My kid.....

My kid worries me sometimes. It's summer. She is out of bed by 9 a.m., chokes down a baggie of dry cereal and then takes off on her bike. She reports in every 30 minutes on the dot, lets me know where she is and who she is with and leaves again. She is generally in the middle of every game, every circle of skateboarders, every bicycle brigade. Sigh. I know where she is and I don't know where she is. Worriesome.

Today we were running errands. We stopped at the mailboxes on the way home and she took the keys to get our mail. I watched her chat with an elderly neighbor for a moment and then head back to the car. The woman was inching her way after her, struggling to walk. "Well....thank you for saying that!" the woman called after her with a surprised little smile. My kid tossed the mail key and three advertisments in the car and took off walking for home. She likes to do that. Easier to get out of chores if she is not around when I get there. So, she was off playing with her neighborhood cronies and I didn't have a chance to talk to her again till we were making our special veggie pizza for dinner. I asked her what she was saying to the neighbor at the mailbox.

"Oh, she was complaining because she didn't have any mail and I told her not to worry. I don't get much mail either."

Sometimes she is just my favorite kid ever.....

Summer Vacation 2008

Vacation n : leisure time away from work; devoted to rest or pleasure [syn: holiday] Yeah....riiiight.

Friday - Driving all ding dang day. Arrived in Owego, New York. Stinky hotel hallway but okay room. Used the pool.

Saturday - We were on the road early and had stopped in a small town to have breakfast in a little open diner. There was fog. The streets were empty. All I said was 'Well, this is very Children of the Corn....' and the prince refused to get out of the car. Absolutely refused. We found a McDonald's drive through and we drove on to Cooperstown, NY. Spent the morning exploring the Baseball Hall of Fame. Wonderful exhibits. Babe Ruth. Ty Cobb. Al Kaline. Red Sox. Baseballs....and more baseballs. On to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA. We had been there 16 years before with my stepdaughters. HRH opted to stay in the car. Kiddos followed along...begrudgingly. It was crowded. It was hot. The painter in me loved it all. But, I guess am still looking for someone willing to hit the art museums with me. Sigh. On to Boston. We arrived at our hotel in Brookline exhausted and a little tense having encountered some crazy city drivers. 'T' station stop right across the street.

Sunday - Red Sox game at Fenway Park. Got a little help on the way purchasing a 'T' pass for the rest of the week. Wondered if we would really use it. Prince wanted to get to the game early. 90 minutes early. In bleacher seats. In the sun. The hot sun. Quietly observing the Big Green Monster. Clouds were rolling in. Third inning light rain felt like the misters at WDW. The 6th inning rain drencher delayed the game by 38 minutes. We left. The Red Sox were winning by 3 anyway. Leaving our car in Brookline through the good graces of the hotel, we moved on to the Marriot Custom House down town. By cab. $26.90 worth of cab. Nice suite of rooms that we were not prepared for. No pool. One bed. One fold out couch. Fridge. Microwave. WAY cool observation deck on the 27th floor. Nice game room on the 26th. Right in the middle of everything. Went in search of dinner in Faneuil Hall and found one we have enjoyed before in Chicago. Crazy waitress made hats with funny offensive comments for all of us. THEN she took the Princess to the back and returned her with 13 helium balloons tied to 13 strands of hair in honor of her upcoming 13th birthday! The Princess was mortified...and yet delighted. We made her leave them in so we could play with the helium when we got back to the room. She was stopped no less than 6 times on the 2 block walk so people could take her picture. LOL Note to self...and anyone else who is interested : The Gettysburg Address sounds WAY too funny in a helium induced voice.

Monday - Marriott Vacation Club spiel. The guy was pinch hitting for the regular salesman and let us go after finding out we usually camp for our vacations. Hee. Took the Trolley Tour but had to walk across town to station 6 in order to get our Go Card issued tickets. Sheesh. The hotel was right across the street from station 1 for crying out loud. We were ready for a ride. Kids were most impressed with the decor of China Town....I think. Didn't want to eat there though. Got off at Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Shopped a little more. Discovered that Obama was in town. Limos EVERYwhere around our hotel. The observation deck was closed because the Secret Service was using it. In fact, the entire top 7 floors (including the game room) were off limits to guests for the night. The Princess was pissed.

Tuesday - The Princess and I had reservations for a whale watch excursion. HRH and the Prince were headed back to Fenway for a tour. They were also going to be taking our bag back to the hotel in Brookline for the duration of our stay. Whale Watch...hmmm. REALLY looked forward to it. We started out in the bow of the boat because that's where the 'good seats' are. It's also cold when you are going out to sea and the 'good seats' are sans padding. Heh. Bouncing and bumping as the boat slaps the unforgiving waves, I was barely keeping myself - and my camera - together. Princess headed into the covered lounge area because she was cold. I didn't trust my sea legs enough to move. Took nearly 90 minutes to find whales but did we ever find a mess of them. Wow. The boat engines stopped and the rocking and rolling from the animals diving and breeching and slapping all around us took over. I snapped some pictures, bruised both elbows and bobbled my way to the 2nd deck lounge area to discover the princess stretched out on a padded seat cushion holding her head. Not really sea sick. Sick from seeing OTHERS being sea sick....and a little frightened by the whales flipping all around. Not really her cup of tea after all. We sat there watching for about another hour and then headed back to shore...this time WITH the waves. Inside. On a padded seat. Met the guys at the New England Aquarium. Having done the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlingburg a few weeks back, this was a bit of a downer. Blue Fairy penguins were cute though. Didn't stay too long. Got back on the trolley and saw the stuff we missed the first time around. Had dinner at the City Place food court and then went in search of the 'Make Way for Ducklings' statue in the oh so very peaceful Public Park. This was a huge deal for me. I remember hearing the book read aloud when I was 4 years old and have used it in my classroom every single year that I have taught. The kiddos delighted in the fact that squirrels were taking peanuts right out of their hands. LONG walk back to the 'T' station because of the whale watch bouncing and my aching back. High praise for my very patient family. We were ready for bed back in our Brookline Holiday Inn.

Wednesday - Dreary and cool day. We took the 'T' to the JFK Presidential Museum and Library. What a wonderful, wonderful museum. It began with a short film about the beginning of his political career and then you followed an exhibit path that took you to the middle of the convention hall, a shop window where you could watch the televised debates, a set of benches to watch a video of the inaugration and a series of rooms that focused on the development of the Peace Corp (first proposed in a speech at U of M!), the space race, the elegant White House atmosphere created by Jacqueline, the Cuban Missle crisis (with another short film describing the issue), the Kennedy brothers...and finally a small dark hall with multiple small tv screens running the Walter Cronkite report of the assasination and funeral. Very short and tasteful...definitely designed not to over shadow the accomplishments of the Kennedy Administration. As you walked out there was a television screen with Bill Clinton describing his meeting JFK as a high school student and the impact it had on him. Nice end to a good visit. On the bus taking us back to the 'T' and planning what to do next when the Princess grabbed my arm and asked that we PLEASE not have to look at any more OLD stuff. LOL. So we hit Newbury Street. There were definitely some shops of interest. In Newbury Comics I talked the Princess out of a teal studded black belt and flying bat belt buckle and into a more appropriate and funky Mario Bros. imprinted belt. (Sheesh. She is just THIRTEEN!! What kind of adolescence are we in for???) HRH found a rare BTO recording -meaning he doesn't already own it - and the Prince and I became button collectors. Found one for him that reads 'No one knows that I am a Ninja' and another one that reads 'Guns don't kill...Ninjas do!' He was delighted. Hee. We found a small market and got some fruit and sandwiches to take back to the hotel for dinner. It was a hike to a 'T' station and we moved over a block from Newbury St. to find it. Definitely NOT a normal tourist route. Got lots of disdainful looks as we studied our map. Heh.

Thursday - Up early and on the road OUT of Boston before morning traffic could hit. Nice weather and a pretty drive. .Arrived in Gettysburg around 3:30. Hotel is small and very old. Cheap too....considering. Hit a touristy gift shop. Bought a CD for the car which would take us on a tour of the battlegrounds. Rainy and cool so we decided to try it out. Lots of monuments. Got lost. Stopped for dinner and tried again. The middle school band had played a piece about the battle called 'High Water Mark' (Prince had a trumpet solo) and that's the spot we were post interested in seeing.. Well, the Prince and I anyway. HRH was just driving. Princess was napping. Too many OLD things. Hee. We found High Water Mark - the location of Pickett's Charge - and Prince got out to roam a little bit. The rain storm was giving me some very dramatic sky for picture backdrops. Cool.

Friday - Happy 13th birthday, kiddo!! On the road again...headed for home. Nice, cool drive the whole way. Very little traffic actually. Everyone is tired. Lots of talk about all we had done and seen. Relaxing. Got home around 5 pm. The cat was glad to see us. Emptied the car and picked up a very dusty and happy dog up from Puppy Camp. Everyone is in it's place. All's well with the world. Mountains of vacation laundry to do. Ugh.

If the slide show below doesn't play for you automatically....just click on 'view all images' and it will run. Enjoy!

Big Busy Three Days

The Princess will be 13 in another week. First it was a skateboard ramp....and then it was a rip stick.....and she finally settled for a new bike. A motocross bike. Like the one she flipped over at camp. Which is now sporting a broken back brake cover after just one day 'cause we gave it to her early and she was crowded into a skid by a car going too fast on a dirt road. Scraped knee....BIG time.....lots of tears....but Dad fixed it all and a new cover is on it's way from the manufacturer. And THIS is what 53 looks like. Finally. There were 15 of us. Dinner was great. The song and horns were obnoxious. And oh so much fun. Sometimes it's a good thing that my birthday comes first. Hee..... My son, the Youth Police Academy graduate. His team of ten students - one of four - took the Best Teamwork medal tonight. He has learned to take finger prints, dusted for finger prints, driven a golf cart on a traffic school course, participated in simulated traffic stops, practiced criminal take down methods, done a crime scene investigation, practiced shooting fire arms on a simulator, observed a K-9 drug busting unit in action, and on and on and on. I think it was the highlight of his very busy summer!

And NOW the dog is at Puppy Camp, the car is packed, the ipods are charged and we are OFF to Boston for a week!

Summer is winding down.....isn't it?

I went in to school today for a meeting about Summer Reading Club - which I volunteered to help out with. It begins next week and I will be absent. Friday morning - bright and early - we are headed for Boston...
determined to have a great time.

I have never been so anal about anything in my entire life. Our 'vacations' are usually limited to a weekend of camping or running from one game to the other for a soccer tournament. There have been three weekend trips to Chicago and trips out of town to visit family but this is the first BIG trip to somewhere new. By ourselves. This time we have hotel rooms reserved - and PAID for...tickets to a Red Sox game at Fenway... reservations for the Princess and I to join a whale watch expedition....and Boston Go Cards guaranteed to get us into all the fun sights. We have list after list of the free stuff we wanna do too. Before we get there though, we are stopping at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA. And we are diverting our trip home to include a swing through Gettysburg National Park. We are going to have a GREAT time dammit. And I haven't even packed. I am packing for four because I am the only one in the family able to color coordinate things. REALLY. Ask ANYONE. It's my fatal flaw.

But BEFORE we go, tomorrow we have reservations for 15-17 immediate family members at a restaurant to celebrate HRH and his twin's birthday...Thursday the Prince 'graduates' from the Youth Police Academy...and right now the Princess is off and running on a brand spanking new motocross bike...10 days shy of her 13th birthday. We are going to be on the road for that momentous day so we gave in and she got it early. Hey wait a minute. Didn't she flip over the handle bars of a motocross bike and land on her back at 'the best camp ever'?? With the bike on TOP of her?? How did she sneak that one by us??? Sheesh. I need Tylenol.

The week after our return are four - count 'em FOUR - days of high school soccer team tryouts for the Prince and that is followed by a week of soccer conditioning camp for the Princess. I will be putting in my time with Summer Reading Club for two weeks. Then I think there is a long weekend before I have to report for staff development training. Heh. WHY does all of this stuff have to happen at once??? I think I need a vacation from summer vacation. When does school start again??

PIZZA!!!!

I thought I had been thoroughly spoiled for pizza. Sorry Dominos, Pizza Hut, Little Ceasars, Jets and Home Town Pizza. Stucci's has it all over you. That's a little ice cream shop in town with a pizza take out businees on the side...literally. They have a little personal Chicago style pizza that will knock your socks off. Tasty, full of just the right amount and mix of meat and cheese....yum. Don't get it much though 'cause it's a little out of our way. And then I was web crawling over to one of my favorite blogs - The Pioneer Woman - and she posted pictures of a pizza baking experiment. Dang if it didn't make me hungry to try it. I mean, if she can cook like this for her Marlboro Man and Little Punks....then so can I! And I love my little vegetarian wannabe Princess more than usual on some days. She was totally game to try something new with me. Had to make two pizzas though. Prince and HRH were not so eager to give up their tomato based sauce from a jar. Heh. We started with a premade pizza crust. It was really good but I think I will be experimenting with my own crust recipe next time. Might be a little softer. Brushed that sucker with a little EVOO. Thank you Rachel Ray!! I feel really cool when I say 'EVOO'......and feel even cooler that I even have 'extra virgin olive oil' in my kitchen.
Now three people near and dear to me just had to tell me that this stuff looks like 'crap'. It smelled delicious. Pesto Sauce. Straight from a jar. Gonna try the fresh made stuff next time. Spread it all around..... Fresh mozarella cheese slices. COVER the pesto sauce. HIDE that 'crap!' And yes....I love my cheese! Yum....
Veggies......tried to get the princess to try some fresh mushrooms but we like the soggy ones from the can. Used thin slices of Roma tomatos, thin shards of green pepper and onion this time around.
Add some grated Parmesan to top it off.... And bake.....according to the crust package directions.


Lions and tigers and bears....oh MY! What a difference it makes not to have a tomato based sauce. It's more....exciting. Smells even better. Yum. And made even MORE special with a brownie sundae chaser. You see, when the Prince saw his sister baking and wanted in on the action, I handed him the brownie mix I keep on hand for those 'I'm so bored' summer moments. He is 14, after all. He can read the directions on a box. As for me....I like the pictures. Heh.

Decisions....decisions....

Two days ago they couldn't wait to show me the compressions around their wrists from being hand cuffed. There was all kinds of talk about 'pressure points' and 'take down methods' on the way home. When I picked them up yesterday there were six - no maybe eight - police cars in the parking lot....lights a'flashing. There were 41 7th and 8th graders in their navy blue tees/shorts uniform swarming over the cars, rotating through various traffic stop scenarios. WAY cool. Next week they get to drive through the vehicle training field in golf carts, will do a crime scene investigation and learn to brush for finger prints, travel with the marine unit on a local lake and have a 'graduation' ceremony. THIS was the summer activity that was designed with MY kid in mind.

My kid who was a Three Musketeers fanatic at 5 and was D'Artagnian for Halloween that year. My kid who - as a first grader - insisted that his US Marshal costume would NOT be complete without a real bullet proof vest....something accomplished with a piece of blue quilted material, bias tape and 'magic' stuff inside that was 'guaranteed to stop bullets.' He has wanted to be a police officer for as long as I can remember. He's lost that goal in recent years. In 5th grade he decided that society would be better served if he were a professional soccer player and sports writer. As an 8th grader he had lost that vision entirely. Doesn't know what he wants to be. But hopefully this first ever Youth Police Academy in our community will get him back on track toward SOMEthing.

Lordy but I would HATE to be a kid in this day and age trying to find their way. So many things to choose from. So many things to block the way. I just hope he is happy with whatever he does. Oh, and that he will be able to give his old Mom a break when she is caught going too fast down some obscure dirt road...which is where I tend to get MY speeding tickets. Heh.

Her Very First Concert

Just got back from taking our Princess to her very first concert. The Prince would have been along but we had dropped him off at soccer camp earlier in the day. We went to the DTE Energy Theater - which will forever be 'Pine Knob' to me - and had an absolute blast. We were to see Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith. Both are esteemed Christian singers with quite a resume as song writers and award winners as well. It is very interesting to attend a concert that begins with prayer....and is beleaguered with one power outage after another. I thought the event would be a bit heart wrenching and instead we got to see an awesome entertainer who tried his hardest to put on a show. His first song, the one he said resonated through his head and heart on May 21st when his family lost it's youngest member to a devastating accident - 'Blessed Be Your Name', was the only song he managed to finish before the theater blew a fuse. LOL He laughed a little, prayed a little, danced a little, read the Bible an little and generally kept trying again and again. (There were power outages in surrounding areas that caused the problem.) What a guy! Such courage. Such tenacity. Such a sense of humor!! He declared that 'electrical power may be iffy but the power of God never goes out.' And my favorite part was during his second attempt to sing. When the power quit again, his son Will, who was playing the drums, kept wailing away not realizing that his Dad had stopped singing and the other instruments had ceased playing. SCC rolled his eyes at the audience, turned to Will and signaled him to CUT. Very cute. The crowd was patient as lights flickered and they tried one thing after another. At one point we could hear a huge section of the lawn seat patrons singing their own songs. In the end, Michael W. Smith joined Steven Curtis Chapman on stage for a short sing along with the audience, a keyboard, an acoustic guitar and a single spotlight. It was a beautiful ending to what could have been a disappointing evening. I think they both underestimate their talent and their audience. I could have listened to another hour with just the two of them, the keyboard, the acoustic guitar and the audience. Lovely. So. Very. Lovely.

The Princess declared drummer Will and his guitar playing big brother, Caleb, to be 'hotties' (and I am still telling myself that she has NO idea what that means yet...please!), went to the bathroom 15 times (okay, so I am exaggerating...maybe), ate her way through a tub of popcorn and a package of candied almonds, drank her way through a bottle of water, a lemonade, a Pepsi and a blue raspberry Icee, and bought a glow in the dark necklace. She also delighted in catching the fireflies that were flitting about in the dark as we waited. On the way out of the parking lot she declared the concert to be 'lots of fun'. They are going to try to reschedule so we are supposed to hang on to our tickets.....but I wouldn't have missed this evening for the world. Do you hear that Steven Curtis Chapman and crew?? You totally ROCK!