woodstock, hippies and hobos

We went to Woodstock late Saturday afternoon with the little kids. Usually, when we go out to dinner, we do it with the idea of getting away together to catch up, chat without interruption, hang out with friends our age -- but our kids were so excited to be going OUT to dinner, I actually felt guilty for not doing it more often.

ANYWAY, we decided to take the kids to one of our favorite restaurants, The Little Bear, (Great food - you can check it out here ) which is just outside of Woodstock. It's a fab little Chinese place right alongside a little rambling and rocky creek. We've been going to this place for years now. For some reason I just don't remember the first time we went, and I wish I did. During the summer you can eat outside on this flagstone patio - we always stay in and get a seat by the windows overlooking the creek though.

Though we are not too far from Woodstock, the ride seems long. It must be because most of the way is by back roads, through country -- oftentimes you get behind a line of slowpokes just looking at scenery. That doesn't bother me, because I like to look too. Along the way, I told the kids where we were going, explaining the town of Woodstock that we would be driving through to get to our destination. Most people think of Woodstock as the place where the hugely famous music festival happened in 1969, then again in 1994 -- but the town of Woodstock, that is a pretty cool place to go. It is of course filled with art galleries and shops, cool places to eat, cool people and things to see, and always cool music to hear on any given day.

So I was telling the kids about the music festivals, and about the time period that the first festival was set in - you know, peace, love and rock & roll. All of a sudden, Alex yells out: "Oh my Gosh!! There's a HIPPIE!! Look at his HAIR!" The girls are practically falling out of their seats to get a look at this guy walking along with crazy long dreads. (I love dreadlocks. I admit, I am secretly a wannabe granola-head. Don't tell my husband.)

Then, "A HOBO!!! Mom, LOOK!! It's a REAL LIVE HOBO!!!"

Gosh, who knew all I had to do was drive 40 minutes from home to get my kids so excited?

I think we're going to have to take some more day trips.

ps: Cuteness: as we were leaving the restaurant, the night air smelled of burning wood and Chinese food, and Brookie exclaims, "It smells just like a Chinese campfire!" huh?

peace and quiet

Shocking, this house is overwhelmingly quiet and peaceful right now. This is not what I expected of a week's break from school.


Kara headed back to college yesterday - I was sad to see her go, but it's nice to know that she's wrapping up her semester soon. Before we know it, she'll be back again. I always feel so much more comfy when all of the kids are home in their own beds at night. We're going to see her in a few weeks because her play (Sweet Charity) will be opening on the 22nd. I think we'll go on the Friday, because it'll just be easier with getting a sitter for the little kids. I am really looking forward to seeing it because the last musical she was in was in high school! I miss seeing her on stage, she is so talented. She wanted Charity, but she got another decent female role instead - she's loving it regardless. I can't wait to see it!!

Little Alex went with Dad and a few of the other grand kids to Jeepers. I am hoping it will go smoothly - when he gets with some of his cousins, there is always a chance of something going awry! Dad called me this morning while I was at Wal-Mart, annoyed because my house was locked. He was trying to get in to get Alex a pair of sneakers, as he only has his soccer cleats on (he was being picked up from practice on the way). I didn't know he was going right after practice, so I never packed his sneaks - oh well, at least he's wearing his indoor cleats. He'll get over it. Maybe he'll start a new trend.

Megster had a Girl Scout field trip to Build-a-Bear in Albany today. I dropped her off with her leader, and they were heading up as a troop to build some bears! It was their reward for selling so many cookies this year. In other words, Megan is being rewarded for nudging me along to fall SO HARD off of my diet wagon, that I can't even stand myself. How anyone can resist a box of Samoa's is beyond me. And Thin Mints. Ahhhhh...Tag-a-Longs. In all honesty, I have no will power at all against most Girl Scout cookies. Thank God it's only once a year.


And lastly, Miss Brookie is "doing a quiet" in my bed. I try my absolute best to keep kids in a nap schedule for as long as humanly possible. Now that Brooke is approaching 4, she seems to be having a harder time actually napping. Honestly, I don't mind if she plays in her bed for an hour or two, just so long as I get a little quiet time to myself each day. Quiet time for me is catching up on email, going through real mail, cleaning, reading, etc. I think every stay-at-home mom needs a little quiet time! So when Brooke asked ever-so-sweetly if she could do a quiet in my bed with the TV on, I caved and allowed it. I think she may have fallen asleep though, because it is awfully quiet up there.

I think I'd better go check to make sure she is not getting into anything...she is my mischievous kid after all!