Greenways: Durant Trails

The Durant Trails Greenway is 1.1 miles of paved trail that runs along a small stream through several neighborhoods in North Raleigh, behind Durant Road Middle School, and along the northern edge of Durant Nature Park. We walked the trail and then re-traced our steps back to the car for a total of 2.2 miles. Compared to the other Greenways we've been on so far, this trail was a lot more open to the neighborhoods it runs through and many backyards opened directly out onto the trail. There was also a lot more foot traffic on the trail than we had seen on the other Greenways we've been on, but it could have been because we were out a little earlier in the morning too. I picked this trail because it's closer to our house than a lot of others and it's relatively short, and since we had some friends coming to play at 10am we didn't have a whole lot of time. Once we had reached the end of the trail and started on our way back I was worried we would be late, so I made the boys hustle a little. They were not happy! Greenways are definitely more fun when you aren't limited by time!

Nathan: Durant Trail was in a neighborhood. It was also in the woods. While we were walking we came to a creek called Hidden Creek. For the past two summers I went to a camp called Ranoca, and we used to go to Hidden Creek to swim. It brought back a lot of good memories. I remember when my friends and I found a giant frock and we threw rocks at it and tried to make them bounce. Also at Camp Ranoca there was a HUGE lake choc-full of turtles and fish.

Today when we were walking we was a pile of rocks in the water. I jumped on them and then onto the other bank and walked down the trail on the other side. Then there was one huge rock. I jumped on that and crossed back to the original trail. After that my mom made us run for forty-five seconds, and then she said it was only 30 seconds. Then we left. When we got home I tried my new red E175 electric scooter. It goes 10 mph. I love today. Bye.

Noah: Today we went on a Greenway. It was in a neighborhood. We saw lots of dogs. We crossed the stream and saw MP3 ear plugs. Then we crossed the river again and walked some more. My mom said to run for 30 seconds. Trust me, it's hard! We walked back. I had fun walking.

Other Summer Fun: Our Week on the Outer Banks

WOW! Our week at Nags Head was fabulous but went by terribly fast, and we were really sad to have to come home . . . It was perfect weather, perfect cottage, perfect beaches, perfect family -- well, it was just the perfect vacation. I like to claim every day when I'm on vacation as "the best day ever", and this vacation was no different. (I do this to the slight irritation of whomever I happen to be vacationing with, and though even I can admit that it may be a little annoying to hear my chipper pronouncement -- "Today is the best day ever!" -- every day, I like the optimism. As if claiming it will make it so.) But honestly, this past week, every day was better than the day before, even when it wasn't.

Left: Noah & Nathan eating sandwiches on the beach during our first trip to the Outer Banks, July, 2005. Right: Noah & Nathan today (ages 7 11/12 and 10 3/4). Funny that when I was looking at the pictures from our 2005 trip Nathan (at age 5 3/4) is the wearing the same swim trunks that Noah wore during this trip!

Big mistake to not write a little bit every day! When you're there you think you will never forget how deep and rich the blues and greens of the ocean are, how the icy water takes your breath away as you dive in to cool off from the hot sun, or the salty taste of the water on your lips. You think you'll always remember the way the sand at Jockey's Ridge burned the bottom of your feet, and how your heart almost beat out of your chest and you could hardly catch your breath because you raced your 7 year-old up a 90 foot sand dune, and how you laughed because he tried to push you aside so he would win. Outdoor showers and nights in the hot tub with a full moon . . . watching the pelicans fly in perfect order, skimming over the water's surface, or diving straight down into the ocean to catch fish; watching a group of dolphins, completely synchronized, breaking the surface of the water to grab a quick breath before diving back into the ocean; sitting on the back deck of the "Sugar Shack" and looking into the eyes of the brown bunny who stops as he comes hopping by, startled by your presence in his neighborhood . . . the child-like wonder you still feel (even at 41) when you're swimming with your goggles on, and you see the silvery fish swimming in schools along the sandy bottom of the ocean, or your excitement when you catch a blue crab in your net and carry it up on the beach for the kids to see, proud that you were able to even see it, much less catch it . . . these are the moments you feel certain that you'll never forget.

And then you go to jot down a few notes so you won't forget, and suddenly you can't even remember where you ate last night for dinner, or what day it was that you went to the lighthouse and what day it was that you went to see "The Lost Colony". You re-read the sparse notes you have written (i.e., lots of wind, "bleeping umbrella", great boogie boarding, beers from guy in parking lot) and wonder what it all means. Truly, what does it all mean?

So I've been riding the kids for the past two days -- DO SOME JOURNALING! YES, YOU CAN WRITE ABOUT A SMALL MOMENT. NO, I DON'T CARE WHICH ONE. JUST WRITE SOMETHING!!! WHAT DOES THIS SAY -- I CAN'T EVEN READ YOUR HANDWRITING! YOUR SPACING IS HORRIBLE. OH MY GOSH, DID YOU EVEN TRY???? CAN YOU PLEASE ADD SOME MORE DETAILS??? You'd think would want to commit to paper all the fun we had, and all the things they did. You'd think it would be easy for them to do it in a pretty short amount of time, and I'm sure it would be if they were at all motivated. But, to be honest, they aren't really all that motivated, and I can hardly blame them. They've got a whole lifetime of beach vacations in front of them, and they hardly think about time passing . . . or what it might mean to them to, as an adult, be able to read what they did and who they were in the summer of 2010.

And so, because I want them to have fond memories of our trip versus not-so-fond memories of how I spent the summer of 2010 yelling at them about the quality of their handwriting, I give to you, our trip in their words -- "the BEST blog Ever!"

Nathan: On Sunday we went to the beach. When we were driving I saw big sand dunes. When we got there I was so happy! After we got there we went to the mini-beach (a small beach on the sound side). After that we finally had dinner. On Monday we woke up and played our Game Cube, then we had breakfast, did summer bridge activities, and then we went to the ocean. We had lunch and then we left the ocean. After that I got a two-man blow up boat. On Tuesday we had the same morning and the same afternoon except for dinner we had Dad's grilled hamburgers. Yum!!! On Wednesday we went to the mini-beach first, then we had lunch, and went to the beach. Then we went back and had dinner. On Thursday we went to Jockey's Ridge It felt like 5000 degrees. Then we had lunch and I got a skim board. On Friday we went to the beach and had a picnic lunch, and then we left and went to the Black Pelican -- a haunted restaurant! then we watched Billy the Exterminator until 11:00pm. On Saturday we went to the beach and when we had dinner we ate at Goombay's. On Sunday went to the mini-beach, and then it was time to go, so we packed up and left. :(

Noah: One of my favorite things was going to Jimmy's to eat. Jimmy's is a restaurant that has putt putt and corn hole. We played corn hole and me and my dad won. Then we played putt putt. The waiter said we could go in. We went to the buffet. I got crab legs and bread, tuna, and flounder. After I ate that I got ice cream. We checked out. I had fun at Jimmy's.

One of my favorite things was going to the lighthouse. It took an hour to get there. It had 268 steps. I was scared at the top. After that we went to the beach. I got wiped out! Then we got in the car and we changed clothes. We drove to the docks to see what the fishermen caught. One guy got a giant tuna. We drove back to the Sugar Shack. I had fun.

Other Summer Fun: Boot Camp

The boys attended Vacation Bible School at Grace Community Church this year (June 16 - 20) and the theme was Boot Camp, with No Shortcuts Allowed! They had a fabulous time, played a lot of fun games, did some crafts, made applesauce as part of a mission project, and learned about the Fruits of the Spirit. Great Stuff! So Much to Journal About! So Many Small Moments to Capture on Paper!

Unfortunately, Mom took a shortcut and didn't make the kids sit down and write about any of it. And now, after coming off a week at the beach, they are not motivated in the least. "You want us to write about what?" "Come on Mom, that was like, 5 years ago." "You expect me to remember what we did? I don't even remember anything we did!" You get the idea. So in the interest of wanting to keep them fresh for being able to fully document our beach trip (another shortcut -- I didn't make them write about their vacation while we were actually on vacation, and so now we will be spending our day tomorrow writing about what we did for the past week), I will give them a pass for this entry and just share a few pictures of the time they spent at VBS this summer.

NOAH:

The first, second, and third grade boys (Noah is in the first row, far right, wearing the baseball hat). Our friend, G, lead this group of spirited youngsters! After the second night he was ready to quit, but through the Fruits of the Spirit (particularly Patience), and some strong encouragement from his wife, Melinda, he came back for night #3. And the kids were the better for having him as their leader!

Games & Crafts are a big part of VBS. Noah enjoyed the water games on Thursday night, and he also enjoyed making a dog tag necklace and hanging out with friends.

Nathan:

The Games this year really followed the boot camp theme. Left: Nathan crawls under some rope as he races through the obstacle course. Right: While anchoring his tug-of-war team, Nathan demonstrated why tug of war may not be his thing!



VBS at Grace starts each night with an opening program that includes a skit and worshiping with the band. VBS ends on Friday night with a closing ceremony and a party in the parking lot. Left: Nathan worships and rocks out during Thursday night's opening program (third from left). Right: Since Mom was doing sundae duty for the after party, Nathan sneaks behind the toppings table to snag a gummy army guy. Our good friend, Greg, lends a much needed hand by overseeing the topping table and maintaining order.

Other Summer Fun: Friday Night Smackdown!

Boys night out! Kevin took the kids to see "Smackdown" at the RBC Center tonight, and they were REALLY EXCITED to go. What's "Smackdown", you may ask? It's a show that's part of the WWE -- World Wrestling Entertainment. Professional wrestlers travel around the world, entertaining young and old alike by beating each other up using choke slams, submission holds, tables, ladders, and chairs, steel cages, and various other sadistic methods of madness. The crowd goes crazy, yelling out insults to the villains, cheering their heros, waving their homemade signs . . . What could be more awesome or cool for boys everywhere? Not to mention the Divas!

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "Wrestling?? Is she serious? She not only lets her kids watch wrestling on TV but she let them go to a live show? Kind of redneck, don't you think? Isn't that wildly inappropriate for kids under 13? The skimpy costumes, the questionable language, violent storylines . . . what is she thinking?" Gentle Reader, at this time I will respectfully ask that you suspend your judgement of me and my parenting. Sometimes, when you're the only women in a house full of men (ahem, boys) you have to choose your battles with care. This, Gentle Reader, is one of those times.

Nathan: Today me and Noah and Dad went to Smackdown. First when we got there we parked in spot 364 at the RBC Center. Then we went inside and got pizza. Next we came down to our seats and watched NXT (which is like the Next Generation of Wrestlers). After NXT we saw Smackdown. Kofi Kingston, Kane, Big Show, Mark Henry, Team Lay-Cool, Rey Mysterio, C.M. Punk, Jack Swagger, and many more superstars. The match I was most excited to see ended up being the worst match we saw -- a tag-team cage match. I thought it would be longer than 3 minutes, but this is what happened. Rey Mysterio ran and slid into Jack Swagger and C.M. Punk. Then Jack Swagger got up. So Big Show gave him the knock out punch, and Jack Swagger fell down unconscious. So then The Big Show pinned him and won. The best part of the whole show was I got on T.V. When we were sitting in our seats a camera on a giant crane came in our faces. Me and Noah screamed and jumped up with our signs. It was pretty exciting. After that it was time to go so we left and got a cheeseburger from McDonalds.
Noah: Tonight we went to Smackdown at the RBC Center. It was a great experience for my first time at a live wrestling show. I was really excited to go. There was a match with Kofi Kingston vs. Mark Henry that was my favorite. First, Kofi Kingston punched Mark Henry. Then Mark Henry flipped Kofi over his head. Then Koki got up and jumped on Mark, and then he pinned him. Then Kane came in and choke slammed him. Then I held up my sign. My favorite wrestler that I saw was Kane. John Cena is my favorite wrestler, but he's on RAW. My dad bought me a new John Cena hat that I wanted. Then we got pizza and left. I had a very fun time.

Greenways: Bent Creek, Shelly Lake, & Sawmill Trails

Nathan is my eagle-eyed child. That kid can spot a baby turtle with a shell the size of a 50 cent piece, camouflaged and peaking out from under a leaf, from 15 feet away. He can pick out deer eating corn at the edge of the woods, at dusk, from 100 feet away in a car traveling 65 miles an hour. He can identify birds of all types and sizes, while I am typically the one saying, "What? Where?" as we speed by the field, or as the turtle dips down under the water and swims away. But today, I got him! As we started down the Bent Creek Trail this morning I looked at the little stream that was running along the paved trail, and spotted a snake sitting on a rock. I have no idea what kind it was, but it was about 3 feet long, grey with reddish diamonds, and it looked like it had just eaten. After it noticed we were watching it, it slipped off the rock it was lying on and swam away in the water, its eyes on us. Creepy!

Today's Greenways adventure was great. We started on the Bent Creek Trail, which is a paved trail that cuts through several neighborhoods in North Raleigh. One of the cool things about this Greenway was that even though it's right through a neighborhood, but it feels like you're out in the middle of nowhere. Since it's a path instead of a loop around a lake you're never quite sure where you are. You walk a little ways, and then you get to a tunnel that goes under a busy road that you drive on all the time, and you hear the traffic and the bustle of the city. Then you walk a little bit more, and all you can hear is the wind in the trees, the water running over the rocks, the occassional jogger, or biker. Oh, and the kids talking . . . .

Nathan: Today we walked on a paved trail through the woods. When we first started raindrops fell from the leaves of the trees. We saw a snake and some butterflies. We went in a tunnel under the highway. It was dark and scary. For a snack we ate sunflower seeds. On this trail there was a white pipe and me and Noah walked on it. The pipe went through the woods. After that we walked on a trail in the woods. I found the quickest exit. There were nasty sewage pipes. I would love to go back.

Noah: Today we went on our second Greenway. We saw a snake. It was red. The Greenway was like a rain forest. There was a river and we threw rocks in the river. There was a sewage pipe that we walked on. We came through a tunnel. Then we came through a tunnel. Then we went home. I had fun.

We ended up walking for about 2 hours, and it was steamy and hot! I had originally wanted to walk just the Bent Creek Trail and the Sawmill Trail, but the Sawmill Trail was unpaved, and while it connected to the Bent Creek Trail, it was unmarked, so we passed it by without noticing on our way down the trail. And then since we were already there, I pushed the kids on to the Shelly Lake Trail (the portion that leads to Optimist Park). When we turned around to walk back to the start of the Bent Creek Trail and the car, and we saw the unpaved trail leading off into the woods, and decided to walk on that to see where it lead. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), after about 15 minutes on the muddy, unpaved trail running along the creek, Noah had had about enough, and so we turned back to paved trail, and back to our car. I treated them to McDonald's since it was lunch time and they had walked a long way (about 5 miles?!?) and we were pretty sweaty and tired. Gotta end on a high note with them wanting to come back for more!

Greenways: Lake Lynn Trail

Summer vacation, day one . . . I actually wasn't really planning on starting our Greenways tour today since it's a Friday, and I thought I'd give the kids the first day of summer off, and then be ready to roll out all my PLANS on Monday. But, when I asked the kids what they wanted to do today Nathan said he was ready to walk on a Greenway, and who was I to say "no"? I picked the Lake Lynn Trail because it was 2.2 miles, paved, and the trail went in a loop so that we wouldn't have to backtrack.

Lake Lynn Trail turned out to be a great Greenway to try for our first day! We parked the car and walked up some steps to the start of the trail. The weather was fabulous -- mid-80's and sunny with a slight breeze -- and the trail (alternating between pavemet and wooden boardwalks that crossed over Lake Lynn) was mostly shaded by the wooded area surrounding the lake. When we started walking we immediately came upon 6 ducks resting in the woods.

The kids were so excited, especially when the came right up to us, wagging their tails and "begging" for food. Noah was so excited he stared counting the number of ducks we saw. As we walked around the lake and the kids talked the whole way. They talked over each other, excitedly, about the things they saw and also about shows they had watched and what they had done the night before (when I had been at book club). We walked up a short path so the kids could play at a park, and I had a moment of pure gratefulness that they are still young enough to want to play at a park. After a few tricep dips on a bench I even joined them on the swings -- I can't remember the last time I was on a swing, leaning back, feet up toward the sky, eyes closed, the summer breeze warm on my face. It felt good!

When we got home I gave them new notebooks for the summer (5-subject, to include journaling, writing, math, book reviews, and doodling), and instructions for journaling about our Lake Lynn Trail adventure. Here is what they wrote.

Noah: Today we saw 103 ducks. When we walked a mile we saw a hairin (sic). We did not know we were going to see a hairin (sic). We saw turtles. Then we went to the park. Me and Nathan played Star Wars. Nathan said he wanted to swing and I did too. Mom said we should start walking. We saw 47 ducks. We saw 9 more. Then we walked all the way. We went home. I felt good about my first Greenway.

Nathan: Today was the first day of the summer We walked 2.2 miles around Lake Lynn. We mainly were in the shade of the treees. We also saw wildlife, such as ducks, geese, turtles, and another bird. The other birds were black and green and had a red thing on its beak. The other birds acted like dogs too, first what they did was walk up to us and beg, and then they wagged their tails. The ducks kept following us. The turtles swam away and the geese chased us. That's it for day one.