Since I stayed up late simultaneously watching fireworks and Independence Day the night before, and since the kids were still sleeping over at their grandparents’ house, Sunday was a major sleep in day for me.
To clarify, I’ve lost the ability to truly sleep much past 7 or 8am, but days like this at least enable me to just continue to lie in bed and be lazy, rather than get up, make several breakfasts, put on various songs or TV shows, and otherwise cater to the two young masters of the house.
So this blog will be short, in that Sunday contained very little activity of interest. I considered doing things like mowing the lawn and other household chores, but instead opted to take advantage of a slow moment in the sea of activity and chaos we’ve been living in.
The rest was very nice, and the break was great for the kids, too. Grandma and Pop Pop took them for a nice walk and picnic, and sent us pictures, clearly indicating that lots of fun was being had and the beautiful day was being taken well advantage of.
Erin and I enjoyed a nice quiet afternoon in the backyard, listening to music and just hanging out. I made a healthier version of pasta with garlic cream sauce and shrimp for dinner. We did a mix of carrot and zucchini “noodles,” and the garlic cream sauce is dairy free, using soaked cashews instead of cream. It was mighty tasty, and I’d be sharing the recipe and photos here if only I had thought to actually take pictures. Ah well, another time.
We picked up the kids right after dinner, and while they had a blast at their grandparents’ house, they were also happy to come home. The best vacations are the ones that hit just that right balance.
Back home, they played around a little and got settled, and before long it was time for bed. Amelia was bothered by the fact that the sun was still out, so it couldn’t be bedtime, so I had to explain the whole thing about the earth’s wobble and tilt in orbit and why days get longer in the summer.
I don’t think a cosmic explanation of the length of days made her any more understanding about it being bedtime.
Once they were down, I found myself browsing for something to watch and stumbled onto old episodes of The Greatest American Hero on Prime. I LOVED that show as a kid, and hadn’t seen it in ages, so I couldn’t resist.
On the whole, the concept of the show holds up really well. I love the idea of a regular person gifted with a super suit, who then immediately loses the instruction manual and doesn’t know how to use the powers. If ever there was a superhero I can relate to, that is the one. I would definitely have lost that instruction manual. And even in everyday life, how often do I feel like I put on the cape to try to save the day only to crash into the nearest obviously fake brick wall? Pretty often, I can tell you.
Of course, the effects on the show are schlocky, and to say the story in the pilot episode is meandering is being overly kind. There is classroom of tough luck high school kids that are clearly a rip off of the Sweathogs from Welcome Back Kotter, but I can overlook that. The episode does open up with a dune buggy chase (no, seriously, it does), so how much more 80s can you get? Nothing like a little nostalgia to close out the weekend.
