Old Hatt

For the Boy today, another Day Out with Thomas. His last, I suspect.

He and I travelled to the Upper Hudson Railroad with friends from school. The youngest of our party was about three, closer to the target age for this event. The little fellow was excited to see Sir Topham Hatt (aka the Fat Controller) and Thomas, but for the Boy and his classmate Thomas was just an engine 'dressed up'. Disbelief was definitely not being suspended. I think we all had fun today but it's time (some would say high time) to move on.

The Girl, meanwhile, took the Man 'Dad and Daughter Bowling' at our local lanes, something arranged by her Girl Scout troop. Our dad and daughter then headed over to the pool shop and came home with a large inflatable island, so that will soon be fun (if I ever get my breath back).

Trailblazing

The kids' school is quite a small one, but it has a lot of land. At the moment only a small proportion of it is in regular use, but there's currently a scheme afoot to renovate some disused trails and open up new trails into the woodlands. It is going to require a lot of volunteer hours over the next few months (and probably, years). Work started today, and the Man and I joined the team.

There was chainsawing and machete-wielding to be done, but I stuck to raking. I worked hard, but it was pleasant enough as the weather was dry but not too hot, and anyway we were mostly under the shade of trees.

We cleared a good stretch of trail. Now a few classes of children just need to be sent cross-country running along it in order to tamp down the soil and deter the weeds.

Drive-in us crazy

One item at the recent school auction was the chance to let your kid be 'Principal for a Day'. The honour went to one of the Girl's classmates and today was his big day. He introduced a couple of well-received innovations, and my children bounced off the bus this afternoon eager to tell me about the extra recess and free popsicles all round.

Tonight the Boy has his buddy staying for a sleepover. They are hanging out in the basement with the train track. Meanwhile the Girl has been invited out for a genuine all-American experience: a drive-in movie!

The Man and I are rather envious. We've occasionally driven past our local drive-in (it's unusual to have one nearby - they're pretty few and far between these days) and thought we must give that a try. We didn't know it was open for business already (or even at all). Still, there's plenty of time, with a whole hot summer ahead of us.

Cool pool

For the last couple of days the temperature has dropped and the weather has been rainy, making the prospect of outdoor swimming not particularly enticing. But today was the day scheduled for our pool opening, and so it came to pass.

After the horrors of last year, we removed the cover first thing this morning with some trepidation. Happily, this time things weren't looking too bad. Not exactly gleaming water, but not a swamp. After a bit of tidying up and just a few hours running the water through the filter (which, to be fair, we spent all weekend cleaning) it already looks swimmable - last year it took two weeks to reach this point.

Not that I'll be venturing in without a wetsuit until the temperature rises again...

Dollars and sense

The highlight of the day was making costumes for the Boy's class for some African-themed extravaganza they are putting on next week. Fortunately the costumes were pretty simple - over-the-head tunics and tie-at-the-shoulder wraps - so my minimal dressmaking skills were not too badly taxed.

The Boy announced this evening that since we've been forgetting to hand out pocket money for a few weeks, he and the Girl were rounding off what they felt they were owed to, hmm, let's say about $100 each. He reckoned they were doing us a favour as probably we owed them much more, like maybe... $2,000?

He was very disappointed when we declined this 'generous' offer to 'save' us money. Alas for him, he'll just have to get back to rooting around under sofa cushions and raiding bedside tables.

Picture this

Capital District cowgirl.












Though his heart belongs to trains, the Boy still had a lot of fun driving this motorized tractor around the yard at the BBQ on Sunday.

Remember Memorial Day?

Memorial Day has come round again. Like last year, we went into town and watched the parade. We ran into friends and joined them sitting on the grass at the side of the road, and the children did their best to look appealing in the hopes of collecting extra candy. The Boy even went so far as to wave a little American flag someone gave him, a thing he would never normally do because 'we are not even Americans'.

Veterans went by, to general applause. Then there were classic Fifties cars, the Shriners in their fezzes driving go-carts, marching bands ancient and modern, local sports teams and Girl and Boy Scouts of various sizes. And fire engines a-plenty, polished to a mirror finish for the occasion. It was a good little community parade.

For the afternoon we mostly hung out at home, gardening and such, enjoying the sunshine and listening to the sound of neighbours out in their yards. National Public Radio (being pernickety about these things) won't agree, but for the rest of America the summer starts here.