4th of July etc.
Jul. 5th, 2011 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mamajoanWe had quite a busy holiday weekend.
On Friday night we packed up and drove out to our summer cottage -- yet another example of how life is getting easier as the kids get older. Never before had I tried such a crazy thing as packing up and driving out on a Friday night, especially since I hadn't gotten a chance to do ANY packing the night before, because we went to our town's Independence Day celebration. They always do it the Thursday before July 4th, at the field that's literally like four blocks from our house. So we went, and then we went home and watched the fireworks from our back window. Ruthie has recently developed a fear of skunks and is convinced that any time anyone is outside after dark, a skunk is going to run up and spray them. So she wanted to stay inside to watch the fireworks ;) which was fine with me anyway since it was also mosquito-y.
ANYway, so Friday evening we packed up, which is what I was trying to say about the kids being older. Instead of me having to do all the packing while stopping every two minutes to fulfill some urgent kid need, they actually helped...well, Isaac helped, and I only had to stop every three minutes ;) to chivvy Ruthie back on task.
The kids are really good travelers, too. They do really well with the car ride to the cottage -- granted it's only an hour, not like six hours, but still, they sit still and zone out or color or whatever, and it's really fine. Such a nice change from when they were babies and would scream the whole time we were in the car, whether for five minutes or an hour! Of course, it also helps that they love going to the cottage. :)
We had a somewhat eventful ride this time. I was worried that I'd have the setting sun right in my eyes, but fortunately it was a bit cloudy so that wasn't an issue. We did drive through one very impressive cloudburst, the kind where all of a sudden it's pouring rain so hard you can't see more than a few feet in front of you. That was nerve-wracking, but fortunately brief.
Then, as the rain was letting up, Ruthie yells out "A RAINBOW!" and indeed there was the most amazing double rainbow (I swear) off to our left, stretching alongside the highway. I of course could only get glimpses of it as I was driving, but the kids were rapt. I also noticed quite a few cars -- at least a half-dozen -- that had pulled over to the side of the road to take pictures.
Anyway, but we made good time and got to the cottage by about 8:45, just in time to say hi to grandma, put on pajamas, and go to bed. ;)
Saturday, we hung out at the cottage and befriended a couple of kids next door. It was a pretty mellow day. In the night, there were fireworks over the lake, which Ruthie slept through, but Isaac couldn't, so I let him get up and watch them for a while.
Sunday, we played a bit in the morning, but then it started to rain a bit, so we packed up and left. I make that sound like a quick, efficient process, don't I just? Ha! But we were in no rush, so there was no need to be efficient. After we finally got everything packed, we went to Ocean State Job Lots, which is a sort of discount chain warehouse store that just opened a new branch near our cottage. That was...interesting. ;) Then we drove home and went to bed.
Monday, the kids and I just hung out in the morning, then we went to Target for "just a few things," and let me repeat, ha! In fact as we were getting out of the car in the Target parking lot, I said, "okay, remember we're just going to get x and y, and maybe one or two other things," which is usually how I try to remind them that I'm not going to buy junk food or toys. ;) And Isaac goes, "You always say that, and then we always get a zillion things." Which is vicious slander ;) and also of course 100% true. And we continued that tradition on this occasion as well. ;)
Then we went to the playground near our house that has sprinklers, and much fun was had. I saw a tiny toddler with a t-shirt reading "I have more friends on Facebook than you," and I complimented the parents on this, and they said that the website also has "follow me on Twitter" kid shirts, but when I went to look, they didn't have it. Oh well.
Then we had to go home and change into dry clothes, and then grocery shopping which is yet another thing that's at least marginally easier with bigger kids. ;)
Yesterday, which was Monday, the July 4th holiday, Isaac suddenly developed a burning need to acquire the second book in the Captain Underpants series. I bought him the first book, I think last year on his birthday, but he has had nooooooooo interest in it whatsoever. Not even when a lot of his friends were tearing through the series. Not even when he devoured the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, which are at least somewhat similar. Nope, he refused to even touch Captain Underpants. But all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago he picked it up and read it. And as I said, yesterday he decided that he must have the second book. He wanted to go to the library and get it. I explained that the library was closed for the holiday. He pouted. Then he wanted to go to the bookstore and buy it. I let him look up the bookstore himself to see if it was open. Perhaps alarmingly ;) , he was able to use my computer to navigate to portersquarebooks.com all by himself, with no help from me. But he couldn't find the place where it said that they were closed on July 4th, so I found that for him, and he pouted some more.
So I said we could order the book on Amazon, and since I have Amazon Prime, it would arrive by Wednesday. He accepted that idea, so we went to Amazon and found that we could order books 2, 3, and 4 together for $80, or a boxed set of the first 5 books for $20. Even Isaac could see that the latter made more sense, so we ordered the boxed set.
To reiterate -- we placed the order on Monday, July 4th, the holiday. I didn't pay for expedited shipping; you get free 2-day shipping automatically with Amazon Prime. But the books arrived today -- the very next day!! Amazing.
And Isaac has already almost finished the second book in the series. Good thing we didn't order just that one! ;)
More to come...
On Friday night we packed up and drove out to our summer cottage -- yet another example of how life is getting easier as the kids get older. Never before had I tried such a crazy thing as packing up and driving out on a Friday night, especially since I hadn't gotten a chance to do ANY packing the night before, because we went to our town's Independence Day celebration. They always do it the Thursday before July 4th, at the field that's literally like four blocks from our house. So we went, and then we went home and watched the fireworks from our back window. Ruthie has recently developed a fear of skunks and is convinced that any time anyone is outside after dark, a skunk is going to run up and spray them. So she wanted to stay inside to watch the fireworks ;) which was fine with me anyway since it was also mosquito-y.
ANYway, so Friday evening we packed up, which is what I was trying to say about the kids being older. Instead of me having to do all the packing while stopping every two minutes to fulfill some urgent kid need, they actually helped...well, Isaac helped, and I only had to stop every three minutes ;) to chivvy Ruthie back on task.
The kids are really good travelers, too. They do really well with the car ride to the cottage -- granted it's only an hour, not like six hours, but still, they sit still and zone out or color or whatever, and it's really fine. Such a nice change from when they were babies and would scream the whole time we were in the car, whether for five minutes or an hour! Of course, it also helps that they love going to the cottage. :)
We had a somewhat eventful ride this time. I was worried that I'd have the setting sun right in my eyes, but fortunately it was a bit cloudy so that wasn't an issue. We did drive through one very impressive cloudburst, the kind where all of a sudden it's pouring rain so hard you can't see more than a few feet in front of you. That was nerve-wracking, but fortunately brief.
Then, as the rain was letting up, Ruthie yells out "A RAINBOW!" and indeed there was the most amazing double rainbow (I swear) off to our left, stretching alongside the highway. I of course could only get glimpses of it as I was driving, but the kids were rapt. I also noticed quite a few cars -- at least a half-dozen -- that had pulled over to the side of the road to take pictures.
Anyway, but we made good time and got to the cottage by about 8:45, just in time to say hi to grandma, put on pajamas, and go to bed. ;)
Saturday, we hung out at the cottage and befriended a couple of kids next door. It was a pretty mellow day. In the night, there were fireworks over the lake, which Ruthie slept through, but Isaac couldn't, so I let him get up and watch them for a while.
Sunday, we played a bit in the morning, but then it started to rain a bit, so we packed up and left. I make that sound like a quick, efficient process, don't I just? Ha! But we were in no rush, so there was no need to be efficient. After we finally got everything packed, we went to Ocean State Job Lots, which is a sort of discount chain warehouse store that just opened a new branch near our cottage. That was...interesting. ;) Then we drove home and went to bed.
Monday, the kids and I just hung out in the morning, then we went to Target for "just a few things," and let me repeat, ha! In fact as we were getting out of the car in the Target parking lot, I said, "okay, remember we're just going to get x and y, and maybe one or two other things," which is usually how I try to remind them that I'm not going to buy junk food or toys. ;) And Isaac goes, "You always say that, and then we always get a zillion things." Which is vicious slander ;) and also of course 100% true. And we continued that tradition on this occasion as well. ;)
Then we went to the playground near our house that has sprinklers, and much fun was had. I saw a tiny toddler with a t-shirt reading "I have more friends on Facebook than you," and I complimented the parents on this, and they said that the website also has "follow me on Twitter" kid shirts, but when I went to look, they didn't have it. Oh well.
Then we had to go home and change into dry clothes, and then grocery shopping which is yet another thing that's at least marginally easier with bigger kids. ;)
Yesterday, which was Monday, the July 4th holiday, Isaac suddenly developed a burning need to acquire the second book in the Captain Underpants series. I bought him the first book, I think last year on his birthday, but he has had nooooooooo interest in it whatsoever. Not even when a lot of his friends were tearing through the series. Not even when he devoured the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, which are at least somewhat similar. Nope, he refused to even touch Captain Underpants. But all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago he picked it up and read it. And as I said, yesterday he decided that he must have the second book. He wanted to go to the library and get it. I explained that the library was closed for the holiday. He pouted. Then he wanted to go to the bookstore and buy it. I let him look up the bookstore himself to see if it was open. Perhaps alarmingly ;) , he was able to use my computer to navigate to portersquarebooks.com all by himself, with no help from me. But he couldn't find the place where it said that they were closed on July 4th, so I found that for him, and he pouted some more.
So I said we could order the book on Amazon, and since I have Amazon Prime, it would arrive by Wednesday. He accepted that idea, so we went to Amazon and found that we could order books 2, 3, and 4 together for $80, or a boxed set of the first 5 books for $20. Even Isaac could see that the latter made more sense, so we ordered the boxed set.
To reiterate -- we placed the order on Monday, July 4th, the holiday. I didn't pay for expedited shipping; you get free 2-day shipping automatically with Amazon Prime. But the books arrived today -- the very next day!! Amazing.
And Isaac has already almost finished the second book in the series. Good thing we didn't order just that one! ;)
More to come...
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Date: 2011-07-06 01:51 pm (UTC)