Kate, Lydia, and I are back in West Chester after a week on 15th Street in Avalon, New Jersey. Our friends Jonathan and Francine had the house next door with their two daughters, who Lydia describes as HER BEST FRIENDS IN THE WHOLE WORLD.

We had a wonderful, restful week. Highlights: trips to Storybook Land, where we saw an outdoor North Pole actually made of ice, and some ILLEGAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE SURREY RACING:

One Gear. No Mercy. AVALON DRIFT

Kate’s brother Matt and I were TOTALLY in the lead with the yellow surrey. So far, in fact, that we decided to get out, stretch elaborately, and take a nap by the side of the road, at which point the mommies pedaling the girls came up from behind totally unexpectedly and passed us. Man, were we surprised and angry about that! I think Matt may even have taken off his captain’s hat and beat me with it, before we climbed back into the yellow surrey and pedaled as fast as we could to catch up.

Except that for some reason, our pedals kept reversing, leaving us puffing and blowing as our frantic efforts got us nowhere. Man, I tell you what, I absolutely do not understand how we lost that race to the mommies. It just defies explanation.

I’ve only got a little bit of the post-vacation blues to deal with. We had a really nice time.