Tuesday, September 10, 2013

more from the weekend

Here are a few more pics from this weekend's Morton Arboretum, Brookfield Zoo, and apple-picking adventure.














Monday, September 09, 2013

henry at four


It's the Monday after a busy birthday weekend, and Henry is delighted that it is FINALLY his real birthday. This is the first year he has really understood time in terms of days, so we've been counting them down, and finally the big day is here. It's been pretty low-key today, starting with singing over a birthday muffin, and ending with a big family dinner at Hacienda. It's been a nice, relaxing day after a lot of running around for the weekend.


On Saturday, we made a whirlwind trip to Chicagoland, meeting up with Barb at the Arboretum in the morning, then heading for a birthday lunch at the All Aboard Diner with Barb and Kevin and Johnny, Erin, Lucy, and Richie. When the train brought his birthday cupcake with the candle and everyone started singing, Henry was so excited! We capped off the day with a visit to the zoo, then headed back home. Sunday morning, we picked up Klaudia and headed to the apple orchard to pick some delicious honeycrisp at Garwood Orchards. We got a great haul, and sampled a few of the products along the way.



At four, our Henry is creative and funny and a real live wire. That's the nicest possible way to say that he is an outright terror most of the time, but in ways that make us laugh and shake our heads. Nothing in our house is safe because Henry creates tools from Legos and disassembles things (like the trim and plaster in our dining room!), or picks holes in the plaster walls I've just repaired for the millionth time, or tries to "fix" things and ends up making them worse. He is by turns determined to be just like his brothers and frustrated that he can't be, because no matter what, he will always be younger. He wants to play their video games, read their books, use their toys -- and he tries, only to find that he needs their help, which they are reluctant to give as often as he wants it. It's a pretty unsettled time for him right now, but I have to say that once he gets a little time and practice under his belt, the brothers had better watch out because he will give them a run for their money in any arena.


I know he can't wait to grow up a little bit more and be big enough to really compete with his brothers, but I'll admit that it's nice (more than nice!) to still have one son who is not too grown up to kiss or hug his mother willingly. That's the thing about Henry -- he is such a little destructive dynamo, but then he'll turn around and be the sweetest, most interesting and charming boy you've ever met. I guess that's what keeps him in our good graces, at least most of the time.


Even though the next birthday will be his fifth, Henry's birthday is just after the cut-off for school admission, so he won't be starting kindergarten until he is almost six (to the undisguised relief of the teachers and principal, who ask every time we attend a function at school). So this year and next, he's going to preschool, and so far at least, loving the chance to soak up every little bit of knowledge he possibly can.

So dearest Henry, we wish you a very happy day today, and we can't wait to see what each next day will bring. We love you!

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

what they'll remember

Liam's teacher keeps a classroom blog, where he posts a question and the students all have to leave comments to answer it. Yesterday's question was what everyone did over the long holiday weekend. Here is Liam's response:

My long weekend was much longer than yours!

So we went on vacation on an island called Ocracoke Island. It was very fun. We went to the beach and great seafood restaurants, including Eduardo’s Tacos and Howard’s Pub. The only bad place was this deserted island called Portsmouth Island. The place was COVERED in mosquitoes. Once we were out of that part we had to walk very far on the beach until we got back on the boat to Ocracoke.

And that about sums it up for them. Henry mentions the seashells, Max talks about going to the beach/ocean, but ALL of them talk about the Nightmare on Mosquito Island. All of the great things we did, and what they'll remember the most is how we got attacked by swarms of voracious bloodsuckers. Yesterday, Max was on the phone with Avalon, telling her about the trip, and I heard him say proudly, "I got bitten so many times that it looks like I have the chicken pox." Sigh. At least it was a memorable trip.

Sunday, September 01, 2013

scenes from a long drive home

Yesterday was a very long day. We got up about 4:30, packed everything up, took out the garbage and bagged up our sheets and towels and tidied up the cottage, loaded up the last few things we had left, turned in our keys, and headed for the ferry. We had to be there at 6:00, so it ended up being kind of a mad rush. Hurry up and wait, as they say, since we spent the next few hours hanging out on the ferry to Swan Quarter. On the plus side, Mike finally got to see the sun rise over Ocracoke.






We finally got to the mainland and on the road around 9:30, and from that point on it was just drive, drive, drive. We were determined to get home, partly because we all just wanted to be done with traveling and sleep in our own beds, and partly because we had a one-hour window this morning in which we could pick up Charlie from the kennel (otherwise he would have to stay there until Tuesday because of the holiday). Anyway, the first part of the drive was a different route than the one we took going down, so we saw some new and exciting things. Pilot Mountain made us all gasp when we came up over a hill and it was suddenly there. We drove through mountain tunnels in Virginia, which was very exciting for the boys except they wished the walls were made of glass so they could "see the inside of the mountain," and no amount of explaining on our part could make them understand that all they would see was dirt and rock. We also availed ourselves of some very fancy rest areas in Virginia.





Then it was on to West Virginia, where Henry had a bathroom emergency and we stopped at the sketchiest convenience store ever. It made "dirty" seem appealing by comparison. The less said about that, the better. Trust me. And of course it turned out that once we got back on the highway, there was a clean, well-lit, maintained rest area only five miles up the road. Sigh. So we stopped there for dinner, and then it was on to Ohio. And more of Ohio. And yet more of Ohio. Seriously, Ohio just seemed never-ending. The only highlight of the whole state for us was that the giant windmill farms we had seen during the day on the way down, we saw at night on the way back. Each windmill (and there were hundreds of them!) had a red light that flashed on and off, and they were all synchronized with each other. The boys were long asleep by this time (it was just before midnight), but Mike and I were mesmerized. I tried to take some pictures through the window, but they didn't turn out. Anyway, we finally made it home at 1:15 this morning. That's 19 hours and 15 minutes traveling, if you're keeping track. We hustled the boys straight up to bed, greeted the cats, unpacked the essentials, reveled in being home for a few minutes, and hit the sack.




This morning, we let Mike sleep in (he insisted on doing all the driving on the way back). Liam and I unloaded the van, then we went to pick up Charlie. I swear Liam's eyes were suspiciously bright as we waited for them to bring our dog up front, and there was never a reunion more enthusiastic (or slobbery) as theirs. It was a sweet ending to a sweet, sweet week.