Hey, ho, KellyGO

Happy National Dress Up Your Pet Day

2015-01-14T22:04:00.001-05:00

Tina says "Can you believe this bullshit?" Hank, the blind one, says "What? Where?"

Liam turned 9 today

2014-11-18T20:28:00.001-05:00

It was a very good day. At one point after cake and in the midst of presents, he said to me that he was so happy. Sweet little man, I'm so happy you're happy.

My favorite tree during my favorite time of the year

2014-11-11T18:22:00.001-05:00

My Japanese oak, one of two in my front yard. Crazy.

Experimenting with cocktails for Thanksgiving

2014-11-09T20:53:00.001-05:00

So far I'm thinking a martini with a sage garnish. Mike is a little dubious.

I voted!

2014-11-04T12:37:00.001-05:00

Last morning at the beach

2014-11-03T09:24:00.001-05:00

It's 68 degrees right now, but my East coast kids don't care.

Day of the Dead in Ft. Lauderdale

2014-11-02T21:10:00.001-05:00

We went to the local Day of the Dead celebration this afternoon. It was fun, but weird, too. The organizer said something about how it was a celebration of death, which is way off, in my opinion. It's a celebration of life, and a recognition that life is fleeting so don't piss it away.

Cool costumes, though.

And inexplicably:

Halloween was a blast

2014-11-01T15:23:00.001-04:00

We're in Florida visiting Abigail and Heather. They moved here two weeks ago. This is the view from their back porch:

It's a gated community, which I didn't realize means that kids run feral on Halloween and there are lots of parties. One house gave the parents pear mojitos and another had vegetarian meatballs.

Here's Mike helping Liam:

And Abigail doing Thea's hair:

"Hi, we're the Skellys!"

They got tons of compliments all night and more candy than I'm really comfortable with.

First day of school

2014-08-26T20:51:00.000-04:00

First day of third and fifth grade! Woo!

The kids couldn't have been more opposite this morning. Liam was excited to see old friends and to make new ones. Thea was full of dread.

Understandably, since her home room teacher last year was a semi-literate bully. But this year is starting out much better.

Liam asked multiple times if we could leave yet, can we go already, is it time, now? When we finally were ready, he practically ran to the car.

This was going to be the first year I didn't cry on their first day, until a school greeter called after us, "Don't blink, because it'll be over before you know it!" Thanks a lot, lady.

To celebrate (or maybe "commemorate" is a better word), we went out for sushi and talked about our days. The kids both gave the day 6 out of 10 stars, which really isn't that bad!

Somebody missed me

2014-08-01T20:22:00.001-04:00

Whenever I sit down, there he is.

Summer Vacation: Last day, heading home

2014-07-30T18:36:00.000-04:00

Liam and I took the dogs back up the Dolly Sods for one last trip to the wild blueberry bushes. Thea, a night owl like Mike, has long since bowed out of the morning walk.

Nothing left to do but give into the Dramamine coma for the drive home. That's Augustine in the middle.

Summer Vacation: Day 7

2014-07-29T18:30:00.000-04:00

Mike very sweetly took the kids horseback riding one last time so I could go to the Dolly Sods and explore a little on my own and then just walk down the mountain about two miles back to the cabin. Once they dropped me off, though, I realized I probably wouldn't be able to explore too much. I have a horrible sense of direction and hadn't thought to bring water or anything besides my ID, in case I fell down a ravine and they needed to identify my body. Here's a map of the paths that's posted outside the entrance.

I decided to explore just a little, especially after I got a couple texts from friends asking how the GPS was on top of the mountain. (Spotty. Very, very spotty.) Sure was pretty, though, if a bit chilly. On the walk down I got to call my sister, who I hadn't talked to in almost a week, and I was blissfully, fully alone for the first time in as long. Definitely a high point for me.

Summer Vacation: Day 6

2014-07-28T22:18:00.000-04:00

We managed to squeeze in the dogs' morning walk before the rain came, but just barely. This was the fastest walk we've ever had. I was petrified that we were going to get caught in a thunderstorm, but we made it back to the cabin about 10 minutes before the skies opened up, and we still managed to explore the nearby forest a little.

Since it was raining, we decided to head out to the Seneca Caverns about 30 miles away. Some of the rock formations are 4500 years old, which is pretty amazing. At one point, the guide turned off all the lights so we could get an idea of how very, very dark it is when there's no ambient light at all. It was also there that I realized Liam is a little claustrophobic.

When we got back to the cabin, Liam, Mike, and Tina watched a baseball game while Thea and I watched shows on our computers.

Summer Vacation: Day 5

2014-07-27T18:09:00.000-04:00

On our morning walk, Liam and I met three other groups of people with dogs, mostly free-ranging but there was one nervous whippet on a leash. It was a lot of fun for us all. Two of the groups -- the ones with dogs off-leash, oddly enough -- encouraged us to go to the Dolly Sods Mountain to pick wild blueberries, and even better, they told us the ways to get there. It was a little tricky to get up the mountain, easy to find but a very steep climb, and totally worth it. Check out the view:

You can even see the lake we walk around every morning. The wild blueberries grow all along the trails.

It's a rough terrain for the almost-blind Hank, but the dogs still seem pretty happy:

Summer Vacation: Day 4

2014-07-26T23:07:00.000-04:00

Blackwater Falls is less than 10 miles from our cabin and has an actual black waterfall. It also has well-maintained stairs leading to a viewpoint close to the falls.

You can't see the falls in the background very well, but it's pretty cool.

After the falls, we went on the ski lift that will take you up to the top of the mountain near our cabin. Thea and I got carsick last year, probably because Mike and Liam were in front of us swinging in their car. We kept muttering, "Please don't die, please don't die." Oh, the anxiety that comes with being sort of control freaks with free spirits in the family. This year we were in front and it was much better.

There's a forest up there that is really gorgeous and weirdly immaculate, like it's a movie set.

The view coming down is pretty fantastic, too.

Summer Vacation: Day 3

2014-07-25T16:51:00.000-04:00

Horseback riding day! We requested Thea's favorite horse from last year, Easter.

Liam got his favorite horse from last year, too, in a crazy coincidence. He had forgotten the horse's name until they told him he was riding Socks. Both were great horses, very sweet and plodding.

Mike rode Jolene. I begged her, please don't take my man.

There's also a petting zoo that has a kissing llama, somehow rescued by the owners, though I can't quite imagine how or why a lama would be abandoned in West Virginia. What weird-looking animals. I kind of want one!

Summer Vacation: Day 2

2014-07-24T23:36:00.000-04:00

This is the second year we've been to the Canaan Valley for summer vacation, so we know the area fairly well. There's a lake in walking distance from the cabin with a well-marked path. We take the dogs for a morning walk every day.

The weather is nice, with the temperature about 20 degrees cooler than it is at home.

The dogs have so much fun. We can let them off leash, and they get to run as fast as they can for a pretty far distance before they race back to check on us. Hank has this expression on this face pretty much the whole time, dashing a short distance ahead and then racing back for us to tell him he's a good boy.

Tina spends most of her time running full speed, chasing wildlife or playing tag with Liam, and sometimes running into Hank when he gets in her way.

Last night around 1:00 am Mike saw a bat chasing bugs in the porch light, and tonight I saw a shooting star from the hot tub around 11:00 pm. So cool!

Summer Vacation: Day 1

2014-07-23T22:59:00.000-04:00

Summer vacation time! Mike drove the whole way from our home to a cabin in the Canaan Valley, West Virginia. It's actually pretty close, only about three and a half hours, depending on traffic. We can bring the dogs (and hamster), and since it's a ski resort in the off-season, we can get a whole three-bedroom house for not a lot of money.

Mike's beat, so he's chilling out while I make us martinis from the travel bar I got him for his birthday.

The kids immediately hit the hot tub.

The dogs are .... Where are the dogs?

Animal house

2014-05-28T18:09:00.001-04:00

Augustine's cheeks are full of birdseed and she's hiding in the cat bed.

Puma watches Augustine carefully. Dilated pupils mean love, right?

Thea's first 5k

2014-05-18T13:21:00.000-04:00

Thea ran her first 5K yesterday! She did great. We did it with very little training, and used it mostly to set a great baseline for measuring our future progress. We had a lot of fun. I'm so proud of her!

The 5K was for girls only (and the people running with them), part of a program that encourages physical activity in girls at local schools. Most of the girls who ran it had been training for the whole school year. We had no expectations at all for how we'd do, but we did see one girl who was was in front of us who started yelling at her friend to wait for her "or I'll kick your butt when I catch up to you!" Thea and I were appalled at her behavior, especially since she had to have her coach carry her for part of the way. We said to each other, I don't care how badly we do, we're coming in ahead of that kid. (And we did.)

We passed another kid off to the side around mile 1 who was having a tough run. Her mother was yelling at her -- or maybe pleading with her loudly -- that all the other kids were having fun, no one else cared who was in front, and can't she just keep going? I felt bad for both the kid and the mom. If it had been me, I think I would have swallowed my disappointment, taken off our bibs, and headed to the finish line to cheer for friends. It sucks that the kid seemed to feel that not doing as well as her friends meant she failed. She looked absolutely dejected and humiliated (though part of that might have been the mother yelling at her).

In retrospect, I think there are great life lessons in the experience about self-reliance, realistic expectations, pacing yourself, and focusing on your own performance, not anyone else's. Also, it's great to stick with something that you think is important, but understand your motives. If you're not having fun, hit the eject button!

After the race, the parking lot at the metro was jammed, so we hopped on the metro and went to Chipotle a couple stops away. It was the perfect way to end a perfect morning.

Take Your Kids to Work Day (observed), part 2

2014-05-08T22:49:00.000-04:00

This day was at my building, where I work, as opposed to the main building downtown. It started with the Deputy Archivist giving the kids the oath of office for civil servants, which we all take when we start working for Federal agencies.

Then we ran back upstairs to finish getting the 3D printer set up, my contribution to the day. My wonderful coworker David Katz helped and added a bunch of candy to the table. I set up several kinds of cookies, which Thea helped me pick out a couple days before.

Liam helped me make signs directing people to the room, and both kids made my activity (a handout that you cut out and tape together to form a box; 3D!). It was a smashing success.

There was also a scavenger hunt, which took us all over the building. It was exhausting. From one end to the other, my building is 1/4 of a mile long. We walked about 2 miles just for this activity alone.

At lunch time we left and headed to see a movie, Spiderman. It was so fun, and the perfect way to end the last part of our Take Your Kids to Work [Week].

New computer

2014-05-07T18:02:00.001-04:00

Mike is doing his part to raise a Mac geek.

Take Your Kids to Work Day (observed), part 1

2014-05-06T21:22:00.000-04:00

Today was Take Your Kids to Work Day at the National Archives! The downtown DC site, anyway, which was built in 1935. I'm way more impressed with that than the kids are. I think it's a regal, beautiful building.

The day started with us setting up the 3D printer for all the kids to check out, and a video about the Archives and how important it is to keep national records. Here's Thea, Liam, and our friend Eamon, my favorite co-worker's son.

Then we went to a photo op with the Big Guy.

The Archivist of the United States -- or AOTUS as we call him at work -- showed the kids the letters to three presidents he wrote, including one to LBJ congratulating him on signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Next we went on a tour of some documents in a vault on the 12th floor, including the letter George Washington wrote accepting the presidency, a document about the Louisiana Purchase, and the petition for women's voting rights signed by Susan B. Anthony and Cady Stanton. That impressed me more than the kids, frankly.

Lastly, the exhibit staff gave the kids the opportunity to design their own exhibition dioramas, which The and Liam thought was the coolest.

We left the Archives and met up with Mike for lunch with my co-worker Darren, his son Eamon, and his wife Diana, who works not too far from the Archives. Afterward we took Eamon and the kids to Mike's museum for a behind-the-scenes tour.

First was unlimited rides on the carousel on the National Mall, which Mike gets for free for working at the Smithsonian:

Then he showed them the cabinet shop:

and let them crawl around behind the walls to look at how the video displays worked:

We ended the day in the gardens.

At night, Mike and I had our cocktails outside with an audience. It was an exhausting but fun day!

Milo missed me terribly

2014-04-22T21:00:00.001-04:00

Never leave again, he says. Okay, love. I won't.

Spring Break Cleveland: Home again

2014-04-20T23:05:00.000-04:00

We are not happy about leaving.

Mike did most of the driving.

But not all of it! He drove most of the miles, but I drove half the hours thanks to two accidents and several backups.

As usual, the kids were absolute peaches, perfect angels. They're fantastic traveling companions, and I'm so glad and proud to be their mom.