Kate and the kids are in Maryland now on the last leg of their epic trip. From all reports they have had a grand time so far. Cora has been caving, fishing, horseback riding, kayaking, eating, and loads of other stuff to keep her engaged. It is scary to see what her idea of a "good day" is--nonstop activity from dawn til dusk.
Kate and the kids set sail for Baltimore bright and early this morning. Thankfully the plans for a true road trip (i.e. car) were changed to air travel (despite Kate's insistence that she would be fine in the car for ten hours with two squirming kids smearing the windows). We got up and out on time and I left them at the security checkpoint, waving and smiling as Kate walked through the metal detector with Oliver on one hip and Cora holding onto her sweater. Then the metal detector went off. I know at that moment even the security guards thought, "This poor woman. She'll kill us if we stop her. Wave and smile." They didn't hassle her too much, and once Kate got through security she could put Oliver in the backpack again.
They're in West Virginia now, safely ensconced at Pop-Pop and Grammy Rena's house. And so begins their 11-day adventure.
If you click on this strange white rectangle, it will take you to Aunt Sarah's Flickr page. Look to the left of the page for her "Sets" of pictures, including over 50 snapshots from Cora's birthday party.
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Sarah played a show with her band at The Family Wash in East Nashville Saturday night. I had a big week of bodywork and wasn't sure if I would make it through both sets of music. I brought along my buddy Lew from work, who had had a longer week than me. We were kind of pitiful on our way out to the show. Two young guys feeling old and complaining of low back pain.
And we stayed the whole time. I went to bed at 1:30am. We had a great time. That's the beauty of a good show in a good venue with good people and three full glasses of good locally brewed Yazoo beer on tap. It makes everything all right. All good.
We're back online after a hiatus of several weeks. Our dial-up connection crossed us for the last time--I was cut off twice in the middle of posting the account of Cora's birthday celebration, losing everything both times. As George W. Bush says, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice.....uhh, don't fool me again. Or something like that. At any rate, we now have a cable modem and I am reasonably confident that it will not boot me off in mid post.
This picture is one from the vault--Cora at around a year old with us out on the balcony at Cumberland Retreat Apartments. A lot has changed since then to be sure.
Kate made some big plans with the kids today. They're embarking on an 11-day trip up to West Virginia on July 20th to visit Grammy Stella and Pop-Pop. Not long after they get back we go to my cousin Adam's wedding, and then in August I'm going to a five day intensive retreat for orthopedic massage. We're taking advantage of summer vacation while it's here.
Cora's new favorite word is "eventually". She usually uses it correctly, but yesterday she walked outside and, with the confidence of a grizzled farmer, exclaimed "Shew! It is eventually hot out here!"
We're back in town and recovering nicely from our trip to California. We all had a fabulous time, and it's easy to see why so many people are willing to cram themselves on top of each other to live there. We saw glimpses of Las Vegas and Phoenix during layovers, and the prevailing impression was that of a splat of humans in the middle of a sun-parched desert. Southern California took all the good elements of a desert climate (low humidity being the main plus) and left out the searing heat and lack of any plant over six inches tall. Cora loved the palm trees and swore she would tell her teachers all about them when she got home.
Uncle Dan is in town now for Cora's birthday tomorrow, so the party continues. Cora is quite excited to be four years old. Fireworks started last night, so it looks like the Independence Day festivities are taken seriously in this neighborhood.
Here we are in california. I am posting this on Mary Pat's blackberry...a cool device but a little alien...not used to typing with my thumbs. Today it feels like California...no humidity, blue skies, palm trees and beautiful vistas marked by junior sized mountains. More like ambitious hills. We are near the town of Perris, which is about ninety miles out of San Diego. The reunion is at a great camp-rv park place called Wilderness Lakes Resort--swimming pools, game rooms and the works.
Yesterday was a full travel day. At one point Cora said to me "Is George Bush still our President?"
"Yes."
"We don't want him to win. I want Ham Lincoln to win". The trip itself went as well as could be expected, considering it takes all day to get to california, and traveling with a four year old is like carrying a wet monkey in a sack. A little unpredictable and scary with some potential for entertainment.
Enough of the alien keyboard for now.
Summertime has arrived, and with it comes the blessed arrival of God's finest sedative for children--the swimming pool. Cora and Kate swam for hours yesterday at Cumberland Retreat, the apartment complex we lived in before we moved into our house. An advantage of having cute and articulate offspring is lifetime swimming passes granted by the property managers who can't stand to see them go.
Cora napped hard in the car on the way home and at the end of the day actually requested bedtime last night. That almost never happens. Then this morning she broke all records by sleeping in until 8:00am. We were getting worried that she might have expired in the night. Needless to say, we're taking her swimming again today.
Last night was family dinner at the Wingate G'parents house, this week celebrating Sally's birthday. Happy birthday Mom! Cora helped Aunt Sarah decorate the cake and managed to resist eating it along the way. Some chocolate icing did mysteriously appear around her mouth though. An accident no doubt....
