The Parkers: July 2009

Central Park and cupcakes - what could be better?

A couple of weeks ago, I dragged my kids and Jeni down to NYC in search of something yummy.

To make it worth their while, we visited Central Park with our buddies, the Boyles.

This was Jeni's first time in the park, so we had to show her some of the highlights. By the end of it, I was all sweaty and the kids were doused from head to toe in dirty fountain water.

Good fun.

After that, we really got down to business and set out in search of the perfect cupcake. Magnolia Bakery did a fairly good job of that.

Miles approved.

These two were more interested licking the cupcake carcass clean.

They gave the frosting 4 thumbs up.

Calvin was very well behaved.

The hardest parts of the whole day were carrying this beast of a stroller up and down all the stairs in the subway, and not eating all Iris's banana pudding when she offered me a taste.

I think we'll be going again.

You know what I love about Grandma?

She loves to play games. Any game. Rummikub, cards, Skip-bo, you name it.

There's just one thing about Grandma.

She won't let you win.

Not even if you're her beloved 9 year old oldest Granddaughter who she flew all the way across the country to see and you've lost 9 times in a row to her at Checkers.

Not even then.

Games are serious business.

And all of her grandchildren know it.

Like no place else...

I know I may have mentioned a time or two how the beach is my favorite place on earth to be, but seriously! The beach has at least three things you can't get elsewhere.

Take the food, for example. Clams dug up by Grandpa and then turned into chowder that afternoon.

Truly, if we were in the woods and Grandpa came in carrying something smelly and said, "Hey, I just dug this up. Can you turn it into something good?"

Not quite the same.

And naps.

Naps are the best at the beach.

Even if a cousin was there first. There's always room for more.

And lastly, Wednesday afternoon sailboat races in the front yard all summer long.

Way more interesting than watching farmers run their tractors on a Wed. afternoon.

Anything for flowers!

I don't love roses.

When Jake used to bring them to me, I would think two things:

"Wow, that was very thoughtful."

"Gee, I wish he hadn't spent the $$ on these. I'd so much rather have a live plant."

I never said the second one out loud, but over time he has learned that flowers make me very happy when a.) they are not roses, and b.) they are alive in my garden.

On our last trip to Granny's, I found a roadside stand selling my very favorite flowers. I did what any flower lover would do. I crammed as many into the car as I could.

And we drove 3 hours this way! Jake didn't complain once. Thanks, Hunny. This is way better than bringing home roses.

You've got to wonder what goes through their little minds...

"Well, what have we got here?"

"Ooh, I wonder if it's food. I'll bet it is. It's on the floor, so it must be for me to stick into my mouth."

"Let's see."

"Yeah, that wasn't the best floor food I've ever had. Maybe these little things."

"Hmm, maybe I'll go find Mom. She's always eatin' something."

"Hey! There she is, laying on the floor in the living room."

"Oh, and she's holding that shiny black thing I like so much."

"Hey, Mom, gimmee a bite, wouldya?"

One more day!

Less than 24 hours until he

comes home from the Comic Con in San Diego!

I can finally take 5 minutes to use the restroom alone.

Yay!

It must run in the family

Well, she takes after her daddy.

The world is her canvas. Nothing is safe from the artistic touch of Miss Lucy.

And here come her critics, who insist on playing Monster Truck Smash-up on top of her creation. I guess it's not real art if we don't suffer, right?

And here I am in all my polka-dotty swimming suit glory.

I'd like to say it's still there.

It would be...

If the uncommonly crabby man down the street hadn't come out and washed it away with a hose 10 minutes after she finished.

Renters! Hmph!

Apparently ice cream doesn't mix well with crazy...

Oh boy, am I in trouble!

That's it.

This is the beginning of the end.

The end of my easyish lifestyle.

Nothing is safe anymore.

* (I knew it couldn't be good when he started crawling at 4 months!)

He didn't hear it from me!

A conversation in front of my next door neighbor, Ted:

"Hey, Mom?"

"Yes, Miles?"

"Mom, I need some F.U. 3."

"What?"

"F.U. Mom."

"I beg your pardon?"

"F. U! F. U, Mom!"

What the heck?!

"Miles, I don't know what you mean."

"You know, that stuff that makes my tricycle not squeaky."

"Do you mean WD40?"

"Yeah, yeah, that stuff! I need some."

(Two letters and a number. He was close.)

We're home (sniff sniff)

Well, we're home.

ugh.

Since returning home less than 24 hours ago, 3 people have asked me, "Are you happy to be home and sleeping in your own bed again?"

Let's see.

It's raining, I have to unpack, raccoons got into my trash last night, the kids are bored, I have to go to Costco, and I miss my people.

They're crazy.

Every last one of them.

I love my Aunt Andie.

She's nuts. We found this hat while cleaning out a closet (we cleaned out a lot of closets last week.) It belonged to my grandfather, who died 9 years ago.

I just had to stick this in there. I love naked babies.

90 percent of the things in the house are from my grandma's childhood. Really.

That's why it's so much fun to clean closets there. A chair my great-great aunt used to paint in, an old metal milk jug, handkerchiefs embroidered with an "A" for Allen (my grandma's maiden name), an ink well from, well, when they used ink wells, an old meat grinder (this came home with me!), and a bag of fossilized squid bait from somewhere in the 80's.

I love Granny's closets!

Her next door neighbor, Rikki, is one of the most interesting women I know. She rides a bike everywhere, she collects white beach rocks, and she painted her house like this:

Everything inside the house is white and blue. Everything.

She is the picture of patience. She never complains when we are loud or messy.

And boy oh boy, are we loud and messy.

This is the front yard.

Seriously. I got to listen to waves as I fell asleep each night. My room at home's got nothing like this.

All of my children are crabbing at me right now that they're bored. Oh, how I wish I could say, "Go swim in the front."

It might not work so well.

Still soakin' up the sun...

We took a little break in our vacation last weekend.

Came home to do a few things and brought my favorite sister:

(Sorry Claire, but this is what happens when you won't smile for the camera.)

We woke up Sunday morning to this in the backyard:

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. That really is the 5 tree/giant limb to fall on our backyard in the past 30 days.

Our landlord thinks it's a sign.

After we got it all hacked to tiny pieces and dragged to the front yard for pick up, (we're getting good at it!) we took some time to just relax and play with Claire.

Paper airplanes,

big wheels,

and laying in the grass. Does life get any better?

We headed back to grandma's just in time for a scavenger hunt with the cousins.

The kids hunted around the beach road and all through town for red envelopes.

The locations included the dock, Betsy's house, the carousel, the "girly store", Granny's mailbox, Uncle Mike's boat (shh, don't tell Uncle Mike), and lots of other secret spots.

The grand prize?

Ice cream sundaes, of course!

Miles and Lucy were very quick to claim their prize,

Calvin was all kinds of helpful as long as he was strapped into this:

And an extra adult or two may have snagged a prize.

We've spent hours and hours playing in the ocean, lounging in the sand, and soaking up the sun.

My cousin, Chris, has a new fan.

I think the feeling is mutual.

(pay no attention to the giant white leg in the photo.)

Calvin spent many afternoons in this pool. He added his own special ingredients occasionally, making it necessary to "freshen" the water. The new water was always a little chilly.

Just enough to keep him plenty awake.