Run 4 Sundaes

So Much To Do

The disadvantage of being a working mom is that the second a vacation rolls around, my goal is to set out and do all the things Little Man and I have not been able to do the past few months.  We have a ton of fun, but by the end of the summer, both of us are ready to get back to a routine, because we are both absolutely exhausted from all of the summer fun.  Today is the perfect example of what a typical summer day looks like for Little Man and me. 

We begin the day at 7:00am, feast on a leisurely breakfast and set out to do all the errands (returning books to the Library, dropping the milk jug off at the farm, stopping for Mommy's second cup of coffee of the morning, etc.) we can possibly complete before 10:00; the time the science center we are going to today opens. 

By 10:00 we are pulling into the parking lot by the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center.  Since May they have had an exhibit Little Man and I have been dying to see.  You see, my son is a very inquisitive young man, and wants to know about everything (and I mean everything).  For months he has been asking about bones, organs, muscles and everything that resides under the surface of our skin.  We have gone online several times to look up various parts of the body. Because of this, we have both been dying to go to this exhibit and answer all of his questions.  I had to explain all this to the woman at the ticket counter who warned me that the exhibit is for 3rd grade and up and if he is freaked out by the cadavers or bored with the exhibit that I could not get a refund.  Needless to say, my son was neither freaked out or bored.  If anything, his brain went into overload state by the end and is still processing all the information he took in.  He did giggle a little bit when we looked at the digestive system and he realized the tube he was looking at was where the poop came out of his butt.  What can I say, I am raising a little boy.  He learned a lot and was actually able to see how all those parts he has been asking about are put together.  They even had one body where you could see the nervous system and how it works.  That part stuck in his little brain and he has been going around all day telling me that the little tubes in his body are telling him that things are hot or cold. I am glad we went and it was worth the extra entrance fee to check out the exhibit. 

 After we had thoroughly explored the rest of the Echo Center - fish, frogs, turtles and all - Little Man looked like he was on the edge of shutting down, so we walked up the street to The Skinny Pancake where everything is served in some sort of crepe form using local ingredients. 

 Of course, my next move could have gone severely wrong had I not planned dessert into the menu.  You see, I was enamored with the special: made with steak, mushrooms, chevre (goat cheese), and tomatoes.  Now had I been thinking, my brain would have clicked into the fact that Little Man does not like goat cheese or mushrooms, in fact they are some of the very few foods he will not eat, but it looked really good to me, so I ordered it for the two of us to share.  I spent the next 20 minutes picking the little steak bits and cherry tomatoes out of the crepe for him to eat, which he did only because he knew if he ate some of the crepe in front of him he would then be able to indulge in the Pooh Bear crepe which is drizzled with honey and cinnamon sugar, which he ate most of himself.  I thought both tasted great, Little Man does not agree. 

 When we had finished our lunch, we took a walk on the waterfront to watch the boats, since Little Man was complaining his belly was full and he needed to move. 

It was a wonderful day and Little Man came home and crashed as soon as his brain shut down and he stopped asking questions.  Let the summer craziness begin!

My Other Love

Eight years ago (almost exactly) Andy and I purchased kayaks for each other.  Ever since then I have been totally hooked.  There is nothing like gliding along the water on a crystal clear day; it is captivating enough to get even Little Man to stop asking questions for a few minutes, especially when we are sneaking up on a turtle.  Of course the giggle that comes from his little body when the turtle pops into the water when we get to close it is worthy of breaking the silence.  I am consistently amazed that Little Man can remain completely captivated for a two hour paddle (with snacks of course) and still be wanting more when it is over.  I think the "huge" catfish that snuck up on us today may have had him rethinking this whole kayaking thing for a few minutes though.  I have to admit I have never stared down a catfish before and I think the thing was truly contemplating jumping in. I was a bit worried about what we were going to do if a 3 foot long catfish decided to jump into the kayak with us.  It gave Little Man a story to tell and we had a great time; overall we saw 4 turtles, 2 heron, 1 really big catfish and a bunch of dragonflies and water bugs.  I can't wait to see what adventures our next trip out will bring. 

I Love Summer

One of my favorite parts of summer is watching my garden grow and anticipating fresh vegetables/fruits from the garden. 

Evolution of a Fisherman

This will be the third summer that Little Man has gone fishing with Daddy.  The first year he was given a pole with a bobber; no hook and no chance of catching anything.  He thought it was great and every now and then Andy would let him reel something in on his pole.  Last year he learned how to cast, was given a worm and we found a sure-fire spot for fishing that he was bound to catch at least one fish. This year Little Man has determined he is going to do things his way. 

 Father's Day was our first fishing trip of the year.  We went to our sure-fire spot and despite the wind Little Man caught a catfish that there was no way he was getting anywhere near once he had hooked it.  In fact it was more like Mommy caught the fish and Little Man stood by watching.  After a short period of time, Little Man was bored, there were no more fish to be caught and he was done for the day. 

 The first part of this week, we went to a friends camp where there are so many sunfish swimming under the dock that all it really took was placing the hook with a small piece of bread attached to the hook (no slimy worms) and within seconds you had a fish hooked and could do this all afternoon if you wanted to.  The catch to this whole ordeal was that the fish needs to be taken off the hook.  For those who do not know sunfish have  spines and if you don't handle them correctly you will get spined. 

The smart young man that my son is, he quickly figured out that all he really needed was a net and a piece of bread and he could attract 10-15 fish to his side, then he could catch a fish, show mommy yet another fish and let it go just to move on to the next unsuspecting victim.  I am pretty sure if there had not been s'mores and a boat ride in the future, he would still be standing in the water catching fish.  I don't think we will ever be able to get him to use a real fishing pole with a worm ever again.   

My Little Florist

A little known secret in our family is that my beloved husband spent some time doing floral arrangements for Virginia Peddler.(very little time - still a man! -AC)  This skill seems to have rubbed off on our son, because shortly after I placed a mason jar with peonies out on the patio table, he ventured inside and grabbed one of my vases.  He then proceeded to walk around the yard and collect flowers for his masterpiece.  Once he was finished collecting everything he deemed necessary for his arrangement, he then proceeded to categorize the flowers by color (yes, a little of his mother's OCD may have rubbed off on him as well). Note the color coded piles in the picture below. 

Once the flowers had been categorized accordingly, he proceeded to artfully arrange them in the vase he had brought outside. 

 The finished product.  Not bad for his first floral arrangement. 

Reliving Childhood Memories

I am finding that children are an excellent way to relive your best childhood memories. This past weekend it was catching tadpoles.  The other fringe benefit is that, at this age, you are the cool mom when you are able to catch a whole handful of tadpoles in one shot.  I do realize that this will soon fade, but for now I am super mom: tadpole catcher.  After trying for a good twenty minutes, Little Man finally caught a tadpole and was very proud of himself and was ready to move on to frog catching. 

While tadpole catching proved to be the easiest way to move to superhero status, frog catching proved to be the easiest way to get wet.  Especially when the little person standing next to you screams "catch him Mom" just as you are about to make your move.  You then proceed to explain to the little person the need for stealthiness when catching frogs.  While I was unable to catch any of the frogs we found today, I have made it my goal to catch a frog for Little Man by the end of the summer in order to retain my super mom status.  That will have to wait for another day though, for now I am just the amazing tadpole catcher.  Ahh, to be four again. 

Kale Chips

Over the past few years I have discovered that kale is one of the hardiest, easiest and healthiest things you could possibly grow in your garden.  I actually discovered this by accident one year when I picked up a pack of kale instead of the broccoli which I was hoping to grow.  I have since found broccoli and I don't mix well, but kale I can grow at an astonishing rate.  As a result, I have found several recipes throughout the summer that use kale as a primary ingredient.  My favorite is Italian Wedding soup; Little Man's is Kale Chips.  There are several variations of how you should cook kale chips, my favorite so far comes from the blog Kath Eats Real Food, which I have recently posted to the right on my blog list (note to all my southern relatives, she is from Charlottesville and not another crazy northerner).  Her recipe (and pretty much every recipe) is pretty quick and easy and yields immediate results. 

Step 1: Head out to the garden and clip some kale off your flourishing plants (don't worry about how much, it will all have grown back by the end of the week).

 Step 2: Bribe the cute little person following you around the garden to pose for a picture before heading inside. 

Step 3:  Preheat the oven (depending on which recipe you are using temperature and time will vary, for the one we used the oven was set at 375 and we cooked the kale for 15 minutes.) While the oven is preheating, have Little Man tear the kale of the stalk into smaller chip-like pieces. 

Step 4: Coat the kale with a little salt, olive oil and (in our case) parmesan cheese( optional).

Step 5: Take a picture of the bowl before heading outside so you can write about it on your blog.

 Step 6: Deliver to the two hungry men sitting outside: make sure the smaller one does not take off with the bowl. 

 As a side note: Ducks also LOVE the uncooked version of kale.  This is the only way I can bribe them to come near me, did I mention our ducks have been spastically timid since we brought them home?  The chickens, on the other hand, have associated me with freedom from the coop and will run over and plop down on the ground in front of me begging for attention (except for the psycho one).

Strawberry Season

I adore summer because there is nothing like fresh fruit right off the vine/tree/bush.  I love it so much that one year while on a road trip I made Andy stop the car at a pick your own cherry place so we could pick cherries.  Why not? It was probably the only time I would ever drive past a pick your own cherry place. 

Given my love of picking my own fruit, I was very excited when I realized that berry picking season started early this year.  Even more excited when I knew some of our friends would be here from Virginia and we would be able to take them strawberry picking (they were just as excited).  We handed each child a quart container and off they set at a very rapid pace into the strawberry patch.  Did I mention the woman told the kids that they are allowed to sample as she was handing out the containers?  Bad idea, lady( Imagine Blueberries for Sal times six kids and you have the right idea).  When we finally convinced all six kids to stop sampling for long enough to fill their containers, we headed back to the booth to pay for that day's bounty, with each child guarding their containers with their life.  Once I paid for our two quarts, I looked over to discover Little Man sitting contentedly on the side of the building snacking on strawberries.  He apparently shares my obsession for fresh fruit. 

Stroll Through the Back Yard

If you have not noticed, I love my backyard.  I have put a lot of work into making it mine and recovering what was once a completely (and I mean completely) overgrown annual bed.  This is the first summer that I am going to be able to truly make my garden my own.  It has been weeded, the ground cover has been laid and invasive species have been removed.  Now the plants I want are taking over and while that means I need to cut them back, thin them out, it means that I can finally truly enjoy my garden. I have several big plans for making this my own personal oasis. 

The first step in the process was upgrading our patio furniture.  From our patio, I can look out over my garden, watch Little Man play in the yard, be entertained by the ducks and chickens, admire the many birds in the yard (we have everything from humming birds to yellow finches) or just soak up the sun.  About a month ago my father brought over some Adirondack chairs.  While they still need to be painted they are the prefect place to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee from. 

In addition to the Adirondack chairs, I have been waiting for my coaching stipend all spring in anticipation of a patio set.  My stipend arrived on Friday and off we went.  Now, not only do I have the Adirondack chairs to enjoy a cup of coffee from, we have patio furniture from which I can invite friends over to also  enjoy our yard.  We have friends from Virgina visiting this week and I can't wait to share my little backyard oasis with them.  I may never leave my backyard. 

New Boots

I am very happy woman today. After having owned a few small farm animals for over two years, jumping in puddles with Little Man and standing in monsoon-like weather during several cross-country races (a year), I finally, finally have my own pair of mud boots.  I am a very happy woman. I looked like a complete dork in them with my capri pants this afternoon while I was playing with the chickens, but I didn't care. I have new boots!

More Flowers

My garden is bright and beautiful right now, and in less than a week I can spend all the time I want to in it. Oh, and for those of you who dare ask,yes my poppies really are that orange.  

What!

Now the bunny is sticking her tongue out at me!

Covered Bridges Half Marathon

I have wondered if I should do a post or not; the one picture that was taken of me running was not great, and by running standards, my time was not fast.  However, I decided to do a post since I finished.  My time this year was 12 minutes faster than what I did last year and the best half-marathon time I have had by 2 minutes.  So what did I run? A solid 10 minute pace of 2 hours, 12 minutes and 22 seconds (the seconds are important when you run 13.1 miles.  So that is it, my post for the day.