The Shirelles said it well but they didn't tell us about the days that NO ONE in their right mind would ever warn you about.
Thomas has been out of school this week following an adenoidectomy. That coupled with our recent week of vacation has left our morning routine a little out of practice. I also have a sinus infection which doesn't have me completely down, but has me a little...grumpy.
I arrived at work with two weeks of tasks to cram into six hours. It was also the last day in our office for one of my favorite colleagues. You know that person that you look forward to seeing in the morning because even if you don't interact, it's helpful to know that there's someone else nearby who gets it? Well, that person in my office is now gone, which put a damper on my day as well.
I left the office 90 minutes later than expected and subsequently picked the boys up from school later than expected. I was greeted with the fun facts that Thomas had five bags of unpleasant training pants for me and Andrew had experienced a difficult day because of his inability to let peoples' ears rest.
Not deterred, and because we were completely out of milk, we headed directly to the grocery store. The boys love the store because it's where we buy chocolate chip cookies and because they have Race Carts for the boys to "drive" while we shop. I like the Race Cart because both boys can sit side-by-side, safely away from the floor. The problem with the Race Carts is that they're old and not a single one at our corner store still has both steering wheels, resulting in a twice-weekly jockey for position.
Thomas was tired today and his mood was a bit in the dumper so sharing the steering wheel or allowing Andrew to use it on his own was not sitting well with him. If you don't believe me you can feel free to ask anyone who might have been inside the store with us. They all know.
When we arrived at the checkout the young woman at the register asked the standard, "Was everything alright today?" Because T was still making his feelings about the single-steering device shopping cart known, it seemed like a good time to mention that it would really make my day if they had just one Race Cart that had all of its equipment instead of one steering wheel and the sad stump of where the other one had been.
She and the young man sacking the groceries shared a glance that said a lot. It said they thought I was a lunatic who needed a life. Then, she asked me if I would like to speak to her manager. I assured her that I didn't think that would be necessary but thanked her for the opportunity and suggested that she might mention it to him when she next saw him.
I then headed with my groceries and my screaming toddler and steering wheel-hogging five-year-old back to the cart pickup at the front door to leave the Race Cart inside the store rather than drive it outside because it doesn't fit in the cart corral and I'm thoughtful like that.
I lifted both boys out, gave Andrew a small bag to carry and then lifted out the milk bags for myself. As I picked up the second gallon of milk, life began moving in slow motion and I remembered that my day had been not on-plan, which was about to play out one more time.
As I lifted the bag, I watched the bottom seam separate. It must have taken at least four full minutes to happen. It was excruciating. Then, as the seam separated, the milk fell. Slowly. All. the. way. to. the. ground. A gallon of milk is a lot. The boys were delighted. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me and the stupid race cart which was now dripping with 2%.
Just as I looked up and took half a second to contemplate my next move, the store manager approached me and asked if I was the woman who had an issue with the shopping carts.
Ummm. I was. Now I have an issue with some milk.
He very kindly told me not to worry about the milk and left, despite my protests, to go get another gallon for us. While he was gone Andrew discovered a display of Twinkies and begged for those and then for Ding Dongs and I further wished the tile floor would just eat me.
He returned with the milk, a new bag, and said he had four kids and understood the problem with a bum Race Cart. The store is expanding and I was assured that they would be getting some new carts soon.
We finally got in the car and I did exactly what you're not supposed to do, which is cry over spilt milk. Sometimes milk is a metaphor.
August 29, 2008
The great road trip of '08 - conclusion
You thought I'd never wrap it up but here we are. We headed out on Friday morning at 7:30 from Breckenridge not knowing exactly what our plan would be. We were still in the state of Colorado when we stopped for lunch and we were about to lose an hour which seemed like a bad thing.
The end result is that both boys fell asleep shortly after lunch and slept for a couple of hours, allowing us to make the most of the afternoon. We ended up back in Lawrence by 7:30 that night. Thomas did continue to inform us all day that "I ready go home now" but this time we were able to honestly tell him that's where we were going, which appeased him.
A mountain of laundry later, all any of us can remember are the good parts and we'll readily hop in the car again sometime in 2011.
The end result is that both boys fell asleep shortly after lunch and slept for a couple of hours, allowing us to make the most of the afternoon. We ended up back in Lawrence by 7:30 that night. Thomas did continue to inform us all day that "I ready go home now" but this time we were able to honestly tell him that's where we were going, which appeased him.
A mountain of laundry later, all any of us can remember are the good parts and we'll readily hop in the car again sometime in 2011.
August 28, 2008
The great road trip of '08 - part 4
WEDNESDAY
Wednesday began like every other day - with Jeff preparing breakfast for anyone who would eat. Our friend Quintin jokes about how Jeff is a fighter pilot by day and Martha Stewart by night, but that's just not entirely true. When he's on vacation, he's all the good things about Martha Stewart by day as well. Hungry for eggs? Major Rock is on it. Hungry for toast with butter and honey? Major Rock is on it. Would you like some cream in your coffee. Never fear. Major Rock is in the house.
When we arrived in Breckenridge we learned that the Peak 8 summer activities like the chair lift and alpine slide were closed for renovation. After a trip to the Visitor Center and a little research on our own we decided that Copper Mountain would receive our business for those activities. On Wednesday, right after Jeff fed us all, we loaded up and headed west.
I was nervous about riding the chair lift with Thomas because I wasn't sure how he would react. As anyone who has ever ridden a lift knows, it's a fairly loose kind of system and a loose restraint at best. I was worried he would freak out and we would be left trying to wrangle a panicked toddler 50 feet off the ground all the way to the top. Steph and Jeff were concerned Wyatt would shuck his shoes so we all had our issues.
Andrew opted to ride with Grandma and PaRon and Thomas would have opted for the same but wasn't given a choice. We all boarded our respective chairs with PaRon and crew first; me, Mark and T second; Jeff, Steph and Wyatt last. Thomas did very well on the way up and just took it all in as we cruised along. He was content to sit and grasp the bar with his little fingers and even tolerated both me and Mark squeezing the daylights out of him to make sure we had a firm grip.
About half way up this VERY tall mountain, my parents turned and informed us that Andrew had just asked why everyone else had a bar in front of them. They had failed to lower theirs and were just riding along as if they were daredevil snowboarders who didn't need no stinking safety bar. At that point, I began freaking out about whether they were taking the responsibility of having my firstborn in their care very seriously. When we reached the top and we all safely exited the chairs, I turned to Steph and asked if she could even believe that mom and dad had ridden half way up without the safety bar lowered. She and Jeff both burst out laughing. Apparently we were the only ones who HAD lowered the bar. Mark and I proved once again that being the firstborn is a lot of responsibility as we apparently have to think for everyone.
Once we arrived at the top and skimmed the notices about not feeding the bears, a woman approached us asking if we had any questions about Copper Mountain. We assured her we weren't as lost as we looked (ha! ha!). She pressed on like any good volunteer and casually mentioned that there was a good hike for kids that started about 100 feet from where we were standing. She offered to get us started and gently suggested that we should really give it a shot. Having no better plan, we headed off to hike the Hallelujah Trail with our new friend, Kitty. It turns out that finding Kitty was a stroke of amazing luck. We were definitely in the right place at the right time and sometimes it pays to look confused.
This trail had interpretive signage all along it, which would have been great by itself, but Kitty was a wealth of knowledge about the wildlife and history of the area. We climbed for a bit before reaching a big clearing with a field of thousands of boulders in the bowl of this mountain. We stopped and Kitty pointed out animals like pika, marmots and a type of bird she called a Camp Robber Jay or a Mountain Jay. (Someone correct me if I've got the names wrong. You know me. I'm little Miss Outdoors!) The Rocks had 'Nilla Wafers with them and Kitty showed us how to feed the birds. If you stood very still they would swoop out of nowhere and take the cookie out of your hand so quickly and smoothly you almost couldn't tell what had happened. Again, Aunt Steph and Andrew were first to be all over that. There are some pics in the Flickr badge for proof. PaRon, who does NOT like birds, took one for the team and even helped Thomas hold the cookie so he could be in on the action.
We eventually continued on our hike and had great views of the whole Vail Valley and the Gore Range. We were either a good audience or she was concerned we would get lost, but either way, Kitty decided to accompany us for the whole hike. She was a delight and we learned a lot we wouldn't have otherwise. She even posed for pics with the kids at the end.
After we completed the hike we ate lunch at the Solitude Grill, near the chair lift. They had an outdoor grill and we had the yummiest sandwiches while we enjoyed amazing views. We invited Kitty to eat with us, which she did, and she had Copper Mountain gliders and bubbles for the kids after lunch. It was a treat from start to finish.
We rode the lift back down, with everyone aware of how to operate the safety bar this time. In typical Thomas fashion, he presumably got overwhelmed by the vastness in front of us on the descent and just laid his little head down and fell asleep.
During naps that afternoon, Steph, Mom and I walked along Main Street and were reminded the hard way about how quickly a mountain thunderstorm can boom through town when we were caught blocks from home, on foot, in a torrential rain. Dad came and saved the day with umbrellas and raincoats. Later that afternoon PaRon and Grandma took the kids to the river for rock throwing while Mark, Jeff, Steph and I enjoyed happy hour at the Breckenridge Brewery. From that experience we learned that Mark and I should not eat edamame at altitude.
More Olympics and ice cream eating rounded out the evening.
THURSDAY
Mark and Jeff rented bikes again and headed out to conquer something tall. The rest of us took the boys to the park with the plan that I would slip out with Andrew to rent him a bike and when Mark and Jeff were finished killing themselves they would swing through and pick him up for a spin. He was totally excited about riding with them and loved that he was going to have this fun experience that the little boys weren't.
Andrew and I made our escape and headed to the largest bike shop in town. I figured we'd pick up some wheels and be back before the littles noticed we were gone. I should have known that when the bike dude was gone for more than five minutes just to "grab a ride" from the backroom, that we had a problem. Said dude eventually emerges and plops a bike in front of us as he announces that he doesn't think it's going to work. Sure enough, it's way too big. I politely inquire about a smaller bike and am informed that they don't have one and that it's kind of weird for such a little guy to need a bike of his own without training wheels. Dude eventually refers us to a place four blocks away where he thinks they can help.
We arrive at bike store #2 and find that they also don't have the right size bike for a little guy who doesn't need training wheels but this bike dude was helpful and called around and eventually sends us to bike store #3. At this point we've been gone from the park a while, Andrew is sad and I'm frustrated. I've left my parents with Thomas without any snacks, drink or diaper and Steph has her hands full with Wyatt because he was working on a cold and didn't feel well.
We head to bike store #3 and they haul a bike out of the basement for Andrew to try. He climbs up on this thing that's big enough for me and rides about 10 feet before he realizes he can't reach the ground and he wipes out BIG TIME in their parking lot. His palms were roughed up and we were both feeling a bit like we'd been rubbed on the pavement. Mark and Jeff called about then to say they were ready to pick him up and I had to confess we had struck out on finding a bike. They went back to the place they had rented from and had success, which meant that we needed to haul the whole group back to the condo for Andrew to meet them. The final bike was still too big but we saw the old, "when there's a will, there's a way" in action. He was determined and they made it work.
When they returned he reported that he had done alright but was a little down because he "couldn't keep up his speed" with Uncle Jeff and Daddy. You have to love a five-year-old who truly believes he should be able to ride competitively with two grown men.
We lunched on the deck at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company that afternoon and collectively ate enough shellfish to raise the cholesterol of a small village. It sure was good, though.
Our afternoon was rounded out with more goose feeding and more rock throwing as well as another gold for an American gymnast and one more trip to Coldstone Creamery. When it's so close you can walk it just feels like the right thing to do.
Wednesday began like every other day - with Jeff preparing breakfast for anyone who would eat. Our friend Quintin jokes about how Jeff is a fighter pilot by day and Martha Stewart by night, but that's just not entirely true. When he's on vacation, he's all the good things about Martha Stewart by day as well. Hungry for eggs? Major Rock is on it. Hungry for toast with butter and honey? Major Rock is on it. Would you like some cream in your coffee. Never fear. Major Rock is in the house.
When we arrived in Breckenridge we learned that the Peak 8 summer activities like the chair lift and alpine slide were closed for renovation. After a trip to the Visitor Center and a little research on our own we decided that Copper Mountain would receive our business for those activities. On Wednesday, right after Jeff fed us all, we loaded up and headed west.
I was nervous about riding the chair lift with Thomas because I wasn't sure how he would react. As anyone who has ever ridden a lift knows, it's a fairly loose kind of system and a loose restraint at best. I was worried he would freak out and we would be left trying to wrangle a panicked toddler 50 feet off the ground all the way to the top. Steph and Jeff were concerned Wyatt would shuck his shoes so we all had our issues.
Andrew opted to ride with Grandma and PaRon and Thomas would have opted for the same but wasn't given a choice. We all boarded our respective chairs with PaRon and crew first; me, Mark and T second; Jeff, Steph and Wyatt last. Thomas did very well on the way up and just took it all in as we cruised along. He was content to sit and grasp the bar with his little fingers and even tolerated both me and Mark squeezing the daylights out of him to make sure we had a firm grip.
About half way up this VERY tall mountain, my parents turned and informed us that Andrew had just asked why everyone else had a bar in front of them. They had failed to lower theirs and were just riding along as if they were daredevil snowboarders who didn't need no stinking safety bar. At that point, I began freaking out about whether they were taking the responsibility of having my firstborn in their care very seriously. When we reached the top and we all safely exited the chairs, I turned to Steph and asked if she could even believe that mom and dad had ridden half way up without the safety bar lowered. She and Jeff both burst out laughing. Apparently we were the only ones who HAD lowered the bar. Mark and I proved once again that being the firstborn is a lot of responsibility as we apparently have to think for everyone.
Once we arrived at the top and skimmed the notices about not feeding the bears, a woman approached us asking if we had any questions about Copper Mountain. We assured her we weren't as lost as we looked (ha! ha!). She pressed on like any good volunteer and casually mentioned that there was a good hike for kids that started about 100 feet from where we were standing. She offered to get us started and gently suggested that we should really give it a shot. Having no better plan, we headed off to hike the Hallelujah Trail with our new friend, Kitty. It turns out that finding Kitty was a stroke of amazing luck. We were definitely in the right place at the right time and sometimes it pays to look confused.
This trail had interpretive signage all along it, which would have been great by itself, but Kitty was a wealth of knowledge about the wildlife and history of the area. We climbed for a bit before reaching a big clearing with a field of thousands of boulders in the bowl of this mountain. We stopped and Kitty pointed out animals like pika, marmots and a type of bird she called a Camp Robber Jay or a Mountain Jay. (Someone correct me if I've got the names wrong. You know me. I'm little Miss Outdoors!) The Rocks had 'Nilla Wafers with them and Kitty showed us how to feed the birds. If you stood very still they would swoop out of nowhere and take the cookie out of your hand so quickly and smoothly you almost couldn't tell what had happened. Again, Aunt Steph and Andrew were first to be all over that. There are some pics in the Flickr badge for proof. PaRon, who does NOT like birds, took one for the team and even helped Thomas hold the cookie so he could be in on the action.
We eventually continued on our hike and had great views of the whole Vail Valley and the Gore Range. We were either a good audience or she was concerned we would get lost, but either way, Kitty decided to accompany us for the whole hike. She was a delight and we learned a lot we wouldn't have otherwise. She even posed for pics with the kids at the end.
After we completed the hike we ate lunch at the Solitude Grill, near the chair lift. They had an outdoor grill and we had the yummiest sandwiches while we enjoyed amazing views. We invited Kitty to eat with us, which she did, and she had Copper Mountain gliders and bubbles for the kids after lunch. It was a treat from start to finish.
We rode the lift back down, with everyone aware of how to operate the safety bar this time. In typical Thomas fashion, he presumably got overwhelmed by the vastness in front of us on the descent and just laid his little head down and fell asleep.
During naps that afternoon, Steph, Mom and I walked along Main Street and were reminded the hard way about how quickly a mountain thunderstorm can boom through town when we were caught blocks from home, on foot, in a torrential rain. Dad came and saved the day with umbrellas and raincoats. Later that afternoon PaRon and Grandma took the kids to the river for rock throwing while Mark, Jeff, Steph and I enjoyed happy hour at the Breckenridge Brewery. From that experience we learned that Mark and I should not eat edamame at altitude.
More Olympics and ice cream eating rounded out the evening.
THURSDAY
Mark and Jeff rented bikes again and headed out to conquer something tall. The rest of us took the boys to the park with the plan that I would slip out with Andrew to rent him a bike and when Mark and Jeff were finished killing themselves they would swing through and pick him up for a spin. He was totally excited about riding with them and loved that he was going to have this fun experience that the little boys weren't.
Andrew and I made our escape and headed to the largest bike shop in town. I figured we'd pick up some wheels and be back before the littles noticed we were gone. I should have known that when the bike dude was gone for more than five minutes just to "grab a ride" from the backroom, that we had a problem. Said dude eventually emerges and plops a bike in front of us as he announces that he doesn't think it's going to work. Sure enough, it's way too big. I politely inquire about a smaller bike and am informed that they don't have one and that it's kind of weird for such a little guy to need a bike of his own without training wheels. Dude eventually refers us to a place four blocks away where he thinks they can help.
We arrive at bike store #2 and find that they also don't have the right size bike for a little guy who doesn't need training wheels but this bike dude was helpful and called around and eventually sends us to bike store #3. At this point we've been gone from the park a while, Andrew is sad and I'm frustrated. I've left my parents with Thomas without any snacks, drink or diaper and Steph has her hands full with Wyatt because he was working on a cold and didn't feel well.
We head to bike store #3 and they haul a bike out of the basement for Andrew to try. He climbs up on this thing that's big enough for me and rides about 10 feet before he realizes he can't reach the ground and he wipes out BIG TIME in their parking lot. His palms were roughed up and we were both feeling a bit like we'd been rubbed on the pavement. Mark and Jeff called about then to say they were ready to pick him up and I had to confess we had struck out on finding a bike. They went back to the place they had rented from and had success, which meant that we needed to haul the whole group back to the condo for Andrew to meet them. The final bike was still too big but we saw the old, "when there's a will, there's a way" in action. He was determined and they made it work.
When they returned he reported that he had done alright but was a little down because he "couldn't keep up his speed" with Uncle Jeff and Daddy. You have to love a five-year-old who truly believes he should be able to ride competitively with two grown men.
We lunched on the deck at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company that afternoon and collectively ate enough shellfish to raise the cholesterol of a small village. It sure was good, though.
Our afternoon was rounded out with more goose feeding and more rock throwing as well as another gold for an American gymnast and one more trip to Coldstone Creamery. When it's so close you can walk it just feels like the right thing to do.
August 25, 2008
And the gold goes to...
You know you've watched a lot of Olympics when your kid thinks this is a fun Sunday afternoon activity and pumps his fist in the air at the stunt's completion announcing himself the gold medalist.
I see a sprained ankle in his future.
I see a sprained ankle in his future.
The great road trip of '08 - part 3
TUESDAY
On Tuesday morning the big boys - daddy and Uncle Jeff - rented bikes and road the Boreas Pass while Aunt Steph and I took the little boys to the grocery store. Andrew opted to stay home with Grandma and PaRon and throw rocks.
Taking T and Wyatt to the grocery store together gave us a taste of what taking twins shopping would be like. They did well riding in their little fire truck shopping cart but it was a good thing the buckles worked. My favorite part of that experience was the need to be on flying debris alert. Wyatt can shuck off his shoes and socks in amazing time and it turns out he can even do that while driving an emergency vehicle through the City Market. His brand new yellow Crocs came off one by one and were thrown out of his moving cart in the produce and soft drink aisles. The socks came flying out together somewhere near the dairy aisle, much to Thomas' delight.
After the grocery store we went shopping and all the boys got new Breckenridge gear. Steph and I are truly growing up - we spent all our cash on the kids and neither of us bought a thing.
PaRon and Grandma had lunch with friends that day so Steph and I fed the boys and got naps going. While the little ones slept, Steph and I took Andrew to Maggie's Pond and we fed the geese, which he also lists as a highlight of the trip. During that feeding frenzy we discovered that geese really like sourdough bread (who knew?!) and that the term, "getting goosed" is rooted in a real behavior. That was pretty entertaining for all of us.
After naps we rounded up the whole group and hiked the Burro Trail, which runs up Peak 8. The trailhead was within walking distance of our condo which was a selling feature. Mark knew about it because it was the first part of the Breckenridge Mountain Marathon that he's run a few times, which gave me new respect for that run. It also fit the bill for being a hike "up a mountain," which was very important to Andrew. He really needed to cross that one off his list of things he had accomplished. I have no idea how far we walked but it was a gorgeous wooded trail that followed a stream and it was uphill enough to make me feel like I'd had a little exercise.
It was on this trek that Thomas perfected his now copywrited back-in-for-a-ride manuever. He began putting his signature touches on this move during the walk.
The back-in-for-a-ride manuever is accomplished by T jumping in front of PaRon while he walks and then reversing course and backing into his legs. When his back makes contact with the front of PaRon's shins, he stops moving and throws his arms straight up in the air without saying a word. The first few times he did it, PaRon assumed he had just stumbled and would step around him, but it became obvious that it was intentional and that his hope was that he would get lifted onto PaRon's shoulders for a ride. Needless to say, once it worked the first time, it was repeated over and over and PaRon carried Thomas on his shoulders for the better part of the Burro Trail adventure.
I feel as though I'm blogging with one hand behind my back because of my shortage of accompanying images, and this next part really requires visuals for full effect. There are photos and video that will eventually surface, but for now, you'll have to just bear with me. It might be a "you had to be there."
On the way back down the trail, the boys all ended up with walking sticks. Thomas had his first and I suspect that PaRon gave it to him as bribery to get him off his shoulders. Once Thomas had one, Andrew had to find one. Once Wyatt realized the cousins had them he needed one too. The problem was that Wyatt's was a little short. Andrew and Thomas were using theirs as if they were seasoned hikers, until they began swinging them like weapons. Wyatt was giving it his best go, but was doing a darn good Helen Keller impression as he attempted to reach the ground with a stick that was about six inches too short to do him any good. We should have just found him a stick that was appropriately sized but we were all laughing too hard to do much to help him. We got some pics and video that will make me laugh everytime I see them for years to come.
Tuesday evening included more Olympics viewing and a walk to Coldstone Creamery because it's always a good idea to give kids cotton candy flavored ice cream right before bed.
On Tuesday morning the big boys - daddy and Uncle Jeff - rented bikes and road the Boreas Pass while Aunt Steph and I took the little boys to the grocery store. Andrew opted to stay home with Grandma and PaRon and throw rocks.
Taking T and Wyatt to the grocery store together gave us a taste of what taking twins shopping would be like. They did well riding in their little fire truck shopping cart but it was a good thing the buckles worked. My favorite part of that experience was the need to be on flying debris alert. Wyatt can shuck off his shoes and socks in amazing time and it turns out he can even do that while driving an emergency vehicle through the City Market. His brand new yellow Crocs came off one by one and were thrown out of his moving cart in the produce and soft drink aisles. The socks came flying out together somewhere near the dairy aisle, much to Thomas' delight.
After the grocery store we went shopping and all the boys got new Breckenridge gear. Steph and I are truly growing up - we spent all our cash on the kids and neither of us bought a thing.
PaRon and Grandma had lunch with friends that day so Steph and I fed the boys and got naps going. While the little ones slept, Steph and I took Andrew to Maggie's Pond and we fed the geese, which he also lists as a highlight of the trip. During that feeding frenzy we discovered that geese really like sourdough bread (who knew?!) and that the term, "getting goosed" is rooted in a real behavior. That was pretty entertaining for all of us.
After naps we rounded up the whole group and hiked the Burro Trail, which runs up Peak 8. The trailhead was within walking distance of our condo which was a selling feature. Mark knew about it because it was the first part of the Breckenridge Mountain Marathon that he's run a few times, which gave me new respect for that run. It also fit the bill for being a hike "up a mountain," which was very important to Andrew. He really needed to cross that one off his list of things he had accomplished. I have no idea how far we walked but it was a gorgeous wooded trail that followed a stream and it was uphill enough to make me feel like I'd had a little exercise.
It was on this trek that Thomas perfected his now copywrited back-in-for-a-ride manuever. He began putting his signature touches on this move during the walk.
The back-in-for-a-ride manuever is accomplished by T jumping in front of PaRon while he walks and then reversing course and backing into his legs. When his back makes contact with the front of PaRon's shins, he stops moving and throws his arms straight up in the air without saying a word. The first few times he did it, PaRon assumed he had just stumbled and would step around him, but it became obvious that it was intentional and that his hope was that he would get lifted onto PaRon's shoulders for a ride. Needless to say, once it worked the first time, it was repeated over and over and PaRon carried Thomas on his shoulders for the better part of the Burro Trail adventure.
I feel as though I'm blogging with one hand behind my back because of my shortage of accompanying images, and this next part really requires visuals for full effect. There are photos and video that will eventually surface, but for now, you'll have to just bear with me. It might be a "you had to be there."
On the way back down the trail, the boys all ended up with walking sticks. Thomas had his first and I suspect that PaRon gave it to him as bribery to get him off his shoulders. Once Thomas had one, Andrew had to find one. Once Wyatt realized the cousins had them he needed one too. The problem was that Wyatt's was a little short. Andrew and Thomas were using theirs as if they were seasoned hikers, until they began swinging them like weapons. Wyatt was giving it his best go, but was doing a darn good Helen Keller impression as he attempted to reach the ground with a stick that was about six inches too short to do him any good. We should have just found him a stick that was appropriately sized but we were all laughing too hard to do much to help him. We got some pics and video that will make me laugh everytime I see them for years to come.
Tuesday evening included more Olympics viewing and a walk to Coldstone Creamery because it's always a good idea to give kids cotton candy flavored ice cream right before bed.
August 24, 2008
The great road trip of '08 - part 2
SUNDAY
Sunday's highlights included only having to answer questions about whether the mountains between Denver and Breckenridge were taller than the Eiffel Tower and Mt. Everest a few thousand times on an otherwise uneventful trip up the mountains. Andrew is obsessed with how every structure we encounter compares to these two objects in height. Both boys responded with oohs and aahhs as we went up into the Rockies, which made the long drive completely worth it. Also, no one's ears exploded as we climbed which was a major bonus.
We met everyone else for lunch in Frisco and after a meal marked by maniacal running by the kids around the restaurant - both inside and outside - and very little eating, we headed to Breckenridge to try and nap Thomas. The upstairs bedroom had been saved for us and it featured a queen bed with two sets of bunk beds. Andrew immediately began lobbying to sleep on a top bunk and Thomas immediately began lobbying to go home.
We decided to pull a mattress off a bunk bed and put it on the floor for Thomas, knowing that we would need to push pillows up around it to keep him on it, after our experience the night before. By the end of the week we had every suitcase owned by a Henderson, Schmidt or Rock all pushed up and around Thomas' mattress on the floor to create a walled fortress to keep him on his bed. By Wednesday he was finally sleeping well and no longer asking to go home every other hour.
We also discovered that night that PaRon had the foresight to book a condo right on the Blue River, which runs through Breckenridge, and that the boys all LOVED to throw rocks into said river for as long as someone would supervise them. This was a recurring theme during the week. Someone's upset? Take them to the river. Someone's bored? Take them to the river. Someone's got too much energy? Take them to the river. By some miracle no one ever ended up in the river.
The biggest highpoint in our Sunday was realizing that our camera was with us, but the battery was still charging in the outlet at home, rendering the camera difficult to use. As a result, you'll need to use your imagination with these posts until someone (hint, hint) sends us their photos.
MONDAY
Monday's highlights included watching Wyatt emerge from his bedroom asking for "cousins!" first thing in the morning and the jumping and running and pushing fest beginning pre-breakfast. I believe it was this day that the two little boys discovered that the mattress being used for Thomas' walled fortress was also suitable as a trampoline. We would realize they were missing and inevitably find them upstairs jumping to their hearts' content. Video of this fun exists and hopefully the owner of it will post it on her blog soon. Parallel play, my butt.
Other activities for the day included riding in a miniature train, and by miniature I mean miniscule, around a little plaza area. We squeezed every one of us into this thing and the kids loved it.
An afternoon hike on this day is listed by Andrew as one of his top three trip highlights. We found a trail on Swan Mountain that was essentially flat and looped around a one mile route providing views of Lake Dillon as we went. It was beautiful and even the little boys did well. That trail started out at a plaza area with signage where there were 8 squilion chipmunks and a kind family already there offered us peanuts to feed them. Andrew and Aunt Steph both allowed chipmunks to come and eat right out of their hands. When they were finished Andrew asked for hand sanitizer. That was, he explained in clear terms, not because he had been feeding rodents but because he had been holding peanuts. The aversion lives.
After that taxing hike we needed to stock up on privisions. Wyatt told everyone in his car, and later those of us who weren't in his car, that we needed wine and beer the whole way down the mountain. I love that kid.
Each evening was marked with two things. Rock throwing and Olympics watching. Perhaps someday the two can be combined? If so, I know three little boys who would be fierce competitors and a PaRon and Grandma who could coach!
Sunday's highlights included only having to answer questions about whether the mountains between Denver and Breckenridge were taller than the Eiffel Tower and Mt. Everest a few thousand times on an otherwise uneventful trip up the mountains. Andrew is obsessed with how every structure we encounter compares to these two objects in height. Both boys responded with oohs and aahhs as we went up into the Rockies, which made the long drive completely worth it. Also, no one's ears exploded as we climbed which was a major bonus.
We met everyone else for lunch in Frisco and after a meal marked by maniacal running by the kids around the restaurant - both inside and outside - and very little eating, we headed to Breckenridge to try and nap Thomas. The upstairs bedroom had been saved for us and it featured a queen bed with two sets of bunk beds. Andrew immediately began lobbying to sleep on a top bunk and Thomas immediately began lobbying to go home.
We decided to pull a mattress off a bunk bed and put it on the floor for Thomas, knowing that we would need to push pillows up around it to keep him on it, after our experience the night before. By the end of the week we had every suitcase owned by a Henderson, Schmidt or Rock all pushed up and around Thomas' mattress on the floor to create a walled fortress to keep him on his bed. By Wednesday he was finally sleeping well and no longer asking to go home every other hour.
We also discovered that night that PaRon had the foresight to book a condo right on the Blue River, which runs through Breckenridge, and that the boys all LOVED to throw rocks into said river for as long as someone would supervise them. This was a recurring theme during the week. Someone's upset? Take them to the river. Someone's bored? Take them to the river. Someone's got too much energy? Take them to the river. By some miracle no one ever ended up in the river.
The biggest highpoint in our Sunday was realizing that our camera was with us, but the battery was still charging in the outlet at home, rendering the camera difficult to use. As a result, you'll need to use your imagination with these posts until someone (hint, hint) sends us their photos.
MONDAY
Monday's highlights included watching Wyatt emerge from his bedroom asking for "cousins!" first thing in the morning and the jumping and running and pushing fest beginning pre-breakfast. I believe it was this day that the two little boys discovered that the mattress being used for Thomas' walled fortress was also suitable as a trampoline. We would realize they were missing and inevitably find them upstairs jumping to their hearts' content. Video of this fun exists and hopefully the owner of it will post it on her blog soon. Parallel play, my butt.
Other activities for the day included riding in a miniature train, and by miniature I mean miniscule, around a little plaza area. We squeezed every one of us into this thing and the kids loved it.
An afternoon hike on this day is listed by Andrew as one of his top three trip highlights. We found a trail on Swan Mountain that was essentially flat and looped around a one mile route providing views of Lake Dillon as we went. It was beautiful and even the little boys did well. That trail started out at a plaza area with signage where there were 8 squilion chipmunks and a kind family already there offered us peanuts to feed them. Andrew and Aunt Steph both allowed chipmunks to come and eat right out of their hands. When they were finished Andrew asked for hand sanitizer. That was, he explained in clear terms, not because he had been feeding rodents but because he had been holding peanuts. The aversion lives.
After that taxing hike we needed to stock up on privisions. Wyatt told everyone in his car, and later those of us who weren't in his car, that we needed wine and beer the whole way down the mountain. I love that kid.
Each evening was marked with two things. Rock throwing and Olympics watching. Perhaps someday the two can be combined? If so, I know three little boys who would be fierce competitors and a PaRon and Grandma who could coach!
August 23, 2008
The great road trip of '08 - part 1
We're ba-ack and we're only a cold or three worse for the wear.
We've just returned from a wonderful week in Breckenridge, Colorado, where the sky seems bluer, everything smells better and the air seems markedly thin. Our trip was great and yet we're glad to be home in our own beds.
We spent our week with PaRon, Grandma, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Steph and Wyatt. That means that when we entered a restaurant we were a party of 9, which if you're counting, is kind of a lot. Mostly, it's a lot of two-year-olds.
This excursion was planned at least partially due to Andrew telling PaRon, sometime during our winter that wouldn't end, that he would like to climb a mountain. Never one to walk away from a trip, PaRon got to planning and next thing we knew he had found a great condo with a bedroom and bathroom per family that was within walking distance of downtown Breck. Who would say no?
Needless to say, we packed a lot into five days and there was lots of humor that needs to be blogged. In the interest of not writing the longest post ever, I'm breaking this trip-log into installments.
We got up very early Saturday with the plan to get the kids out of bed, put them straight into a running car and hit the road. As I went up to get Andrew out of bed I was greeted by the sounds of a sea lion, but they were coming from my son. So, we moved to Plan B, which was to wait for 2.5 hours until the doctor's office opened and begin begging for an early appointment. I was told that the only time he could be seen was 11:15 a.m. I was watching our entire plan unravel and anyone who knows me knows that I like a good plan. I wasn't going down without a fight. So, we did what any couple with a fully-packed car, a toddler and a sea lion would do. We drove to the doctor's office and announced we were there so that just in case they had any openings at the last minute we would be ready and willing to take an earlier appointment.
After several calls back and forth between the receptionist and the nurse of the on-call doctor, they miraculously found a way to fit us in at 8:50 a.m. Oh, and we only had to pinch Thomas a few times and withhold cookies to get him to crank up his uncontrollable scream. I can't imagine why they didn't want us in their waiting room until 11:15.
By 9:15 a.m. we were on the road with the diagnosis that Andrew was fine to travel, but we needed to start his asthma medications immediately. We hit I-70 and were westward bound. By 9:30 we were congratulating ourselves on how this delay could have been worse.
By 9:50 a.m. we were zooming through Topeka, when Thomas began telling us in his loudest outdoor voice that he would like to go home now. He proceeded to use that little conversational gem approximately 2,356 more times between Topeka and Denver.
We got as far as Salina for lunch, which isn't that far for those unfamiliar with Kansas geography. It's so "not that far" that I was a little depressed. After lunch we were heading back to the interstate when Andrew began drilling us about whether we knew where we were going and whether we were going back home. It was at this point that I began fervently hoping no one would really give me the option because I would have had a difficult time pointing the Highlander west if given a choice at that moment.
We perservered and got to Hays where Andrew began threatening that we needed to stop the car RIGHT. THIS. MINUTE. for a bathroom emergency. The closest option was a Wal-Mart, which was possibly the largest Wal-Mart we had either one ever seen. Fortunately, the restrooms were located near the front. It was here that we decided Thomas had a stuffy nose and most definitely needed some Benadryl to dry it out. He was asleep approximately 47 minutes later - not that I was counting - and both boys slept for an hour. It was enough to get us to Limon, Colorado before needing to stop again.
In the meantime I doled out wrapped presents every hour or so to each boy in an attempt to entertain. They contained things like a Hot Wheels car, plastic dinosaurs, sticker books and were wrapped in tissue paper with lots of tape so that the unwrapping itself took several minutes. When you're staring down the barrel of western-Kansas and eastern-Colorado, several minutes is a blessing.
We finally arrived in Denver in a pouring rain storm and reached my good friend Ashley's house just in time for dinner. The boys were delighted to find we had landed at a house with a basement full of toys and a backyard full of trampolines, playsets and drivable Jeeps and John Deere tractors. The highlight was that the Larson and Mitchell families are in possesion of a real, live golf cart which our boys and their kids had lots of fun riding and driving that night. It was great to see Ashley and her family and it was wonderful to have a place to stay that was a mile high, but not approaching two miles high like Breckenridge is.
All fun aside, the lesson for Saturday was that Thomas is not ready for a big boy bed. We learned this after he fell off a twin mattress that was ON THE FLOOR four times during that night. I found him sleeping under a dresser, I found him wandering the guest room and two other times found him face-planted on the floor sleeping under a pile of pillows. Good times.
The kids played a while on Sunday morning and by 9:30 a.m. we were on the road headed for the mountains. This, Andrew announced, was what he had been waiting for!
We've just returned from a wonderful week in Breckenridge, Colorado, where the sky seems bluer, everything smells better and the air seems markedly thin. Our trip was great and yet we're glad to be home in our own beds.
We spent our week with PaRon, Grandma, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Steph and Wyatt. That means that when we entered a restaurant we were a party of 9, which if you're counting, is kind of a lot. Mostly, it's a lot of two-year-olds.
This excursion was planned at least partially due to Andrew telling PaRon, sometime during our winter that wouldn't end, that he would like to climb a mountain. Never one to walk away from a trip, PaRon got to planning and next thing we knew he had found a great condo with a bedroom and bathroom per family that was within walking distance of downtown Breck. Who would say no?
Needless to say, we packed a lot into five days and there was lots of humor that needs to be blogged. In the interest of not writing the longest post ever, I'm breaking this trip-log into installments.
We got up very early Saturday with the plan to get the kids out of bed, put them straight into a running car and hit the road. As I went up to get Andrew out of bed I was greeted by the sounds of a sea lion, but they were coming from my son. So, we moved to Plan B, which was to wait for 2.5 hours until the doctor's office opened and begin begging for an early appointment. I was told that the only time he could be seen was 11:15 a.m. I was watching our entire plan unravel and anyone who knows me knows that I like a good plan. I wasn't going down without a fight. So, we did what any couple with a fully-packed car, a toddler and a sea lion would do. We drove to the doctor's office and announced we were there so that just in case they had any openings at the last minute we would be ready and willing to take an earlier appointment.
After several calls back and forth between the receptionist and the nurse of the on-call doctor, they miraculously found a way to fit us in at 8:50 a.m. Oh, and we only had to pinch Thomas a few times and withhold cookies to get him to crank up his uncontrollable scream. I can't imagine why they didn't want us in their waiting room until 11:15.
By 9:15 a.m. we were on the road with the diagnosis that Andrew was fine to travel, but we needed to start his asthma medications immediately. We hit I-70 and were westward bound. By 9:30 we were congratulating ourselves on how this delay could have been worse.
By 9:50 a.m. we were zooming through Topeka, when Thomas began telling us in his loudest outdoor voice that he would like to go home now. He proceeded to use that little conversational gem approximately 2,356 more times between Topeka and Denver.
We got as far as Salina for lunch, which isn't that far for those unfamiliar with Kansas geography. It's so "not that far" that I was a little depressed. After lunch we were heading back to the interstate when Andrew began drilling us about whether we knew where we were going and whether we were going back home. It was at this point that I began fervently hoping no one would really give me the option because I would have had a difficult time pointing the Highlander west if given a choice at that moment.
We perservered and got to Hays where Andrew began threatening that we needed to stop the car RIGHT. THIS. MINUTE. for a bathroom emergency. The closest option was a Wal-Mart, which was possibly the largest Wal-Mart we had either one ever seen. Fortunately, the restrooms were located near the front. It was here that we decided Thomas had a stuffy nose and most definitely needed some Benadryl to dry it out. He was asleep approximately 47 minutes later - not that I was counting - and both boys slept for an hour. It was enough to get us to Limon, Colorado before needing to stop again.
In the meantime I doled out wrapped presents every hour or so to each boy in an attempt to entertain. They contained things like a Hot Wheels car, plastic dinosaurs, sticker books and were wrapped in tissue paper with lots of tape so that the unwrapping itself took several minutes. When you're staring down the barrel of western-Kansas and eastern-Colorado, several minutes is a blessing.
We finally arrived in Denver in a pouring rain storm and reached my good friend Ashley's house just in time for dinner. The boys were delighted to find we had landed at a house with a basement full of toys and a backyard full of trampolines, playsets and drivable Jeeps and John Deere tractors. The highlight was that the Larson and Mitchell families are in possesion of a real, live golf cart which our boys and their kids had lots of fun riding and driving that night. It was great to see Ashley and her family and it was wonderful to have a place to stay that was a mile high, but not approaching two miles high like Breckenridge is.
All fun aside, the lesson for Saturday was that Thomas is not ready for a big boy bed. We learned this after he fell off a twin mattress that was ON THE FLOOR four times during that night. I found him sleeping under a dresser, I found him wandering the guest room and two other times found him face-planted on the floor sleeping under a pile of pillows. Good times.
The kids played a while on Sunday morning and by 9:30 a.m. we were on the road headed for the mountains. This, Andrew announced, was what he had been waiting for!
August 15, 2008
If no one is bleeding and there's no smoke...
The boys both woke up in cheery moods this morning and our Friday seemed to be off to a smooth start. I was anticipating being able to shower leisurely and use up ALL the hot water because Mark was already gone. The boys had tummies full of waffles and Playhouse Disney was on the television so I figured I had until the end of Mickey's latest adventure to get clean.
I'm about halfway through my shower when Thomas comes screeching into the bathroom, throws open the shower door and delivers the message that Andrew needs me. It doesn't come out exactly like that but he's amazingly adept and getting his point across without uttering one clear word. It appeared, due to T's volume and enthusiasm, that this situation was urgent. I turned off the water, stuck my head out and yelled at Andrew to ask him what the problem was.
This is what followed, pretty much verbatim:
A: "Mommy! I need to ask you something important."
Me: "What? Is it really important, I'm showering."
A: "It's important."
Me: "OK. What do you need?"
A: "I need to ask you what is your favorite kind of bird?"
Me: (with conditioner in my hair and soap on my face) "Ummm. A cardinal?"
A: "Cardinals are alright but I like sparrows."
Me: "Is there anything else?"
A: "No. I just wanted to tell you that sparrows are my favorite."
We're going to spend some time tomorrow talking about the definition of urgent, and how if you're going to send your brother in to tell mommy that something is, it probably should be.
I'm about halfway through my shower when Thomas comes screeching into the bathroom, throws open the shower door and delivers the message that Andrew needs me. It doesn't come out exactly like that but he's amazingly adept and getting his point across without uttering one clear word. It appeared, due to T's volume and enthusiasm, that this situation was urgent. I turned off the water, stuck my head out and yelled at Andrew to ask him what the problem was.
This is what followed, pretty much verbatim:
A: "Mommy! I need to ask you something important."
Me: "What? Is it really important, I'm showering."
A: "It's important."
Me: "OK. What do you need?"
A: "I need to ask you what is your favorite kind of bird?"
Me: (with conditioner in my hair and soap on my face) "Ummm. A cardinal?"
A: "Cardinals are alright but I like sparrows."
Me: "Is there anything else?"
A: "No. I just wanted to tell you that sparrows are my favorite."
We're going to spend some time tomorrow talking about the definition of urgent, and how if you're going to send your brother in to tell mommy that something is, it probably should be.
August 13, 2008
It's hard to be left behind
Public school began here today, which means that 11 of Andrew's classmates started their Wednesday in new schools across town and ended it in a different classroom at Andrew's school this afternoon. I am confident in our decision to wait until next year to send him to Kindergarten, but my heart is breaking a little for him. Approximately eleventy-million children begin Kindergarten each fall and another eleventy-million are left behind in Pre-K classrooms around the world, but this left behind boy is ours and he's sad.
There was a Pre-2 graduation ceremony yesterday afternoon for those moving to Kindergarten and I think that's when it hit him that those kids, most of whom he's known since he was four-months-old, were going someplace today that he wasn't. That manifested itself in a bedwetting incident last night--which hasn't happened in two-plus years--and extreme reluctance to go to his classroom this morning because we first had to pass by the Kindergarten classroom where some portion of those 11 friends were playing. I left him this morning sitting in his teacher's lap looking a little sad.
I then spent the day feeling a little (ok, a lot) sad.
I learned this evening that I had apparently also crushed his little heart when I failed to figure out that there was cake available after the graduation ceremonies yesterday. That came out in a tumble of sobs tonight in the drive-thru line at Wendy's when he informed me that I had made him very sad because that cake "wasn't just for the graduates" but was for "all the kids, even the ones who stay in Pre-2." Hmmm. Way to go, mom.
I know this too shall pass, but for tonight I'm certainly wishing that we could wave a wand and make him feel better about all of this. In the meantime, no one tell him that he could get anything he wants out of us this week.
There was a Pre-2 graduation ceremony yesterday afternoon for those moving to Kindergarten and I think that's when it hit him that those kids, most of whom he's known since he was four-months-old, were going someplace today that he wasn't. That manifested itself in a bedwetting incident last night--which hasn't happened in two-plus years--and extreme reluctance to go to his classroom this morning because we first had to pass by the Kindergarten classroom where some portion of those 11 friends were playing. I left him this morning sitting in his teacher's lap looking a little sad.
I then spent the day feeling a little (ok, a lot) sad.
I learned this evening that I had apparently also crushed his little heart when I failed to figure out that there was cake available after the graduation ceremonies yesterday. That came out in a tumble of sobs tonight in the drive-thru line at Wendy's when he informed me that I had made him very sad because that cake "wasn't just for the graduates" but was for "all the kids, even the ones who stay in Pre-2." Hmmm. Way to go, mom.
I know this too shall pass, but for tonight I'm certainly wishing that we could wave a wand and make him feel better about all of this. In the meantime, no one tell him that he could get anything he wants out of us this week.
August 6, 2008
Things about which I'm wondering, Vol. 2
1. When your two-year-old barely touches his dinner but then devours a huge slice of 9-grain bread with butter, a bowl of cereal with milk and a small chocolate chip cookie before bed, are you getting worked?
2. Does $3 million a year to coach a collegiate - albeit a very good one - athletics team seem excessive to anyone else out there? I'm kind of bothered by this.
3. Should I have to say things like, "It is inappropriate to look at other people's poop," out loud?
4. Are there other kids in town who are drawing pictures of our new Wal-Mart Supercenter under construction because their mother has driven them there, on demand, so many times to watch the work that they can recreate it from scratch with crayons?
5. Facebook. I just don't quite get it. I need help.
2. Does $3 million a year to coach a collegiate - albeit a very good one - athletics team seem excessive to anyone else out there? I'm kind of bothered by this.
3. Should I have to say things like, "It is inappropriate to look at other people's poop," out loud?
4. Are there other kids in town who are drawing pictures of our new Wal-Mart Supercenter under construction because their mother has driven them there, on demand, so many times to watch the work that they can recreate it from scratch with crayons?
5. Facebook. I just don't quite get it. I need help.
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