The Shepards just wallowed in a lazy weekend. Most weekends we’re overbooked with kid stuff and parent stuff, so every once in a while we put Nothing on the calendar. Nada, no plans. Well, Soccer was on the calendar because it’s always on the calendar. But, this Saturday, we gave Simon and Winston a pass so that we could spend some good family-time together.*
This is how quality our “together” time was: I watched Saturday morning cartoons with the boys, and I discovered that Ben 10 isn’t half bad. After cartoons, Winston helped me make Bittman’s crazy-easy waffles. Then, we all headed out to run errands for important things such as Pokemon booster packs at Uncle Sven’s Comic Shoppe and bike parts at Grand Performance.
Later, we headed out again. This time, John hopped on his bike and pulled Winston on his Piccolo.** Win was clad in performance gear (kid-size cycling jersey and padded shorts), shouting “Tour de France.” They earned their ice-cream stop at Izzy’s (hot brown sugar). Then, they further shamed the sluggos who chose to burn fossil fuel rather than conspicuous calories by pedaling over to Micawbers in St. Anthony Village where we visited our friends Karen and Tom. We also bought some cool books: Adventures in the Rockies by Isabella Bird (part of Penguin's exceptionally cool Great Journeys series) and 2007 Best American Travel Essays for me and a remaindered copy of Four Colors Suffice: How the Map Problem Was Solved (by Robin Wilson) for John.
On Sunday, John and I took the boys to Keys Cafe on Raymond, the flagship of a small local chain. It hasn’t changed a lick since we were last there—oh, ten years ago, when we used to regularly brunch with the Cohen-Murphys. Winston was really crabby because we had to wait for a table, which is exactly why we stopped coming here for brunch. That and the restaurant is always crowded. The food’s not great. The portions are enormous and you roll out the door feeling as if you never want to eat again, but it’s fun.
I spent much of the afternoon washing and drying—but not folding—all of the laundry. My favorite part of the day was the time I spent in the kitchen. Since the weather is turning cold and the weekend was rainy, I turned to fall favorites, such as chicken pot pie. I made the very old-school filling (bacon, onion, carrots, celery, corn, thyme, and chicken napped by a sherry-enriched sauce). Tomorrow I’ll heat the filling on the stove as I’m making the biscuit topping, then bake it for Monday dinner. I also made an apple crisp, thus putting a small dent in the 14 pounds of Sweet 16s we picked at the apple orchard last weekend.
I wish for more weekends like this.
*Okay, true confession: we gave the boys a pass on soccer so their mom and dad could sleep in until 8 a.m. Yes, John and I are totally selfish this way. But well-rested parents make better parents. It’s a universal truth you’ll find most parents won’t admit. And, since we tend to go to bed at an ungodly late hour (typically, two a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights), you’ve got to find your sleep somewhere.
**Even though John drives a (red) Prius and milks 50 mpg out of it, he still wants to save the world by riding his bike everywhere. It only took him about 10 minutes longer on bike to get where I did by car, and I think he made a fine point. Let’s park our cars.
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