My vacation was unexpectedly good because I initially thought that since it involved being home with both kids, that it would be far from a vacation. But vacation it was.
To let go of any guilt for not spending my "break" catching up with grading, I set aside one morning (out of the 9 days I had off) to get a little bit of work done, so I wouldn't feel overwhelmed when I started teaching again Tuesday).
Aside from, that I didn't worry or even think about work other than that 4 hour block of time. I completely vacated from my professional life and that made my vacation mostly stress free. It was so freeing to not have that hanging over my head. I didn't realize what a burden work is on me, even over the weekends when I supposedly have time to spend with my family, until this vacation. You know what other vacation is worry free? That's right: Summer vacation. In that way, spring break was a total tease.
So what started out very low-key (think playdate at the park) turned to be a whirlwind of family and friend get togethers and meet-ups. Summer vacation is like that too. We're all desperately trying to squeeze in every last bit of time with each other, since we know how busy the fall gets.
On Saturday 4/12, I met my friend Emma and her two kiddos at a park in Modena for a little bit of play and food (picnic anyone?). Bevin had a blast on the swing and Cole was super excited to play with Hailey, Emma's also almost-4-year-old. The playground we played at was adjacent to a field where several teams were playing rugby. At one point the team decided it would be a good idea to bring their game ONTO THE PLAYGROUND where they kicked a ball almost onto mine or Bevin's head (I was wearing her at the time). Luckily, I saw it coming and knocked it out of the way with my hand and proceeded to curse out the coach who kept claiming he didn't know the ball was going to come our way. Aside from that scary moment, we had a nice time getting the kids together and talking about pregnancy and child birth.
On Sunday 4/13 I decided it was imperative that we use the good weather to our advantage and get into the woods already. The spring and the fall are incredibly good seasons to hike because the heat and humidity is not unbearable as it can be in the summer. We also decided that it would be nice to start utilizing some of the local preserves maintained and supported by Scenic Hudson . We decided to hit up Black Creek Preserve in Esopus and had a great time visiting the Hudson River and enjoying an afternoon surrounded by woods. Cole, though, has reached a point in his almost 4 years of life where he gets "tired" and "hungry" both reasons to stop hiking and go directly to a diner. Yes. True story. We don't give in though because we've realized he is just bored (well, and maybe a little hungry). Even so, he had a diner detector (stick) where he "doo doo dooed" his way back from the river to the parking lot. And we let him do that to maintain our sanity. Of course, we hit up Frozen Rainbow and had a nice late lunch/ice cream snack that tided us over until dinner.
On Monday 4/14 Cole went to preschool in the morning and Bevin and I spent some quality time with each other (eating breakfast at Panera, shopping at Target, napping in the car) before picking up Cole again and then meeting Keith at our local playground where we spent a nice afternoon playing on swings, slides, etc. Can I tell you how much Bevin LOVES the swing and the slide? She has so much fun.
On Tuesday 4/15, after checking out the two possibilities for Cole's Universal Pre-K placement in the morning, we met Keith's sister and her daughter at the Mid-Hudson Children's Museum in the afternoon. All three kids had a blast. The place is awesome because they have something for every age. Bevin got to go down and climb up a baby size slide. She got to shake a bunch of tubes and climb over foam pads. She got to climb up stairs with the big kids and stand inside a train table. We wound up going to dinner with Lauren and Emmie as well and it was a blast.
On Wednesday 4/16 I spent the morning getting work done and then Keith and I flipped childcare and the kids spent the afternoon with me.
On Thursday 4/17 Cole and I had a special mommy son day. We went hiking with a childhood friend of mine (she's my cousin's cousin) and then we spent the afternoon at our house before picking up Bevin.
On Friday Keith and I went on an awesome hike to Giant's Ledge in the Catskills. We got a lunch from Bread Alone beforehand and it was such a reward to eat that while gazing at the amazing view of the mountains around us.
We spent the morning and afternoon of my birthday in New Paltz, eating lunch and walking the rail trail.
It was magical and spontaneous and will live in my memory. And if it doesn't, well at least I wrote it down.
We spent the morning and afternoon of my birthday in New Paltz, eating lunch and walking the rail trail.
It was magical and spontaneous and will live in my memory. And if it doesn't, well at least I wrote it down.
No comments:
Post a Comment