Camping in the Catskills

We went on a two-night camping trip in the Catskill Mountains last week. We booked the most perfect campsite for summer camping with kids---boat rentals, lake swimming, remote hike-in campsites...we will definitely be returning to Little Pond Campground.

We do hope that our next stay will be free of some of the difficulties of this trip...namely RAIN. And we should probably purchase a couple more sleeping bags and a larger tent. Night 1: Suffocated under the rain shield with four wiggly bodies in a 2-man tent (translation: more like 1 1/2 person tent). Night 2: Opted out of the tight rain shield for air flow and instead fought for the 2 sleeping bags to stay dry and warm. Oh, and did I mention that we had NO food the first night because the closest grocer was closed? And we got delayed more by an electrical storm and had to set our tent up in the "lighter" rain at 9:30pm--dark. Yet we still had so much fun! We must have been desperate for some outdoor time.

The highlight of the trip for me was a 2.6 mile mother/daughter hike. My daughter hiked the whole time except for me carrying her 3 minutes through the mud on the way down! We forgot our hiking backpacks, so we didn't do any major hiking as a family. Adaline was begging to hike, so I took her for what I thought would be 15 minutes up and down the mountain. But she was a rock star. She kept saying, "I just can't stop. It's just too beautiful!" I agreed with her and we kept going--1.3 miles up the mountain. Finally I insisted on us turning around because I knew the trip down in the mud would be difficult. But she never complained the whole time. ---Now why can't I get her to walk a whine-free block from our house when I need her to??


Our camp site--fairly far away from others, lots of woods to play in, and right on the lake.
We broke the rules a little and left our kayak at our campsite overnight. The early a.m. kayaking great. We had the pond to ourselves most of the trip.
On the way home, we enjoyed a 2-day visit with our friends on vacation at a beautiful house. I had so much fun playing in the creek by the house. I could have stayed down there all day catching fish and swimming in the waterfall. It is so much fun vacationing with other families because your kids get to play together during the day and being trapped in the house at night is fun when there are others to party with.

Check out my adventurous daughter swimming towards the waterfall (she has a flotation device):
If I ever have to leave the city, send me straight to the woods with a creek and I think I'll be happy. I seem to like the extremes--urban or rural. They do have something major in common: no driving. The ideal plan for me is to live in the city and have a vacation home in the woods...ok, i know. It's only a dream...

Block Party

I always look forward to our annual block party when they shut down our block from traffic and we get to play in the street. We've met so many of our neighbors during this event. This year the spraying fire hydrant was a great surprise, especially since it was a nasty hot day. Summer fun!

4th Birthday!

We had a great 4th birthday party in the park. 13 friends plus younger siblings came and celebrated with us. The cake was a treasure chest that "cracked" when it hit the ocean floor (actually it fell apart in transit from New Jersey). It was still a beautiful cake with jewels and such--thanks to Aunt Glenda.

The highlight of the party was the treasure hunt that I planned and daydreamed about for weeks. I'm tempted to scan the maps just to prove how much I love my kids, but I won't. (It was a little embarrassing how much effort I put into it!) Actually, I just had the vision and Jamison's aunt drew the maps. Here is a picture of the kids studying their maps to see where to go next:

The parents were happy because the kids got lots of exercise chasing their treasure. (They might not have been happy that they were forced to get exercise along with their kids...)


Unfortunately I did not learn from last year and forgot to get a group picture. One of these days we'll remember...but the kids had a great time and felt loved by all of their friends.
On their actual birthday we went to the Bastille Day street party. Arthur spotted an ice cream truck and Daddy caved.
And last night we went to the Philharmonic performance in the park followed by amazing fireworks. We're done celebrating and going to bed early tonight!

Texas heat

NYC has actually had a few days of warmer weather than Texas...one of the few times that we were happy to be in the Texas heat. We're surviving just fine with plenty of sprinklers and pools and ice cream. And you can't beat the air conditioning in Texas--they do everything bigger and better! We're all having a blast here.

"Gone Daddy Gone"

Daddy is gone. He has been out of town this weekend. We miss him when he's gone. The family is not complete, as the kids say.

Arthur has been sick, so we sent Adaline to church this morning with friends while I got some rare one-on-one time with my son. At one point we were doing our separate things--Arthur zoning in on a toy and me in the kitchen. We were listening to Gnarls Barkley (our favorite uplift-the-mood band). He suddenly commented on the lyrics of a song: "Mom, did they say, love is gone? Love is gone away?" Yes. "I don't like that song." OK. Separate time continued.

Seven hours later at dinner, he randomly teared up pleading, "I don't want love to be gone. It can't go away. You can't stop loving me!" He was trembling and genuinely concerned that love could be taken away. I assured him that I would never stop loving him for any reason.

I can't believe how sweet he is! Did he worry all day about that song? Why bring it up 7 hours later? Until that point, all he knew was that Mom and Dad love him and that is true and can't be undone. That is the safe world that he lives in...Until Gnarls Barkley announces that love is gone away, and his world is turned upside down. It's both beautiful and terrifying how much your child's outlook on life is influenced by YOU as a parent.

Arthur told me that we should never listen to that song again. Thankfully he never connected the "love is gone" phrase with the title of the song: "Gone Daddy Gone." That would have really thrown him in a tailspin.

Happy 30th to Me!

Jamison got a trip to Austin for his 30th. I get a trip to the kids' doctor. Not really. We have free overnight babysitting, and we're going to a new Ethiopian/African fusion restaurant that's been getting good reviews. And we'll get to sleep in (sort of--until 8:00am). What else do I want for my birthday?...

A skull for the day to keep my kids occupied (and trapped)...



This really was beautiful, and the kids could have played in it all day. It is in the St. Louis Botanical Gardens, along with dozens of other mosaic sculptures. We visited there a few weeks ago and had a wonderful time seeing friends.

City Kids

Any germaphobe parent would be miserable living in this city. Kids touch everything, and everything here has been touched by the other 8 million people who live here (along with their 5 million dogs). We're hoping to boost their immune systems. This is a picture of our kids waiting at the bus stop by our house. I think Jamison captured a beautiful picture with the lighting. Any time you can make a dirty sidewalk and bodega store window look interesting is pretty impressive.

We've been spending a lot of time in the park lately since we've had off and on days of nicer weather. The kids are in adventure exploration mode. Last week I was hiking down "mountains" with a stroller on my back trying to keep up with those kids. They have found forts built by other kids, huge fallen trees to climb on, etc. Along with these gems, they find popular secluded spots for unmentionable activities (gross! no known immune-system-building-contributions). Once they found a "cave" created by some overgrown bushes and fallen trees. I chose not to play in the cave and zoned out on the latest New York magazine...until I overheard talk about a shoe and bottles and clothing. My kids have a good imagination outdoors, but it usually involves making stone soup or something. I entered the cave only to discover that it was the former (or current) dwelling of a homeless person, full of the remains of weeks of living. Lesson learned: Escaping into nature doesn't mean you escape the city.

Yet I absolutely LOVE living in this city! Does that make me crazy? Every time I walk out of my door, I get energized by this place. I love being smashed together with all of these people and not being able to walk a block without seeing a familiar face. It is really mysterious to me because so many people are drained by cities (granted, we live in a very pastoral area of NYC). I am so thankful that we live here and that we have the gift of raising city kids...trash and all.

P.S. I refrained from posting our newly graffitied garage by our apartment...that can make the next city kids' post...

The difference between girls and boys: A pictorial analysis

Boys have the gift of making everything a bit more messy.
And girls love to add a dainty touch.

Boys are serious about their food.
Girls are serious about their looks.
(Adaline spent almost as much energy primping her dress as singing the Easter song in front of church.)

You can put a boy in a dress...

But it's nearly impossible to take a dress off a girl...or at least our girl.

Snow day

The kids finally experienced their first sled ride. We went to the park with a neighbor who has a sled. I pulled the kids the whole way in the sled since a stroller wouldn't have worked. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. I forgot my camera, but our neighbor took these shots.

Illegal in Most States

Illegal in Most States from shookfoil on Vimeo.

Manhattan Children's Museum

We had a special first visit to this great museum with Aunt Sherron from Brazil and Uncle Marshall. Every other child in the city was also there with us to celebrate MLK day, but the crowds did not stop the kids from having a great time. We also were privileged to see the Harlem Gospel Choir to further the celebration. Pictured are Adaline and Arthur sort-of dancing with the choir.