right now

right now

Aug 2, 2011

Let freedom ring!

I've been doing my best to avoid the garden lately, I know I'm not alone in this!  It's so hot and humid... but lots of you are dealing with the same, so I won't complain, this time :)  I will however, admit that my threats to throw in the towel are starting to become less threat and more action (or inaction in my case).  I have officially ceased watering and bug collecting out there.  Things are drooping, burning, ugly, being eaten by insects and I. don't. care.!  I feel a little badly about it, but I really have been doing my best up until a couple of weeks ago, and I've already started to resent the time I've spent out there dealing with it all and neglecting the more fun things in life.  I am now only collecting my basket of a.m. goodies while they last...

Speaking of "more funner" things... we are starting to "get our life back" a little after years of toddler-dom.  The other night, the kids rode their bikes from our house, up over a relatively steep inlet bridge, and down to the oceanfront and down the boardwalk without stopping or complaining!  It was about 10 miles round trip that we did, I'm very proud of them.  I can't tell you how free this makes me feel - and for the first time we can enjoy bike riding, ice cream on the boardwalk and people-watching without paying for parking!  This is something I REFUSE to do, since I live in this city I am always fuming over the fact that we can't get near the beach and they charge $10-20 to park your vehicle, that's always been my main issue with going down there.  But now we are rockin' the bikes, having fun, and not paying a thing!

But first, nervous mom here spent the first night barking out instructions on how to ride in traffic over the din of speeding tourists, this mom gig is not for the faint of heart, but they have to start learning somehow.

Here is Finn riding up and over the inlet bridge that is the final stretch before the boardwalk.  Very busy road, but a nice shared use path separated from the traffic lanes.  I was pretty nervous here, and made him walk his bike down the hill, since all this separation ends smack dab in a busy tourist intersection down on "the Strip".  I wasn't thoroughly convinced he could brake well if he got rolling too fast downhill!


The destination:  Kids loving being able to ride on the "real bike highway" on the boardwalk.  They are learning to listen for the bells that mean someone is passing them and other courtesies, so much to learn when you're little.  We have these horrible Thai-style rickshaws that ride down here and take up the whole path and the tourists that rent them can barely pedal them, so they are learning to "respect the rickshaw!"


Goofy faced Loch showing off his first real bike injury.  He cried at first, but then we told him he wasn't a real biker until he had enough scars to prove it, so now he's a little excited about it.


Yesterday while on the base at hubby's squadron, we had a heron pose for us!
  

These are quite numerous here, but we usually see them in the water or in the marsh.  This one decided that the naval flight line applied to him as well I guess!  I hope he doesn't get sucked up in an engine, he needs to relocate :)


Finally, this morning's non-gardening produced this...


The tomatoes are starting to become smaller, but still here.



27 comments:

  1. So cool to hear of the boys' new skills! You and hubby give them so much attention and time in teaching what they need to know to be safe but still confident to go out in life. I really mean it when I say I think you are such good parents. Tell Loch I still have a scar on my knee from falling when I was his age. A badge of honor!

    I still say your garden is amazing considering the conditions it's growing in. But I'm also so glad you're using your little noggin in saving yourself by "letting it go." You probably wouldn't be getting any more out of it if you were still battling the elements. And that just plain wouldn't be healthy for you. Knit socks instead! :o}

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  2. Good for you for not letting the garden make you feel guilty. The garden didnt feel bad when it crapped out on us all, now did it. Not even one twinge of remorse.

    Love that pink sky on the bridge shot. Very summery.

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  3. Ya know, it's not a bad thing to let life lead the way. If the garden is a flop and you know it, then why not enjoy what you can? Very quickly the boys will be back in school (yeah and boo combined, huh?) and the summer is over. Just like that! And for you having kids, I vote that you do exactly what you did! Skinned knees and all!

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  4. Oh,Loch is such a sport,HE HAS SUCH A ACCOMPLISHED LOOK TO HIS FACE LIKE"I GOT THIS AND I DESERVE IT,IS ALL MINE LOOK "On our way to the va today ,there was a couple taking our shuttle going there too. we got to talking and said her son was in gov.t work for the navy ,i'm pretty sure is the same base your husband is at because he was also in the navy for 20 years previous. so working for the gov't can mean just about anything . Working in the kitchen to being a spy I suppose. I know odds are you never heard of him being so many men and woman on base but he is another Minnesotan,name Surcouksi.But like I said ,it is just a shot in the dark that your husband ever met him.not like everyone goes around screaming-"hey you'all I'm a Minnesotan"

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  5. Mama Pea, socks are on the agenda for tonight!
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    Jane, no kidding, Mother Nature hasn't shown us any mercy at all this year. I think we're entitled to hazardous duty pay!
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    APG, definitely yay & boo combined LOL! I feel like we haven't gotten to do any of the stuff we wanted to yet this summer, yet I can't wait for school to start up again :)
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    Judy, that made me laugh because actually i DO walk into a room and say "hey, who's from MN?" Just the other day I parked next to a car with WI plates on it outside our local kayak shop, I walked in and said "hey, who's the Sconnie in here?"! Hubby probably is mortified when I do these things but hey, a girl's gotta know who the "in crowd" is, right?!

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  6. Wow-10 miles. That's a long way for little legs. Good deal. It's nice when they get a little older and can do more stuff. I'm REALLY glad you take such time and care, teaching them safety and such. So many parents DON'T nowadays.
    And for not gardening, that's quite a haul. You and Mama Pea ought to win awards with your NON GARDENING gardening!!!
    :D

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  7. You got more from your non gardening that I got from my gardening! LOL. I'm about ready to pack it all in except for peppers and tomatoes.. maybe just for peppers since the tomatoes are blighted. I'm just hoping they hold out long enough for a few pints of salsa.
    Congrats on the long haul bikers! 10 miles is quite the haul. Next thing you know they'll want to do RABRAI and ride across Iowa. Some friends of mine did that last week. I'm not sure about 75 miles a day.
    Judy

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  8. Oh, the battle scars of bike riding. According to my son, scars are the perfect way to impress that special someone when you get older. ;) He's collecting his share.

    And congrats to you all for Mom finally being able to enjoy a bike ride. What a milestone! So nice when they can finally do it on their own...WITHOUT complaining!

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  9. Love that battle scar picture of Loch. How great that you can all bike more places now. I can't even get my kids on bikes anymore now that they are teens. I hope your kids keep enjoying their bikes well into adulthood.
    Wow that is a nice harvest haul. I wonder what you'll make with it.

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  10. Your boys are so cute. Yes, gradual freedom is a good thing. My little one got his driver's license yesterday. They grow so fast!

    Your non-gardening harvest is pretty awesome.

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  11. The boys are growing up so quick Erin!

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  12. Erin, I'm feeling a little better after reading your post today. I have been so fed up with the heat and the bugs, that I even thought "maybe I shouldn't grow anything next year at all". I know by the time spring rolls around I'll be antsy to get started again, but right now I've just about had it. I haven't even been able to can anything from the garden this year! :-( You guys are lucky that you're able to ride your bike with the kids. We have no bike lanes in our immediate area which means we pretty much stay in our subdivision.
    Stay cool!

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  13. That's so awesome. Jonathan is still in that "I can't walk!" stage and insists on being carried whenever we go anywhere. Sooooooooooooo annoying!

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  14. Good for you Erin!! Spending time with your family and enjoying life is very very important! I didn't do one gardening related thing yesterday! I spent the day with my best friend!

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  15. Sue, I'm definitely the "safety girl"! The same can't be said for hubby, he has a "whatever, they'll learn" attitude that I just can't wrap my mind around, but I guess that's why it's important for the kids to have both parents, the "fun one" and the sensible one LOL!
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    Judy, that IA ride sounds awesome - for my husband LOL! He enjoys those kinds of rides, me... I prefer tassels on my handlebars LOL
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    Mama Tea, you know your son is probably on to something there, I admit when I met hubby his random scars were pretty attractive LOL
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    Sparkless, I think the kids will get sick of riding with "mom", but I sure hope they can have this hobby as a bonding time with their dad when the get older!
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    Lorie, speaking of absence in the garden, how is yours doing with you being off jaunting about and having fun seeing the world? Probably much better than mine, that's usually the way it goes LOL
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    Dani, I feel kind of bad since I know women who can't bear to see their kids grow up yet I can't wait! Maybe it's because I'm an "old mom"... I want to see them do as much as possible while I can :)
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    Anke, I think your feelings are shared by quite a lot of us this year, I've been hearing the same sentiments. It doesn't make us bad gardeners, I think it just makes us wise, for we know there's always next year where things could be different! Every year there's something remarkable about the garden, whether good or bad!
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    Thomas, your time will come! It seems like just yesterday I was struggling to get Loch to carry his own little camelback for water just on a small walk/hike, and now he's carrying a backpack with all of our lunches in it! Finn was harder, since he's my little "INdoorsman" LOL, but he'll get there. I'm sure they will be even happier when it's not 98 degrees outside. In no time you and Marc will be trying to keep up with Jonathan.... what amazes me is that in the last year Loch has grown so that I can wear his flip flops in a pinch and I expect he'll be taller than me by the time he's 11, which is great since that means he can carry as much as I do, if not MORE when we go backpacking LOL!

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  16. Hang in there! There's only a few rigorous weeks left. And how the kids do make life such fun.

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  17. Has Charlie explained to the boys his hatchet scar?? That was a freaky boy scout accident! One of my lasting scars is from a bike accident on gravel, that piece of gravel went pretty deep :( Excited you got to do the bike ride with the kids! Is this the warm up for doing the whole 26 miles?! :) We miss you guys but are sooooo glad to be home too.....

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  18. You must have nerves of steel - I am a nervous nellie on a bike near car traffic. And, good for you - there is a point where it's better to be good to yourself than to battle this unrelenting heat! You really got hit this summer. I found myself wishing for September this morning - ACK!

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  19. I feel so bad for all the gardeners that are suffering with the extreme heat and in some places drought as well. Our growing season started out wet and cold but now we are back to normal temps. I am having to water everyday though. You have gotten a wonderful harvest even with your bad weather. My tomatoes are at least a week or two away.

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  20. Wow! Go Finn and Loch! And, go Mama! Watching my children do that would have terrified me, but they're learning so much and getting such good exercise. Great job!

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  21. John is 13 years older than me and I see a lot of that in him. lol.

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  22. The heat is taking its toll on a lot of gardeners this year. At the plant-a-row-for-the-hungry garden where I volunteer, we've had less help getting the harvest in than most years. We've been trying to start earlier in the morning, but there's only so much you can do before 9 a.m., and by then it's already hot! Makes it hard to think about the fall garden, but the time is upon us . . .

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  23. Look at the corn! Wonderful. I wish the boy would learn to ride without training wheels. Grrr.

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  24. Erin, thanks for the reassurance. On the subject of feet, I'm amazed by how quickly Jonathan's shoe size changes. He's not getting another pair of flashing iron man shoes until his feet stop growing...(when is that, like 18?)

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  25. Robin, I can't take the garden anymore, must. go. biking.... or anything but the garden at this point!
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    Jody, I know... just a few more weeks of this heat... right? ....RIGHT?! :)
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    Lauren, you just HAD to remind me! Yes, I did hear the hatchet scar story, and I still cringe LOL!
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    Susan, no nerves of steel here... I am a nervous wreck the whole time and take it out on poor hubby by yelling at him when the kids terrify me haha!
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    BackRoadJournal, you are right, I've gotten a good harvest so far this year so I have that to be thankful for!
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    Patty, too bad it wasn't cooler - exercising in 90 temps is awful!
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    Dani, at least mine has an excuse, sort of... he's 7 years younger than me :)
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    AGWH, I can't wait for the fall garden - even though ours doesn't do well here, we seem to go straight from hot to hurricane flattening winds to cold! But at least it will be a change :)
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    Ribbit, is that you? LOL when I bought Finn his last bike I immediately hid the training wheels and told him big boy bikes don't come with them LOL he cried and then he rode!
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    Thomas, flashing shoes... ROFL!

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  26. How fun that you can ride your bikes to the beach! Wow, for neglecting the garden, your harvests still look amazing!!

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  27. We just had our final little family member in May and I think I got a taste of that "freedom" feeling knowing that in a couple of years there won't be anyone left in the house in diapers! Sure it's sad to think about no more babies, but I haven't been out of the house without having to arrange a sitter or pack a diaper bag in 7 years...I can't freaking wait!

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