Summer

Scorching heat 

Tan lines

Goodman pool

No Mosquitos! 

Brewers baseball games

Bike rides

Lap swimming

Staying up too late

Visits from out of town

Moving too fast

Overdue pedicure

Beer

Listening to Paul Simon

Sunshine

And no rain in sight.

spring sports

So, it's springtime, which means we have fun Saturday morning activities again.  We have a soccer player and 2 flag football players.  I've gotten some good video, and I threw together this little movie of our soccer star.  Please ignore his dirty shirt.  No matter what I've tried, I cannot get it clean again.  I'd love to meet the person who thought white would be a good color for a kindergartner's jersey.

Football videos to come...

Quick post especially for my fav sis-in-law A

I looked at two's dirty hands the other night and asked him, "what would aunt A say about your hands?"
"She would say 'disgusting!'" he replied.  It still took 2 hours before he washed them.

spring break 2012

Last day of spring break chez mooncrawl.  We've had a good one - low key, familiar.  I'm starting to itch for a bigger adventure for us.  Maybe next year.  I want my children to swim in the ocean or see mountains or do something not so midwest.

Alas, we were very midwest, Wisconsin specifically, this spring break.  We did our annual two night trip to a water park in the Dells (the Wisconsin Dells).  We'e done this for the past 6 years with a group of families from our neighborhood.  We've evolved into a very sweet little group.  My guys are the only boys in the group, which tickles me.  Our time together always starts off a little awkward (the girls are quite chummy and my boys have to figure their way in - which gets more awkward the older they all get), but after not-so-long, they were playing tag in the hallway and laughing about all sorts of nonsense.  My oldest boy seems the most awkward in these situations, which is in part due to his age and in part due to his social insecurities (increased because of his age, I believe), but even he figured it out.

We adults share meals, so I only had to contribute to one meal for the entire trip.  We ate well and always have enough.  It is an easy vacation, and one that leaves us happy.

We were gone at the beginning of the week, so I squeezed a couple of days of work in.  On Friday, I was feeling the urge to get out of dodge again, so the boys and I headed off to an adventure.  We went to the House on the Rock in Spring Green, WI.  This attraction is often listed as a "don't miss" on many Wisconsin tourism websites.  I recall vaguely going there as a child, but had never taken my kids.  It was pricey ($75 for 4 of us) but I felt like we got our money's worth out of the experience.  We haven't stopped talking or thinking about it since.

It was wild.  Wild and wacky and weird, and a bit creepy and curious too.  The house itself was built by a man named Alex Jordan, who so loved this rock outcropping where he picnicked as a child that he wanted to build a retreat so that he could enjoy art and music there.  He was a bit of a madman, I'm concluding.  The house itself (only a small piece of the experience, it turns out) was cozy and unique, and we enjoyed it so much we walked through it twice.  We fantasized about sleeping on the low couches in front of the several huge, stone fireplaces scattered throughout the house.

We left the house the continue on to Tours 2 and 3, and this is when it started getting strange.  We ended up in these warehouse buildings full of collections of stuff -- guns, old fashioned cash registers, dolls, lighters, miniature ships, circus figures, doll houses, crowns and jewels from England, more guns, more dolls, manequins, decorative christmas plates, etc.  And music - Alex Jordan loved his musical instruments and had dozens of instruments "playing" (mostly simulated) orchestra or circus music.

Alex Jordan's collections were neverending, it seemed.  Wide varied and extensive.  His crowning achievement was building the world's largest (so claimed) indoor carousel.  It was functioning but we could not ride it.  It was huge and chocked full of all sorts of animals; however, none were horses (the horses, it turns out, were displayed on a huge wall in another part of the building).

We were tired by the end.  Tired and thirsty.  I strongly recommend carrying in some water, as there were no water fountains at all throughout the journey and only one cafe selling food/drink.  I asked the woman at the gift shop at the end how far we had walked, and she said we went 3 1/2 miles.  It took us a good 4 hours.  I felt like we had really accomplished something by getting through it.

I was talking about this at Easter yesterday, and my dad told me about a great family connection.  Turns out my grandparents (my dad's parents) were friends with Alex Jordan.  Alex gave them a key to the house, as well as the information about how to climb in through a trapdoor (no longer needed - but necessary in the early days).  So, my grandparents used to trek out there to hang out at the house when they wanted to get out of town.

Even before I heard this story, I was intrigued with Alex Jordan.  I am more so now, with this personal family connection.  I ordered a biography about him online, and I am anxious to read it.

***********

Last day of our spring break, and we are quickly coming apart here.  Kids are anxious to go out and spend their easter money, but they are squabbling and fighting and sort of ruining it for them.  I do need to go grocery shopping, and they will have to join me - joy oh joy.  I also have to remember that I work this afternoon at 4 pm.

Alright, the clamor is increasing and these children need a mother to attend to them.  I guess that's me.

St Patrick's day and Easter

Several weeks ago, Bob and I had our first weekend away with no children since having children more than 11 years ago.  For the past few years, I've been trading one night/year watching my dear friend T's children (she has three also).  I took a night in the winter, and she took one in the summer.  T and I each celebrated our 20th wedding anniversaries last year (and we were in each other's wedding), and we recalled our lofty plans for this event.  T was going to be on an Alaskan cruise.  I was going to be in Hawaii.  Kids and life got in the way (and thank goodness for that, right?  RIGHT?!), so I suggested instead we do the next best thing and take each other's kids for the whole weekend.  So, on St. Patrick's day weekend, Bob and I had 48 blissful child free hours to ourselves.

Our plan was to head to Chicago shortly after taking the children to school; however, a runaway doggie ("Doh!" said in my best Homer voice) delayed us briefly.  After we ran through the neighborhood and captured him, we set off.  It was a very leisurely weekend, loosely planned, and perfect.  We had a hotel in the heart of the action - on the Chicago River, with Navy Pier in view.  We initially planned on parking on the outskirts of Chicago and using mass transportation to get around the city, but we decided to just keep our car with us.  So glad we did!  Turns out we drove a lot, and it was so nice to have the convenience of our car.

We went to a couple of architectural salvage places.  We stopped by some interesting shops.  We did the walking tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's designed houses in Oak Park (something I've been wanting to do for years).  We went to Ikea.  We ordered room service.  We slept in.  We got a diet coke at McDonalds whenever we wanted to.  We talked without interruption.  We sat quietly without interruption.  We ate at non-child friendly places (and ordered exactly what we wanted).  We did another tour (this one by car, to save time) of the Gold Coast area of downtown Chicago.

Although I had gotten some guide books from the library, the couple that I grabbed to bring along didn't have decent driving maps of Chicago.  I couldn't find our Chicago map in our glove box either.  We just managed our way around by using a subway map, a bit of instinct (tracking planes in the sky, looking to see which way the sun was setting, remembering names of streets from when I used to listen to Chicago radio WGN's traffic reports), and a lot of luck.  And, at one point, I pulled out the US map, though that didn't do much but make us laugh at the absurdity of our situation.  Bob trusted my inner Magellen, my inner Lewis and Clark, and we did great.

We decided to drive through town, instead of taking the tollway, from Ikea back to our hotel room.  This drive took us probably a couple of hours, but it was fascinating.  We drove through some ethnic neighborhoods - so much to look at!  We drove past Wrigley Field.  We saw tons and tons of very drunk young adults (turns out St. Patrick's day in Chicago is kind of a big thing).

Throughout the weekend, I said several times, "so this is what 'living in Chicago' looks like."  I've never been able to picture what the neighborhoods looked like for normal people who lived in Chicago - not the high rise condos on the lake or the planned developments in the suburbs.  Reminded me a lot of the residential neighborhoods in Milwaukee.

The only bad part of the weekend was when we received a phone call on Friday night from my dear friend T who reported that One hurt his arm while walking in the woods.  "I don't think it's broken," T said.  I had to stop myself from packing up and heading home right then.  I told myself (and Bob reminded me) that the kids were in excellent hands.  I checked with One via text here and there throughout the weekend, and he reported it hurt, but was ok.  When we returned to Madison to pick up the kids, I could tell his arm didn't look good.  It was still swollen and he was protectively holding it and not using it.  One and I went to urgent care, and sure enough, it was broken.  First broken bone in the family, and it happened when I wasn't here.  Do I still feel some guilt?  Yes indeed, but I think I'm the only one who's bothered by it.

****

Tomorrow is Easter, and we are going to my parents' house, as we do every Easter.  We will celebrate with my cousins, uncle, and my brother and his family, as we do every Easter.  It will be a pleasant day, and I look forward to spending some time with my family.  We will miss those who aren't with us - because of death or long-distance.  I treasure our tradition.  My mom asked me to bring a "hot vegetable dish" and I struggled to come up with something that didn't include soup.  I plan to make a black bean tart, and I suppose I should get going on it now.

Happy Easter to you all!

Three on a bike

So exhausted on this long day.  The spring time change is kicking my butt, and I am only recalling now that I remember having similar problems in years' past.  Not complaining though, because having daylight until after well after 7 pm is just delicious.

I have dug deep and found enough in reserves to put my bitterness I felt towards my supervisor aside.  Good thing, too, as many of my colleagues are feeling what I felt last week, and it helps to not have all of us wanting to slap her silly.  I hold onto slight hope that she will grow into a decent supervisor, but these growing pains are not fun for any of us.

I never did have that beer at 4:14 pm.  I forget what happened.  Life, I suppose.  Oh well...

I need to move onto a happy subject.  My baby, sweet Three who turns 6 already next week (already he's six?  how did that happen??) decided he wanted to ride his bike without training wheels.  I tried to teach him last summer for about 7 seconds, but he got angry and didn't want to do it.  "Fine," I said.  "You have your whole life to learn how to ride a bike."

In the fall of last year, I arranged a trade with a neighbor for a tagalong (we had one that was too big and she had one that was too small - love when these problems are so easily solved).  Three and I rode all over together on the tagalong, and he loved it.  "Woo Hoo!" he would shout, as we zipped around the streets of Madison.  "Go faster, mom!  Faster!!"

So, on Sunday Bob pulled down Three's bike, sans training wheels, from storage.  I was lazily lounging in bed, and I heard Bob say, "Three!  Look at you go!  How did you learn how to ride a bike??"  I popped up out of bed and looked out the window, and sure enough.  He was wobbling down the sidewalk all alone on his bike.  "Mom taught me," he shouted back.

Not true.  Other than riding (faster!) on the tagalong and that ill-fated 7 second lesson, I had nothing to do with this.  Three worked all day on Sunday.  Wobbling, a little less the more he rode.  A little more confident with each lap around the block.  He used the brakes more than his shoes.  He figured out how to start and turn.  And now, he is completely independent and loving it.  And, yes indeed, going faster!

So, for the last two days, he has ridden his bike to school.  He asked me to write his combination to his lock on a sheet of paper, which he carefully folded and put in his pocket.  When I picked him up from school yesterday, he carefully unfolded his sheet, and said, "let's crack the code!"  He thoughtfulness and care broke my heart a little.

My baby is growing up.

March 7

Well hey there stranger,

Yup, I've been absent from this here blog lately.  We are in the throws of some major changes at work, and it is making me exhausted and a bit cranky at the end of the day.  And, no one wants to read a cranky blog.  I had a very bad meeting last week (felt terribly insulted by my new supervisor) and I am digging deep to find the will to move past it.  But it is hard.  I had a one-on-one meeting with her today, and I spent most of my time chewing her out in my head.  I'm feeling very tight around her, and I don't like it.  I need to move on.  Digging deep.  Digging still.

Moving on...  I am implementing a brand new parenting strategy around here.  Boy One and Two have been bickering all afternoon (the entire 1 hour that they have been home).  What's new.  So, I am making them take the dog for a walk around the block every time they complain about each other.  "Uh oh, looks like you need more time to figure out how to be good brothers together.  Why don't you take another walk!" I cheerily suggest.  After only 2 walks, the tide turned and they went across the street the play basketball at our neighbor's hoop.

I'm going in interrupt myself here.  I just love the fact that my neighbors', whose children are all adults now, have kept up their basketball hoop and have invited my children to play there.  My kids frequently are over there playing, and they bring their friends over also.  I need to bake some cookies soon and bring them over as a thank you.  Such sweet neighbors I have.

Back to the children.  Well, that didn't last.  They just came in and added to their litany.  I suggested another walk or a joint effort of cleaning a room together.  They came up with the idea of heading down to the school to play basketball there with a neighborhood friend.  I told them I'd swing by in about 30 minutes on my way to get their youngest brother (who is thataways on an after school playdate) and One said, "No!  We need longer to bond!"  Yes, I get it that I'm being suckered, but if it gets them out of the house for a while, I'll take it.

I have more to add - so much more - but not now.  I am considering cracking open a beer and enjoying the silence of my house.  Is 4:14 pm too early to drink alone?

Back soon (I hope).