia, as usual, kept us all entertained.

On Sunday we enjoyed some of that beautiful Florida sunshine. The girl's cruised the development on their kickboards, and we all enjoyed watching the wildlife, including a gator and egret:

And as the sun descended I caught the sky's reflection in the canal outside my parent's rental:

The weekend was just about perfect. I'm thrilled that we were able to be together for my dad's birthday and that my parents are on the mend. I could get all mushy here about my dad, but my keyboard isn't waterproof. He's a great, great man. He's taught me much and loved me even more. Thanks, Dad, for everything. Happy Birthday.

Here's the link to all the other photos from our weekend.

Another day, another holler

2011-01-11T17:28:00.003-05:00

The kids were off school for another day. The school district held a press conference (yes, you read that right, for a girl from a teeny tiny town and a teeny tiny school this seems, I don't know, over the top). The district just wanted to let us know that predicted freezing conditions in the morning made travel far too dangerous. On that, they're right. Small southern cities (large ones too) simply don't have the equipment to deal with any sort of freezing precipitation on the road. Unfortunately (at least in my neighborhood and Grace's school) the roads were wet, not frozen this morning. A prediction that actually could have helped me would be to tell me my kids would be little jerks all day. No prediction was necessary to tell me I would be a jerk too. Ah well. Back to school tomorrow. Back to being a reasonable mother/human being for me.

I think it's safe to say that one of my New Year's Resolutions still needs a little work.

Ice Day

2011-01-10T12:25:00.007-05:00

School was cancelled today due to ice. The streets are nearly empty, except for a few brave souls who have fishtailed down the street in front of our house, and Grace and Julia got us out of bed this morning with, "Mom, Dad, there's a car that just slid down the hill and hit the curb!" Their enthusiasm is due, in part, to a video we watched on weather.com last night where cars in CO crashed into each other and the curb.

As we searched through other videos, I was surprised to find one from my hometown entitled "Waves Produce Icy Wonderland". Memories, people. This brings back many. Our snow/ice days were epic.

They'll be back again next season

2011-01-09T09:24:00.001-05:00

What is love?

2011-01-07T23:02:00.010-05:00

[Modified on Saturday morning]

Love is changing one's flight, catching the redeye, and coming home one day early after a long week away.

Love is trying to change one's flight, catch the redeye, and come home one day early after a long week away.

The week didn't actually get long until today, which is always the case when Craig leaves town. I'm usually okay up until the last 48 hours and then the house/kids/self fall apart. Julia has infected eyes. Grace looks like she's coming down with another bug (three days into the semester), and I'm simply bone tired. It's not the end of the world (obviously), but still my smile almost broke Skype when Craig told me his plan.

And I'm still smiling despite the fact his plan didn't work. He'll be home Sunday as scheduled, and we'll make the best of our day in the meantime.

I'm spoiled, and I don't care. Also, did you notice, hmm hmm, we're back.

Closed for business

2011-01-05T08:53:00.002-05:00

I get a smidgeon of the blog traffic I used to have. This is what comes from not posting on a regular basis and/or posting the most boring stuff on the internet. I'm guilty on both counts. I thought for a bit about giving up the blog altogether but then I remembered why I started to do this in the first place: connection with friends and family. So I'm going to keep it going, albeit with a very different look. This is your notice that this place is going to be a mess as I change my template and add new stuff.

Hopefully a new look will get me back into the groove. I've been blogging for over five years. I don't even know if I can stop, but I can do it with more style.

Happy New Year, from us

2011-01-01T09:25:00.004-05:00

Last night we went downtown to watch the Cherry Blossom drop (it's Macon, of course, it's a Cherry Blossom). Last night was the first time we've been out for New Year's Eve since our trip to Paris five years ago. I know, I know, we need to get out more. Minutes before midnight I closed my eyes and tilted my head toward the stars. I have so many hopes for 2011, and more that a few sorries that I'd like to leave behind. Out with the old and in with the good, I say. Let's start this year right.

I don't want to chuck 2010 though. The truth is that it was an amazing year for us, and the highlights are many. Grace completed her first year of elementary school (how did she get to be so big!). I had a four month freelance job (the longest and most rewarding in recent memory) that funded our summer adventure. Julia embraced being three with gusto ("No, I not a dictator!"), and Craig managed to push his research even further, publishing with and engaging undergraduates in ways he never imagined. Our year ended on a rough note (two bronchial infections for my parents with a long, long recovery), but I can't help but be incredibly hopeful for 2011.

However you celebrated, wherever you were, I hope you rang in the New Year with high hopes and love. Happy New Year everyone, from us.

If it weren't for these two...

2010-12-28T17:14:00.003-05:00

Our holidays would have been more miserable, probably totally unbearable.

Thankful, I am, for these little mites. In case you didn't know, happiness can be siphoned directly from their squeals.

I'm a parent, for real.

2010-12-17T13:00:00.006-05:00

My parents are in town, and I (we) have been busy. Hence no blogging (which is a pretty common occurrence around these parts since our summer sojourn). Prior to my parents arrival, we managed to finish our holiday preparations (after much grief from Grace: "MOM, everyone else already has their christmas tree!"). We outdid ourselves this year: 11 feet of balsam goodness. I'm still amazed that Craig and I managed to get this beast into the stand by ourselves. It almost didn't fit.

Both girls were sick the night we put up the tree and got into jammies early. They did rouse themselves for dancing with the tree skirt.

Up next was a trip to the library to meet the mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. This was one of those events that seemed like a good idea, but in reality meant waiting too long for a decrepit mouse to hobble into the room. It didn't even tap it's toe to the mouse song. The girls seemed unfazed by the poor performance, which, I suppose, is what matters.

And then we had the whirl of Grace's Christmas concert, Julia's Christmas Pageant, and Grace's Christmas party (all in one morning). For some reason, while watching Julia and her classmates perform Christmas carols, I was struck with the thought: I'm really a parent. I know I'm a mom, but do you ever have those moments where your life comes into crystal clear focus? Julia singing about angels did this to me.

I hope your holiday preparations and celebrations are filling you with joy. If not, email me, and I'll send you the video of Julia singing Feliz Navidad (while picking her nose). Merry Christmas, indeed.

Heat Seeking Cats (and Cookies with Noah)

2010-12-10T11:05:00.008-05:00

I caught this picture of Zuzu earlier today. Our cats move from sunspot to sunspot as the day passes. With this most recent cold snap, I've caught both of them basking in a ribbon of light on the kitchen counter. Normally they would jump down at the first sound of a human. In a testament to the chilliness of our house, the last time I caught Ollie he looked at me sleepily and then buried his nose under his paw and drifted back to sleep.

Yesterday Grace had her regularly scheduled play date with Noah at our house. I didn't want the two of them canoodling upstairs, planning their elopement, so I baked gingerbread cookies for them to decorate.

By the end, my new kitchen floor was covered with sprinkles and many surfaces (in and out of the kitchen) had a veneer of frosting. After cookies, the kids went upstairs to play unsupervised. At one point, Grace locked Noah out of the room for some transgression, and he only gained re-entry by serenading her with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". It was so sweet I almost cried.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Practice makes perfect

2010-12-09T09:25:00.004-05:00

I constantly find little scraps of paper with the five letters, J-U-L-I-A, written on them.

Cold Enough

2010-12-08T15:43:00.003-05:00

That we have ice in our bird bath (that didn't melt all day).

Christmas is like being pregnant

2010-12-07T14:18:00.005-05:00

In that I nest. I take on large home projects late in November and early December in anticipation of the big event. I feel a sense of urgency, a requirement if you will, to feather my nest. This year, clearly, I was shortsighted when I prodded my husband into doing this. Mid-job the rain came, followed in short order by cold temperatures (in the 20's! This is Georgia. Cold isn't allowed until January).

For the second It's December Let's Re-Do Something Project, we took on the kitchen floor. Well, I should say, not we, but Steve, because we were smart enough to hire someone else. Checkers, anyone?

And finally, just to round things out with a little more stress, I've commenced repainting all the trim and baseboards (hideous, I tell you, the scuffs, the unknown permanently adhered substances, a mess!). My timing, being poor, coincided with another hacking cold for Julia, so I'm painting with a wee bear at my side, sniffling. Her illness also meant she missed decorating a gingerbread house at school (the tears), and the director called to tell me gingerbread supplies were waiting for us. We rallied (kitchen trim done), and managed to construct a spiffy dwelling.

If only I looked that cute while sick. Back to the trim (while my little bear sleeps).

child bride

2010-12-02T20:25:00.006-05:00

Every Thursday after school Grace has a play-date with her friend Noah. We switch back and forth, and today they played at Noah's house. The kids love this ritual. They are very similar (highly verbal, artistic, and bossy--what a combo) and play together, perhaps surprisingly given their similarities, quite well. Noah has expressed his affection for Grace to me a number of times ("I love my Mom, my Dad, and Grace"), so I suppose I should have known when, soon after her arrival home, Grace declared that she had something very important to tell me.

Hmmmm. Now what could that be?

Do you see what I see? Yes, that's my personal invitation to Grace and Noah's wedding (and not the wedding of Noah, Ellen & Grace, which I don't think is legal in Georgia). Furthermore, they have chosen a date (well, a month really): December 2020!

Fair warning, people, mark you calendars for the wedding of my sixteen year old to another sixteen year old (which, I'm almost sure, is legal in Georgia).

Daddy's Family by Julia

2010-12-01T10:57:00.004-05:00

(L-R) Baby Craig, Grammy, Poppy, and Little Uncle Mike

Pilgrim on Thanksgiving

2010-11-29T09:26:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. I'm still stuffed.

Pictured above is Julia singing a song at preschool. That white thing on her head was supposed to be a pilgrim's bonnet.

Friday night is pizza night

2010-11-19T17:07:00.005-05:00

At the start of the school year, back in August, Craig set a challenge for himself: learn how to make really good pizza. In less than a month he had perfected his crust, and I found a stellar sauce recipe. Craig knew he had not only met his challenge but mastered pizza when Grace ate seven pieces at one sitting. I bow down to his mad skills.

Here's to Fridays, pizza, husbands who kick ass in the kitchen, and family ritual. Hope you all have a great weekend

Post 2 of the day: Proof our animals are disgusting

2010-11-18T14:31:00.005-05:00

I found this note pasted to the bathroom door after Grace discovered a present from one of the cats. In case you can't read it: "Don't step on browness in downstairs bathroom. Thanks." I love how polite she is and also that she illustrated her find.

Post 1 of the day: Cuteness Overload

2010-11-18T14:15:00.005-05:00

Julia's preschool class celebrated Thanksgiving today, complete with a feast and costumes. According to Julia she was a "native amerwican."

Hand holding

2010-11-17T18:15:00.005-05:00

Julia is a tender person, so much so that she can hardly get through a meal without a request to hug or hold hands. She's done this for as long as we can remember.

11 days before Julia

2010-11-16T08:07:00.002-05:00

Sheriff

2010-11-15T08:08:00.003-05:00

I won't say I'm blocked because that statement assumes I'm a writer. I'm not. I blog. In the past I blogged a lot. Now, not so much. While I decide what I'm doing here--and whether or not I still have anything to blog about--I've combed my photo archives. Meet the new sheriff.

Oh Baby

2010-11-07T20:00:00.004-05:00

We are smitten.

We love you so.

We want to kiss you.

And hold you forever.

We're so lucky to have you and your wonderful mama and daddy in our lives.

More of that beautiful baby here.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T18:41:00.007-04:00

Introducing...

Word Girl and Sacajawea

Every year when October rolls around my office turns into a sewing room, as I madly try to complete costumes the girls have chosen. Not surprisingly, each year they get a little more complicated. Thankfully, my sewing capabilities have improved over time. I doubt I could have handled Sacajawea five years ago.

Though October turned out to be a crunch month for us, I enjoyed these projects, and what's more, the girls were absolutely thrilled with the results. Word girl has flown around our neighborhood a number of times (not only on Halloween), and Sacajawea will be worn for years to come (Julia's called dibs for Halloween 2012). We put them to use too--trick or treating on Saturday with Grace's buddy, Noah, and scaring the animals at Zoo Atlanta's Boo at the Zoo on Sunday. Now we're all worn out.

We hope you all had a great Halloween (and it's Halloween, people, not Fall Fest or Harvest Fest, as so many of my more religiously minded neighbors might tell you). Enjoy the pictures and video.

Basically self-explanatory

2010-10-28T12:41:00.001-04:00

you talkin' to me?

2010-10-14T08:09:00.004-04:00

Okay, where were we?

Out west.

Oh. Well, we haven't been there for four months. This blog is seriously out of date.

Uh, Yeah.

I've been busy?

Really?

Well, yes and no. I just haven't had anything to write about.

Hmm. Grace cutting her hair. Your birthday. A weekend with your sister. Your upcoming trip to Austria and Germany. Nothing to write about, you say.

Yup. Nothing here.

Well, snap to it missy. At a minimum I expect some pictures of your trip to Europe.

Okay, okay. Camera packed. You'll see pictures once we're home.

Give me a date.

October 26th. Happy now.

Yes.

June 26-29: Going East

2010-10-04T13:44:00.008-04:00

We exited I-90 onto Wyoming Hwy 14 early in the morning on the 26th. We were headed north to Devil's Tower. The clouds were low and misty on the rolling hills and cattle land, and we couldn't help but feel the difference in our landscape. We had said our goodbyes to the mountains when we descended out of the Bighorn Range the day before. As we crested a small hill and caught sight of Devil's Tower, with dark clouds rimming the top, I understood how one might experience a sense of foreboding when seeing the tower for the first time, but it was hard for me to identify with that sensation with these two pixies in Craig's arms.

We made our way to the visitor's center and then started our hike around the base of the tower. During the month of June, there is a voluntary cessation of climbing activities so that native american groups can hold ceremonies. Being voluntary, not all climbers observe this break in activity. I'm sure the numbers were down, but we still saw quite a few ascending. We watched as they moved, hand over hand, up the columns of basalt.

The trail around the base is paved, which made for easy hiking for the girls. There were also lots of stops with built in binoculars, and we all enjoyed watching birds circle the summit. I think it took us a little over an hour to complete the loop and then it was back in the car and back to I-90 as we made our way into the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Like the stretch of highway between Yellowstone and Cody, this portion of I-90 was very familiar to me as well. Half of the field camp I attended and taught was spent in the Black Hills mapping metamorphic and igneous rocks. For anyone that's been to this part of South Dakota, you know how magnificent the geology can be. You also know how terribly touristy it is as well. Keystone, the town closest to Mount Rushmore, reminds me a lot of Pigeon Forge, Tennnessee (home of Dollywood and other Appalachian mountain tourist traps). I'm all for making the natural treasures of our nation available to everyone, I'm just not a fan of the commercialization that crowds these spaces. Thank goodness for national parks.

In any case, with rain spitting on us from above, we arrived at Mt Rushmore by mid afternoon.

There have been so many changes to this monument that I didn't recognize any of the old facilities. This is a good thing. Fifteen years ago, I didn't think Mt. Rushmore was much a monument, and now, every part of the visitor experience is geared toward celebrating our nation and the presidents whose faces are carved into granite. Grace thought it was cool because she had learned about Mt. Rushmore in school. Julia thought it was cool because it seemed so civilized.

Getting out of Rushmore (and all the tourist crap/traffic that surrounds it) took us more time than we would have liked. We still wanted to see the Badlands before we called it a night, so we had to cover a fair amount of ground in a short period of time. We stopped in Wall, South Dakota (home of Wall Drug, another tourist wasteland) to grab some sub sandwiches, and then continued onto the park for dinner.

I love the badlands. Chalk that up to spending six years as a fossil preparator. Badlands=fossils. Badlands also equals beauty.

I feel right when I'm in badlands.

We took the long route through the park, stopping to see fossil exhibits and prairie dog villages. I could have stayed for days. We only had three hours. As we left the park, I took one final picture: our hats resting on the dashboard. I've had that field hat for 15 years. It's been to India, Pakistan, and Turkey, and yet, this summer, this trip, was the best time I've ever had. The memories we made as a family are priceless. We changed during those three and a half weeks. We grew individually and as a whole. I'm so thankful to Craig for making the trip possible, and to Grace and Julia for being game.

We spent two more nights on the road, and we learned just how much we don't like to stay in hotels. Finally on the 28th, we arrived in DeForest, Wisconsin, where my Aunt Bev and Uncle Dave opened their home to us. It had been over three weeks since my kids had been in a house, and boy, they were ready. Bev and Dave have grand kids, so their house has toys. Julia and Grace were THRILLED. At bedtime that night, we gave Julia a choice: sleep in a bed or in second cousin Mason's crib (note that she's been out of a crib for 9 months). No contest. She wanted the crib. I think she probably would have stayed at Bev and Dave's indefinitely, but we had a few more miles to go.

On June 29th, we boarded a ferry to take us from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Muskegon, Michigan. Months earlier, when we were planning our trip, the girls were most excited about the ferry ride. At that time, they couldn't conceive of mountain ranges and wildlife out the window. Regardless of everything we had seen and done, the ferry was still a major highlight though. The girls couldn't wait for the ferry to arrive (and had an even harder time waiting to board).

We finally boarded a little after lunch and three hours later we made land, with Grandma and Grandpa waving from the shore.

While we still had three weeks left of our vacation (divided between Michigan and Indiana), the western part of our trip was done, and likewise, this travelogue is concluded. I'll upload the pictures from visits with the grandparents at another time. My apologies for taking such a long time to finish this series. Who would have thought that we would be so busy when we returned? Of course, we were busy. School started for everyone except me with all associated responsibilities. Whole weeks flashed by in an instant, it seems, and I marvel that we had such a long spell this summer of uninterrupted time off.

I'm happy and relieved that this log is finished. I hope that years from now the girls can look back and see the trip anew. I'll remember our summer as a magical time. I can always transport myself back to a moment in the Tetons when I asked Grace, "What do you want to do next summer? And she answered, "This. Can we do this again? Because this has been the best summer of my life." Mine too.

As always, here are the slideshows.

Thanks for reading (and thanks Mom for prodding me to finish the series).

June 24 & 25: Last Day at Camp and Heading East

2010-09-26T14:01:00.005-04:00

We woke to another beautiful, chilly morning. Craig made breakfast and coffee, as he did every morning, and after our warm meal we broke camp. A few nights before I had expressed the feeling that we could just keep going, keep camping, for a much longer period of time. We had reached a groove, or at least Craig and I had. The girls, particularly Julia, were beginning to show signs of fatigue. Yellowstone, with it's wide ranging sites, meant that Julia hadn't been able to take a nap in days. She was burned out, begging us for a hotel nearly every day.

I wandered around the campsite to take a few more pictures, and then we packed the van and got on the road. We planned to exit the park through the Lamar Valley. We had high hopes that we might see an elusive Moose, as our list of animal sightings lacked this creature. We climbed in elevation with snow on either side of the van, and as we began our descent into the valley we were stopped short by an enormous RV which blocked the road. The driver had stopped to get a better view of this:

One last grizzly to bid us farewell. After craning our necks and jostling the girls to get a better view, we continued on down into the valley where herds of bison roamed, mothers and babies, more animals than we could count.

We also managed to see a black bear as he scrambled through the tumbleweed, avoiding the throngs of tourists with cameras in hand, and later we came upon a group of people with telescopes, scouting the cliffs for wolves, another animal that didn't make it on our list. As we exited the park through the Silver Gate at Cooke City, I gave up on seeing a moose, only to be surprised again:

The road we traveled was familiar to me. I had spent most of two summers in this same area learning how to make geological maps (and later teaching new students to do the same). Being in Wyoming produced complicated emotions for me, a longing for goals and pursuits that I'd never capitalized upon, remembering a life that could have taken me in a very different direction. Thankfully, with a squeeze of my partner's hand and a nuzzle from my girls, I recalled the great fortune I have in living this life, with my family, and more love than I could imagine.

Though we only drove about 100 miles that day, it took us seven hours to get to Cody. We decided to splurge with a suite in a motel (don't worry, Julia approved this place even though it wasn't a hotel). There were two pools and a playground. Civilization tasted sweet to Grace and Julia. We did the touristy thing and ate dinner at Buffalo Bill Cody's Irma Restaurant and fell into our soft beds with full bellies.

The next morning we stuck around Cody to visit the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, a complex that houses numerous museums. In particular, I wanted Craig to see the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, and the girls convinced us to stay and visit the Draper Museum of Natural History. This meant we got on the road well after lunch and needed to cover a lot of ground. We wanted to make it over the Bighorn Mountains and east of Sheridan. This made for an arduous day with tempers and tears (and a near stranding in the mountains with an empty gas tank). When we checked into the Days Inn at Gillette, I felt like Julia, ready for a temper tantrum. Hotels with pools do wonders for our family though, and we went to bed eager for the next day. Devil's Tower, here we come.

Here are the pictures from our drive out of the park. No pictures in Cody. I'm not sure why. Also no pictures in the Bighorns, which is a total bummer, those mountains are awesome.

All's quiet

2010-09-25T08:22:00.002-04:00

My house is empty. Craig, his dad, and the girls departed this morning for an overnight in the north Georgia mountains. If memory serves, this is the first time I've had the house to myself for an overnight since before Julia was born, and at that time, I wasn't entirely alone, I was 8 months pregnant with Julia. It wasn't the restful period I anticipate this time to be; she kept me up all night, somersaulting in my pregnant belly.

So what does this alone time mean for me? Well, for one, I'll finish off a small grant I'm working on, and two, I'll finally wrap up our vacation chronicles. Nearly every morning this past week, as I drove Julia into school, I was transported to a stretch of road in the Tetons. There's something about the fall air in Georgia and the music playing on our car CD player that takes me west. We listened to a lot of LCD Soundsystem, Royksopp, Pomplamoose, and Ralph Covert during our trip, and those tunes will always take me back to summer.

But first, I'm going to enjoy another cup of coffee. I may even watch some morning television. I'll let the breakfast dishes marinate in the sink, and I won't start planning dinner. I don't have to feed anyone but myself. I don't have to clean up after anyone else either. I'm feeling more relaxed by the second.

Joy

2010-09-18T13:29:00.001-04:00

IMG_2970, originally uploaded by phocina.

Baby and mama are well. Aside from the birth of my own children, I have never felt so much joy to hold one so small in my arms.

Coming into the world

2010-09-15T08:45:00.003-04:00

Tonight I'll be on my way to join my best friend and her husband as they welcome their daughter into the world. I've been to three other births (including Grace and Julia), and the emotion of those moments is beyond my wee brain to describe. If you read here, and you're so inclined, please send your warmest wishes to baby Ada for a healthy and happy birth.

Savannah + hot weather + splash park - swimsuits =

2010-09-10T13:43:00.004-04:00

Equals wet clothes, big smiles, and ice cream. For the rest of the photos, go here.

Yellowstone National Park (June 22-23)

2010-09-08T20:18:00.006-04:00

I really needed a shower on June 22nd. That's the first thing I remember about this day. The girls needed to bathe too, so off we went across the park to Canyon Village (home of showers and shops that sell way to much crap to tourists). Craig, being a guy, didn't want or need to bathe. He was quite content with our very chilly outdoor shower, and all I can say is shrinkage!

Showered and laundered we headed south to hike down to the brink of Yellowstone Falls. We dropped 600 feet in elevation in half a mile. It was seriously steep and worth every single step:

In case you're wondering, it gave me the willies to stand so close to the edge of the falls. Of course, Grace and Julia had no fear. On the other hand, once you raised your eyes, the natural eye candy was pretty great:

On our way down, an older man commented about Julia, who was perched on her dad's back: "Reminds me of 20 years ago when I had my son on my back for this very same hike." We heard comments like that a lot on our trip, as older parents and grandparents reminisced about their first experience in the park with their kids. There's an unspoken sense of fraternity among travelers and campers in wild places, an understanding and respect that we share these majestic spaces.

After a lunch on the brink, we hiked back to the top and then drove to the other side to catch a view of the falls from Artist's Point. Julia was really bummed that there was no actual artist at Artist's Point. She was quite sure we had lied to her. I don't even think she cared that the falls were amazing from this side:

Or that we could see the platform where we had stood just an hour before:

Back in the van, we continued south to Mud Volcano, where we watched other tourists get a little too close to a bison:

And we finally ended our day at Yellowstone Lake, where we hung out on the beach, visited the ranger station and ate dinner in a lodge (a highlight for Julia, domesticated little thing that she is).

The next morning was the coldest we experienced. We ate breakfast with the girls in our laps for warmth, then piled in the van to hit the road towards Old Faithful (yes, that same place I complained about in an earlier post). Our first stop was at Artist's Paint Pots, where again, Julia questioned our sanity, as there were no artists around. However, she gave us some slack once she discovered how wonderful mud pots can be! Turns out, vats of bubbling and gurgling mud thrill Julia. We finally found the ONE thing at Yellowstone that she liked. We stayed an extra fifteen minutes so she could sit and stare.

Truthfully, I can understand why she liked them so much. I had the strongest urge to reach out and grab some mud, mold it in my hands and create something. The only problem being that the acids in the mud would liquefy my flesh on contact.

After Craig navigated us through a Yellowstone traffic jam, we made our way to Madison, home of Yellowstone's Junior Ranger Station. Over several days (and numerous locations around the park) both girls had completed their junior ranger paperwork and were eligible to receive badges. They were tongue-tied when the real live Ranger asked them questions, but they passed:

Then it was onto Old Faithful. Why? Grace wanted to participate in the Young Scientist Program (and get another badge), so while Craig and she compiled observations, Julia and I hung out in the lodge and watched Old Faithful do it's thing (we ate some ice cream too and wrote post cards). Three hours later, we were back on the road to our campsite. This was Julia's third day without a nap, so we were treated to another kind of animal encounter on the drive home: overtired small mammal in carseat for too long.

Up next (in another two weeks, who knows) is our last day in the park, followed by our visit to Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, and the Badlands (god, I hope I can get it done). Here's the slideshow of all the pictures:

Unexpected

2010-08-26T20:27:00.007-04:00

Tonight at dinner Julia announced that she wants a princess computer for Christmas. This started a longer conversation about who wants what, and from whom. As Grace prepared to tell us her wants, Julia piped up:

"Are Mommy and Daddy Santa Claus?"

Craig looked at me out of the corner of his eye, and I could see the words "DIvert, divert!" crossing his mind. We talked right over her and pretended she hadn't uttered a word.

This is a question I would expect from Grace. I know we're on borrowed time with her, as far as Santa Claus goes anyway. I never imagined Julia would be the first to ask.

Craig's Father Day Diversion

2010-08-25T09:05:00.005-04:00

I will quickly go back to June 20 (Father's Day) to record a special memory of mine (sorry no pictures). While Ellen and Julia were taking care of a nap, Grace and I wanted some adventure near the campground. Fortunately there was a trailhead within a quarter mile from our campsite. Grace and I pulled a backpack together that included binoculars, first aid supplies, water, and snacks. We walked over to Soltafara Creek Trail and began our hike.

The weather was perfect, and the trail was nice and lonely. Because Soltafara Creek is nothing more than a creek cutting between two low ridges, there is not much to look at. This means no tourists. However, no tourists also means more wildlife which means big animals like bison may appear in the trail suddenly. This did not happen to us, but it was always a thought in the back of my mind. I wanted to see wildlife, but I did not want any emergency situations where I would have to entrust Grace to run back to camp while I grappled with (i.e., received a mauling from) a bear or bison.

We saw lots of bison fur stuck on trees, indicating they were around somewhere. We also found a big pile of bear scat with loads of fur in it. Later on we found a patch of fur stuck to a tree that was not from a bison. Grace and I both think it was from a grizzly bear, and so being young scientists we collected it to save in our cabinet of curiosities. Grace was trooper, just as I expected. We walked along the trail a ways without seeing anyone. As far as Father's Day goes, it was such a great way to spend my afternoon. All I could hear was the wind blowing in the trees and birds chirping. Those quiet moments of forest solitude may be my absolute favorite thing in the whole world. We probably went about 2 miles in one direction when we decided that we should turn around to head back to camp. Before we headed back however, Grace wanted to treat me to a special adventure she knew I would like.

She suggested we bushwack our way up to the top of one of the ridges to get a better view. She correctly assumed that I had wanted to be doing this all along. There were lots of dead trees that had fallen in the big fire from the late 80's. It was not easy travel, but we climbed up and over big pine trunks and around young trees until we found a nice spot to stop and enjoy nature before turning around. Grace was so proud of herself for coming up with this idea. She explained it was a present from her to me, so I could have a happy day. Well Grace, I had a lovely day with you, and I look forward to more wilderness adventures together. We made plans for our first backpacking trip when she gets older. Grace loves the idea of having all our stuff in a backpack that we get walk around the woods with. I like that idea too.

Yellowstone National Park (June 21)

2010-08-25T08:55:00.007-04:00

The skies were blue, and the nights were cold, really cold. We woke each morning to frozen condensation on the tent, and our breath puffed like smoke out of our mouths. Even with the chilly temperatures, we were happy to be sleeping in a tent, side by side.

There are a lot of things that I like to beat myself up about, my inadequacies, if you will. One would think that the stress of such a long trip would magnify this essential part of my personality, and to my great surprise, it didn't. Being outside with the girls, camping, hiking, enduring the weather felt so right, so good. Camping is something I'm really good at. Hiking is something that I'm really good at (even though I don't exercise regularly or at altitude). I grew up in a very rural setting. I spent as much time in the woods as I did indoors, so perhaps none of this is all that surprising. Our trip felt a bit like going home (to a home that hasn't existed for at least 16 years).

On this very chilly morning, we decided to head north to visit Mammoth Hot Springs. Yellowstone is so big and our time was fairly limited (5 nights), so we didn't have the time to indulge in long hikes (not if we wanted to see very much of the park, anyway). Off we went in the van. With narrow roads and wildlife at every turn, a 20 mile drive takes hours. On the other hand, the landscape and wildlife are so breathtaking that time flies.

Our first stop was Roaring Mountain:

If you're wondering, it does sound like a the earth is hissing and roaring.

Our next stop was at the Upper Terraces of Mammoth (a place that thoroughly frightened Julia, like much of Yellowstone). Grace and I spent a lot of time wandering along the walkways.

Looking for cool forms, like this twig encased in calcium carbonate:

And mountain bluebirds:

Julia begged us to leave the Upper Terrace. The steam and smell were too much for her. Yellowstone is a stinky place, and Julia, poor kid, had a really hard time at many of our stops.

At the base of the terraces, we found a place to eat lunch. We weren't alone. See the elk beyond Julia?

Wildlife own Yellowstone, so that elk paid little attention to us. She walked even closer:

After lunch, we took a tour of the Lower Terraces (which surprisingly, Julia didn't mind quite as much).

We needed groceries, so as we prepared to leave Mammoth, we stopped at the store. Six dollars for a box of cereal convinced us that we should drive another five miles outside the park to Gardiner, Montana to do our shopping.

As we headed back into the park, Julia asked, "where are we going?"

"Back to camp, kiddo."

"But I don't wanna go back to camp. I hate camping!"

Julia had a love-hate relationship with camping. On a good day, she'd tell you how much she loved to camp. On a day like this one, she would have done anything to stay in a hotel (and not a motel, mind you, the girl knows the difference). This would become a longstanding joke. Later in our trip, after we were done camping, when Julia would misbehave, we would tell her we were going camping, and her behavior would change (for the better) immediately.

Her day wasn't completely ruined though. We made one more stop at Sheepeater Cliffs, and she was able to distract some other tourists with her karate moves. People were driving by and laughing as Julia shouted, "hah" and "acha". I was able to capture just a few seconds of her show:

Meanwhile, Grace and I hiked to the top of the cliffs:

As always, the full slideshow for the day is below.

Yellowstone National Park (June 19-20)

2010-08-24T09:06:00.005-04:00

As our vacation memories dim and our current schedule makes demands, it becomes increasingly difficult to finish this log. Did we take that big trip? When was that? Is anyone reading anymore? Then I feel a little manic because this blog represents the written record of our adventure. I have to finish this.

We arrived at Old Faithful under brilliant blue skies and near 70 degree temperatures. Where was that crappy weather? The stuff that made us change our camping plans and book a cabin at Old Faithful? Oh well, let's go with the flow. Or rather, let's get in line because there are a lot of freaking people here.

Old Faithful is a complex at Yellowstone. It sees more visitors than any other site within the park, and as a result, has a disneylike atmosphere. Up Next: Old Faithful Erupts! Get Your Seat NOW! For those that know Craig and me, you can imagine the discomfort we felt in this setting, as tourist after tourist ambled down the steps of their tour bus, took the obligatory geyser shot, bought a few Yellowstone T-shirts, ate an ice cream cone, and then got back on the bus. I could imagine the tour bus PA system: "And to your left, you will see nature."

Ughh. Well, buck up campers, and let's get our cabin. Only we couldn't get into our cabin, though we were told time after time to "wait just another half hour or so." Instead, we hiked around the basin (in company with 500 other visitors), and we ate ice cream in the lodge (with 100 other people) and generally started to feel sorry for ourselves because this wasn't how we wanted to see the park. After four hours (and two eruptions), we got back in the van to head to a less populated space, which was a whole lot more difficult than we imagined.

Finally, at 5 pm we returned to Old Faithful and received our cabin key. Hopes high, we drove around the back of the complex to a sea of asphalt populated with one room cabins. Upon viewing the cabin for the first time, Julia pronounced what we all were thinking, "I don't like this hotel. I want a new one." Me too kid, but this is where we are staying.

I should say that for those who don't like to camp, the cabins at Old Faithful are entirely adequate. If, however, you would like to make your own meals or like to feel a little closer to nature, this place isn't for you. We did take a walk after dinner (a depressing meal of cereal and cheese and crackers) and found a bison lumbering along the river below our cabin. For a minute, I thought this isn't so bad, but then we got back to our cabin and it was that bad.

What do you do at a time like this? You break camp. As soon as we woke the next morning, we were packing. It was Father's Day, and there was no way we were going to spend another day surrounded by more people than nature. We headed north to a National Park Service Campground in the Norris Geyser Basin, hoping that we would be early enough to get a decent site.

Without a doubt, we managed to get THE BEST site in the campground, which still astounds me, because most people started to grab sites at 7am, and we didn't roll in until 9am. I think Father's Day worked to our benefit. Most families relaxed on that day and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. Our site looked out into a beautiful meadow, and we only had neighbors on one side. After the tent was up, I put Julia down for a nap, and Grace and Craig took a Father's Day hike (a story that he should tell, but included grizzly bear fur). When they returned, we went down the road to tour the geyser basin and were treated to an amazing site: Norris Soldier Fly larvae swimming in a pool of 100 degree water. We're total nerds, larvae excite us.

Below is the slideshow from our first two days in the park (including larvae!)

Grand Teton National Park by Craig (June 17 and 18)

2010-08-16T21:53:00.004-04:00

June 17
The weather we experienced on our hike worsened overnight, and we woke to very chilly temperatures and snow the next morning. We decided to forgo a camp breakfast and drive into the Village and eat in the restaurant. As we nursed our coffees and the girls finished their breakfasts, we decided to give up on a hiking day and make the drive south to Jackson. We hoped to see the new visitors center and get the latest weather info.

The visitors center was well worth the trip, and we spent at least an hour exploring all they had to offer. We also learned that again the weather was taking a turn for the worse. We quickly made the decision to cancel our Yellowstone campsite reservation and secured a cabin reservation at Old Faithful (spoiler alert: one never wants to stay in a cabin at Old Faithful).

Reservation done, we got back on the road and drove into Jackson. Jackson Hole is cool if you're 20, and it might be cool if you're 50, but for us, with two kids and crappy weather, it wasn't a whole lot of fun. We did eat another good meal (thanks, Bunnery), and we got out of town quickly.

As a part of our change in Yellowstone reservations, we would have to stay another night, June 18, in the Tetons. We're really glad we did.

June 18
We woke to beautiful blue skies, and I made pancakes to celebrate our last morning. Once lunches were packed we left the campsite and headed out to hike around Swan Lake and Heron Pond. We had hoped to see a moose, but as usual we were a little too late in the morning for such a sight. We were fortunate to see a number of birds, including migratory Canada geese:

Clark's Nutcracker:

Sand Hill Crane:

Blue Heron, Trumpeter Swan, Ruffed Grouse, and Bald Eagle (none pictured unfortunately), and of course, the American White Pelican:

And while we didn't see any moose, we did find some tracks:

After hiking for 3.5 miles we were also treated with some pretty spectacular views. Just click it, you'll get a much larger image. All told, we hiked nearly 4.5 miles that day. The girls graduated to being full-fledged hikers (well, Julia mostly hikes from on high--on my shoulders). We made it back to camp in time for some (much needed on my part) showers and ice cream, and just before dinner Ellen got to perform a little medical procedure.

When I sliced my finger back in Rocky Mountain, the nurse in Estes Park told me I should return to the ER to have the stitches removed. Ellen and I decided that wasn't necessary. She could do the job:

Don't worry, those scissors are reasonably sterile. Aside from some slight nerve damage (which has fully recovered now), my finger looked pretty good.

That pretty much wraps it up for the Tetons. Below is the full slide show from June 17 and 18, see if you can see snow a couple of pictures.

Grand Teton National Park by Craig (June 16)

2010-08-16T20:53:00.002-04:00

It has been a long time since I weighed in with the Dad Perspective. My apologies to Ellen for barely assisting with the blog. I'm going to write the posts that details our travels between June 16-18, starting with the 16th. The last time I was in the Tetons, I was 16 years old. To say that a lot has changed since then is an understatement. Like Ellen explained in the previous post, our accommodations were terrific. The tent cabins provided the perfect amount of shelter (for the right price). I was able to build fires in the woodstove, which kept me feeling purposeful. I would even jump down from my bunk at night to keep the stove warm.

The mornings were still chilly, as evidenced by our children:

June 16
Ellen needed a shower today, so we all went down to Colter Bay. Julia, and Grace, and I went to the Native American Museum in the village. A very kind native american artist, who had his materials on display, was very engaged with the girls. He let them play his animal skin drums while he played his flutes. He even made them small necklaces with a couple of very cool (and very old) beads on them.

After meeting up with Ellen we drove to Jenny Lake. From a launch there we ferried across the lake to a trail.

We then hiked up to Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point. The hike was great. We climbed up some pretty steep elevation with Julia on my shoulders most of the time. Grace, on the other hand, demonstrated her skills as a junior mountain goat (the girl can hike!)

The falls were cool but it made Julia a little nervous. The sound and spray were not to her liking.

We moved on to Inspiration point which involved a rigorous climb up into the rocky crags of the Tetons. This is how high we climbed above the boat dock:

And this is us playing around on the rocks:

From the top of Inspiration Point we could see bad weather closing in. Knowing that we had pulled a dunce move and forgot to bring raincoats for ANYONE, we decided to hightail back to the boat dock to catch the next ferry back to our car.

Unfortunately we didn't make it in time. I don't have any pictures of our retreat from Inspiration Point, but it wasn't pretty. By the time we reached the boat dock, thunder and lightning crackled overhead. This meant the ferry service was delayed until 15 minutes after the last peal of thunder. Also, we were not the only ones trying to get back on the ferry. We spent some time castigating ourselves for failing to bring raincoats and then huddled under trash bags someone gave us (no pictures of this pathetic sight). After about an hour waiting in cold rain, sleet and hail, the ferry resumed and we made it back across Jenny lake. The kids stayed dry but Ellen and I were wet and cold. We returned to camp by 2:30 PM and spent the rest of the day making s'mores in the wood stove. We played some games and then as a real treat Grace and Julia watched Toy Story 2 on my computer.

Up Next: June 17 and 18. Stay Tuned.

Grand Teton National Park (June 14 & 15)

2010-08-10T08:53:00.004-04:00

There are so many photos from the Tetons (too many for one post), so the travelogue will be broken down by days.

The Tetons. Sigh. Have you ever been? I remember my first trip as a 20 year old. I fell in love. Some don't like this range, with it's simple hinge along Jackson Lake and peaks towering in a relatively straight line. Not me. The Tetons are majestic in my book.

We arrived at the tent cabins in time for lunch. The girls loooved the accomodations: two log walls, two canvas walls, a canvas roof and wood-burning stove. There was a picnic table outside the tent walls and a bear box. In terms of camping, pretty swanky. In terms of view, pretty amazing:

We settled ourselves, ate lunch, and I laid Julia down for a nap. We were camped near the Colter Bay Corral, so Craig walked Grace over to find out about horse rides (we had planned to take Grace in RMNP, but the weather foiled our plans). In Rocky Mountain, children under eight are allowed to ride with an adult on longer excursions. In Tetons and Yellowstone, those same kids can only take corral rides. We were bummed for Grace, but she didn't know the difference. She thought her horse, Eli, was pretty special.

After her ride, Craig and Grace hiked over to an inlet on Jackson Lake and caught the first glimpse of an American White Pelican.

We would see many more over the next two weeks.

After dinner, we walked into the "village". Colter Bay Campground Village is large enough to make it on most maps. At capacity, over 3000 visitors can stay in the village. There's a laundromat, lodge, restaurant, museum, gift shop, grocery store, and marina. No need is unmet in this facility. Still, if you want a shower, you have to walk to it (that is unless you're staying in a full service cabin or lodge). We wandered down to the marina for some other views:

After running with tails between our legs from RMNP, we finally started to relax a bit. We knew the nights would be chilly, but we had the wood stove to keep us warm. We were certain we would take some great hikes and see lots of wildlife. We were right. The following morning, we headed south towards Moose, Wyoming and saw our first grizzly bear on the side of the road.

Our plan that day was to hike through the morraine up to Taggart Lake. Grace and Julia's plan was to whine and whine and whine a little bit more. Sometimes I'm an idiot as a parent. The kids were hungry. I didn't pick up on their clues. Whining often equals hungry. I assumed that eating two breakfasts would fill them up. Nope. In any case, once their stomachs were full, we made it to the lake without further complaint.

We played in the lake for a long time, enjoying the view:

And relaxing in the sun:

Like any good western day, the clouds started to form and we were run off the mountain by rain. Here's the entire set from those two days. Note that Craig is giving me the finger in a couple of pictures. He's just showing off his stitches.

Cue my tears

2010-08-09T12:45:00.002-04:00

It was Julia's first day in her 3K class. It was a good thing Aunt Betsy was here--I would have moped around all morning without her. Julia walked in to class and hardly turned her head to say goodbye. We had to ask for hugs. What am I going to do with myself now.

Happy Birthday

2010-08-07T09:20:00.004-04:00

To my mountain goat, my antelope-girl,

You are the best six year old I know. I am so proud to be your mommy. I had the best time with you this summer: climbing mountains, watching birds, and discovering new things about our world. I look forward to all the adventures we will have this year.

I love you, kiddo.

Mommy

a few details

2010-08-05T08:22:00.003-04:00

As you might imagine, it's been a little hectic around here. In addition to Grace starting school, my older cat, Zuzu, got sick. She's been at the vets since Monday with a surgery on Tuesday. We hope to bring her home by this afternoon. Making a calm and quiet place for her to recover is going to be a challenge. Calm and quiet aren't words that generally populate Grace and Julia's vocabulary.

In any case, the Tetons are coming, I promise. We're going to switch gears a bit though and have Craig write some of the travel posts. It's always good to have the Dad perspective (and it gives me a break). I just have to upload all the damn photos. That's next.

Hope you all are enjoying your summers (since ours is over, Julia goes back to school on Monday).

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming

2010-08-03T08:58:00.001-04:00

For the First Day of School!

Not to be outshone, Julia had to get in on the action (even wearing her backpack to Grace's classroom). Grace was very excited and didn't hesitate when we said goodbye. She has the BEST teacher this year, and we are thrilled.

On the Road to the Tetons (June 12-14)

2010-08-02T20:48:00.008-04:00

You know that description of weather where the clouds appear to lay over the land like a blanket? I've used that phrase many a time, and now I understand that I didn't know what I was talking about. For the drive up to Cheyenne, the clouds were laying on the surface of the earth, and it did feel like a blanket, the suffocating kind. Talk about feeling depressed. We'd just left Rocky Mountain and were headed towards my least favorite corner of Wyoming. I couldn't even work up a smile about going to Sierra Trading Post, but we stopped at the discount outfitter anyway.

I had been a tad chilly the last two nights of camping, and I thought it might be a good idea to buy a liner for my sixteen year old sleeping bag. After realizing that all camping gear was an additional thirty percent off, I decided to fully upgrade and buy a whole new bag. I didn't know at that moment, but this was a very wise choice. Turns out, in our haste to pack the van at Morraine Park, my old bag fell out of the van, never to be seen again. I wouldn't know it was gone for another twenty four hours when we arrived in Lander and unpacked all of our wet gear.

But first we had to find a place to crash in Cheyenne (with a pool), so the girls would stop complaining. I don't think they liked the weather either. After a decent night's sleep we woke to even worse weather and drove towards Laramie in a mix of sleet and snow. This didn't let up until we got to Rawlins, one of the least attractive towns in Wyoming, but it was still bitter cold. The sky finally started to lighten as we approached Lander. Our destination was the Silver Spur, a motel recommended for its cleanliness.

Although the place was clean, I don't recommend it. I could hardly breathe because the cleanser fumes were so strong. It was during this stay that Julia leaned the difference between a hotel and a motel, and for the rest of our trip she would beg, "no motel, no motel!" and squeal with delight when we pulled into a hotel. On the good side, the Silver Spur had no problem with us cooking our dinner on a camp stove outside the room door. We weren't the first. We wouldn't be the last. As I said before, we were also finally able to dry our wet gear.

Given the last 72 hours, Craig and I were starting to worry about our camping accommodations in the Tetons. In addition, the forecast called for a high of 52 and a low of 26 for the next several days (okay for Craig and me, not-so-much for Grace and Julia). After some searching on the internet (thanks, Silver Spur, you came through with good wi-fi) we found out that there were "Tent-Cabins" available at the Colter Bay Campground. Of course, the website kept crashing all night, so we were never able to make a reservation (combine the worry over reservations and the Silver Spur's horrible bed, and there was very little sleep to be had).

In the end, all was well. We woke to sunshine, and Craig got through to the tent-cabins and secured our reservation. The sky was crisp and clear, and the drive, with all it's jaw dropping beauty, put me back in good spirits. We started to see a lot of snow as we climbed in elevation, and at one point Julia exclaimed, "look, Mommy, it's Christmastime!"

Here's the entire set from our drive. No pictures from Cheyenne, which is a unfortunate because outside our hotel there was a sign that read, "Sutherland's: buy one, get one free with your purchase" (which is funny to Sarah and Talli, whom each bought one, and got two with their purchase).

intermission

2010-07-29T22:15:00.002-04:00

I should have paced myself. Yes, the Tetons and Yellowstone were next on our trip, and I promise, I'll get to them. Right now, though, we're counting down the minutes (almost) until Grace goes back to school (Tuesday, August 3rd), The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity. We had friends visit from Massachusetts too, so no blogga for me.

Meet back here on Sunday?

Rocky Mountain National Park (June 8-12)

2010-07-25T21:57:00.001-04:00

On the advice of a Colorado native, we took Highway 285 north from Great Sand Dunes towards our destination, Rocky Mountain National Park. The landscape was ridiculously beautiful, with mountains to the East and West. There was plenty of quirky on this route too: a UFO museum and alligator park stand out in memory. There were also a number of abandoned homesteads, which I could understand given the isolation one must endure in this part of the state. Alas, no photos (and believe me, I would like to kick myself for this).

We finally made it into Boulder around 4pm and made a stop at Whole Foods to refill our cooler before driving on to the park. We hadn't showered in a number of days at this point, and I felt like a feral animal skittering up and down the aisles with sensory overload. Craig, for his part, nearly teared up because grocery stores such as this do not exist in Macon. When we finally made it to our campsite (D Loop, Morraine Park Campground) we were treated to this view:

While we liked Great Sand Dunes, we loved Rocky Mountain. Both Craig and I had visited on previous trips (though separately), so we had high expectations for what the park could deliver. We weren't disappointed. On our first hike down into the valley below our campsite, we came across a very large black bear as he wandered below the tree line (again, no camera). On every other excursion, we nearly tripped on elk, there were so many. There were coyotes, wild turkey, golden mantled ground squirrels, marmots, chipmunks, and so, so many birds.

(As an aside: The last time I spent significant time in the west was for geology field school, and all of my attention was turned to rocks during those two summers. How could I have missed the wildlife?)

Both Craig and I had this feeling that RMNP would be our best stay. The campground was great. The kids were enjoying themselves. We felt happy. Then the wheels started to come off. While doing dishes, Craig sliced his middle finger badly on a kitchen knife. Being a trooper, he endeavored to finish washing the dishes while blood poured from his finger (umm, gross). When the girls and I stopped by the comfort station to see him, I may have shrieked (I certainly scared the kids more than necessary). He was quickly bandaged (and I finished the dishes and washed any remaining blood from the basin) and off he went to the Estes Park ER. Two hours and six stitches later he returned. The most unnerving part of the whole thing was his drive, in the dark, to the ER. I was far more worried about animals in the road than any stitches he might need.

Determined not to let the accident derail our plans, we set off the next day to hike up to Emerald Lake, and for many reasons (breathtaking views alone), we're happy we did. Grace has always been a great little hiker, and her grit showed on this trek. We started to see patchy snow early in our ascent, and by the time we reached the midway point we were spending more time crossing snow fields than on bare earth. While we watched adult after adult give up and head back down the mountain, our little mountain goat, dressed in tiny shorts and a t-shirt, marched her way to the top (Julia had the easiest summit, perched on her dad's back). Our efforts were worth it:

After a lunch in the sun, we headed back down the mountain because we had a surprise in store for the girls. It was waiting for us at a coffee shop in Loveland:

The next day we took a well-earned day of rest and, in retrospect, wish we hadn't. It turned out to be our last decent day in the park. That evening the rain started, followed by hail, and after 20 hours of constant moisture we broke camp and hightailed it to Wyoming. I actually cried when we left. Our time (even with stitches) had been amazing. However, forty degrees and raining doesn't make for happy kids. It could have been worse--at least it wasn't our wedding day:

Plain and simple: we didn't have enough time at Rocky Mountain. It's my only regret.

Here are the rest of the pictures.

Up next Wyoming

Great Sand Dunes (June 5-8)

2010-07-24T09:09:00.003-04:00

One word: Go.

Go to Great Sand Dunes. It's off the beaten track a bit, but it's worth the drive. It must be a best kept Colorado secret because we saw only CO plates. This park remains the highlight of the trip as far as Julia and Grace are concerned, and what kid wouldn't like to romp around in a giant sand box for three days.

We arrived late on the 5th, and as I wrote earlier, were greeted with a hail storm (after the tent was up, thankfully). This wouldn't be the only time we had to eat dinner in the van, but this particular storm, with the largest hail we saw the entire trip, made a huge impression on Julia. In fact, I don't think she ever recovered from her weather phobia. In her mind, it was always too windy or too rainy or too cold. Poor kid, she'll hear about her whining on this trip for the rest of her life.

Back to the Sand Dunes. I can think of another word: Wow. 850 feet of sand cradled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and ringed by two rivers that pulse with six inch deep water. Kid Heaven. It was a crazy beach scene with tents in the water, frisbees flying, and people sledding or snowboarding down the dunes. This place was made for fun. We had an amazing campsite with an unobstructed view of the dunes in one direction plus great hiking among the junipers in the other direction. We could hear coyotes yipping out on the plane and lost count of the mule deer we saw meandering through the canyons. Our vacation had truly started.

In the slideshow below, you'll see images from two different campsites. We couldn't get into the park on our first night, so we had to set up at Sand Dunes Oasis. If an Oasis means overflowing toilets with really long lines, then this was it. For those not hardy enough for camping, Oasis does have a lodge and showers. If you're a camper, go for the nps campground (specifically site #4). Also pictured is the one hike we managed to take. Two words about that: mule deer.

On the road (June 3-5)

2010-07-23T10:24:00.004-04:00

Like any trip, I made plan upon plan for this vacation. I had expectations of how I would document the experience. We would stop at every Welcome Center. We would take pictures at every sign. I would photograph everything.

Well, like any good vacation should this one kicked my expectations out the door. My goal of pictures at Welcome Centers died when we hit Colorado and the rest area was closed (in New Mexico all we got was a sign on the side of the road). By the time we reached eastern South Dakota my camera was stowed (there still isn't any evidence that we were in Minnesota), and it came out infrequently after that.

Why am I telling you this? Well, I guess I had hoped that the images would tell a story, and instead there are a lot of gaps. In reality, if I actually uploaded all of the pictures I took--even with gaps--there would be way too many. I've resolved instead to pick some of the best (with the entire set at the end).

Ready for the road.

We start our engine.

We blazed across Alabama and into Mississippi, where we spent the night at Wall Doxey State Park. There are no pictures of us at the campground, which is a blessing, sweaty and irritated do not make for good pictures. The next morning we hit Memphis and stopped at The Lorraine Motel, home of the Civil Right's Museum. MLK Day was a big deal at Grace's school this year, so she understood why this location was so important.

In all other aspects, Memphis and our drive through Arkansas were unmemorable.

However, at least I can prove we were in Arkansas (sorry, Minnesota).

I should mention that Grace woke us at 4am that morning (3am central time) and never went back to sleep. Hence the following image, one of the rarest sights we saw all vacation long.

We pushed it that day to within 60 miles of the Texas border. It was a tremendous haul, but we wanted to get to our destination, Great Sand Dunes National Park, by June 5. Once we hit the western side of Oklahoma City, the change in landscape was noticeable. We had entered the plains.

A land populated with mile after mile of wind turbines.

The next morning we entered Texas, simultaneously beautiful and stark, and I understood how one might imagine falling off the edge of the earth. The land goes on forever and then disappears. And while we started the day in good spirits,

we still had to drive 500 miles to southern Colorado. By the time we reached New Mexico, in all it's desolation near the Texas panhandle, the girls were cooked.

Of course, we did make it and were welcomed with a Colorado hail storm (not a good introduction to camping for Julia), but that story and the rest of our trip will come later.

Here's the entire set of photos:

People, this is hard

2010-07-21T21:02:00.005-04:00

Well, not really, but sheesh, when one doesn't blog for 7 weeks, it's pretty hard to get back up and going. How should I do this? Do I go back and start from the beginning, June 3rd, when our bags were packed with clean clothes and we still showered regularly? Should I skip ahead to the night Craig sliced his finger and received six stitches (which I later removed at another campsite). I mean, I have to tell you all of the great things the kids said, right? Like how Grace told me she wants to do this every summer? Or how Julia regularly requested that we stay in a hotel or at a minimum eat in a restaurant (she clearly thinks her parents are less than civilized). I want to tell you all of those stories, or at least I hope I will, because, after all, this blog serves as my memory.

First things first though. At this very moment, my computer is siphoning digital images from Craig's computer so that I can FINALLY upload the rest of our trip. Last I checked I was on image #775, with a long way to go (and I haven't even emptied the latest from our camera). I can't tell our stories without images, so if you will bear with me, I'll get to posting the good stuff soon.

From here to there (and everywhere in between)

2010-07-19T22:51:00.003-04:00

From June 3rd to July 19th, that's six and a half weeks (if you're counting).

From 99,308 to 106,105. That's 6,797 miles for our van. In One Trip.

From state to state: Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. That's 18 states. We were definitely counting.

From our first night in the tent (Wall Doxey State Park, Mississippi, a night that never got below 85 degrees) to our 17th night (in Yellowstone where we woke to a tent encased in ice). That's 17 nights sleeping side by side with a three and five year old.

Those are the things we can measure: nights camping, states visited, miles on the van. What's a little more complicated is how we've changed and grown as individuals and as a family. It will take me a little longer to write about that. There's also a slew of photos to be uploaded (and poured over, so we can squeeze every memory from them). We've had a truly remarkable adventure.

And now it's time for bed, in my bed for the first time in 46 nights.

Almost Outta Here

2010-06-01T16:36:00.000-04:00

I've been packing for two days. My brain is fried. My kids are fried. I just caught Julia drawing on the wall, and all I could muster was, "kid, did you really need to do this? Mommy is in the packing zone." I cannot be bothered with other things, like drawing on the wall or feeding children. Leaving for five weeks is kind of a big deal, and it's stretched my brain to capacity. I wake in the middle of the night thinking of additional things to tell the housesitter. As I told my mom, my lists have given birth to lists, and now I have grandlists and great-grandlists. But it's almost done. We're almost outta here.

I wish I could say that I'll blog from the road, but I don't want to make that promise. It's enough that I've packed my camera. My computer is being stored. Our goal is to upload photos from Craig's computer, but even that may be a stretch. If by chance photos do make it online, you can look for us on Flickr.

Hope everyone is having a good summer. See you back here in July.

The first memory of the day

2010-05-27T07:49:00.004-04:00

"Good Morning, Sweetheart, Happy Birthday."

"Mommy, am I three now?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Does this mean I'm not two anymore?"

"Yes, baby, you're not two anymore."

"Oh."

Big smile creeps across her face. She stretches out her arms to hug me around the neck.

"I love you, Mommy."

"I love you too, kiddo."

Cue the tears.