Summer, day 7

Thursdays Dan works late, so the boys and I do a variety of things for dinner those nights. Last night, we walked to the newly-opened middle eastern restaurant up the street and then crossed the street to Walgreens to get a dessert for each. Reece chose a Toll House ice cream cookie sandwich and was surprisingly clean after eating it. But if how messy you are after eating something is any indication of how much you enjoyed it, Greyson fell in love with his drumstick:

Summer, Day 6 - Recap of SF trip

I started this post this morning and am just now, at 11:30pm, finishing it. Turns out it takes a long time to upload lots of photos!

I just cannot stress enough how much fun we had in SF. It is, of course, an interesting city to visit, but having a personal tour guide who you also know very well definitely took the whole experience up a notch. We didn't have to focus very much on how to get where we were going, nor did we have to consult very many public transportation schedules. In addition, we got very good at spotting open parking places (There's one! Hurry, get it before that little old lady does!). We even got to meet Nick's bosses at a BBQ they threw for him since he will be leaving there soon.

The only area we didn't visit that I would have liked to was the Mission District, but we saw the old Presidio (drove all around it, in fact, not entirely by choice, but that's half the fun), saw the Golden Gate Bridge from at least four different vantage points and levels of fog, saw a real mummy at the Palace of the Legion of Honor (say that five times, fast), ate great Chinese, Thai, pizza, and Mexican/Indian fusion (sounds weird, was terrific), and even got to the beach and Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli Square (ate ice cream at the original store) and Alcatraz and saw huge redwoods. Oh, and we attended a Giants game. So here are some pictures:

At the Giants game the evening we arrived. That huge Coke bottle in the background is a series of slides for kids to go down. The field abuts the water, so they have a splash count for balls that go over the wall and into the bay. Kayakers park themselves out there to retrieve the balls.

Nick and me at Muir Woods, the closest redwoods to SF.

Itty bitty Dan, really big tree.

Nick at the Tennessee Valley Beach. We walked 1.5 miles from the parking area to get here, and it was hilly!

View of the Golden Gate Bridge from on top of Twin Peaks (perhaps the highest point in the city - I'm not sure).

Fresh fish arriving at a Chinese market.

Nick and me at the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. We saw lots of plants and structures but didn't actually have tea.

A requisite picture, as anyone who knows Dan will understand. I'm surprised he didn't have a Grateful Dead T-shirt on that day.

Sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf. You didn't want to be downwind if at all possible.

Dan getting creamed in Pong by a 10-year old (son of friends of ours), at the cool Musee Mecanique.

The Rock.

Me inside one of the cells. They used to close visitors in to let them really feel what it was like, but the doors have gotten so rusted that someone got stuck, so they stopped that.

View of the G.G. Bridge from The Rock. (Did I mention how beautiful the weather was nearly the whole time we were there? My nose stayed slightly red the whole time, even with sunscreen applications.)

Summer, Day 5 - Gardening

This is actually yesterday's post. I should have had plenty of time last night to write this, since we had no after camp/work activities, but somehow we were still busy and I didn't even get a few things accomplished that I wanted to (like hanging the pegboard in the garage).

We are doing our level best here at Phillips-Turner Central to eat fresh, organic food that comes from nearby this summer. The boys and I have been pretty good about getting to the Saturday morning farmer's market near us (their motivation lies in the pastries and crepes that are sold there) for the past few years. This year, we also decided to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), thanks in large part to Tara mentioning them to me when I still had time to sign up. (The previous two years I missed the sign-up window.) So, every Friday we pick up our allotment and figure out what to make with it all. Part of the idea is to be introduced to new produce, so I've had to do some searching for recipes online and even had to look up what the heck the item was that I received. To give you an idea of what we get in a week, here's what came in our bag last week:
                       -     1 whole roasting chicken, giblets included (approx 5 lbs)

-          1 bunch green onions

-          1 bunch red beets with tops

-          1 bunch white radishes (French breakfast style)

-          1 bunch garlic scapes (2 scapes per bunch)

-          1 bunch spinach

-          1 head soil grown romaine lettuce

-          1 dozen free range organic brown eggs

-          1 quart strawberries

I bought three extra quarts of strawberries when I picked up our portion and then managed to leave most of them, rinsed, on the counter for two days without doing anything with them other than letting everyone chow at will. So by Sunday, I had about half left and they were quite mushy, so I made them into homemade ice cream. See how I take something very healthy and make it not so?? Yesterday for dinner I made sauteed tilapia with beets and beet greens, which was much better than I expected. Neither of the boys liked it, and Dan said it wasn't something that he'd like to have frequently (the beets part, not the tilapia - that was awesome), but it was tasty and we felt very healthy eating it. Well, except for the bacon that was part of the beets recipe. I see a theme emerging.

The final way we're focusing on healthy, local eating is by having a small garden. Reece and I are the gardeners, and we've planted cherry/grape/pear tomato plants, sweet peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, and a chocolate mint plant in our new backyard (which also now has grass - see photos below). I went out today to tie the tomato plants to their stakes, and I noticed THREE itty bitty tomatoes growing! I'm surprised at how excited I am about this. All the plants are doing very well right now, so I'm cautiously optimistic. I don't, however, expect to bring many of the little tomatoes into the house, because I expect that they'll mostly be eaten right off the bushes. Reece and I have a weakness.

The garden from afar, and GRASS! Oh, and the swingset that has yet to be fully assembled. That was also on my list for last night.

The garden close-up, and the little tomatoes even closer-up.

Summer, day 4

Reece's school started "camp" today, which means they go on field trips and have special visitors and theme weeks and, as he informed me today, no line leader or weather or calendar time. The theme this week is art, and I'm not sure if that is why he came home today with five pieces of artwork or not. He's not usually that prolific, but I just can never tell what's going on in that little noggin of his. Here is one of the pieces, which he told me is a drawing of Grandma Phillips driving home from our house, passing a blueberry tree:

Now, I know blueberries grow in Michigan, but if she's passing a plant that grows blueberries this size and isn't telling me, she's in BIG trouble. Also, this is the first time I've seen Reece forget to include one of the E's in his name. I guess if you have three of them, you can afford to drop one now and then.

Summer, day 3

Today was the day of birthday parties. Greyson had one at our local pool, and Reece's was at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Greyson prefers to go to parties on his own now, so I have no photos from the fun he had (and he definitely had a lot, because he was the only boy there). However, I accompanied Reece to his and we got to do a scavenger hunt together, identifying both live and stuffed animals:

Summer, day 2

OK, I'm already a day behind. Whatever. Yesterday was baseball, baseball, baseball, and a block party. I did manage to fit in a nap (for me), but that may have been the only time I was actually indoors.

Greyson is on a "minors" team, the Portland Seadogs. The kids pitch, which makes for very interesting games. Thankfully, there are some rules that prevent games from going on forever, but yesterday's still lasted 2 1/2 hours - in the heat & sun. And I would like to say that, had I had any say in the color of the uniforms, white would have been my LAST choice.

Reece's games, by comparison, only last for 1 hour, everyone gets to hit and run the bases, and the kids are hysterical. One of Reece's teammates left the field right in the middle of the game, walked over to his dad on the sidelines and handed him his hat and glove, and proclaimed he had to go to the bathroom. At any given time, only half of each team is remotely paying attention to the game. And EVERY player who was assigned to 3rd base had to be reminded not to stand right on the base, every inning. At least Reece's uniform is a dark color.

The first day of summer

I know the calendar says differently, but today was our official first day of summer. Greyson is done with school until August, and camp starts Monday. And since in previous years I've felt like summer just flew by and this one appears to be ready to set an all-time record for speed due to all our activities, I've decided to attempt to post one picture each day the whole summer. Hopefully, that will at least force me to stop each evening and think about what we've done that day (and, you know, smell the roses).

So here's today's photo op, courtesy of Reece's school picnic:

And on a totally separate topic, Happy 34th Birthday to my cousin, Jill! Wait, wasn't it just yesterday when you were 6 and I was 12 and I had to bribe you to sit still long enough for me to braid your hair??

It's June all over over here

We seem to have exploded into June, or maybe June has exploded all over us. Dan and I took this little trip to San Francisco (more about that later) at what turned out to be a bit of an inopportune time at home, and now it's suddenly almost June 10th and the last day of school and baseball and camp are starting and I'm trying to wrap up one job and start another and SHEESH I need a vacation. Or at least to go back to the one I was on.

So to back up a minute, we have moved through Greyson's elementary school years (at least at his current school) pretty clueless, it turns out. In our district, the kids are at the lower elementary schools in their neighborhoods from kindergarten through 4th grade, and then for 5th and 6th they are all combined at an upper elementary school. Which means that this year was his last at his current school and, of course, that means tons of end-of-year activities for his grade. So Dan and I managed to schedule our trip to leave on the day that Greyson was to perform as Sitting Bull in the 4th grade Living Museum. On the same night that Reece had T-ball practice in a completely different area of our town. That Friday was the annual Ice Cream Social and International Festival at Greyson's school, a not-to-be-missed event. And then, that Saturday both boys had their first baseball games of the season, again at different corners of the city but at least at different times. Plus Reece had a birthday party to attend on Sunday. Thank goodness my mom was the one we left in charge and she's quite organized and can follow directions well! We also did manage to, completely by accident, schedule our return so that both Dan and I could make it to Greyson's 4th grade clap-out today, so all was not totally lost. But now we both have to get back to work full-force tomorrow and even though Greyson has a half-day of school, he will probably be stuck at aftercare until close to 6pm. At least 5 years from now, when Reece goes through all this, we'll be fully prepared. And at the end of Greyson's lower elementary years, I can say that the most important thing I've learned is not to take any trips at the week before school starts or during the two weeks leading up to the last day of school.

Walking over the bridge during clap-out (after Dan "embarrassed" him by yelling out "Way to go, Greyson!").

And now here we are, nearly the middle of June and up to our elbows in baseball/T-ball, picnics, parties, and Indians games. Here's an example of the upcoming weekend:

Friday:     5ish - Dan picks up the weekly allotment from our CSA and gets it home and into the fridge
               6-7:15 - Reece's school picnic (have to bring food)
Saturday: 8-12 - Dan works at the clinic (he's also on call)
               9-11ish (please God not another 3 hour game!) - Greyson's baseball game
               12-1 - Reece's t-ball game
               1-4 - Lynette and Greyson go to Indians game to use one of our 5 season tickets days
               6 - ? - Block party (bring food)
Sunday:   12-? - Church picnic (bring food)
               2-4 - Reece's friend's birthday party (nowhere near the picnic, of course)

I know, SUCH a rough life. And it's not that we don't enjoy all of it, it's just that my calendar is beginning to protest all the attention I've given it recently. I think it actually glares at me when I try to schedule overlapping events, but if I don't keep everyone's schedule in the same place, we end up at the wrong field at the wrong time with the wrong kid, and then I die from the whining.

On a more uplifting note, our trip was AWESOME. I wish everyone could have Nick as their tour guide in SF, because he is patient, flexible, up for any type of food or activity AND knows how to drive those hills without gasping. Have you ever heard Bill Cosby's take on Driving in San Francisco? If not, you really should, but it takes on a whole new meaning when you actually experience the hills for yourself. Let me just say, I will now feel a lot safer strapped into a rollercoaster thanks to the SF hills. But I've rambled on enough for this post so will put up some photos and accompanying descriptions from the trip in another day or so. Pictures of Greyson as Sitting Bull will also be forthcoming.

Nick and me standing in front of Lombard Street, looking like tourists.

Friday update & musings

I'm supposed to be writing an abstract that has to be submitted by 5pm (it's now 2:20), but my brain has just completely shut off from doing anything work-related, so I figured I might as well post to the blog. Then maybe I'll feel like I've accomplished something...

I've been collecting videos and photos on my phone for a while with the intention of posting some here but haven't been able to coordinate the whole process to get it done. So now I am. Reece took ice skating lessons this spring (his second time having lessons), and I was able to get a little video of him. He is still mostly marching on the skates, rather than gliding, but since he kept a firm grip on an orange cone the entire time he first had lessons, this is a huge improvement. He really enjoys skating, and if our rink wasn't closing for the summer for renovations, I'd definitely have him continue lessons right away. However, we'll just have to start up in the fall and see what he's remembered. He's the one on the left (with the blue helmet) in the video:


This past weekend, Greyson got to go camping with Nat, Isaac, and Elliott. Word was they had a great time fishing and shooting a .22 at targets, although the fish were too smart to take the bait. I don't have any pictures to share because we failed to charge up the battery on our old digital camera (which has really become Greyson's), so Greyson didn't take a camera with him. However, I do have photos of what Dan, Reece and I did as a family of three. Friday evening we hit Whole Foods, where Reece served as the cart-pusher:

Then, we went to Target so Reece could finally use his birthday gift cards nearly 4 months later, and we finished our errands by sharing an ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. Saturday we did stuff around the house and mostly just hung out, because Reece had a slight cold and was a bit droopy (and had a froggy throat, which he attributed to a toad, actually). Sunday, Reece went to the mall with me and served as my Sherpa by voluntarily carrying my packages:

(Please note, we did NOT go into Saks. I think I've been in that store twice, total, in my life, and once was to walk through because I parked over there.) I have to say, 5 years old has been the best with this child. I actually offer to take him places with me and we have a good time doing it! He is more willing to agree if he knows we're going to the grocery store that has a kid's babysitting area where he can play while I shop. It's a lovely set-up and free, and I don't end up buying a bunch of things I wasn't going to just to shut a kid up and keep my sanity.

This weekend officially starts our baseball immersion season, with both boys having practices tomorrow at different times and on different fields. Looks like the same thing is going to happen on Wednesdays, although as one of my friends pointed out, it's better to have two crazy days each week rather than having to be somewhere four days a week. And with two of us and two of them, it's at least doable. Luckily, we also know kids on both teams so will be able to do some carpooling when necessary. Hopefully, I'll have some baseball practice pictures to post next week.

Wherein a conversation with a 5-year old takes the usual bizarre turns

Reece: Mom, did you know that you have to take a boat or a plane to get to Italy? (His class went to see a children's play called Farfalle, which means "butterfly" in Italian, at Playhouse Square yesterday.)

Me: Wow, that's interesting. Grandma Phillips is going to have to take a plane to get to Spain when she goes there.

Reece: Is Spain a planet?

Me: No, it's a country like Italy. In fact, it's kind of near to Italy.

Reece: Oh, I know, it's like in the Pinky and the Brain song.

Me: ??

Reece: You know, "one is a genius, the other's in Spain".

(Note: The actual words are, "one is a genius, the other's insane".)