Video of our family

Turn up the volume on your computer to hear the background music.  It's fitting.

Summer and the first days of school

We had an amazing summer.  The kids are finally old enough that taking them on trips isn't as much of a job as it is fun and enjoyable.  We took two big family vacations and two small me-time vacations. 

I went to Atlantic City with two of my high school friends and left the kids with Mr. D.  We had a great time on the boardwalk and sitting by the pool.  Two weeks later we went to Cape May with two of our neighbors one of whom has a house there.

We drove from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh on July 3rd and spent two nights there.  Having lived in Philadelphia for seven years and not explored much of western Pennsylvania I had come to learn that Pittsburgh is a mediocre city without much to offer in the ways of big city life.  Definitely not a destination.  Maybe because my expectations were incredibly low, or maybe because for the first time sharing a hotel room with our two children was unstressful, dare I say, enjoyable, but I really liked Pittsburgh.  It IS a pretty cool city.  We were there on July 4th and a very nice hotel-employee offered to drive us to the heart of the city where the festivities were taking place.  It was hot, about 96 degrees and not a cloud to be seen.  We dove into the various activities with just-starting-a-vacation enthusiasm.  There was the mist tent, the signing of the Declaration of Independence sand sculpture, "ice" skating on white plastic boards, speed boat racing, lots of food truck food, the incline, crossing rivers over beautiful pedestrian-friendly bridges, looking into the baseball and football stadiums (the Pirates were playing a game while we were wandering around the city and you could look directly into the stadium from the downtown streets -- pretty cool!), and finally, taking a city bus back to our hotel.  We had some delicious Mexican take out, drank a couple Coronas and went to bed.  Great day in Pittsburgh!

Declaration of Independence sand sculpture.

On a bridge in Pittsburgh.

View of Pittsburgh from the top of the incline.

The next day we drove to Michigan where we stayed with friends of ours whose family has a house a block from Lake Michigan.  It was my first time to Michigan, and I knew the lake was big based on the countless times I've looked at a map of our country, but to see the lake in all its massiveness was impressive.  We watched the sun set over the water.  It looked as though we were on the west coast watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean.  We went blueberry picking and swam in the lake.  We were there for four days.  Doodle lost his top front tooth and learned to tie his shoes while we were there.

Then we drove to Cleveland, which I had been to twice and knew I liked.  We stayed downtown for two nights and were able to walk to everything we wanted to see.  We saw the second Great Lake of the trip, Erie, walked along the water, went to the amazing science museum there (best museum for adults with kids I've ever been to), had dinner and drinks at a bar/restaurant and got awesome premium cocktails at happy hour prices.  You know how I love a quality bargain. 

At the waterfront in Cleveland.

Happy hour!

We drove back to Philly the next day.  Good quality family time while visiting new places -- I loved it.

Just two short weeks later we were back on the road.  Mr. D flew to LA for a work forum in Rancho Palos Verdes and I drove the kids to Vermont.  The following day I left the kids with my mother and flew out to California to meet up with Mr. D and enjoy the luxurious resort at which his conference was.  I had four uninterrupted days of paradise.  I hiked, sat by the pool, worked out for as long as I wanted, ate good food, drank good drinks, saw two good friends we hadn't seen in years, slept late, watched the Olympics, took my time in the shower, even took a bath!  It was awesome. 

The view from inside a deep cave on the shore not far from the resort.

Mr. D and I flew to Vermont together and were reunited with our kids.  Despite my fears that they, especially Pancake, would resent us for leaving them for four days, they didn't inflict any poor behavior or attitude on us upon our return.  We stayed with my mom for a few days and then went to Colchester (north of Burlington) where we rented a house for a week on Lake Champlain (another "Great Lake").  Again, we visited with old friends, went to a museum, saw my family, including my new nephew who was five months old.  We swam in the lake every day, I rode my bike with the kids in the trailer behind me, we watched lots of Olympics, and drank lots of wine and beer.

Doodle riding a handmade rocking horse in Rutland, VT during sidewalk sales.

Doodle did pretty well.  He dunked the woman three times in row!

Pancake successfully tossing the toilet paper into the bowl.

In Lake Champlain.  The water was really low due to lack of rain.

Doodle and Pancake's shell and milfoil collection on the beach across the street from the house we rented.

Cousins!

Boy cousins!

My father with his children, children-in-law and grandchildren.

When we weren't traveling we swam at the swim club we joined and did various fun Philly things.  Doodle also learned to ride his bike sans training wheels!  I gave him two brief lessons where I held the back of the seat at the beginning of the summer.  Then after we returned from our trips Doodle declared he wanted to ride by himself.  And he did.  Since that day, we've been on three significant rides, the last of which Doodle rode 11 miles (from the Falls Bridge to the Art Museum and back)!

Doodle's first bike ride.  We rode 5 miles along Kelly Drive.

We went to New York City for a weekend in mid-August.  Amazingly, the highs were in the high 70s.

The view of Manhattan from Roosevelt Island.  We took a tram that ran on cables high above the East River to get there.

The kids atop one of those great giant rocks in Central Park.

Today is Doodle's first day of first grade.  He is at a new school this year and his anxiety came with him.  He kept asking Mr. D and me if we thought he was going to do well in first grade.  You would think he hadn't done exceptionally well in his two previous grades (pre-K and K).  He had trouble sleeping last night and was up and dressed at 6:45 this morning.  He bugged Pancake to hurry up and get ready so he wouldn't be late.  We arrived with time to spare and he seemed happy and a little less anxious once we were there. 

Doodle in our yard on his first day of first grade.

Doodle and Pancake on his first day of school.

Last Wednesday was Pancake's first day of pre-school.  She did great.  No crying.  She told us to call her "school girl."

Pancake's first day of pre-school.  She was very excited!

Pancake in her classroom happily playing with blocks!

Waking up

My boyfriend, Matt (Damon, that is), and I were shopping at an outdoor market in a big city, probably New York.  We were discussing whether to buy a bouquet of freshly cut flowers when Pancake's heavy head landed violently on my gut jolting me back to reality.  "I want to watch a show."  I guess I'm up.

My thoughts on Disney World

We took the kids to Florida last week to spend a vacation with my in-laws at their time share resort, which had a mini-water park at it.  We spent two days at Disney World's Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, respectively.  We also went to Sea World.  (My thoughts on animals forced to do tricks for our amusement later.)  We went to two Phillies spring training games (one against the Blue Jays and one against the Yankees, they lost both (10-1 and 5-3, respectively)).  We also went to a state park and canoed with my uncle and his girlfriend one day, which was by far the most relaxing of the days.  But back to Disney.

As an adult and someone who rarely watches commercials any more I had forgotten how gross the advertising to children is.  At some point some advertising agency figured out that if they appeal to children's psyches they'll bug their parents enough to make the moms and dads buy whatever they're selling for their nagging children.  I don't know if this has always been the case, but I am guessing it's been going on for generations, however I do think that the height to which it has reached is higher than ever.  I had never been to Disney World (my father defensively informed me that we had tried to go one year over Christmas break when we were in Florida visiting his brother and family, but they had reached capacity and we were not allowed to enter).  For anyone who hasn't been there the complex is enormous.  The parking lot is far enough away from Magic Kingdom's entrance that you have to take two trains to get there.  Once inside there are characters abound, a long line to wait in first, but characters none-the-less.  Doodle and I waited in line to meet Pluto for only about 15 minutes.

Pancake, Grammy and I waited for 35 minutes (at least that's what the sign said when we first got in line) to meet Sleeping Beauty, Belle and Cinderella.  Pancake was overjoyed and excited.  She was in complete awe.  It was pretty incredible to watch her.  I was glad that she was so happy but knew that this was the beginning of the end of my half-hearted attempt to not have my daughter be princess crazy.  She is indeed princess crazed now.  We were at a store today and there were gift bags with varying combinations of princesses on them.  She has always noticed these types of items, but they have a whole new meaning for her now.  She wants princess dresses for her birthday.  She wants a princess cake.  Now that we have exposed her to the ultimate princess extravaganza at Disney World we can't say no to her requests for birthday gifts and cakes.  I could make a generic princess cake, but I know she will either be upset that it's not a specific princess or she'll pretend that it is one.  My only hope at this point is that it's a phase that doesn't last long.

In the car on the way to Disney Doodle was throwing a fit about having to go there because Pancake was wearing a Cinderella dress (given to her by Mr. D's aunt the night before) and was so worked up about seeing princesses that Doodle was convinced that the whole thing was "for girls," even after we informed him that there were fun rides and lots of cool things "for boys."  He was being really mean to Pancake, telling her that she looked dumb in her dress and that Disney was stupid.  We scolded him but the damage was done.  I felt bad for Pancake and didn't want her day to be ruined because of her brother.  Of course, Doodle had a fantastic time on Splash Mountain and the Pirates of the Caribbean rides and driving a race car around a track and everything else he did.

Given what we had all witnessed in the car on the way to the park I was especially emotional when Pancake was given such attention from the princesses both during parades and at the meet-and-greet.  We were caught by surprise when a parade with all the princesses and other Disney characters went by while we were on our way to another attraction.  Belle and Cinderella and literally every other character looked at Pancake from their floats and mouthed hi or happy birthday (she was wearing a birthday button) and blew her kisses, which she happily caught and returned a kiss of her own to them.  It truly was an enchanting experience.  She was completely drawn in, and so was I.  The difference is, as an adult, I don't care about buying princess memorabilia.  Though I was impressed by the parade and thrilled with how special Pancake felt I am able to break the trance the second I walk away, but Pancake's young mind has been impressed upon forever, or at least for many years to come.  Though we will not be buying everything she asks for, we will buy her princess marked things for as long as this phase lasts, and thanks to our bringing her to Disney, I'm afraid it will last a while.

I'm not sorry that we went, it was worth it to see her excitement and wonder and awe, I just wish there wasn't a hidden agenda. 

Animal Kingdom, by the way, was much more worth the ticket price.  We saw three shows (It's Tough to be a Bug, which was a short 3-D film; The Lion King, which was a musical with both animatronic animals and real people singing and doing acrobatics; and Finding Nemo, which was like a mini Broadway show with incredible sets, props and puppets).  Those shows alone were worth the price.  There were also rides and a safari where we saw animals roaming free in the reserve (lions, elephants, antelope, crocodiles, giraffes, warthogs, etc. . .).  We also saw a pretty cool parade, very different from the two we saw at Magic Kingdom.

I would write more about the rest of our trip, but Pancake is bugging me to get her a snack.  So I'll leave it here for now.