How weird. I think that's the longest I've been without an internet connection in about 10 years.
A wonderful vacation was had by all and I did keep track of some of the highlights on my laptop - of course it was used as a word processor without connection to the world wide web, but enjoy :) More to come when I finally dig out from under a week's worth of things to do!
I'm also working on getting pictures posted, but for now, they're on my flickr account, so check them out :)
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September 9, 2007
It’s amazing how an organized person can be made to feel like a complete scatterbrain when packing for herself, a 2 ½ year old, an 8 month old, and food for the entire family. I took Friday off in order to pack with the expectations that my beloved would be home and we would leave for the mountains around noon. I awoke around 4 with Bear and stayed up to get a few things done for work before truly beginning my vacation.
My beloved came down for coffee around 5:30 and by 6:15, I heard the lil’ munchkin traipsing down the stairs. As I looked up to see her descent, I had to chuckle. She had her stuffed dog and her “ballet” shoes clutched to her chest and claimed that she was ready for “bay k shun.” It was simply about the cutest moment considering she didn’t even truly understand what vacation is.
At 6:30, I carried a pajama clad toddler to the car to ride along to the grocery store with me. We were out of milk, so I figured there was no sense in waiting until later in the day.
By 7:30 am, I had both kids in the bath and was scrubbing them down so that they would only have the grime of traveling on them by the end of the day.
By 10:00 am, I had showered and was attempting to pack for myself. The lil’ munchkin decided to help me and I had to temper allowing her to help me and not packing the entire bathroom into my toiletry bag. We finally worked up a system so that I made a pile of things to be packed and she in turned packed them for me.
As the clock struck 10:30, I was finally packing the car and was feeling rather good. It’d only taken me three times as long as it normally would. Actually, knowing me, BK (Before Kids), I would have been packed the night before and been ready to go the moment I stepped foot downstairs. But that’s one of the many ways that life changes AK (After Kids).
When my beloved arrived home at 12:20, I had only made 6,392 additional trips to the car to add “one more thing” that I had suddenly remember would make our trip a little easier.
12:40 PM. Me, Beloved, Lil’ Munchkin, and Bear all piled into the Sienna that I had borrowed from work, along with the 15,235 pounds of “necessities” and we left for vacation.
The drive started off smoothly enough. The lil’ munchkin had wanted to hold off eating lunch so that she could “picnic” in “her new car” (sidenote that she has fallen in love with the minivan – the fact that she can climb in the back and go up to her seat, the doors all open automatically, and the DVD all add up to her liking this better than mommy’s 4Runner). After she finished her lunch, I told her it was time to take a nap and again, the novelty of taking a nap in the new car compared to her boring old bed worked like a charm.
She dozed off and we drove in peace for about 90 minutes. We made a stop here and we made a stop there. By 5:30, we had made it to Hays, Kansas and we decided to call it a day. We found a hotel and unpacked 12,593 pounds of what we had brought. We went to dinner and the lil’ munchkin thought it rather grand that she would get to sleep with Mom and Dad.
Saturday morning we awoke to a crying Bear and try as I may, It’s hard to not wake everyone else up in a small hotel room. I changed him and nursed and then as he babbled away, my beloved awoke and then the lil’ munchkin. At 6 am, I took the lil’ munchkin down for some breakfast and by 8:30, we were heading to the local Natural History museum to visit the dinosaurs.
The lil’ munchkin was very excited about getting to see the dinosaurs. That is until we walked into the display room with animatronic dinosaurs and a soundtrack of dinosaur and ocean sounds. She clung to me like an infant monkey and clenched the skin on my neck with her little monkey hands until I thought I would scream. I must say that I can relate though. As I reached out and touched one to tell her that they didn’t move, I looked up and it was chewing on grass. I yanked my hand back in a very startled fashion and then tried to cover my actions as to not scare the lil’ munchkin any further.
After a quick trip to the discovery room and then the gift shop where we actually purchased a ball for Gidget the Cat at the lil’ munchkin’s request, we were back on the road.
The kids slept once again and all was right in our world. That is until they awoke.
Screaming ensued.
SCREAMING.
Add to that one husband that doesn’t deal well with screaming.
I was ready to ride on the roof of the car.
Or go home.
I would have been fine with that as well.
The lil’ munchkin began to cry as she repeated over, and over, and over again that she wanted OUT. My beloved threatened to oblige and I became irritated at that. She then began to whine that she wanted her bay k shun! That did get a little grin out of me even though I had to reach way down to expose it in the vehicle with two crying kids and one patience-lacking husband.
By the time we made it into Colorado Springs, the directions to where we were going became rather screwy. We wasted at least an hour to an hour and a half going in the wrong directions.
But we did finally make it to the Cabin. Patience-lacking husband, Completely exhausted, hungry, bored 8 month old, and defeated, tired lil’ munchkin.
It was late and we unpacked the car as the lil’ munchkin looked over our house. The excitement pinged off of the lil’ munchkin like an electrical storm and it wasn’t long before the stress of being stuck in a car, going the wrong direction, and being stir-crazy had dissipated. I fed Bear and got him off to bed and we let the lil’ munchkin stay up for a little while longer. I made the beds and by 9:30 our time, we were all in bed, worn out, but happy that we were here.
We are all sleeping in the loft area of the cabin and the lil’ munchkin has her own little loft bed. With all of us sleeping in the same room, I wasn’t real shocked that I didn’t sleep well. Every little noise that Bear made I was up to check on him. Finally about 2 am, I came downstairs with him, let him nurse, and he slept for another 2 hours. By 4 am, however, he’d decided it was time to be up. Of course that is 5 am by our normal time, so I guess I can’t complain too tremendously. Actually, yes I can. It sucked.
I sit here typing now with my beloved laying on the couch entertaining Bear, the lil’ munchkin still sleeping, and feeling very relaxed as I watch out the windows of this beautiful cabin and into the tree- ridden area that will be ours for the next several day. We are so remote that we don’t have cell phone coverage and we’re worried about even finding our way back out.
Ah, Bay k shun.
September 10, 2007
Bear is officially 8 months old. Eight months? Can that truly be right? Sometimes it seems as though I was still pregnant just yesterday, yet it also seems that he’s been in our lives so much longer than a mere eight months.
He’s sitting on the floor “talking” as I type this. We are playing peek-a-boo around my laptop, and he’s blowing so many raspberries that I very well may have to get a wet-mop in here when we’re done. His smiling is absolutely stunning and can melt the heart of anyone he meets. And he’s very generous with giving it to people. I don’t think there’s been a time when someone’s said hello to him and he hasn’t smiled at them. Most people are in shock at how happy he is.
We are still on vacation in the mountains and it’s been so nice to have the time with him and his sister. My beloved and I are looking forward to the time when I am able to stay home with them. It will be a very tough decision when the time actually comes. Or maybe I should say it’ll be tough to actually do. I enjoy working. I enjoy the interaction with my fellow associates, and I work for an absolutely incredible company. But my kids are just that and this is time that I’ll never be able to get back. Seeing them grow and change so much is an awe-inspiring time.
Bear is rolling across the floor laughing at himself doing so. He’s beginning to crawl a little – he took his first “crawl” Friday morning and has done a few more since then. He’s also cut a new top tooth and I think his second top tooth is about to break through any minute. This will be number four for him and he’s, uh, used them on me a few times.
He loves people and he has a thing for ears and noses. And of course mom’s hair. I had him in the backpack carrier yesterday as we were going through the Dinosaur center and within seconds of putting him on, he had to be moved to Dad’s back or I wouldn’t have had any hair left. We had to chuckle to see this little boy with clumps of red hair streaming through his hands though.
This little boy that we were so worried about at birth has proven that he’s very strong and nothing in life will get him down.
Bear, I love you tremendously and look forward to each subsequent month with you. I look forward to not every milestone, but the mundane times of doing nothing but holding you as well.
Happy eight months, Bear.
September 11, 2007
Today is the last day in the mountains before we begin our long drive home. We’ve had a great time thus far. Some friends of ours met us out here and we’ve been able to get together with them and let the kids play, have some good food, and some good conversation. It’s always interesting watching young kids play together and interact. Their son, A, is about 14 months and was very interested in watching the lil’ munchkin. He would also sit and play beside Bear. The lil’ munchkin had to learn that mom can hold another baby and it doesn’t mean that she’s not loved. We had a couple of instances of jealousy when I held A, but overall, the kids all did wonderfully together.
Bear had a bit of a rough day yesterday seeing how one of his top teeth wants to come out but the gum it sits beneath doesn’t want it to. The poor little guy hasn’t been a great eater for the past few days as the first top tooth broke through, but it didn’t seem to cause him too much grief. The second one, however, has given him a very swollen gum, an appetite that can’t be satiated do to the pain of his mouth, and a case of the crankies. My heart hurts for the little guy knowing that there’s not much I can do other than a little pain medication here and there.
Yesterday we went to the Manitou Cave Dwellings and the lil’ munchkin was enthralled with the structures that were built into the rock. They were occupied until 1984. It simply amazes me to see how they lived in comparison to how we live today.
A Sister’s Love
The lil’ munchkin absolutely adores Bear. She loves being his big sister, and she loves to help with him in any way she can. I put them both upstairs in the loft bedroom for a nap yesterday afternoon. Lil’ munchkin in her bed and Bear in his playpen. I went back downstairs to visit with our friends and before long, I heard the lil’ munchkin squealing. As I started up the stairs, I could clearly hear what she was saying. She was very excited. Why? Bear was crawling. She was overjoyed with that simple act that my heart nearly exploded with love and pride for the little girl.
Two nights ago, I had put both kids to bed and went downstairs to brush my teeth. It wasn’t long before Bear decided to vocalize that he wasn’t real happy about being put to bed and that he wanted more snuggles. The cabin’s loft offers an opportunity to hear the kids rather easily, and shortly after the cries started, I heard the little pitter patter of feet. They stopped and I heard, “It’s okay,” and then the little pitter patter of feet again as she padded back to her bed.
Originally posted on thebugandthebear.vox.com