Friday, September 07, 2007




The end of August passed in a blur. We visited Spokane and extended our trip to Seattle. Actually, our hotel was in Port Orchard, which is on the Kitsap Peninsula across Puget Sound from Seattle. What an unbelievably beautiful area. My parents moved to Bremerton, also on the peninsula, so hopefully they’ll stay put long enough for us to head back and poke around a little more. Three days was not enough.

We’re back to school now but before that the kids and I visited Grandma Dianna in New York City. Alex loves New York and Greta had so much fun that the night we stayed there, between two am and five am, she was too excited to sleep. Walking the streets of New York (and riding the subways) is always a rush. I stopped by my favorite book store, The Strand, on 12th and Broadway and found it much improved and expanded since the last time I made it down there. I could have spent all day there. Both of the kids really enjoyed seeing their grandma so much that the drive felt worth it. We even got a short visit with the Dixon’s when we stayed the night to break up the drive on the way up and again on the way home.



Then came a camping trip over Labor Day weekend. I was not looking forward to this trip at all. It would make four weekends in a row that the kids and I had not been home. But, the Hogan’s were camping with two-month-old Brody (paying us back for last year when we went camping with a two-month-old Greta.) I’d also heard that there was some good mountain biking to be had, so I reluctantly pulled the gear out of the attic and less reluctantly pulled my bike out of the shed—first time in about two years the poor thing had seen the light of day. Jeremy and I didn’t get to ride together due to the kid factor, but we both got to ride the two trails with one group or another. I’m still on a bike-high so this Sunday, for our 12th anniversary, we’re hitting the trails again for a romantic ride-a-deux.

Our big news of the week was Alex starting his first day of kindergarten. He had a great week and I’m thankful. His first day he came home and said school was boring—they had to sit and listen all day. Fortunately, it’s gotten better since then, but I think the bus, school lunch, and recess are trumping the actual learning so far. Oh well, I’ll take what I can get.