Nightmare Week

Merlin and Starling both had last week off and Röbby was away at a conference.  So infuriating!  They were able to watch a lot of tv (they watched some show called Happy Valley…it sounds very sweet!) and tried to keep out of my way, but these vacations while I am a struggling single parent are so difficult.  I just keep on smiling through the struggle and am very brave.

They both refused to go help out at Hummus’s school.  They said the men there are “touchy” or something.  I found a lovely lil’ vacation school at the local Episcopal church.  The priest there drives a BMW and his wife drives a Saab, so I know that is my kind of God.  Unfortunately, the children have to be enrolled in their regular Sunday School to enroll.  I think that is wrong, but the church secretary hung up on me three times.

Those fancy church choir outfits are adorable!

Maybe I can drop the kids off on a few Sundays so they can enroll in the summer mission trips.

We Have Arrived

Thank goodness, Robert’s joke about a trailer was really a joke.  There is no way!   I wasn’t really worried, but maybe a tiny bit worried.  The drive wasn’t too bad.  I slept most of the way actually, but everyone said the scenery was spectacular.

The house is lovely.  It is rustic cute, and right on a pretty lake.  It has AC and wifi, so I think I will survive.  Luckily I brought a few throws and pillows and some rustic art so we can feel very much at home this week.

All of the windows make it so light and bright inside!

The lake is called a non-motorized lake, which means you have to work to take a boat out.  No zipping into town with a cute lil’ motorboat.  You can see loads of kayakers and sailboats though, so it is scenic at least.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find a local photographer who could come over at the last minute to take photos of us arriving and relaxing, so it is up to St. Lah Lee again, to snap a few shots so we can even remember the trip.

Röbby says he has an all-day hiking trip planned for tomorrow, so no photographers then either.  Oh boy!  I sure am looking forward to hiking up a mountain with the children.

There is a totally darling little guest house out in the woods.  It is a little bit away from the main house, but it will be so cozy at night.  Merlin gets to stay out there.  He says he is “scared” to be alone out there, but of course he is just making it up.  And there is nowhere else for him to sleep.  He can’t stay with Starling and he would keep Hummus up, and the only other room in the house is way too girly and foofy for a little boy.  It will be fun.

Honestly! He can be so difficult. He should just pipe down and pretend he is camping. I have a flashlight on my keychain that he can borrow.

Since I am on vacation, I am going to go down to the dock with a large vodka with diet tonic and a squeeeze of lime.  Naughty!

Leaving in the AM

I can’t believe it is only one more day to our perfect family vacay.  Cari and Krystyn are going to stop by every day to collect mail, switch our lights, and make sure that snake, Karen Sullivan, isn’t up to anything!

I am trying to whittle down my suitcases to two large ones and a big duffle bag.  It is so hard! I am thinking this top will work for the car ride up tomorrow.  It is a little Yodel-lay-ee-hoo/Heidi looking which is just the right note for the mountains, and comfy for the car.

I want to be comfortable and casual, and I think this works.

I keep wondering if I should run out and buy something gingham.  Do I need a gingham dress?

Mr. Funny, aka Röbert told me last night that he would show me a photo of the house.  Then he showed me this:

Hahaha…so funny. I would NOT be happy in a trailer.

He said he knew that I would love it with the firepit and the twinkle lights.  I don’t know why I stay married to this guy!

Do I need cowboy boots?  What do you think.  I have a pair, but they may not be cute enough.  And I should probably get some fancy hiking boots, just in case.

It’s So Hot!

A new family moved into our neighborhood last weekend, so, of course, I stopped by with a bottle of wine to catch the mom, Tabs, up on all of the local goings on and be neighborly.  She and her husband came by on Sunday afternoon for a lil’ get to know you barbecue with the usual gang, Krystyn and Wesley, Cari and Mitch and all of the kids.  Fortunately for us, the Watsons have children who will be in the same grades as my children this fall, and Starling, Merlin, Alcott and Hemingway have been inseperable all week.  To thank me for having them basically move into my backyard while she unpacked, Tabs offered to take them with her to a water park today.  The kids were dressed and ready by the door at about 6:30 this morning!

Of course I raced over to the gym to grab the last spot at child care for Hummus, and came home to try on outfits for my trip next week.  Did I mention that Röbert is whisking us all away for a fun-filled family vacay on Saturday?  I am very excited.

Right now it is so hot out.  The only bad thing about summer (besides stinging insects and having to watch children all day every day) is the heat!  I don’t like to just give up like a lot of people I see around town, but honestly, sometimes it would be more comfortable to wear nothing at all.

Cool and classy. No frumpy t-shirts for Lah Lee!

Since I realized how fantastic I look in hats, I have gone on a bit of a shopping spree.  Shhh, don’t tell!  I think this one is going to be perfect for the mountains!

A lil’ floppy and unstructured, but still very cool.

I think it was very thoughtful of Röbert to choose a mountain destination instead of the beach.  The cool mountain air will be quite a relief after this hot and busy week!

Another My Grain

This morning I woke up with a lil’ my grain.  Röbert pulled out all the stops last night. He had arranged for Grandmama to have the lil’ ones overnight and we had dinner in the city at that new restaurant where it is impossible to get reservations.   Afterward he suggested we go out for a drink and he took me to a hot disco where Cari and Krystyn were both waiting to surprise me.  We all just danced the night away!  I think Cari may have helped him out a bit with ideas about where to go, but it was magical!

He also didn’t completely fail with the gift.  He bought me some beautiful shoes in the right size.  They are moccasins, so more for slumming around home than anything, but he found the right store. Again, I think I have Cari to thank.  I love how close she and Röbert have gotten!

A huge improvement over the kayak lessons, right?

The kids had homemade gifts for me.  Honestly, when will they learn?  Hummus has been too busy with his tennis career to make anything, so I think my payoff with him will be well worth it, but ten or twelve years off.  Starling’s gift was actually really sweet.  It was a book of coupons with things like “Good For…One Hug,” in it.  I can’t wait to redeem them!

She is just so thoughtful to think of all of these treats for me!

Merlin made me a cake but it wasn’t even the kind I like.  Oh well, I had a lovely piece of cake at the restaurant last night.

It is all crooked and wonky! LOL! We couldn’t stop laughing when we saw it!

Röbert is lucky he did so well for my birthday because he pulled a lil’ prank on me today that would normally have me furious.  He has been telling me that he is “working on” the vacay, so I shouldn’t reserve the gorgeous beach front villa just yet, even though it will probably be rented right out from under us at any minute.  Then, when I finally dragged myself out of bed at midday, he said he had arranged with one of his friends to borrow his hunting cabin for a week.  He had better be joking.  He even went so far as to show me a photo.

Obviously this has to be a joke. Right?

I didn’t give him the satisfaction of laughing or crying.  I just said, “Right,” and walked away.  I kept thinking about it all through Pilates for Pros and Extreme Yoga.  It’s a joke.  I am sure it is a joke.

It’s obviously just a not very funny joke.  I am not laughing, but it must be a joke.

I think a lil’ drop of vodka will help the my grain.

 

Final Day

Tomorrow is the last day of school and I just found out that it is a half day!  I have so much to get done before I experience the joy of being surrounded by my children all day everyday.  I asked everyone I know if they could watch my angles tomorrow afternoon, and no one can.  It seems that lots of families take their children out for special events after the last day of school.  Anywho, I am thinking of just packing a lunch for the kids, dropping Hummus at the gym and turning off my phone for the afternoon.  It is an old trick, but it is pretty effective.  The teachers love having a lil’ one on one time with Starling and I am sure Merlin can make himself useful.

Merlin was bugging me before school about some ceremony at school today.  I have no idea. Starling said it wasn’t important and only the moms of the real doofuses show up, so I am skipping it and getting a nice deep massage instead.  Then maybe a mani-pedi or something.

Merlin did comb his hair for the penultimate day. It is strange how he loves school!

We had some exciting news regarding Merlin.  I received notice from his teacher, Ty, that he qualified for some conference for the nerds in the state capitol.  It is a five day camp thing, and it is free.  He is also going to a soccer camp with some soccer team that Ty found for him.  Also free.  This loosens up money I won’t have to spend on him for 2 weeks this summer, so Starling can got to several weeks of art camp and horse camp with Amber.  It also makes our budget for our vacation even grander, I think.  I showed Röbert the poll last night and he said that even those modest homes might be too pricey and that he was working on something for us.  I reminded him that my blog readers want me to go to a beautiful white sand beach, and not one in New Jersey, and definitely no camping.  I think he is going to surprise me!

Off to the gym!

Summer Excitement

Last summer my family did not manage to get away for a vacation like I wanted.  Röbert claims it was because of my spending blahbety blah blah blah.  How  could my spending prevent us from going away?  I only buy necessary things like food and shoes and gym memberships and Röbert is always buying fancy suits for the office and expensive stuff for the cars, like repairs and gas.  He even bought sports equipment for the ridiculous mountain hiking things he does!

Anyway, we have been talking about this summer and Röbert agreed that we could go away to someplace “modest” for a week in July.  So I am thinking of either a lake or the beach.

At first he suggested camping but I said no to that. Can you imagine being stuck all the way out in the woods?

For a minute I thought that glamping might be a nice compromise.  It would make me seem hip and flexible and some of the glamping resorts seem fun.

It looks so cute! I think they might have turndown service and champagne.

But then I read something about composting toilets.  Is that even a thing?  I don’t know what that means and I do not want to find out!

So, I am thinking this place looks nice, also a compromise because it is on a lake, not a beautiful white sand beach.  Röbert could do his thing with the kids and I could relax for a change.

It is large, but I need a lot of space for my stuff and relaxing.

I also like this place and it is also a compromise and modest because it is not oceanfront, which I prefer.  I am all about being reasonable and hearing what Röbert has to say here.

The kiddos would love the pool and I am sure Röbert would enjoy surfing etc.

So now I have a decision to make!  I can’t wait for our lil’ modest vacation. Where should we go?