So much to do, so little time!

Today it will be almost 90 degrees, I have to put together some meals for our vacation next week, we are hosting a gaggle of little girls for Alanya's 7th birthday celebration, and... oh yeah... it's our anniversary! How come after 14 years the most important sometimes gets pushed to the last thing on the list?

We'll be going out to celebrate tonight, but until then I have a huge list to tackle. Looking forward to 4:30 when Jason said he will be sneaking out of work. I wish I had time to write an ode to my husband, or perhaps a sonnet, but I have to get on with my day! So instead, here is a link to the first post I ever did on this blog. Happy anniversary Jason. I look forward to the next fourteen years. I absolutely do.

Our "cheap" blueberries

Yesterday we went blueberry picking with the intention of filling our freezer. All winter long Jason and Alanya eat frozen blueberries on cereal and oatmeal and this is the time to stock up on fresh berries dirt cheap. Ran into a bit of a problem though. I had asked Jason if $27 cash was enough, and he said sure based on what they picked last year. Problem was I didn't pick with them last year. Imagine our surprise when the girl weighed our berries and told use we owed $34.

How embarrassing.

So I get in the car to find an ATM, but remember we are in the middle of farm country. I had to drive almost five miles to the nearest one, had to pay a bank fee for a machine that was out of network, had to drive five miles back to find that Jason had bought the kids water bottles since they had picked berries for an hour in the hot sun.... cheap blueberries? I don't think so.

Good neighbors

We never got a garden in this year because of some major tree work we had done. Good thing too because they had to drop a large section in the garden area and we would have lost anything that was planted. There's always next year.

In the meantime, today I stopped at our favorite veggie stand that opens up about a mile or so from here and got the most spectacular tomatoes. Alanya and I enjoyed them with a light sprinkling of kosher salt. Luckily I drive by this stand often!

Yesterday our neighbor, who has quite the garden and fruit orchard in his backyard, invited us over to pick raspberries. He also sent us off with a few peaches fresh from the tree. Alanya, Jason and I enjoyed the raspberries... they are so delicate! Much to our delight this evening he invited us back over to pick again because of the impending rain tomorrow. We brought home another overflowing container of raspberries and another good handful of peaches.

Rule number one to home ownership - always stay on good terms with the neighbors who grow fabulous fruit and veggies!! Hopefully he'll invite us back when the blueberries need picking!!

New Hampshire at its best... part 3!

Our final day up north found us at Attitash, home of the famous mile-long alpine slide. I have very vague memories of riding with my father on the slide back around 1977, and I haven't forgotten it. The experience is still as thrilling more than thirty years later. You take a chairlift halfway up a mountain where you then get on a plastic sled with a control stick. Push it forward and it allows you to roll down the cement track, pull it back and you slow down and eventually stop. The slide curves through the trees and down the mountain for a fabulous ride. I wish I could post some pictures, but for obvious reasons they don't allow you to take photos while riding. All five of us had a ball and learned that going "full throttle" through the turns made the ride thrilling.

Next on the agenda was the bungy-trampoline jump. Our local mall has one of these contraptions set up inside and my kids have begged us to try it. Well, we all tried it and let me assure you, it was a new and fun experience, but once was probably good enough for us. The boys didn't quite understand you had to use your legs to push off from the trampoline, but Alanya got the hang of it quickly. Jason and I tried it too. It was fun, but I can think of other things I'd do first.

After a picnic lunch - it was an absolutely beautiful day - we took the chair lift to the summit. The top of Mt. Washington was in the clouds, but we had a spectacular view. Our last big activity was the climbing wall... another first for most of us. Again, the boys had a hard time with it, never really putting their trust in the attendants who were holding the ropes. I made it about 3/4 of the way up the wall, and Jason made it to the top, but the surprise of the day? Alanya is a climbing fool! She scrambled to the top of the "easy" wall twice, and then mastered the "medium" wall. We were all quite proud of our fearless girl.

Maybe she will be the next to get a motorcycle! Overall, a fabulous weekend, with lots of fun.

Ooooh, yuck!

For those of you who remember the post I did about Jason kissing the Blarney Stone in Ireland, consider this... the editors of Trip Advisor dot com has released a list of the top five 'germiest' tourist attractions. Guess what was at the top of the list. You got it. The Blarney Stone. Yuck! Get the Listerine and wet wipes!

New Hampshire at its best... part 2

Santa... in July? Only in New Hampshire at Santa's Village!

I know it sounds crazy, but there is a small, delightful (there is no other word to describe it!) amusement park in northern New Hampshire (actually more than one!) perfect for families with kids ten and younger. Storyland has always been our favorite, but this trip we tried out Santa's Village and we weren't disappointed.

Everything has some kind of Christmas themed twist, like the reindeer on the carousel. Instead of the teacups, you ride in the Little Drummer Boy's Drums. Instead of a sky ride you ride above the park in Santa's sleigh.

I have to admit, the only thing that did get old was the music... Christmas carols being played through the whole park can get on your nerves after a bit.

Finally, a trip to an amusement park isn't complete without a ride on the Yule Log Flume!!

We all had a great time, including Noah, but I know his interest level for a place like this may be fleeting with each passing year. Hopefully though we'll squeeze in a few more of these trips because I'm not quite done yet!

New Hampshire at its best!

This weekend we went up to the White Mountains and had a wonderful time. We didn't go last year and I really missed it. For someone who has lived in this state on and off for more than half my life, it always blows me away when go up to the mountains and realize what New Hampshire is really like. Living in the relatively 'big' city of the state, you tend to forget that the majority is lakes, farms and mountains. It truly is beautiful.

For any of you in the New England area who haven't ventured further than the greater Boston area, here is a taste of New Hampshire at it's best.

The Lost River Gorge and Caves

I had never visited this amazing park before, and we will definitely go back. A mountain river cutting through a rocky gorge of boulders and caves is an amazing sight, especially when you walk right through it all on walkways and stairs. It reminds you of Swiss Family Robinson as you walk through the trees and over pools of water and through caves. We had a blast squeezing through all the caves and exploring the different rock formations.

Here Alanya and I make our way out of one of the many caves.

Meet the Ninja

I'm still a bit in shock, but there is a motorcycle in the garage. It arrived late Wednesday night, and Jason only had about an hour or so to ride it Thursday night since we left for a long weekend Friday. He is still very much in practice mode and is slowly learning the bike around our house. He hasn't ventured more than a few blocks from our street yet.

Next on the list is to get it inspected and get a lightweight armored jacket so that he isn't riding in a heavyweight leather jacket in 80 degree weather, or he may just crash from heatstroke!

The motorcycle

If you haven't heard, Jason is getting a motorcycle. I know all the reactions by now, the shaking of the head, the eye rolls, the quick intake of breath. I know them, I've done them, I've seen you all do them.

For ten years I did my best to foil his intentions and I gave him every argument in the book on why this was a bad idea. I won't regurgitate them all here as we all know them. For the record, crying doesn't work and neither does screaming or calling him names. A few months ago he said he was going to do it. Period.

By this point I am tired. I'm tired of fighting. There are so many other things that could be wrong in our marriage, I gave up. That doesn't mean I'm not upset or scared or angry, but I'm done. I told him to increase his life insurance, and that I was done fighting. He did, and we are.

When I started to share this news of the impending bike with my friends, everyone of them confirmed what I was feeling, except for one. I was floored when my friend Becca said to me, "Laura, think of the joy you can bring Jason by giving him your blessing to fulfill his lifelong dream of having a motorcycle?" Huh? Becca's words, although not what I wanted to hear, made me stop in my tracks. And she's right.

So Jason has started shopping. I still haven't gotten to the point of showing enthusiasm when he shows me used motorcycles on Craigs List, but I'm trying. Now I'm just hoping that when he finally is on his bike, and I see his joy, that I feel it too.

The "destruction" project

See those massive, overgrown, 70s style hedges under the two front windows? I have finally had enough of them. I'd say they are original to the house, putting them at 35-40 years old. They trap leaves, provide homes for critters and crowd the trees and plantings that I do like.

About a month ago I mentioned to Jason I wanted to hire someone to take them out and replace it with some nice clean drainage stone and mulch. Hire someone? Jason jumped at the chance to do this project. It was destruction, and according to him he couldn't mess it up.

Step one was to cut all the greens off. Easy enough. That turned out to be about 3% of the total project. He then started battling the roots and stumps, unsuccessfully. This was more difficult than he thought.

Around the same time we were having some trees taken down so I asked the tree crew if they could pop the stumps out. The tree guy winced at the thought and said that wasn't as easy as it sounded. Three guys wrapped chains around the root balls and with a tractor tried to pull them out. Two of the eight got pulled out before they gave up. And we thought we could do it with loppers, a saw and a shovel?

To make a long story short, it took us many days of hard, back-breaking work but Jason happily posed for these "after" pictures on Sunday. Moral of the story? Never underestimate destruction!

Use the Force

Guess what. It's still raining. Before I even opened my eyes this morning I could tell it was pouring. For the life of me I couldn't think of anything else to do that wouldn't cost us money.

"Use the Force" Jason said. A Star Wars marathon was his brilliant idea and the kids totally bought into it.

I hooked our travel dvd player up to the tv in the basement and they brought down our four Star Wars dvds. Bean bag chairs in place, the lights dimmed and the movies going. They plan on having light saber battles in between movies. Best case scenario this could buy me about eight hours of peace, but I know Ben will be the first one to come up and say he's bored with it. Until then, I need to embrace the Force.

Off to get lunch started... Peanut butter and Jedi Sandwiches.

Noah... get your toolbox!

Today Noah came downstairs with his little toolbox, bored, looking for something to hammer or screw. I sent him to tighten knobs. Maybe instead I should have told him to start building an ark. For those of you lucky enough to not be in New England, let me be the one to inform you that it has been raining here for three weeks.

I'm not exaggerating.

I can remember two days in the last three weeks that we had sun, and luckily we took advantage of them. One day we went to the beach with my mom for the day, and the other we went to the pool. All other days it has poured, showered, been misty... just about every possible variation of rain you can come up with. It started while the kids were still in school, but they are now home. What to do?

First, you tell yourself you did in fact make the right decision when building a family room in the basement. It has been a lifesaver. We have had play dates and the kids can go down there and just have space. Even I found myself down there reading yesterday because it was quiet. Yes, thank goodness for the basement.

Second, you take advantage of the dry time when you get it. The other day the kids and I were walking through the mall and we saw sun coming through the skylights. We quickly hurried out of there, and on the way home I called friends telling them to come over to play wiffle ball in the yard. Of course by the time our friends got here it was a torrential rain, but again, thank goodness for that basement!

Today I finally broke down and took the kids to the movies, as did everyone else in a 30 mile radius. Looking at the 10-day forecast there is only one day that isn't described with shower, rain or thunderstorm, so it doesn't look like it will dry up any time soon. I suppose I'll keep coming up with ideas and things to keep us busy. It could be worse. I could be dragging sprinklers around my brown lawn.