Back to Cali

Other than the must have trip home for the holidays, we have been avoiding planes for a very simple reason....and his name is Cade. Our last big trip was last June to California to see my cousin get married and to visit Mickey while we were there. While the big event was wonderful, seeing and spending with family was fantastic, other parts of the trip were not so enjoyable. Cade was kind of a mess and it scarred us enough not to travel for a while. If you don't remember the details, you can read about some of it here. Anyway, we knew quite a while back that there was another occasion we absolutely could not miss happening on January 25th in Oakland....my good friend wedding. Since we have a lot of friends in the area, we decided to make a longish vacation of it...hopefully long enough to make the long plane ride with the kiddos worth it.

And was it worth it? Absolutely! I came well armed with plane activities, expected the worst, survived the flights well and had a really great vacation with the family. Getting back....different story. It's been a rough\hectic couple of weeks, hence this delayed post. But, without further ado, here's some info on our trip.

My good friend, Ana Maria, and her family relocated to the Bay area last year. Since they were all settled in their new place, they graciously offered to host us for most of our stay. So once we arrived at the San Fran airport, we picked up our ride for the week...a minivan....and headed to Ana Maria's place in Saratoga. Now first off, I am a car person. I like cars. Pretty ones. Fast ones. Minivans do not fall into those categories. I resigned to a life of SUV's while having young kids but I absolutely can not bring myself to go the minivan route. Really, absolutely no offense to any lovely folks out there that drive one but they're just not for me. In any case, we got one because 1) we planned to take some group trips that it would be handy for and 2) it was cheaper than other large car rentals. I really tried to hate that thing but man, are they convenient! Cup holders EVERYWHERE and easy access to the whole vehicle. I will absolutely not be purchasing one anytime soon but I definitely understand the draw a bit more. However, I will still curse the minivan in front of me that cannot find the accelerator (Damn minivans!).

In any case, after our last long trip with a big time change, we wisely decided to have laid back expectations of the trip and touristy things to do. On day one, that involved getting to their house and hanging out. We did just that. Dylan and Cade got along smashingly with their girls, Elise and Cate. It was almost like having a baby sitter because those 4 just went off and did their own thing most of the time.

While we had a relaxing time, we didn't exactly have a restful time. Mostly because adjusting the kids to the time change while all sleeping in the same space didn't exactly make conducive conditions to getting a good night's sleep. We did the best we could though and napped when possible.

Our first morning there, we were greeted by some deer that frequent Ana Maria and Theo's hilly yard in Saratoga. They were a beautiful sight to start out what would be a nature day for us.

Near their house, there are some nice trails they discovered that we took the kids on to explore. Their area is really lovely....the hillsides are dotted with grape vines for vineyards and beautiful big houses. The highlight of our hike was a little less scenic. They had discovered a deer carcass hiking the trails a few weeks back and, having Dylan as a son, I knew we had to check it out. Dylan was completely fascinated and still talks about it and asks questions. It was actually pretty cool to see and I took some pictures. Knowing it would gross out my Mom, pictures are not included here so you can feel free to keep reading.

Mike, Cade, Theo, Ana Maria
(and on the "lower" level) Cate and Elise

Us
Yeah, Cade was the one happy to walk the whole way. Tired Dylan, not so much. Good workout for me though!

The Prellers!

Once back at the house, we hung out in their back yard which, in addition to the feature of a big cool hill, they have rocks to climb on and a coy pond. The boys loved it there!

Elise then asked if she could paint and, it being vacation and all, Ana Maria said yes. No sooner then the paint came out, the chaos and mess started! The boys certainly had fun but there was a good mess to clean up after the quick pieces of art our little Picassos made. Cade was definitely to blame for most of the craziness. Unfortunately, I was wrapped up dealing with his clean up and left Ana Maria with the bulk of the art\deck clean up. (Thanks, Ana Maria! Sorry again for leaving you with that!)

That evening, my friend Katie, her husband Justin and their cutie pie Everett came over and we all enjoyed pizza while the kids ran around screaming. It was quite chaotic! Katie and Justin are friends of mine from college. They've been on the west coast for a while so since our wedding, Mike and I have only seen them a very small handful of times....the last one was, I think, when Dylan was a wee tyke. It was great to see them and to get to meet their sweet little boy.

The next day was Monday. It being MLK day, my friend Katie had the day off so we drove the hour to her town of Livermore. We had lunch in the cute center of town, wandering, let the boys run amok then headed to her place for naps.

Dylan and Everett

During their nap is when I got the unfortunate news that the sale of our NH condo fell through. I dealt with that fallout while the kids were sleeping and then tried to put it behind me and not let it ruin the rest of the day\week. After naps, we walked to the park and played.

What up Ev?

Katie

Mom, You're Crazy!

When it got dark, we walked back to Katie's place, packed up, said goodbye, grabbed some Subway sandwiches and drove back to our home for the week in Saratoga.

Goals

We are just back from a week long trip to California. We arrived home Sunday night, back to work for my busiest week of the month on Monday, Cade's birthday on Monday as well, had a meeting with our designer to get 1 step closer to actual construction on the mudroom, and my parents fly in town this afternoon for Cade's birthday party on Saturday. To say that we landed back from vacation to hit the ground running would be an understatement. So, until I have a chance to post cute pictures of the kiddos from our vacation fun and put up a Cade 2 year old post, I have the below for your reading enjoyment.

I decided I would definitely not do New Years Resolutions this year. Mostly because I find them irritating to come up with and depressing as they rarely get accomplished. However, I've been inspired by others posting lists via Facebook and blogs. I think of resolutions as the usual "lose weight" or "save more money" type of statement that is vague and difficult to determine whether or not you can check it off your to do list. What I've been seeing lately that I find much more desirable is thinking of new things you'd like to do in life. I can get into that. So here's what I've come with for myself:

1) Project time. I've been trying to do this for a while and have been mostly successful with it. Mainly, since the kids are on a pretty regular bed time schedule these days, I force myself (no matter how tired) to do 1 hour of "projects" after their bedtime before I consider doing more mindless tasks (like catching up on whatever stupid reality tv show I've dvr'd). While a lot of the time this ends up being time to log some miles on the treadmill, pay bills or do other household tasks, I have been able to slip in an actual out of the norm project on these nights. I'm looking forward to a return of having this "normal" project time as, since Halloween pretty much, this time has mostly been devoted to making costumes, planning holiday and post holiday travel, doing holiday shopping and decorating\de-decorating. After Cade's party this weekend, I will hopefully return back to out of the norm projects again.

2) Organize the basement. This has been an ongoing headache. I've finally gotten my workshop mostly organized and have a plan for moving around some other big stacks of stuff (cabinetry, shelves, furniture to store) into a better spot for a nicer looking basement. It will still be a big task I don't think we'll be able to complete in a small amount of time (given that it will take 2 people and the amount of time Mike and I have with one of us not juggling kids' needs is rare) but I'm confident we can get that space a lot prettier then it is now. The harder part will be getting my lovely, organized challenged husband on board with actually keeping it pretty.

3) Take a welding class. Just under 3 years ago, I bought a Groupon for a day long welding class. I've always thought it would be a great skill to learn as there are art and construction projects in my head that require melting metal together. Pretty soon after purchasing the Groupon, I found out I was pregnant. Somehow I didn't think it was a good environment for a preggo so I delayed taking the class. Then there was the last 2 years of having little to zero time for myself. Mike and I are in a much better place (somedays) in regards to being able to balance the kiddos and other things in our lives. I think within the next 6 months or so I'll be able to figure out a time to cash in that class certificate.

4) Get the mudroom revamp done. This was on our list for last year. We wanted to have it done before winter arrived so that we could have an organized space to stash all that winter gear we constantly use. Unfortunately, not being able to see our old NH condo put a kink in that plan. With a new year comes new money (due to my odd payment structure), so we can now move forward with our plans. Our cabinetry order might be completed by the end of February. We still have some work to do hiring folks to get the other facets of the project done (demo, tile, finish work, electric rough in and finish) but this one will hopefully be checked off the list early in the year. One more room in our house that will be nicely organized. I love it!

5) And in regards to that NH condo, we need to get it sold! We've had bad luck in this area. At the beginning of our last 2 vacations (NH in September and CA last week), we found out that the contracts we had on the place fell through. Now we're trying to figure out our next steps as our relationship with our realtor took a bit of hit with how the last contract fall through was handled last week and our listing contract has expired. I suspect there will be some talk of how to handle this over the weekend when my expert realtor Dad is in the house.

Between working, kids and life in general. I think these extra projects and project goals will keep me quite busy and out of trouble, don't ya think?

Whirlwind of Family

When we initially planned our trip to Dallas for Christmas, we purposefully planned it for a fairly succinct amount of time. Reason being was that my parents would be at our place just a month later for Cade's birthday and my brothers and their families would only be there for a short window of time as well. Since the reason to go was for the whole family to be together, we went when they were going to be there and I didn't have to burn through much vacation time. I think I gave some thought to that quick of a trip being hard traveling with kids, but I honestly was more worried in general about the flight part itself and not the impact of packing that much into such a short amount of time. While it was a great trip in general, it was also tough in some ways.

First tough part was the plane trip. Our trip to CA in June for my cousin's wedding scarred us fairly badly in regards to flying with Cade. We hoped that a good 6 months later he would be at a an age where he'd be able to handle it better. And, while he was definitely markedly better than our previous flying experience, he was still far from easy. I sat with the boys on one side of the plane and Mike sat on the other side of the aisle so I was a busy girl. They actually did a great job of hanging out and watching movies\playing games on the ipad but neither of them slept a wink. And our 4 hour flight started at 6pm. There was a small window where I got some calm snuggles but there was no sleeping which made for exhausted kids when we got there. Dylan took a trip to the bathroom on the plane with Dad and announced to me when he got back that flushing the potty scared him a little. Soon after he looked a little pale and said the bathroom made him sick. We didn't know it at the time, but that was the beginning of a stomach bug that he had all weekend (we're still trying to convince him it wasn't the bathroom that made him sick though we all agree plane bathrooms are pretty gross).

Dylan woke during the night and threw up...in the same room he was sharing with Cade. So after getting to bed 4 hours later than usual, both the boys were up multiple times during the night. Dylan has a history with vomiting so while we were concerned, he seemed fine the next morning so life carried on. He had a great time playing with his cousins but didn't eat very much and did throw up again after seeing food on Mike's shirt (not unusual for him to do). It wasn't until we got home and he had diarrhea all the next day that we realized this was a bug. Unfortunately my sweet nephew Ryker caught the bug and had an unpleasant New Years Eve. Luckily, the rest of the family escaped it.

As for the family events, Saturday was the big day. The whole gang was there and the house was full and chaotic. We did a present swap, ate a lot (except for Dylan) and hung out. It was a nice day.

Sweet Bryson

Payton and Ryker on an Uncle Jody Roller Coaster Ride

Dylan Playing Outside

Cute Ginger

Cade and I Reading His New Book, Marcy, Reece and Mom Behind Us

The Whole Gang!
Back Row - Dad, Aunt Pam, Uncle Kerryn, Presley, Marchy, Mike, Bryson, Jody, Reece, Sarah, Jamie
On the Couch - Payton, Mom, Ryker, Dylan, Me, Cade and Blanche

Between juggling visiting with everyone, sick kid, tired kids and just the rigors of quick travel, we somehow didn't get any more pictures then what we took with the family on Saturday. Sunday we spent at church, eating Mexican food, watching sports and hanging out. On Monday, just about 60 hours after arriving, it was back to the airport and back to Boston. Mike and I did weekend trips all the time pre kids and it was no biggie. With kids....major biggie. I'm not sure we'll be doing any kind of trips of that size for so short of a time for a while. Lesson learned.

It's always good to spend some face to face time with all of them but I think we all felt that it was especially great to see Mom. After her health scare just 2 weeks earlier, I was really happy to give her a big squeeze. I was also proud of her. She, like myself, is definitely the ruler of the home roost and likes things done a particular way. I thought it would be difficult for her to sit around and let us cook and clean up so that she could give her body the healing rest she needed. It may have been hard for her, but she sure was great about letting us to the heavy work. Hmmmm....maybe it was all a big ruse to get out of housework? (Just kidding, Mom!)

Tomorrow we are off for our next adventure - a week in the San Francisco area to visit friends and go to a wedding. Even though the boys did fairly well on our last flight, the almost 7 hour flight to San Fran is gives me a minor panic attack every time I think about it. I picked up a lot of supplies to arm myself with kid entertainment so I'm hoping for the best. Wish us luck! I'll be posting our California adventures here soon. Stay tuned.

Wrangling the Herd

Before I blog about our trip to Dallas, I had to share the full timeline of pictures of trying to get the cousins couch picture. I laughed watching the tale unfold (on camera....in person trying to get Cade to cooperate was not nearly as funny until after the fact). Let's just premise it by saying, 1) it's impossible to get that many young kids cooperating at once 2) especially kids that are beyond exhausted from traveling and lack of sleep and 3) on a couch that's just not big enough for all of them. Put those 3 together and here's what you get:

Technical Difficulties

Technical Difficulties and Wiggles

Ryker and Dylan's faces make me laugh!

Major Wiggles

Ryker's silly face, Cade not having it and Bryson wondering why this kid beside him is crying

One Missing

Cade still not having it....Bryson saying "someone get me out of here"

Cade making an escape

And then crumbling in a tantrum heap on the floor

I held Cade, tried to keep him happy then plopped him on the back of the couch - instant crying.

Tried again. Still crying but at least looks less so.

Now Cade's crying and not looking. Bryson still doesn't seem to be impressed by this situation

Not bad....Bryson still not impressed.

Another pretty good one.

I popped up to try and get Cade to actually sit with the gang for another try.

Yep, that didn't go so well.

There you have it folks. In pictures, that's about 1-2 minutes of trying to wrangle these kids to all look happy and in the same direction for 1 picture. At least we got 1 or 2 candidates that Mimaw and Pipaw can frame on their wall.

Christmas Day 2013

Well, it's a rainy\icey day in NH. I had planned to try and teach Dylan to ski this morning but the weather actually followed the forecasted plan (which it rarely does up in the mountains) and is really nasty. We tried to run some errands but if you saw my Facebook post, that excursion didn't go well. So, now the fire's roaring and the boys are all napping. With 2 hours to myself, I decided it was high time I look back at the pictures we took from Christmas to New Years. And what better time than looking through pictures to put some aside and blog about them. Lucky for you, the weather is crappy and I have some moments to blog. Let's cover Christmas.

Christmas Day was spent at our house in the morning and then we moved our party to my sister in laws for the afternoon with the rest of Mike's family (who are all local). Our morning discovering Santa's gift, and unwrapping our gifts was really pleasant. Dylan loved helping to hand out presents and Cade loved unwrapping them. Once they were all unwrapped, they hung out and played while I made breakfast. After more play we headed up to shower and get pretty to head over to Maureen's. Here's our morning in pictures:

Ok, this one's from a couple nights before when Dylan and I were making cookies for Santa.

The Boys and Our Lovely Tree

Santa loved the cookies we made!

The Stacks of Presents from Santa

Anyone who knows Dylan wouldn't be surprised that pretty much everything on his wish list
was Sylanders related. It was definitely a Sylanders Christmas for him.

Cade Roaring Back at His Dinosaur

And Admiring His Bear Paw Slippers

Riding on His New Scooter

Dylan Playing with His Skylanders
This is how you'll find him at our house at many points in any given day.

Reindeer Pancakes!

My favorite gift was framed hand prints from the boys.

Putting Dylan's Skeleton Obsession to Educational Means - a Book About Bones
He also got a toy brain with labeled parts, a human body book about our systems and a floor skeleton puzzle with the names of the major bones.

Flynn's Ship! (Skylander thing of course)

Daniel Tiger's Tree House
For those of you that don't know Daniel Tiger, it's a cartoon based on Mr. Rogers land of make believe. My kids love it.

At Maureen's house that afternoon, it was the usual chaos it is there - lots of kids running around, a couple of dogs running around and barking as well, and lots of us loud adults (our family and Maureen's in laws). There was also lots of great food, conversation and fun. And, of course, more presents for the kiddos. Amidst the craziness, we did manage to get a picture of the Hines\Hickey\Almo cousins.

My Handsome Boys

Corwin, Dylan, Emily, Cade, Jacob and Patrick
Pretty good lookin' crew, huh?

Without anyone having had naps, we called it a day pretty early and headed home. That was a lot of excitement for one day. It was a great Christmas! But I gotta admit, with all the new clutter in the house, I was ready to get all of our Christmas decorations down. However, with only 2 days left in town (in which I spent working), that didn't happen until we got back from our Christmas festivities in Dallas. And unfortunately, I'm still working to get it all packed up and put away. It's like the holiday that just won't stop giving.