Paradise à la lake, preschool version

Luke and Eleanor’s Lake Wentworth enthusiasm is so passionate that I try to keep the trip’s imminence a secret until just before departure, in hopes of minimizing the sleepless nights of anticipation. So a few days before the trip, Luke came out of his room after bedtime moaning, “Our trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s is never going to get here!” When I told him that in fact it was just two days away he beamed and bounded back to bed. I was trying to finish painting the playroom and (foolishly) hoped that the blissful news would send him off to sleep content. But a sudden wail from Eleanor’s room assured me otherwise. Our generous boy couldn’t keep the joyous news to himself and had shared it with his previously-sleeping sister. She bolted up in bed and wanted to be removed from her crib at once for immediate plane boarding!

Needless to say, we didn’t leave for the airport that night, but no happier kiddos could be found on our flights to NH a few days later. Here they are, happily ensconced and preparing a trifle for dessert with Grandma a few hours after arrival.

The fun continued nonstop for the rest of the week. There was always time for a little rough housing with Uncle Travis,

And this year we visited the natural history museum where they learned about animals with Uncle Bryan.

They honed their sand and water construction skills daily with lovely Grandma,

and the magically-stocked toy room never failed to delight.

Walking down to the beach there were lots of stops to look for frogs with Grandpa,

And finding some!

A lake trip is never complete without a voyage on Grandpa’s boat and this year Luke was talking about learning to sail himself!

We all came home happy and full with love, care, and fun times from the Nielsen clan. Thank you so much Grandma and Grandpa for another wonderful visit!!

{Many, many more pics and videos here.}

Paradise à la lake

Really, what prettier beach is there on a New England lake? Each year we all look forward to a week at Erik’s parents’ lovely lake house for a sweet time of rest and relaxation for me and Erik, and jubilant play on the beach with much-missed relatives for the kids!

This year, my highlights included kitchen renovation planning with Dad via sand diagrams on the beach,

Darling beach ensembles for the Ellabelle,

A little friendly competition playing a new board game with Erik and his brothers,

Motoring around the lake spying bald eagles from Dad’s boat,

Sweet cuddles with our super-happy vacation-loving kids,

Seeing my hardworking hubbie get some time to relax,

Sunrise walks to the dock with delicious coffee made ready by Mom,

And sunset ones too,

And lots of time off while grandparents and uncles played with our kiddos! Erik and I even were able to continue our tradition of an overnight getaway to the coast, this year visiting Portsmouth, NH.

The kids of course have their own list of lake favorites, but I’ll save those and their cutie-pie pics for another post, hopefully tomorrow!

Preschool starts & other kiddo activities

I swing back and forth on the topic of preschool-age activities. Sometimes a twinge of alarm hits me as I realize that L & E aren’t mastering any musical instruments, competitive sports or foreign languages, and their brains are quickly moving past the sponge-like stage of early development. Other times I value our activity-free days at home and want to comb through our schedule to determine what we can cancel to give us more open space for low-key play and exploration.

In an effort to balance these competing goals, we’ve fallen into a few activities that seem to work for us. The most regular one is preschool two mornings a week. The school year starts super-early in New Mexico, so the kids have been in for two weeks now and what fun it’s been! This was Eleanor’s first year in preschool and both kids were so excited to attend together. The two-year-old and four-year-old classrooms connect with an open doorway and so Eleanor enjoys the added security of knowing Luke is close by and Luke loves watching out for little sis. Since we find it easier to teach more academic lessons at home, we chose a school that focuses on play and socialization and feel that this has been a terrific asset for our kids’ growth in those areas.

We’ve also done some indoor soccer classes, our own swimming ‘lessons’, and gymnastics classes on and off over the last couple years. And this summer we added something new, BMX riding!

Both kids have always loved being on their bikes, and last summer Luke first learned to ride his bike without training wheels and Eleanor started gliding well on her balance bike. So this year a friend introduced us to the two terrific tracks here in Albuquerque where all ages can ride bikes BMX style! Both are dirt tracks with an elevated start or ‘launch pad’, banked turns, and ‘berms’ – successive hills for you to ride up and down.

We’re still novices when it come to most things BMX, but one thing we learned early on is that a full-face helmet and good pads are essential. And what could be cuter than an Ella princess geared up to ride!

It’s a fun multi-generational activity and is a great extension of the lifelong skill of bike-riding. We’ve also been trying to use it to teach lessons about not giving up when something is hard or you’re not the best, and it’s been stretching my impulse to shelter the kids from any and all potential injury scenarios. When the kids succeed it’s such a thrill for them to conquer those hills and feel the rush of acceleration and accomplishment. We’re so proud of our little bike racing dynamo team!

Southern summer visit

Back at the beginning of the summer, the kids and I flew to North Carolina for an action-packed visit. Our eyes, now accustomed to a more muted New Mexican palette, popped at the riotously bold blooms and bright greens in Nika and Papi’s gardens.

There was music at the piano,

Puppy kisses,

Soccer lessons from Uncle Jack and Uncle Sam,

A weenie roast by the creek,

Splish splashing with Auntie C,

Blasting off in the spaceship tree house with Papi (a beloved game when Colleen and I were little too),

Secret chambers to explore,

Puddles to splash in,

And the museum of life & science and its tropical butterflies.

All novelties for us puppy-less, fire-restrictioned, far-from-family, desert-dwellers! Thanks for a terrific visit and we look forward to seeing Nika and Papi again soon!

{More pics here.}

Colorado camping

After a last-minute scramble for reservations I landed on an itinerary and we loaded the car for a 4th of July weekend family trip! Somehow with our move, projects on our new house, and other plans, it had been almost two years since our last getaway for just our family of four and we couldn’t wait to make some memories together. My ever-favorite part of these trips is having Erik off work and project-free to focus on family activities. I also couldn’t wait to reintroduce the kids to camping after our long hiatus.

There didn’t seem to be a single campground opening for our first night in Colorado. Some places just played messages assuring the caller of the lack of availability for the week of the 4th and others dismissed my request, but I did find a deal on a 5-star hotel for $105/night, so we spent night one in Telluride luxury.

We all loved the complimentary gondola that whisks passengers from the slopes in Mountain Village to downtown Telluride. Fascinating mechanics plus stunning views and a couple fun little bumps made the local transportation a top-notch attraction!  Then there was pizza dinner al fresco and ice cream.

That night I may have tested the limits of luxury at a five-star hotel with a phone call to guest services. It turns out that even if you ask politely, bubble bath is not among the wide range of toiletries available upon request. So our pampered progeny just had to make do with a little baby shampoo in the tub.

The next morning we tried an early hike on the Bear Creek trail. It was a beautiful path but the kids’ patience for the uphill climb fizzled quickly and so we didn’t get too far before heading back to town.

It was a good thing we returned though, because everyone was arriving early to stake out a piece of sidewalk in anticipation of the famed Telluride 4th of July parade!

My favorite part was the Main Street fly-overs by several local pilots. What a thrill to see them swoop down the mountain and buzz overhead!

It was a heartwarming, quirky and authentic small town affair. I was touched by their recognition of veterans and patriotic spirit. But the sense of fairytale town couldn’t last indefinitely. I broke my hard candy ban and let Luke try one of the lifesavers that were thrown to the crowd during the parade. Next thing I knew he was choking and as soon as we stepped away from the sidelines he vomited it and his breakfast onto the sidewalk. C’est la vie. Thankfully it was nothing that water and paper towels couldn’t fix and we were all in high spirits when we left the Telluride festivities. Our next stop was a Durango campground where we’d snatched up a cancelled creekside site for the next two nights.

We set up camp, waded in the creek, and cooked up a quickie camping dinner.

There were laughs to be had at the tetherball pole in the old-fashioned campground playground,

and the sound of the rain on the tent as we slept. Getting the kids to fall asleep was a herculean task, but awaking the next morning with the birds chirping and their sweetly sleeping faces reset my enthusiasm for our camping endeavor.

After breakfast there was coffee by the creek and an investigation of the mysterious bubbles rising from a rock in the water.

The bubbles’ origin remained indecipherable, so we moved on to building a bridge of stones and general splashing.

Then we drove in to Durango to check out their riverside park, have a picnic, and spectate the often-bumping river rafts.

Hoping for car seat naps for the kiddos, we drove up the Million Dollar Highway to Silverton, CO. We pulled off to check out the jaw-dropping scenery at Molas Lakes campground, my top pick camping spot in the area.

We walked around Silverton, an old mining town that’s still a bit rough around the edges with a somewhat garish Old West strip of shops and restaurants. But its scenery was stunning and there was a magic to seeing the old steam-powered train roll through.

Then we drove back down to Durango, stopped in at a kids’ museum, and soaked up the evening back at our campsite.

We slept to the sweet sound of falling rain and reluctantly packed up to leave the next morning. We hope to return soon to Lightner Creek, Molas Lakes, or some other pretty camping corner of the Southwest!

{More pics here.}