Our day in Boston

I have been to Boston more than once, but for Paul and the kids today was their first time in the city. We certainly couldn't see and do everything in one day. Sometime in the future I want to take the kids back to do a lot more of the historical sites such as Paul Revere's house, etc. We left our resort at 7:45 am and drove first to the Museum of Science. We spent three hours in the museum. We could have spent many more hours there, especially if we were willing to fork out a lot more money for things like the butterfly garden, IMAX movie, planetarium, 4D movie, etc. It's a fairly pricey museum, but thanks to our ASTC membership (which cost us $40 for the year) we paid $20 instead of the usual $110 for the five of us to enter the museum. We attended two shows - a live animal show (with a hedgehog) and a lightning show. The lightning show was certainly more impressive than the one at the Franklin Institute (science museum in Philadelphia). I really enjoyed the musical Tesla coils. The kids really enjoyed the Discovery Center (room geared for children ages 8 and under). Their favorite activity was one that involved building a model of a satellite (they had a wide variety of materials for the kids to use) and trying to get it to be the correct weight so it would float at the correct spot in the air tube. Generally their models were too light and would just fly out the top of the tube.

We went back to the van, ate the lunches we had packed, and drove two miles to a different parking garage. First we visited the Boston Tea Party Ship Museum. Considering that tour lasted about 75 minutes, it was very expensive (cost as much as our entrance to Mystic Seaport which could keep you busy for an entire day), but it was very, very well done. We participated in a role playing of the meeting that took place before the tea was thrown into the harbor, we walked around a model of one of the ships (and the ship was named Eleanor, which is Paul's mom's name), and then we walked through a very innovative museum. After this we had a very short walk to the Boston Children's Museum. Again thanks to the ASTC membership the five of us got in for $16 instead of the $80 it normally would have cost. They also validated our parking so it was reduced to $9. We spent 2 1/2 hours in the museum, and we only attended one show. Nadia participated in a play about the Three Little Pigs. She was the pig who built a house made of straw. All three kids had a great time in the museum. On our way home we stopped at Bertucci's for some brick oven pizza. Altogether our adventure lasted a full twelve hours. The next two days we plan to stay here on Cape Cod.

The ship named Eleanor that we toured

Mystic Seaport

I remember enjoying a visit to Mystic Seaport (CT) when I was a child, and it was easy to stop there on our way from our home to Cape Cod today. Paul had never been there. We left the house at 6:10. It was one of those very rare times when I actually woke my children up in the morning. That only happens a couple of times a year. I woke them up at 5:55 and had them go to the bathroom, put on their shoes, and get in the van. The drive went very smoothly. We arrived in Mystic around 11:15. We had made one stop on the way for gas and to use the bathroom. Part of the time we listened to books on cd's (part of The Long Winter by Laura Wilder and part of The Mysterious Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo) and Paul also read a couple chapters of Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics to us). They also watched half of the movie Frozen, played on the iPad, looked for different states on license plates, ate the lunch I had packed, and listened to music on the radio.

Paul's parents were going to meet us there, but they decided to head straight to Cape Cod and meet us there in the evening. We spent 4 1/2 hours at Mystic Seaport. The kids really enjoyed the buildings that were very hands-on (Discovery Barn, Children's Museum, and Home Port). The art building was closed since the high season is over. We also participated in a man overboard drill on a wooden whaling ship. Nadia blew the horn five times, and Ian threw the life preserver over for the pool noodle man that went overboard. Nadia set her name upside down and backwards at the print shop. We all participated in a navigation quest, and because we completed it successfully, each child received a compass. Our final stop was to listen to a roleplaying presentation (that involved a doll) of life in 1876. After we left we drove two hours to our resort in Cape Cod. We stopped at a Wendy's on the way. Oliver napped for about an hour and then had a lengthy temper tantrum. While he napped we listened to more of The Long Winter, and after he woke up they watched the rest of Frozen.

After we checked in to the resort we put on our swimming suits and swam for about an hour in the heated indoor pool. Something was messed up with Paul's parents' reservation at the resort so they are spending their first night with us in our unit (using our sofa bed and we made a make shift bed out of cushions for Oliver on the floor of our room). The next five nights Nadia will use one of their bedrooms (they also have a two bedroom unit), Paul and I will stay in our master bedroom, and the boys will each have a twin sized bed in the second bedroom in our unit. Tomorrow we plan to head into Boston! Today was the first time the kids were ever in New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, or Massachusetts. Nadia really wants to go to New York City (to see the Statue of Liberty, etc.). Maybe we'll make a short trip up there next year. We do plan to spend a day in Corning, New York this fall.

And we're off!

Tomorrow morning we are hoping to leave bright and early so that we have plenty of time to enjoy Mystic Seaport, CT before we continue on the last two hours of our journey to Cape Cod. Here's to hoping for minimal crying on the part of Oliver during our seven hour road trip. The van is pretty much packed. One suitcase is still in our bedroom because Paul hasn't packed his stuff yet. It's 8:15 pm, and he isn't home yet (even though he leaves around 3:30 am for work). The house is pretty clean (I really like to come home to a clean house), we got our school work done, and I packed food for our breakfasts and lunches during our vacation. We'll just need to buy things like milk and fruit once we arrive in MA. We usually eat dinner out, have breakfast in our unit, and either eat lunch in our unit or pack a lunch if we'll be out and about to save money. Oliver and I did some shopping while the other two played soccer during gym class. Nadia and I also got hair cuts today. I get one every 3-4 months, and it had been 3 months since my last one. Nadia usually gets one haircut a year, but she had gone 15 months since her last professional cut (although my sister gave her a trim last month). She had asked me a couple of weeks ago for it to be cut shorter, and I finally got around to scheduling the appointment. She cannot stand to have her hair brushed or put up in a pony tail or anything like that so she finally decided that shorter hair would be better. The hairdresser suggested cutting it as long as her bangs so now her hair is truly all one length. I think it looks cute! The only downside I can see is that it's going to need to be cut a lot more often. They only charge $8 for her haircut, but still that will add up over time. Maybe I can learn to cut it. I already cut Paul, Ian, and Oliver's hair every month or so. I just cut Paul's last night.

Of course the first thing I thought was, I want to show my mom a pic of Nadia's hair cut, but then I remembered nope that isn't going to happen. The same thing happened yesterday with Nadia playing the piano. She really took off this week and learned multiple songs in one week. She is very proud that she can now play the "Happy Birthday" song for example. Over the last two years I used to call my mom regularly to let her hear Nadia play a song on the piano. I miss all these little things. I am grateful she did hear Nadia play the piano some, and my mom was able to give my helpful tips with teaching Nadia to play the piano. I wish she had heard Ian play the piano, but that is never going to happen. Sigh. It's tough losing your mom. Well here's to hoping and praying for safety as we travel and for an enjoyable vacation. I am very glad I will not have to answer the question "Where's Daddy?" over the next eight days.

Thankful Thursday

1. We enjoyed our long anticipated visit to Bonanza on Monday night. On Mondays children get the buffet plus a drink for $1.99 each, and they also had a balloon artist making things for the kids for free. Nadia asked for a horse, Ian wanted a dog, and Oliver requested a bee.

2. On Sunday we enjoyed our last swim at our pool for the year.

3. On Saturday the kids enjoyed building a whiteboard at Home Depot. We have used them during spelling while we homeschool.

4. They also enjoyed playing the Taiko drums and learning some Japanese words at the Children's Museum on Saturday.

5. I'm thankful for our neighbors. At one point on Monday afternoon there were seven kids out riding bikes (three were mine). There is very little traffic on the two roads that are adjacent to our house which is great for the kids.

6. Our apple tree had a very small harvest this year because of a late frost in the spring. I did enjoy using the fruit picker, and I was thankful it was such an easy task this year due to the small amount of fruit. A neighbor also let me dump the inedible apples into their field which was greatly appreciated.

7. The other apple tree is now totally gone. YAHOO! Paul used the chainsaw to cut the stump into smaller pieces, and I got them into the minivan and disposed of them.

8. My parents 47th anniversary was on Tuesday. I am very thankful for their marriage.

9. Ian's soccer game for September 17 was rescheduled for the 19th, which means he'll only miss one game during our vacation. As of this point the other two will miss two games.

10. I signed up for an inductive Bible study at church (by Precept Ministries) on Hosea. We had our first session this Tuesday night. We will meet for 2 hours every other week. I haven't been in a Bible study for 18 months so I am very excited about this. I have done a few studies by Kay Arthur in the past, but it has been awhile.

11. Nadia and Ian are making progress at the piano. I took a video yesterday of Nadia playing a song she has been working on lately. I also took a video of the kids singing a song by Hillary Scott. They've been singing the chorus in the van when they hear it on the radio.

12. The homeschool gym class resumed on Friday. The kids enjoyed playing kickball and wiffleball outdoors, and I enjoyed chatting with another mom while Oliver played in the indoor playland. Next year all three of them will be in the gym class together, which means I could do something like run during their class!

13. I ran 4.5 miles on Sunday evening. It had been awhile since I ran a route from our house. I ran even slower than usual, but if I get back in the habit of running 3 times a week I should be able to get my pace at least back to what it was before. My plan is to run on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the soccer field during their practice and on Sundays while Paul watches the kids. Hopefully I will lose some weight in the process.

Coming to an end

When I was a child school started after Labor Day and ended right before Memorial Day. We didn't go to school in June, July, or August. Now most schools end some time in June and start some time in August. The swimming pool we belonged to as a child followed the same schedule - open from Memorial Day through Labor Day. So in my mind that has been the definition of "summer" although I know it technically doesn't start until June 21 and ends on September 21. The summer definitely didn't go exactly as planned. I totally ditched the charts I had made for Nadia and Ian to use to keep track of how many times they practiced the piano, worked on math flash cards, etc. But the kids did make progress this summer. For example, Oliver learned how to buckle a seatbelt, to identify all the uppercase letters, and to ride a two wheeled bike with training wheels, and Ian improved so much with swimming that he now goes off the diving board and spends a lot of time in the deep end. Speaking of swimming, our pool usually closes earlier in August, but this year it is open until Labor Day. It was closed Monday through Thursday. We didn't make it to the pool on Friday or Saturday, but we did make it there this afternoon, and we might go again tomorrow (the boys didn't enjoy the drop in water temperature). Even though we were away more than usual, we definitely got our money's worth out of our pool membership this summer. I plan to join again next year.

As I reflect on the summer, here are five things that seemed to be the most prominent:

1. Projects around the house.  I did a lot more this summer around the house than I had done over the past 8 years combined. I painted quite a few rooms in the house, sold our kitchen table and bought a "new to us" table, painted the trim on the shed, helped Paul cut down one apple tree, bought a new refrigerator, etc. Did everything get done? Nope. Some things will be pushed off for later this year or maybe next summer, but a lot of progress was made.

2. Passing of my mom. This was definitely the most "earth shattering" event of the summer for me. My mom has been one of the most important people in my life for 44 years, and for the last about 15 years she was also one of my best friends. There is no one on this planet who has come anywhere close to emailing me as much as my mom emailed me over the past 26 years (she started emailing me in 1990). She usually emailed me once a day and sometimes more than once a day. I also talked to her on the phone far more than I've ever talked on the phone with any other human being. To be honest lately I have felt like getting rid of my phone. I won't actually do so, but it just hurts that I can't call her any more. When I had something I wanted to tell someone, she was usually the FIRST person I called and told.

I miss her hugs. I miss her smiles. They meant the world to me. And I miss her words of encouragement and frequent feedback. There has ever been a single soul who has come anywhere close to giving me encouragement like she did. There is a void there now. I miss her coming up and participating in our lives - the kids musicals, birthday parties, soccer games, basketball games, going on vacations, museums, etc with her. She never attended the church we've gone to the past 2 years, but she did listen to one of my pastor's sermons several months ago (online with me) and I am so thankful we shared that experience (and of course she had nice things to say about his sermon because that's the way she was). If she had been healthy enough, she would definitely have come to Nadia's baptism in 3 weeks. She is greatly missed. I hope I can learn from her example and be an encouragement to others like she was to me for 44 years. When people ask me if I had a good summer, I have the hardest time saying "yes" since the most prominent thing was the passing of my mom, but the truth is that yes there were many other good things that happened this summer, and even that sad event was a blessing for her because it meant her time of suffering here on earth came to an end.

3. Watermelon. On a much lighter note, I bought more watermelon this summer than I did the rest of my life put together. Watermelon has never been my favorite fruit. I can list many fruits I prefer -even when it comes to melons I'd rather have honeydew, but my boys have been wanting to have watermelon almost every day.

4. Time with extended family. Because of my mom's illness and then her death, I have had far more contact with my siblings, dad, nieces, and nephews than I usually do in a year. Although I wish it were for a much happier reason, it was wonderful for my kids to have more time with their cousins in Maryland and Ohio (even though we didn't make it to Indiana). Although I have often gone months (and sometimes a year or more) without talking to my siblings, we love each other deeply and are able to work together well even during stressful moments or when doing unpleasant tasks. I wish we lived closer together so we could see each other more frequently, but that is not the case.

5. Where's Daddy? I would be a rich woman if I got paid for every time I answered that question the past four months. Oliver asks it the most - many times a day. It is almost always the first thing he says every single morning. I feel like a broken record repeating the phrase "at work" umpteen times a week. Paul was around FAR more than past eleven summers than he was this summer. We need to come up with a schedule that means he will be at home more while the kids are awake. They really miss their dad. I really hope Paul's work schedule from the last 4 months doesn't continue for months and years to come. If he wants to go in at 2:00 am, fine with me, but we need him to come home earlier than 7:00 pm considering he works six days a week.

So that was our summer in a nutshell. There were many "firsts." The kids tried some new foods (like plums and nectarines) and went to an amusement park they hadn't been to before (Cedar Point). Ian went to Good News day camp for the first time, and Nadia went to summer camp for a full week for the first time. Oliver had his first experience singing in a choir and performing in a musical. Ian had tennis lessons for the first time, Oliver had swimming lessons for the first time, and Nadia and Ian went to horse back riding camp for the first time. They were in Ohio for the first time. They went to their first funeral. Of my three kids, Ian continues to talk about my mom's passing the most. Nadia took diving lessons for the first time. Nadia and Ian went to an art camp for the first time. They watched some of the Summer Olympics on television for the first time.

I read some new chapter and picture books to them. We went to several museums in Philadelphia and one in DC for the first time. Nadia was able to ride some rides for the first time since she is now more than 48 inches tall. Oliver was able to start playing on a soccer team for the first time in August. Nadia was in the musical "A Little Mermaid, Jr.". Although it was a painful summer for me due to the passing of my beloved mom, I think my kids had a very good summer. Since we haven't gone on our family vacation yet, it doesn't feel like summer is quite over (we leave in 6 days), but it is certainly drawing to a close as the swimming pool closes for the year and everyone heads back to school.

Fuzzy Wuzzy Taiko

Yesterday when Oliver was riding his bike I noticed a yellow woolly bear caterpillar on the road. Oliver picked him and after laughing while the caterpillar tickled him by crawling on him, Oliver put the caterpillar on his bike and gave him a ride back to our house. Ian wanted no part of the fuzzy wuzzy creature, but Nadia had a blast and several hours later our neighbors also enjoyed the little critter. I am not sure if we shortened his life span or if he'll still become a white moth some day, but the kids did have fun letting him crawl on their hands and arms. I noticed when the kids were biking yesterday that Nadia and Ian's helmets were much too small for them. Ian told me he his tennis shoes were too small yesterday. There are so many things to replace as these kids grow bigger! I have purchased almost all of their helmets at yard sales or consignment shops in the past, but I splurged and let Nadia and Ian each pick one out at Walmart today. Yikes. It is definitely better to buy them at a consignment shop or yard sale!

The homeschool gym class resumed yesterday morning. Next year Oliver will be old enough to participate, but for one more year he gets to enjoy the playland while I talk with other homeschooling moms. We also made a trip to the thrift store and found out they don't take car seats. It seems such a shame to put two large objects in the garbage, but the government regulations have declared expiration dates on car seats and so to the landfills they must go. Usually we only put out on bag of garbage a week due to recycling things and also taking things to the thrift store or selling things. I think Paul will try to put them in the dumpster at work at some point.

This morning I took the kids to Home Depot where they made little whiteboards. We can make use of those in our homeschooling. Then we went to the Children's Museum. The kids played in the museum for 30 minutes and then enjoyed a program about Taiko - a Japanese style of drumming. The presenter demonstrated on a real drum, and then he gave them a lesson using tires that had been made into drums. The boys lasted 45 minutes. Nadia participated for a full hour. He said he was taking a break and then would continue for another hour. Nadia wanted to continue on, but the boys were ready to leave. We spent an hour at the playground before heading home. We were very pleasantly surprised to discover Paul was at home when we got home. Usually the earliest he gets home on a Saturday is 5:00 (which is earlier than he gets home M-F), but he never gets home that early. The kids enjoyed biking with him, playing games, etc. We had planned to go swimming, but since Daddy was home (and didn't want to swim) we stayed home sweet home the rest of the day except for a quick couponing trip to CVS.

Thankful Thursday

1. There was a guest speaker in Kidzway on Sunday morning, and usually Oliver's class isn't included, but even his class was brought down to participate. Ian in particular really loved the program and told us many of the facts he learned about the animals. A man brought many different reptiles (including snakes, alligators, etc.) for the lesson. One of the snakes was named Oliver, and ironically a missionary couple from Cambodia who is on home assignment for 6 months was brought up on the platform for the pastor to pray for them that same day, and they have a baby boy named Oliver. Thankfully we don't generally run into too many Olivers (or snakes for that matter).

2. Paul did the weed whacking on Friday night during their dress rehearsal. I admit I was hoping he'd chainsaw the stump so I could take it away (it's been sitting on our lawn for a month), but the weed whacking was also helpful and appreciated. A neighbor told me at a soccer practice where I can take it, but it's way too heavy for me to lift at the moment.

3. Paul took two days off of work last week. He had three days off in a row since he also usually doesn't work on Sundays. Since he almost always works six days a week even getting two days off in a row is a rare treat. Oliver was wanting Daddy nonstop. These four months have been hard for the kids and I. Most people I know if they work shifts that are 10 or 12 hours long then they only work 3-4 days a week. Since Paul is usually gone on average 14-15 hours a day six days a week we really appreciated having him around three days in a row. He took off Saturday because of the birthday party of one of the company's customers so it was work related but still we were together as a family.

4. The kids enjoyed the motor boat ride on Saturday afternoon at that party.

5. The kids did a great job at the musical on Saturday night and Sunday night. We appreciated that Paul's parents came up to see it on Sunday night. I'm thankful they can sing in a choir year round. I pray for the rest of their lives they are singing for the Lord!

6. We enjoyed touring the replica of the tabernacle and doing the Compassion experience on Friday in Lancaster.

7. I should have done so seven years ago, but I finally purchased a fruit picker. It is supposed to be delivered next week. We only have one apple tree now. The tree has far fewer apples than last year, which is fine with me. This tool should make the job so much easier.

8. Paul lost 25 pounds over the past four months of having a physical job (compared to the sedentary one of being a professor)! He is going in the right direction with his weight, yay! Unfortunately his job has had the opposite effect on me because I haven't been able to run due to his work schedule. I am very happy that I can now get exercise on Tuesday and Thursday nights during soccer practice. I walked 2 miles during the soccer practice on Tuesday night and ran 3 miles tonight on the cross country tracks that are located near the soccer field, which made for a lovely and private place to run. On Tuesday I also started to be more careful about what I eat so that hopefully I can get back to what I weighed last year. I haven't weighed myself since April, but I can tell by the way my clothes fit that I've gained weight since then.

9. We enjoyed our second date in 12+ months on Sunday afternoon thanks to Paul's parents babysitting the kids and my dad giving us money for dinner at Texas Roadhouse in honor of our 15th anniversary.

10. Olive Garden is one of my favorite restaurants, but I go several years in between visits to eat there. Well I learned of a great deal last week if you placed an order on-line, and I took advantage of it on Saturday because there is one not that far from the Children's Museum. I received 2 breadsticks, a bowl of soup, and 2 entrees for $11.07 total! We ate the breadsticks en route to the party on Saturday (split them up so all five of us shared the 2 breadsticks), but the soup and entrees we enjoyed on Monday and Tuesday night. Yum! Oliver and I were the only ones who wanted the soup.

11. Oliver mastered the last uppercase letter (S) on Monday morning. We are headed to Bonanza for dinner on Labor Day to celebrate! Now I am working with him on the lower case letters that differ from the upper case ones. He's learned two of those so far. He loves pointing out letters throughout the day. The first word he has learned to "read" is "exit." He loves finding that word when we are out and about and pointing it out to me.

12. Yesterday the kids and I never left the house. It's nice to have a day like that now and then. For one thing it means all three meals are relaxed. That's the most stressful thing about soccer practices - getting the boys to eat their dinners, get their soccer gear on, and get out the door by 5:05 pm on Tuesday and Thursday night. We played a lot of games together yesterday including Zingo, Jenga, Apples to Apples, etc. Oliver really liked Zingo. Normally he always wants to play Chutes and Ladders or Candyland. It's nice to add more games to his repertoire.

13. Today we participated in Safety Day at Camp Susque. The kids love crawling through the cabin filled with theatrical smoke. The weather was perfect for the event. We were there for three hours. A friend from our previous church has decided to homeschool her boys. Her oldest is five. Prior to having her boys she was a second grade public school teacher. She is currently working on her master's degree at Bloomsburg University (where I taught). Anyhow we carpooled, and it was a delight to have some time to chat with her during the drive up and back. Opportunities for me to chat with an adult are few and far between during the week so I don't take conversations like that for granted.

14. I have my trunk loaded up with some things to donate at the thrift store tomorrow. Purging puts a smile on my face. I also decided to try to sell a few things (like Oliver's old bike/trikes now that he has a new bigger bike), and the items sold very quickly. In fact the one item was picked up less than an hour after I posted it! The other transactions are supposed to take place tomorrow. Presuming they do, I will receive a total of $75. It's a good reminder to me that although my preference is just to donate everything, I can bring in a little money now and then if I sell some things instead of donating everything.

15. My brother found a place to live in Texas, likes his new professors, and has been assigned two undergrad classes to be a grader. The salary for being a grader will cover his rent for the next few months, and it also means he'll get a significant reduction in his tuition. Yahoo!

16. Oliver doesn't need glasses, and the eye exam only cost us $5.

17. We enjoyed the Children's museum on Saturday.

18. Nadia is going to be baptized later this month!

19. I found a couple of Groupons to help us get some bargains for a couple of outings during our vacation in Massachusetts.