Last Gasp of Summer

Sunset the first night.

 

It's been a good summer, but certainly more constrained than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We've only gone camping a handful of times, and the epic Kingfisher trip was cancelled altogether. So for our last planned trip before school starts, Barb pulled out all the stops.  She secured for us a luxury condo overlooking the beach at Lincoln City -- it's got a freaking hot tub on the freaking balcony!

The hot tub is a good thing, because the weather is not exactly summery.  It's sunny, but the temperature is in the low- to mid-sixties and, typical of the Oregon coast, the wind is punishing and relentless.

On the beach today, Suzanne and I dug out a lounge-pit in the sand, so she could relax out of the incessant wind.  Later in the day, after I made a heroic trip to Safeway to buy a kite (and, let's face it, some beer and deli turkey), we made a second trip to fly the kite.  Kite technology has advanced since I was a kid -- they are now very easy to launch and to keep in the air.

And what, you may ask, was Elizabeth doing all this time? She did come to the beach the first time, but long after we'd arrived. She spent 10 to 15 minutes exploring before declaring that she was pretty much done with the sand and surf and ready for lunch. Prior to that she was sitting on the couch with the laptop and her headphones, as has been her mode all summer.

After lunch, we ventured out yet again to go to a candy store.  This is a long-established tradition, given that these coastal towns are full of candy stores specializing in fudge or saltwater taffy, but also offering the rarely-seen gum cigarettes, or unthinkable giant gummi bears or what have you.  There happended to be such a place within walking distance of the condo (imaginatively named "Candyland").

Candyland was only about half candy.  The other half was novelty garments and souvenirs.  And it was packed with tourists like us. So Barb stayed outside while I escorted the kids in and urged them to make quick decisions, robbing them of half of the fun of the candy store. (They weren't quick, for what it's worth.)  After they picked their candy (are you ready for this? squeezable smarties, gum cigarettes, and an old fashioned stick candy a piece), I told them to exit while I waited in line to pay.

We had planned to explore the "town" after that (the town is really just Hwy 101, with shops running along each side), but Suzanne was thirsty and we'd forgotten her water bottle.  A peculiarity of Suzanne's personality is that thirst for her is a crisis.  If she gets thirsty, life gets tough for anyone involved.  Even though we were a very short walk from the condo, Barb found a closer water fountain where Suzanne could slake her thirst.  But after that crisis, the kids decided that walking along the traffic-choked 101 looking into shops they wouldn't be allowed to venture in to was not appealing.  So we headed back home.

Later we (minus Elizabeth), went back to the beach and flew the kite.  And that was awesome.

 

Elizabeth in her natural environment: on the couch, with a computer on her lap, earbuds in her ears, and candy in her hands.  Bliss!

A rare moment of the sisters being sisterly, brought together by the condo TV.

Suzanne flies a kite!

Rocks on the beach.

Beach activity: Me reading while Suzanne buried Barb's feet in the sand with the object of turning her (Barb) into a mermaid.  Poor Barb had to lie in the same position for a very long time so as not to disturb the sand mounded over her feet.

Suzanne in the lounge pit.

Suzanne wanted me to delete this picture.

Cat in the Bird Bath

 Tinkertoes is cool as heck.

First Quarantine Camping Trip

June 21-22, 2020.

We couldn't hold out any longer. We needed to get to the woods. We did our best to do it safely.

The campground was small, and less than two hours from home. It was so very nice to get away from our house and live for a little while among the trees with the sound of the nearby river everpresent.  What wasn't so great was the fact that the girls don't play well together, except under great duress.  Elizabeth is constantly annoyed by Suzanne.  Suzanne needs a playmate and often Mom or Dad does not suffice.  So both girls were "bored," although Elizabeth was pretty content to just sit and read/listen to music, which is what she does at home.

Suzanne wanted very badly to swim, but the river that ran by our campground was not swimmable. After a terrible fit thrown by the nine-year-old, we got in the car to find a swimming area and discovered a beautiful little beach on the Columbia, maybe 30 minutes from the campground. The beach was part of a county campground with only a dozen or so campsites.  Might be a future camping prospect!

On balance, the experience was positive, but it reminded me that we may be getting to the stage when it will become difficult to camp without a friend for each child.  Because they are not friends with each other.

The water was so cold, but it felt so good.  My feet won't be this pale for long!

Upstream from my feet. No good swimming spots.

The girls DID play together, but rarely. One of the "games" they played was Suzanne pushing Elizabeth in the hammock. But at some point it changed to sharing the hammock in this fashion, which everyone found hilarious.

This is what Elizabeth likes to do: sit and read or sit and draw.  There's a picture of me in this same posture at Camp, reading a fat copy of some Stephen King paperback.

Aw, they're playing together again!

Barb and Suzanne enjoying the not-very-cold waters of the mighty Columbia River. We were in Washington; those hills across the water are Oregon.

Suzanne swimming to me from her Momma. The Columbia is a commercial shipping channel, but it's crazy how shallow it is until you hit the shipping lanes.  Barb's pretty far from shore and the water is maybe belly-button deep there.

Elizabeth described my L.L. Bean camping shirt as the ugliest garment she'd ever seen. Then she promptly absconded with it.  The camping chair over her legs/feet is for mosquito protection.

It's not camping if you don't cook some dogs over an open fire.

Quarantine Update

I finally got my bike working well, after 16 months of nothing but trouble. I've only ridden it a few times, but it now feels like the bike I was hoping for when I bought it.

I started playing Dungeons and Dragons with the rest of the family. It's fun, but surprisingly confusing!

Elizabeth's boots were falling apart. I repaired them with epoxy, and then Elizabeth decorated them with paint and home-made stickers.  This is something kids do these days.

Here are Suzanne (foreground) and her bestie Anika (background) hanging out at a social distance. Across the street is their friend Lily. They hang out for hours talking, drawing and playing games  at a distance.

A closer look at Suzanne's down-the-street encampment.

Our friend Mark gave the girls a couple of marionettes from his childhood. Suzanne took to them instantly, particularly the billy goat she named Rudolph. Unfortunately, the aged toy lost a leg after just a couple of days of use and now needs repair.

The ladies hanging out in the backyard of our friends the Wheeler-Kays. We kept our distance, but enjoyed the visit.

The Wheeler-Kays have a trampoline!

We get periodic visits from Pat Gaughan. Always good to talk with him.

Elizabeth's interest in witchcraft and magic has rekindled. Here she is studying on the subject while neglecting her actual schoolwork.

Elizabeth has also spent a lot of time learning the art program on our computer. She draws on it for hours at a time.

Suzanne likes to get stronger so she can beat up Dad.

Simpsons, Simpsons, and more Simpsons!

Elizabeth's Quarantine Simpsons Craze

Elizabeth has taken a deep dive, as is her wont, into a subject.  This time, it's The Simpsons, the venerable Fox cartoon decidedly not just for kids.

She has watched numerous episodes, spent hours reading the wiki (look it up, old people), convinced me to screen the movie (2007) for Family Movie Night, and -- most impressive of all -- turned her artistic brain to reimagining the iconic characters.

Below are some examples -- just a sample of the total output.

The Simpsons family in Elizabeth's own style.

Some of the extended cast in her own style. Elizabeth loves Smithers, Nelson, and Moe.

 

Gender-swapped Homer...

... Marge...

... Bart (Elizabeth named her Kitty because Bart's full name is "Bartholomew" and kitties say "mew" )...

... and Smithers and Burns.

Spring Break in Quarantine

Thanks to COVID-19, the kids had a two weeks (and counting!) Spring Break. Our plan to drive to eastern Oregon to check out high desert, ghost towns, and cows was scuttled even before the governor implemented a travel ban.

For the first week the kids were out of school, I still -- for some reason -- had to report to work.  But this week I was able to work from home when I wasn't using some vacation time (I'd planned to take the whole week off, but things at work were pretty crazy, so I worked a bit from home, enjoying Grandma's cottage as a home office).

Since the state ordered us to shelter in place (no trips outside the house unless its for a necessity like getting groceries, though going for walks/jogs is fine), we have watched a lot of movies, viewed a number of episodes of the Simpsons, and played a lot of video games. The kids have learned to play Minecraft online with their friends in the neighborhood, even chatting with them on a conference call while they play, using Barb's cell phone.

We've also done a lot of analog entertainment: Lego building, drawing, reading, and just visiting with neighborhood friends -- always keeping a distance of at least six feet. And, of course, we've spent a lot of time washing our hands until our skin looks like corned beef.  Better safe than sorry!

Getting some exercise is the biggest challenge.  Elizabeth has barely left the house in two weeks. She seems content to sit and draw or sit and read more or less all day.  Suzanne likes to go visit her friends in the neighborhood, but since they can only chat and not really play, her forays into the outside world tend to be short. Barb walks around the neighborhood when she's restless.  I'm no longer riding my bike to work, so I went for a run. Once.

We don't know how long this is going to last. My gut tells me we are in for a long haul, but I tend to be pessimistic about such things.  I think, given the experience of the last two weeks, that we can make it work no matter what.

Elizabeth is content to read comic strips all day long on the computer. Having Tinkertoes (who likes Elizabeth despite, or probably because, Elizabeth is the least cat-loving member of the family) as a companion doesn't hurt.

A wire in Suzanne's braces broke during our quarantine. Barb, channeling an Oregon pioneer mom, gloved up and took care of business. Wielding a rusty wire snip and a safety pin, she removed the broken hardware.

Suzanne loves Lego bricks, so at the beginning of this crisis we ordered a fairly complicated set to keep her busy. It did the trick, giving her hours of non-screen-related fun.

This was my home office in Grandma's Cottage -- airy and sunlit, with climate control, a bathroom, and separation from the family.  Until today, when -- to our surprise -- we got a booking for the cottage.  A man wanted to move in today, for a month!  So I broke down the home office and moved it to the only space available...

... our unfinished basement!  I'm sure it'll be fine, though, and it's nice to get some income from the tiny house in these troubled times.

A Wonderful Christmas Time

Christmas 2019 was a good one.  I got a pretty decent chunk of time off from work, we were all together and healthy (except me -- I have a cold, but it's not awful or anything), and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day saw us getting together with friends, if not family. 

Also, there were presents.

Santa was generous (an instant camera for Elizabeth, a hair-styling mannequin head for Suzanne).  The family-bought gifts were well received. Our family back East were very thoughtful in what they sent (including, a few days before Christmas, the annual arrival of the wonderful cookies from Barb's Aunt Mary Ann.)

Christmas Eve dinner we shared with Pat Gaughan and his girlfriend, Karen. Christmas dinner was with Brian and Teresa and Riley, later joined by the Wheeler-Kays.  It was a really great time, but it's not all magic. Barb did a ton of work prepping, and cooking, and baking, and doing dishes. I contributed where I could, but it was mostly her.  She makes the magic happen.

If there was a downside, it was Suzanne's mannequin head, which attaches by a clamp to the edge of a table or counter. As Suzanne moved it about the house, we all were regularly startled to catch out of the corner of our eye this dark-haired stranger in our house. A little creepy, but we're already getting used to it.

The revelation this year for me was to reign in my impulse to go overboard with gifts. Although Barb and I had agreed we were done shopping, I had my typical anxiety that it wasn't enough. So I bought the girls each a simple remote control car. Elizabeth was clearly puzzled by the gift when she unwrapped it. It's too young for her. Suzanne was excited upon opening it, but upon playing with it, was less than thrilled.  I'll return Elizabeth's, which is still in the box.

As Barb has been telling me for years, it's not about the presents, it's about the experience.

Suzanne with her stocking, way too early in the morning.

Ibid.

Suzanne opening her big present -- a memory foam mattress topper. Suzanne is very into memory foam.

Elizabeth was thrilled to receive her t-shirt for the Muppet band "Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem." See below for a glimpse of the shirt.

More presents! And more presents!

This is the day after Christmas, but is notable for showing five kids playing the Xbox at one time. I didn't think that was possible. Suzanne is holding one of her gifts, which is a Minecraft-themed Xbox controller. She was thrilled to get it, as it sets her apart from the hoi-polloi.

And here is Barb enjoying a moment of peace in her beautiful house the day after Christmas.