In the Throes of Summer’s Heat

It is hard to believe that the summer is nearly half over already. It seems like only yesterday I was wrapping up the school year. In some ways it was not very long ago at all. That teachers only work nine months of the year bit is not only tired and old, but woefully inaccurate, at least for me. The academic year is already about ten months. I didn’t wrap up until the last week of June.

Hadley also wrapped up her first year of preschool the same day and was decidedly happy about it, as the photo demonstrates. It was a far cry from the timid first day that she strapped on that backpack and just hoped beyond hope that it would be a lady who fetched her from the car and ushered her in the door of her new school.

The first weekend of the summer I was off to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to wrap up a project I spent the last year working on with the National Writing Project. It was grueling at times but ultimately enormously rewarding. Nevertheless, that accounted for nearly a work week of time spent away from the family.

Upon returning, we were off again, this time as a family, and not to quite as far a distance. We headed west to the Terwedow family getaway in the Berkshires for the Independence Day weekend. The girls and I (Ali, Keri, and Hadley) paid tribute at the other Fourth of July New England tradition, seeing James Taylor at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was lovely summer night, in an outdoor arena, with good food and music. There was even fireworks after the show. Hadley has turned into quite a James Taylor fan and was positively delighted to attend. She was rather awesome the whole show and even made it through the fireworks extravaganza, which ended up being a bit later than we expected. Still, she oohed-and-ahhed with the best of them and then promptly fell asleep the minute we entered the car for the ride home.

As there is no rest for the wicked, the next weekend marked the first weekend Ali and I have ever had away from the kids, as we headed up to Boothbay Harbor, Maine, for a pre-anniversary get away. For those not counting, it has been five years since we tied the knot amidst showers in my parents backyard. So a little child-free respite for Ali was certainly due.

Boothbay Harbor is a lovely little seashore town. It is definitely more of a weekender locale, unless you own a place on one of the islands and believe that summer is a verb. There are a host of touristy trappings that seem to be enduring despite some slower times. It also turns out to have been where part of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel (1956) was filmed. In fact it was the setting for one of the headline numbers, “June is Bustin’ Out All Over.” It is the backdrop for this number below (first shot with CinemaScope 55), “June is Bustin’ Out All Over,” and while there are a few more buildings, as well as a lot more boats and lobster traps visible in the harbor now, it doesn’t look radically different today. In fact, they named one of their local theaters after the film.

Still, it was rather lovely to check out the local offerings and just have some downtime together, where there was no rush to do anything or be anywhere for a couple of days. There were some kitschy sights to be seen, for sure. And, of course, we ate lobster. Even had some crab cakes that beat Bobby Flay on Throwdown.

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Regardless, summer is definitely upon us and the kids are already enjoying some trips to the beach, in order to beat the heat.

Next, Fritz’s Second Birthday Bash.

Another Step Closer to Heartbreak

A few weeks ago my daughter came home from school with a flier for our town’s annual Daddy-Daughter Dance. Ali had been tipped off about the event at church earlier in the year, as Hadley’s Sunday school teacher was commenting how this year would be the first opportunity for the youngest of her four daughters who happens to be Hadley’s classmate. So, in some sense I knew I was doomed for a few months. Yet, nothing could quite prepare me for my three year-old chirping from her car seat that she really wanted to me to take her to the dance, that she was old enough, that she was “free and a big girl, and if you were free you were old enough to go.”

Photo: Ready for the Dance Photo: Father Daughter Dance 2011

Needless to say there was little doubt that this would be the first of many yearly expeditions with my lovely lass to the occasion. Despite any misgivings that I might have had about how young my daughter is and how I wish I could slow time just a little, Ali eased my anxiety and it became inevitable.

The next day, I arrived home with my daughter proclaiming how beautiful her new dress was, and how it was her favorite colors. Of course, the dress was already an essential part of what she what she was looking forward to about the evening. Her original plea even included, “I just want to go to the dance with you, Daddy, and wear a beautiful dress, and dance with you, and have Mommy paint my nails. I am not too little, Daddy.” As a result the heartbreak that has been well underway since the day she arrived in the world, cracked a little bit more even before we left for the dance.

Of course the day finally arrived last weekend. Even though there was a little chill in the air, we were able to get a couple of quality pics without too much trouble. As expected, Hadley wasn’t long for the actual dance. In fact, after a about forty-five minutes, she determined that it was far too loud. Perhaps more than anything she was ready to go to Friendly’s which was the plan for ending the evening.

So, our first dance turned out to be a quite a treat, complete with a chocolate dipped Peep sundae. Hadley was keen to make sure all the toppings were thoroughly sprinkled on the scoops of ice-cream. More than anything, I got the ultimate seal of approval when she offered to share the Peep with me, no small matter in the least.

April Fool’s, Joke’s on New England

Well April arrived in New England with a sense of humor, as a small snowstorm moved in overnight, leaving us with about four inches of heavy snow to welcome spring. Fortunately, it did not cause too much trouble and it was well expected for a few days. It was an awfully pretty drive into work to be sure. Everything had the look of being dusted with a decent amount of powdered sugar.

It did, however, make for the best packing snow of the season. So, Hadley finally got to make a snowman or, in this case, a snow woman. She has been asking all winter. Every time she awoke to new snow she desperately wanted to make a snowman or have a snowball fight. Yet no previous snowfalls had left us with quality packing snow, until today.

Needless to say the kids quite enjoyed the day. Plus, it was not terribly cold, so they could get some quality playing in for the day, at least until they got too wet. Apparently, Fritz was the first one to have enough and proceeded to wait by the door, which ended the fort building festivities.

Photo: Dining Together on Radioactive Snow Photo: Snow Fort

Still, fun was had by all and it will likely be the last of the snow for the season. The temperature is supposed to rise nearly to the fifties in the next couple of days. Even by the end of the night quite a bit had already melted.