Dear Kids,
Here are some random stories about our 2015 summer vacation.
We vacationed at a cottage on Ossipee Lake in New Hampshire. There are many oaks growing around the cottage, and the acorns can be a real nuisance, especially when one is walking around barefoot. We sometimes set you to the task of picking up acorns, which you liked to do. One day I made it into a contest. I asked you each to fill up your beach pail with acorns, and I told you that whoever collected the most would win an extra scoop of ice cream. You were good collectors. Marshall asked, “Are naked acorns OK?” I was puzzled for a moment, then realized that he meant the ones that had lost their caps. I said that those were fine. Then Marshall asked, “Are invisible acorns OK?” I loved the idea of invisible acorns, but I had to say no. I had no way of counting them, you see. But, as I was writing this post, I asked Marshall how one might count them, and he said, “An invisible acorn counter!” Oh, of course! Why didn’t I think of that?
There was a thunderstorm and it left behind puddles, some shallow and warm, some big and cool, on the driveway. We had a great time splashing around in them. I thought it was funny how much you enjoyed those small puddles when there was a big lake so close. I took pictures of you jumping in the puddles. In some pictures, I caught you mid-jump. Frozen in that one perfect moment in time, you look as though you’re levitating above the puddles and smiling at your own magic. It’s beautiful.
We heard the loons many times but only saw one once. It was swimming past the cottage, but out so far that we needed binoculars to see him clearly. Livia called him the “Loom.”
We did a whole book of Junior Mad Libs over the course of a few days. You couldn’t get enough of them. I made a special one just for you. It went like this:
Once upon a time there were two SWEET kids who were named CHEESY POOPIE Livia and CHEESY PICKLE POOPS Marshall. They were LOUD kids and they sometimes got into trouble with their SMELLY MITTENS. They went on vacation and had lots of TREES, but then an APPLE-Y lake BANANA came out of the water and said, “DIRTY DIAPER!” Then he BARKED.
Notice that some of the words you chose might be described as “potty talk.” We’ve been trying to discourage potty talk, since you engage in it a little too often. The problem is that I think it’s sort of funny (I guess I’m just not that mature), and so I sometimes inadvertently encourage you. In fact, by allowing your potty talk answers in this game, I probably condoned the behavior. Tsk, tsk. Well, one day, as Marshall was sitting in the time-out chair for using too much potty talk, Mommy said a potty word, so Daddy sent her to a time-out chair, too. Since the rule is one minute of penalty for each year of age, Daddy set the timer for 42 minutes. We were all laughing about it, especially Marshall, but I was really quite relieved when Daddy let me off the hook after about 5 minutes. Now, before you start thinking of your Daddy as the mature one, you should know that DIRTY DIAPER was his contribution to the game!
We visited the Polar Caves. They are not show caves in which one walks around serenely, oohing and aahing at dramatically-lit stalactites and stalagmites and pools. No, these are rocky adventure caves, and it take some physical effort to get through them. Grammie bailed after just two. But you’re kids, so climbing is second nature to you, and you both loved the caves. Livia was so eager that she tried to go first down a ladder (yikes!) and later got an accidental kick in the face from Uncle Mike, who was pulling himself through the part known as the Lemon Squeeze. But she was OK and went on to finish in good spirits. A trooper, as always!
Your grandpa left vacation early, so we arranged to give Grammie a ride home in the truck with us. When I told you that she was going to come back to our house, Marshall said, “Can we keep her?”
I don’t know what we’ll do next year for vacation. It will probably be something totally different. But I know that wherever we go and whatever we do, we’ll have a great time together. I can’t wait!
Love,
Mom