Too “connected” ???

Yesterday was the only day all week that wasn’t supposed to rain and thankfully it didn’t. It was beautiful outside, sunny, clear and in the mid-70’s, it was great. Because the house is still on the market I took a couple hours off of work to go home and mow the lawn before it turned into a hay field from all this rain. I mowed and raked the lawn and I still had a couple of hours to enjoy the sunshine by myself. So I decided I would pack up Linus and hike the Keuka Lake Outlet Trail. I called L Bird and told her what I was doing and took off for the great outdoors.

On my way down to Penn Yan I decided that I would change my plans and start at the Dresden end of the trail because I had never been on that part of the trail. I was going to call L Bird when I got to the parking area to tell her a few things like where I was starting from, which direction I was hiking, and what I was wearing just in case something horrible happened. You know, something like I fell into quicksand and was transported to another dimension and was never seen from again, then at least the police would know where to put their caution tape so no one else would befall the same fate as me. However when I pulled into the parking lot in Dresden I realized that I had absolutely no cell service, not a single bar. But I figured what the hell, L Bird knew I was hiking and I only planned on being out of touch an hour to an hour and a half tops.

So Linus and I started walking and that’s when it hit me, I am too connected. At first it started whenever I came to an open area I would pull out my cell phone and hold it like I was holding Simba from the Lion King on top of that enormous rock searching for a signal. I would do that for a few minutes while Linus waited impatiently to get moving, then I would finally decide I got crap for reception and put my phone back in my pocket. We would walk along for awhile and I would snap a few pictures but every step we took further down the trail my stomach would sink with such a foreboding that I would almost turn around. I hated being out of touch, I couldn’t even enjoy my alone time. I was petrified that there would be an emergency with L Bird or the girls and because I was out of touch something horrible would happen that could have been prevented if I could be reached. I know, I’m crazy right?

After about a mile and a half of these horrific scenes playing out in my mind, it was too much for me to take so we turned around. We walked back at a normal pace even though I could feel my heart start to thump loud and clear. Eventually we made it back to the jeep and headed back towards civilization and connectivity. It turns out that my thoughts were not totally inaccurate, as soon as I got signal again to my phone it started going off. I had 2 voicemails and a “Call Me” text from L Bird. It turns out that L Bird’s Grandpa called the ambulance and was headed for the hospital. He is 90 or almost 90 and is starting to go through some old age issues. He was admitted to the hospital and is dealing with a few things but overall doing better and that’s the best we can hope for.

So I am really annoyed that I let myself become so connected to this world that I cannot spend any time without my phone. I am old enough to remember the time before cell phones, when you only called when you got somewhere or right before you left someplace. Other than that, you were off the chain and free to roam wherever and you never worried about someone not being able to get in touch with you. Going forward I am going to take some time to become disconnected and out of touch with technology, but it will have to better planned out than my trip yesterday.

Oh yeah, here are a few of the pics I snapped, nothing OMG fantastic but oh well I had other things on my mind, like impending doom lol.

How about you? Do you feel you are too connected to technology? Or do you feel that we need to be “connected” at all times?

Daytrippin’…

Today has been the first day in about a week that we have actually had decent weather with lots of sun and warm temps so we were definitely going to take advantage of it. Originally we were going to head into Kershaw Park and I was going to put A Bird in a kayak for the first time, however I quickly rethought that plan when I realized how cold the water is at this time of year and just what that does to a man’s wedding tackle if you know what I mean. So instead we decided to take a short road trip to Trumansburg, NY and go to Taughannock Falls State Park.

We packed the cooler with some subs and drinks and headed out. We stopped at the top of the park to take a look at the 215 ft falls from the top. That’s the pic above. Then we drove down to the park and pulled into the picnic area for a quick lunch before the hike.

It was perfect, we spread a blanket on the ground and the girls spread out and had some lunch, I manned the cooler from the picnic table and everyone was  fed and happy. It was in the shade of a large tree with just enough breeze to keep everyone cool. We were packing up the lunch when L Bird mentioned that a tree would be a good spot for a picture and well, A Bird never misses an opportunity to be in front of a camera so we shot a few quick pics.

With the cooler back in the car and Nat well shaded in the stroller we headed out. It’s only a 3/4 mile hike over mostly flat trail to the gorge with the falls, unless you decide to hike up the stream bed. Then , well it’s still only 3/4 of a mile but it feels like forever while you’re slowly slipping over algae covered stones trying to keep a fearless 6 year from falling and being swept away with the current. But hey it kept her happy,right?

Nat decided it was much better just to hang out in the stroller.

But we did take a few breaks to sit on a log that turned out to be a GIANT see-saw when I put my big ol’ frame down on it.

We also took in the usual stream wildlife. Some minnows of various sizes that shot through our feet and legs, the water bugs and mosquitoes, but what we saw the most of were tadpoles. There were places where the water was a giant black cloud of polliwogs.

Yep, all of those little black dots are going to be frogs one day.

We kept going and found a spot where L Bird ventured down to jump in the mix. It was a little slippery so A Bird had to lend a hand.

We finally made it to the end and took a few pics. We would’ve taken a lot more but on a warm sunny day, the end of the trail was mobbed with quite a few people.

A Bird and L Bird decided it was the time to practice for their upcoming tryout with the new Village People and started striking poses.

Then L Bird got a great shot of me with the girls that is destined to be hung in my office.

Now came the part that everyone hates, the hike back which was made oooooooh soooooo much more pleasant listening to A Bird whine about her feet hurting and she couldn’t walk another step. We managed to make it back with  some walking barefoot in the mud of the trail, a few short muddy piggy back rides and the promise of stopping for ice cream once we got back to the car.

All in all, it turned out to be a great day. Everyone had fun and is exhausted now. Nat and A Bird had baths and are off to bed fully worn out and hopefully happy. L Bird is trying to relax and I am taking in the rest of the day while I write this.

I am sitting on the deck watching the sun sink lower in the sky, listening to the chickens cluck and the birds around me chirp and flutter by with a cold Narragansett lager and a Vegas 5 cigar.

Life doesn’t get much better.  I hope you made the most of today, enjoy!

Transitioning …

Things have been super crazy around here, it seems like we never have a fee moment to ourselves anymore and when we do we are all too exhausted to do anything but flop down on the bed and try to reclaim some small portion of the numerous hours of lost sleep. We are all trying to get the hang of being a two child family and trying to make the transition into that family dynamic as smoothly as possible but man are there a lot of bumps in the road.

I forgot how much work having a baby is and how much sleep you lose and I am amazed that I wasn’t a walking zombie when we went through it with A Bird. We are making our way and defining routines for bedtime and things are starting to get there. Nat is still waking up around 3 AM every morning and then again as I am heading out the door for work so that always makes things interesting for L Bird. But I know eventually she will sleep all the way through the night, right?

One of the harder transitions that I didn’t even think about was how A Bird would respond to being a big sister. For 5 years she had been the sole attention getter of basically my whole family. She was our only child, she was the first and only grandchild  on my parents side, so how should I put this, she was and is spoiled rotten. Then last year in April my nephew Logan was born and then Nat came in December, so in the course of a year she has had to share the spotlight. We have had some rough patches where she wants our undivided attention and has had a tough time with it. It normally presents itself when L Bird or I are alone with the girls and we are feeding Nat, changing Nat or putting her down for a nap so our hands are obviously full and A Bird starts in with a ton of requests.”Can I have a snack?” “Dad, come look at this?” “Dad, can we go to Michaels?” “But I want it/to go/need it now?” She is just relentless. I try to explain that we will do all those things when I am done with Nat but it just leads to whining and carrying on until I lose my patience and snap at her. Then she runs off crying to her room and pouts and I feel like the worst father in the world. I know she is not aware that Nat takes a lot more time to care for so I feel like such an ass when I snap at her and she gets upset. We are figuring it out, I guess.

The other side of the pendulum is I can’t believe what an amazing big sister A Bird is and how Nat already loves her so much. A Bird has been an amazing help since Nat came home from the hospital. She grabs pacifiers, bottles and toys when they are out of reach and gives them to her sister. She grabs diapers and wipes for us when we have our hands full of a squirming half naked baby. She likes to help dress Nat. She is a huge help, but what is truly a joy for me to see if how much Nat loves A Bird. I routinely pick up the girls from daycare, so because I am home first I have a few things I need to do to make the night run smoothly. I have to let the dog out, go through A Bird’s backpack for homework and I like to start dinner. That doesn’t seem like much to do but when you have a fussy baby that you can’t put down it is a huge to do list. I’ll bed trying to accomplish all of this while Nat is fussing until I get to the point where I need both hands so I put Nat in her excersaucer and work through her “I’m irritated that you put me down and I’m going to cry and scream until you pick me back up” cries. During those cries my blood starts to boil, but I stay cool and go outside to let the dog back in the house. When I come in there is no more crying, only laughing and blowing raspberries. In the few short moments I am outside, A Bird is squatting down being a goof and Nat is a completely different baby. Her eyes sparkle as she watches A Bird dance around and make goofy faces. Nat laughs and coos and spits at A Bird until they are both laughing deep belly laughs and I just stand back in awe of what A Bird can accomplish so easily.

They love each other so much and are already thick as thieves.

So we’ll keep transitioning because that’s what life is right? One big transition. Bring on the next challenge, I guess but just don’t let be a big super hard challenge. There is only so much we can take, you know lol!