Summer's end

Here we are, on the eve of Labor Day weekend.  It's hard to believe that "summer vacation" is over...  Being home, I've learned a lot about parenting and about myself, just in time to send Grace back to school in a few more days.

I think we found our rhythm a little more in August, especially when I embraced the need to under schedule.  It gave us more time for spontaneity, more time to enjoy early mornings pushing Grace on the swing while drinking a cup of coffee, less rushing and less nagging.  Earlier this week our plans changed at the last minute so I packed a lunch and we headed out with no agenda other than to get to the playground near the Mass Ave bridge.  We ambled along the streets of Beacon Hill and the Esplanade, stopping at another playground, picnicking and chatting with passersby.  A while back, I gave Grace my old camera to experiment with so she had a great time taking photos as we walked.  We met the Esplanade Association horticulturalists and watched the tractors work for some time.  Eventually, we made it to the playground and had fun spinning on the tire swing until we were dizzy (Henry was sleeping).  It was one of the best days of the summer.

So, here's an upload of the photos on my phone for the last month.

Picking up June's CSA vegetables while she was on vacation.  So fun to experiment with new stuff.

Clean baby.

Before our San Diego throw-back fish taco fest with Emm.

Henry's first swim.

Making chocolate pudding popsicles.

Playing at the splash pool.

Fun at the children's festival.

Homemade playdough.

Bouncing in the new hand-me-down bouncer from Eli and Aaron.  Grace had exactly the same one, on Becky's recommendation, but we passed it on before moving to SF.

Heading home from the playground.

Cuties.

Facepainting day at Myrtle St.

Cuties II.

Big sisters, little brothers.

New friends.

New teether (don't worry, this one doesn't go to the hospital anymore).

Chasing bubbles on the Cambridge Common with June and Viesia.

In training... for the Tour and to cover for Queen.

Lovebug.

At the North End fountains.

Cutest baby boy ever.

My favorite milestone.

Me and my smartphone

Have you seen this video?  I'm nailed.  Are you?

Interesting because I have been thinking about this a lot lately.  Actually, I try very hard to leave my phone alone at a restaurant or when interacting with friends.  Plus, I'm not much for the selfie, anyway, since I always look ridiculous.  A while back we went out for dinner and there was a family nearby - two parents and a tween.  They hardly spoke to each other while the parents looked at their phones and the kid just sat there, maybe colored on the kids menu.  Steve and I were both a bit wide-eyed, vowing not to become them.  

But, I also pick up my phone like a twitch.  The problem, in part, is that my phone contains my work email so I check with some frequency to make sure I'm not missing something that i need to respond to quickly... on the one hand, nothing is truly an emergency.  On the other hand, I have a flexible schedule and telecommute so part of what allows me to be at the playground with my kids at midday is that I can also be in touch with work.  This was the case even before I was fully telecommuting - I could get out the door for a 5PM pick up most days instead of later by remaining available.  But anyway, my phone also has my texts, which is how I communicate with Steve during the day as needed, and how I set up most play dates.  It also has my grocery lists and to do lists.  It's my NPR, my book, and my clock.  So, if I open my phone when I remember I need butter next time I go to Costco, it's very easy to realize I need to set a reminder ot return the library books, which reminds me that I need to check for anything overdue, which reminds me that I wanted to put something on reserve, so I then try to remember what that kids book recommendation was, so I pop over to Goodreads, and then get a text suggesting a trip to the park, but I'm not sure what time Steve will be home so I text him, and then I check the weather to see if we should take jackets, but then he texts back and also tells me his schedule has changed for an upcoming weekend so I go to my calendar to check if we have anything planned, then get an email about something at work and I realize I need a reminder to do something else, so I'm back to reminders and realize I've just spent a whole bunch of time not "in the moment".  

On the one hand, this way I can be in multiple moments at once and juggle a bunch of things without having to be sitting at a desk at home and keeping a zillion lists.  We get out more because I can do all this stuff from anywhere.  But I also do stuff that I probably don't to do right this minute because I can and have gone down the interwebs rat hole.  There must a balance, and I suppose each of us has to find it ourselves.

Even before seeing this, though, I had been trying to leave my phone alone.  I deleted the facebook app a while back because really, if someone I care about posts something important I will find it.  I don't care what that guy I went to grad school with ate for lunch.  And despite my reduced Facebook consumption, I have learned the word "tweak" this week along with everyone else.

Yesterday Becky and I took the kids to the park near her house.  Grace and Eli were being ridiculously cute playing on one of the toys.  I reached for my phone to take a picture and remembered I had left it in her house.  She hadn't brought hers either, and I made a comment about how we were just going to have to live in the moment.  This morning on another playdate the kids were having a blast and being cute, but my phone was inside and we were sitting in the yard chatting and holding the babies.  I will have to remember these moments the old fashioned way.  And that's okay, even good, right?  

Old friends, new places

One of the more fun things about parenting is seeing my kids with those of my pre-kid friends, especially friends from way-back when.  I've known Rachel for most of my life because we attended the same elementary school and took ballet classes at the same studio.  She is a year older than me, though, so we were never in the same classes.  Once we were both in the ballet company class, we started sharing a carpool and became virtually inseparable around the time I was 12 or 13.  I have so many happy memories of our friendship - slumber parties, 90210/Melrose Place nights, melting peanut butter and chocolate chips together into the most excellent treat on earth, swimming at the neighborhood pool, taking Seventeen magazine quizzes, shopping at "the mall", ballet rehearsals, Nutcracker performances, riding the ski bus, and wonderful camping trips with her family.  In the years since high school, we have managed to visit periodically as each of us has moved around the country, attended grad school, married and had children.  Steve and I are lucky to count not just Rachel, but also her awesome husband Nate, among our friends.  There were an especially terrific few years when they lived in Maine and we lived in Boston and we managed to visit a bit more.  We also get the occasional holiday season when they are in Bellingham at the same time we are.  

Now, though, they live in Seattle, so the last time we saw them was about a year and a half ago.  The girls really hit it off on that visit  (they had played together before as babies/toddlers, but of course didn't remember) as we hit up some playgrounds in the freezing cold, terrorized Woods Coffee and did some mid-winter swimming at the community pool.  

Anyway, all that was a long lead in to our quick visit this summer.  They were visiting Maine so we googled parks and met up in Portsmouth, NH for a picnic.  Steve and Nate couldn't join us and we didn't have nearly enough time, but we spent such a fun afternoon together.  Molly, Isla and Grace seemed to have a blast together, so much so that we practically had to pry them out of our car to go our separate ways.  I was also so happy to introduce Henry to them and daydream about how he and the baby boy Rachel is expecting will continue the friendship tradition, not to mention the chance to catch up on life with such a dear friend.  

 

Till next time, guys!  Whenever and wherever that may be!

The wilds of greater Boston

Just a bit up the freeway from the city is Middlesex Fells, a lovely large park with miles of hiking trails. It's kind of odd because it's surrounded by suburbs and you can see the Boston skyline from the high points.  Itching for some nature, we popped up there for a Saturday morning hike a few weeks ago.

We have learned that hiking with kids is generally more fun if there are other kids to distract ours from the fact that she is being forced to walk uphill.  For fun.  We were pleasantly surprised, though, because Grace was a really good sport about this hike.  Granted it wasn't too long or steep (it's Massachusetts, after all), but it was still plenty for four year old legs.  She had a great time scrambling over boulders, looking for wildlife and watching for painted markers to indicate if were one the right trail (another east coast novelty).  

Good, clean fun.  We will be heading back to explore more of the trails soon.

 (see the city skyline in the distance?)

Summer so far

Here is where I post a bunch of photos that have accumulated on my phone.  They may not hang together, but since I mostly use my phone to take pictures these days, they're the everyday truth.  

Creations.

Portrait of siblinghood.

Friends with a yard!

So fun to reunite with Eli (and family!).

Training for the Tour.

New friends.

Pool time.

Hitting the sprinklers at Christopher Columbus Park with Great Aunt June.

First swing.

Contemplation.

Tourist shot.

Baby.

Cambridge Common.

Museum of Science.

Baby-buddies reunited.  Too bad they could not stay still to pose at one time.

Evening walks by the river.

Hands!

Popsicles.

Thumb. 

Summer rainstorm. 

Tea-party (Grace made special treats from her Fancy Nancy tea parties book). 

Some elaborate game.  I think June was playing correctly.