Swirly Sandy Update

Busily burying treasure

Saturday with no errands to run- what better time to head to the beach? It's only a few blocks away, so I feel like we should take advantage whenever possible. Problem is, Superstorm Sandy left a mess and all the beaches on our southern shore are closed for repairs. They CLAIM they'll reopen by Memorial Day, but the entire shoreline is parks and Sandy scraped them all clean.

We stopped by Wolf's Pond, where our extended family usually gets together after church for a Memorial Day picnic just to see progress. There was a parks employee blocking the entrance in his pickup with the engine running. He said they have to completely redo the landscaping for the whole park and didn't sound convinced of his own statement that the park would be ready for the holiday weekend. 

One of the other disappointed visitors clued me in to another possibility. Apparently, Great Kills, part of Gateway National Park, is open. So that's where we are today. They appear to have plenty of boats back in their marina - this is the origin of the boats that sailed into the pirate ship playground. You can see where the waves washed the sand right up over the access road. Not much for picnic facilities, but a couple of good play structures near the beach. I'm sure that if it was warmer than 65 degrees today, there would be even more crowded conditions here.

As it is, we've been here all morning and no other kids have been here. There's fishermen lining the beach and some silver-haired sunbathers reclining on the pavement. There's also plenty of walkers, bicyclists, and runners passing by regularly.  Not many trees or even tall shrubs out here on the peninsula, so I imagine it's best to come here before it's really hot. Maybe I can get a little tan on my ankles to help mask my purple network of varicose veins. 

Wave marks months after the storm?

You can still see the effects of the storm here. The little playground has wave marks in the sand around it, showing that there hasn't been much traffic here since the storm (or else the storm removed a dune that used to protect it from the tide). The little bits of play surface that peak out of the drifts of sand are places bulging with sand beneath them. One of the metal ladders has snapped off and ends in a rusty jagged stump halfway down the ladder. There are portable toilets to replace the more permanent bathrooms. So they're open here, but I think they're still doing repairs to prepare for the summer season. It's enough for us for now, though.

Elsewhere, I'm pretty sure the parks are in worse condition. The big touristy beach still has debris sorting in the parking lot. Bulldozers are moving dunes back into place. I'm pretty sure there used to be more structures, like life guard stands and things out there. And if their playgrounds are anything like the ones we've seen, I'm not even sure how you undune sand beneath a play surface. The businesses along the beach are slowly taking down their plywood as they get back in order. Contractors line the streets repairing everything from roofs, to siding, to interiors. Our neighbor across the street finally got his roof redone this week- he has had tarp covering his storm damage all this time. As far as I can tell, everyone has to completely replace their roofs because there's no way a contractor will waste their time on smaller jobs at this point. 

Ladder snapped off at the bottom

It's strange because so much seems to be business as usual, but if you look a little more closely, there are always reminders that we're still recovering from the storm - and will be for some time.

Penny's First Cut

I have been noticing lately that I don't always have enough time in the day for basics like combing my hair or braiding it. As such, I had decided it was about time to make another donation to Locks of Love. As far as I can tell, this is the fourth time I distinctly remember donating to them (though I'd swear I donated to them one additional time before John donated in 2001). In any case, Penny and I headed to the salon on Saturday and I got the big chop for me. She made lots of friends and I got a spiffy new do. The price tag always appalls me, but as Dan pointed out $75 every three years is far cheaper than his annual costs for hair cuts. I was a little disappointed at first because the haircut looked very straight and Dan commented that I looked like Lois from Malcolm in the Middle. I wasn't necessarily going for the standard "mom cut." But then I finally found time to shower and my hair resumed its natural body and I was much more pleased with the look. No, I don't have bangs - that's just the hair I've regrown since Paul was born. Makes my hair kind of crazy in rain, but the "bangs" curl nicely in humidity and I actually kind of like that.

Having laid the groundwork with our trip to the salon, I had hoped Penny might be ok with phase two of the plan. Her hair takes a good 20 minutes to comb. It looks cute and curly uncombed, but it begins to collect dust bunnies like you wouldn't believe. For the last couple of weeks, I have not found one opportunity to comb it in a post-bath situation, which is when it is most manageable. Finally, today we got baths done early in the day and then sat down to watch Dora, which is just engrossing enough that she doesn't mind all the pulling at knots. She complained so little about the combing that I took the opportunity to cut her hair - her very first haircut ever! She didn't even notice. After I cut off a big pony tail of hair, I had to trim a bit to even things out and she asked about the flower petal that hit her hand. I said I didn't know what she was talking about and then put in the braid and bow she had requested. We continued about our morning routine for a while and it just kept eating at me. Surely, someone at school would notice, comment, and then we'd have a full-on breakdown on our hands. Every time I asked about cutting her hair, she had said no. People comment on her beautiful hair EVERYWHERE we go. She even has the girly hair fling down pat.

 Finally, I asked her to feel her braid. She said she had a pony tail, not a braid (because it was so much shorter than usual). I held up the little cut pony tail and admitted that I'd cut her hair. She was a bit stunned, but didn't go crazy. I asked her to go upstairs to the full-length mirror so we could check out how her hair looks. We unbraided it and it looked a little wild - she was horrified. I did a little wet brushing and it calmed, curled more like it normally does, and she seemed a bit more pleased. I showed her how easily it brushed and she enjoyed brushing it herself for a while. She seemed pretty pleased with it in the end. I'm excited if she's now able to brush it. The few times Dan has tried to brush her hair, he's all but thrown his hands up in frustration because it's just such unfamiliar territory for him. Hopefully, between the two of them, they can figure out how to keep those curls in check when the new little one arrives.

Penny went to school with her new do tied back in a pony tail with a bow. Not one person noticed. Not sure whether to be sad or happy on that one. Glad I admitted my actions to her face, though. She's such a good natured little person. Perhaps I just didn't give her enough credit.

Next on the agenda - Mr. Paul's haircut. The last one was a two day affair because he just won't sit still for the process. Wish me luck!

Spring Break

Penny had a whopping seven days off school for Spring Break and we were all packed to head off to visit a friend upstate when we got a call from John. His flight itinerary had changed and he'd now get to spend a whole week with us, starting later that evening (Yay for Dayton hosting March Madness and killing his standby chances!). So...we re-wrote our plans a bit. Uncle John got to tour each of our favorite grocery stores in turn as we prepared for a lovely week of feasting and generally lazing about. He got to read stories most nights and woke up early to two darling kids curiously trying to smother him with his sleeping cap. 

The weather was actually quite cooperative for most of his visit, so we enjoyed some quality time outside. We relished our first backyard picnic for the season. John kindly lugged the kids around in the wagon, sometimes one at a time, though often together. Penny seemed to be especially fond of getting in and out while the wagon was in motion. Paul was slightly frustrated by how difficult it is to climb into our little play structure. He can't quite crawl up the arched ladder in the back. He's used to latching his fingers between floor boards and pulling himself up at the public playground and this is all one solid piece. Maybe with a little more height he'll have it. 

We didn't get out for too many fantastic field trips, but we did manage several hours at the SI Zoo on Wednesday. I finally remembered to bring a good fistful of quarters so we could procure plenty of duck and other animal food. It seemed the keepers were feeding many of the animals while we were there. Good for getting to see all the animals, not so good for getting them to come to us for food. There were some pheasants who weren't caged that provided a bit of fun - who knew a trail of duck food could be so enticing! Uncle John was also able to join Penny and I on her very first trip to see a movie in the theater. She'll be reciting lines from "The Croods" (just like Uncle John does) for some time, I imagine. It's a funny movie and Penny managed to not get too scared by it.

Then, as quickly as he had arrived, John had to leave. He had arrived late at night and disappeared early on Easter morning. There probably would have been greater grief had his warm spot on the couch not been filled with hidden eggs and chocolate bunnies. The downstairs was torn apart as the kids both searched for secret plunder. Paul was remarkably good at finding eggs on his own, almost as skilled as Penny was at convincing him to hand them over to her. So he probably found more than the four eggs in his basket, but Penny was beside herself for jelly beans. Penny continued the search throughout the day, hoping she'd forgotten some corner and even greater bounty lay concealed just beyond sight. 

 We rounded out our last couple of days of break enjoying some play date action. I've been sampling a local Mothers of Pre-Schoolers group recently and they seem pretty nice. We all met at a local indoor playground (a mere $10 per kid for two hours of entertainment). The kids had a blast and were psyched for their next trip there - might be a bit at that steep price. We then picnicked outside again and enjoyed some 60-degree weather for the next three hours in the backyard. We're going to have a nice time back there, I can tell. It could only be improved if we had a door directly onto the yard so I didn't have to prep quite so much before we go out. I don't like leaving them there when they can easily walk out into the street through the gate. I had hoped for some solid napping after such a full day, but no dice. They really are much better at wearing me out than I am at wearing them out.

It was an awesome break and it was still nice getting back to the routine of school today. Just a few more weeks of sanity and routine, then who knows what we'll be in for when our new little bundle arrives!