Labor Day Weekend 2005
Long weekend. Short post. Boredom anticipated.
For readers, that is. Sorry.
Who am I kidding? Unless someone is holding a gun to my head, I'm not going to be brief.
Saturday and Sunday were relatively quiet and uneventful. On Monday my parents came down, and we went to Roger Williams state park.
What a great place. Of course, I got married there, so I'm fond of it. But once again I was surprised at how much there was to do.
We didn't go to the zoo this time. Instead, we went to the Carousel area. There were pony rides, but once again Sebastian flat-out refused - even though children half his age were riding. I'm not sure why he's so afraid of ponies.
He was fascinated by a new ride, though, the "bumper boats". They were in a large rectangular pool, not more than two feet deep; they looked like bumper cars, but they were boats with timers that controlled the motors. Sebastian was almost too tall to be allowed in, but the attendent cut us a break, I think (she turned away the girl who was ahead of us), and Sebastian got a ride. He really enjoyed it.
I only wish I hadn't forgotten the camera.
We also spent quite a bit of time at the playground, and then Sebastian took a ride on the carousel with my mother. After that, we went into the little play room, and played a basketball game; he actually made a few baskets, and won enough tickets to get a little rubber lizard. He was delighted.
Then a quick drive back home, a late lunch of pasta and Teri's spaghetti sauce, and after a while my parents headed home.
The next day we got up early to drive Teri's great-uncle to the VA hospital in Boston. The ride went smoothly, and we had no problems getting there. A number of patients were charmed by Sebastian, of course.
After a while in the waiting room he got pretty rambunctious, but eventually the appointment was over and we headed home. Had lunch with Dom, and then took him home. He lives near an unusual waterfall; it's a manufactured one, very pretty but with absolutely filthy water. I couldn't resist hiking up a bit to take a look at the whole thing.
It consists of four large steps, each approximately five feet high (I'm guessing) and perhaps 15 feet deep (that would be the "tread" of the stair). The top one is smooth and slide-shaped, and above it is a mirror-smooth section of the river that looks like a broad like - it's lovely.
The hike completed, we headed for home. I grilled some burgers for dinner, and they were just about perfect. I've put in a lot of years working on my grilling techniques - even in winter - and I think it has paid off.
Sebastian got on the couch and started watching Scooby Doo (a longstanding point of contention in our house; more and more, I think I should smash the goddamned television for the sake of his mind), and Teri and I did some cleaning and housework. When I checked back in on Sebastian, he'd gotten a pillow and covered himself with a blanket; moments later he was asleep.
I took him upstairs and put him to bed.
At around 10 PM he woke up and started crying. At first I couldn't make out what he was saying, but eventually I realized that he wanted a bedtime story. I didn't want to turn on the light and start reading, because that was sure to get him charged up, so instead I climbed in next to him and told him the story of Pookie climbing the house. In a few minutes, he was asleep again.
I played a little more Diablo 2, and then went to bed myself. Only to be woken by shrieks from Sebastian; for some unknown reason our power had gone out, and his nightlights were dark. The glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling were the only source of light, and they were pretty weak.
I calmed him down, and then went to get him a glass of water; when I got back upstairs, he had moved to our bed.
We all slept. Sometime in the night I was woken again; the power had come back on. Back to sleep until morning, and my vacation was over.
For readers, that is. Sorry.
Who am I kidding? Unless someone is holding a gun to my head, I'm not going to be brief.
Saturday and Sunday were relatively quiet and uneventful. On Monday my parents came down, and we went to Roger Williams state park.
What a great place. Of course, I got married there, so I'm fond of it. But once again I was surprised at how much there was to do.
We didn't go to the zoo this time. Instead, we went to the Carousel area. There were pony rides, but once again Sebastian flat-out refused - even though children half his age were riding. I'm not sure why he's so afraid of ponies.
He was fascinated by a new ride, though, the "bumper boats". They were in a large rectangular pool, not more than two feet deep; they looked like bumper cars, but they were boats with timers that controlled the motors. Sebastian was almost too tall to be allowed in, but the attendent cut us a break, I think (she turned away the girl who was ahead of us), and Sebastian got a ride. He really enjoyed it.
I only wish I hadn't forgotten the camera.
We also spent quite a bit of time at the playground, and then Sebastian took a ride on the carousel with my mother. After that, we went into the little play room, and played a basketball game; he actually made a few baskets, and won enough tickets to get a little rubber lizard. He was delighted.
Then a quick drive back home, a late lunch of pasta and Teri's spaghetti sauce, and after a while my parents headed home.
The next day we got up early to drive Teri's great-uncle to the VA hospital in Boston. The ride went smoothly, and we had no problems getting there. A number of patients were charmed by Sebastian, of course.
After a while in the waiting room he got pretty rambunctious, but eventually the appointment was over and we headed home. Had lunch with Dom, and then took him home. He lives near an unusual waterfall; it's a manufactured one, very pretty but with absolutely filthy water. I couldn't resist hiking up a bit to take a look at the whole thing.
It consists of four large steps, each approximately five feet high (I'm guessing) and perhaps 15 feet deep (that would be the "tread" of the stair). The top one is smooth and slide-shaped, and above it is a mirror-smooth section of the river that looks like a broad like - it's lovely.
The hike completed, we headed for home. I grilled some burgers for dinner, and they were just about perfect. I've put in a lot of years working on my grilling techniques - even in winter - and I think it has paid off.
Sebastian got on the couch and started watching Scooby Doo (a longstanding point of contention in our house; more and more, I think I should smash the goddamned television for the sake of his mind), and Teri and I did some cleaning and housework. When I checked back in on Sebastian, he'd gotten a pillow and covered himself with a blanket; moments later he was asleep.
I took him upstairs and put him to bed.
At around 10 PM he woke up and started crying. At first I couldn't make out what he was saying, but eventually I realized that he wanted a bedtime story. I didn't want to turn on the light and start reading, because that was sure to get him charged up, so instead I climbed in next to him and told him the story of Pookie climbing the house. In a few minutes, he was asleep again.
I played a little more Diablo 2, and then went to bed myself. Only to be woken by shrieks from Sebastian; for some unknown reason our power had gone out, and his nightlights were dark. The glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling were the only source of light, and they were pretty weak.
I calmed him down, and then went to get him a glass of water; when I got back upstairs, he had moved to our bed.
We all slept. Sometime in the night I was woken again; the power had come back on. Back to sleep until morning, and my vacation was over.