It was a gorgeous, sunny, truly spring-like day. We headed down to Ithaca with my friend Cathy and her two kids and another friend's two kids to hike some of the gorges. We have pictures on our cell phones that don't have data plans. If only one of us had a good phone or camera. But ... we had a blast! I had the "girls" car: and she had the "boys" car. I don't know what went on in the boys car, but in the girls car we played the alphabet game, the name game, ate cookies, and sang really loud to Taylor Swift cd's. When in Rome....
When we got there, the kids were immediately drawn to the sparkling creek. The kids pulled off shoes and socks and waded beneath waterfalls*,
and Cathy and I stuck our hands in and decided the blood would freeze in our veins if we did the same. We hiked 4 miles of up and down trails, and did some harrowing creeping along crevices above the creek to get to Lucifer Falls.
This was not allowed, and was of course the kids' (and my) favorite part. I did follow some rules by staying off of the closed gorge trail. Although from across the overlook at the top of the rim trail I did some serious calculating about how we could get everyone past the big piece of plywood placed at a narrow spot in the gorge across the trail.
Saturday the girls and I went to the zoo to FINALLY see the baby tigers who are not babies anymore. We ran into my friend Sharon and her two girls at our last exhibit. But they were just starting, and we ended up touring the whole zoo again. The weather was lovely again, and we hadn't been to the zoo in a long time, and everything is more fun with friends, right? After we said good-bye, Molly, Anna, and I shopped for a few spring outfits for the girls. In the evening, Moll and I went on a run together. She's getting pretty good at keeping up. The day is coming soon when she'll pass me.
Today we all slept in and lounged in pj's all morning. I took Biscuit for a nice long walk. Anna and I practiced her math flash cards and the story she will read to her class this week. Moll and I challenged each other to a Wii Fit competition.
I must highlight the two most exciting things that happened.
1. After years of falling asleep listening to their parents and friends playing Settlers of Catan, the girls learned to play. They both were quick learners. I think they picked up a lot through osmosis over the years. Nan was REALLY good for a seven year old. I wish I could say that I was able to hail one of them as Lord of Catan, but I had to choke out a hail to their father.
2. We made the first visit of this year to Boom Boom Mex Mex, everyone's favorite Mexican restaurant on the West side! Lupe (the owner) has been back from Mexico for a few weeks, but we haven't gotten over there. Jeff texted me in the middle of a meeting I was in to say "Boom Boom is open - lines out the door!" last week. There are always lines out the door. We waited in line for half an hour tonight. And it was soooo worth it. Those taco salads are to die for.
Tomorrow, back to work. Back to packing lunches and racing home to get kids to and from. Back to feeling like I'm forgetting something at all times. The calm was nice while it lasted.
I can count on one hand the number of non-college spring breaks Molly has left with me, and that, more than wading in freezing creek water, freezes the blood in my veins. I'm glad I got to spend at least a tiny bit of this one with her and Anna.
*The pictures are not ones I took on this trip. They are, however, actual pictures of the waterfalls we visited.
1 comment:
It sounds like a ton of fun! I'm so glad you did it. I'm trying to figure out how we can get to Syracuse soon...
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