A post with an international flair

Dan and I just got back from six days in Montreal, and it took me a while to realize why I don't feel all that tired after traveling. Our previous two "big" trips together (without the kids) were to Hawaii and San Francisco, both of which involved a large time-zone change and day-long (or overnight) flights. This one was in the same time zone and only a 1.5 hour flight - awesome! We actually could have driven it (9 hours), but I had a conference to attend and didn't want to use up two days of travel if I didn't have to. Also, it probably helped that we got a full night's sleep most of the nights (although we do have a contract out on a group of  bachelors from the US who managed to wake us up three separate times one night and forced us to switch rooms. Damn Americans.)

Nick met us there (he's our new travel companion - more for Dan, I suspect, than me - and from now on we'll be planning all our travels around where he can meet us, or where he is. Which might backfire when he's doing awesome doctor stuff in Africa or some such place), and he kept Dan busy exploring the city's microbreweries while I was stuck in windowless rooms learning new epidemiologic methods and getting the word out about the College of Public Health at Kent State (and trying to convince senior epidemiologists they'd love to come to work in northeast Ohio).

And we ate, and ate, and walked, and ate. At least two of the three of us had Caribbean, Ethiopian, Tibetan, Portuguese, Indian, Thai, French, and traditional Montreal (ie. poutine) food while we were there. Oh, and we got to experience at least a bit of the Montreal Jazz Festival. Which may have been the only place we didn't eat.

We made it to one of the big markets (oh, and we ate there - shock) which is similar to but smaller than Cleveland's West Side Market.

I already miss using my very limited French and being around people who  first assume I can speak it but aren't annoyed when I can't get past "bon soir". In my next life, I will be multilingual.

 After the rain stopped and we emerged from the market, Dan decided to do some climbing.

And he also found time to visit the Caribbean (but did not pack appropriately, apparently).

Now it's back to a semi-routine, weeding my garden, and preparing for the next trip in this travel-filled summer. Oh, and making life so unbearable for the kids when they don't have camp that they'll beg to be sent all summer next year! Fun times.

During summer break, they have to be forced outside

The nephews are over, after spending the night. Reece is at a science day camp, and I told the other three they had to go outside for at least an hour. There may have been kicking and screaming - I block that kind of thing out.

About 45 minutes into it, Greyson and one nephew came in and said it was raining. I replied, "Don't you want to go out and dance in the rain?", to which Greyson answered, "Heck, no". So I said, "OK, you can come in. Saved by the weather!" Nephew's response (while doing a fist-pump), "I LOVE the weather!"

They are now back on the computers, playing some game Dan approved. At least they're interacting, right? Meanwhile, I just don't have the energy to fight the whining because for some reason, I have as much work to do during my own summer break as I did when I was required to be doing work. Oh, and I may have a sinus infection thanks to missing one day of allergy medication. Maybe half-assed parenting goes right along with the summer break mentality - do the minimum necessary to function. I'm going with that. And, along this theme, I haven't taken any pictures in at least two weeks, even though (or maybe because?) we've been quite active. I'll try to do better, really. Right after my nap.

It's June!

I had this very short-lived crazy idea that I'd try to post a picture every day this summer, which quickly morphed into deciding to attempt a weekly recap every Friday-ish. It's the whole lowering my expectations process that's gotten me where I am today.

So, Dan's mom arrived last Friday, we hit the local farmer's market Saturday morning and Reece had a birthday party in the afternoon. Sunday we hosted all of Dan's relatives and a few of mine, which included a squirt gun war with the neighbor kids across the street, lots of pinochle, and more food that we all could have eaten in three days. Monday we saw the parade and tried to recuperate while not melting in the heat, Tuesday Dan's mom's friends from nursing school who live in the area came over lunch, and then she headed home Wednesday. It felt like a whirlwind visit since we were so busy. Wednesday evening, Greyson gave a 5-minute reading of some of his work from his language arts class (they called it a "coffee house"). Throughout this whole period, I "taught" an online class to undergraduates, which involved setting up the exams, grading discussions, and fielding emails. The class ends tomorrow at midnight, and I'll be glad to have my time back to myself, such as it is.

A few photos for your enjoyment:

The only reason the kids agree to accompany me to the farmer's market is so they can have a crepe or a doughnut (or both, depending on how difficult the week's been and if I have any parenting left in me at all).

Notice the bags at the ready for candy collection. We had a brief talk about the purpose of Memorial Day and the parade right before it started, but I'm not sure how much sank in once they started getting pelted with Tootsie Rolls.

I call this "life with boys". What you can't see is the huge pile of pillows and blankets at their feet on the bottom steps that serve as a barrier to their war bunker.

He just looks so old up there, and he did a great job despite being extremely nervous. I'm really glad they're making the kids do presentations early and often so they won't be petrified to do them in college like I was.