How is it that I can miss my girl so much? 12 years ago I was so happy being alone at home. I could do what I want, whenever I wanted. Then SHE came along. First, she occupied my body and then took all my time, was always in my thoughts and totally stole my heart. I watched Sophia grow into the beautiful, smart, strong young girl that she is today. Like all parents, I marveled at my daughter and took great joy in her development. I still do. She is an amazing kid and person.
She is in Wisconsin. She has been gone for a week and will be gone for 2 more weeks. I can’t believe I let her go! She’s with her best buddy, Katia, and her family on Papoose Lake. Before she left I worried that she would be home sick. She has been a little bit home sick but more than that, I am Sophia sick. I miss her like crazy. When she’s here her stuff is all over, she “forgets” to put away her dishes, her room is a mess, her laundry is piled up and she messes up the kitchen. When she’s here she also makes me laugh, plays with and watches the boys, she snuggles with me in bed and makes me smile and my heart sing. I love her so much and this is far too long for her to be gone.
In 7 years she’ll be going to college. 7 YEARS! That is like tomorrow. I have known since the day we brought her home that we were preparing her to leave our home. I teach her to cook, do laundry, clean up, be kind, negotiate, read, stay healthy and so on. All of us know that ultimately, this is what we are preparing our kids for but it really does go so fast. OK its fast most of the time….there are times where it’s excruciatingly slow but overall it has gone speeding by. And with time going so fast I don’t think I can let her leave again for such a long time. Forget home sick, I can’t stand it. I’m Sophia sick and 3 weeks is too long for my daughter to be gone from me.
She’ll be home the first weekend of August but I am not sure I can last that long. I suppose I will survive but I don’t think I can do this again at least not for 7 more years. Maybe then I will be ready for her to go to college but honestly, I don’t think so.
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Missing Girl
Yesterday my girl left for 3 weeks. I can't believe she's gone and I can't believe I let her go. She's in Wisconsin with one c her best buddies and her family visiting the buddy's grandparents.
We had to get up yesterday at 4 to get Sophia to the airport by 5. She was sleeping in our bed because she was nervous. When we got up Sophia went and got dressed and then came to be with me. She was so nervous! She was shaking from head to toe like our dog when I take her to the vet. I felt so bad for her but I knew she'd get over it and have a great time.
We got her to the airport at 5 to meet up with Aaron, the buddy's step dad. It was a quick hand off which was great, there was no time to be emotional. She said goodbye and was off on her big adventure.
I received a couple texts mid trip on a layover and she was having fun. Then a picture upon her arrival with her buddy. She looked so happy. I called her a little later just to say hello. She was all giggles.
Today when I called early in the day she was having so much fun she could hardly stop long enough to talk. Then tonight I got a call at 10:15 her time. She was tired, it was quiet and dark and she was feeling homesick. I know it's harder at night.
On the home front it's strange not to have her here. Bob made breakfast for the boys and called them up. He told Kees, "Kees, go get Sophia." He smirked at me. Kees ran off yelling for her. 10 seconds later he came back grinning, "She's not here dad!" We all laughed. I really miss her. As she's gotten older she is more and more fun. She's learning to cook, she will go to the store with me and keep me company and she is really funny. I really miss that the most.
I know this is all part of growing up and I am sure it will change her. 3 weeks is a long time. The longest she's ever been gone in the past is a week and that was hard. At least she can call if she wants.
I look forward to hearing all about her adventures and what she learns. A couple things I hope she doesn't learn...#1) Sun burns are as bad as mom said they can be and #2) The mosquitoes are as nasty as mom said. I got some eye rolling and a couple, "mmooooOOOOoommmmm, I know. You already said that." I always say, "I know you know this but I'm your mom and it's my job to say this." And then I dispense my advice whether she wants it or not. I love that kid like crazy and need her to be safe and smart. I told her, above all, trust your gut. If someone seems "off" stay away. If you are in a situation that feels like it could become unsafe, it can. Switch course. If you need help, get it. Follow your gut. I don't care if you think it will offend someone, you stay safe. And if I didn't think she would follow that advice I wouldn't have let her go. She's a smart kid. I won't be able to protect her all the time but I can teach her to stay safer by avoiding unsafe situations. I pray she stays safe and that she has the adventure of a lifetime. Safe travels little lady. I love you
We had to get up yesterday at 4 to get Sophia to the airport by 5. She was sleeping in our bed because she was nervous. When we got up Sophia went and got dressed and then came to be with me. She was so nervous! She was shaking from head to toe like our dog when I take her to the vet. I felt so bad for her but I knew she'd get over it and have a great time.
We got her to the airport at 5 to meet up with Aaron, the buddy's step dad. It was a quick hand off which was great, there was no time to be emotional. She said goodbye and was off on her big adventure.
I received a couple texts mid trip on a layover and she was having fun. Then a picture upon her arrival with her buddy. She looked so happy. I called her a little later just to say hello. She was all giggles.
Today when I called early in the day she was having so much fun she could hardly stop long enough to talk. Then tonight I got a call at 10:15 her time. She was tired, it was quiet and dark and she was feeling homesick. I know it's harder at night.
On the home front it's strange not to have her here. Bob made breakfast for the boys and called them up. He told Kees, "Kees, go get Sophia." He smirked at me. Kees ran off yelling for her. 10 seconds later he came back grinning, "She's not here dad!" We all laughed. I really miss her. As she's gotten older she is more and more fun. She's learning to cook, she will go to the store with me and keep me company and she is really funny. I really miss that the most.
I know this is all part of growing up and I am sure it will change her. 3 weeks is a long time. The longest she's ever been gone in the past is a week and that was hard. At least she can call if she wants.
I look forward to hearing all about her adventures and what she learns. A couple things I hope she doesn't learn...#1) Sun burns are as bad as mom said they can be and #2) The mosquitoes are as nasty as mom said. I got some eye rolling and a couple, "mmooooOOOOoommmmm, I know. You already said that." I always say, "I know you know this but I'm your mom and it's my job to say this." And then I dispense my advice whether she wants it or not. I love that kid like crazy and need her to be safe and smart. I told her, above all, trust your gut. If someone seems "off" stay away. If you are in a situation that feels like it could become unsafe, it can. Switch course. If you need help, get it. Follow your gut. I don't care if you think it will offend someone, you stay safe. And if I didn't think she would follow that advice I wouldn't have let her go. She's a smart kid. I won't be able to protect her all the time but I can teach her to stay safer by avoiding unsafe situations. I pray she stays safe and that she has the adventure of a lifetime. Safe travels little lady. I love you
Monday, December 26, 2011
A Bit of Christmas
This blog is something I love doing. I haven’t been much at keeping up with it lately but I have been paying lots of attention to my smalls. It’s what is most important to me but again…. I love to write. I need to carve out time for this. Today, at the prompting of my pal Rebecca….here I am.
Merry Christmas to you all!
Christmas is almost here and we’ve had a pretty good season thus far. The first weekend of December we went to Hood River. We have done this the past 3 years and have had such a wonderful time. This year we skipped the Polar Express…..thank goodness. It’s fun but it’s also quite expensive. We always stay at the Hood River Hotel with 2 other families. It’s right on main street and we occupy the 3 suites on the back of the hotel. It’s so cute and a great way to start the holiday. Everyone had a fine time. I went to bed with the kids at 9:30. I was so tired I couldn’t stay up. All the other adults stayed up until about 3 in the morning. As it turns out I ended up getting sick so that made a bit more sense. I thought it was weird that I was that tired!
Over the next 2 weeks we got ready for our Christmas Party, I shopped and got most everything fairly early. Bob is our primary decorator for the holiday and spent a few evenings decking the halls. A few years ago we got out the decorations and realized that we needed more lights. I was sent out to get them. Well being a mom and a woman, I couldn’t just get lights and zip right home, no no, I had to shop. I ended up being gone for about 2 hours. When I got home the whole house was decorated. Bob managed to do the whole thing without my “assistance.” Hummm, go figure. And I didn’t have to direct him on how to do the lights properly or anything. You know, once everything is on the tree you don’t even see the wires! I had been a total loon about wrapping the wires around the branches for YEARS. Who knew?
So with the house all decked out, about 200 cookies and 4 gallons of stew we had our Christmas Party! What fun. I usually have gifts wrapped and under the tree. I am a bit crazy about my gift wrapping. This year I took a new approach, there was a Fed Ex Package under the tree. My attitude was, “It’s a gift and it’s wrapped. Why ruin it?” We had about 80 people in and out of here. There were kids everywhere and a great time was had by all. I had a great time
The kids are all very excited for Christmas. Kees and Coulter still believe in Santa and are so cute about the whole thing. They talk to each other about how Santa will get here, when he will arrive and so on. Coulter's stocking is hidden behind a large poinsettia and he is quite concerned that Santa will miss it. I assured him that it will not be missed and that we can move it just to be sure. He seems much relieved.
Last week I went onto a web site called Portable North Pole TV. On that site you input info on your kid and add a couple pictures. Then they email you a link to a video for your child. When the kids got home on Thursday I told them Santa had sent them an email. Kees was home first. We sat down and watched. Kees couldn’t believe that Santa had pictures of him in his book. Late in the video the elves insert the kid's file into the "Naughty or Nice" machine. Kees was a bit apprehensive about his potential outcome. It turned out that he has been.....NICE! He was very relieved and said, "I thought I would be on the naughty list!" He lucked out I guess.
When Sophia and Coulter got home Kees told them to "come quick" to see their videos. They all watched with amazement, even Sophia. After they had seen the videos a bunch of times the boys took off. Sophia snuck over to me and asked with a big smile, "How did you do that?" Even she was taken aback by that. There are still times when she is still my baby girl. She was mystified. I love that she still has a little belief and that she's still naive.
Last night Bob and I wrapped all our gifts. Actually I wrapped, Bob kept me company. Sophia and Coulter had sleep overs, Kees was next door decorating cookies until 11:30. We had some wine and had a fine time but stayed up too late. Oh well. The job is mostly done now and that is great!
I am preparing for my dad and Sally's arrival on Friday. We're all looking forward to time together. We have a party on Friday Night, the Nutcracker and church on Christmas Eve and then we're having almost 20 people for Christmas Dinner. I have cooking, cleaning and prepping to do. It will all be fun.
The boys have been hilarious with their antics and sayings. I'll get some up here soon because they are too funny not to share.
Merry Christmas to you all!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Disneyland!!!
My mom has wanted to go on a big trip with our family for a while. The last time we went on a big trip was 3 years ago when we went to Mexico for a week. It was great fun but any big trip like that is expensive so they’re hard to do. In January she talked to me about going to Disneyland with our family. She funded a good portion of the trip so how could I say no? I couldn’t. The kids are only little once and it does pass pretty quickly.
We planned this trip in January, bought the tickets in February, kept it from the kids until August and finally went on our trip in October. Here was my only dilemma…….
SCHOOL DAYS VS. LESS CROWDS AND LINES
When these two ideas clash, less crowds will win over school days every time. What is the point in going to the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH if you can’t have fun because you are spending all your time in line? There would not be a point, at least not for me.
The decision was made last February that we would pull the kids out of school for a good time. Done. It’s a good thing too because even with school in session Disneyland was quite busy. They say it was at 50%. If that is the case I pray that I am never there on a busy day. That would be torture.
We left Portland on Sunday the 2nd and flew into the John Wayne airport. We rented a van and went to our hotel, the Meridian Inn and Suites. It was great. We had a refrigerator and a microwave which were key in our saving money scheme. There were doors between the bedroom and the living room which was key in our sanity scheme. Breakfast was included and we were only 3 miles from Disneyland. Wahoo!!!
On Sunday night we drove over to Downtown Disney for dinner and to get a lay of the land. It was a good way to start our adventure. We had dinner at the Rain Forrest Café. The food was mediocre at best but the atmosphere was fun and the kids were thrilled. They thought it was great and that is what this was all about.
After dinner we wandered around Downtown Disney. There is so much to see and so many places that your kids want you to spend all your money! The Lego Store was a top priority for the boys so we spent quite a bit of time there. Before we left each one of the kids got $65.00 to spend on whatever they wanted. The boys each got a small Lego set. Sophia bought a glass lion. We managed to get out of there without buying anything else. That was no small feat! We then waited around until 9:30 to see the fireworks. Mom and I wanted to see them and it was the only night that would have fireworks while we were there. Bob and Kees....they weren't as excited.
Monday morning it was time to go to the one, the only….DISNEYLAND!!! Everyone was excited. We had studied the maps, downloaded the apps, packed a lunch and were ready to roll. We had a bit of a bump in the road when Kees got a kink in his neck. It seems strange to see a 6 year old kid holding his neck and crying. It was really hurting him. We plied him with meds, let him rest up for a few minutes and then we were off.
The first order of the day was to find Mickey. We hopped on the train and went to the far side of the park to Mickey’s house. It’s a strange place and I wouldn’t want to be in there on any serious kind of meds. I mean you could really trip out. At the end of the trek through Mickey’s house you get to have your picture taken with Mickey. We were shuttled into a room and there he was! We all smiled and had a great group photo shoot with Mickey. He was thrilled….and we were too. The obligatory picture with Mickey was done now it was PARTY TIME.
The next few days all blur together. I know that we spent the first bit of time in Toontown and then went on A Small World. Over the next few days we were all over the place. The kids LOVED Autotopia. Autotopia is little gas powered cars that are on a track. The adults pressed the gas pedals and the kids steered….as best they could. Sophia’s driving did not excite me about her being 16 too soon. She was banging our car left and right. I was laughing….hard. Sophia was annoyed with me.
One of the highlights for Sophia and Kees was their Jedi training. Coulter did NOT want to do it. There was training about 4 times per day. When you get over there you have to be picked. The "instructors" go through a routine and the kids learn the basics. Then, when you least expect it, Darth Vader and Darth Maul show up. It's a good thing those kids were trained. Kees took down Darth Vader and Sophia took Darth Maul.
We all went on Space Mountain. While most of us survived it without trauma, the boys were NOT interested in going on that again. Star Tours was a group favorite. I didn’t realize until our 2nd “tour” but each one of the little rooms or whatever you go in / on, are different. It’s in 3-D and really fun.
Mom and Ed’s favorite ride was the Indiana Jones Ride. While we loved it, apparently it is a problem child for Disney. It breaks down all the time. We went there first thing in the morning one day and went straight in. When we got all the way in it was announced that it was closed. Bummer….except that the guy who announced that it was closed had a little trivia contest. If you guessed one of the questions right you got a pass to go to the front of the line of ANY ride. Mom got one right and we got a pass. Yippie. The ride was open about 20 minutes later and we went on a wild ride. Very cool ride. Again, the boys were not interested in going again. We took our pass and headed straight for the Matterhorn. On the way we picked up a Fast Pass to Star Tours. The beauty of using our VIP pass on the Matterhorn is there is no Fast Pass for that ride. It’s one of the few. AND….the wait for the Matterhorn seemed to always be an hour or more. See above…I hate waiting in long lines.
Everyone seemed to like the Matterhorn especially the boys. They were thrilled and wanted to go on it again immediately. I had to explain the line thing and that we couldn’t just hop the line any ole time we wanted AND it was time to go on Star Tours again. Good times. Some other favorites were Astro Blasters, Splash Mountain, Small World and the Jungle Cruise. Splash Mountain was one of our last rides and Sophia, who was in the front of the boat / log got soaked. Ask her about it. It was hilarious.
Kees was pretty funny when we came out of It’s A Small World. He was singing the song but replacing Small with Big because……”Mom, it’s a big world. There were 13 worlds in there.” The kid counted every room we went in. I don’t know if he was accurate or not but he is definitely Bob’s kid.
We caught the raucous Mickey’s Soundsational Parade at the end of two of our days there. It was LOUD but lots of fun. All the major characters were there.
On our last day we went to California Adventure first and went straight to the TOWER OF TERROR. Again, the boys said, “No way.” Grandma took them to the Bugs Life area and Bob, Ed, Sophia and I went into the tower. There was no line so I was really happy. This ride is a total riot…..I LOVED it. It tells a story of some people who were shocked to death in a Twilight Zone type event. Then you get in the elevator, an elevator with seat belts. It shoots you up about 15 stories, the elevator doors open to the outside and then drops you the same 15 or so floors. It was hilarious. You go totally weightless for about 3 seconds. My purse was hovering in front of my face. When it was over Sophia and I got right back on. Awesome.
We also hit the Muppet 3-D show. Cute. And we went on Flying over California. It made mom sick from the motion. We all liked it though, all except for the feet hanging over our heads. It’s a pretty cool ride. Lastly we went on the Grizzly River Run where I got soaked. Not such a big deal except that I was wearing white pants….that were fairly see through when wet. Yeah, that was a pretty picture.
California Adventure was not the same as Disneyland and we weren’t feelin’ it so we went back to the land…it is much better. We spent 90% of our time at Disneyland and loved almost every minute of it.
In the last moments we bought a few souvenirs and trinkets. We spent a few last moments in Downtown Disney and then headed home to the hotel for a swim. My feet were killing me. Yikes.
We did take one day off from Disney when we were in California. It’s a good thing too because it rained REALLY HARD and that is coming from someone who lives in the rain belt. Mom, Ed, Sophia and I went to check out the Chrystal Cathedral. It was pretty cool even in the rain. The docent there was charming and we were all impressed by the GIANT pipe organ. I honestly can say I have never seen an organ that big and my church in Atlanta had 18,000 members. We also did homework, saw a movie and went out for dinner that day. It was fun and relaxing day.
Friday was pack up, check out and fly home day. It went quickly and fairly painlessly. Our kids were good travelers and our grandparents were great companions. We got along all week and had a really successful adventure. For me it went pretty quickly. It wasn’t a relaxing trip but it was definitely fun. 3 days at Disneyland was perfect for our family. I think it was a bit long in the “land” for Mom and Ed. They were there to spend time with the kids, not to go on rides and such. I was impressed that they were right there the whole time and went on every ride. Mom skipped a couple but Ed didn’t miss a thing. And that part worked out well too. When mom didn’t want to go on a ride it was generally one that the boys didn’t want to ride either so we all had someone with us or someone to watch over. Perfect! Thanks again to Mom and Ed for being a major sponsor of this event. We wouldn’t have gone if it were not for your encouragement and enthusiasm. I hope this is a trip that we all remember and hold onto for a very long time.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Onward Ho!
We wrapped up our time in Fossil on Sunday Morning and started on our next leg of the trip. The next stop was Priest Lake.
Our long time friends, the Thompsons, had invited us the first time about 10 years ago when the house was built. Due to babies being born and then, well, being babies it was too tough. And it's about 8 hours from our house with only a couple stops. Given that I have been travel training the kids for the last couple years, I felt they were ready.
From Fossil it was about 6.5 hours.....piece of cake. We arrived at about 7 on the 3rd and were greeted with open arms. Man, it has been too long! To our surprise their daughter Nicole was there. The last time we saw her she was about 10, she's a Sophomore at WSU now. Time flies! We got settled a bit, had a bite to eat and went to see some fireworks. What fun.
Over the next couple days we did all the lake stuff. We went out on the boat and pulled the kids on an float thing. Sophia and Kees spent very little time in the boat since they were dragged behind the boat almost the entire time. Kees kept wanting to go faster and Sophia was right there with him. Coulter was beaming as the "captain" of the ship. Wayne was great with him and let him steer all the way across the lake. So cool. My babies were so happy and Bob and I got a real charge out of watching them. Anne talked about when Nicole was younger and had many of her summer birthdays on the lake. Lucky girl.
My favorite thing was sitting on the beach at the marina. It was a perfect set up. There was a building with a bar area and bathrooms on the back side. In front of that was a lawn with some lawn chairs and a little sandy beach. There was a creek feeding into the lake and then another beach beyond that. The kids were having a real adventure. They called the further beach Treasure Island. They played so nicely and the adults got to just sit and talk and lay in the sun. Ah peace, quiet and great company. We liked the beach so much that we spent part of each of our 4 days there and he kids were equally as happy each day. That makes life much easier.
Another one of the kids favorite things was riding the 4 wheelers. We could get all 5 of us on 2 ATVs. Bob scouted out the trails and then we all went for a ride. The first time was great. We figured out a few trails, ran through a few puddles and even got stuck in some deep mud. Coulter got a little nervous but he didn't know that his mama has been stuck in the mud 4 wheeling before. I rocked it out and we were off and running again.
The second day out we decided to see some things that Anne had recommended. Wayne gave us a map, got us oriented and they set us free. We saw a cool old growth forest. Cool trees, unfortunately it was also the ULTIMATE mosquito habitat. We read all the information markers at lightening speed while hopping around and slapping each other. It was comical. Next we went up the mountain for a beautiful view. It doesn't get any better. Blue skies, 75 degrees and peace and quiet. Nature at it's best.
Each evening we had cocktails out on the deck. The view was amazing with the lake below and the mountains beyond that. Heaven. Anne and Wayne were so gracious and generous. We are extremely blessed to have such great friends in our lives.
Anne and Wayne were gracious enough to let us stay at their place for a couple nights on our own. The first night we let the kids watch a movie while we read outside. The second night there was a big storm. We raced around and brought in all the fabric stuff and watched it roll by. It was powerful and beautiful at the same time. The power went out....for 3 hours. It came back on, the kids cheered, another storm came and it went out again 5 minutes later. The kids groaned. No sweat. We played ping pong in dimming light and then drew pictures. Bob and I read and the went to bed. So relaxing.
Today we packed up, cleaned up and set our sights on home. The kids and I have been gone almost a month. We tried to be good stewards and leave everything as clean as possible. I hope we did a good job.
It's always fun to see friends that you haven't seen for a while. At times you don't know how it will go. I was pretty sure it would go well and it did. It was as if no time had passed and that's as good as one can hope for, like we'd been doing things together for all the in between years. Again I know I am blessed.
And the kids had a great time too. They were well behaved and played outside a lot. They watched some TV in the evenings but during the day they used their imaginations. It's a thing of beauty. This is the first trip we've taken where we didn't bring any toys. They didn't need them.
So I will call this one a complete success. We're now 20 minutes from home and there's hardly been a cross word for almost 8 hours. Bob said he thoroughly enjoyed himself and feels relaxed. It usually takes him a week to really wind down. This time it was a couple days. Thanks again Anne and Wayne, we love you guys and your beautiful place. Let's not wait 10 years again.
Our long time friends, the Thompsons, had invited us the first time about 10 years ago when the house was built. Due to babies being born and then, well, being babies it was too tough. And it's about 8 hours from our house with only a couple stops. Given that I have been travel training the kids for the last couple years, I felt they were ready.
From Fossil it was about 6.5 hours.....piece of cake. We arrived at about 7 on the 3rd and were greeted with open arms. Man, it has been too long! To our surprise their daughter Nicole was there. The last time we saw her she was about 10, she's a Sophomore at WSU now. Time flies! We got settled a bit, had a bite to eat and went to see some fireworks. What fun.
Over the next couple days we did all the lake stuff. We went out on the boat and pulled the kids on an float thing. Sophia and Kees spent very little time in the boat since they were dragged behind the boat almost the entire time. Kees kept wanting to go faster and Sophia was right there with him. Coulter was beaming as the "captain" of the ship. Wayne was great with him and let him steer all the way across the lake. So cool. My babies were so happy and Bob and I got a real charge out of watching them. Anne talked about when Nicole was younger and had many of her summer birthdays on the lake. Lucky girl.
My favorite thing was sitting on the beach at the marina. It was a perfect set up. There was a building with a bar area and bathrooms on the back side. In front of that was a lawn with some lawn chairs and a little sandy beach. There was a creek feeding into the lake and then another beach beyond that. The kids were having a real adventure. They called the further beach Treasure Island. They played so nicely and the adults got to just sit and talk and lay in the sun. Ah peace, quiet and great company. We liked the beach so much that we spent part of each of our 4 days there and he kids were equally as happy each day. That makes life much easier.
Another one of the kids favorite things was riding the 4 wheelers. We could get all 5 of us on 2 ATVs. Bob scouted out the trails and then we all went for a ride. The first time was great. We figured out a few trails, ran through a few puddles and even got stuck in some deep mud. Coulter got a little nervous but he didn't know that his mama has been stuck in the mud 4 wheeling before. I rocked it out and we were off and running again.
The second day out we decided to see some things that Anne had recommended. Wayne gave us a map, got us oriented and they set us free. We saw a cool old growth forest. Cool trees, unfortunately it was also the ULTIMATE mosquito habitat. We read all the information markers at lightening speed while hopping around and slapping each other. It was comical. Next we went up the mountain for a beautiful view. It doesn't get any better. Blue skies, 75 degrees and peace and quiet. Nature at it's best.
Each evening we had cocktails out on the deck. The view was amazing with the lake below and the mountains beyond that. Heaven. Anne and Wayne were so gracious and generous. We are extremely blessed to have such great friends in our lives.
Anne and Wayne were gracious enough to let us stay at their place for a couple nights on our own. The first night we let the kids watch a movie while we read outside. The second night there was a big storm. We raced around and brought in all the fabric stuff and watched it roll by. It was powerful and beautiful at the same time. The power went out....for 3 hours. It came back on, the kids cheered, another storm came and it went out again 5 minutes later. The kids groaned. No sweat. We played ping pong in dimming light and then drew pictures. Bob and I read and the went to bed. So relaxing.
Today we packed up, cleaned up and set our sights on home. The kids and I have been gone almost a month. We tried to be good stewards and leave everything as clean as possible. I hope we did a good job.
It's always fun to see friends that you haven't seen for a while. At times you don't know how it will go. I was pretty sure it would go well and it did. It was as if no time had passed and that's as good as one can hope for, like we'd been doing things together for all the in between years. Again I know I am blessed.
And the kids had a great time too. They were well behaved and played outside a lot. They watched some TV in the evenings but during the day they used their imaginations. It's a thing of beauty. This is the first trip we've taken where we didn't bring any toys. They didn't need them.
So I will call this one a complete success. We're now 20 minutes from home and there's hardly been a cross word for almost 8 hours. Bob said he thoroughly enjoyed himself and feels relaxed. It usually takes him a week to really wind down. This time it was a couple days. Thanks again Anne and Wayne, we love you guys and your beautiful place. Let's not wait 10 years again.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Happy Times in Fossil
We are in full swing at the Wheeler County Bluegrass Festival. Day two started with an all you can eat breakfast with the whole family (Bob got here safely) benefiting a local scholarship fund. It was a good cause.
We puttered around camp making sure all our food was out of the sun for the day. Coulter and I got in a shower which was obviously really needed. The moment the water hit Coulter it turned into mud....seriously. It's amazing how much dirt can be held on a 7 year old boy.
At 10 am the kids all went to the Chick's Kid's Workshop. I had to wind around town to get around the classic car show that was going on on Main Street. This is a busy place for such a small town. I finally got them to the right place. I went back to the base camp to collect our stuff and Bob for the day and then went to the stage area.
Bob and I had a little time so we hit a yard sale and checked out the classic cars. We couldn't be gone too long because the kids were performing at 12:30. Sophia and Coulter were in a band with Clara and Marshall. Kees was too "shy." They named their band Red Tiger Bazooka. They had 3 songs worked out and started out with Old McDonald's Farm. All went well until Coulter had a guitar solo. He felt the pressure, panicked and melted down on stage. My poor baby covered his face and was crying. I had to go rescue him. The show went on but they couldn't do the third piece with out Coulter. He just couldn't do it.
Now the song writing contest was in question. Coulter was instrumental in writing their song, Butterflies in Fossil and Clara said she couldn't do it without him. After a bit of encouragement and reminding him he didn't have to play the guitar he agreed to do it. Everyone was relieved and excited to perform. Even Kees. That's something new.
At 1:45 the song writing contest began and our group, The Baked Leeks, was on first. The group consisted of all our kids and both the Baker kids. They performed very well. It was awesome watching them all. I was beaming. There were 9 songs performed and then the voting began. Votes were cast by giving a dollar to the collector for the group. Voting went on for about 15 minutes. When the tally was done OUR KIDS WON! 56 "votes" and they got to split it 4 ways. Clara figured Marshall was being paid for other stuff so he was just back up. The kids were ecstatic. They won, THEY WON. It was also good, especially for the boys, as they had spent most of their money at the little museum across from the stage.
Coulter had gone from utter sadness and the feeling of failure to complete jubilation and felt full of success. What a lesson. When you fail, get up and try again.
Since then the kids have been back to the museum to spend their winnings. They've been playing with the other festival kids and having a blast. The adults have been just hanging out, watching bands and relaxing. It's awesome. I can definitely see us doing this again.
We puttered around camp making sure all our food was out of the sun for the day. Coulter and I got in a shower which was obviously really needed. The moment the water hit Coulter it turned into mud....seriously. It's amazing how much dirt can be held on a 7 year old boy.
At 10 am the kids all went to the Chick's Kid's Workshop. I had to wind around town to get around the classic car show that was going on on Main Street. This is a busy place for such a small town. I finally got them to the right place. I went back to the base camp to collect our stuff and Bob for the day and then went to the stage area.
Bob and I had a little time so we hit a yard sale and checked out the classic cars. We couldn't be gone too long because the kids were performing at 12:30. Sophia and Coulter were in a band with Clara and Marshall. Kees was too "shy." They named their band Red Tiger Bazooka. They had 3 songs worked out and started out with Old McDonald's Farm. All went well until Coulter had a guitar solo. He felt the pressure, panicked and melted down on stage. My poor baby covered his face and was crying. I had to go rescue him. The show went on but they couldn't do the third piece with out Coulter. He just couldn't do it.
Now the song writing contest was in question. Coulter was instrumental in writing their song, Butterflies in Fossil and Clara said she couldn't do it without him. After a bit of encouragement and reminding him he didn't have to play the guitar he agreed to do it. Everyone was relieved and excited to perform. Even Kees. That's something new.
At 1:45 the song writing contest began and our group, The Baked Leeks, was on first. The group consisted of all our kids and both the Baker kids. They performed very well. It was awesome watching them all. I was beaming. There were 9 songs performed and then the voting began. Votes were cast by giving a dollar to the collector for the group. Voting went on for about 15 minutes. When the tally was done OUR KIDS WON! 56 "votes" and they got to split it 4 ways. Clara figured Marshall was being paid for other stuff so he was just back up. The kids were ecstatic. They won, THEY WON. It was also good, especially for the boys, as they had spent most of their money at the little museum across from the stage.
Coulter had gone from utter sadness and the feeling of failure to complete jubilation and felt full of success. What a lesson. When you fail, get up and try again.
Since then the kids have been back to the museum to spend their winnings. They've been playing with the other festival kids and having a blast. The adults have been just hanging out, watching bands and relaxing. It's awesome. I can definitely see us doing this again.
Fossil
Fossil
I like Bluegrass, always have but I've never been involved. Our friends the Bauer-Baker Family has been pickin' and a grinnin' for many years. They introduced us to Chick Rose who Sophia took a few lessons from before he passed away in March. All this information is leading up to the fact that we're in Fossil Oregon at The Wheeler County Bluegrass Festival.
We've been planning this for a log time. The kids, dog and I, along with Joleen (their dog), Rebecca and Clara packed up and headed to Fossil on Thursday afternoon. I have a big habit of trying to get a good spot wherever I go. Part of getting a good spot is getting there ahead of the crowd.
We homesteaded a great spot up on a bluff above the county fair grounds. It was at the end of the road so we were sure to have very little traffic. This is great for kids and dogs. And to Sophia's delight there were horses in our back yard and cows in the front yard. The boys thought that was cool but weren't as enamored. They all were running around......free if you will. The 3 adults (Clara is now included in this mix) set up camp. When I could hold Fia's attention long enough she helped too but really, there were horses that required her attention.
After a few hours of set up with a brief pause to acquire ice and, ahem, cold beer we were set up. A few more people joined us, we had a little "dinner" and a bit of music. While the weather was perfect at 75 and clear during the day, by 10 pm it felt like 10 below. We were freezing. It was bed time.
Everyone brushed their teeth and then froze for a few hours in their sleeping bags. Sophia, who insisted on having her own tent, lasted about an hour. The next thing I know she's coming in the tent with her sleeping bag and the dog. "Mom, I'm freezing." I laid her down with me, covered her with my sleeping bag and her's and snuggled with her. She was out in a matter of minutes. What seemed like 10 minutes later Coulter came over. "Climb in." It was crowded.
We survived the night and got up at about 8:00. We had a bit to eat, hung out around camp and even got a shower in. Luxury. Again the temperatures soared and we hung out under the shade tent. The kids ran around free. Sophia met the county princess who was riding her horse in the parade preceding the festival opening. Oh bliss, a horse friend.
Clara was on her game and was teaching all my kids to play guitar. Coulter says he's hooked. Coulter and Clara eventually wrote a song about Fossil. It was such fun watching them in the tent being creative. Clara would play and they'd make up lyrics and Coulter would write them down. Man that makes my heart smile. Eventually Kees and Sophia helped write too. Later it was Sophia's turn to learn a little guitar. They were on the lawn waiting for festivities to begin. Sophia learned a few things and was beaming.
As I sit here writing I am planted in front of the main (only) stage. The first band is playing, we're in the shade with a little breeze and again the kids are exploring downtown Fossil and the Wheeler County Museum.....I think. They're around someplace. This is a happy place, a great experience and we're all having a fine time. And best of all we have 2 days left AND Bob joins us tonight.
I like Bluegrass, always have but I've never been involved. Our friends the Bauer-Baker Family has been pickin' and a grinnin' for many years. They introduced us to Chick Rose who Sophia took a few lessons from before he passed away in March. All this information is leading up to the fact that we're in Fossil Oregon at The Wheeler County Bluegrass Festival.
We've been planning this for a log time. The kids, dog and I, along with Joleen (their dog), Rebecca and Clara packed up and headed to Fossil on Thursday afternoon. I have a big habit of trying to get a good spot wherever I go. Part of getting a good spot is getting there ahead of the crowd.
We homesteaded a great spot up on a bluff above the county fair grounds. It was at the end of the road so we were sure to have very little traffic. This is great for kids and dogs. And to Sophia's delight there were horses in our back yard and cows in the front yard. The boys thought that was cool but weren't as enamored. They all were running around......free if you will. The 3 adults (Clara is now included in this mix) set up camp. When I could hold Fia's attention long enough she helped too but really, there were horses that required her attention.
After a few hours of set up with a brief pause to acquire ice and, ahem, cold beer we were set up. A few more people joined us, we had a little "dinner" and a bit of music. While the weather was perfect at 75 and clear during the day, by 10 pm it felt like 10 below. We were freezing. It was bed time.
Everyone brushed their teeth and then froze for a few hours in their sleeping bags. Sophia, who insisted on having her own tent, lasted about an hour. The next thing I know she's coming in the tent with her sleeping bag and the dog. "Mom, I'm freezing." I laid her down with me, covered her with my sleeping bag and her's and snuggled with her. She was out in a matter of minutes. What seemed like 10 minutes later Coulter came over. "Climb in." It was crowded.
We survived the night and got up at about 8:00. We had a bit to eat, hung out around camp and even got a shower in. Luxury. Again the temperatures soared and we hung out under the shade tent. The kids ran around free. Sophia met the county princess who was riding her horse in the parade preceding the festival opening. Oh bliss, a horse friend.
Clara was on her game and was teaching all my kids to play guitar. Coulter says he's hooked. Coulter and Clara eventually wrote a song about Fossil. It was such fun watching them in the tent being creative. Clara would play and they'd make up lyrics and Coulter would write them down. Man that makes my heart smile. Eventually Kees and Sophia helped write too. Later it was Sophia's turn to learn a little guitar. They were on the lawn waiting for festivities to begin. Sophia learned a few things and was beaming.
As I sit here writing I am planted in front of the main (only) stage. The first band is playing, we're in the shade with a little breeze and again the kids are exploring downtown Fossil and the Wheeler County Museum.....I think. They're around someplace. This is a happy place, a great experience and we're all having a fine time. And best of all we have 2 days left AND Bob joins us tonight.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
There and Back
I posted about our drive down to the Bay Area and how fabulous that was. Then we got there and I was too busy to blog. I’ll try to catch up here.
We arrived in Martinez around 1 pm on Friday. Sarah got to meet Nancy and Dave which was nice. They’re all such good friends of mine. The kids played a bit and then I had to take the Klines to the BART. They still had a couple hours to go to meet with their family. I was sad to see them go. We had so much fun together.
When I got back to the house the kids were in the pool….of course. Nancy and I plotted out some food for the week and we hung out. We hung out for almost 2 days. Saturday was a total sloth fest. I put on my swim suit and hung out all day in it. What I did not know is that the back was wearing out and you could see my posterior. Sorry for that Dave. We played Words with Friends a lot! It was great, I never get to do that.
By Sunday afternoon I figured they could use a break. Their kids are grown and they lead a pretty quiet life when we’re not there. I Yelped….love that….and found a Jump Sky High and a movie that we could go to. We did both. Happy Father’s Day Dave. We were gone for about 5 hours.
On Monday we went into The City. Anyone who has lived in San Francisco knows it is THE CITY. We drove in since we were going to be where parking was free or cheap. Our first stop was The California Academy of Science. We spent all day there. There was a lizard and snake exhibit going on. One of the coolest things we saw there was the animatronic snake from the movie Anaconda. It was amazing. We did the snakes and lizards, lunch, Rainforest, aquariums, living roof, penguins, Africa and finally the planetarium. That was a very cool show about the creation of the earth. What a great way to start our city adventures.
That evening we went to Chinatown. It’s the kid’s favorite place in the city. We did a little shopping, had dinner at the place we always have dinner (great location, bad food) and then played in the little park. Such fun and great people watching. And to top it off the parking was free. Go figure. We stayed out until 10:30.
The next day we went to the Exploratorium. It, as always, was GREAT! We love that place and spent the better part of the day there. The one improvement we made to our day was packing food. We spent over $100 on two mediocre meals the day before.
When we all couldn’t stand to be hungry any more we left and went to the Golden Gate Park for a picnic. We dined in front of the Conservatory of Flowers. It was a perfect day. We went to purchase tickets to the conservatory but….THEY CLOSED. Damn, the first thing to go south. We decided to go on a little hike / adventure. Each one of the kids took a turn leading the way. They really thought we were on an adventure. We did come across 2 “camps” and one group of people smoking pot in the woods. Gotta love it.
For dinner we went to Yet Wah, a favorite place from when I was a kid. And it was just as great as I remember. The kids agreed. The food was good, abundant and half the price of the place in Chinatown. Again we were out until about 10.
On Wednesday, day 3 in The City, we went to Alcatraz. We rode the BART in because parking down at the waterfront is about $10 per hour. We packed a lunch and headed out. They’ve changed things a lot since the last time I was there in the 70’s. The kids loved it and learned a lot. It’s been cleaned up a lot so it’s not quite as creepy as I remembered it. The self guided tour is quite good. It was strange to pause the recording because it was so quiet. Everyone was listening and moving slowly. We made the last boat out. This was unfortunate because we were going to try and be home for dinner….ah, that wasn’t going to happen. The web site says allow an hour and a half, we took a total of 3 and a half hours and that was pushing it.
We made it home by about 8:30. Dang it. It was frustrating for all of us. We had dinner and the kids went to bed. Nancy and I talked a bit. She was missing us. If we were going to be visiting, we should visit. I was trying to keep the kids out of their hair but apparently they didn’t mind the kids. As a matter of fact, Nancy was missing us. Fair enough, we would plant ourselves for the next couple days.
Thursday was spent in the pool. Nancy and I hung out. Again, it was really relaxing. We planned for the next day. Sarah and her daughter would be joining us for a little cocktail party and the night. Nancy has a neighbor that I love. His name is Tim and he’s been married for 40 years, has 3 grown daughters and is gay. Apparently he doesn’t know that. If he’s not gay then he needs to take a serious look at the way he projects himself. He is so funny and has lots of great stories. He and his wife, who I would not want to meet in a dark ally, came over for drinks and snacks. We swam and laughed a lot. Sarah immediately picked up on the fact that Tim is gay. The next day she kept singing, “I just gotta be ME!!!” on our ride home. The evening was a success. We stayed up late talking. It was nice for Nancy and Sarah to get to know each other a bit. They’re both such good friends of mine and they both grew up in Connecticut. Hummm.
Saturday morning we all got up got packed and said our good byes by 9:30. I could have stayed another week! The weather was perfect the whole time. I needed sun so badly. I didn’t realize how badly until about day 4 when I started to feel like myself again. And we were off. About an hour into our drive Nancy called. She told me that the kids had packed Dave’s computer bag….CRAP! We stopped in Redding and shipped it back FedEx. There’s $72 I’ll never get back but what are you gunna do? I needed to make sure it got there fast.
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. It took 12 hours with one FedEx stop, 8 potty breaks and an hour to run around at lunch. The kids were fabulous again. They did a few hours of books on tape and finally movies.
All in all is was a very successful trip. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
We arrived in Martinez around 1 pm on Friday. Sarah got to meet Nancy and Dave which was nice. They’re all such good friends of mine. The kids played a bit and then I had to take the Klines to the BART. They still had a couple hours to go to meet with their family. I was sad to see them go. We had so much fun together.
When I got back to the house the kids were in the pool….of course. Nancy and I plotted out some food for the week and we hung out. We hung out for almost 2 days. Saturday was a total sloth fest. I put on my swim suit and hung out all day in it. What I did not know is that the back was wearing out and you could see my posterior. Sorry for that Dave. We played Words with Friends a lot! It was great, I never get to do that.
By Sunday afternoon I figured they could use a break. Their kids are grown and they lead a pretty quiet life when we’re not there. I Yelped….love that….and found a Jump Sky High and a movie that we could go to. We did both. Happy Father’s Day Dave. We were gone for about 5 hours.
On Monday we went into The City. Anyone who has lived in San Francisco knows it is THE CITY. We drove in since we were going to be where parking was free or cheap. Our first stop was The California Academy of Science. We spent all day there. There was a lizard and snake exhibit going on. One of the coolest things we saw there was the animatronic snake from the movie Anaconda. It was amazing. We did the snakes and lizards, lunch, Rainforest, aquariums, living roof, penguins, Africa and finally the planetarium. That was a very cool show about the creation of the earth. What a great way to start our city adventures.
That evening we went to Chinatown. It’s the kid’s favorite place in the city. We did a little shopping, had dinner at the place we always have dinner (great location, bad food) and then played in the little park. Such fun and great people watching. And to top it off the parking was free. Go figure. We stayed out until 10:30.
The next day we went to the Exploratorium. It, as always, was GREAT! We love that place and spent the better part of the day there. The one improvement we made to our day was packing food. We spent over $100 on two mediocre meals the day before.
When we all couldn’t stand to be hungry any more we left and went to the Golden Gate Park for a picnic. We dined in front of the Conservatory of Flowers. It was a perfect day. We went to purchase tickets to the conservatory but….THEY CLOSED. Damn, the first thing to go south. We decided to go on a little hike / adventure. Each one of the kids took a turn leading the way. They really thought we were on an adventure. We did come across 2 “camps” and one group of people smoking pot in the woods. Gotta love it.
For dinner we went to Yet Wah, a favorite place from when I was a kid. And it was just as great as I remember. The kids agreed. The food was good, abundant and half the price of the place in Chinatown. Again we were out until about 10.
On Wednesday, day 3 in The City, we went to Alcatraz. We rode the BART in because parking down at the waterfront is about $10 per hour. We packed a lunch and headed out. They’ve changed things a lot since the last time I was there in the 70’s. The kids loved it and learned a lot. It’s been cleaned up a lot so it’s not quite as creepy as I remembered it. The self guided tour is quite good. It was strange to pause the recording because it was so quiet. Everyone was listening and moving slowly. We made the last boat out. This was unfortunate because we were going to try and be home for dinner….ah, that wasn’t going to happen. The web site says allow an hour and a half, we took a total of 3 and a half hours and that was pushing it.
We made it home by about 8:30. Dang it. It was frustrating for all of us. We had dinner and the kids went to bed. Nancy and I talked a bit. She was missing us. If we were going to be visiting, we should visit. I was trying to keep the kids out of their hair but apparently they didn’t mind the kids. As a matter of fact, Nancy was missing us. Fair enough, we would plant ourselves for the next couple days.
Thursday was spent in the pool. Nancy and I hung out. Again, it was really relaxing. We planned for the next day. Sarah and her daughter would be joining us for a little cocktail party and the night. Nancy has a neighbor that I love. His name is Tim and he’s been married for 40 years, has 3 grown daughters and is gay. Apparently he doesn’t know that. If he’s not gay then he needs to take a serious look at the way he projects himself. He is so funny and has lots of great stories. He and his wife, who I would not want to meet in a dark ally, came over for drinks and snacks. We swam and laughed a lot. Sarah immediately picked up on the fact that Tim is gay. The next day she kept singing, “I just gotta be ME!!!” on our ride home. The evening was a success. We stayed up late talking. It was nice for Nancy and Sarah to get to know each other a bit. They’re both such good friends of mine and they both grew up in Connecticut. Hummm.
Saturday morning we all got up got packed and said our good byes by 9:30. I could have stayed another week! The weather was perfect the whole time. I needed sun so badly. I didn’t realize how badly until about day 4 when I started to feel like myself again. And we were off. About an hour into our drive Nancy called. She told me that the kids had packed Dave’s computer bag….CRAP! We stopped in Redding and shipped it back FedEx. There’s $72 I’ll never get back but what are you gunna do? I needed to make sure it got there fast.
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. It took 12 hours with one FedEx stop, 8 potty breaks and an hour to run around at lunch. The kids were fabulous again. They did a few hours of books on tape and finally movies.
All in all is was a very successful trip. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Monday, June 20, 2011
California Dreamin'
Schooooollll zzzzout for the summah.... schoooollll zzzzout for evah. School got out on Tuesday, June 14th. We had a pretty good year but I can tell you this. We're going to have a fun summer.
First on the docket is SAN FRANCISCO. The past two years the kids and I have been in San Francisco in late August. This year my pal Sarah asked if we would want to drive down together in June. That sounded like fun. We planned this starting in like....February. We moved it a little forward, a little back and settled on June 16th. That gave us a full day to enjoy summer at home. Yep, that was enough. The weather sucked and it didn't in California.
We packed up on Wednesday night and told the Klines we'd pick them up at 9. I packed as if we were going to the Amazon. Because as anyone knows there are no clothing stores in the Bay Area or places to get snacks between Portland and San Francisco. This on top of the fact that I KNOW Sarah will pack tons of snacks too. But still I pack, pack, pack.
The kids and I are in the car by 8:45 and have everything ready to go with the Kline’s luggage loaded by 9:15. That’s pretty good in my book. With everything and everyone loaded we looked like the Clampetts. We were a total of 7 people, about 14 bags, coolers and back packs. Sarah said, “We may look like the Clampetts but we have better snacks!” Lord knows that’s right.
Our goal was to have the kids listen to books on tape instead of watching movies. They turn into total loons when they have watched TV all day. That, and with 5 kids it would be hard to satisfy all their wants as far as video entertainment.
The kids listened to Geronimo Stilton for a total of almost 7 hours. Seriously…. We fed them snacks, stopped when someone had to go to the bathroom and stopped at a play land place for a snack but other than that those kids were packed into the car for more than 8 hours. I miss calculated how far one of the play places was and we had to go forever!!!! And there wasn’t ONE complaint. Not one. After we hadn’t had a real meal in 5+ hours someone asked, “Are we gunna eat soon?” but that was it.
When we arrived in Redding California we needed a place to stay. We Yelped and figured Motel 6 would be good enough. When we pulled into the parking lot I took a wrong turn and ended up in the Red Lion Parking lot. While I was there I figured I could take a look. The rate was very reasonable and it included a full breakfast. SOLD!!!! The kids were really excited. A real hotel!
Everyone helped to unload and then it was into bathing suits. We were off to the pool and Sarah had a little surprise….SCOTCH!!!. Yippie! The kids all played in the pool, we chatted, made a plan for dinner and talked about the trip so far. Sarah said that she didn’t think that the kids would last with the books but that she was sold on the idea. She was pretty happy about how they were all behaving. After almost 2 hours in the pool it was dinner time.
We ordered take out from the Applebee’s across the street. When we brought it back the kids were finally plunked down in front of a movie with their dinner. After 10 minutes they finished their food and were bored with the movie so they came out on the lawn behind our room and ran around with flashlights. Lord knows what they were looking for but they sure had a great time doing it. Sarah and I sat out having another scotch and were so proud of our smalls. They were all being so fabulous, friendly with each other and just generally great. It was amazing.
We finally put them in bed around 11:30. Breakfast was then next time we got together. It was pretty good and everyone was happy with their food. We packed up and hit the road again by about 9:30. Again, more books on tape and happy smalls. Ahh, I love these little travelers.
We only had one potty break and everyone got out and ran around. So great. We arrived at my friend Nancy’s house around lunch time. All the kids got out, helped unload and then ran around for about a half hour. Sarah and Nancy got to talk a bit and get to know each other a little. Then I had to take Sarah and her kids to the BART for the next leg of their trip. They were off to the South of the city.
That was our trip down…. So far so good and we have amazing little travelers. I couldn’t be prouder of all 5 of our kids.
First on the docket is SAN FRANCISCO. The past two years the kids and I have been in San Francisco in late August. This year my pal Sarah asked if we would want to drive down together in June. That sounded like fun. We planned this starting in like....February. We moved it a little forward, a little back and settled on June 16th. That gave us a full day to enjoy summer at home. Yep, that was enough. The weather sucked and it didn't in California.
We packed up on Wednesday night and told the Klines we'd pick them up at 9. I packed as if we were going to the Amazon. Because as anyone knows there are no clothing stores in the Bay Area or places to get snacks between Portland and San Francisco. This on top of the fact that I KNOW Sarah will pack tons of snacks too. But still I pack, pack, pack.
The kids and I are in the car by 8:45 and have everything ready to go with the Kline’s luggage loaded by 9:15. That’s pretty good in my book. With everything and everyone loaded we looked like the Clampetts. We were a total of 7 people, about 14 bags, coolers and back packs. Sarah said, “We may look like the Clampetts but we have better snacks!” Lord knows that’s right.
Our goal was to have the kids listen to books on tape instead of watching movies. They turn into total loons when they have watched TV all day. That, and with 5 kids it would be hard to satisfy all their wants as far as video entertainment.
The kids listened to Geronimo Stilton for a total of almost 7 hours. Seriously…. We fed them snacks, stopped when someone had to go to the bathroom and stopped at a play land place for a snack but other than that those kids were packed into the car for more than 8 hours. I miss calculated how far one of the play places was and we had to go forever!!!! And there wasn’t ONE complaint. Not one. After we hadn’t had a real meal in 5+ hours someone asked, “Are we gunna eat soon?” but that was it.
When we arrived in Redding California we needed a place to stay. We Yelped and figured Motel 6 would be good enough. When we pulled into the parking lot I took a wrong turn and ended up in the Red Lion Parking lot. While I was there I figured I could take a look. The rate was very reasonable and it included a full breakfast. SOLD!!!! The kids were really excited. A real hotel!
Everyone helped to unload and then it was into bathing suits. We were off to the pool and Sarah had a little surprise….SCOTCH!!!. Yippie! The kids all played in the pool, we chatted, made a plan for dinner and talked about the trip so far. Sarah said that she didn’t think that the kids would last with the books but that she was sold on the idea. She was pretty happy about how they were all behaving. After almost 2 hours in the pool it was dinner time.
We ordered take out from the Applebee’s across the street. When we brought it back the kids were finally plunked down in front of a movie with their dinner. After 10 minutes they finished their food and were bored with the movie so they came out on the lawn behind our room and ran around with flashlights. Lord knows what they were looking for but they sure had a great time doing it. Sarah and I sat out having another scotch and were so proud of our smalls. They were all being so fabulous, friendly with each other and just generally great. It was amazing.
We finally put them in bed around 11:30. Breakfast was then next time we got together. It was pretty good and everyone was happy with their food. We packed up and hit the road again by about 9:30. Again, more books on tape and happy smalls. Ahh, I love these little travelers.
We only had one potty break and everyone got out and ran around. So great. We arrived at my friend Nancy’s house around lunch time. All the kids got out, helped unload and then ran around for about a half hour. Sarah and Nancy got to talk a bit and get to know each other a little. Then I had to take Sarah and her kids to the BART for the next leg of their trip. They were off to the South of the city.
That was our trip down…. So far so good and we have amazing little travelers. I couldn’t be prouder of all 5 of our kids.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Too Damn Long
Yes, it's been too damn long since I posted. I kind of revolted this past December. I refused to do our annual Christmas Party, I bought fewer gifts for everyone, we didn't entertain much and I generally refused to be over worked. Christmas is for everyone including me. Usually I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to make everyone else happy thus stressing myself out totally. Not this year, not this time. I took a year off essentially. There was still a lot to do and a lot to think over. Christmas is busy no matter how you do it.
We did the Polar Express and Hood River on the first weekend of December. That was great fun but I did blog about that.
Sophia had a few performances in December. Her choir performed a few times. Two times at a retirement facility. The retirees have a choir and the kids came in to sing a couple songs with them. It was very cute. Sophia warned me before we went to the retirement home, "Mom, some of the people will be in wheel chairs." Ahh, yeah, I was pretty sure that some would be. She didn't want me to be shocked. Needless to say, I wasn't.
They also sang at the zoo during Zoo Lights. I did not get the following warning, "Mom, there will be some animals at the zoo." I was shocked, there WERE animals. I am pretty sure having the kids sing at the zoo is the zoo's way of getting bodies in the door. It was rainy and cold but we went and had a great time, elephant ears and all.
Next she was in "My Oregon Report" the 4th grade play. She was, wait for it, wait for it......the "Know-It-All." It just comes so naturally. Where ever did she get that? It must skip a generation. Mom and Ed made the trek down for the show. Rex and Tina came too. Greg and Rebecca showed up too. She had quite the fan turn out. The show was adorable. The kids were great and really excited. For the little kids it's like Broadway. For Sophia and her pals it was like being on Broadway. We were thrilled, as always, to have mom and Ed come for the show.
We attended a couple Christmas Parties. The first one was a family party at the Stewarts. They live near Peacock Lane. It's the local row of houses that decorates for the holiday. Cars and people line up to walk or drive the street. Personally, I don't find it that interesting but the kids love it and the longer I have these kids the more it is affirmed and confirmed that it is NOT ABOUT ME. Bob walked the kids down to Peacock Lane, I stayed behind to guard the house with a couple other moms.
The second Christmas Party was at Bob's boss's condo and was all his work friends. A couple days before the party 2 separate people came up to Bob and went through a whole story about how Susan, Bob's boss, wanted him to dress up as an elf. Bob was confused about the whole thing and said, "No, Susan had not mentioned this to him." Well of course we figured out it was a joke but we decided to follow through. I rented a giant elf suit and he showed up in it. Now there is a confident man. It was hilarious. Everyone got their picture with the giant elf. Eventually he changed into his regular clothes but then some late comers showed up so back on went the elf costume.
I attended a brunch at my friend Karmen's house. She is so sweet and had a white elephant gift exchange but she supplied all the gifts. We played a game to get to know everyone. Everyone was apprehensive about the game but of course, it was fun.
School was out for the whole week before Christmas. It was a fairly calm time with the kids. Bob took off work from December 22nd to January 3rd. It’s so nice to have him home when the kids are off. It took a while for him to get in the groove of our daily life but once he did it was all good.
Mom and Ed came back on the 23rd and stayed until the 27th. We had a really nice time. While they were here we went to the Nutcracker with all 3 kids. They boys had never been before. It was the last performance of the Nutcracker for the season so it was at noon on the 24th. I was a little nervous that the boys wouldn’t make it through the whole thing. Instead, they loved it! I think they may have cut it down a bit or at least it seemed shorter. Perhaps it was because it was so entertaining. I have seen the Nutcracker no less then10 times, probably closer to 15. Anyway, it is by far the best production of the Nutcracker I have ever seen. The sets were beautiful and the dancing was amazing. I have NEVER said that about the Nutcracker before. The snow fairies had a snow ball fight that was both funny and beautiful. Hard to describe for sure.
Rex and Tina joined us for Christmas Eve dinner. It’s always fun when we can all get together. Christmas morning was craziness as always. There was a bit less than usual but it was totally fine and the kids didn’t seem to notice. I hope to stay on this same trajectory for the next few years. The kids don’t “need” anything. We had a nice day and then went to dinner at the Wang’s and shared dinner with the Klines as well. It was such a nice dinner and the company was great. I love my friends so much and am continually grateful for my neighborhood, community and my amazing set of friends. That truly is the greatest gift of all.
The next couple days were fairly casual. The last day Ed felt the need to get home. They were out of town for 3 months until the end of November. To be gone for another long stint was just too much. He headed home and Mom stayed behind for the day. It was a drizzly day and the kids were jazzed to go to the zoo. We went a couple years ago when it was cold and rainy out and we loved it. The animals were out and the people were not. Perfect! As before, the animals were out. We had a really nice time and then spent a quiet afternoon at home until I took mom to the train station. It’s really nice to have the train as an option. It’s a nice ride and only about $30. We enjoyed having them here for the holiday.
The 28th and 29th was Horse Camp! Sophia got Horse Camp as one of her big gifts. Coulter and Kees had wanted to go but the camp was fairly full and Kees, he’s just not quite there. Sophia went on her own on the 28th. When I got there they said there was room for Coulter. Well I wasn’t going to go back and get him now but tomorrow? Yes, tomorrow. The following day was his birthday and he got to go to Horse Camp. He loved it! Sophia said he did really well, and she should know, she’s the “expert.”
We picked them up from Horse Camp and immediately headed to Pump It Up for Coulter’s Birthday Party. Coulter had never had a real birthday party before so this was a big deal. We invited a boat load of kids, about 25. I felt like we were doing our part for the community by providing a place for the kids to get their ya yas out during a cold and rainy time of year. The party was a smashing success and I thought it was the best money I have spent in a long time. No mess, no stress, no clean up, no prep no nothing. We brought a cake and they did the rest. I loved it! When our host said, “Would you like me to write down the kid’s names and what their gift is?” I wanted to kiss him. “Yes, yes I would like that.”
Coulter was so happy. It made me really happy. He was grateful, showed his appreciation and just shined.
To make sure our time was full we, of course, had a plan for the following day….BEACH!!!! Our friends Rebecca and Greg have a beautiful house in Manzanita and I kinda asked if we could come along. I did my best impression of puppy dog eyes and made it clear that we didn’t have plans for the New Years. Rebecca caught right on. It was Greg, Rebecca, Clara, her friend Alice and then our crew. It was great. We spent 3 nights and 4 days there. It was COLD! Like 28 degrees cold when we got there. We had to back track on the way there due to an accident on 26 but we got there safe and sound. Our time there was spent eating too much, reading, playing Scrabble and spending time on the beach.
The first full day we went to Cartem. That is always fun. It’s the local dump, recycling center and on-going flea market. If you can’t find it at Cartem you probably don’t need it. Rebecca, Sophia and I walked back to the house from Cartem. It’s about a mile or two. We had the dogs along and they needed some beach time. Now mind you it’s 28 degrees out and a bit breezy…. Sophia, the loon, took off her shoes and socks and ran around the beach bare foot. What is it with these kids? The last time it was that cold at the beach there was snow and all my kids took off their shoes and socks. They are a different breed for sure. After about a half hour she put them back on letting us know that, “The sand is REALLY cold.” Ahhh, yeah, we know that.
NYE was fun. We had a nice dinner, lots of snacky food and at 8:30 some friends came over with instruments in tow. There was a regular ole jam session going on for 2+ hours. I wished I had spoons or something I could use to participate. Maybe next year. Rebecca made home-made ice cream, the jam session was going on, the Leeks were bopping our heads up and down and everyone had a great time.
NYD was a bit slow in the morning. We all slept in until....at 10:40 Sophia realized that there was only 20 minutes until the Polar Plunge! She ran and got Alice and Clara and they all jumped out of bed, put on their swim gear and hopped in the car. It was a balmy 38 degrees out. Better then the day before. When we arrived at the beach the girls ran off toward the crowd. Rebecca and I were in slippers so we abandon those at the edge of the beach and ran after the girls. They got there with moments to spare. There was a big group photo and then they all, about 150 of them, ran into the water! It was hilarious fun. They all survived and said the sand was the worst part. If that was the worst part I should have done it. My feet were frozen. The girls all said that the water was warmer then the air.
Later Bob and I took a long walk on the beach with the dogs. Half way through the kids decided they wanted to join us. Greg brought them to us along with their bikes. It was almost 50 on the beach and there was only a slight breeze. As it turned out, the kids didn’t want to walk, they wanted to play on the beach. That was fine. They played around a creek and in the dunes. Their shoes were either soaked or off and they had on short sleeves. Again, they don’t get cold! Crazy babies. We all hung out for a couple hours. Then back to the cabin for food and later Rebecca and I took a long walk on the beach to see the sunset. It was an amazing first sunset of 2011.
On our way home Bob and I talked. There was little TV while we were at the beach and the kids were great. We decided that there would be no TV for the month of January. There were some tears about that but if the kids were that emotionally attached to the TV we NEED to remove it. So far, so good. The kids have been fighting less, sleeping in more and have been generally more agreeable. I like it.
We made it home on the 2nd and unpacked. It would have been nice to have some more time at home before Bob had to go back to work but the time at the beach was great too. We unpacked, cleaned up, washed all the sand off and tried to go to bed at a decent hour so everyone would be ready to go back to school. Getting up on the 3rd was tough but we made it to school on time.
It was a fairly straight forward week, Meals on Wheels, school, choir for Fia, play dates for the boys, breakfast with a friend, etc. Then on Thursday Dad and Sally came. They were here to celebrate Coulter’s and Rex’s Birthdays. I made a big dinner and we all gathered around the table yet again. Friday was spent with Dad and Sal shopping at Sur La Table, Powell’s, and antique shopping, then having lunch with Kees.
Sophia skipped school to attend the River City Music Festival with Clara. She was very excited. She went to a kids work shop with Chick Rose. He is an institution in the Blue Grass community and the northwest. After a tough go getting started Sophia had a great time jammin’ with the kids and she was the first soloist of the whole festival! Very exciting to say the least.
We realized, after playing all day, that Sophia had out grown her fiddle so the next day we went and got her a bigger one. Problem was, because we’d been around so much music and blue grassers I had an itch. Kees had an itch too. We BOTH got guitars. I have no idea how to play but we’re going to learn.
Sophia and Coulter have started winter basketball and Bob is coaching Sophia’s team. It is so much fun to see them playing, learning and having fun. The coaches are great and the man who runs the program is amazing. The place they play and practice is only blocks from our house.
And finally, last night, we went out for family karaoke. It was great fun and totally hilarious. There were 5 families that we knew and everyone (most everyone) was singing. There were a few really bad singers a few good ones and most of us just in the middle. My pal Sarah did back up dancing while her son sang. We laughed heartily. She even managed a somersault to which she reported, “The floor is really sticky.” I don’t even want to know…… My friends Mary Ann and Elana rocked it with Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. When the rock part started, Mary Ann was spinning her hair around and shaking her head so hard I thought, “There is no way I would do that.” Today, Mary Ann is saying the same thing. I think she gave herself whiplash. It was worth it though. Again with the laughing…… It was fun. Sophia even got in on the act. Kees and Coulter just hung out on stage watching everyone perform.
So that is my brief of the past month. I have been wanting to blog but got so far behind I couldn’t catch up. I know that was a LONG one but it was all fun stuff. I hope that we have time to breath and that I can write about some other stuff soon. Sophia’s birthday is next week¸ that should be good material.
We did the Polar Express and Hood River on the first weekend of December. That was great fun but I did blog about that.
Sophia had a few performances in December. Her choir performed a few times. Two times at a retirement facility. The retirees have a choir and the kids came in to sing a couple songs with them. It was very cute. Sophia warned me before we went to the retirement home, "Mom, some of the people will be in wheel chairs." Ahh, yeah, I was pretty sure that some would be. She didn't want me to be shocked. Needless to say, I wasn't.
They also sang at the zoo during Zoo Lights. I did not get the following warning, "Mom, there will be some animals at the zoo." I was shocked, there WERE animals. I am pretty sure having the kids sing at the zoo is the zoo's way of getting bodies in the door. It was rainy and cold but we went and had a great time, elephant ears and all.
Next she was in "My Oregon Report" the 4th grade play. She was, wait for it, wait for it......the "Know-It-All." It just comes so naturally. Where ever did she get that? It must skip a generation. Mom and Ed made the trek down for the show. Rex and Tina came too. Greg and Rebecca showed up too. She had quite the fan turn out. The show was adorable. The kids were great and really excited. For the little kids it's like Broadway. For Sophia and her pals it was like being on Broadway. We were thrilled, as always, to have mom and Ed come for the show.
We attended a couple Christmas Parties. The first one was a family party at the Stewarts. They live near Peacock Lane. It's the local row of houses that decorates for the holiday. Cars and people line up to walk or drive the street. Personally, I don't find it that interesting but the kids love it and the longer I have these kids the more it is affirmed and confirmed that it is NOT ABOUT ME. Bob walked the kids down to Peacock Lane, I stayed behind to guard the house with a couple other moms.
The second Christmas Party was at Bob's boss's condo and was all his work friends. A couple days before the party 2 separate people came up to Bob and went through a whole story about how Susan, Bob's boss, wanted him to dress up as an elf. Bob was confused about the whole thing and said, "No, Susan had not mentioned this to him." Well of course we figured out it was a joke but we decided to follow through. I rented a giant elf suit and he showed up in it. Now there is a confident man. It was hilarious. Everyone got their picture with the giant elf. Eventually he changed into his regular clothes but then some late comers showed up so back on went the elf costume.
I attended a brunch at my friend Karmen's house. She is so sweet and had a white elephant gift exchange but she supplied all the gifts. We played a game to get to know everyone. Everyone was apprehensive about the game but of course, it was fun.
School was out for the whole week before Christmas. It was a fairly calm time with the kids. Bob took off work from December 22nd to January 3rd. It’s so nice to have him home when the kids are off. It took a while for him to get in the groove of our daily life but once he did it was all good.
Mom and Ed came back on the 23rd and stayed until the 27th. We had a really nice time. While they were here we went to the Nutcracker with all 3 kids. They boys had never been before. It was the last performance of the Nutcracker for the season so it was at noon on the 24th. I was a little nervous that the boys wouldn’t make it through the whole thing. Instead, they loved it! I think they may have cut it down a bit or at least it seemed shorter. Perhaps it was because it was so entertaining. I have seen the Nutcracker no less then10 times, probably closer to 15. Anyway, it is by far the best production of the Nutcracker I have ever seen. The sets were beautiful and the dancing was amazing. I have NEVER said that about the Nutcracker before. The snow fairies had a snow ball fight that was both funny and beautiful. Hard to describe for sure.
Rex and Tina joined us for Christmas Eve dinner. It’s always fun when we can all get together. Christmas morning was craziness as always. There was a bit less than usual but it was totally fine and the kids didn’t seem to notice. I hope to stay on this same trajectory for the next few years. The kids don’t “need” anything. We had a nice day and then went to dinner at the Wang’s and shared dinner with the Klines as well. It was such a nice dinner and the company was great. I love my friends so much and am continually grateful for my neighborhood, community and my amazing set of friends. That truly is the greatest gift of all.
The next couple days were fairly casual. The last day Ed felt the need to get home. They were out of town for 3 months until the end of November. To be gone for another long stint was just too much. He headed home and Mom stayed behind for the day. It was a drizzly day and the kids were jazzed to go to the zoo. We went a couple years ago when it was cold and rainy out and we loved it. The animals were out and the people were not. Perfect! As before, the animals were out. We had a really nice time and then spent a quiet afternoon at home until I took mom to the train station. It’s really nice to have the train as an option. It’s a nice ride and only about $30. We enjoyed having them here for the holiday.
The 28th and 29th was Horse Camp! Sophia got Horse Camp as one of her big gifts. Coulter and Kees had wanted to go but the camp was fairly full and Kees, he’s just not quite there. Sophia went on her own on the 28th. When I got there they said there was room for Coulter. Well I wasn’t going to go back and get him now but tomorrow? Yes, tomorrow. The following day was his birthday and he got to go to Horse Camp. He loved it! Sophia said he did really well, and she should know, she’s the “expert.”
We picked them up from Horse Camp and immediately headed to Pump It Up for Coulter’s Birthday Party. Coulter had never had a real birthday party before so this was a big deal. We invited a boat load of kids, about 25. I felt like we were doing our part for the community by providing a place for the kids to get their ya yas out during a cold and rainy time of year. The party was a smashing success and I thought it was the best money I have spent in a long time. No mess, no stress, no clean up, no prep no nothing. We brought a cake and they did the rest. I loved it! When our host said, “Would you like me to write down the kid’s names and what their gift is?” I wanted to kiss him. “Yes, yes I would like that.”
Coulter was so happy. It made me really happy. He was grateful, showed his appreciation and just shined.
To make sure our time was full we, of course, had a plan for the following day….BEACH!!!! Our friends Rebecca and Greg have a beautiful house in Manzanita and I kinda asked if we could come along. I did my best impression of puppy dog eyes and made it clear that we didn’t have plans for the New Years. Rebecca caught right on. It was Greg, Rebecca, Clara, her friend Alice and then our crew. It was great. We spent 3 nights and 4 days there. It was COLD! Like 28 degrees cold when we got there. We had to back track on the way there due to an accident on 26 but we got there safe and sound. Our time there was spent eating too much, reading, playing Scrabble and spending time on the beach.
The first full day we went to Cartem. That is always fun. It’s the local dump, recycling center and on-going flea market. If you can’t find it at Cartem you probably don’t need it. Rebecca, Sophia and I walked back to the house from Cartem. It’s about a mile or two. We had the dogs along and they needed some beach time. Now mind you it’s 28 degrees out and a bit breezy…. Sophia, the loon, took off her shoes and socks and ran around the beach bare foot. What is it with these kids? The last time it was that cold at the beach there was snow and all my kids took off their shoes and socks. They are a different breed for sure. After about a half hour she put them back on letting us know that, “The sand is REALLY cold.” Ahhh, yeah, we know that.
NYE was fun. We had a nice dinner, lots of snacky food and at 8:30 some friends came over with instruments in tow. There was a regular ole jam session going on for 2+ hours. I wished I had spoons or something I could use to participate. Maybe next year. Rebecca made home-made ice cream, the jam session was going on, the Leeks were bopping our heads up and down and everyone had a great time.
NYD was a bit slow in the morning. We all slept in until....at 10:40 Sophia realized that there was only 20 minutes until the Polar Plunge! She ran and got Alice and Clara and they all jumped out of bed, put on their swim gear and hopped in the car. It was a balmy 38 degrees out. Better then the day before. When we arrived at the beach the girls ran off toward the crowd. Rebecca and I were in slippers so we abandon those at the edge of the beach and ran after the girls. They got there with moments to spare. There was a big group photo and then they all, about 150 of them, ran into the water! It was hilarious fun. They all survived and said the sand was the worst part. If that was the worst part I should have done it. My feet were frozen. The girls all said that the water was warmer then the air.
Later Bob and I took a long walk on the beach with the dogs. Half way through the kids decided they wanted to join us. Greg brought them to us along with their bikes. It was almost 50 on the beach and there was only a slight breeze. As it turned out, the kids didn’t want to walk, they wanted to play on the beach. That was fine. They played around a creek and in the dunes. Their shoes were either soaked or off and they had on short sleeves. Again, they don’t get cold! Crazy babies. We all hung out for a couple hours. Then back to the cabin for food and later Rebecca and I took a long walk on the beach to see the sunset. It was an amazing first sunset of 2011.
On our way home Bob and I talked. There was little TV while we were at the beach and the kids were great. We decided that there would be no TV for the month of January. There were some tears about that but if the kids were that emotionally attached to the TV we NEED to remove it. So far, so good. The kids have been fighting less, sleeping in more and have been generally more agreeable. I like it.
We made it home on the 2nd and unpacked. It would have been nice to have some more time at home before Bob had to go back to work but the time at the beach was great too. We unpacked, cleaned up, washed all the sand off and tried to go to bed at a decent hour so everyone would be ready to go back to school. Getting up on the 3rd was tough but we made it to school on time.
It was a fairly straight forward week, Meals on Wheels, school, choir for Fia, play dates for the boys, breakfast with a friend, etc. Then on Thursday Dad and Sally came. They were here to celebrate Coulter’s and Rex’s Birthdays. I made a big dinner and we all gathered around the table yet again. Friday was spent with Dad and Sal shopping at Sur La Table, Powell’s, and antique shopping, then having lunch with Kees.
Sophia skipped school to attend the River City Music Festival with Clara. She was very excited. She went to a kids work shop with Chick Rose. He is an institution in the Blue Grass community and the northwest. After a tough go getting started Sophia had a great time jammin’ with the kids and she was the first soloist of the whole festival! Very exciting to say the least.
We realized, after playing all day, that Sophia had out grown her fiddle so the next day we went and got her a bigger one. Problem was, because we’d been around so much music and blue grassers I had an itch. Kees had an itch too. We BOTH got guitars. I have no idea how to play but we’re going to learn.
Sophia and Coulter have started winter basketball and Bob is coaching Sophia’s team. It is so much fun to see them playing, learning and having fun. The coaches are great and the man who runs the program is amazing. The place they play and practice is only blocks from our house.
And finally, last night, we went out for family karaoke. It was great fun and totally hilarious. There were 5 families that we knew and everyone (most everyone) was singing. There were a few really bad singers a few good ones and most of us just in the middle. My pal Sarah did back up dancing while her son sang. We laughed heartily. She even managed a somersault to which she reported, “The floor is really sticky.” I don’t even want to know…… My friends Mary Ann and Elana rocked it with Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. When the rock part started, Mary Ann was spinning her hair around and shaking her head so hard I thought, “There is no way I would do that.” Today, Mary Ann is saying the same thing. I think she gave herself whiplash. It was worth it though. Again with the laughing…… It was fun. Sophia even got in on the act. Kees and Coulter just hung out on stage watching everyone perform.
So that is my brief of the past month. I have been wanting to blog but got so far behind I couldn’t catch up. I know that was a LONG one but it was all fun stuff. I hope that we have time to breath and that I can write about some other stuff soon. Sophia’s birthday is next week¸ that should be good material.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Goin' to the Lodge, The Great Wolf Lodge
Oh, the excitement. Oh, the joy. Oh, what the hell. We are at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound Washington. Yeehaw.
It all started at the school auction last year when I "won" the package. It included a nights stay for up to 7, a $50 gas card and $300 to spend at the GWL. My intent was to come for Coulter's birthday like we have the past 2 years but he informed me that he wants a regular birthday party with his friends. That's reasonable for a 7 year old boy. He may be changing the date of his party to some random date in the future when his friends may be in town. We'll see.
So what to do, what to do..... I know. Sarah and I have talked about taking our kids. All our kids get along, Sarah is so lovely, pragmatic and such a good friend. It all seemed like a good match....and indeed, it has been.
Since the room was covered, Sarah offered to bring the food. There is a half fridge and microwave in each room. It's been nice. I am so used to planning everything that it was quite nice not to have to do that part. The kids had lots of snacks, hot dogs, yogurt etc. and I was spoiled with Thai Food. Love it...
We gave each of the kids $20 for whatever they wanted so we didn't have to worry about begging for stuff. When they were out, that was it. You want hot chocolate? If you've got the cash fine, if not, too bad. A toy, shirt, ice cream...all the same. That also worked out well. We had a couple savers and the other 3 couldn't leave until their money was gone. Fine. The savers get to keep their money. Great, extras were covered.
We arrived at about 2:30 and had a 20 minute wait in line. The room was ready so we unloaded, organized and went to the water park. We planted ourselves and set up home base so the kids would know where to check in. Sophia and Oliver paired up, Coulter and Kees paired up and Sarah and Charlotte paired up. I got to blog and sit for a while. Nice. Of course that was short lived. Coulter was on a mission to kill me.
When I was looking at dates for this adventure I wanted to make sure it wasn't busy. Who wants to spend their time waiting to slide rather than sliding? NOT ME!!! What I didn't take into consideration was that without a line you don't get to catch your breath. I would run up 95 stairs, immediately hop on a raft and go. I would still be winded when the ride was over just to run up and do it all over again. After about 4 times in a row I told Coulter I couldn't do it anymore. That I needed a break. He laughed. He weighs all of 50 pounds and that's all muscle. So he essentially floats up AND down the slides. Me, not so much. Each time after that he'd come to me and say, "Comon' mom. I'm gunna kill ya." Then he'd giggle and run away. I did more than 1400 stairs while I was there. Not bad for "lil" ole me.
Kees finally is going on the medium slides. The first two times we went to GWL he'd only go in the kiddie pool. If you look below on the left you can see a purple slide. I think Kees has been on that slide about 300 times. He wouldn't get off it last time. This time we went up to try the medium red and yellow slides. Kees was going to ride down with me but they don't allow that any longer. He had to make the decision between going alone or not at all. He was afraid but he went down alone....and he LOVED it. As a matter of fact he ran that loop for about 2-1/2 hours. He had a smile on his face the whole time and didn't notice anything but his loop.
Then there was Sophia. She was a little leery of going with a boy but after she got started, she thought going with Oliver was awesome! He's a great kid who just wants to have fun. She'd say, "Let's go on the Howlin' Tornado." and Oliver would respond, "OK, but then can we go in the wave pool?" Sophia would agree to that plan and off they'd go. It seems that the whole time we were there that is how they got along. There wasn't one cross word between them and that made Sarah and I very happy.
Charlotte and Sarah stayed close to the ground. I did see Sarah go down one of the medium slides that Kees was on so I caught her at the bottom. You'd have thought she went down the Howlin' Tornado by the look on her face. She came down on her back and under water. When she came up she was surprised and proclaimed, "That's it for me." And her water sliding day was over. Sarah is afraid of heights so there was no way she was going up the "big" slides. She'd be sick before she hit the water. Charlotte went down the same slide though I didn't see her immediately following the "ordeal." She seemed content knowing she had done it. She enjoyed the wave pool, hot tub and one of the regular pools. Their water park experience was a bit more sedate than the rest of us.
We were on the slides until about 7 the first night. That gave us about 3+ hours. We all went back to the room and had some dinner. Thai Food for the adults and hot dogs, apples and such for the kids.
After dinner the kids wanted to play Magic Quest. You get a $17 wand and then activate it for another $14 or so. What a bargain. The thing we had going for us is our friend Annette had given us 2 wands so we only needed to pay activation. The two big kids had one wand and the 3 smaller kids had the other. We let the biggers go off on their own. Sarah and I wandered around with the smallers. We went up the stairs, pointed the wand at something that would move and give us the next clue. Then down two flights of stairs with the same routine. Up three flights, point, clue, down one flight, point clue.... You get the picture. HELLO....aren't there enough stairs in the water park? Sheesh... enough already. After about 20 minutes we told the kids they could each have the wand on one floor and point it at everything on the floor to make it do what ever it was it didn't. Essentially, "Let's get out of here." Great! DONE!
Back to the room. A bottle of wine for the mom's and a movie for the smalls. They all lined up on the bottom bunk and watched Harry Potter or something. I think the kids finally got in bed between 10:30 and 11:00. We were all exhausted. I actually slept pretty well which is unusual for a hotel, especially that hotel.
The next morning we all were up at about 8. I laid in bed until 9. Sarah even gave me breakfast in bed while she took the kids to Starbucks....to get coffee and even brought me back one. I could get used to this having a wife stuff. We had some snacks and packed up. Check out is at 11 but you can slide until 10 pm. We loaded the car and divided and conquered. I parked and checked out while Sarah took the kids to the water park. And it starts all over again...Coulter trying to kill me, Sophia and Oliver playing together, Kees on he own personal slides and Sarah and Charlotte in the wave pool and hot tub.
We played for more than 3 hours and then got into dry clothes. The kids played a bit more Magic Quest, went to the gift shop and snacked. We finally rounded everyone up at 3:30 for our road trip home. They all watched movies while Sarah and I chatted.
The kids were all terrific the whole time. The stay was fun, busy but fun. We all ate well and didn't have to buy stuff at the lodge and wholly had a fine time. In my book that was a very successful trip.
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