Vacation

Aug. 14th, 2012 08:15 pm
flea: (Default)
We spent the week in Annapolis MD (briefly, for my grandfather's 90th) and Cape Cod.

The Good:
Swimming lessons at the beach, small group, with teachers who are challenging, but good at motivating (quoth Casper!). Both kids learned a lot.

Whale watch off Provincetown, with very frisky humpbacks, at sunset.

Visit to New Bedford historic district and the very nice whaling museum.

Flying our kite at sunset at Nobska Beach.

The familiar places: drawbridge and ferry, Candy Ice Cream (a store), Pie in the Sky, swimming out to the jumping rock with the kids for the first time, seeing LuSeal and Bumper at the aquarium, measuring the kids on the wall where my first height marker is at age 2.

The Bad:
Waking up at 2:30am the day we left, and being up continuously until the end of the birthday party that night.

It was ridiculously humid, even for the Cape, and fairly warm to boot. Swimsuits hung in the sun at noon were not dry by dusk.

There was some very dubious pork sausage involved in one night's dinner.

Dillo's fairly new "beanie boo" tiger got left on our final airplane flight when he fell asleep. Luckily this $6 guy was easily replaced on Monday morning, and Dillo took the situation well.

The Ugly:
The usual problems that might be expected when one vacations with one's mother, in a house one's mother owns.

Pondering the possibility of doing same for three weeks in a row next summer, so the children could attend the Children's School of Science.
flea: (Default)
8/6/11: My mother is meeting someone today who is interested in renting the Cape house next summer. She told me the name, and I said, "I think I attended her birthday party in 1982." And I looked at my album, and I think I was right!

I was, in fact, right, and she remembered me (I have a memorable and unique name) and there's a picture in my album of about 6 8-9 year old girls shivering on a cold afternoon at Stoney Beach, marked August 13, 1982. I think my grandparents (with whom I spent the summer that year) must have known her grandparents; I think they lived on Buzzards Bay Avenue, down from the Schleichers. Presumably no longer living.

Unfortunately, I get to have feelings of inadequacy and underachievement, because this woman is a full professor of Economics at MIT, having graduated summa from Harvard, done an M. Phil at Oxford, and a PhD at MIT. She got her PhD in 2001, got a TT job at MIT in 2005, got tenure in 2007, and made full professor in 2008, all of which means she is hot shit. She works in the economics of health care and health insurance. She's probably met BOTH Barack Obama and Atul Gawande. She also has a 5 year old and a 2 year old.

I'm, um, probably taller than she is? Must repeat the mantra: Things I could have accomplished if only I had a completely different personality are not actually things I could have, or should have, accomplished.

8/5/11: We're watching Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds and Dillo says, "I wish Daddy was here so he could watch this *fabulous* movie." The kids LOVE it.

8/2/11: This morning I found and shredded neat file folders of utility bills and credit card statements, dating to 2000-2003. We also have taxes back to 1990 (but I am keeping those, mr. flea, if you're reading this, even though you only need to keep the past 7 years!)

8/2/11: Me: What is this on your windowsill? Dillo: That's garlic, to keep the vampires away.

8/1/11: Played "Muskrat Love" for the children (after mr. flea mentioned hearing it in the bathroom at Kroger.) They were not impressed.

8/1/11: Today is day one of Camp Our Street, coordinated by Coach Mommy. Somehow I doubt my energy will match that of the wonderful coaches at the Athens YMCA.

7/31/11: Casper is eating banana muffins with chopsticks.

7/25/11: It turns out we don't have a copy of our marriage certificate. I hope HR accepts the "souvenir cards" the court sent us as proof of our 13-year marriage.

ah, family

Jun. 15th, 2010 06:11 pm
flea: (Default)
So, as usual, our family vacation at the beach, in a house which officially sleeps 6, will include 3 adults in addition to my family for most of the week, and 4 for 2-3 days.

Every year my mother says, "Come, we'll be there for only part of the week so you can have a family vacation to yourselves," and every year my sister ends up sleeping in the closet (on the low-woman on the totem pole principle, last year - she was the only adult under 60 without kids (we had kids in our bed, which is better than the closet but only just); this year on the principle of the person who is only there for 2 nights and not 6 gets to sleep in the closet.)

I have a secret plan that Casper can share a (double) bed with my brother. She's a fine sleeping companion now - snores gently, but not too wiggly, sleeps like a log, and doesn't pee. Contrast Dillo.

Edit: I forgot to mention my mother is bringing her cat. Whom she loves, my brother and sister hate, and my children are afraid of because he is aggressive and hissy.

Profile

flea: (Default)
flea

June 2019

S M T W T F S
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 22nd, 2025 07:28 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios