I've been told that if you click on the title of the blog post in the email, you'll be taken to the actual blog where you can watch the embedded videos! Just a hint!
Today, after visiting an Urgent Care Clinic to get Maceo's chronic cough checked out,
Luke! I'm your father!
we all piled into the cars to visit several wonderful sites. The first was the Old Round Church in Richmond, a historical landmark where the Devil can't corner you as there are no corners! From there, we went to the Ben and Jerry's Factory for a tour and a taste and a picnic outside.
Millionaires in the making.
Maceo did not appear because he was busy on the playground.
We got free samples of Strawberry Cheesecake, and then went to some picnic tables. Before we left, the boys got a single cone: Maceo got Salted Caramel Blondie, and Cassius got Chocolate Fudge Brownie. They were both quite happy with their choices. From there, we meant to go to a waterfall in Stowe, but I mistakenly went to the previous spot in the GPS app. However, the happy accident was that the previous spot was Huntington Gorge, a beautiful gorge that I wanted to visit anyway. The boys were excited to do some swimming and jumping, and we ended up staying there for over an hour of fun times.
We visited our old house in Queen City Park. Suzie, the woman who bought it from Dad, was home and gave us a lovely tour of the house, the back yard (complete with tiny house! I want!), the garden, and the trail in the woods behind the house. It was amazing to be back in the house, and most if not all of her decisions were improvements, though I loved the spiral staircase she removed. Then we walked the neighborhood and said hi to a few folks. There is some serious gentrification in what used to be kind of a blue collar and dirty neighborhood. It's impressive to see.
The boys and I biked off to Ledges, some cliffs that I have always gone to for diving into the lake. We had visited last summer, and Cassius especially was excited to return.
After a while, we biked over to a fancy nearby Whole Foods-type grocery for a snack--a small bag of pretzels, two bottles of apple cider, and two boxes of five maple sugar candies for $18. Gah. Then we biked home and had an excellent quiet time!
We started our trip to Vermont with a quick detour: the dentist's office! Cassius needed to get his teeth checked out for his annual checkup. We spent some time in the waiting room making our own mazes on business cards while we waited.
Verrrrrrrry concentrated.
Watching me try to complete his maze.
From DC, we drove to Philadelphia to visit our friends Stefan and Liz. Unfortunately, their three kids were off at camp, but it was still lovely to see them and to spend the night. The boys enjoy their three legged cat, and Cassius tends to regale them with different stories, most beginning with, "Can I tell you something?"
Petting the three legged cat.
Cassius waiting for his opening to tell a story.
The main reason for going to Philadelphia was to break up the long drive to Burlington, Vermont. In the morning, we drove to Amherst to meet up with the McMurrers to drive to Burlington. From there, it was a pretty quick jaunt to our final destination, and we had Bridget in the car to help add a fresh new dimension to travelling in the car.
The first night, we ordered pizza from one of the fancy new pizza places in town (Burlington has gentrified quite a bit!) and went to bed. In the morning, the boys and Bridget and I went to nearby Oakledge Park.
The water was much warmer than I had anticipated. And the lake monsters enjoyed it!
Cassius was a slow learner when it came to slippery moss-covered rocks.
Searching for skipping rocks.
More rock searching.
Obligatory Lake Monster pose.
The McMurrers brought some birthday presents for Cassius and a present for Maceo.
The center of attention!
The cool alien t-shirt will be worn for years to come!
I know that quiet time and bedtime will be somewhat of a challenge with so many people in the house, but the first try for quiet time went well. Cassius focussed on doing the Rubik's Cube and Maceo read Calvin and Hobbes.
Sunday evening, the big plan was to go to a minor league baseball game--the Vermont Lake Monsters! We got seats all together and we all got free hats! However, the Lake Monsters lost 11-0.
Showing off our new hats!
After the game, kids were allowed on the field and given a free baseball! So, we played a little pitch and catch in the outfield where the pros play!
Cassius so far has decided to sleep on the floor in Bridget's room, and last night, Maceo and I slept in the tent in the back yard. The first thing he said to me in the morning was, "Did you see the stars last night? They were really pretty!"
The boys and I took the last day of Dad Camp to go to Calvert Cliffs to look for fossilized sharks' teeth and to play in the Bay waters. It's not that long a drive; we went last fall and found a handful of teeth, dug in the sand, and played with driftwood. This year, we went to a different beach that didn't cost as much to park. It was a 1.8 mile hike to the beach through woods which gave us some opportunities to see various denizens of the area. We saw a Great Blue heron chasing a snowy egret out of his area of the marsh. We saw lots of trees that had been cut down by beavers. We searched for salamanders, but didn't find any. There were lots of turtles and fish in the pond, though.
Searching for salamanders.
Jungle Cassius searching for something.
At the beach, we found a good spot in the shade, and proceeded to not really look for sharks' teeth.
My camera-shy son.
Maceo spent some time looking with a strainer, but then he joined Cassius in playing in the water.
Practicing back flips.
Instead, at the end of the time at the beach, we did find one tooth, and it is a different one than the ones we had found at the other beach. On the walk back to the car (1.8 miles, did I mention that?), we came across a small snake crossing the path with a skink in its mouth! Right in front of us, the skink wriggled away and scampered into the leaves, and the snake took off in the opposite direction. I had never seen such a thing!
(Click the hyperlink to access the blog and see the video!)
This week, the boys are not going to camp. Instead, they are spending the days with me! So, early Monday, we left to go to the Shenandoah National Park to camp overnight. We got out there before it was time to get our camping spot, so instead, we went to a swimming hole I know about. The boys and I loved it. While the water was quite cold, it was a warm day, and there were basically no people there. We arrived to find some college aged kids, but they left within minutes of our arrival, and a family came just before we left. So we had the spot to ourselves! The most amazing thing was the number of butterflies! There were more than we could count, flying, landing, drinking, and sunning themselves.
After spending a few hours and eating our lunch, we headed to our campsite. It was the first time any of us had camped here, and once we got our insect repellent on, we were ready to go!
Quenching thirsts after putting up one easily set up tent. Ahhhhhhh!
We staked the tent, and then went for a hike, searching for Overall Run Falls. However, it was a long downhill hike, and someone (Cassius) got too tired, so we called it off.
They are down there in the gloaming, somewhere.
The campsite was great, and to our delight, there was a herd of deer just wandering around us until the sun went down!
There's something back there!
Biggest and friendliest squirrels I've ever seen!
Woo hoo! A climbing rock!
At bedtime, we told each other scary stories, though some were scarier ("Who has my golden leg?!?!?") and some went on and on and didn't really have a point (Once again, Cassius).
In the morning, we packed up the tent and all our stuff (The boys are getting better at helping each time!), and we headed off to Garrett State Park in Western Maryland to explore a rock maze. It was a long drive, but worth it!
"Daddy, is this the rock maze?"
"Do you see any rocks?"
There are giant boulders strewn about with natural avenues and alleyways between them for exploring and climbing.
Main Street?
Maceo looking back on his innocent childhood years.
If you know the boys, it might not surprise you
that Cassius was the more adventurous climber.
Leader and second leader.
Simon and Garfunkel, the early years.
From there, it was a long drive back to DC. However, the boys were great in the car, and when Cassius was sleeping and we got a break from singer Vance Joy, I was able to introduce Maceo to Harry Chapin's song "30,000 Pounds of Bananas", a song that had always been a good one for road trips when I was a boy. He seems to like songs that have strong narratives, and that one has a truck crash to boot, so it's been on repeat since that day.
Saturday, I had hoped to go to the museums with the boys. However, they weren't as into it as I was, so I had them do chores with me around the house. I have completed some display shelves for their rooms, and I asked them to pick the stain they wanted to use on it. Once they had chosen, we got to the staining!
Cassius chose Light Pecan.
Maceo went with a much darker stain.
Focus. FOCUS!
Not technically sitting down on the job.
There was a little whining, but they both finished the work themselves!
On Sunday, Cassius turned a year older and celebrated his time around the sun at the PG Pool. Lots of our best friends came out, and Cassius had a wonderful time. Mostly, he spent his day at the foosball table, though he did do some swimming at the end. He ate his pizza, ate some cake, and opened some presents!
Photobombed by Grandpa.
COOKIE CKE!
Cassius deemed these the best presents of the day.
Leo explaining some of his many choices in stickers on the card he made.
It was our friends, the Pikes, who reached out to us in the dead of winter suggesting a trial-run sleepaway camp experience at Camp Letts for their son, Dean, and Maceo. Turns out, this was a camp that Nick had gone to when he was younger, too. Maceo wanted everything to do with the idea so we said yes, paid for it, and waited the, oh, four to five months for the camp session to actually start. Which it did. From Sunday to Tuesday, Maceo spent 3 days and 2 nights in an unairconditioned cabin in Maryland, full of 12 eight year old boys.
Maceo showed no signs of nervousness, only pure excitement. The only person showing signs of hesitation - oh, alright, downright jealousy and grumpiness - was good ol' Cassius, peeved once again that he is not older. Maceo, Cassius, and I arrived at Camp Letts on Sunday right when Maceo's friend Dean arrived and the two hugged upon exiting our cars. (Adorable!) They ran quickly through their stations - health forms, add-on activities, lice check - were given the all clear and we were instructed to bring their bags to their bunks and help get them set up and to, with kinder words, leave our kids to get on with the business of being at camp. So, that's what we did.
The two camp counselors for their group, one from Scotland, the other from Poland, seemed relieved to have 12 eight year olds on their hands after having just come from three weeks with the 16-year old boys.
A few shenanigans were had while the parents made the beds:
And I left a very calm, cool (but excited) Maceo behind for three days and two nights of banana boating, swimming, canoeing, junk food eating, shenanigans-having, s'mores roasting, insufficient sleeping, not-writing-any-pre-stamped-letters-home-to-any-relatives good times!
Evidence of Maceo's calm, cool, collectedness
"When are they going to leave?" - Maceo
"Just smile one more time and they are sure to get out of here after that!" - Dean
