Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Silly Owen

Yesterday I stayed home with my kids all day on our staycation. Actually, they played together while I worked from my home office.

Owen and Zoe had fun hanging out together. They did things that they haven't done for a while like playing with Playdoh.

They ate Popsicle (orange mustache!).

They got a hold of my camera. The footage is classic silly Owen.

They have been playing their Nintendo DS games.

Now, it's time to play outside.

Boxes of stuff

I have too much yarn, and my husband has too many wires. And, we both have too many books. Of course, all I see are his things, and all he sees are mine. I was a bit upset when he came home yesterday with four boxes of wires. Normally, I put up with it given that I have a lot, no a flock of sheep's worth of yarn. Sigh.

So, since we have another day or two left of our staycation, I am going to continue to work on my stash, and encourage Bob to work on his.


Posted by Picasa

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Staycation update

Well, the first day of our staycation was not a vacation at all. It was hard work. We uncluttered the house, cleaned up the yard, cleaned up the deck, refilled the birdfeeders, did laundry, paid bills, and generally put our affairs in order. It’s all the things and more that we’ve been meaning to do for a while, but didn’t find the time or energy to do. By the end of the day, my back was hurting, but things were in much better shape.

We hosted a sleepover guest for my daughter. That did force us to order pizza for dinner. At least after all that work, we didn’t have to cook and clean up the kitchen after dinner.

Our daughter Zoe is turning ten years old on August 3. Where has that time gone? As dutiful parents, we have been trying to organize a birthday party for her. She wanted a sleep over with all her friends, and a traditional birthday party with streamers and balloons, and naturally a big cake.

Alas, most of her friends are actually away on real vacations. My guess is that the bad economy hasn’t hit the well-heeled crowd of Chapel Hill, NC. So, we’re taking her available friends throughout the week for smaller get-togethers. Last night, we had a sleepover, today a visit to Kanki, a local Japanese restaurant, tomorrow a trip to the museum, a trip to the water park, plan to see a movie later in the week, and maybe another sleep over. Phew! A weeklong birthday is more work and more fun for all.

Happy (week-long) Birthday, Zoe!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Taking a "staycation"

This year we are spending our vacation time on a "staycation" in our home in Chapel Hill, NC.  We would love to go to Boston, like we did last year.  It would be wonderful to take a cruise, or finally bring the kids to Disney, but we are wary of spending too much.  We are not feeling deprived altogether. We do have a short get-away planned for Labor Day weekend and another in early November.

 

We do plan to take a day trip or two to the beach or the mountains.  We plan to see more of our beautiful region. The list includes taking a hike, riding our bikes, and hanging out together. We are scheduling a visit the local museums and zoo.  It will be enjoyable and we’ll have a few hundred dollars saved.