Winter, Winter Go Away…

Like the rest of North America, with the exception of Vancouver, it appears, central Indiana is in the middle of the dead of winter. Snow days, school delays, snow, snow, and more snow….these have been the days of my life.

Even when the sun isn’t out, there is a terrific glare off the snow. I’m counting that as sunlight for my sanity.

So it’s only natural that summer dreams have been developing this week. Remember summer? Remember warm? Remember sunshine?

The gals at Grown in My Heart have made a plan for summer–we are going to BlogHer ’10 in NYC. We’d like to get a slot in the Room of Their Own program–where we’d be the panel and discuss the delicate nature of sharing your family life and reproductive challenges on the Internet.

If you have two seconds, please click through here, and vote for our proposal: http://www.blogher.com/room-of-your-own-10

You do need a BlogHer account, and once you’ve signed in, please vote for us. We’d appreciate it…..and if you’re going to BlogHer ’10, give a shout out!

Here are few flashbacks to a warmer, gentler time:

It was sooo hot the day we saw Niagra Falls, the plastic ponchos were a bit much!
It was sooo hot the day we saw Niagra Falls, the plastic ponchos were a bit much!
The water was so warm in the Atlantic this was a sunset splash. SO WARM OUTSIDE!
The water was so warm in the Atlantic this was a sunset splash. SO WARM OUTSIDE!
Look! The Fox is wearing a romper. Not pants. He's wearing sunscreen. He's sitting on this stuff called grass. Haven't seen grass since January...
Look! The Fox is wearing a romper. Not pants. He's wearing sunscreen. He's sitting on this stuff called grass. Haven't seen grass since January...

Family Trip: Success

We spent most of our time away just minutes from the beach on Boston's South Shore
We spent most of our time away just minutes from the beach on Boston's South Shore

We are finally home again, home again (jiggety jig) after a week long family trip. It was sooo nice to get away–to not have a to do list, or the feeling that I should be doing anything more than making sure everyone is fed, clothed and reasonably clean. There wasn’t as much sleeping as I’d hoped for (why they chose this week to reset their clocks for school, I don’t know), but some of our early mornings were the best. Early morning runs to Dunkin Donuts, and an early stroll around Niagra Falls with  Jr. is one I won’t soon forget.

There’s really nothing like jumping on a hotel bed……..me bed jumpmam bed

But there’s really no place like home!

Beach Babies

AFM_BeachTurns out, my kids LOVE themselves some ocean. We’ve been going twice a day, every day, since we arrived on Friday. MAM loves to run down the smooth shore at low tide, announcing, “I’m Flying!”, wind whipping through her hair, without a care in the world. She’s not too loud, or too fast, she doesn’t have to be careful, or watch out for her brother, or do anything except put one foot in front of the other.

Come to think of it, she is flying.

Junior loves the sand–he can dig for ages, play with the shovels and pails, and look (and sometimes lick) the rocks. He loves the water–loves to sit at the edge of the sea, letting the water wash over his legs and belly, slapping his hands on the water’s surface. Tonight, while Daddy and MAM were riding the boogie board, Junior crawled into the ocean. Never mind the rocks, he just crawled right in, chasing the tide out to sea.

We may have a dip in our gas mileage on the way home–the amount of sand we will bring home, I’m sure, will be weighed by the pound. But every grain I have to brush off, sweep up or vacuum out is worth it–my kids LOVE themselves some ocean.