Dreaming of Summer, Part II

Life is humming along.

All of us were off for Martin Luther King Day on Monday, and the kids were still off yesterday for the end of the 9 week grading period. The school year is officially half over.

In the winter I prefer to hibernate and not leave the house if I don't have to, so we just hung out for four days. It was kind of nice; lots of down time, which the girls seem to appreciate since they run constantly when they're with their dad. Seth is a homebody and would be happy to never leave the house.

We did some vacation planning and narrowed down this summer's trips.

It's not exactly summer, but to kick off the summer season, Sal and I will be meeting his cousin Kurt and his wife Kim in New York City for a Mets game. My mom will stay with the kids overnight while we fly up and back in one weekend. Quick trip, but I am so looking forward to it.

Sarah and Emily begged to go to Hershey. They haven't been there in a few years and are truly dying to go back. I'm fine with this, but I said we need to go midweek because I can't take amusement parks on the weekend - too much time is lost standing in line. This will be a two-night getaway.

My parents are treating us to a week-long vacation in Maine. They rented their timeshare, and I'm pulling together an itinerary for our family unit. The plan is not to spend 24/7 with the extended family. High on our list is a day trip to Mackinac, a night on the Upper Peninsula, and a full day exploring the UP, specifically the Lake Superior shoreline. I would also like to schedule family pictures while we are there.

In July the girls will be going to the beach with their dad, but we also thought an overnight to Niagara Falls would be fun. I'd like to avoid the weekend there as well in favor of lighter crowds during the week, but I'm going to need to review my vacation days.

In August we'll be meeting up with Sal's Massachusetts family. Right now we're looking at the Lake George area in New York, but nothing is finalized.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's been almost 8 months

I'm not sure why I'm posting this now. Eight months seems like such a random milestone. Why not 6? Why not wait until 12 months, a full year? But no, 8 months it is. Nearly 8 months ago I left my husband of 5 years. I left 4.5 years later than I should have. Surprised? Those of you who thought you knew us as a couple probably are. We appeared to have it all. You saw what we wanted you to see. You saw us as you wanted to see us. You knew us as we wanted you to know us. And, yes, you knew us as you wanted to know us. The signs were there. Hindsight is always 20/20. About this time a year ago I was living moment to moment, but not so as to soak in each moment. I lived moment to moment because it's the only way I could get through the day. I fell asleep at night only to be awakened by one or both of the girls crying in the morning. I would lay there, eyes shut, thinking "Please no, don't make me get out of bed and live this life". The crying would continue and...
Read more

Girls Weekend

In what may seem like complete craziness on my part, I want to take the Sarah and Emily to Disney World before school starts in the fall. I’m not kidding when I say it’s been a long year and I feel like we just need to get away to the happiest place on Earth for a few days. Kevin and I took the girls to Disney last January for his brother’s wedding so I do have some idea of what I’d be getting myself into. That helps. Sarah still talks about that trip. She remembers flying on the purple plane (Southwest), throwing up in the castle (at breakfast with the princesses), and riding Dumbo (she must have ridden it no less than 20 times and of course it had the longest lines). I still remember the sheer joy on her face when she met Mickey and Minnie and all the other characters too. Emily was sort of “eh” on meeting them. They were nice from a distance, but when they got too close she dissolved in a puddle of tears. I have been wanting to go back since the day I left and I think it would be...
Read more

Hello World. It's me, Dana.

Sarah and Emily, my adorable daughters, are the "two little girls" going "for a walk in the wide, wide world". Bonus points if you know from which classic children's book this line was shamelessly stolen. . . and slightly modified. Although a writer by day, it may take me awhile to find my groove in these "off" hours as a creative writer while I share my life as a single, working mom of two with you. Here goes. . . I haven't always been single. And I haven't always been a mother. My husband Kevin and I were married at Holy Spirit Parish on May 7, 2005 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nearly two years later we welcomed our first child, Sarah, into our lives on March 20, 2007. At 5lbs, 10oz she was much smaller than anyone had anticipated, but what she lacked in size she made up for in noise. This is the child that did not sleep through the night (nor did she let her parents sleep through the night) until she was 9 months old. What a joy she was ...
Read more