Vacation - Scenes from the Beach

The house where we stayed in Sandwich was right on the beach, and the view was great.  Since we faced the north shore, we had the rare luxury of being able to see the sunrise AND the sunset over the water.  There was digging and splashing and kite-flying.  One day, there were cousins to play with.  For me, there was sitting in the tent with my Kindle, trying to keep sand out of my drink.  We found crabs and rocks and shells, and lived through a hurricane.  But the best part was sleeping with the windows open every night and listening to the waves.  Good times.  I could totally stay there forever.  And I don't even LIKE the beach!

Vacation - Whales!

It's amazing how hard it is to catch up on things after being away for a week.  Blogging just hasn't been in the cards lately, but I have a few minutes and thought I'd start catching up here.  Our trip to Cape Cod was pretty amazing in lots of ways, but I think I'll start with the whales.  

I love whales.  Kev and I went whale-watching in Maine many many years ago, and I really wanted to do it again with Daphne.  So one day during the trip, we drove up to Provincetown to spend the day and see some whales.  

While we waited to board the Dolphin X, we took advantage of a couple of photo ops.  Daphne is a pretty good photographer!  (I love bouys).

Aboard the boat, patiently heading out to sea:

And finally, we saw THIS GUY!

I cried when I saw him.  Daphne immediately decided to become a Marine Biologist and wouldn't leave her spot at the front of the boat.  She looked up at me and said, "This is the best day of my life."  It was amazing.  Being that close to a whale is something special.

We found out that this was a humpback named Timberline who is being tracked and studied by the scientists on the Cape.  We also saw a finback on the way back to the dock.  Seriously one of thecoolest  things I have ever seen in my life.  And watching Daphne made it even better, because she was even more excited that I was.

Up next, the beach, and lobsters and crabs and things.

Highs and Lows

Tuesday was a good day.  Daphne and I made a last minute decision to go down to Wolf Trap to see Dan Zanes.  Wolf Trap has a really cool children's theater, which you get to by going over a bridge and hiking through the woods.  

Dan Zanes was great, although I think it's more fun to see him with a whole band.  This show seemed to be catered more toward younger kids than Daphne, but she still had a good time.  Especially at the end, when we followed DZ out of the theater and through the woods singing Sidewalks of New York, which is a family favorite that Daphne has been singing since she was REALLY small (link coming soon).

After the show, which by the way started at 10:30 in the morning - so great, we went to lunch at Friendly's.  There was ice cream.  I was told many times that day that I am the best mom ever.

Which brings us to yesterday.  Sigh.  

So, I decided it was time to get my annual hair cut, and I decided that it should be somewhat shorter than usual, as I was feeling sort of swallowed up by my hair.  But I don't actually have a regular person that I go to for haircuts, so I took a chance on the internet.  And below is what happened:

Now, I actually like the way my hair looks in the picture, but somehow in real life it doesn't really look anything like that.  It's way too short, especially in the back.  Total "mom hair" in the back.  And today, it's even worse, because I have no idea how to deal with it myself.  It's still wet at the moment, because I just washed it, so maybe it will look OK when it dries, but I have a feeling there are a lot of hats and headbands in my near future.  Ugh.  

But the WORST thing is that Daphne had a total freak-out about it.  I went from the best mom ever to the worst mom ever in 24 hours.  She made a shelter in the sideyard out of a cardboard box, and stayed in there for quite a while, refusing to come inside.  She wouldn't talk to me except to say "it looks awful...it looks worse than it did before...you look like an old person...I'm never talking to you again."

Sigh.

Eventually she had to go to the bathroom, so she came in the house, but she locked herself in the bathroom for a while before she finally came out.  By the end of the day, she was speaking to me again (mostly because she wanted me to read the next chapter of Harry Potter), but when she went to bed, she said she was still sort of mad at me about getting my hair cut.

And the thing is, I have to act all cool about it, like I am not upset AT ALL that it's way too short, because I don't want to send a message to my kid that your self-esteem should be based on a stupid thing like hair, even though the truth is I don't even want to leave the house until it grows back.  Parenting is hard.

I am never trusting another person holding scissors. I said at least CHIN length.     

Today, it's Daphne's turn to get a haircut.  Wish us luck.

Scenes from Summer - Week 1

Summer is off to a big start.  Beans and peas are going crazy in the garden.

There has been more knitting than usual.

I decided that I should take advantage of the tart cherries at the farmer's market and make a pie.

I went to Wolf Trap with a friend to see the GREAT Hall (and Oates).

I got this cool shirt which I wore proudly all over town the next day.  Even though SOMEbody teased me about letting my Freak Flag fly.  I don't care.  I knit.  I count birds.  I watch Star Trak.  And I like Hall and Oates.  

Daphne, on the other hand, helps set World Records (for being part of the World's Largest Swimming Lesson), and is friends with the Mayor.

And we went to the Fire Station for a rock star tour, including a ride in the truck and a trip to the sky in the ladder bucket.

And we've also been watching a lot of soccer.

There have been two unbearably hot days, but otherwise, it's been pleasant outside.  Daphne and I are reading Harry Potter, which makes me happy.  And today, we are going to see Dan Zanes at a theater in the woods.  Summer ain't bad.

Father's Day

Kev got home Friday night, in time for a really awesome Father's Day weekend that included a bike ride to the park for a picnic, frisbee, and track-ball, a movie at the Alamo, lots of porch time, family band time, gifts, and some really good food.

Saturday night, we made scallops with butternut squash puree, balsamic roasted asparagus, and ricotta crostini.  Because we are fancy like that.

Daphne gave him a book of coupons for things like a free trip to the waterpark, five homemade sandwiches, breakfast in bed, and two weeks worth of watering the garden.

We used our new juicer to make some fresh-squeezed OJ, and we had a big Father's Day breakfast on Sunday.  

For the record, it is cheaper to squeeze your own juice than to by freshly squeezed Wegman's juice.  But not by much.

So, Happy Father's Day to Kev and to my dad, who are both really good dads and deserve to have a least one day that's all about them.