Home and Away: Spring is Here!

I only get three significant vacations a year. Granted, one of them is about 9 weeks long, but still.

Every year, we traditionally spend spring break at Garner State Park. This used to be much more fun when we went with my friend Sarah and her kids, but the last couple of years it has just been Mary and me. Still fun, but I'm excited for Sarah to finish her PhD and make it back to Texas so we can get back on track!

We spent three nights and four days at Garner, which is usually plenty at this time of year, when you are guaranteed at least one rainy day. With the exception of one beautiful day, it was a little chilly, but we spent most of our time riding bikes and doing camp activities so the weather didn't dampen our spirits. Until the last day.

Garner is a great place to scope out new campers. I am still looking for a new hard shell camper, not too big and heavy but with adequate interior space, and this one looks perfect! Unfortunately I am faced with a dilemma as I need a new vehicle to be able to pull something that size, which doesn't fit with my plans to drive my current SUV until it dies. I might have to suck up my goal and buy a bigger SUV. Or, I could keep my Outlander and buy one of these!

Now that Mary is a bike rider, she rode all day, every day. We decided she needed a new bike; a. this one is clearly too small and b. as an almost-tween, Mary probably should not be seen riding a puppy bike.

Don't those rocks on the side of the road remind you of the time Andrew drove my car into one of them? No? Oh, it's just me then.

Mary loves the evening dance and she found a few suitors for the two-step.

It's never too rainy to Geocache! Although the visitor center touts itself as being the "Geocaching Headquarters", their GPS devices are not easy to use and the staff are not very knowledgeable about the local caches. You might be better off using your own equipment and save yourself the $10 fee. We found a few good caches just using the Geocache app on my phone. When you are geocaching with a child, it helps if the caches are substantial and contain a myriad of useless junk so that your kid can experience a sense of satisfaction, and come away believing they just "made out" on that plastic frog and a nickel. Of course, we always forget to bring our geocaching bag, so we left behind a quarter and a pen.

On the third day, the sun came out and everything became gorgeous! The river invited us and everyone else at Garner to swim and float, and we spent the whole day catching fish, paddling, and enjoying the water.

Mary caught plenty of minnows and cool shells.

The water is so clear, you can see all the way to the bottom of the river. Which is a little creepy.

Of course, we took the lemonade hayride and heard all about the Civilian Conservation Corps and the other groups responsible for building, renovating and maintaining the park. The same 80-something year old lady gives the hayride tour each year. This year she needed help getting on and off the trailer due to recent hip surgery.

Mary was allowed to go off biking by herself, or with other kids, but only around the loop. Of course, I stalked her all the way around anyway. She can experience true freedom when she's 18.

In other March news...

Mary was in choir this year. Mary LOVES being in choir. In choir, you get to eat lunch in the choir room on Fridays and before a performance so that you can practice. In choir, you get to sing at the top of your lungs and everyone applauds you. In choir, you get a special shirt, with your name printed on the back, that distinguishes you as a choir kid. In choir, you get to take special field trips around town, to the library and to old folks' homes, to perform for the masses who adore you.

The Carver Legendary Choir night celebrated over 50 years of history at the Carver Center. It was a fun show with decade-by-decade commentary and musical performances. Some of the original Carver High School graduates attended from back when this was a segregated high school, and it was great to meet people who walked these same halls fifty years ago. Carver has served many functions over the years and it was interesting to learn the history of Mary's school.

Sneaking a peek at her neighbor; "Am I on the right notes?"

Thriller, the tribute to the 80's and Mary's favorite dance/song.

We went to see the Dance Theater of Harlem at the Chaparral Center and they were amazing! A very kind gentleman gave Mary and me tickets for the sponsors section, so we got to view the show up close and personal. (http://www.dancetheatreofharlem.org/). We also went to see Mary Poppins at MCT. We enjoyed the show but thought it deviated a little too much from the original story line.