I'm still at work

... But Sylvie and her pals are enjoying the first of the Holliston Arts Council's summer concert series (and some ice cream, apparently).  Thanks for rubbing it in, Trystan! 

StoryLand (Day Two) - Taking the Plunge

Gloomy start (and stalled coaster!)

Turns out the lousy weather forecast for this weekend did us a favor.  Despite predictions of steady drizzle punctuated by occasional rain and a few thunder storms, not a single drop fell on us Saturday while we had our run of StoryLand, unencumbered by the summer crowds about which we adults had all been warned.  By mid-afternoon the sun even paid a visit.

Sylvie's big step, as noted in a previous post, was letting Alex and Sydney talk her onto the Bamboo Chute flume ride.  The photo of our first time taking the plunge stood for nearly 24 hours as my favorite "Syl and Dad" pic of all time - more on that in a later post.

Flying whales, flying shoes, a coaster, a... cow milking thing (?).

All in all, a very good day.

Oh, by the way, these are all phone photos again - no zoom, which was kind of a bummer for the coaster shots.

StoryLand (Day One)

Bartlett Inn

To say our weekend trip to StoryLand got off to an inauspicious start would be a profound understatement.  First, Melissa got socked with a ton of unexpected work.  Then the forecast told us to expect rain all day, every day.  And then poor little Alex Liggett spent the night before departure with the stomach bug.  We almost called it.  Thankfully, we didn't.

We and the Liggetts arrived at the Bartlett Inn in Bartlett, NH literally (literally) within a minute of each other.  After a quick unpack, we donned our rain gear and headed to the park to catch a few rides before close.  The photo at right pretty much sums up the weather...  it was wet.  Drizzly/raining and cold. But the kids didn't seem to mind, and so who were we adults to protest?  And luckily the rain tapered off soon after we arrived, so we got in some good fun time before the park closed at five.  I wasn't brave enough to bring my camera out into the uncertain weather, so I am pretty pleased with these photos considering they all came from my iPhone...

Sylvie was pretty pleased with her face painting.  The Bartlett Inn sacrificed a face cloth to the cleanup.

After the park we went to a nearby pub called the Red Parka.  I was in the men's room doing what men do, and I glanced up at the wall and noticed a familiar name.  By utter coincidence, a friend from Middlebury's band, The Grift, was scheduled to play that  very bar later that night.  So after the kids went to bed, Jeff and I went back and caught the show.  Bonus good time.

My friend Clint, doing what he does

 More photos from Days 2 and 3 to come...

Thanks for the visit!

When we left for StoryLand on Friday, we said goodbye to Grammy and Grampy, who headed home to Florida Saturday morning.  Syl really had a great time with them during their visit, and hopes they come back soon!  Here are a few more photos...

Make Way...

Happy Father's Day, Grampy!

Flume!

This took some convincing.  Syl had it in her head that she didn't want to get wet.  Once we coaxed her on, though, she insisted on going again and again - as expected.  We never did convince Melissa to give it a go.

Rain still holding...

Storyland

And the rain is holding...

So far so good today

Melissa reports that Syl seems to be back on the road to recovery today.  Of course, given the Sunday/Monday dichotomy we just experienced, we aren't taking anything for granted.

Gram and Gramp get back this afternoon, and Sylvie wants to be well so that she can resume her relentless demands for "play" with them.

Syl yesterday afternoon, pondering the upside to a sick day

Aunt Mary!

 

Just found Sylvie watching PBS Newshour. Couldn't figure out what was holding her attention, so I asked. Very matter of factly she told me, "That cuz, Aunt Mary is on the TV."

Relapse

Don't know if the bug came back or if we just over-did it yesterday, but poor Syl is vomiting again this morning. Back to the ice chips...

An Excellent Daddy's Day

First off, Syl asked me to send her best wishes for a great day to all the Dads in her life.

I sure had a great Father's Day.  Or, as Syl would put it, "I had a great Father's Day fer sure."

First, I got the coolest gift ever - a trailer for my bike, so that Sylvie can come along on my bike rides!  This really opens up a whole new set of options for Sylvie time, and removes the quandary I face nearly every time I head out on a ride: in order to get a good workout, I have to be out a couple of hours.  But on the weekends that's precious Daddy time down the drain.  Now Sylvie can come with me - and we won't even have to be gone two hours (pulling the thing, while easier than I expected, still ups the effort considerably - especially on the uphills.

Big fan of the cart - not so much of the helmet.

After taking the new cart for a spin, we joined Madeline, Jake and Trystan at the pool for lunch and some swimming.  It was a little chilly - I was the only adult who went in, and then only because Sylvie played the Father's Day card on me.  Best evidence that she has completely recovered from her illness earlier this week?  Syl pounded down a grilled cheese and fries - and then demanded another grilled cheese.

She was also the only kid who wanted to brave the "Big Kid Pool" - in fact, she was downright offended by the suggestion that she should play with Madeline and Jake in the kiddie pool.  "But Daaaad!  I a BIG GIRL NOW!"

Kicking

Madeline, going all Zen on us

Summer relaxation

Ripples

GC#2

Striking a pose

Finally, after her nap Syl and I wrapped up the day with an impromptu photo session during our walk with Pax.  I wasn't sure she knew what Father's Day was all about until she was so cooperative with this...

Kids are resilient

Sylvie was a mess yesterday.  Couldn't keep anything down, right up until bed time.  This morning she was a zombie - could barely stand, didn't want to eat, etc.  Then a nap, some white rice, Gatorade and toast?  And boom.  This is Sylvie this afternoon.

She still isn't 100%.  She wanted to go to bed at 7:15 today, for example, when ordinarily we are lucky if she's down by 8:30.  But all in all?  Well, the 24 hour bug is called that for a reason.