Vacation in 7 Bullets

1. 5 hours in the truck with 3 children. They were actually pretty decent on the ride down. They had movies and games plus it was very early in the morning, so the baby conked out. But the ride back was BRUTAL. There was fighting and whining and crying and NOBODY slept. Except for Hub that is, because he always sleeps in the car. (grrr) We took his truck because the AC is out in my mini-van so the kids sat 3 in a row in the back seat. NEVER AGAIN.
2. Planning an activity right on the first day worked out very well. We stopped at Indian Echo Caverns for the tour and the kids were able to unwind on the playground before we went on the tour. We really enjoyed it too.



3. I tweeted about sucking it up and calling the hotel to get the internet deal that had expired before we booked, and I was able to get a bit of a discount there. When I checked us in, I was talking to the front desk about where we were from and it turned out that he was from our hometown. He gave me more of a discount because he was ‘taking care of his own’. I was so pleased that I didn’t even complain when we lugged all of our stuff up to our room to find that housekeeping had just started cleaning it. We were moved immediately, so it wasn’t a huge deal anyway. Just the re-carrying of all the stuff was annoying.
4. We decided to do Chocolate World that evening as well because it was still early and they were open until 9. The children---they were wild. Chocolate combined with the crazy from the car ride….um, yeah. But it was fun. They got to pretend they worked in the factory and everything. Plus the infamous chocolate factory (FAKE!! FAKE!!!) tour, and we were pretty happy.








5. Hershey Park was open from 10-8 and we spent the entire day there on Wednesday. It was HOT. Like 94 humid degrees hot. The kids had a fabulous time on the rides and in the water park. Hub and I enjoyed ourselves as well, but by the end of the night, I was overheated and crabby. The kids were exhausted too.







6. I would have to say that a 3-day mini-trip is the way to do it with small children. I am glad we didn’t do Disney, because Liv was very hard to handle. They were all very good, but we were glad to be home and back to the usual routine.
7. Now to look forward to a mini trip with Hub in October.

Friday Free for All--Kid (and cat) Stuff

• Every time someone tells me that Lucy looks just like me or is my “mini-me”, my heart kind of skips a beat. I don’t know why; it just makes my heart swell. (I don’t see it at all, btw)
• Likewise, every time someone asks me where in the world Liv got her blonde hair from, I want to ballpunch them. Are you implying that perhaps she has a different daddy? No, really. What exactly are you implying? And I feel compelled to explain to people that Hub is the only brown-haired person in his family. His father, sister, aunt and cousins are all red-heads! There are definitely genetics at play. The whole dominant and recessive gene crap. So let’s shut up, ok. Nevermind that she has her brother’s exact face. (as a note, I don’t mind hearing “she so blonde!” or about Lucy “her hair is so shiny and dark!!” it’s the questioning that bugs me)
• Liv is constantly asking questions now. Like full questions as in “can I put my packpack right there?” “Can I have more mulk please?” It’s crazy how she has become a little person all of the sudden.
• Twice this week, Bud’s friend and his mother stopped by and ended up staying for hours. The first was impromptu—they were on a bike ride and saw Bud outside an stopped, so we ended up talking to the mom while the kids played. Last night, the boy called to see if Eddie could play, and I talked with the mom who said she would ride with him and he would come over. And the mom stayed the whole time. I don’t mind that she came and stayed at all, but I did kind of feel bad that she was just standing and then sitting there. And she felt bad because she thought we felt like we needed to entertain her. It was just kind of a weird awkward type of situation. But we did have a nice time talking to an adult while the kids were entertained.
• A few weeks ago, we cleaned out our previously closed off attic. Prior to closing it off, it was the cats’ room—they had litter boxes and toys and all that jazz up there. Since cleaning it out, (Hub cleaned the carpets and everything), the cats (or at least one of them) have been sneaking up there to pee and poop. Where there is no longer a litter box. A few days ago, we found a huge puddle of pee on the basement floor. It was odd—we couldn’t figure out what would possess them to pee right in the middle of the basement floor. Today though, Hub found out what actually happened—they are pissing in the floor vent in the attic—the one that was open to the basement as a vehicle to get heat up there—and it is trickling down to the basement. What the bloody hell? So obviously, we are sealing off the attic again (and cleaning that duct out). But also, we are going to buy 2 jumbo litter boxes since the TEH INTERNETS told me to. If that doesn’t fix it, I don’t know what we’ll do. Sebastian has been known to pee and poop in our bed when something is wrong (like when he is sick or the time my SIL brought fleas in to our house) so I don’t think that’s the issue. Hopefully it is just that they remembered that the upstairs used to be the poop room. If they don’t cut it out though, I’m gonna cut them!! (ok, not really)

Itinerary

When we got to my mother’s house today, Liv immediately shrieked to her “ I going on cation!!! I going on cation!!” Mind you, she has no idea what a vacation even is; we have not traveled save for an overnight trip to an indoor water park since before I was pregnant with her. I think she can sense the anticipation though. The big kids and I are all very excited. Hub is not so much excited. Vacation is more stressful than enjoyable for him. He likes to be near home. He likes routine. He DOES NOT like to spend a lot of money. But he knows that I crave being away, that I need to go away every now and again, and so he complies.

We’re still kind of planning out our itinerary for next week. And because I am working through Friday, and spending Saturday shopping a HUGE consignment sale and also (hopefully) using my 30% off Old Navy coupon on some good clearance, it’s going to leave Sunday to get the house in order and get packed. We aren’t leaving for the actual vacation until Tuesday (very early Tuesday Morning), but we’ve had a daytrip to the beach in the works for a while on Monday, and it’s not going to leave a lot of time for packing. So, Sunday. Packing everything but the things we need up until we leave. And the cleaning….

Do you guys do that too? Obsess over the house being clean before you leave? I like our house to be spotless. I loathe coming home from vacation with anything more than unpacking hanging over my head, so I always work really hard to have it vacuumed, decluttered, and ready to just come home to before we leave.

This of course means a lot of pre-vacation stress for me. I am so much like my mother in this respect that it kind of scares me. If we were going somewhere, she would be up the entire night before preparing. Stressed beyond belief with list on top of list. So now you know where my list making neurosis comes from. It works though, and I always have every aspect of our vacation planned in advance. We are not “show up to vacation destination and see what happens” types of people. We are not “go on vacation just to sit on the beach” people either (though I could probably be persuaded to be that person at this point in my life). We are “get out and see and experience EVERYTHING” people. We like to be moving and seeing things during the day, and after dinner spend some time in the hotel pool, or maybe watch a movie in our room.

I’m in the tie up loose ends and start my pre-list lists phase today. By end of day tomorrow I will have full lists of what to pack and for who, what we need to buy, to do items before we leave, and a checklist of things we cannot leave the house without morning of. Anyway, it’s a miracle that I haven’t incorporated flow charts at this point. Still just the hand written lists.

So yes, next week! Vacation! Can’t wait!

Bullets

• Today is Lucy’s official last day of daycare. We are a one child in daycare family again!! YAY! And after the summer of having 3 in “camp”, 1 daycare bill will be quite welcomed.
• We also got the kids’ teacher assignments in the mail last night. Lucy has the same twitty teacher Bud had last year (she says “libary”) but she was super nice and Bud loved her, so we’re pleased. Bud got a new to the school teacher, and his BFF Zach got someone else so they were a bit disappointed, but at least they’ll have the bus rides.
• And speaking of the bus, we got a cryptic letter a few weeks ago talking about combining bus routes and bus stops which may make for longer bus rides for the children. It went on to say that if we were worried about the new bus stops being out of parental sight, we should know, that as parents, it is our responsibility (and not the district’s) to monitor our children at the bus stop (um really? It’s my job to watch my kid?? Thanks for the public service announcement). And we’ve heard nothing else since. I’m hoping that the bus schedule comes soon so I can stop freaking out about this though. In front of the house pick-up was such a blessing for us since FIL usually got Bud off and on every day. He can’t walk them to some bus stop, so we’ll have to either rely on neighbors or somehow modify our schedules.
• We’ve finally settled on a vacation destination, which is Hershey Park in PA. A friend of mine gave me some free passes that she couldn’t use, and this was one of the ideas we were already kicking around (Hub and I were there before we were married), so it must have been fate. I’m excited just to get away for a few days. Hub is excited about the cheap hotel room I scored that has a 2 person Jacuzzi. So far, the weather is supposed to be great there next week—let’s hope the forecast doesn’t change!
• We took our annual trip to the county fair last weekend and had a blast, per usual. Liv was disappointed because most of the rides were for the over 36 inch crowd, but she had a good time just the same. I took Bud on the kiddie roller coaster, which he thought was AWESOME though I was clearly fearing for my life.



• Afterward was the school bus demolition derby, and for a Thursday, it was way more crowded than we would have anticipated. We really enjoyed the way the busses were decorated. We didn’t so much enjoy who I dubbed as “The Fuck Brothers” behind us who fucking inserted the word fuck into every fucking sentence at least one fucking time. Fucking A, man. Listen, I can and do curse like a trucker, but 1. Not at a family event, 2. Not around my children, and 3. As a way to make a point, not just for the sake of saying the word fuck just for the mother fucking hell of it. Fuck Fuck Fuck. Seriously.
• Fuck.

Weekly Will--Week 1 Update, and Week 2 Wills

Well my first week of “wills” went pretty well I think. It’s hard to hold myself accountable, but I liked knowing in the back of my mind that The List was out there, even as I sometimes ignored it.


• I will get my hair cut and colored. CHECK Although the cut occurred last Saturday which was not technically part of last week, and the color occurred last night, which is part of THIS week so…. (anyway—not overly thrilled with the color—a bit too red for me, but I think it will fade.)
• I will go to the gym at least 4 times (and I will not just slack off and ride the bike). NOPE! I went once—maybe twice?? The days blur together—BUT, I spent last Sunday climbing my attic and basement stairs relocating a bunch of crap and Thursday walking our local (hilly) fairgrounds and worked up more of a sweat than I usually do at the gym, so I think I still did ok. We’ll put this on one this week’s list again though.
• I will paint my toenails (or maybe have someone paint them for me). CHECK (I painted myself)
• I will wear cute shoes instead of boring flats at least once. CHECK this one was murder!! But I wore cute capris and strappy sandals
• I will clear and wash the dinner dishes in the same night in which they accumulated. NOPE! not so much. Not even a little bit
• I will do a good deed. semi-CHECK in that I let idiots who don’t know how to drive in front of me on the thruway---not really what I was going for but…
• I will play a game with my kids without being beggedasked. CHECK
• I will focus more time on my job and less time hanging out on Twitter and Facebook. semi-CHECK I could do more work here…
• I will comment on a blog I have never commented on before. CHECK I did right here

Now, then, for this week’s list. There will not be a list for next week since we will be on vacation, but I do hope to still be mindful of good habits.

• I will avoid iced coffee with cream, because cream is the devil not just in fat and calories, but it totally screws my whole body inside and out. I’ve known this for a long time, but still imbibe because it is so darn good on the long hot ride home from work. No Cream.
• I will go to the gym 4 times (1 time down already today)
• I will focus on my work and not leave loose ends that have to be worked while I am technically on vacation.
• I will wear a skirt or a dress.
• I will be mindful of what I am shoving in my piehole and will try hard not to eat mindlessly.
• I will do better on the dinner dishes. I will sweep the kitchen floor.
• I will wear makeup or earrings.
• I will do something alone with each of my kids.

OK! Here goes WEEK 2!!!

Five.

To my sweet Caitlyn-

5 years ago today, you came in to the world in a fury with a shock of thick black hair amidst a ton of drama. Drama is what sums you up in a single word. You feel everything so much more than the average person. When you are sad, it is earth shattering. When you are angry, mountains move. And when you are happy, sunshine and rainbows stream from the sky.

I remember when you were still in my belly, wondering what you would be like. Who would you be? From the time you were a few weeks old, I knew that you were special. I remember telling Aunt Marisa about it when we visited her for the first time after you were born. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but yes, certainly special.

Your face, the twinkle in your eye, and your smile light up any room. And you are a girl who knows what she wants, and always makes sure to get her way. You just have that look; nobody can say no to you. When you woke up this morning and squeezed me tight, immediately you said “Mama, I’m 5! I’m 5 Mama!!”. I know. God, I know, and I can barely believe it.

This year you learned to write all of your letters, read small words, tie your shoes, and the words to EVERY Justin Bieber song. You love iCarly and Big Time Rush. You had your ears pierced a few weeks ago, an early birthday gift because you “just wanted to get it over with”. It seems like you’ve gone from little girl to big girl over night. Slow down a bit, ok? I’m not ready for you to be so big yet. You’ll be going to Kindergarten in a few weeks. I know you’re nervous, but it is going to be great, I know it.

So Happy Happy Birthday, Baby. I love you more than you know,

Mama

A Few Days Old

One

Two

Three

Four

Five!

Baby's Bunting

Oh, I have been having so much fun reading Jess’ posts and tweets about everything baby. She reminds me so much of myself during my first pregnancy that it is kind of scary. And yesterday, when she was talking about baby buntings and winter gear, I was reminded of what a fiasco it was to actually get out of the hospital with Bud.

Bud was born on January 7, 2004 in what was the coldest January Buffalo had experienced in a very long time. Now, upon entry to the hospital, I didn’t notice the cold because I was SO! HOT! , but trust me when I say it was really freaking cold. And I had prepared for it too. Bud’s going home outfit was a 5 piece Winnie the Pooh number, consisting of pants, a t-shirt and a light cotton cardigan, along with a hat and booties. I also brought the blue furry bunting received as a gift from my great Aunt Delores, and the knitted oversized afghan my mother gave me as a gift. And you know, a whole duffle bag of other things I would never possibly need, but wanted to have just in case (like my own diapers….seriously) So, you know, I was ready!

When we were released, the afternoon of January 9th, I was so excited to get him dressed and place him in our car for the first time. I was not as excited that getting dressed for me involved putting on the same maternity clothes that I had come in wearing. I took him from the bassinette and laid him on the bed and went about getting his clothes on. It turned out, that Bud was not at all happy about being naked and being maneuvered in to clothing. It seemed that he was perfectly content in the hospital blanket and snapped on undershirt. Clearly we weren’t taking him home like that though, and we persevered in getting him dressed. And after what seemed like an eternity, he was dressed, and I was ready to get him in to his car seat.

PISSED! at the injustice of having to wear clothes

The car seat scared me, I’m not going to lie. The straps and harnesses, and his small body…yeah, it was scary. And let’s just say, that it took me a few weeks before I strapped Bud in to the car seat on my own. And even longer before I popped the seat in to the base in my car by myself. I know. But anyway..

There we were, ready to take him home, so out came the blue fuzzy bunting and the blanket. I got Bud in to it, and he resembled a stuffed cookie monster doll, but with a lot of extra fur. The bunting was not only too big on him, but also WAY too big to even consider placing him in to the car seat in. Of course, I panicked. What were we going to do? It was like -7 degrees outside!! We were going to kill our baby before we even had a chance to get him home, or worse, the hospital staff was going to take him away from us for being IDIOTS! (me especially)

My super-calm husband took the baby and strapped him in the car seat as is. He then layered the extra large afghan up over and around the baby. Then he went downstairs and drove the already warmed up car right up to the hospital door, where the nurses wheeled me, and where he popped Bud in with nary a peep. I sat next to him in the back on our first car ride home, watching him breathe, making sure he was warm, and working hard to not feel like a failure on my first day out in the world as a mom.

But soon we were home, and we settled in to a routine, and the days turned in to weeks, months and now, years. Bud will be 7 this January (“7 on the 7th “he remarked to me last week, “Isn’t that cool??!!”) and he remembers nothing of that first car ride home. And maybe someday he’ll wonder why there are no photos of him in his car seat like his sisters, preparing for his first trip out in to the world, but I don’t think he’ll ever wonder whether or not he was loved, or cared for, or whether or not we kept him safe and warm.

The first baby is kind of an anomaly. Although you’re the adult, you really are learning together. I didn’t make the same mistakes with Bud’s sisters. I packed lighter and smarter for the hospital. I knew more. I knew how to dress and handle babies (though nothing could prepare me for girl drama). I think that’s part of what makes Bud, my firstborn, so special. Each of my kids is special for their own reasons, but my Bud….he taught me how to be a mom.

And that is pretty awesome.