Awhile back we went to visit my family in PA. Â I grew up in the area just past the boonies. Â I like going back because it gives the kids a chance to be surrounded by nature and to be free from the usual stuff in the city. Â We took a bunch of pics of the kids doing what kids do when they are free to play!
So…there it is…our trip!
Sixteen years ago Emily and I were married. Â I joke and say that it seems like much longer than that. Â I know that sounds bad and that’s the joke part of it, but in another way, it’s a good thing too. Â We were married right out of college (only weeks after graduation). Â We actually met the first day of classes in our freshman year and started dating 6 months later so we’ve been together for a long time…in fact, we’ve been together longer than we haven’t.
Anyhow, the other part of it seeming like we have been together for a long time is that we grew up together in a way. Â We were still kids and had no idea about anything. Â We shared so many of the really cool things about transitioning into adulthood (we shared the crappy things too of course). Â I guess sharing all that makes us just feel timeless…like we’ve always been together. Â That’s just super comforting (now that we’re all growed up and such).
I have done my share of really stupid stuff (that also seems timeless…it just never stops) but Emily seems to ride through the storms without too many frying-pan-against-Warren’s-head moments. Â I wasn’t sure at first, but I am sure now that I want the maximum…16 years to life!
Last weekend we went canoeing with the kids and Emily’s aunt and uncle. Â The Little Coal river is near where we all live so it is convenient and really, a pretty great river for canoeing. Â Like most of the East, we have been hot and dry for quite awhile so I had pretty low expectations about the quality of the water on the trip. Â I grew up in NW PA near the beginning of the Allegheny river. Â It is pretty shallow and slow there so I have plenty of experience in carrying a canoe through shallow water. Â I didn’t really want to carry a canoe full of my offspring over rocks and downed trees.
We threw our canoes in (actually, the kayak started down the river without us) and headed out.  The water was perfect!  My shallow-water-eyes were just flat out wrong.  There were spots that weren’t deep but in every case, there was a ton of room to navigate the river anywhere we wanted!  The last time we went on this river, the water was raging.  We absolutely could not  get out of the boats (and truth be told, probably shouldn’t have even been in the boats) and our trip down the river was speedy.  This time, we got to really enjoy the river!
There were a few “rapids” that we got to ride.  I wasn’t sure whether the kids would enjoy it but they laughed and Isaac yelled, “Caribou!” at the top of his lungs (yeah, it’s a 4th/5th grade boy thing I think).  We stopped at the end of several of the rapids and walked back up to ride down in the rapids sans boat.  Holy mackerel that was fun!  I had to hold on to the kids the first few times because they were wary, but in no time, they were itching to go on their own…we just had to catch them at the bottom!
At one point, we saw a few cassette tapes in the water.  I suspect that someones house or camp was flooded at some point as no one would just dump old Motley Crue cassettes.  Anyhow, the kids saw them and asked what they were…that’s right, my kids had no idea what a cassette tape was or why people would use them instead of cds or dvds.  That was a bit shocking to me but we had a great conversation about how life was when I was a kid (and that wasn’t super long ago…I can’t imagine if they had the conversation with my 96 year old Grandpa!)  I enjoyed telling them about sleeping in the back of the station wagon on trips and how our legs would burn and stick to the plastic seats…how we didn’t have A/C in the house  or cars and no cell phones or video games.  Abigail asked me, “How did you make it through?”  HA!  And our lives were still pretty easy compared to people before us!
Anyhow, it didn’t take long for Diva…I mean Abigail…to get tired. Â She propped back in the kayak and toured the rest of the river “princess style”. Â We ate lunch on the river and laughed and had a great time not worrying about a thing. Â Our only donation to the river gods was one pair of old sunglasses. Â They were easily satisfied with our sacrifice. Â I think the river was just what we needed…and I can’t wait to go again!
You may need to download Quicktime viewer if these videos don’t work for you…
I think I was born to live on the beach. Â I have been to the mountains and the cities and foreign lands (like New Jersey), but I think I relax and enjoy my time at the beach more than anywhere else. Â If I could live at (or near) the beach, I wouldn’t hesitate.
I keep trying to do my best Percy Jackson routine under water…you know, where he holds his breath for 8 minutes because he is a demi-god- son-of-Poseidon (if you have no clue what I am talking about, check out the movie and books!) Â I never seem to make it much past 45 seconds or so which must mean I am not a demi-god.
I guess that must mean I am part mermaid. Â In fact, I tried on a seashell bikini top and it looked magnificent…they did throw me out of Red Lobster though.
Anyhow, we went to the beach last week so I felt like I had returned to my homelands. Â We had tons of fun boogie boarding and body surfing and skim boarding and falling asleep under the tent and chasing crabs and watching for sting rays and reading mindless books. Â Abigail finally discovered that she can ride the waves so the beach turned into a lot of adventure for everyone!
We usually sit around and read all evening but this year we added bocce to our evening fun list.  We all had a bunch of fun playing although Isaac was a little overzealous in his throwing of the bocce balls.  He and I did our victory dance several times which pretty well cleared the beach…so it was perfect!
The local wildlife was interesting though we found one that had stayed out in the sun a bit too long (which we didn’t realize at first…talk about funny as we tried to sneak up on him to get a picture!) Â Anyhow, we saw sting rays and little fish and “diggers” and pelicans. Â The shrimp boats were always nearby too…and we enjoyed the fresh shrimp indeed!
By the end of the week, things had started to get a bit silly…which meant it was the funnest time! Â I don’t know who taught these kids to act this way…probably their mother…
Abigail wrote a really cool book about our kitten, Seph. Â Navigate on over to LittleOrangeKitten.com to have a look!
The kids first started archery about a year ago. Â Since then, Isaac has participated in “Archery in the Schools” and the state tournament. Â Abigail’s school doesn’t have that program yet but she loves to shoot when she can. Â Back when we started this deal, I thought it would be a good family-together thing to do. Â We didn’t really have the equipment or a range to make all that happen (I figure the city frowns on shooting a compound bow in the back yard).
Fast forward a bit…Isaac and Abigail both received bows as presents from their grandparents. Â Last weekend Emily and the kids surprised me with an early father’s day present…my own bow! Â And it’s camo! Â The day they gave it to me, I decided we needed to make the “family shooting thing” happen (I wonder what sort of weird google searches will bring people to this page now!)
On Sunday we headed to Kanawha State Forest with Emily’s parents to be devoured by the mosquitoes try our luck at target shooting.  We started off a bit rough (and that was before we even started shooting), but once we got into the groove, we had a great time!  Isaac was able to do some “shooting while moving” exercises during which he shot a good bullseye from 15-20 yards.  Abigail did great also.  She is finally strong enough to draw the bow such that every single arrow she shot stuck!
Granddad and I had fun…that’s all I’ll say about that. Â We didn’t have to comb the hillside which was covered in poison ivy and some sort of ridiculous scratchy plant which would make a nun cuss, too many times searching for arrows. Â We did donate one arrow to the archery gods but we gained someone else’s previous sacrifice so it was a wash, arrow-wise!
Anyhow, it was a great time and we have a date to go back out this weekend to shoot some more! Â I think we may have hit the nail on the head for a good family hobby!
Last Sunday we attended Symphony Sunday, a day of showcasing local orchestras, ensembles, etc culminating in a performance by the WV Symphony. Â The University of Charleston opens its beautiful lawn to the crowd of several thousand people to enjoy the performances.
Boats always anchor near the lawn to hear the music
but they have to dodge the gigantic coal barges that pass by...
One of the views from our seats...the WV Capitol
It rained in the morning so we didn’t even think of attending many of the events, but by the early evening, all was clear so we packed up our lawn chairs and headed to Kanawha City (the part of the city where the University is located). Â We tend to sit towards the back of the group as our kids need room to fully appreciate the event. Â Many people with kids hang out there and it usually works out pretty well.
The Symphony chose a “Wizard of Oz” theme for their performances and played many numbers that were in or referenced the movie. Â It was pretty cool aside from the fact that there were quiet parts of several songs which were inaudible from the back. Â As my father-in-law says in reference to the violins, “they need to do more sawing and less plucking.” Â If they added one more row of speakers, I bet we could hear the plucking too!
The WV Symphony...we were waaay back
The Capitol was beautiful at night though I think they need to check on it...it seems to be leaning a bit
Anyhow, most of the performance was cool except for the pockets of white trash who decided to break out their boxes of wine and drink out of plastic dixie cups.  Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with box wine, but many of the folks put on airs of culture and high living.  As you might guess, they were as tacky and ridiculous as can be.  In my mind, I am thinking, “this ain’t high living…you fools are ignoring the music, drinking wine from a box and sitting on the wet grass in heels.  By the way, nice big wet spot on your butt…bring a chair next year.”   Folks came decked out in their Sunday best and did their very best to go on and on about their lives and generally make it hard to hear the music and even harder to ignore their inanity.
Ok, sorry…that all sounds like I didn’t have fun…I definitely did have fun. Â We played some and we ate good ice cream and had a great time all together. Â The WV Symphony is awesome and a great thing for the state. Â The show always finishes with fireworks and that show was the highlight for most people there (based on the cheers). Â It was a pretty cool show…a river barge floats into place on the river adjacent to the University’s lawn and we all get to see the show up close…
(Maybe the fireworks were my favorite part too…)
We always start the garden in early March by planting seeds…especially for tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli and peppers. Â By the time May 10 (our somewhat official last frost date) rolls around, we have pretty good looking plants ready to go into the ground. Â We plant by the signs too so we are particular about getting stuff planted at the right time. Â We got our seeds planted at the right time and then we also go the plants stuck in the ground at the right time. Â This year, we are participating in a test of “planting by the signs” sponsored by Blind Pig & the Acorn. Â Basically we planted some squash seeds on the “right” date and some on the “wrong” date. Â Lots of people are participating so it should be interesting to see what happens.
Anyhow, we got lots of stuff in the ground early in May but some stuff we have had to work on for timing reasons. Â Two weekends ago we finally got the last of the garden planted. Â Abigail was a huge help in getting our dry beans and pumpkins planted. Â She marked our rows, planted some seeds, covered some seeds and laughed a lot. Â It was a blast being all barefoot in the garden with my smelly little girl!
We checked the garden this weekend after a good rain and everything was up and looking good. Â Emily’s Grandpa swears he went down in the morning one day before the rain and nothing was up. Â A few hours later after the rain, everything had come up! Â That would be cool to see!
So, we are planted and are mostly still weed-free! Â Typically we stay ahead of the weeds pretty well so I think our time in the garden is about to increase like crazy! Â No more clean fingernails or soft feet in our household!
I posted some updates on Seph, our little orange kitten. Â Click the picture below for the link
And check this out too…I think Seph is related!
Sometimes I dislike being a parent. Â I like being friends with people (well, sort of…I don’t really like people all that much honestly, but friends are usually good I have heard). Â It’s easy to get along with most people. Â I guess a big part of that is because I don’t have a gigantic vested interest in the details of their lives. Â Surely I care about my friends, but they are all adults and make their own decisions.
I want to teach/allow my kids to make their own decisions, but sometimes that just doesn’t work.  It seems like Isaac and I have been fighting lately about homework (mostly).  He doesn’t really care if things are done or turned in, so long as he “gets it”.  Well, I “get that”, but there comes a time when one has to just do what is required.  Honestly, I think homework and the idea of proving one knows the material is a good thing.  So, we just clash.  You know, I think I hate to clash with the kids more than just about anything else in the world.  Some folks might think I am an antagonist (and maybe I am), but I always try to be patient, even in the face of smart-aleck  responses.  I am torn between teaching my kids to respect authority and allowing them the freedom to express their emotions however they see fit.  It’s difficult and I often wonder if I am doing anything right in this mess called parenting.  Sometimes, it just sucks.
Of course, it is worth it, doing the best I can for the kids…I just wish they came with instruction manuals!
