We hiked up Cadillac Mountain – 7.5 miles round trip with 1,500+ feet elevation gain over rocky scrambles and muddy, flooded trails in rain and fog with little to no visibility. The kids were good until about mile 3, and then they started complaining. Poor Robin had a nasty blister on her foot. But we made it, and I’m really proud of everyone. It was exhausting but in my opinion rewarding, despite the lack of panoramic views. Robin slipped and landed hard on her butt several times and there were tears, but I managed to make enough jokes about it to elicit some smiles and laughs despite it all. All in all, very impressive.
Tag: christina
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June 24
The trip is underway. We were delayed a few hours because our a/c stopped working last night. The technician came by this morning and luckily it was a quick, easy fix. And then on the road! We couldn’t agree on where to go for dinner once we arrived in Virginia, and Robin and Christina weren’t thrilled about where we ended up, but turns out the food was great and they had something for everyone. I even got a BLT, which I had been craving in the car but never thought in a million years I’d find on any menu anywhere on our way. We hit traffic as we crossed into South Carolina for about 50 miles, but otherwise was smooth sailing. Tomorrow we head through Washington, DC, Baltimore, and NYC… headed through the Bronx at the end of a Yankees game… so I am not expecting great things, traffic-wise. I made a great 60’s playlist (I mean, truly great), and it is 19 hours of music, so it should get us to New Haven, no problem. I sang almost the whole way today. I’m sure I drove Billy crazy, but OH FUCKING WELL.
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June 23
Busy day getting ready to travel. I was trying to wrap up several things at work, but kept having to step away for one reason or another. This was a worthy cause, though. The kids spent the week at summer camp preparing a production of “Stone Soup,” and it was really good! Christina was the narrator and Robin was on the production crew. A nice break in the day.
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June 12
My brain isn’t quite functioning at full capacity, but on the flip side, I am covered in living, loving creatures.
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June 2
We are more than four and a half hours into Christina’s dance recital dress rehearsal. I made the mistake of skipping lunch (and breakfast), so it has been approximately 26 hours since I last ate. I brought a book, but the house lights are down and I can’t see. I am bored and hungry and grouchy and I just want to go home. This is one of those things they don’t tell you about when you say you want kids.
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May 29
It was a busy day of deep cleaning, clothes shopping for Christina, since she had grown out of nearly everything she owned, going to see the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and dinner out at Al’s Pizza. Nice way to wrap up a long weekend.
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May 22
This is called obsession, people. I have literally done nothing else except work, sleep, and edit photos. I did clean the kitchen today. And I watched Superman. I probably should at least try to sleep.
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May 13
The girls did so great at their competition today. The coach said they scored over 90, which is way above their previous high score. It’s still quite low compared to their competition, but they’ve come from a score in the 60s at the start of the season to here, and that is a really big deal.
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April 23
It was another long day of training today, after which I got Christina and Jackson to join me in a quick trip to the park. The weather could not have been any more incredible, and I really regretted having to leave, but hunger calls.
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April 14
Christina’s on fire tonight. We went out to eat and she didn’t stop talking for two straight hours. Tonight’s Christina-ism: “I’m a tailgater because I have a tail and I’m a gator.” Comes close to a couple weeks ago when she started choking and stopped to catch her breath with her hands up just to say, “My mind is full of knowledge.” This child is destined for greatness if her public speaking skills continue at this level.
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April 5
I don’t know if I should disclose that I got fed up with work today and took the kids to the park after picking them up from school instead of coming back to work. I do not regret it even one iota. Sunshine can work wonders.
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April 2
We went to Pickwick Park for the first time in ages. The kids (especially Robin) are starting to outgrow playgrounds, which is kind of sad but kind of exciting because it means they’re growing up. New things are on the horizon. Still, I’m happy that we still have some of the innocence left. I want to hold onto that as long as possible. Innocence is trust, and trust is beautiful.
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March 26
Robin borrowed a book about cupcakes from the library and chose a recipe. It went about 65% well. She added a tablespoon of baking soda instead of a teaspoon. I managed to scoop out some unknown amount of it, but they all look like collapsed volcanoes. We also needed unsweetened chocolate baking chips and I only had 60% bittersweet chocolate chips. We’ll see what that leads to. Our frosting is a little pasty, plus we only had enough ingredients for a half recipe. They’re probably worthy of being on Nailed It, honestly. But it was a learning experience for Robin and she really did 95% of it without my help. Plus I haven’t tasted them. What’s lost in looks might be made up in taste.
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March 24
Today was seriously draining, from start to end, and it’s not even over. I really try so hard to do the right thing by everyone and I get so much flack for it. It’s defeating.
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March 13
So far spring break has not been terribly exciting. Today I did some writing, went to the library, paid some bills, read some of my book, and facilitated my last NAMI Peer to Peer class in the current session. Oh, and what else, played (and lost) Harry Potter. Tomorrow should be equally exciting. It’s kind of disappointing how dull this break has been so far, but I have some things planned for later in the week that may make up for it. We’ll see how it goes.
Year in Photos 