Newport Chalet Life
I think all sixteen of you know by now that we made it to Newport. Fifteen, I should say because my husband doesn't even read this blog.
I'm writing this mainly for my father and my mother-in-law, apparently. Hi guys! Hope you are enjoying this dying art form. Some day I'll be able to tell my children "I was there for the beginning of blogging and I was there as it slowly succumbed to Facebook and Twitter".
Apparently, blogging is old-fashioned. No one wants to take the time to read super-long blog posts. Everyone wants to read quick Facebook or Twitter posts. Quick, quick, quick. No one has time to sit still for five minutes and read something of substance.
By the way, I'm in no way implying that Minnesota is Heaven is a blog of substance.
Anyway, here we are, in the Newport Chalet which is not all bad in that it is clean enough and is free! Many thanks to the US taxpayers. They also have free washers and dryers here, which I really, REALLY love. Again, thank you US taxpayers! Maybe this base would look a little nicer if your tax dollars weren't being mismanaged. I have begun a campaign of personally pulling the biggest weeds that I find around base. At the rate the weeds are growing (and no one, apparently cares or has money to take care of the problem), this place should be engulfed in the next couple of years.
The kids and I have been doing a little local sightseeing. Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT on Monday--about an hour's drive. Last time we were there, Josiah used a highchair in the cafeteria and Annika was in a backpack on Hans' back. It's been a few years. We watched a seal/sea lion show that made the admission price totally worth it--one of those rare moments of seeing all three of your children smiling and excited. I would give up one of my kidneys to guarantee that level of happiness and excitement every day.
Seriously, anyone need a kidney? I've got at least one I can spare.
Beluga whales, penguins, seahorses, tropical fish, rays and sand sharks in the touchy-feely pool. My personal favorite: jellyfish. Seriously, I want a huge circular tank full of jellyfish backlit with blue light. They are so fragile and beautiful and calming. They are the Xanax of the ocean. If only they weren't horribly sting-y. Sigh.
Yesterday we drove out to what the locals refer to as "Third Beach". Last time we were there, Annika wore a swim diaper and we spent the afternoon playing in the shallow water and sitting in warm, rock-lined tidal pools of fresh water. I have never forgotten that sun-dappled afternoon of rare familial peace and harmony. We couldn't find the tidal estuaries yesterday, but instead spent an hour up the beach collecting hermit crabs in our bucket. That's a nice memory to put away and treasure too.
We got a little sand in Daddy's car...cringe. And Josiah rode all the way back to the chalet with his bucket full of water, snails, tiny fish and hermit crabs. He only spilled a little. Double cringe. Hans will have fun un-kidifying his car once we are gone.
The hermit crabs lived in the chalet with us for a few hours until Hans got back from school, then we took them down to the water's edge and ceremoniously released them back to the wild.
Today, we are not moving as quickly. We are going to drive over to Bristol and have a picnic in a park that was awesome six years ago...I'm hoping my children still find it awesome. It's a bit disconcerting to find that all of those things that we loved six years ago just aren't quite as fun for bigger kids. If it was just Will, we'd still be solid.
I may drive a few of those mysterious side roads that have always intrigued me. It's another beautiful, sunny day in Rhode Island.
Yokosuka update: we have all paperwork in place. Hans is trying to negotiate our plane tickets so that we can leave from Boston instead of a 4:45 a.m. flight from Providence to O'Hare. We'll see what happens. Any which way, we should arrive around 4:00 p.m. at Narita in Tokyo (instead of Yokota AFB as first planned) on 8/14. That's about all the news at this moment. A little less than a week to go!
I'm writing this mainly for my father and my mother-in-law, apparently. Hi guys! Hope you are enjoying this dying art form. Some day I'll be able to tell my children "I was there for the beginning of blogging and I was there as it slowly succumbed to Facebook and Twitter".
Apparently, blogging is old-fashioned. No one wants to take the time to read super-long blog posts. Everyone wants to read quick Facebook or Twitter posts. Quick, quick, quick. No one has time to sit still for five minutes and read something of substance.
By the way, I'm in no way implying that Minnesota is Heaven is a blog of substance.
Anyway, here we are, in the Newport Chalet which is not all bad in that it is clean enough and is free! Many thanks to the US taxpayers. They also have free washers and dryers here, which I really, REALLY love. Again, thank you US taxpayers! Maybe this base would look a little nicer if your tax dollars weren't being mismanaged. I have begun a campaign of personally pulling the biggest weeds that I find around base. At the rate the weeds are growing (and no one, apparently cares or has money to take care of the problem), this place should be engulfed in the next couple of years.
The kids and I have been doing a little local sightseeing. Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT on Monday--about an hour's drive. Last time we were there, Josiah used a highchair in the cafeteria and Annika was in a backpack on Hans' back. It's been a few years. We watched a seal/sea lion show that made the admission price totally worth it--one of those rare moments of seeing all three of your children smiling and excited. I would give up one of my kidneys to guarantee that level of happiness and excitement every day.
Seriously, anyone need a kidney? I've got at least one I can spare.
Beluga whales, penguins, seahorses, tropical fish, rays and sand sharks in the touchy-feely pool. My personal favorite: jellyfish. Seriously, I want a huge circular tank full of jellyfish backlit with blue light. They are so fragile and beautiful and calming. They are the Xanax of the ocean. If only they weren't horribly sting-y. Sigh.
Yesterday we drove out to what the locals refer to as "Third Beach". Last time we were there, Annika wore a swim diaper and we spent the afternoon playing in the shallow water and sitting in warm, rock-lined tidal pools of fresh water. I have never forgotten that sun-dappled afternoon of rare familial peace and harmony. We couldn't find the tidal estuaries yesterday, but instead spent an hour up the beach collecting hermit crabs in our bucket. That's a nice memory to put away and treasure too.
We got a little sand in Daddy's car...cringe. And Josiah rode all the way back to the chalet with his bucket full of water, snails, tiny fish and hermit crabs. He only spilled a little. Double cringe. Hans will have fun un-kidifying his car once we are gone.
The hermit crabs lived in the chalet with us for a few hours until Hans got back from school, then we took them down to the water's edge and ceremoniously released them back to the wild.
Today, we are not moving as quickly. We are going to drive over to Bristol and have a picnic in a park that was awesome six years ago...I'm hoping my children still find it awesome. It's a bit disconcerting to find that all of those things that we loved six years ago just aren't quite as fun for bigger kids. If it was just Will, we'd still be solid.
I may drive a few of those mysterious side roads that have always intrigued me. It's another beautiful, sunny day in Rhode Island.
Yokosuka update: we have all paperwork in place. Hans is trying to negotiate our plane tickets so that we can leave from Boston instead of a 4:45 a.m. flight from Providence to O'Hare. We'll see what happens. Any which way, we should arrive around 4:00 p.m. at Narita in Tokyo (instead of Yokota AFB as first planned) on 8/14. That's about all the news at this moment. A little less than a week to go!
Comments
Your outings in and around Newport sound really interesting and fun. I'm sure Josiah and Annika like knowing they have been to these places in the past — kind of little teaching moments of how different things in life affect us in stages.
Enjoy the rest of your stay in the US and I'll be praying for safe travels everywhere you go.
Keep them coming! thanks!