It seems travelling just becomes less fun as the kids' get older. And not because of the kids. They're like the worlds best travelers, and pretty much every other day H is asking for us to whisk her away for a holiday.
But we've got a groove and rhythm down. We have a whole day full of activities for each day of the week. And although I like the idea of living by the seat of my pants, we all have kind of found a great comfort in our weekly routines.
Okay, and truthfully, most travelling is a lot of fun.
There is just NOTHING fun about spending 24 hours one-way in a car. And quite frankly, LC is boring. There isn't really anything there to do.
The getting there is always a breeze. We leave at midnight and drive the 20 odd hours to the kiddos Godparents and crash there. It's probably the best part of the trip. Crashing there. We all have enough space to sleep and it's cozy and the kids love being there. They pretty much talk about their Godparents daily, as well their kids. But that may be because I've kind of talked to them about them a lot. I don't want them being like 12 and asking me, "Who are my Godparents?" Not that I have experienced having done that myself or anything...
Anyway, I digress.
So while we were in Albuquerque J cut all of his hair off.
I'm not sure who was the most affected. Him. Me. Or H.
Okay, yeah, probably H. She cried and broke the poor hair dressers heart. And J's. And mine.
I was the one who'd encouraged him to do it.
In the almost 9 years I've known J (omg, how can it be that long all ready!?), he's never had short hair. I've seen a few pictures of some extremely questionable hairstyles from his younger days, and those short hair dos always really turned me off. But I figured with a style that was a bit better, he could pull it off.
And I was right. He's still a sexy beast.
After his hair removal, we ventured the 4 hours south to his parental units' casa. The kids were tickled pink to see their abuelita.
J pretty much immediately got to work on our
While the kids and I spent the next few days playing at parks and Barnes and Noble, he worked his ass off and signed on with a rental agency so at least we're not paying for an empty house each month, and the little things that come up with a rental house aren't quite as big of an issue trying to manage them from home. Which was the whole point of this trip.
As J says, eventually we shall get out there just as a vacation to visit. Like we did when H was a baby.
B was absolutely heartbroken when we arrived in LC and he realized I'd forgotten his super hero cape. He's really into capes right now, and I'd totally meant to pack it, but it just got forgotten.
So I spent our first day venturing to wal-mart where the kiddos picked out material (H Tinkerbell, and B dolphins - really, it's whales, but he's set on dolphins), and some needle and thread. I managed to put together the semblances of a cape while the kids played at a playground and I went to work in the 40mph winds. I was pretty certain I'd lost my mind.
J celebrated his 43rd birthday while we were down there. Eek. 43!! I told him how lovely it was that some couples grow old together, but in our relationship, he gets to grow old and I just get to watch. Ha. I so genuinely love him that it still surprises me some days how much so.
While he worked more on the house the morning of his birthday, the kids and I ventured to the local heritage museum.
Yep, they're holding hands. Melt my freaking heart!
H and B were so excited that it happened to be the only day where they do pony rides at the Museum. They've been talking about riding ponies for a looooong time. Pretty much since the last time they rode one when we were in Pennsylvania last April.
B has really been into hand holding lately. I freaking love it. H has always been very much Little Miss Independent, and has never been into holding hands too much. She was always good about staying near and not running across the street, etc., so we never really pushed it either.
But B. B probably should hold hands anyway. And I love walking beside him and suddenly feeling his little hand find mine and fit just perfectly into my palm.
There is a great little park at the museum that the kids loved playing at. Though it started to get super cold and windy and we dodged inside to make some Valentine's crafts afterward.
I love how that girl is always watching out for her baby brother.
Literally and figuratively.
I have so many photos of her, always with her eye on him.
When we left the museum we picked up cupcakes for J at Albertson's. They were awesome at making us some dye-free cupcakes. Though they couldn't quite wrap their brains around why I wouldn't want sprinkles on them. So they put some race car rings on them instead.
I'm sure J was overjoyed.
The kids were thrilled to give him his cupcakes and sing happy birthday to him.
We watched the Super Bowl with one of J's good friends and his family. The kids loved having playmates and it was nice to catch up with friends.
Monday the babes and I met up with a B-Town momma who now resides in LC. That was a lot of fun and I'm glad for the awesome connections I've made through fellow mommas.
We spent that evening visiting with another friend.
I spent most of the trip irate with most of population of LC who thinks screaming at and hitting their children is even remotely appropriate or acceptable.
While at Barnes and Noble, after watching a little girl get smacked, more than once, for crying about not having the purple train, H requested we leave because it "made her tummy hurt watching so many mean mommies and daddies." And I hadn't said a single word.
There was some hope though, when we stopped one day at IHOP for a meal and B was really mad about something, so I took him to the bathroom so he could be mad, but not bother the other customers. He locked himself inside a stall for a few minutes while a lady was using another stall. Then he came out and tried to hit me and told me how mad he was. I blocked his hand, of course, and told him I was sorry he was mad. What could we do to help him feel better?
At that point, the lady who'd been using the restroom was out, and she just stood there, watching us, not even trying a little bit not to be obvious.
B yelled a little more, he swung a stall door, he laid at my feet yelling at me. I just kept nodding and telling him I was there when he needed me.
The lady then said to me, "Wow. You are just so calm and patient. That's so cool."
It made me happy to know that not everyone there believes in authoritative parenting. That they're open to kindness and love. There is hope, yet.
And Tuesday the kiddos collected pecans from their grandparents little grove. H thought it was awesome, and loved running them into her abuelita to crack so they could eat them. B loved eating them, but quickly got distracted with Mother Nature. And Papa.
By the time we left for home, both kids were asking to return home. "Let's go home. Our real home. Not Abuelita's," H would say. Pretty much every two minutes that last day. They were as beat as we were.
The drive home is always a million times harder than the drive going. I'm not really sure why, it just is.
So we listened to a lot of Frozen and watched the movie like 6 times on Day 1 until we reached Tulsa, where we'd promised the kids a hotel and pool. We did better than a regular pool, and I found them a hotel with an awesome kiddo pool. It had two water slides and floating lily pads with a net above it. The water was ridiculously warm, and they both could touch in pretty much every single place.
It was great to see them so happy. And B getting so used to and friendly with the water. He's not quite the same kind of water bug H is, but he's coming into it on his own.
Everyone slept so well that night in the hotel - the first time in a week that poor J even got to sleep in a bed - that we slept through our alarms and didn't even care. It was worth it. We all deserved a full nights sleep, which we didn't get while in LC.
The last 12 hours home were hard. The kids were done being in the car. I was done. J was working hard to keep everyone sane.
And we made it. Finally. At last.
Home sweet home.
Despite having my dryer and food processor crap out on me today, I'm glad to be home. Slowly getting back into the routine of things. Getting everything cleaned up and organized - or trying anyway.
I was tickled to have received two canvas prints I'd ordered. There is something really cool about seeing a photo I took on canvas. And because those photos are of the three people I love and cherish most in this world, it's just that much better.
Anyway, we're home. Hoorah.
No comments:
Post a Comment