vacations – Peaceful Reader

It's over (for now)

I’m not talking about the pandemic naturally but the 2020-2021 school year. What am I going to do with all this time on my hands now, you ask…? People have this assumption that teachers sit by a pool and day drink through the summer. That may be how some educators spend their time and it doesn’t really matter. I would love to be that free!

My time will be spent doing homework for two classes from Advancement Courses. One is on kindness and the other is on questioning. Lots of homework, lots of thinking, lots of writing. Hopefully I’ll have great finished products and plenty of new learning. I am looking for new skills to get me through the next 8+ years of teaching!

I am also doing something totally new this summer-I’m going to have our Hansen Library open five times during the summer. I’m excited about this new challenge and also fighting the urge to cancel it. As a teacher-librarian I love my students and I love my books! It’s like I’ve created my own living nightmare and I shake myself awake only to find out that all the books have gone missing. Ugh. But it’s going to be okay because they’re just books and their kids! It’s all part of the deal. A few missing books won’t hurt.

I have a lot of summer reading to do as well; books on my nightstand, dresser, bookshelves, etc that have been waiting to be read and books that I need to read for school for our Iowa Children’s Choice Awards.

I’ve made a promise to myself and others that I will complete 13 writing pieces this summer and I’m going to work on that as well. I have far more than thirteen so it’s just a matter of picking and editing. I will crack open a bottle of champagne when this becomes a reality because it’s about time.

Throw in a vacation and a few road trips and that about sums up my summer. I promise I still have time for day drinking by the water-a lake preferably! What about you?

Vacation

I have a few great vacation photos to share with you. It fills me with great joy to get together with family and I am blessed to have such an amazing extended clan on my husband’s side. We traversed through D.C., NYC, Brooklyn, and Rochester, NY. Whew. I’m tired just thinking about it and am happy to be home.

Three handsome Holt men, happy to be together, talking politics.

We toured the new National Museum of African American History and Culture and it was spectacular and overwhelming. So much information on 5 floors. I need to go back and look at all that we missed but it was a great first look. Japhy and Sophie enjoyed walking around together.

We made it to the top to view the Lincoln Memorial-it was a struggle and really sweaty (temps were in the 90’s). Anton enjoyed his first look at D.C. and the National Mall area.

My mother-in-law wins the “best” MIL award. She always makes our time together special with food, wine, stories, and lots of hugs. I am very lucky to have Allen and Phyllis in my life. This is our last meal together before we head off to Brooklyn to see Kaylee.

We all enjoyed School of Rock on Broadway as our friend Joel Waggoner (@joelwags85) rocked several roles in this kid-friendly show. We loved our backstage tour, meeting a few cast mates, and dinner with him. If you are headed to NY anytime soon-this is a show to see. Greg and I also saw Waitress, which is not kid-friendly, and was excellent!

Joel and Tristan right outside vegan sushi place, Beyond Sushi. Tristan and I loved this place-the flavors were delicious!

We took a quick side trip out to Coney Island and it was a perfect afternoon. Not too hot, nice and breezy, we enjoyed the beach and the boardwalk before heading back to Brooklyn to meet up with friends at Drummer’s Grove in Prospect Park.

Sunday morning we had a delicious Blessings brunch with live jazz playing right behind us. We loved getting to see Kaylee’s neighborhood and the Gimlet Media office area. We also had a great dinner at Frankies in Brooklyn.

And our last stop was Rochester, NY for a Red Wings game (AA for MN Twins). We loved Rochester and would have loved to explore more.

Hanging in the City; NYC.

We’ve driven cross country to visit my in-laws for two weeks. For something completely different we took the bus from DC to New York today. It was College Boy’s last vacation request before he leaves his home roost and heads to the great West.

We walked a lot today; from Madison Square Gardens through Times Square and Broadway trekking all the way over to Central Park West (through the park) and to our hotel, The Milburn.

Tomorrow we will head to Greenwich Village for lunch at Lupa owned by Mario B., which will be our only sit down meal for the most part. We ate at a Pizzaria for dinner close to the hotel. We stopped at a grocery store to pick up bagels, cream cheese and fruit for breakfast in our room. The hotel is old but refurbished and has a lovely but tiny kitchenette in the corner.

It is exciting to be in the city. I was lucky enough to come several times while I was a teenager but my kids have never been. It was fun to watch College Boy melt right in with the crowds while Groovy Girl was left hanging with her mouth open for many sites including the huge billboards and lights in Times Square.

Also it is Freezing here so the weather is pretty much the same as Iowa.

Spring Break (slow down you move to fast…)

We are having a fantastic time in Little Rock, visiting friends and hanging out. Groovy Girl and her friend, S, daughter of V, enjoyed the zoo and a few dress-up playdates. The weather has been chilly and a bit rainy while my mother, back at our homestead, keeps texting me how warm she is sitting on our patio with our dog. Hopefully tomorrow will be warmer as we wake early to climb Pinnacle Mt. together as a family.

I’m reading Lisa See’s Shanghi Girls while we are here and I hope to finish it so the return trip I can begin another book I brought with me. We still have many more adventures before we leave and as always it will be difficult to say goodbye. I did get to eat my favorite catfish tacos today so I’m all good.

Teenage Boy and his girlfriend, Caylee