New Hampshire: Summer 2011, Part I

Anna and I on the top of Mount Washington, or as Jon has renamed it: Mount Puke-ing-ton

We caved and bought some hats at the gift shop at the summit. Partially because our ears were freezing because we were up in the clouds, and partially because Anna was just so darn cute in hers! See her modeling it below? Awww!

Anna, 5 years old, found the drive up the mountain and the weather to be exhilarating. Jon? Not so much. I tried to pretend to feel like Anna, but I was really feeling more like Jonathan. But it was a very neat experience, and I am glad we had it! It was an awesome view and a fun adventure!

Anna, Uncle Cory, and Jonathan. Jonathan was wearing Daddy's shirt that we had bought at the gift shop... He was not so pleased with this.

Baby Abe, 1 year old! On the porch at his house. He was the best part of New Hampshire!

After he got home from school, Abe liked to forage in the garden for a snack.

As you can see here, Abe enjoys his meals.

Mia (German Shepherd puppy), Jon, Uncle Cory, Abe (in stroller) and Anna out on a walk

Aunt Erin with Mia and Jon

Abe out in the garden

Jonathan and his Mama (me) after our swim/picnic at the lake (okay, I never got in because that water was COLD!)

Anna doing her thing and rocking out to the music they were playing at the lake... She is so funny. According to her, it doesn't matter what kind of rock music it is, as long as it is LOUD!

Anna said, Get a picture of me being like the Little Mermaid on these rocks! (As if I need any encouragement to take MORE pics!)

Uncle Dave, Abe, Jonathan and Anna. Cousins! Jonathan, 7, Anna, 5, and Abe, 1. Seeing Anna and Abe together brought back lots of memories of Jonathan and Justine together... Anna loved spending time with Abe. She took lots of pictures and video of him, and at one point proclaimed, He is just so cute I want to put him in my suitcase and take him home with me!

Aunt Jamie, Abe and Jon.

Uncle Cory had fireworks! Yay! The kids had not had any fireworks or sparklers this year so they had lots of fun with this.

Anna, Jonathan and me. I love my babies. They are going to start 2nd grade and the big K in a few weeks! I would say, where does the time go, but Jonathan looks so tall in that picture? I can totally see him as a third grader! And Anna has been ready to go to Kindergarten since um, like, DECEMBER! When she turned, FIVE! DUH! SERIOUSLY! (her words, not mine!)

Front porches are just fun! The end!

Jonathan made a great new friend! They had so much fun together!

Baby Abe with his mama, Erin, by the lake.

Jonathan, talking about something funny. Cory, Abe and Anna in the background.

Is Jon 7... or 17 here????

Abe giving his cousin Anna the staredown... maye thinking, is she going to eat ALL those chips? Is she going to SHARE whatever is in that green bottle? Hmmm...

Kentucky, Summer 2011: Hammock

Okay. Above, you see a posed picture. Below, you see an unprompted one. See the difference?







Anna and Jon used Grandma Jane's hammock for everything except for its original intended purpose: relaxation. If anyone else tried to relax in it, they quickly switched into anti-relax mode and either climbed into swing and started jamming their bony appendages everywhere, or they started pushing the hammock like it was an amusement park ride meant to catapult the rider out. There is a large stone in the ground under the hammock and I think maybe there was an angel on assignment at Grandma Jane's hammock the week we were there. I don't know how everyone stayed unhurt and the hammock stayed intact. It was fun. :) And I love all the many pictures I snapped of them acting like siblings do... Taking off their shoes and beating each other; Trying to bite toes; Pinching ears; Screaming "Push me push me! Okay stop stop it! No, no, come back! Okay, again!"

Happy 31st Birthday to Me

The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself. --Anna Quindlen

How did 31 happen? I swear it was just last summer and 30 was here. This past year has been full of momentous things and mundane things. I am trying to figure out if it has been a very good year or a very bad year. My babies are still healthy and growing strong (and I, myself, am still present!) so I will have to say it has been a good year. I remember my 10th birthday party. I remember turning 11. I can remember turning 13. I remember who was there, and who was not... and why I thought them not being there was probably the end of the world. When I turned 15, I remember thinking some things that happened that summer were the beginning of my real life... And I remember thinking that some things that happened later that year were the end of the world... But every day came and went and I learned a little bit more about how to survive. How not to let other people control how I felt so easily. How to decide some things for myself. How to make up my own mind and not to look to others to tell me what to think or how to feel. I am still working on this. Every single day. And probably always will. But I am definitely no longer as weighed down and suffocated by it as I was 15 years ago, or even 5.
I blew out my 31 candles this year surrounded by people I love. I was just going to have 24 pink candles but for some reason I really wanted all 31 years represented there. So we found some more candles. I was happy to see them all glowing there, and that it took me more than one breath to get them all out. They have all been valuable to me. Every year got me to the next year, and the next... And even years that were painful, if I had a time machine, would I go back and change what happened? I don't know. I am not so sure I would. Would one little step in my path made easier lead me away from where I am now? Would Jonathan and Anna still be here? They have made every little bit worthwhile. If I had a time machine, maybe I would not use it to go back and change events. Maybe if I got one as a birthday wish, I would go back to when they were babies. Those late night feedings, just me and one of them. I would love to smell their sweet baby hair again, feel their tiny hand wrap around one finger, see them look up at me while nursing, studying my face in a most calm and studious manner. I would like a time stretching machine. I wish I could go back to those especially sweet moments in life and just make them last a little longer.
In ten years, when I am 41, and they are 17 and 15, I will probably again wish for a time machine. Except, maybe then I will want to go back to now. When they were 7 and 5. Right now is precious. Maybe that is part of what I need to figure out. :)

Nickelodeon Hotel Weekend 2011

Jonathan, 7, and Anna, 5.

Thank you, Nona Donna! Nona sent us with beach towels, snacks, water bottles, gatorade, and arcade money! Anna won the ring and Jonathan the Whoppee cushion.

Somehow we lucked out and got a Spongebob room! Yay! It was nice since it took them 30 minutes to get us checked in, then our room wasn't ready for a full hour and a half after check in time! I was sort of irritated. But then when the kids saw the room... It was all okay. We had our own room with a door, and then there was a living room with a kitchen area and a bathroom, and the kids had their own bedroom with their own tv. (And that would be called... a suite... riiight?)Anna said, we should just move in here! But then when we got home today, she ran in and started kissing the floor. She was tired of all the walking because the hotel was huge. When we separated, Dave said to Anna, "Help mommy find the way back to the room." I think he was sort of kidding, because I always get lost. Well, she did! I tried to take a whole bunch of wrong turns, and she kept saying, nope, not this way, and walking ahead. She led me all the way through this maze to the correct elevator, then told me which way to turn to get to our room, all the way to the door! I could NOT believe it! She must have gotten the great Dooley direction sense or something.

The kids are looking out from our safe vantage point waiting for the daily mass sliming down by the pool. :)Anna and her Daddy. You can see Jonathan in the background. I couldn't see anything I was taking a picture of because of the blinding sun so I was just sort of snapping any which way. I love this one, though. :) (The little girl, really close to Dave? We don't know her. This is how the children were at this place... no sense of personal space or boundaries. And apparently... Maybe this is a Southern thing, but when you see something really impressive, it is totally acceptable to exclaim, Holy Hell to your parents and grandparents? Oh, and spitting right on the ground in front of a grownup's feet? That is also permissible. I actually was so startled when one young woman used manners and courtesy when she almost bumped into me that I almost forgot how to reciprocate! When I saw her with her parents, I went up and told them what a nice daughter they had and how proud they should be! :) When you see one shiny thing in a giant mass of poo, you must acknowledge it! Anyways, that was my little rant... sorry. We had a wonderful weekend.)

There was a (very) mini- mini golf course next to the water slides. Jonathan loves to play mini golf and he is pretty good at it. I was quite concerned for my children's safety and all of my family's dental well-being because of one (unsupervised--if I had to sum up the atmosphere of the children at the Nick Hotel in one word, I would say that: unsupervised!) child who did not understand the concept of what to do with the club and was swinging it wildly and causing us all to duck and flinch... We all stopped playing except Jon went ahead and played for a while. Anna used the curbs separating the holes as balance beams and I thanked God that the balls weren't real golf balls but plastic in nature.

This is one of the worst pics of me ever, but I like that you can see how tall Jonathan is next to me, and I love his silly expression, and Anna's funny posture and face. :) She is still into Dora. We went to three short 4-D movies: Spongebob, Speedracer, and Dora and Diego. Jonathan, Dave and I thought Spongebob was the best; Anna preferred Dora. The fourth dimension is where they blow bubbles, spray water, blow air, poke your seat, mist odors that go with the story line like pickles or bananas, etc.

Two children, two very different feelings towards Dora, Dora the Explorer!

The reason this is so cute and not punk is that Jonathan is not normally like this, and let's be honest, you get past the age of five, and Dora loses her big-headed charm. Amen?

Big hotel, lots to do... One of the best things there were the birds. Ducks, ibis, one giant swan, cranes, herons, etc. For 25 cents you could get some bird food to throw at them. Anna is gutsy so she threw some at the swan when it was asleep. It gave us the meanest look you can imagine. We had a lot of fun looking at all the birds together, and all the neat cartoon character sculptures out on the lake: the Rugrats, Patrick from Spongebob, Wild Thornberries, Spongebob...

The kids were doing some air guitar/robotic dance moves here. It was pretty awesome and I don't think this picture or any words can possibly convey it to you.

I always loved these tourist brochure stands as a kid. Jonathan loves them too.

On our last morning, Jonathan got me to go on the slides with him. I was actually really nervous when we got to the top to go down the tallest slide. I told him, I went to Water Mania and stuff like that growing up, I guess it has just been a really long time! He chuckled and said, Mama, are you saying you've turned from a dog into a cat? (I thought this was exceptionally clever!) I did go down the slides. It was really fun although a little indignifying at the bottom... As a teenager, I worried that my top would come off or my bottom would be wedged upwards. I didn't want anyone to see my business. Still, now, I don't want anyone to see my business, but for very different and very similar reasons... :)

Anna and I both got our hair wrapped. This was really fun. We basically got the same colors: dark purple, light purple, aqua, except she got pink and I did not. She got a horse charm with a pink gemstone in the center and I got a sea turtle with an aqua charm in the center. I have always wanted to get my hair wrapped, and I don't think 30 is too late, in spite of what some people from North Carolina might say ;)

Jonathan chose a caricature over an airbrush tattoo. He was totally fascinated with the artist's methods. He watched intently as someone else had their picture made, and then held perfectly still for his own.

On our last morning, Anna didn't feel like going swimming. So we got a spot under the umbrella and she studied some of Jonathan's drawings from the night before.

The kids by the front lobby Spongebob as we checked out. They really got along well on this trip. They both said they thought it was more fun than the cruise... And I might just agree with them a little tiny bit :)