In an Ocean State

We'll be in Rhode Island Wed-Saturday! It was sort of last minute...we were planning a short trip with Sam this summer, but could not decide between a lazy beach type thing, or a couple of days in NYC. Finally, I decided that I really really really needed a beach fix, and that Sam would love the sand and ocean (it will be his first time)! We'll still do the NYC thing, but sometime in the Fall, because the heat and humidity in the city can get pretty brutal this time of year, and we'd want to do lots of walking around.

We picked Rhode Island because it's closer and less pricey than than the Cape (Cod, that is). There's lots and lots of shoreline, and I hear the state beaches are pretty amazing.

We're staying in South Kingston (part of Naragansett Bay). We plan on at least a full day or two on the beach, taking the ferry out to Block Island, maybe a walking tour of the Newport Area, and we'll probably hit Mystic Seaport (CT) on our way back.

I can't wait to soak in the sun and turn nice and brown. Wrinkles, schminkles...I've been toasting almost every summer of my life and I haven't seen one yet. You only live once, so tan it up in the summer, it's only natural (unless you are at high risk of skin cancer, of course - then cover your white ass up!). I actually do wear SPF 15 on my face, but not in the summer...I'm crazy like that. Crazy! Well, not THAT crazy...I picked up SPF 4 tanning oil for the trip. That's right, 4. I live on the edge. But hang on by my fingertips.

I will post lots of pictures when we return!

Just some pictures because I'm too lazy to write

Sunday, July 5th, 2009 at Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown. Part of the New York State Historical Association (NYSHA).

Backyard, Bed, and Batman

We went to Ikea in Paramus on Thursday, and found a few great items, including Sam's new "big boy" bed frame and mattress. It's a full size twin mattress that sits on flexible slats, resting in a modern bed frame.

A few weeks back I found retro-print Batman & Robin sheets at Pottery Barn Kids. Of course I wanted to barf about buying my 3 year old's sheets at Pottery Barn, but, here's the thing: character sheets anywhere else (like Walmart) are rough, tacky, and fade quickly (cheap crap) at least in my experience. These are soft, good quality, and they're just so awesome...I mean, 60's Batman! How cool is that?? I thought they were fitting for his transition, and well worth the few extra bucks ($60 for twin set - I know you were wondering).

As evidenced by these photos, Sam LOVES his new bed:



The playset is finally done...there's some extra gravel to be cleaned up (did I ever tell you that in our house, every project gets 92-98.7% done, but never finished?). The most important thing is that Sam has a great time on it (during the 3 minutes a week when it's not raining, of course).

We picked up a smallish (but cool) acacia wood table at Ikea as well, and added inexpensive mesh chairs from Lowe's. The whole thing is "light" but, after all the projects around here, heavy duty patio furniture is neither a priority, or in the budget. This will do for at least a few summers:

Finally, and update on the grill (pictured to the right of the table). Weber sent us a bunch of replacement parts at no charge, without hassle. We just had to send them some photos and a description of what happened. It's great of them, but it's also a little worrisome, as if they kind of expect these kinds of things to happen. Ah well, at least we'll have a working grill again!