ZimWex Family Blog

What I like about "Family Hotels": A Photo Essay.

 

 

 

 

 

   
    

 

AZ
 

Cornwall

Okay London has not been blog-conducive.  Not sure why.  It all feels like a bit of a haze, but perhaps I will get back on it soon.  

However! Ruby, Violet and I decided to take a mini-break* to Cornwall.  (the town of Mawgan Porth, as a matter of fact), while Tanya went to Colorado to pick up the big ones from camp.  A few days ago it was starting to seem like a bad idea.  Turns out Cornwall is FAR from London.  Like 5-6 hours.  And you have to drive on the other side of the road to get there.  And the forecast was cold and rainy.  Only the non-refundable hotel reservation kept me from cancelling.

Then today, we embarked on our journey.  Um, everything went wrong.  The car was not in the rental office.  Or any other rental offices in London.  Not an automatic car in sight for the American who has never learned to drive a stick.  Luckily, there was one in Heathrow Airport, so I schlepped everyone out there and finally got a car.  Then there was LOTS of traffic.  Like the L.I.E. on a Friday afternoon.  Then I took an unplanned detour through the city center of Bristol at rush hour.**  Luckily, my children held up.

And then we arrived to this:

 

  
Those were the view from our room.

We'll stay.

AZ 
 
*note, new British vocab.

 **Lovely city by the way.

The cool thing about photos

Is that when you see this

 and this

 And this

 

and this

...you don't hear all the arguments about who was going to dig the hole, who was standing right in the middle of the hole, who wanted to play tag and who didn't because the "other kids run too fast", and who was going to sit in which chair.

You don't hear the sounds that the kids made when they finally made at home at almost 10 tonight.

Or the exhaustion they will have tomorrow.

It just looks perfect.  And even with everything that I wrote about above, it kinda was.

AZ

God bless the child* whose planned day included....

...naptime.  Yes, all of us had to retire to our rooms for about 45 minutes.  We were allowed to read, but had to stay quietly in our rooms. Seriously?  And why don't we do this every day again?

...a kids yoga class in Sag Harbor.  

...Japanese food for dinner, instead of plain pasta.

And then this:
Swinging

: 

swimming
 

laughing

 

hermit crab catching

and sunset watching
   

and only minor meltdowns on the way home after everyone's bedtime. :)
AZ

 *Any guesses on which kid it was?
  

On this summer solstice....

we enjoyed  a few things....

So...we are out on Long Island for a week without Tanya.  No camp, no school, etc.  Some loyal blog readers MAY remember Camp Zimwex  which debuted at this time last year.  This time around, with the same lack of structure, I decided to try something new, because, well, putting together a camp again just seemed like A LOT of work. So...this year, for each of the five week days that we are here, one of us gets to plan it.  The plans have to be something that everybody can do together.  Everyone has to do them with minimal complaints.  And then, of course, lots of candy, ice cream, dessert and random movies are planned as incentives for everyone COOPERATING!!

Today, was Violet's Day.  Which she was terribly fond of.*  She chose to take us to do the following things:

Feeding cygnets and ducks at the pond in town.  

 

Though those big swans can be mean and scary and make a girl go running!

 Painting on the lawn

 

(After this somehow I never picked up my camera again...)

Swimming and playing categories in the pool.

A trip to the beach AND pond, complete with pond swimming.

A dinner at the Candy Kitchen with peppermint sundaes for dessert.

A late-night hammock swing, firefly gaze, and impromptu game of charades with flashlights.

I think this week is going to work out just fine.

AZ

*Though a bit of a dictator, truth be told.

First day of summer break!

And I woke up in a bit of a panic.

The wife is leaving town for a business trip; school's out; camp hasn't started.  How does this work again?

But slowly, very slowly, as the day went on, I remembered how these unscheduled days have their own rhythm.  And...somehow...found time for all of the following:

homemade waffles cooked by love with Ruby and Violet....and served with whipped cream

a few minutes alone on the Elliptical (watching my new favorite "Weeds") while the kids vegged out on Ben 10 Upstairs

a bubble bath with Ruby and Violet--complete with candles and stories

Lunch with good friends

A little listening (of course) to Wicked

A walk outside, with a stop for gelato

Homemade Bolognese Sauce for Ima's farewell dinner

Another (!) Ben 10 episode

A little "Ramona and her Mother"

Some card tricks

The first chapter of "The Hobbit"

Now I'm just trying to remember what it was I was so worried about this morning!

AZ

Hello, beach.

Took a while to get these posted.  But we got to return to the beach last weekend, for a glorious sunfilled, pond swimming, body surfing, castle digging, puzzle doing, book reading, frisbee throwing time....

 

 

AZ  
 
 

7 things I learned this Memorial Day Weekend.

1.  I am not all that good at Capture the Flag.

2.  The Georgica Pond is like an amusement park when it is cut to run into the ocean.

3. If you need to walk a long way on the beach, it is easier to dance your way there.  Particularly if you incorporate a few arabesques.  And sing "Tonight" from West Side Story.

4.  We have been doing things backwards for ten years.  In shocking reversal, all seven children (including our house guests) made the grownups lunch while we swam in the pool.  They made menus, prepared (yummy) food, and served us. *

5.  All sandwiches are better with Pepperoncini.

6.  My children's concept of a Haunted House is a little bit off and involves more assault and swordfighting than fear.

7.  The dumb cheerleader on Glee doesn't have a single line in the first six episodes.**

Happy Memorial Day to all!

*And billed us.

** We had to get our good friends J & A caught up on what they had missed on Glee so far.  And of course we had to watch with them, silly!

On being a NYC parent.

So, I want to register my kids for summer camp at their school.*

However, they did not attend said camp last year.  Which means they are ineligible for early registration.  Which means I must email the camp my name and email address and they will email me back as to on which day registration will begin.  Last Friday, the email comes.  Announcing cheerily that camp registration will begin the following Monday sometime in the afternoon.  I will receive a follow-up email when the registration is officially open, and then will need to register online with some expediency, as sometimes it fills up very quickly.  I accept all this news nonchalantly and put it into my Things Program  to do list.  Super Mom can do it!

On Monday however, I wake up with the unfortunate after effects of two airplane flights in 24 hours with a bad head cold.  Namely, no hearing in my right ear and very little in my left.  The world is a bit strange, and I am a wee bit hysterical about the prospect of various sad events like never hearing Patti Lupone sing again.**  The doctor recommends immediately being seen by an ENT.  THe ENT is kind enough to schedule me for that afternoon. ***

At school that morning, I casually check with the camp office to establish around what time that afternoon the registration will come online, now knowing that I will be on the Upper East Side**** during some critical early afternoon hours.  Camp Director is less than casual.  She lets me know that it will be 4:00, and also lets me know in no uncertain terms that if I am not at my computer at that designated hour I am unlikely to obtain spots for all four kids.  Some age groups, apparently, fill within 20 minutes.  When I let her know that I am likely to be in the doctor at that time and possibly unable to get online, she panics a little.  There appears to be no workaround of this system.  Hmmm.

So the afternoon rolls around and I trudge to the upper East Side with a laptop.  There must be wifi up there and I can make it all work.  ENT's office is kind enough to let me out with 15 minutes to spare until 4:00; Starbucks is around the corner.  Starbucks does indeed have Wifi, though also a long line.  And apparently setting up your wireless for the first time is somewhat time consuming.  Without any pleading at all, the girl at the counter says, you should just use my wifi!!*****  After changing seats several times after first neighbor is unwilling to move her seat over because I simply said Excuse Me, but didn't say please, I settle in to a happy area at the bar with a lovely neighbor who doesn't mind my occasional talking on the phone to try to establish if in fact the registration is open yet.  Also to check on my children in their various locations, because, guess what? I cannot pick them up! Why? Because I have to stay ONLINE!!

Then, after 56 minutes of solid waiting, the LREI Camp website is updated to say the following: Registration has been postponed until 11 AM on Thursday.

Humph.  Just another day as a frenzied city parent.  Guess I'll go pick up my kids now.******

AZ

*This imperative need for a summer camp seems somewhat more exaggerated in NYC than other places.  Is it?

**or the sound of my children's laughter. Should I have put that first?

***all is fine with my ears. Nothing some antibiotics and steroids can't fix.  Also, incidental hearing test indicates perfect hearing in general, settling long standing battle between Tanya and Amy.

****where else?

*****username: MizzBrooklyn.

******all written in real time.  I had no idea where this was going when I started, and was merely writing to amuse myself while stuck in Starbucks!!

Wish Wall.

Lots of you liked the Wish Wall .  And so do we. Thanks for all of your nice feedback...

I will definitely have to figure out a way to incorporate the Wish Wall into normal life, but I haven't yet figured out what that is.  Any suggestions welcome.

In the meantime, updates on a few Wish Wall Items that have been ticked off:

1.  Lunch at the Candy Kitchen.  As predicted, the children ordered things they only semi-liked, then spent the rest of the meal trying to assess the exact number of bites of the now-hated food (likely hotdogs or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) that will allow them to go to the candy counter after the "meal" is finished.

2. Blueberry Pie.*  My favorite thus far of all items on this wall.  I meant to take a picture of this beautiful pie, and then ate the whole thing in less than six hours, before I could locate the camera.  I plan a repeat pie bake on Wednesday, so stay posted for pictures.

3. Main Beach.  This was my birthday trip.  Most glorious day of the summer. Even including the 30 minute wait in line for a bad greasy lunch surrounded by people who do not like to wait.  

4. Extra Movies.  We have had lots and lots of extra movies.  Because Mommy is a little tired.  And also, because she loves her kids that much.

5. See Bambi.  Not as sad as I remembered. I think when we were kids there was nothing else out there where a parent dies mid-movie.  In Cinderella and Snow White you never get to know the mother, so its totally different.  But now we have Lion King.  And Finding Nemo.  My kids were completely** unfazed by the hunters killing Bambi's mother, and the fire.  Said they liked it all, especially the scary parts.  

6. Bowling. Bowling in East Hampton during a hurricane in the last week of August is a funny thing.  Funny in these ways:

First, when you call at 10 AM and ask to book a lane for sometime that day, they tell you they are fully booked until 8 PM.  Huh.

Next, because you live in East Hampton (at least some of the time) you don't really believe that this restriction will apply to you, so you show up anyway and beg.  At least no one in the family is stressed out during your manic dash from the car and to the front of the line. Or when you tell everyone, "they will only let us have the lane for one hour. So shoes on! Now!"  But the fun has just begun.

As you bowl, the lovely gay couple with kids next to you will begin to chat with you.  They will assume that because you are gay parents and they are gay parents that you will know the same people, even though they live 3,000 miles from you.  They will be right.*** 

Eventually, the bowling "scene" becomes too much, you suffer from enormous claustrophobia and have to leave, but only after you get a turn on Ms. PacMan and Guitar Hero.

So we did that.

We still have a few more wishes.

However, if this were like a legitimate wishing situation with a genie or something, at this point, I think I would ask for more summer!

AZ

 *From my friend A, a baking goddess.

** I went a little italics crazy in this post. Sorry!

*** Always right. We have been indignant, especially when random straight friends of ours give us the "oh! we know a gay person! Maybe you know him, too?"  But then we usually do.  Doh!