The group text read, “I just want to let you all know how special you really are…I shaved my legs for you guys. My husband’s pretty jealous.”
Did you miss me this weekend? Some of the mama’s made an escape to wine country. Sans kiddos. Continue reading
Either much to your dismay or relief – depending on you feel about these adventures, we have reached the final day in paradise. Tomorrow we will return you to your regularly scheduled muppet adventures.
Conversation that occurred Friday afternoon:
Jon: I just looked at the camera. There are only pictures of turtles.
Me: Have you met me? Continue reading
So far we’ve tackled air, earth and fire. So today – we took on the water. After applying copious amounts of sunscreen, we set off toward the harbor for a morning snorkel cruise. The boat traveled out to the Kealakekua Bay – home of the Captain Cook monument. (Did you know that stands on British soil?) Continue reading
Hawaii is amazing. The Big Island has every terrain thinkable – tropical paradise, Jurassic Park, Mars, desert chic, permafrost…and the list goes on and on. Today, we decided to step it up a notch and head beneath the surface. Continue reading
Comments Off on Two Tickets to Paradise – Wednesday: Fire
I grew up in an equestrian center community. Many of our neighbors had stables in their backyards and you could walk to the arena where people housed and ran their stallions. When I was about 6 years old, my family went on vacation to Phoenix, Ariz. My mom and I got up bright and early to go on a horseback trail ride along the ridge. Continue reading
Did you miss me?
Thanks to an act of God, Jon and I were able to escape for a week. After a very long weekend spent celebrating the weekend of my brother and sister (heehee! I have a sister!) the four of us trooped down to the newlyweds house on Manhattan Beach and rested up for some trips to tropical paradise. Continue reading
The muppets and I made a mad dash for the sunny Southern California coast this past weekend. During our whirlwind family reunion tour I was reminded how much I miss living near my extended family. Continue reading
By the time I got home from work on Thursday, the muppets were sound asleep. When I woke them up two hours into their good night’s sleep, Search eyed me suspiciously. We headed off to the airport to meet Auntie Beeca and Uncle Bryan. When the Portlandian’s flight landed, I texted Beeca, “I hope your hubbie plays a mean game of Tetris.”
Friday was the start of a long holiday weekend. It was pouring rain. The drive to SoCal took five and a half hours. Tuesday, once everyone had returned to school or work, was absolutely gorgeous. It took nine hours to get home.
We’re finally home. I’d planned to update you, all my faithful readers, on our trip last night. But our return became a full day’s adventure.
7:15 a.m.: The muppets and I bid adieu to weeping grandparents.
7:30 a.m.: The three of us visited briefly with an old friend, her little munchkin and munchkin-to-be, and enjoyed some nice warm bottles of milk.
9:00 a.m.: We arrived at G.G.’s house to dine on a delicious breakfast of pears and bask in the glow of some last minute doting.
11:00 a.m.: Time to hit the road – the wheels on the car go round and round.
1:00 p.m.: The wheels on the car are not going round and round. Destroy begins to express displeasure for this particular journey. The muppets are tired, but not sleeping.
1:30 p.m.: We’re moving forward, but sadly without need for use of the gas pedal. Destroy decides this is a problem best solved with food, so I promise them we’ll break for a snack. A green highway sign overhead shares that the next exit is one mile down the road.
2:00 p.m.: We finally approach the exit. I will the traffic ahead to make good use of the accelerator while preparing bottles for the boys. Both muppets protest a return to their carseats.
2:30 p.m.: Arrival in Santa Barbara. (I usually pass the “Big Yellow House” an hour and a half into this journey.)
3:30 p.m.: Search begins to whine. Destroy agrees with Search. Numerous kamikaze bugs commit hari kari on the windshield.
4:00 p.m.: Pismo Beach looks like an inviting rest stop. I choose a grassy knoll at a Hilton Garden Inn overlooking the Pacific Ocean and set up a family picnic. In a setting fitting a Hollywood movie, we dine on peas under palm trees as we gaze out over the sparkling blue water shimmering in the distance. Destroy rolls around in the sunshine, while Search tries to disassemble his carseat.
5:00 p.m.: Halfway home! (This is the time we thought we’d arrive.)
6:00 p.m.: GrampaStavo starts to panic that we’re not home yet. Search is wailing in the backseat.
8:00 p.m.: Never such a welcoming house have our eyes ever seen before. The muppets are sound asleep as we pull into our driveway. With sleep filled eyes, Search curls up into Daddy’s arms.
“I missed you!” Jon cooed over the muppets as he doused them with kisses. I began to unload the car while Jon prepared milk and oatmeal. Search began to cry again. By the time I got back into the house, we were experiencing our first full-blown tantrum.
Search was screaming and squealing in his ExerSaucer as he jumped up and down. “I. AM. HUNGRY! I. AM. TIRED! I. AM. NEVER. EVER. NEVER. GETTING IN THAT CARSEAT AGAIN. MY DAY SUCKED!!! MY TEETH HURT!!!” Crocodile tears streamed from his bloodshot red eyes, down his chubby little chipmunk cheeks. His bottom lip jutted out in a full pout.
He didn’t even make through the appetizer course of milk before he passed out in Jon’s arms.
After we put the two of them to bed, where they immediately flipped onto their tummies and embraced the familiarity and comfort of their own beds, I returned downstairs to share the stories of our adventure. I stared at the computer screen, mesmerized by the blinking cursor.
Well, I’ll just leave them anticipating the next installment, I thought. I was sound asleep by 9:00 p.m., dreaming dreams that my butt was no longer molded to the precise shape of my car seat.
…to grandmother’s house we go.
It took three days of packing, two suitcases and one very large SUV. But the muppets and I braved the pouring rain and trekked 370 miles south to GrammaJ and GrampaStavo’s house in the rain. Jon remained behind to hold down the fort, care for our furry four-legged boys, and work.
I know that babies can get a little out of sorts in a new place, so Jon and I did all we could to ensure they felt at home. Two pack-n-plays (one borrowed), Dolph and El (their nighttime snuggly lovies – a stuffed dolphin and elephant), their jumper (bounce! bounce!), the Tiny Gym playmat (with dangly toys and activity Hungry Caterpillar), 10 pairs of jammies and stylish outfits for each day of our stay, bibs (lots of bibs), the land yacht of a stroller, and a wide variety of miscellaneous toys to grab and gnaw, among other accouterments.
At the last minute, Jon kindly reminded me that I should probably bring some necessities of my own. So I stuffed some jeans and shirts into a duffel bag and piled all my electronics gear into an insulated, cushioned case. (I wouldn’t have you, my faithful readers, bereft of my witty postings detailing the lives of our beloved muppets…)
We hit the road at 6 a.m. The rolling hum of the tires and the pounding raindrops surrounding the car, combined with the still darkness of pre-dawn, put the boys right back to sleep. They dozed happily in the backseat; I filled up the gas tank, hit Starbucks for a caffeine shooter and guided the Pilot onto the 101 freeway. Four hours into the drive, the muppets started babbling in the backseat. I was impressed they lasted as long as they did – I start getting antsy about 30 minutes into a road trip.
We pulled off the road to refuel muppets and the car in Buellton, at the home of Mrs. Anderson’s Split-Pea soup. It seemed an appropriate stopping point; I’m not personally a fan of pea soup (especially at 10 in the morning), but pureed peas are featured prominently on the muppets dinner menu this week.
The final hour of the drive to SoCal is always my favorite – winding along the coastline with the Pacific Ocean waves breaking on the beach outside your passenger windows, and traveling beneath the swaying palm trees and cliffside houses that perch along the hills through Santa Barbara. Granted, some trips are more uplifting than others, but even with the grey water and dreary, sad looking soggy trees, I was thrilled to share the muppets first seaside adventure with them. I think Destroy turned his head and went back to sleep.
Precisely five and a half hours after departure, we pulled into G.G.’s driveway. The vacation officially commenced and we headed indoors for five fun-filled days of muppet spoiling, as they meet their throngs of admirers who have been anxiously awaiting an audience since May 28.
