Through the Eyes of My Nephew

**Note:  Hi, Friends.  I started writing this a few days ago, but never had a chance to finish it.  I wasn't sure about posting it now, but I think perhaps my extended family members could use a little levity.**


Hey, Friends.

Remember how I told you that my Mom and I were surprising my niece and nephew with a trip to Washington D.C.?    We saw all of the monuments, went to several of the Smithsonian museums, and to the National Zoo.  We got back last night, and rather than give you the normal tourist recap (although I did take a ton of pictures to share at some point!), I thought I'd give you the highlights of the trip as recalled by my 8 year old nephew, Austin.

I have visions of him being asked to write about his summer vacation when he starts school again down in Texas, and my brother and sister-in-law being horrified when they see what he has written. This could be considered preparation for what they may hear coming out of his mouth at some point.

A little bit of backstory first...

Austin loves to ask "Would You Rather" questions when he is bored -- like driving in a car, riding on a train, or waiting for anything.  Normally these are more along the lines of, "Would you rather have to smell everything with your hands, or have your ears on the bottom of your feet?"  Shortly after they arrived for the summer, he asked my brother and I, "If you were homeless, would you rather live in your car or live outside?"

He was amazed when my brother and I both said we would live in our cars, and wanted to know why. I tried to explain that it would be a little safer, I would be dry and kind of comfortable, and I would have someplace to keep my stuff while I tried to find a job and get another place to live.  This is the conversation that followed:

Austin:  I would live outside. I could just walk to Grandma's house.

Me: I have a car. I could could drive to Grandma's house.

Austin: Okay...but what if you had a car but no keys? Ha!  What would you do then?

Me: I would still live in my car. I could walk to Grandma's house too.

Austin: I would live outside, but I'd have a skateboard.

Me: Why do you need a skateboard?

Austin: Because then I could be like Marty McFly in Back to the Future and get rides on my skateboard by holding on to the back of people's cars!  Zoom, zoom!


Just keep that in the back of your mind while we move on to the main story.

And now, Friends, I present to you:

AUSTIN WENT TO WASHINGTON -- THE HIGHLIGHTS

My Mom decided to ask Austin what he remembered and liked best from his trip to Washington D.C. when we were on the train back yesterday afternoon.  It had been a long trip and he was getting a little punchy by the end of it. **Note to My American Friends -- you might think you are going to be overwhelmed with patriotism here.  You would be wrong.**

1) "There were a lot of homeless people.  Remember this morning there was that man sleeping on the sidewalk outside the hotel?  And there was the guy singing with the boom box, and the other day there were the people outside the grocery store?  And then there was that guy in the restaurant with the cup? And then there was that monk-guy who kept trying to give Aunt Tammy things so she would give him money and he didn't speak English?"

And then my niece, Lili (she's 13) jumped in with: "And the hotel had instructions in a book for tourists on what to do so they didn't get robbed!"

Austin: "It did?  But the key to use the elevator was really cool."

Me: "So Austin, remember the other day when you said you would live on the street if you were homeless?  Would you change your answer now?"

Austin:  **thinks about it** "No.  I would be homeless and sleep in the yard at Grandma's house. She would let me in and give me food, and money, and a shower when I asked."

Me: "But did you see Grandma give any money to the homeless people?"

Austin:  "No, but that's just because she didn't know them.  She knows me.  She would give me food and money when I asked."

The homeless people really made an impression on him.  Any time he is asked about his trip the first thing he says is that there were a lot of homeless people.

2) "It was hot!  Like really, really hot."

He's not wrong about that.  This is the day we went to the National Zoo.

"We had to walk everywhere, and it was all outside with the monuments.  And Grandma kept making us drink water all of the time so no one would faint."

Touching the Washington Monument.  Getting a little meta as I take a picture of my niece taking a picture of herself touching the monument.

 My niece had her own thoughts on it.  "And there were the people with the cross in front of the Lincoln Memorial singing about Jesus.  That was okay, but then they tried to start making everyone believe what they did and that wasn't cool.  They shouldn't have been doing that, especially there."

3) "And remember when we got back to New York, at Penn Station?  Grandma and I saw a guy get arrested!"  There was a brief argument after that, in which my niece basically called bullshit on it.

"No, he did!  Grandma, remember?  Lili and Aunt Tammy went to the bathroom, and we saw that guy walk up to the police desk holding the other guy's arms behind his back!  And then a different police man took him away!  It was so cool."

"And there were all of these Army guys walking around, like from Homeland Security."

"And remember they had the dogs walking around with the police, and they were sniffing everybody and their bags!  And they made the announcement that you shouldn't try to pet the dogs or play with them because they were working."

Lili had a few questions about traveling by train.  "I don't get it.  How come they can't be more like the airport?  The airport can tell you which gate you are leaving from hours in advance.  Why do they have to wait until the last 10 minutes before your train is supposed to leave?  Do they really not know which track you will be on?  It just makes everybody hurry and push trying to get there and get a seat.  And then people fight over where to put their luggage.  Aunt Tammy had words with that one guy who wanted to move my suitcase far away to make room for his own."   She's not wrong.  The crazy rush at the last second seems like it could be avoided...and I may have had a few words with a guy who tried to move her suitcase.  Sorry, buddy.  We were here first and we are using the overhead that is actually over our seats.  You're sitting nowhere near us.  Move along.

Friends, you might be wondering like I was, didn't Austin like anything about the trip other than police activity?

Yes.  Yes, he did.

"I wanted to ride on the giraffe (carousel at the zoo).  He was so cool, but then I had to switch to the ostrich because the giraffe was too tall so it didn't go up and down."

Giraffe joy

"I also liked the lemurs.  They were really cool."

Those are the highlights of our trip to our nation's capital, according to Austin.  I'd like to apologize in advance to my brother and sister-in-law for any mental trauma we may have given him.

Sshhh! It's a Surprise!

Hey, Friends.

So, my niece and nephew are here visiting for the summer.  My brother was here for a week as well, but he has already made the return journey back to Texas.  Now it's time for fun and adventures with his kiddos.

Every summer my mother and I try to take the kids on a trip of some sort.  Last year we went to The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, Great Wolf Lodge, and America's Stonehenge.

You may recall past trips have not always gone so smoothly.  Take our trip to Hershey Park, for example: started out awesome, but then there was a tornado and it turned into a hot mess.  Don't remember that bit of fun?  You can read about it right here!

I also like to try and surprise the kids with something.  Last summer I took my niece to see and meet Heffron Drive, and to go see Taylor Swift.  My nephew got to go crazy and bounce his heart out at an indoor trampoline center.

This year's trip begins in a couple hours, and the kidlets have no idea where they are going.  It's a total surprise.  Oh, they know we are taking them someplace today -- they just don't know where, or how.  No details whatsoever.

I feel like I can spill the beans to you at this point, Friends.  Yes, my niece could potentially see this and the surprise could be ruined but......

Honestly?  She is not going to drag her ass out of bed any earlier than she needs to, and I highly doubt her first coherent thought is going to be to check here to see if I shared the news.  I'm willing to roll the dice at this point.  She is too much like me: night person.  I hate getting up early in the morning.  I know there are people who can just wake up at the same time each morning without a problem, but that is not me.  If I don't set an alarm for work every day then that is just not going to happen -- I will sleep right on through.

Back to my point.

The surprise this year?  My mother and I are taking the kids to Washington D.C. for the weekend. On the train!  Extra bonus fun?  My nephew has never been on a train before.  This is going to be awesome!

We started laying the groundwork already.  Dropping subtle hints in a way.  They'll figure it out after the fact, I'm sure.

Sunday night my mother showed them National Treasure.  Monday night I showed them Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.  I really thought they would question why we were watching the second movie of that series and not any of the others, but they didn't.

My original plan was to show them the movie Monday evening while we were hanging out, and then I would tell them about the trip.  They could freak out and get excited, started Googling things about D.C., etc.  When I told my brother about the plan, he suggested something a little different.  It's only a tiny bit evil, and that's the plan I went with.

We didn't tell them anything.  They just know they are going somewhere.  Some place out of New York State.  And it required packing a suitcase.

It's driving them insane!  Like my niece has been harassing my brother via text message to try to get him to tell her since my mother and I won't.  My father has been making up stories and trying to convince them that we are taking them to Niagara Falls -- I don't know why he chose that location, but he has been rolling with it.

So this morning we will be getting on the train, and even then we aren't telling them where they are going.  And it will still be a surprise for a bit longer.

How, you might be wondering?  Won't they make an announcement on the train about the destination?

Yes, Friends, I'm sure they will. I thought about that.

You see, the first train we take just goes to Penn Station.  If the kidlets are awake enough and paying attention they will think they are going to New York City.  They will probably assume that it is their final destination.  With any kind of luck they will not figure it out until we get on the train at Penn Station and head to Washington.

And then their brains will probably explode, and they will start asking about what we are going to see, will we see the stuff from the movies, etc.  That's how they roll.  My nephew will be excited and asking a million questions, and my niece will be Snapchatting  and Instagraming (are they words? They are now!) the whole experience for all of her friends back in Texas.  She's the social media queen.

TTFN, Friends.  I've got to finish getting my act together for our imminent departure.  If you're just dying to know how this all plays out, you can follow along on our adventure via Twitter.  I'm @tammyshampoo and I will be updating there.

A Walk in the Woods

Hey Friends.

Sometimes you just need to take a break.  I don't know about you, but sometimes I just need to get away from it all and take moment for myself.  To remind myself that the world is full of beauty even when it seems so ugly.

For my part, the best way I have found to do that is to go out and enjoy nature. Pick a place -- a local park, the beach, the mountains -- whatever you have that is convenient.  I'd love to go to the ocean and just relax, listen to the waves washing against the shore, but that's not really an option due to the distance.  I choose to go explore the mountains and the woods.  It's quiet, peaceful, and I love the feeling of the wind blowing through my hair.  Added bonus:  you normally can't get any service to get on social media even if you wanted to, so avoiding it is that much easier.

I think I mentioned it before, but I have set the modest goal of trying to visit all of Scenic Hudson's parks.  Since I was on vacation this week, I decided to visit more of them.

As you may or may not recall, Friends, not all of my adventures go smoothly.  I'm glad to report that this one was easy and went off without a hitch.

My first stop?  Lighthouse Park in Esopus. I had already been to Esopus Meadows Preserve, although I didn't realize that these two parks were practically on top of one another.  Turns out that Lighthouse Park is literally just a park with views of the lighthouse, and some picnic tables.  All of the hiking/nature trails were the ones I had already explored in the preserve.  Kind of a bummer, but there were some gorgeous views of the Hudson River.

View looking South

Looking North

The lighthouse, of course

While I was there, I noticed this strange piece of machinery at work out on the river.  I think it's like a lawn mower for the river, which I admit sounds strange.  That's the best description I can come up with for it.  I watched it for a while, and from what I could tell it was going back and forth over certain areas of the river, chopping up the heavier vegetation growing on the surface of the water.  You know, like a lawn mower but on the river.  I'm assuming this is to help keep the channels clear for boats.  Maybe I'm wrong.  This is the best picture I could get of the machine in action, since it was a fair distance away.

River mower?

As there was no more to that park and I still wanted to get a hike in somewhere, I decided to check out Black Creek Preserve.  I've driven past it so many times on the way to other places, and since it was nearby it was the perfect choice. 

The park has a couple miles of trails all together.  I imagine it would be breathtaking in the fall, when all of the leaves are changing colors.  I should note: if you don't like walking up hills, this is not the park for you.  You are going to have to go up a pretty steep incline to get to 90% of the trails.  There will be more uphill climbs in your future if you take the trail that leads down to the river's edge.  You go out the same main trail you came in, so if you go down to the river you will have to come back up again at some point.  

The entrance is pretty cool -- Black Creek is spelled out on the top.

Wooden bridge -- which you can get to without having to do the uphill climb, for those that want to check it out.

Lots of stone walls

I just liked the way the light was falling on the tree stump

River view

It literally stops right there.

Pretty now, probably gorgeous in autumn

This is the best I could do to give a vantage point of the hill near the beginning.  You go out the same way you came in.  This is from about the halfway point on the hill, looking down toward the bridge pictured above.  

Great way to unwind and unplug for an afternoon. Also,  it is two more parks off the list.  I'll get to them all eventually.  

Summer Is Music Season

Hey, Friends.

What do you think of when you think of Summer?  Nice weather, spending time at the beach, barbeques...all good things, for sure.  I also think of Summer as being music season.

Every season is music season, really.  Summer always seems to have more opportunities to enjoy it: it seems like more bands are on tour (maybe because there is less chance of bad weather screwing things up?), and there are tons of free concerts in the local parks.  I love going to concerts.  I'll go see pretty much anything.

Okay, that's kind of a lie.  I would never choose to go to a country music concert. Sorry. It's not my thing. I've been to some with people who wanted to go, and they were okay, but it would never be my first choice.  Not that they aren't talented musicians in their own right, I just don't like it.  Personal preference, people.

Why am I rambling on about this?  Well, the free concerts in the park have started here, and that got me thinking about all of the awesome concerts I got to see last year, and the ones I am looking forward to going to this year.

Shall we recap, Friends?  Yes, we shall.  Feel free to quit reading right now if you don't give a shit.  I'll never know the difference.

2015 In Review

First of all, there were the free concerts in the local parks.  They are always enjoyable -- different types of music that you might not normally get to see, and local bands you may not have heard of before.  Everyone should go and check them out!  It's an enjoyable evening, and you can bring a picnic.  What more do you need?

The Greyhounds are always great

Last June the BFF and I embraced our inner teeny-bopper and went to KFest at Dutchess Stadium. There were a lot of great performers there: Charlie XCX, Robin Thicke, and Flo Rida just to name a few.  The band I was most excited to see? Walk the Moon.  And they were fantastic.

Not the best picture, I admit

And then in July, the madness really began.

First off was Heffron Drive at Webster Hall with my niece.  New Friends: this was a fucking event because we actually got to meet them.  I even wrote a blog post about it.

My niece with Kendall and Dustin.  So damn adorable! (And see the James Maslow Save the Music t-shirt she is wearing?  Totally refused to wash it after this so as not to wash off the "Kendall loving".)

I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it: if you haven't checked out Heffron Drive's music, you really need to do so. Seriously.  I'll make it easy for you -- their latest release is below.  Just watch it.

Next up was Taylor Swift at MetLife Stadium.  It was a surprise for my niece, and my BFF went -- on crutches -- and was a total trooper.  So many damn stairs.  (Yeah.  There's a blog post about that one, too.)

Shawn Mendes was first

Vance Joy

Haim

And Taylor Swift, of course.

And I'm throwing this view of the crowd in just because I love it.

Next up was Of Monsters and Men at the Beacon Theater.  Got the tickets from a coworker who couldn't go.  Sucked for him, but worked out great for me!

And rounding out the year and the summer of music was Speed of Sound Fest. There was a full day of great music.  The final act was The Avett Brothers, and they were wonderful.  I was super-excited to see them.

I tried, people.  Yes, it's my own crappy video work.

And that rounds out the 2015 review, Friends.  Wow!  That was a lot of great music.

2016 Is Going To Be Epic!

Not gonna lie, Friends, it is already off to a pretty fantastic start.  A friend and I went to Foxwoods to see PVRIS, AWOLNATION, and Fall Out Boy on Wintour.  

I think you can figure it out on your own

AWOLNATION

Fall Out Boy

More Fall Out Boy

And that pretty much brings us up to date.  There have been a few free concerts in the park so far. This is a short clip from the Bearcats performing at Vanderbilt Mansion.  This is one of my favorite songs ever, St. James Infirmary.

Again, video is my own

And then things get really exciting.  This summer is going to include....

-- Going to Speed of Sound Fest with my niece, nephew, and the BFF.  The Lumineers, people!  

-- Taking my niece to see Twenty One Pilots at MSG.  Not sure which one of us is more excited about that!

-- Heffron Drive at Webster Hall!  Sadly, sans niece this time.  Stupid Texas starting school so early.

-- And rounding it out (at least at this point): All Time Low and Blink-182 at SPAC.  Hell yeah!  

I'm a little excited, Friends.  This summer is going to rock!  I had to get it all out of my system before I exploded.