Enumerated Update

Happy Monday, friends! In a crazy fluke of scheduling, the trio are out of school today for a teacher's workday. Do you know that feeling you have on Sunday night after a week of vacation... how you long for just one... more... day? They are experiencing that right now! Lucky ducks.

Anyhoo, here's where we are:

1) Break: When we scheduled our beach trip over a long weekend recently, we looked at taking the week of our break instead. Well, friends, they put a very high premium on that week - double the regular rate and probably four times our "special" offer.  I am determined to beat the system next year, one way or the other. I always assume everyone vacations affordably, but could it be that spring breakers just bite the bullet and pay the exorbitant rates? Am I being unreasonable?

Otherwise, and as I mentioned Friday, we loved our week. Wednesday, when the high was 48 with full sun conditions? I was in heaven. All the laziness has been very relaxing.

2) SJP: Did you happen to see the Vogue 73-questions interview with Sarah Jessica Parker?




I like the format and the ability to have information quickly, without enduring anecdotes.

3) Texting: The trio have become rather proficient at Facetiming. Last week, while I was having a conversation with my mom, Lauren taught herself how to text. Because we were talking, the reality of what she was doing didn't really sink in until my phone started pinging with texts.

And it's the beginning of a new era.

4) Uncoupling: Can we stipulate that we were not at all caught off guard by the dissolution of the Paltrow-Martin union? Beyond that, I have never been on the Gwyneth antipathy bandwagon, but girlfriend could benefit from some PR assistance to make herself a little more relatable.

5) West Wing: Last night when I couldn't sleep, I found the first season of The West Wing on Netflix. Aaron Sorkin and TWW (especially the first couple of seasons) ruined television for me. This is going to be age-revealing (because the show debuted in 1998 and ran for 5-6 seasons), but I was a huge fan. Television has not been the same since. Skip and I had a whole Josh Lyman/Sam Seaborn rapport going on at work, complete with Josh's casual "Ok" in the face of calamity. (Or just his crazy hyperactivity writ large.) Think about the cliff television writing has gone over since the end of Sorkin's television career. The show was clever, impassioned and topical.

And that's it for us.  What is happening with you?

Friday Five

We have had a wonderful, lazy spring break this week. We are heading into the weekend and plan to squeeze a few more days of fun out of our break. In the meantime, here are a few of our favorite moments this week.

 1. Lauren practiced being a server this week. She was pleasant, accurate and always had a smile on her face.

2. The weather has been glorious (until today at least). We have had sunny days and have spent lots of time outdoors. When the trio weren't visiting grandparents (because they definitely made the rounds), we were outside.

3. I haven't mentioned the return of softball. The duo are excited about playing, and William George loves roaming around the ball park. My favorite incident of the night was when George was telling two playmates that he was the oldest. As they went around the group comparing ages (11 and 6), he nodded and said, "Yes. I the oldest."

4. When we went to the beach, the duo wanted to grab a new t-shirt from the Seaside store. I also grabbed a new sweatshirt and have worn said item an embarrassing number of times over the past week. Our spring break has been cold, and this sweatshirt has been perfect. (PS: I love the cold. Sunny, cold weather is my absolute favorite.)

5. Key limes! They are back in stores! We will definitely be making key lime pie this weekend.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Friday's Quote

Truth is the only safe ground to stand on.

- Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Affinity For Airplanes

William George loves airplanes. His entire universe stops spinning on its axis any time he spies an airplane or train. A few weeks ago we were all outside so the trio could visit and play with a neighbor's son when George spotted a plane. Our friends saw his airplane routine (see below), and immediately reminisced about when their son would stop whatever he was doing to watch an airplane fly over. Since we know the day will come all too soon that George no longer registers the overhead traffic (like the girls), I want to be sure we have his routine documented here.

Here he is on the beach, busily digging in the sand.  Do, de-do, do... just working along... when suddenly he hears the familiar sound of an airplane.

His first instinct is to alert everyone around him. "An airplane! An AIIIRRRPLAAAAANNNEEE!"

 

Then he commands us all: "LLLOOOOOOKKKKK!!!!"

The moment the plane is directly overhead is bittersweet, as it offers his best vantage point (good!) but also marks the moment when the plane will fly away (boo!).

 

He usually offers some parting commentary about the plane, i.e., discussing the plane's size, color, and jet noise volume. 

Finally, he looks after the aircraft longingly before returning to resume his activity.  

Lauren was always too busy to stop any activity for these types of observations. She would glance up quickly without interrupting her task at hand. Grace and George make a study of this type of thing. "Helicopter" was one of Grace's earlier words, and she reacted similarly to George about planes. She still glances up, but her excitement has understandably waned. (They also both love the moon.) 

Anyrate. Since we know we are seeing the peak of his interest, we want to have this documented since it is one of my favorite things ever. 

Beach Trip, Spring 2014

Last weekend we took a quick trip to the beach. Back in the fall, we had received one of those too-good-to-be-true e-mails from a resort we often frequent, and we jumped at the chance to have a final weekend at the beach before winter arrived. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we had to cancel our trip. We rescheduled, and then canceled again. Last weekend was our third attempt, and we tentatively packed and prepared to depart. Skip's parents joined us, and we had a wonderful time.

The first night there we explored the village and took Gracie to her favorite restaurant, Cantina Laredo. In a word: queso. She likes what she likes. 

The next morning, having checked the forecast closely in the days leading up to our trip, we took to the beach early. The weather was chilly; perfect for a sweatshirt, capri pants and bare feet. I could have stayed out there for days on end, blissfully enjoying the beach without the involvement of perspiration. It was heavenly.   

I have no idea what the winter version of the umbrellas are called, but they were perfect for keeping the wind at bay.

Skip, Wm Geo and Sally

The trio were perfectly comfortable since running around and digging various holes in the sand tended to keep them warm.

William George had a moment of reservation when we first arrived. He said, "NO!" and "STOPPIT!" to the wind, and he even asked to go back inside. 

"I go inside," he said.

Fortunately, he stuck it out and ended up having a blast. 

After a few laps on the beach, he was in love (again). 

We were expecting rain the following day so we decided to spend the entire day on the beach.

Since we had all of that time on our hands, the trio enjoyed digging, making sandcastles and getting their feet wet in the gulf.

Papa joined in on the fun. 

Grace, our resident bird watcher, added a number of birds (sea gulls, blue heron, sparrows, sand piper, egret) to her bird log, and she saw several pelicans and got to watch them dive for fish.  

Aside from birding, they enjoyed the beach after a long winter.

We actually stayed in Saturday night and ordered pizza from a restaurant in the village. We knew we had some rain to contend with Sunday so we struck out early for Seaside. We checked out all the sights of 30A, and then stopped for lunch at Great American Cafe, one of our favorites.  

When the rain arrived, we were prepared with a new movie (Planes), coloring and playing various games with Papa (Simon Says, Red Light/Green Light, Mother May I).  

By Monday, the rain had subsided. We took in some shopping, had a nice lunch and then headed home.  Our quick trip was a just what we needed to say goodbye to winter and welcome spring. 

PS: Special thanks to Papa and Gran!