We went to Beechwood Farms this weekend, after a prolonged temper tantrum on Owen's part, he wanted to go see
Wall e with his Dad but Saturday was such a wonderful day we thought it would be better for them to go on Sunday, when we were supposed to have thunderstorms. Well you know how it is getting a five year old to switch to a different plan. There was a lot of foot stomping, slammed doors, random shouts and tears. Once we finally got out to Beechwood Farms Owen did in fact enjoy himself, good thing too because he was so naughty for the rest of the day he lost his movie date with his Dad on Sunday. He's at an age where he's really trying to push boundaries, I'm sure he's also a bit stir crazy being home for the summer. Still, it doesn't excuse his being nasty to everyone in the house, especially poor Oona whose world revolves around her brother.
This Beechwood Farms is amazing. Six miles away, a ten minute drive, but a whole other world compared to city living. Lately I'm starting to get more and more depressed about city living. If Owen gets together with the neighbors kids to play they wind up running up and down the sidewalk, and I worry if they go too far down the sidewalk because I don't want him running out between a couple parked cars and getting hit by some oblivious teen cruising with bass blasting music. I mean it just seems so sad to me that they are relegated to the sidewalk, my postage stamp of a backyard or the neighboring park, which is frequented by skanky teens indulging in illegal drugs. Ugh!
The pond at Beechwood Farms was literally covered in frogs and pollywogs. I've never seen so many. It was so nice to hear them croaking away and the kids were excited, all you had to do was look in one area for a second or so and you'd see a bunch of frogs. We took a nice hike and brought Oona along in the jogging stroller, she looked like a princess being pushed about. Poor Toby had his work cut out for him because parts of the path were root filled and twisty turny going in to marshland with two narrow planks to cross on. Not the easiest for negotiation a stroller.
Owen in his
Star Wars Lego t-shirt, something he wears every chance he gets, it's a good thing he has two but I really should probably buy him five more so we have all the days of the week covered and I'm not doing laundry every day. I think Owen's most used phrase right now is 'Guess what' everything starts that way. He wants to be informed and wants to make sure I'm informed as well. I love that he's so curious but when I him say that a dozen times within a minute in the car and Oona's screaming and I'm vainly trying to listen to the news off NPR I do get tempted to drive right off of Highland Park bridge. I think the hardest thing about being a stay at home parent is being pulled so many different ways. The day to day boredom that can creep in combined with the sheer exhaustion of the huge responsibility of taking caring of your children and add to that the negotiating skills needed when your children start fighting, no wonder I have trouble even talking coherently sometimes.
This bunch of Echinacea was a real butterfly magnet. Bees too, I guess it's a good flower to pollinate. It's just so lovely to wander in the grass and see the green everywhere, such a nice little escape from the cement, asphalt, and grafitti of my neighborhood. My Mom is going to give Owen another week of camp there for his birthday which he'll definitely enjoy. I can keep my eyes peeled for For Sale signs dropping him off and picking him up. Oh, if only my dream house would go one the market. Over an acre of land, my kids wouldn't know what to do with themselves, not being confined to a strip of sidewalk.
We went to Beechwood Farms this weekend, after a prolonged temper tantrum on Owen's part, he wanted to go see Wall e with his Dad but Saturday was such a wonderful day we thought it would be better for them to go on Sunday, when we were supposed to have thunderstorms. Well you know how it is getting a five year old to switch to a different plan. There was a lot of foot stomping, slammed doors, random shouts and tears. Once we finally got out to Beechwood Farms Owen did in fact enjoy himself, good thing too because he was so naughty for the rest of the day he lost his movie date with his Dad on Sunday. He's at an age where he's really trying to push boundaries, I'm sure he's also a bit stir crazy being home for the summer. Still, it doesn't excuse his being nasty to everyone in the house, especially poor Oona whose world revolves around her brother.
This Beechwood Farms is amazing. Six miles away, a ten minute drive, but a whole other world compared to city living. Lately I'm starting to get more and more depressed about city living. If Owen gets together with the neighbors kids to play they wind up running up and down the sidewalk, and I worry if they go too far down the sidewalk because I don't want him running out between a couple parked cars and getting hit by some oblivious teen cruising with bass blasting music. I mean it just seems so sad to me that they are relegated to the sidewalk, my postage stamp of a backyard or the neighboring park, which is frequented by skanky teens indulging in illegal drugs. Ugh!
The pond at Beechwood Farms was literally covered in frogs and pollywogs. I've never seen so many. It was so nice to hear them croaking away and the kids were excited, all you had to do was look in one area for a second or so and you'd see a bunch of frogs. We took a nice hike and brought Oona along in the jogging stroller, she looked like a princess being pushed about. Poor Toby had his work cut out for him because parts of the path were root filled and twisty turny going in to marshland with two narrow planks to cross on. Not the easiest for negotiation a stroller. 
Owen in his Star Wars Lego t-shirt, something he wears every chance he gets, it's a good thing he has two but I really should probably buy him five more so we have all the days of the week covered and I'm not doing laundry every day. I think Owen's most used phrase right now is 'Guess what' everything starts that way. He wants to be informed and wants to make sure I'm informed as well. I love that he's so curious but when I him say that a dozen times within a minute in the car and Oona's screaming and I'm vainly trying to listen to the news off NPR I do get tempted to drive right off of Highland Park bridge. I think the hardest thing about being a stay at home parent is being pulled so many different ways. The day to day boredom that can creep in combined with the sheer exhaustion of the huge responsibility of taking caring of your children and add to that the negotiating skills needed when your children start fighting, no wonder I have trouble even talking coherently sometimes.
This bunch of Echinacea was a real butterfly magnet. Bees too, I guess it's a good flower to pollinate. It's just so lovely to wander in the grass and see the green everywhere, such a nice little escape from the cement, asphalt, and grafitti of my neighborhood. My Mom is going to give Owen another week of camp there for his birthday which he'll definitely enjoy. I can keep my eyes peeled for For Sale signs dropping him off and picking him up. Oh, if only my dream house would go one the market. Over an acre of land, my kids wouldn't know what to do with themselves, not being confined to a strip of sidewalk.
4 comments:
I've still got my eye on the neighbor's house for you...and just today I said to myself, I gotta plant me some echinacea. how bout that...ooxx
you always take the most exquisite photos of flowers. they really are amazing. they look like something out of a magazine.
i dont' know how to solve those sibling fights, but they go on incessantly at our house. our oldest is a girl, and boy does she know how to challenge. and she has the mean streak too. we are struggling through it too, so it helps to hear you talk about it to know we are not alone/not bad parents/haven't done something terribly wrong!
we lived in boston when our older 2 were born, and i can imagine that if we still lived there it would be tougher and tougher to figure out ways for them to play outside. i think you are brave just to let them play on the sidewalk...i tend to be clingy and stressed out, always imagining the worst. probably why our kids still can't ride a bike. :)
sounds like a nice day once the tantrums subsided
lovely photos as well
hey if you don't move next to elise
my neighbor is apparently putting her house on the market next year. want to come back to NJ?
I'd love to move back to NJ or the NYC/Philly area, BUT that whole area is prohibitively expensive. PIttsburgh is much more family friendly money-wise, so we'll be staying here.
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