On days like this I feel like I'm one lucky and blessed cookie - to spend time with my kids building blue memories like this.
More blue photos are available at the collaboration of Crazy Mamas, crazy like a wise ole fox I'd say.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Summer Fun in Shades of Blue
On days like this I feel like I'm one lucky and blessed cookie - to spend time with my kids building blue memories like this.
More blue photos are available at the collaboration of Crazy Mamas, crazy like a wise ole fox I'd say.
The Blues
On vacation we were at the hotel restaurant having breakfast when the lights went out. The local thunderstorm created 5 or 6 brown outs, and we ended breakfast by candle light. I actually enjoyed the experience. My children were weirded out. Their comfort came from daddy's answers about the experience. They felt safe because of him.When I think about blues, there are parts of my childhood that ring with a bit of disappointment. I was saddened by the stereotypes of being a product of a single parent home, made worse by having my father be an attractive teacher and coach within the same local community. This isn't a father bash post - it isn't even about my childhood.
The blues that are my favorite photos are shots of (or taken by) my husband with our kids. Whether its a blue business shirt, a family reunion shirt or the water of the zoo in the background - the most important thing for me is that my children have a family unit that is just plain normal. Not storybook beautiful, just normal.
No blues here. (Well, in the pictures.) But in general - my children will not know the pain of parental distance and adult choices. We surely will give them much fuel for therapy, just not based on our efforts to establish a family unit they can rely on. I am in awe of single moma's, I think about my childhood and youth - and my husband's too, and I know that our mothers both aspired to give us all that their hearts could hold. I am so thankful.I am most grateful that my children find travel, vacation, hanging out, day trips, school, bed time, dinner time, grocery shopping, etc. very mundane with their very normal family. There is something great about creating the future you want for your own children, based on the dreams you had as a child.
Baby Blue. Periwinkle. Navy. Royal. Crayola. Doesn't matter to me. I just like seeing those kiddo's and dad.If you want to see the power of pictures or a different take on the blues, collaborate with the ladies at Crazy Hip Blog Mamas. If you want to see a cool picture with the zoo in full glory, be my guest. (As I sing Beauty & the Beast in my head....)
How Do You Spell Happy?
Lately I've been playing Scrabble with my seven year old and for our vacation I decided to grab the game and take it with us. It must be telling that at least for part of our vacation we spent the time spelling. (We were truly committed to cost effective fun.) T-r-i-d-e-n-t was my high point...a surprise for my husband and mother.
I can't remember laughing as much while playing at 2 a.m. with my mother who accused us of cheating, and my husband defending his vocabulary with a host of explicit adult phrases. Although his law school conversations were quite the point of interest while dating - he tells me this week, "I've never played Scrabble before." We had large doses of rip roaring fun with politically incorrect words and misspelled slang to establish supreme spelling rights.
We failed to have a dictionary on hand and that was the least of our rule issues. Challenges were handled a bit off the cuff and reworking letters happened often for folks who truly can't spell worth a dang. Spell check has made us pretty lazy. Riden anyone? Nutbag? I am so not kidding. And yes, I did indeed win three very competitive games.
Yet, I'm not posting about winning. Our vacation was based on the root word - vacate. As in - all I wanted to do was to make sure that I was able to vacate my home and traditional obligations. Our experiences were based on many a oxymoron. For some small period of time it didn't matter that I did laundry at the Holiday Inn - I didn't do it at home. It didn't matter that we had bad takeout - I ate in my grandmother's dinning room, as she watched on while 3 generations soaked up her cable, couch, hospitality and love. (Not to mention she had gone to the Senior Center that day - blog readers - the one I enrolled her in!)
My daughter drifted off to sleep in "Uncle Brook's room" a place that gets smaller and smaller every time I go home - but seemed larger than life when my mother placed him closest to her room and the bathroom when we first moved in 25 years ago.
We went to the pool, plenty. I'll post later about the swim lessons at the Country Club - they deserve more than a brief mention. Yet, my daughter only cared that for consecutive days she was immersed in sun and fun. The process of learning to swim coupled with French braids and the ability to go to the pool daily has made her very happy. The boys identified watching cable (Disney Channel unlimited) at Bigmama's as one of their favorite Summer experiences - just when I was ready to pay for another week of camp!
So, we spent a bit of time with family and friends. We played together, walked in 90 degree heat to visit zoo animals, climbed the rock wall on our Children's Museum membership (free bonus!) and I ate too much sugar. I just wanted to document cheap thrills before you endure a 3 page post about some future Disney trip that we can afford or the first time I take all the kidlets abroad. Right now my daughter is at a sleep over where a dear friend took 10 pre-teen girls to Benihana and jewelry making. (You go girl!) My sons are eating cereal for dinner (yes, I said it) and I'm blogging about the power of words.
Simple.
Happy.
Together.
Family.
Friends.
Summer.
and to top it off - I'm getting ready to learn how to swim. Funny. Vacation. This will have to replace my slacker camp or camp underachiever post. I think we done good.
I can't remember laughing as much while playing at 2 a.m. with my mother who accused us of cheating, and my husband defending his vocabulary with a host of explicit adult phrases. Although his law school conversations were quite the point of interest while dating - he tells me this week, "I've never played Scrabble before." We had large doses of rip roaring fun with politically incorrect words and misspelled slang to establish supreme spelling rights.
We failed to have a dictionary on hand and that was the least of our rule issues. Challenges were handled a bit off the cuff and reworking letters happened often for folks who truly can't spell worth a dang. Spell check has made us pretty lazy. Riden anyone? Nutbag? I am so not kidding. And yes, I did indeed win three very competitive games.
Yet, I'm not posting about winning. Our vacation was based on the root word - vacate. As in - all I wanted to do was to make sure that I was able to vacate my home and traditional obligations. Our experiences were based on many a oxymoron. For some small period of time it didn't matter that I did laundry at the Holiday Inn - I didn't do it at home. It didn't matter that we had bad takeout - I ate in my grandmother's dinning room, as she watched on while 3 generations soaked up her cable, couch, hospitality and love. (Not to mention she had gone to the Senior Center that day - blog readers - the one I enrolled her in!)
My daughter drifted off to sleep in "Uncle Brook's room" a place that gets smaller and smaller every time I go home - but seemed larger than life when my mother placed him closest to her room and the bathroom when we first moved in 25 years ago.
We went to the pool, plenty. I'll post later about the swim lessons at the Country Club - they deserve more than a brief mention. Yet, my daughter only cared that for consecutive days she was immersed in sun and fun. The process of learning to swim coupled with French braids and the ability to go to the pool daily has made her very happy. The boys identified watching cable (Disney Channel unlimited) at Bigmama's as one of their favorite Summer experiences - just when I was ready to pay for another week of camp!
So, we spent a bit of time with family and friends. We played together, walked in 90 degree heat to visit zoo animals, climbed the rock wall on our Children's Museum membership (free bonus!) and I ate too much sugar. I just wanted to document cheap thrills before you endure a 3 page post about some future Disney trip that we can afford or the first time I take all the kidlets abroad. Right now my daughter is at a sleep over where a dear friend took 10 pre-teen girls to Benihana and jewelry making. (You go girl!) My sons are eating cereal for dinner (yes, I said it) and I'm blogging about the power of words.
Simple.
Happy.
Together.
Family.
Friends.
Summer.
and to top it off - I'm getting ready to learn how to swim. Funny. Vacation. This will have to replace my slacker camp or camp underachiever post. I think we done good.
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