hiking with kids – Page 3 – Life Off Headset

Weekly recap + what we ate – “tend and befriend”

Last weekend was mother’s day.

I told the husband that I wanted four things:
1) a nice picture with all three kids.
2) to go on a hike with everyone
3) a couple hours to myself where I didn’t have to parent
4) to eat dinner without anyone sitting on my lap.

We achieved 1 and 2.

To be fair, when I pointed out to the Husband that #3 didn’t happen, he promptly made plans to allow me time the following weekend (like now! so I can write).

And #4 is honestly probably a lost cause unless I don’t eat with the family.

I don’t know if it’s because of the excessive amount of togetherness this past year as we’ve all been under pandemic lockdown, but “time alone!” seemed to be the most requested mother’s day gift I’ve seen this year among my mom friends and groups. Perhaps last year, when we were newly in staying at home, and COVID cases were rising, mothers were in a better place mentally to savour and cherish the unrelieved time with their kids. But a year later… I think many of us are just burnt out from being responsible for the care, feeding, schooling, providing, working…. from all of it. From having to be so responsible for everyone else. And this mother’s day, I think many of us caregivers just want time to themselves, to slip the bonds of responsibility.

(This is not to say men haven’t had to be responsible too… the Husband has been a very equal partner. But study after study shows that the additional burdens brought about by pandemic living has disproportionately fallen on the shoulders of women. In fact, a lot of men I know are living their best lives right now while working from home….)

On Mother’s Day proper, we went on a hike at Red Rock Wilderness Overlook. The site features some remains of historic buildings – an ice house, carriage house, etc – which I always love seeing. The hike itself at first seemed quite gentle, a grassy meandering stroll through woods that came to an overlook of the Potomac. Perhaps it is the endless Hamilton listening that we’ve been doing lately, but I couldn’t look at this river without thinking of everything it has seen – the lives, the wars, the comings and goings.

As we hiked along the river overlook, we came to a precipitous drop off, across which a tree had fallen. Always up for an adventure, and having somewhat lost the path, we scrabbled downwards until we came to the shores of the Potomac. Here there was ample opportunity to throw rocks and sticks into the river and the nine year old found a rock face to scale. I was quite impressed by how high she managed to climb.

A scramble back up the banks of the river and we found the trail blazes again and headed back to the parking lot. This was a hike that was in our “Best Hikes for Kids” book that I had gotten, which is probably one of the best things I bought all last year. The baby managed a lot of the hike, though the Husband did carry her a couple times. She is getting to be a sturdy little hiker.

The nine year old had Thursday off, so the Husband took a half day and we went to the Air and Space Museum. I had heard that the Smithsonian had been loaned an X-wing Starfighter recently and before it was sent to the Air and Space Museum downtown, it would be cleaned and checked for damage at the restoration hanger at the Air and Space Museum by the airport. So the Husband got us tickets and we spent an afternoon with all manner of aircrafts and flight history. It was our first visit to a museum in over a year and I feel really grateful that we have such easy access to so many museums here. I can’t wait until the rest of the Smithsonian museums open back up. And the National Gallery of Art too. I’ve missed seeing things in real life.

Some tidbits from this week:

A Great Podcast Episode: I was listening to this episode of On Being where Krista Tippett talks to clinical psychologist Christine Runyon about the physiological effect the isolation and stress of the pandemic has had on us. One point that really struck with me is Runyon’s idea that along with “flight”, “fight”, and “freeze,” we, particularly women, also have another survival instinct which is “Tend and Befriend.” They go on to discuss how difficult it has been during the pandemic to not be able to “befriend” or form alliances or gather as a community, because for a lot of women, that is their reaction to a crisis. There are physiological tolls to being alone. The link above is to the broadcast episode; the “tend and befriend” discussion is in the unedited episode, and it was such a fantastic conversation to hear.

The county has put the basketball hoops back up. During the pandemic, at least one hoop on every county court was removed, to prevent people from gathering to play basketball games. Not sure how effective that was. But this week I’ve noticed that all the hoops are back up. One little sign of things going back to normal.

Speaking of which – I’m thinking about the new guidelines from CDC for masking. Or rather unmasking. Namely that fully vaccinated people can resume activities without masks or social distancing. Of course the children are not vaccinated. So I think I will continue to have them mask up at playgrounds and on playdates. I will probably wear a mask when I’m with my kids as a show of solidarity, and also while indoors at stores or what not – particularly since I feel like a lot of businesses around here will keep mask mandates in place. But maybe not? Our County has been somewhat conservative with mask mandates in the past, but they seem to be in line with our state regulations right now, which is for lifting mask mandates. Indoor dining is probably still outside of my comfort zone.

The kids got new shoes! Just in time for summer. I love our shoe store.

Perfect summer snack- cucmbers with “sprinkle”, either Pico Fruta, or Sesame Seaweed Furikake.

Tadpole update – They have legs!

Frugal food wins – Sad bunch of collards, wilted and neglected –> Collard chips! Seasoned with dill, garlic powder, onion powder and nutritional yeast, giving them a nice ranch flavour.

The cicadas have started to emerge. We took an evening walk on Friday night and had to tread carefully. There has been a lot of attention given to the cicadas, I’m actually quite excited.

Four Year Old Quote of the Week: “You have to rise up, just like Hamilton.”

What We Ate:

Saturday: Grilling! Kielbasa from our favorite Polish Deli, and grilled veggies. I love how easy grilling is with the gas grill. I never thought I would convert from charcoal, but while I miss the chemical aftertaste of charcoal, the ease of the gas grill is hard to beat.

Sunday: Indian/ Nepalese food take out.

Monday: Gochujang Roasted Cabbage and Carrots with Udon Noodles and Pan Fried Tofu.

Tuesday: Pasta Salad with leftover grilled veggies from Saturday, and Mango Salad from Meera Sodha’s Made in India.

Wednesday: Salmon Curry Coconut Rice from Milk Street’s Cook-ish, and pan seared Brussel Sprouts.

Thursday: Take out from a vegetarian Chinese food place near the Air and Space Museum.

Friday: Pizza take out and bagged Caesar Salad and The Booksellers, a documentary about antiquarian booksellers. A nostalgic, wistful account of our love of printed material. Oh the beautiful shelves of books in this film!

Weekly recap + what we ate – getting out of town

Sunrise on the C&O Canal tow path and the lockhouse where we stayed.

The nine year old had a surprise non-instructional day at the beginning of the week, followed by two days of asynchronous learning. In layman’s terms that meant she didn’t have to go to school for three days. So we left town.

I booked us to stay a night at a lockhouse. These are historic houses along the C&O canal that were built to house the lock keepers and their families. Seven of them have been restored and furnished with period appropriate furniture by the C&O Canal Trust, and can be booked for a stay. I had read about these a while ago and something about the historic and rustic nature of them really appealed to the romantic in me. So when I was looking for a place to take the kids for an overnight, a lockhouse struck me as the perfect pandemic get away since they are remote and only one party stays in at a time. So after dithering for a couple days, I booked one about an hour away and packed the kids up for an adventure.

We first went hiking at Catoctin National Park. I chose a hike that was less than a mile so that the baby would be able to walk the whole way. The hike was colder than I had anticipated – I had forgotten how quickly a change in altitude and make temperatures plummet. There was still a good amount of snow cover on the ground. In the end, though, we didn’t get too far. We came across a pile of boulders and the two older kids just wanted to spend their time climbing and scrambling. Seeing them figure out how to scale to heights was actually pretty awesome.

We got to the lockhouse mid afternoon. It was spare and rustic, and oh so quiet. The house had electricity, but no indoor plumbing. I knew about this going in, but I don’t think I fully realized the simple luxury of indoor plumbing until I had to spend a day without it. I had anticipated having to use a portable toilet, but then there were things like washing dishes and hands, draining pasta, and brushing your teeth, that are definitely easier when the water has a place to drain away.

We spent our daylight hours strolling along the Potomac and walking along and in the abandoned locks. The locks have been abandoned for almost 100 years an in that time forests and meadows have grown in them. Looking at them, I was really struck by how little time it takes for a forest to grow if people let nature do its thing.

In the evening we made a fire – I hadn’t brought marshmallows because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make a fire. The kids really wanted one, though, so I did make one after dinner. And then another one the next morning. I did have some sliced apples, so I wrapped them in foil, brushed them with honey and bacon grease (the only kind of fat/oil I had on hand) and cooked them over the campfire. They were really tasty. Though, I suspect most things are tasty when eaten outdoors and by a roaring fire.

We didn’t sleep much that night. The kids weren’t used to being somewhere so dark and quiet and it was a little unsettling for them. We ended up sleeping with the lights on. I felt for sure that the trip was a failure, but in the morning, they were all smiles and excited to explore and run around outside.

It was by no means a fancy get away. But it was quiet and screen free (though, I did read my book on my phone after the kids went to bed). We hadn’t gone away since before the pandemic had hit, and I was getting a little stir crazy, to be honest. It was just nice to be surrounded by a different four walls for a little while and to imagine what life was like in this little community of Four Locks.

On the way home we stopped at Antietam Battlefield. I was never much of a Civil War buff, but being at Antietam, and seeing how vast an expanse it was, and thinking of the number of lives that were lost in this one battle… it made me realize how crazy difficult and horrible the Civil War must have been. I mean any war, really. But thinking about how lacking in technology they were and how difficult military strategy must have been given that lack…

Burnside Bridge and the sycamore tree that saw the Civil War.

And it’s not a road trip without a stop for ice cream. Two cones and a milkshake for less than seven dollars. We were definitely not in the city.

This week’s drawing assignment: We got to work in colour finally! We used pencil crayon (which, I think are called colored pencils in America; pencil crayons is what I called them growing up in Canada). Working in colour is definitely harder than one would think. Like learning to draw, I’m learning that working in colour is about breaking down what we see into parts rather than thinking of them as a whole. So, for example from below, shadows are not just darker versions of the table, but their own colour. Something being darker or lighter is not a matter of black and white, but of blue, purple, yellow, red… it is about the colour, not the light. Just as with drawing I had to learn to draw the lines of the object, not the object itself, I think the same applies to using colour – you draw what is there, not what you think is there.

The rest of the week seemed pretty heavy on life admin stuff as we get ready for the nine year old to go back to school. It fills me with excitement, worry, doubt and hope. As we round the corner of one year of staying at home, I’ve felt like the past twelve months have felt impossibly long but also it’s gone in a blink of an eye. I feel like I’m in much the same place I was, but the baby has gone from being immobile to scaling table tops and the middle child is (mostly) potty trained. Things move forward, even when I can’t.

More signs of the onward trudge of time – this tree that I took a picture of last month is no longer quite so bare:

What We Ate:

Saturday: Can’t remember. Maybe takeout?

Sunday: Roast Cod and Vegetables.

Monday: Tortellini and Ravioli. Carrot Sticks and snacks. Dinner at the lockhouse.

Tuesday: Breakfast Sandwiches. The Husband made dinner.

Wednesday: Penne with Broccolini and Goat cheese from Milk Street Tuesday Nights.

Thursday: Cauliflower Curry Soup from ATK Vegan for Everyone.

Friday: Pizza (homemade. I put anchovies on it, but I had forgotten which side and got it mixed up…. that was not popular) and Loony Tunes.

Weekly recap + what we ate – 2021: the dumpster is smoldering

One of my resolutions this year is to go hiking once a month, and once a quarter to go on a new hike. We kicked it off this year by going to Cunningham Falls. While the hike we chose was short in length, it ended up having some challenging rocks to scramble over. The falls themselves were a little more crowded than we were comfortable with, so we just glanced at them and continued on. Definitely looking forward to re-visiting them in more precedented times. As our usual, we brought hot chocolate for the hike. The baby even walked the last half mile while clinging onto the Husband’s hand.

Most of the week was pretty low key. The baby had a fever. Normally this is something we would just roll with, but given.. the times… we called the pediatrician and scheduled a telehealth appointment. It was a pretty inconclusive appointment – basically chances were pretty slim that it was COVID related, but there wasn’t a zero chance. But on the other hand, it wasn’t anything that seemed to warrant going to the ER. The pediatrician said if we were quarantining at home, a COVID test was probably not necessary, but if we wanted that information, there was no harm in having one. We decided to get tested. The Husband and the eight year old went to rapid testing and had their results back – negative – by the end of the day. The two little kids were too young for rapid testing so we went to County testing site, which had a five day turn around, though it has taken longer than that for our results.

I have to say, the nasal swab was briefly, yet intensely uncomfortable. There might have been some eye watering on my part. The two littles, on the other hand, nary made a peep. “She is so quiet!” said the man who gave the baby her nasal swab.

So a quiet week.

Until….

On Wednesday, I turned on C-SPAN, and for a moment, I thought I was watching the next season of The Handmaid’s Tale. Then I realized, that the destruction and violence I was seeing was really happening. I feel like I am still, days later, trying to wrap my brain around what is going on. I wonder what people are so afraid of that they would literally destroy the center of American democracy. There are, of course, the lies they are being fed by the megalomaniac who is our President. One can’t discount the power of his words, but at the same time, I wonder what the new administration represents for some people, and why it makes them so fearful and angry. The whole thing makes me incredibly sad and I cannot believe this is what is happening.

Other things this week:
– I’m taking this online course called the Science of Well Being (also colloquially known as the Yale Course on Happiness). In it, the professor talks about what research has discovered about what makes us happy. Part of the course are “rewirements” or rather concrete and mindful exercises to help you put the research into practice. So far they include things like: Savoring, Gratitude, Connecting with people, Acts of Kindness, Exercise and Sleep. I realized at the beginning of the year that I need to be a little more purposeful in tracking my attempts at rewirements. So I’ve started a page in my notebook to track and be purposeful. I’ve realized that Acts of Kindness is really hard in these pandemic times… that column has been regrettably pretty empty.

-Speaking of Gratitude: I am really grateful for the people who organize and work at the County COVID Testing Sites. It is free, easy, and outside. The day we went to get tested it was drizzling lightly, and the people working the testing center were out there in their rain gear, doing this work that I think is really important.

-My sourdough starter is not as robust as I expected, but I did get a batch of pancakes out of them. I’ll keep feeding it and hoping for the best. It isn’t skunked or anything, just…. anemic. I did try a recipe for apple and cashew stir fry as a topping for the pancakes and thought it was a great idea. The recipe is from Mark Bittman’s VB6 cookbook, continuing my Bittman kick lately.

-I’m trying to be more purposeful with my time, especially where the three year old is concerned. He is great at entertaining himself, but he runs feral a little too often. So I’m trying to plan one or two activities for him throughout the day. This week, we made sourdough crackers and did some painting.

-I also attempted to make some Barbie clothes for the eight year old this week. I was hoping that she would be interested in learning how to sew, but she turned out to be more interested in having me do it. Oh well. I managed to make a wrap blouse and a peasant skirt. I’m always surprised when things I sew resemble something – like it’s some weird alchemy that thread and needle and cloth can transform into clothing. I don’t have an affinity for ironing, and I suspect that my projects suffer for that.

Not bad… I mean the sleeve ripped out after a day, but I think I could make another one.

What We Ate – another week without our produce box and eating up/ eating down what we had.

Saturday: Indian Take Out

Sunday: Kabocha Apple soup and 1000 hole crepes. Soup recipe based on this one, but I threw in a russet potato that I had laying around as well. The crepes were something I saw while leafing through old copies of Saveur magazine. Making them involves semolina flour and letting the batter rest for two hours, but all in all they were quite simple to make. The end result was stunning and delicious.

Monday: Mujadara and Morrocan carrots. The carrots were from the cookbook Cooking at the Kasbah, a cookbook featuring Moroccan recipes. We’ve had this cookbook for a while, and while I’ve enjoyed looking at it I’ve been a little intimidated by the recipes. This year, though, I’ve resolved to cook more from the many magazines and cookbooks that are on my shelves, and these carrots were a simple foray into this book. It just involves boiling the carrots in herbs and a touch of sugar (I used honey) until the carrots are glazed and just barely tender. It was a good preparation for some older, slightly bitter carrots that we had sitting around.

Tuesday: Leftover Chili w/ scallion corn muffins

Wednesday: Tofu and collard green with Soba noodles. Eat down the pantry/ fridge meal.

Thursday: Black and Pinto Bean Soup. Simple – saute onion, celery, carrots and then add broth/water, bay leaves and oregano, and about a cup of dried pinto beans. One pintos are soft, add two cans black beans, tablespoon chili powder, and about a teaspoon of chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. (I used a mix of canned and dried beans because that’s what we had in the house). Eat, topped with cilantro, avocado, and sour cream (or in our case yogurt cut with a bit of buttermilk – see above: “what we had in the house”)

Friday: Pizza (take out. I was going to make pizza, but we were out of yeast), and Star Wars. It is the eight year old’s birthday weekend and she has requested to have a Star Wars marathon so this was the first night of what will be a weekend of viewing.

Weekly recap + what we ate

Well, the weekend started off with the news that the AP had called PA, and in turn the election for Biden. Despite my being glued to the radio for the past week, it almost happened without my realizing it. I was getting the children ready to go out the door, “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” on in the background. And in the space of time it took to leave the house, get three kids buckled into car seats, and turn the car radio on… it was a new America. You could almost hear a massive sigh of relief. Around here, anyway. I’m sure there are other areas of the country where the news was met with less enthusiasm. I find little comfort in the close election results. The two party system which our political system is built upon makes working together quite difficult. The binary often leaves no room for moderation.

I am excited about Kamala Harris, though. It seems silly to be excited about something as superficial as race and gender, but representation does matter.

Sunday the weather was beautiful and we had a family outing to the beach. Who would’ve thought we’d be going to the beach in mid November? As the priest who gave the homily in church that morning said, “Go outside today. The weather is beautiful. If you don’t believe in global warming, I don’t know what you believe in.”

We went to Flag Ponds Nature Park, as I had read it was a good beach to go hunting for shark teeth and fossils. We arrived at 3pm, pretty late given that the beach closed at 4pm, but we still managed to get in an invigorating hour of digging and splashing. There were all sorts of shells, fragments, and fossils to be found. The eight year old might have found a shark’s tooth, but we’re not sure. I had told the kids not to wear their swim suits because no one would be swimming, but I kind of regret that because they went into the water anyway. Note to self for next time: when going to a beach, always wear your bathing suit.

Every since the early days of our courtship the Husband and I have had this thing were we take pictures of our feet at certain landmarks. We hadn’t yet taken one of our family of five – I guess since we hadn’t really been anywhere since the baby started standing. So we took the time to take one at the beach.

The early fall sunset made for some beautiful light over the cliffs and sand banks. I loved the varied topography of this area – you could really see all the different geographical elements at play. This year I’m discovering all sorts of places to be outdoors in Maryland, and I think it’s one of those silver linings.

Monday was yet another day with no school. I somehow had missed that on my calendar, or I might have maybe planned a getaway to a cabin in the woods. As it was, I furiously searched for potential cabins with availability to no avail. Then I realized, that our admission to Shenandoah from last week was good for seven days, so I bundled the kids into the car, packed a lunch in the toddler hiking pack, and back we went. This time we hiked the Miller’s Outlook Trail. Even the baby walked a little bit! She set off determinedly down the trial for about a quarter mile, before agreeing to ride in the pack. The hike was definitely longer than I had thought it would be, and we almost turned around before getting to the outlook.

“Let’s sit and have lunch here,” I said to the kids as their energy and spirits were flagging. We sat in a pile of leaves next to some boulders and ate our sandwiches. While we were eating, group of hikers came by. We exchanged hellos. Then the eight year old piped up:

“Is the end far?”

“Not at all!” one of them replied. “Only about ten minutes.”

“Well, I suppose if it is that close, we should keep going,” the eight year old said.

And so we did. And were rewarded with sunshine pouring over a magnificent view.

After I got back and looked at the map, I discovered that I had started us at the wrong point, and that there was indeed a shorter path to the outlook.

Wednesday was the start of several days of rain. It was also Veteran’s Day. In Canada, we call it Remembrance Day, which I kind of prefer the more active name. The Husband had the day off. He had really wanted to sit in a coffee shop and read, but… COVID. So I made chocolate walnut scones in the morning for him. The recipe is from a book we picked up when we were in England years ago. It’s called Irish Pantry, and I feel like most of its recipes are perfect for cold, hunkering weather. Because our oven is still broken, I used our toaster oven and only made half a batch, freezing the rest for later. Later being that evening. Scones are easy enough, though, that I think I should make and freeze them more often so that we can have effortlessly have a fresh scone whenever we want. One of those “future me” thanks “present me” kind of things.

This week’s drawing technique was hatch and cross hatch – using lines to create shading and value. Knowing that I wanted to draw something furry, and as we have no pets, I composed a still life featuring my grandmother’s coat. I also drew some inspiration from the cover of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, and added the hat and shoes. I had done a rough version of this in pen, but the final version I did in pencil. I think I ultimately prefer the version in pen; the pencil version seems a little soft to me. While I think I’m still struggling with the actual line drawing of things, I’m finding that I really love creating value – patches of light and dark. I’m fascinated by how often you can make things darker, but it is more difficult to make things lighter. So you have to be careful about how dark you let things get. Lessons for life, perhaps?

Some things this week:

There is a tree at our first house, that is brilliantly red for about one week every fall. When we lived there, we always took a picture in front of it. This past weekend, the Husband was over at the house prepping it for our next tenants and he texted me: “If you want to come over with the kids the tree is ready.”

A country divided:

Quotes of the week:

The three year old: “I am not available to go for a walk.”

What We Ate:

Saturday: Meatball sandwiches. Frozen meatballs cooked in the InstantPot with tomatoe sauce. Mozzarella. Hoagie roll. Really tasty. There might have also been a salad involved. Can’t remember.

Sunday: Breakfast Tostadas. Tostadas were an exciting new discovery this week. Versatile like tacos, but with the satisfying crunch of nachos. We topped ours with sunny side up egg, black beans, and avocado.

Monday: Tostadas again. Like I said, exciting discovery. This time fish and purple cabbage slaw. The Husband cooked.

Tuesday: Stir fry – tofu, greens, bok choy, shitake mushrooms – with noodles.

Wednesday: Chicken Divan from Cook’s Illustrated Skillet Dinner book. Tasty, a little heavy.

Thursday: Sausage Kale Soup.

Friday: Pizza, salad, and Hello Dolly! Last year I took the eight year old (along with my mom, my brother and my niece) to see Hello, Dolly! onstage starring Betty Buckley. It was an old fashioned, big hearted song and dance musical. A little outdated in style and subject, perhaps, but it delivered an evening of unbridled joy. Joy, I think, is underrated these days. The eight year old loved it, and last week I borrowed the Barbara Streisand movie from the library for her movie night. The sheer enthusiasm for life in the dance numbers doesn’t get old – I love the casual precision of good dancing. We have been singing “Put on your Sunday clothes” ever since. The three year old requests to listen to it before bed. If there is a number that expresses unbridled optimism, it’s that one.

Weekly Recap + what we ate

The ups and downs of kite flying. A metaphor for the week?

It’s been a week. I feel a little cynical whenever people call say, “This is an historic election.” or “This is an important election.” or something similarly dramatic. Because isn’t every election historic? And important? But there was definitely a confluence of things that made this election season feel not the same old same old.

Saturday was Halloween. We started the day by going on a hike with my friend Kristen. I bribed the kids with hot chocolate, which I put in a vintage Thermopot that the Husband’s parents had had in their basement, and we drank after the hike.

Given the COVID situations, we did not go out trick or treating that evening, but I felt like the day still needed some commemoration. So we strung up the candy corn lights and put out the jack o lantern. The eight year old had this game changing idea to put battery operated string lights inside the Jack o lantern. Brilliant! I didn’t have to try to light the tea candles or worry about things catching on fire. And the lights were purple, which gave a really cool glow.

Despite having made costumes for the kids, they did not put them on. Instead, we tried out our fire pit (smoky, not as warm as I thought it would be.) We put a bowl of candy out on the porch, but I think the only person who took a piece was the mail carrier, who was strangely delivering mail at 7:30pm. Mail slow down indeed.

The weather was beautiful all week. Monday was warm yet windy. We took advantage of the 8 year old’s 90 minute lunch break to fly a kite at the nearby park. This is that park that was under construction these past few months and when we went to check out the diggers on Monday morning, it was complete! The orange fencing was taken down and it was ready for play. The lunch break trip to the park might become a more regular part of our routine.

The double swing in action! I think you are actually supposed to stand on the swing on the right.

The eight year old had Tuesday and Wednesday off school. Election Day is typically a day off for them, and Wednesday was an added planning day for the teachers. I had joked that I should have taken them to a cabin in the woods and gone into a media blackout until things shook out. Instead, I took them hiking in the Shenandoahs.

If I thought too much about it, taking three young children hiking my myself was probably ambitious.

“Just don’t let anyone fall off a cliff,” The Husband said.

I packed sandwiches (peanut butter and jam and peanut butter and bananas) and lots of snacks and water. A couple diapers, a change of clothes for the two younger kids. And oh, yes, a thermos of hot chocolate. Which seems to be the bribe of the moment. I found the eight year old’s camera that morning, quickly charged the battery, and gave it to her to capture what she wanted.

It took about two hours to get to the Shenandoahs. We stopped at a picnic area for lunch and then headed to Stony Man Trail. With the baby in the hiking carrier, and the three year old carrying the backpack of snacks, we headed up the mountain.

It was a relatively moderate hike, and the view at the top was spectacular, though a little scary. I definitely had visions of the Husband saying to me, “I told you not to let anyone fall of a cliff.” At the top, we had our hot chocolate, still steaming as we poured it from the thermos. It was a very good bribe.

I was really fascinated during our hike of all the scrappy and resourceful ways things manage to grow. These trees, for example – they thrive in, what to my eyes, is an unusual way. But perhaps it isn’t that unusual, when things are left to their own devices.

Upon our return Tuesday night we stayed up to watch the election returns. I remember doing the same thing four years ago, and going to bed feeling so defeated after Pennsylvania was called for Trump. We let the kids stay up until about 10:00p. There is a fine line between watching election results as civic education and watching election results as entertainment. With the flashy maps and graphics and fast talking commentators, the kids were certainly riveted.

As much of a nail biter as the election was four years ago, it was even more so this year. There was a certain nerve-wracking tedium to the slow trickle of election returns. At a certain point in the evening we started watching the Law and Order marathon on WE. I went to bed around 1am, with several states still counting.

The counting went on all week. It definitely dominated the news cycle. To think that the answer to “Who will be the President?” was out there in these millions of slips of paper that people were counting. I feel kind of inspired to look into being a poll worker for the next election.

This week in art class, we work on stipple technique. When she was explaining the technique to us, the instructor said that it was a somewhat time-consuming technique and to make sure to plan our time well to finish the assignment. It was indeed time-consuming, and truth to tell, somewhat tedious. But at the same time you couldn’t let your mind wander or you would over stipple and, since this was a project in pen, mistakes were irrevocable. You can see evidence of that in the toe of the boot on the left.

The assignment was to draw a pair of shoes. I loved seeing the variety of shoes that people drew. I ended up quite liking this assignment. It was mentally challenging and visually interesting. I definitely wanted to try it again.

Baby milestones this week: She started waving. So adorable. She also started wearing shoes this week. They are the same shoes her brother wore when he started walking!

Other pretty things: This week in the preschool curriculum that I’m loosely doing with the three year old, we are learning about mixing colours. One of the activities combines mixing colours with practicing pouring skills. The three year old loved this activity and it kept him busy for at least half an hour. LUckily the weather was gorgeous enough to do this activity outside. And I thought it was rather pretty too!

What We Ate:
The Husband offered to cook this week! I still did Sunday, but he did all the rest.

Saturday: Sausage sandwiches

Sunday: Salmon burgers from Dinner Illustrated. I think we ate these with cut up veggies.

Monday: I can’t for the life of me remember….

Tuesday: Breakfast Sandwiches.

Wednesday: Carnitas and Nachos.

Thursday: Butternut squash soup, salad and chicken sausages.

Friday: Pizza and Oliver and Company. Cute movie. Innocuous and short. It was the three year old’s turn to choose. Usually he chooses to watch The Stinky and Dirty show unless we intervene suggestively. Which we did this time. I’ve been borrowing movies from the library and it’s been working pretty well.

Weekly Recap + What we ate

Last week was our final week of summer vacation. School starts tomorrow. I’m trying to keep an open mind about distance learning and hope that I can be as supportive as possible.

I have to say, I do miss our annual trip to buy school supplies. There is nothing like that smell of Staples, the whiff when you walk in of plastic and wooden pencils. And fresh school supplies! So pristine and full of potential! Well at least this year, I didn’t have to silence my inner critic when the eight year old chooses a garish sparkly backpack featuring a licensed character. Something in me finds it hard to be supportive when confronted with so much glitter and shine, knowing it will have to be replaced come January.

I wanted to take advantage of the lack of screen obligations this week to spend time outdoors, and so we went on two outdoor adventures: a small walk along a creek on Monday, and for our Thursday adventure we went to Patapsco State Park. Both times the children whined that they didn’t like walking, but then ended up having a great time.

Patapsco was perfect for a hot hot day. The hike we chose was near a creek so the kids could play in the water. We didn’t bring any swim clothes, but they plunged into the water fully clothed and didn’t seem to mind. The river was pretty low so the three year old could go wading safely. Afterwards I asked the eight year old what made this adventure a good hike and she said, unequivocally, “It was near water.” I’ll have to file that one away for future hiking trips.

I tried out the hiking backpack carrier for the first time with the baby. It was a something that my brother had passed down to us last year. I had been reluctant to use it because I was afraid it was going to bulky. But you know what is truly bulky? Front carrying a baby in an Ergo while having a backpack of snacks and supplies on your back. My brother’s hiking pack had all sorts of pockets so lunch was tucked into a little space underneath the baby’s seat, while towels, wipes, one single diaper and hand sanitizer also had its own pocket. All the supplies and the baby on my back – with a sun shade! So easy and practical.

The hike to the waterfall was short but steep. There were a few moments where I almost pitched over with the baby on my back, but we all managed it to the water falls. We were one of the only people wearing masks, but groups seemed to be trying to give other groups some space, if not always 6 feet. The trail seemed unusually populated for a weekday morning, and I don’t know that I would feel comfortable there on a weekend, truth be told.

The baby fell asleep in the carrier during the hike and I successfully managed to get her out of the carrier and into the car seat without waking her. Which, as everyone knows, is a monumental achievement of stealth and smoothness. Also helps that sometimes she is a truly deep sleeper. (However, strangely not at 1:30am.) We stopped for ice cream on the way home, though the baby and the 3 year old fell asleep so only the eight year old and I indulged.

We also re-discovered the joys of fort building this week. Well, I had the joy of fort building. The kids had the joy of fort commissioning. We had gotten the kids this fort kit last Christmas. It’s gotten a good amount of use since then – great periods of frenzied activity with it followed by neglect. Earlier this summer we had even taken it outside and made forts in our backyard. This is definitely one of those projects where the kids dictate while I toil. “Taller!” “Can it have two rooms?” “I want a pointy roof!” Which is all fine – I enjoyed the building process, and afterwards I enjoyed the quiet as the kids dragged blankets inside and settled in. I did not, however, enjoy the shouts of disappointment when the forts were collapsed by sibling clumsiness.

Other things this week: my friend/ college roommate came over for “happy hour” – I’m really enjoying that she lives in the area and I hope she never leaves. I cleared out a bunch of space in the freezer by taking breast milk to the milk bank. I did some creative cardboard box building (more on that later). I discovered The Goes Wrong Show on Amazon. Not as funny as I want it to be, but still pretty funny. I do wish that it had more of the backstage view of things, but I don’t think that is the concept. Still contemplating my life choices, and wishing I had the time to do something on that front, but life doesn’t go as well when I neglect the children.

Quote of the week, courtesy of the eight year old: “The day after the pandemic is lifted, we should have a day off school so we can do all the fun things that we didn’t get to do before.”

Also – thing I said this week, that I never thought I would have to say: “Don’t put salami on your sister’s head!”

Last week’s meals:

Saturday: Pasta and meatballs. Super simple all made in the Instant Pot: layer some tomatoe sauce, pasta, frozen meatballs (made months ago because they are a good staple to have in the freezer), and more tomatoe sauce. Cook at high pressure for 22 minutes. On days I’m feeling ambitious, I will make the tomatoe sauce, but Simple Saturday is not for ambitious cooking. The Husband does note that I complicated things by making pesto to go with everything.

Sunday: Cauliflower Chicken Tikka Masala from Dinner Illustrated

Monday: Udon Noodles Stir fried with Vegetables. I believe I used zucchini, carrots and eggplant.

Tuesday: Sweet Potatoe and Chicken Thai Curry from Dinner Illustrated. I used Panang curry rather than red because that’s what we had. A definite winner.

Wednesday: Leftover Cauliflower Chicken Tikka Masala from Sunday. Threw in some potatoes to bulk it up. We had originally planned something else for Wednesday, but… life and consequences.

Thursday: Roasted salmon, pan fried Brussel sprouts and Instant Pot potaotes. Also ate sliced cucumbers on the side. I’ve come to embrace the idea that carrot sticks and cucumbers are a perfectly legitimate side dish.

Friday: Pizza take out while watching East Side Sushi. A lovely movie which left me craving sushi and wanting to sign up for a knife skills class. We streamed it on Amazon, and the subtitles weren’t working for the Spanish and Japanese dialogue scenes, leaving us clueless as to what was going on in many parts. It didn’t make a difference – you could totally tell what was happening. I can’t tell if that is a sign of good story telling, or simplistic story telling. Or maybe both?