From The Big Easy to Big Bird

by Nancy

This blog might also be called "What I Did on My Summer Vacation." Who else had to write that at some point--show of hands? Yep, I thought so. I hated those essays, maybe because going to the beach with my family for a week or visiting my cousins didn't sound very interesting. After all, we did both of those every year, with nothing unusual or noteworthy ever happening.

This year, I started my summer with a first (and only) for me, by going to college orientation with the boy. He chose a school in the Deep South, so we detoured by New Orleans, the Big Easy part of this blog's title, and the French Quarter. It was hot and muggy. (To which you probably responded, "Well, duh!" or words to that effect.)

I'd been there in the summer, just not in a very long time. I had forgotten how muggy it can be, but I remembered quickly as we roamed the French Quarter during our very short visit. The shop pictured above made me think of several banditas and buddies, though it's not the sort of thing I usually think of when someone mentions the French Quarter.

Did you know there's really no place in the French Quarter to just sit down, aside from bars? There're some benches outside the cathedral in Jackson Square, but those benches are metal. This was June. Did I mention it was hot? We all know what happens to metal out in the sun, right? Sitting on those benches was like sitting on a cookie sheet fresh from the oven.

There were some shaded benches in the actual square, but those were occupied by people who didn't appear to live anywhere else and might've been prone to forms of social interaction we don't really favor. Good thing the cathedral is not only open to the public but air conditioned!

Pictured below is another shop that made me think of banditas and buddies. I longed to poke around in there, even though I figured most of the merchandise was out of my price range and even if I found anything affordable, getting it back on a plane seemed unlikely.



The next month, we took our official family vacation. We did something we've never done before. We treated Atlanta (aka The Big Peach. Yes. Really.) like a tourist destination. The dh, the boy and I have often been to Atlanta for specific things. We've gone to Dragon*Con, Moonlight and Magnolias or other conferences, I've gone to GRW meetings, and we've visited friends. But we've never seen the sights. So this year, we did.

We started our official vacation with a Saturday evening at the Shakespeare Tavern, where we saw a hilarious play within a play about three guys trying to perform The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged. It was the boy's idea, and we all enjoyed it. We also had our dinner there. The place is, after all, a tavern, even if it is the headquarters of the Atlanta Shakespeare Company.

The next day, we checked out the Georgia Aquarium, something we'd been wanting to see for years. DragonCon has a special evening there during the con, but we never seemed to make it. I may try to this year. There are two huge, beautiful tanks of fish from different oceans, and there's a passage underneath and through one big tank. It's just gorgeous and offers a fabulous view of the various fish. I don't think I'd ever seen a whale shark before. Those babies are BIG. And they really don't look all that shark-like.

The highlight of the visit for us was Dolphin Tales, which just opened in April. It was great though it could've done with less hokey narrative and more dolphin action. I assume the hokey narrative and effects are supposed to keep little kids interested, but judging by the squeals of delight from them and the gasps from everyone else every time a dolphin jumped out of the water, I think the dolphins could carry the day on their own.

I've seen dolphins in the wild, in Roanoke Sound. We took a half-day trip a few years back with some marine biologists and got lucky. The dolphins were all around the boat, diving under it, swimming by it. I've also seen them in the water from afar.

But I've never seen them up close in a way that gave me a really good look, maybe because they're incredibly fast, and the wild dolphins showed little interest in interaction.

The waiting area for the aquarium show is beside a big tank occupied by the day's non-performing dolphins. As they swim by the glass, visitors can see them clearly. It's easier, at least for me, to appreciate both their size and their grace when I see them that way. They're a lot bigger than I'd realized. Watching them in the water was pure delight.

Monday, we went to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. They have a huge dinosaur skeleton in their rotunda. I took three photos of it to get it all in. Couldn't step far enough back in their rotunda to get the whole thing in one shot.





By happy coincidence, they were hosting an exhibit we saw and loved in New York years ago, one about mythic creatures. We spent more time in there than anywhere else in the museum. My favorites were the dragon at the front of the exhibit, the unicorn, and Pegasus. Unfortunately, I managed to cut the dragon's nose off in the photo, but we have the unicorn and Pegasus and a griffin here, along with the dinosaurs from the museum's entrance.
















Tuesday, we checked out the High Museum in downtown, and the Center for Puppetry Arts. The Center for Puppetry Arts has a number of Jim Henson's puppets and a big display for Labyrinth. Henson and Kermit cut the ribbon to open the center, and a Jim Henson wing will open in 2014. A lifesize Big Bird stands in a case outside the Henson display. I would've taken a photo, but it's a no-photography zone.

The center also showcases the history of puppets and different forms of puppets from around the world. The shop sold finger puppets of famous artists, writers, and public figures. One of those is in today's prize package.

The High Museum has a nice collection of works from various periods, including some Frank Lloyd Wright furniture. They also have one of Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings. It's similar in style to the later ones, but the lines don't flow as they did in her better known works.

We came home for a few days, saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 as a family (fitting since we've seen all of the HP films a a threesome), and then visited the boy's cousins in Raleigh overnight.

As you read this, the dh and I are once again somewhere in the Deep South, carting the boy's belongings toward his college. He's already there, but we have the bulk of his stuff. We'll take him to dinner tonight, move his things into the dorm tomorrow, and then hit the road for home on Sunday. Meanwhile, our house sitter is in charge of the dog. Or should be. The dog may have other ideas since she tends to regard humans as servants in need of constant training.

At one point during the boy's orientation earlier in the summer, I was standing on the balcony of the student center and saw him below me. A girl from his high school came up to him and hugged him, and then a girl we'd met that morning joined them.

Watching the three of them talk, I got a bit of a heart punch from the realization that this was his world now, that he'd be spending more time in this place over the next several years than under our roof. It's going to take a bit of getting used to.

So this vacation will end very differently from those of the last 18 years. The dh and I will come home to an empty nest. It's going to feel very strange. So will going to Dragon*Con without either of my guys. I've gotten used to having them there with me, but the schedule doesn't fit for the boy, and the dh will be stacked up with work because his classes start earlier than the boy's. We're squeezing the property delivery in between the dh's Thursday and Tuesday classes.

Dragon*Con will officially end my summer, and we'll try to recapture what life used to be like, long ago (or so it seems) when we were just two.

Of course, I close a summer vacation blog without a food reference. My favorite parts of summer meals are fresh peaches and fresh tomatoes. On the way back from Atlanta, we stopped and bought South Carolina peaches, which were great. Eating them reminds me of my childhood and my dad's frozen peaches.

Our tomato plants died, so I haven't had fresh tomato sandwiches as often as I'd have liked, but there's been a lot of watermelon, corn, and cantaloupe on our summer table. I hope you've been able to enjoy the foods of summer.

I have a goody package for one commenter today. It includes a Jane Austen finger puppet, the last of my freebie books from National, and a jazz hot mat. They come with a pretty New Orleans totebag I found on Royal Street in the French Quarter.


Did you ever have to write essays about your summer vacation? How did you feel about them? What's the best summer vacation you ever had, and who was with you? What's your favorite summer food?

TGIF

by Christie Kelley

For the ten years I was a stay at home mom, part-time Realtor and full time writer. Friday was just another day to me. As a Realtor, I spent many weekends showing houses or sitting at open houses, so waiting for the weekend didn't have much meaning to me.

Five weeks ago, I started a new full time job and got out of real estate. The job is the basic Monday-Friday, 8-5. Now the weekends have meaning again.

So...Thank God it's Friday!

Now the weekend means no work, except the laundry and house cleaning. I'm actually trying to do those things on weeknights so I don't have to think about them on the weekend. I want my weekends for catching up on writing and doing things with my kids.

This weekend I'm hoping to go kayaking with my 14 yr old and then start planning what we need to take to Disneyworld. We leave next Friday night for a week. Even though it's only been a few weeks, I need a vacation! The job is kind of crazy right now and trying to learn everything I need to know is making my brain hurt.

So TGIF everyone!


What are your plans for the week? What about summer vacation plans?

As much as I'd love to reply to you all during the day, the new job as a pretty tight firewall so I can't get to the blog. But go ahead and talk amongst yourselves.

Twenty and Counting...

by Jeanne Adams

Yes, I confess.

YES, I DO want my children to go back to school. If that makes me a terrible Mama, for wanting to bring all this camp trekking and weird schedules to a close, then I'm a terrible Mama.

I want to get back on schedule.

Is that so wrong??

A few years ago, one of the office supply stores, Staples, did a television ad where the children look glum and the father is joyously loading school supplies into the cart while "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" plays in the background. Check it out here, on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPIIMbG9R4w

Grins. I love this. I feel this way. I'm so baaaaaaad.

Now to be fair, my eldest son is actually happy about getting back to school and to his "buds" - he doesn't get to see all of them in the summer, and certainly not every day. Everyone's been off to sleepaway camp, or visiting relatives, or traveling hither and yon. He wants to see everyone.

You can see where his priorities lie, which doesn't bode well for scholarship but sure means he'll be well socialized. Sigh. He's still got three more weeks of camp, so he's happy about that, and his daily does of his crew is forthcoming as well. The cherry on top is a new Miami Heat Backpack.

*eye roll from mom*

Best of both worlds for him though. Besides, he seems to love the whole school supply thing as much as I do. Shiny notebooks, cool backpacks, new lunchboxes...

My youngest is both excited and apprehensive. He'll be a kindergartner in the fall.

Woot! Big boy school with his brother. The only year they'll be in school together.

He's excited about the backpack and all the supplies too, but being my "shark-boy" who loves to swim, he's VERY bummed that the pool will close right after school starts. (nope, that isn't our pool. I wish it were! We belong to a neighborhood pool)

All that said, I want school to start so I can have a regular schedule. One week this summer, I drove every day to two different camps in two different parts of our county. Two boys + varied interests = two camps. By the time I got done with drop-off, got coffee and got home, it was nearly eleven. I had to pick one up at 2:30 and the other at 4:30.
While I know this can be worse for others, with more children, compare the times I listed. Do the math....and,Yep, you guessed it.

Do you think I got any writing done?

Sigh. I DID manage to eke out some pages but not at my usual steady pace.

Then Came National.

The pre-work for National was garnering babysitters, making sure there were lists for camp, including what days were swim days, what days were field trip days and what days were "normal" days.

Yikes! My poor husband doesn't usually have to deal with all this in addition to his demanding work. Between camp, power outages, huge storms, baseball tournaments that ran late due to the heat (1 a.m. late), and what to pack for lunches, he nearly pulled out what hair he has.

He appreciates me so much, now that I'm back. Grins. I think the dogs even did a happy dance when I came home since they got regular meals and there wasn't laundry piled up where they like to sleep. Grins.

(Please don't think I'm ragging on him, he did a great job under tedious circumstances, so I have to give him his props!)

Anyway, I don't remember there being this much focus on camp or summer activities when I was a kid. Did you have this? All the different sports camps? Maybe it's just that I grew up in a more rural area...I don't know.

So here as the summer closes, tell me this:

Did you go to camp?

What was your favorite camp of all time? Least favorite?

What was your favorite summer activity?

Did you go to your County or State fair?

What was your favorite thing to do at the fair?

If you have kids, are you ready for them to go back to school, or are you dreading the end of summer?

Did you have a favorite lunch box? Tell, tell....

Summertime Blues

by Beth

My son had big plans for this summer. Having recently graduated high school, he planned on making the most of the last three months spent at home before going to college over 600 miles away. He had a full-time job and even worked more than enough over-time (a great opportunity to sock away money for college *g*) He and his girlfriend planned to head up to Lake Erie a few times and he had plenty to do with his friends - baskeball, street hockey, video games, graduation parties. Throw in a few family outings, picnics, trips to the drive-in and him wanting to spend time recording songs and his summer schedule was packed.

And then he came down with Strep throat. I mean, the worst case of Strep I've ever seen. His throat was so bad, even the physician's assistant grimaced she saw it. And it wouldn't get better. On his second trip to the doctor, a blood test revealed the reason why: Not only did the boy have Strep but, joy of all joys, he had Mono, too!

There went his summer :-)

Okay, not his entire summer, but a sizable chunk. Luckily, after spending a few weeks on the couch, he's feeling better and is back to work.

This reminded us of one of our favorite children's book: The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Vacation. The Bear Family set off on their vacation with all sorts of plans: They're going to fish and swim in the lake, eat delicious berries as they hike the trails and relax in a lovely, quiet cabin. Except...things don't go quite as planned. The cabin is a dump with a leaky roof, the lake is a muddy mess and there's nothing to eat *g*

I have to admit, I know how both my son and those bears felt. My own plans for a sunny, romantic honeymoon didn't quite work out. Yes, it was sunny. Too bad I got too much sun and ended up with sun poisoning. And then I got a rash from being stung by some sort of sea creatures. By the time we left, I had a cold, too.

Oh, and did I mention I got motion sick on the plane ride and my husband had to hold the airsickness bag for me? I still feel bad for the guy on the other side of me who tried very hard to lean away from the sick woman :-)

Have you ever had your summer, a vaction or any other plans derailed in a major way? How did you make the most of it?

Summer Vacation

by Christie Kelley

I know it’s only April but already I’m dreaming of summer vacation. Between finishing my fifth book and blogging all over the web for my release of SOMETHING SCANDALOUS, I’m tired. I caught my first full-blown cold in a couple of years last week. I need to get away. Since I can’t go anywhere yet, I thought maybe if we talked about our vacation plans that would make me feel better.

My husband and I had planned to take our kids to Iceland this year. We thought we would have a fun time touring the small country and maybe get some hiking in.

Hmm, has anybody seen pictures of Iceland this week? Big volcano blowing ash and sending lava down toward the sea, I don’t think so! When we first heard about the volcano becoming active again back in February, we decided it might be best to change our plans.

Then we thought about going to Scotland or Ireland with the boys. Until we checked the airfare and the exchange rates and decided that wasn’t going to happen this year. And as I write this on Thursday, that darned volcano in Iceland is disrupting air travel all over the British Isles. I think we made another good choice.

So we decided this wasn’t our year to go to Europe. We asked our oldest where he’d like to go (this is partly to celebrate his high school graduation) and he said a cruise!

A cruise?


Really?

We hadn’t thought about that as an option. We started checking into it and quickly decided this was a fantastic idea. One of the biggest draws of a cruise is simply that we don’t have to fly!! We found a great 9-day Caribbean cruise that departs from Baltimore. I can be in Baltimore in fifteen minutes.

Now come July, I’ll have 9 days to relax on a ship. We’ll be visiting St. Thomas, San Juan, Dominican Republic and one of the cruise line’s islands. I get back just a few days before Nationals so I will be tanned and
relaxed for Nashville. I really can’t wait for July!

But back to reality for just a minute, I received the cover for my October release, SCANDAL OF THE SEASON and wanted to share it with you.


For ten years, Anthony Westfield, Viscount Somerton, hasn’t been able to forget the woman with whom he spent one scandalous night. When their paths cross again, he’s shocked to discover Victoria Seaton is an accomplished pickpocket. But Somerton leads a double life of his own. Working on an undercover assignment, he makes Victoria a proposition: pretend to be his mistress or risk ruin. Yet soon he’s tempted to turn their charade into reality—and surrender to an explosive passion…


Victoria can’t believe the man who almost destroyed her life a decade ago is now threatening to unravel her secrets. But posing as his mistress at a holiday country party is a game she can play well. For just one look into Somerton’s eyes still weakens her with lust. And with Christmas fast approaching, every kiss they share under the mistletoe only makes Victoria fall more deeply in love…

Now I want to hear about your vacation plans. Do you have big plans? Maybe a staycation this year? I’d love to hear about it!

Since I’m still celebrating my release of SOMETHING SCANDALOUS, I will give one copy to someone who comments today.

Summer's End

It's that time of year again in the northern hemisphere. Summer's over. Kids are going back to school, there's a faint hint of coolness in the night air, and the fireflies are gone. If only the mosquitos would go with them.

After Labor Day, people tend to stop wandering, focus on business, and call an end to playtime. This is the time of year when we used to have to write school essays called some variation of "What I Did on my Summer Vacation." Remember those? Mine used to be about swimming, since we did a lot of that in the summer, and about trips to Florida to see my cousins on my father's side. There were always short trips to see my mom's siblings and their families, too. And a week at the beach, where my dad would take one day to go out fishing on a boat. We built sand castles, and he taught me to swim out beyond the breakers. He'd grown up in Manila, in the Philippine Islands, and had served in the Navy, so he was comfortable in the water.

In August, we used to put down a blanket in the front yard and watch the Perseid meteor shower. The ambient light in our small town was so minimal that it didn't blot out the stars. On other summer nights, my parents sat in the front yard in lawn chairs, with empty ones beside them so whoever wandered down the street could sit and chat.

My dad made peach ice cream in a hand-crank freezer. The ice packed into it came from the same place that had supplied ice blocks for my grandparents' ice boxes, forerunners of refrigerators. When he finished, we got to scrape ice cream off the paddles. He also liked to peel and slice peaches, add sugar, and freeze them. I remember eating slushy, crunchy, sweet, half-thawed peaches for dessert.

My mom grew tomatoes, so tomato sandwiches were a staple, along with sliced tomatoes for meals. The tastes of summer were tomatoes, peaches, and watermelon. And, when I was deemed old enough at last, sweet iced tea.

Now my summers tend to be about preparing for fall. We took a family vacation, and I went to RWA, but I had projects to complete. Summer is no longer a time for being lazy in whatever way presents itself. We played catch-up, though not with particular success, and I tried to whittle the TBR pile. Alas, but it keeps growing despite my efforts. The dh did yard work and minor household repairs. The boy practiced his guitar and art lessons and spent some time with his girlfriend. The dog thought up new ways to mooch.

I did make it to Atlanta a couple of times and bought peaches on the way, along the same stretch of highway where my dad liked to buy them. It's not quite the same, but it'll do. And when we stopped on Labor Day, coming home from DragonCon, for our last fresh peaches of the season, the stand where we bought them was also selling homemade peach ice cream. Not as good as my dad's, but it was tasty.

The dh hates the summer heat and mugginess but loves spring and fall. He grew up in the Colorado Front Range, where spring and fall are brief and the summer air is light, and went to college in New Hampshire, where winter lasts a long time. Come winter, he won't wear a sweater because "it's not cold here." Compared to the Front Range in winter, probably not. He likes to poke around in the yard in the spring and fall--which is the only reason anything blooms in our yard, considering that the thing I do best for plants is kill them--savoring the seasons. If he can, he likes to put in a garden. We had green beans into November one mild year.


Now fall is officially here. We're all back at school in our various capacities. NC apples will show up in the markets. The trees will turn, life will settle into a routine, and we'll soon be digging out sweaters. Before we know it, Halloween will be upon us, then Thanksgiving and the rush leading into Christmas and the lull before New Year's, and then we'll be in the depth of winter again, looking forward to another summer.

We're traveling today, leaving home early to go to a wedding in one of the heavily flooded counties of northern Georgia. But I'll be back late this afternoon. Meanwhile, please send good wishes toward a young bride and groom looking for a dry place to say "I do" since the flooding torpedoed their plans and tell us--

How was your summer vacation? What foods or activities do you associate with summer? What's your favorite season, and why?

Vacations

by Christie Kelley

First, I have to say I'm so sorry about the late post. I'm hiding deep in the cave to get my book done on time and completely forgot the date until I turned the calendar this morning!

So we had talked about blogging about our vacations and I thought I'd share my impressions of Italy. My husband and I celebrated our 25th anniversary this year and this was our present to each other. A trip with no kids, just us!

We started out in Rome and stayed one night not too far from the Vatican. We were about two blocks from St. Peter's Square and the Basilica. The first day we walked up there and toured the basilica. We arrived just in time for the Saturday night vigil mass. Being Catholics, we sat right down for mass in St. Peter's. I can't describe what an incredible feeling it was to listen to mass being said in Itaian in such an awe inspiring place.

The next morning we toured the San Angelo Castle, which was built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian and is now a museum. Then we headed over to Piazzo Navona and then the Pantheon. I loved the Pantheon. It's amazing to turn a corner in Rome and stumble on something that's been there for 2000 years.

Next we headed to Florence. I have to admit something here. Everyone we knew told us Florence was the best, take an extra day in Florence. We did enjoy Florence but it wasn't in the top two for us. We climbed to the top of the Duomo, which included a catwalk inside near the top of the dome. That just about scared me to death.

We took an afternoon trip to Siena, which is a medieval town that still has it's old wall that used to close off the city. It's a picturesque town that has very little traffic (because of the size of the streets) and lots of adorable shops.

Next up was Venice...ah, Venice. We both loved Venice. I've heard people talk about the smell of the canals, rats and garbage. Well, we arrived there when it was over 90 degrees and humid. Neither of us noticed any canal smell, in fact, parts of Florence smelled worst than Venice. Neither of us saw a rat and there was no garbage to speak of. But what a beautiful city. Very tourist-y though. The highlight of Venice was the water taxi to Murano to see the glass shops and glass blowing. I have never seen so many beautiful glass pieces I wanted to take home with me.

We then headed back to Rome and stayed near the Colosseum. My husband had had enough of pasta at this point so we walked to the Hard Rock Cafe for burgers. I'll admit, it was a fantastic burger. But all the food in Italy is good. After our nurishment, we walked to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Yes, I threw a coin in the fountain over my back so I'll return to Rome again someday.

The biggest surprise of this trip was the graffiti. I have been to NYC so many times I can't count, I used to live outside of Phili and yet, I have never seen so much graffiti as in Italy. Still, this trip was by far my favorite vacation. Good food, good company and tired feet. It doesn't get any better than that.

So tell me about your favorite vacation. We did you go? What did you see? Or maybe it was doing nothing at the beach for a week. Tell us all about it. Or tell me the biggest surprise of your trip.

Summer Vacation

by Christie Kelley

The kids are done with school now so it’s officially summer vacation time. We live in a wonderful neighborhood that has access to a tidal river that feeds the Chesapeake Bay. In our common area, we have a spring fed pond for the kids to swim and white sand surrounds it. Without a doubt, it is the perfect place to spend a summer. Now that my youngest is 12, he can go down to the pond with a friend (as long as a lifeguard is on duty). He did it for the first time this week. It felt really strange letting my “baby” go. But it did free up my time for work so I was happy.

When I was growing up, my cousins had a heated in-ground pool that we usually had an open invitation to come over and swim. My father would take care of their house and pool while they went away for a month every July. So we would go swimming every day that was nice. But to this day, I wonder why they would have left their house for a month when they had a great place to spend their summer.

Summer for me was hanging out usually with a great book to read. It wasn't planned and organized with camps and other things to do except for our one week family vacation to the beach. I see so many kids that are in camps from the first week of vacation to the last and wonder if they really enjoy their vacation from school. But I was lucky that my mom worked for the school system and had summers off. My kids are lucky because both my husband and I work from home so they can choose a camp if they want to but aren't forced into it. My oldest is going to a college for a computer game design camp for a week and my youngest is taking afternoon sailing lessons. Both sound like fun for them.

In addition, this summer the kids are going to my mother’s house in upstate NY for a week while my husband and I spend 10 days in Italy. Now I just have to figure out things for them to do while we’re gone so they don’t drive my mother crazy.

So if you want to be in the drawing for a copy of Every Time We Kiss, tell me about you summers as a kid. What are your plans for this summer? Extra credit for ideas to keep the boys from driving my mother crazy!