Jun 30 2010
Cape Cod
If I had Olivia here with us, I’d refuse to go home!
Archive for June, 2010
Jun 29 2010
My New Favorite City: Boston
We are having a wonderful time. We’ve been in Boston since Friday night and we are leaving tomorrow mid-morning to drive to Cape Cod. We will fly home Friday.
I have lots of pictures to share! I’ll do that when we get home.
Here’s one taken from my phone (hope you can see it; I’m outside and can’t see my screen very well):
Jun 25 2010
Let the Good Times Roll
I am sitting at the airport waiting to board a flight to Boston. My students left today at 3:41 and I walked out of my classroom at 4:00. Whew! What a busy day. We had a great day together and all of my end-of-the-year paperwork and chores are complete!
I’m looking forward to a great time in Boston. I’ll keep you posted. I may find myself beached at the pool tomorrow if there is an outdoor pool at our hotel.
Jun 21 2010
Assateague Island Trip #1
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The original plan was to leave at 7:00 a.m. Then, we realized we couldn’t take Olivia to daycare until 8:00. Of course, we weren’t ready until 8:15 and had to come back to the house twice (once because we forgot bug spray and the second time because I forgot my sunglasses). We got Olivia dropped off and by the time we hit the road, it was about 8:45. I hadn’t made the effort to cook breakfast or really even make anything available at home, so we stopped along the way. We tried to go to Panera, As you can see from the pictures, it is absolutely beautiful. The Maryland side (where we were) is a state park and the Virginia is a national park, so the island is completely undeveloped. The sand dunes are so pretty and the beach just goes on for miles and miles and miles. There |
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When we got there, we walked down the beach a littleways to set up camp. Then, we ate a little bit and I couldn’t wait any longer. I had to go for a walk to collect seashells. Off I went while Richard attempted to read the NY Times at the windy beach. I collected a lot of seashells and even ran across a piece of drift wood I thought needed a happy home. After my walk, I came back and took a nap. Then I talked Richard into going for a walk with me. I collected more seashells then. I enlisted his help carrying them. Other than walking on the beach, I literally did nothing the whole day. I just sat in my chair and enjoyed the water, breeze and sounds. It was heavenly. As I sat in my classroom today drowning in children and paperwork, it was hard to believe I was at the beach less than 24 hours before. Around 6:00, I decided we better head back. I knew I needed to get up to run this morning and that I needed to get decent night’s sleep to be able to run and be on my toes with my first graders today. So, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at the Assateague Crab House (yum) and then headed home (but not before we checked out the beach shack store next door). We made it home in 2 1/2 hours without any stops. I told Richard he needs to be prepared for me to be at the beach quite a bit this summer. We had a great time and I’m already scheming how I can talk Richard into trip #2.
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Jun 20 2010
Assateague Island
We have had an absolutely wonderful day. We are on our way home now. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to share more pictures from our day.
Jun 19 2010
Fashion Flashback
So I’m sitting outside,sipping a Diet Coke with lime (let’s get crazy!), throwing the ball for Olivia, trying to suppress the guilt I feel for intentionally not refilling the bird feeder and reading the latest issue of Real Simple magazine.
Let’s flashback quickly to 1991 when my mother made my brother tight roll my jeans for me. Now, checkout what’s in this month’s issue of Real Simple:
Jun 18 2010
Friday Night Excitement
Richard and I are leaving Target. We decided to run our errands tonight so we don’t have to tomorrow. I am loving the fact that at our Target they don’t just sell lawn chairs, they sell SAND/BEACH chairs.
I’m so excited about our day trip to the beach! I only wish Olivia could join us. She’ll go to daycare. Maybe she can go another time!
Now we are headed to Home Depot and then the grocery store. Olivia is with us and is loving every minute!
In the morning, I’ll go for a run with my friends and Richard is going to watch a soccer game with his buddies. After that, I’m hoping to spend Saturday in my lounge chair again (after I sweep the patio and pull a few peksy weeds).
Happy weekending!
Jun 18 2010
F*r*i*d*a*y
Olivia and I are out for a walk this morning! I’m not sure what you’ll be able to see in the picture, but we can see the Jefferson and Washington monuments, the capitol and the Smithsonian Castle. The water is the Potomac.
Happy Friday! 6 more school days!
Jun 16 2010
Too Many Yet Not Enough
The title explains how I feel about how many days of school we have left. We have 7 more days with students. Too many days left in the sense that this time last year Id been on summer vacation for almost 2 weeks. Not enough days left in the sense that I’m not ready to say goodbye to the little ones (they remind me often that they’re not ‘little’) that have stolen my heart!… Not to mention the end of the year paperwork and chores that must be accomplished with no teacher work days.
So last weekend I spent the majority of Saturday in my chaise lounge in the backyard. I planned a menu, made a grocery list, knitted, read, slept, watched birds and played ball with Olivia. I wound up getting the idea that I wanted to get out of town and do something. Long story short, I talked Richard into taking me to the beach next weekend.
I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. I had in mind to return to the beach where my mother and I went last summer. I decided to do some research. There are many beaches within a couple of hours of DC. After doing research (read google), I changed the original plan and we are going to Assateague Island. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Check it out on yelp: assateague island near Ocean City,MD. I cannot wait to collect seashells!! Would you believe that Monday morning I walked through our library at school and there was a book about Assateague Island (complete with a picture of one of the wild ponies birthing a colt) on display??
I have 7 days of school left. I’m really trying to stay serious with my kids (I’m still having guided reading groups and giving homework!!) but in my mind all I can think about is Assateague, Boston, getting up for 6 am (vs 5am) summer runs and yard work! Ready to get my summer started!
Jun 12 2010
Bird Feeder Woes
I think I mentioned in a previous post that our friends passed a bird feeder along to us. It’s actually the exact bird feeder I’ve been wanting so it really worked out perfectly. We have loved watching the birds and they’re about to eat us out of house and home, so
I think they love us, too. If you’re wondering if there are squirrels using the feeder, they aren’t. They stay on the ground and eat what the birds spill…that is when Olivia isn’t on duty.
As much as I love the birds, they’re making a huge mess! Last weekend I had to remove the rocks and clear out all of the seeds they had dropped and seed shells and seedlings. Of course this week the mess is back again and the seeds are also being dropped in the adjacent shade garden which means I have little bird seed seedlings sprouting up. My mom has always had bird feeder but has also always said they make a big mess. Now I know what she meant.
I have an idea to move the bird feeder to the back right corner of our yard where we can still see it and enjoy it. I’ll lay bricks on the ground so the mess can be somewhat contained and then hang the feeder on a shepard’s hook. I suppose I could just leave the feeder where it is and continue to clean up the mess.
Decisions, decisions… 
