On Thursday, Dylan picked me up an hour early from work and we headed to Sky Harbor to catch a flight without our kids. Flying became a luxury for me after I had a child and then took my first kid-free flight. On this trip, I read a book and watched three episodes of the latest season of Fuller House, which probably only made me dumber, but my brain was happy for a break. Our destination? PDX. Tess picked us up at the curb and brought us to The Kimpton Monaco downtown, which was delightfully decorated in mis-matched patterns and bold colors. I dig eclectic boutique hotels, especially when they host drinks and live music every evening in the lobby. We hung out at the hotel bar and greeted some cousins who had arrived on the train from Seattle and then called it a night.
The purpose of the trip was a committee meeting, so it wasn't about visiting family or having fun. But, still, you won't find me complaining. We spend weekends like this in the company of people who would rather die than eat at an Outback, so every meal is from a local, highly-rated joint, usually of a very specific ethnic origin. My idea of eating out is driving thru In 'n Out, so the meals (and drinks!) were a real treat.
When in Portland, stop at a hipster coffee shop.
It was a great (cold!) day for a hike.
Friday was spent on field trips, touring low elevation old growth forests and the natural environment enhancement of a water resources management utility. It really is exciting stuff! But I'll stop with that. Saturday was a full day of meetings. But when meetings happen in a high-rise condo in downtown Portland with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Willamette...well, it's not so painful. We listened to a lot of interesting things from a lot of very smart people, and it was enriching. Our flight home was Sunday morning, and even though the control tower at Sky Harbor was on fire, we landed only a few minutes late.
But the real heroes of the weekend? My parents. They again willingly took on the assignment of watching our boys for three nights, starting with school pick-up on Thursday. When I sent a text on Friday to ask how things were going, I received the picture below.
My dad had started feeling sick on Friday morning, so my parents decided to postpone their plans to take the boys to the cabin. Then, he started feeling really, really sick and couldn't get up to go to the doctor. So they brought the doctor to him. When he was still feeling terrible on Friday evening in the hospital, I lined up a flight to get back on Saturday. (With no thanks to American, who wanted to charge me more to change my flight than what it cost to buy the one-way ticket outright with less than 12 hours notice.) Luckily, Dylan knows a few people who work for airlines, and our sweet friend Garrett was more than happy to help. But then, Dad felt better! And at the last minute, without knowing MRI results, my mom told me to stay. I called her one last time, at the very last chance for me to leave for the airport on Saturday morning, and she assured me that I should stay. I didn't know if I felt good about it, but I stayed. If we were going to be in Portland any longer than one more day, I wouldn't have stayed.
Ice cream at the hospital!
Mornings at the neighborhood park.
Chilling in the ER.
Building Legos
Feeding his lamb.
Wearing the helmet that the firefighters gave them.
And so, my mom shuttled the kids back and forth from the hospital. They hung out in the ER and got spoiled by nurses and then later spent a fair amount of time watching movies, building Legos and eating ice cream in my dad's room. My mom enlisted the help of the fabulous Jojo to stay with the boys for a few hours so she could go back to the hospital to be with my dad on Friday night. They also fit in some play time at home and a trip to the park before and after hospital trips. How my mom juggled it all, I don't know. We were in my dad's hospital room with our boys when we picked them up on Sunday, and it made me anxious after 20 minutes. Meanwhile, my mom had settled a tantrum and even got Graham to fall asleep in the stroller at the hospital over the weekend (which I've never been able to do with either child.) She deserves a trophy.
My dad will come home from the hospital today...yay! The source of his issue turned out to be a TIA, which is essentially a mini-stroke which heals on its own. After a handful of CTs and MRIs and ultrasounds, they have a plan in place. He is feeling much better and just a little unsteady. Prayers for my dad that his blood flows freely through his system, clot and plaque-free, please!
And as for me, I'm sitting here at noon on a Monday bringing you the latest updates. Dylan had a trip this morning, and since my parents have taken on WAY more than they should have with our kids, we signed up the boys for an extra day at school so that I could work this morning. I thought about putting in a couple extra hours on the job since I was alone in a quiet house, but then I saw that it was 76 degrees outside and went for a jog. Life is too damn short to work when the weather is beautiful...if you don't have to, that is. And jogging is my therapy. The break in the summer-like weather has been incredible for the mind and soul. Yesterday evening, we took our first walk of the season with the boys strapped into the kiddie RZR. It was wonderful.
Love this shot of them waving. It was Graham's first trip without being tied down with a bungee-cord, and he loved it!
After taking him over big hills, Gavin asked Graham, "Are you okay, buddy? Are you having fun?" while patting his head. So cute. Graham held on good and had a blast!
Oh, and as far as news on the house selling/buying situation? Well, there's not much. I had always thought that by this point, the process would be moving right along and things would be happening. But it's not, so we're re-calibrating our timeline and expectations and making peace with it. Those mini-horses down the street that were "so cute" when they moved in five or so years ago are killing every potential deal. Meanwhile, I'm making beds and fluffing pillows and wiping up crumbs and putting everything in it's place ALL THE TIME, and every minute I spend doing that zaps a brain cell that I could have used for intelligent thought or positive emotion. I'm not a neat-freak, and keeping this house-show ready is NOT my jam. It's gone on for over four months now, and we need a break. So, we'll consider taking it off the market over the holidays and re-listing it as a fresh new listing at the beginning of the year if that turns out to be a good strategy. But really, I'll do whatever it takes to get the deal done, even if we close on Christmas Day. If nothing else, it's been a good lesson in patience and trust in God's timing and for Dylan and me to work on something hard together...because personal growth is born out of doing hard stuff. So, it's okay, and I really do feel like I'll look back on this process in a few years and be thankful for what it taught me. I've already decided that I can't let it cast a shadow over everything else in life because our life is so, so good and we can't waste any time being grouchy about things we can't control! So, anyway, I've put the house updates to rest for that reason, but I thought I owed everybody an update. If ever there becomes something to know, I'll be sure to report...but don't hold your breath. In the meantime you can consider no news to be...well, no news. But we are good!
Friday morning kicked off with an early appointment at the dermatologist. For some reason, I always go to this appointment without thinking much of it but then return home pretty traumatized. The doctor removed skin off both of my hands. Yes, my hands. The right palm and left pinkie finger, to be precise. I wasn't prepared for getting a shot of local anesthetic in my hands, and it was significantly more unpleasant than getting a shot just about anywhere else. I also had a spot taken off my back, but that is pretty par for the course. Once it was over, though, it wasn't such a big thing. Even when the anesthetic wore off, it didn't hurt all that bad. Washing my hands and shampooing my hair have proven to be a little tricky with open wounds on my hands, but as long as the biopsies come back clean, I'll be able to put it all behind me very soon.
When I got back home, we switched gears and packed up the truck for a quick overnighter in Prescott. Dylan was due to speak at an industry round table event at Embry-Riddle that afternoon, and then we had a birthday party to attend on Saturday. I'm not sure what an industry round table is, except that it involves people that really love their chosen career. I have no idea what that's like. But, I'm sure glad that Dylan does!
Gavin was super amped to be staying at a hotel. We quickly unloaded and set up the pull-out bed and pack 'n play for the boys before Dylan left for his event. We were at a place downtown, and I had hoped to bring the boys to the park and then to find something to eat. It turns out, they were having so much fun being in a hotel room, that I could hardly get them packed into the stroller and down to the lobby. When I finally did, we went into the Walgreens' next door and left with a cup of Easy Mac, and then went right back up to our room, per Gavin's request. We spent more time in a small hotel room than I'd ever hoped to spend in one small place. It reminded me of those 12-hour shifts in the Target pharmacy. But the boys were happy, so I couldn't complain. Eventually we put Graham to sleep, and then Gavin and I huddled up on the other side of the room to quietly watch YouTube and read. Dylan showed up a little while later with Chipotle, and we ate the best dinner I've ever eaten on a hotel room floor. We fit in one episode of Big, Little Lies before Dylan was off to drink beer with his buddies at Lizard's while the rest of us were snug in our beds.
Gavin knows that road trips are always made better with a run through Dutch Bros.
Playing with Graham in baby jail
Easy Mac for dinner- how special.
Something about driving his cars around this fold out bed was so much better than driving them anywhere else.
He was pretty happy to roll around too
Awkward family photo
I hadn't noticed that beautiful painting behind the bed till now
Saturday was all fun and games. First, we checked out the Embry-Riddle flight line to show Gavin the airplanes that Dylan flew as a college kid. Dylan worked at dispatch in college (the 5am shift for minimum wage, nonetheless), so he had an in with the flight supervisor. We even got out on the ramp and climbed inside a Cessna. From there, we took a walk around Watson Lake, and then Gavin and I had a lunch date at Panera while Graham slept in the truck and Dylan went thru In 'n Out. Next up was Avery and Everly's birthday party at the zoo. What a fun party! We caught up with some of our Prescott friends that we hadn't seen in a very long time, and the boys loved seeing the animals and playing on the playground. Graham absolutely insisted on crawling around, so he just barreled through people all afternoon and got absolutely filthy. "Your baby is cracking me up," I heard people say more than once. Yeah, he cracks me up, too. All the time. At the ripe old age of 14 months, however, I'd prefer that he cracked people up while on two feet. I have deja vu every day while constantly lifting up a gigantic baby from off the ground. Let's hope nobody blows a disc before he gets the hang of walking. Good thing he's the sweetest and cutest little guy. I think we'll keep him.
Future pilot?
Stopping for a snack break on our wilderness walk
Graham was so tired but had a grand old time
My favorite lunch date
Good times at the zoo birthday party
Super busy all the time
Too tired to stand up on the way back to the car
Little lizard, big lizard
By the time we got back in the truck to head home, we were all beat. So beat that we even stopped for a 4pm gas station coffee. The boys, somehow, defied exhaustion and didn't sleep a wink on the ride home. My little freaks of nature at least did us the favor of sleeping pretty soundly all night until about 5:20am this morning. After Dylan had come in around 12:30 and then Graham threw a hotel party from 2-3am the night before, I was at least glad for some solid sleep.
Today was another winner, as far as Sundays go. It was an easy morning, a little jog for me, and drone flying for Dylan and Gavin. We took the RZR out on a walk and then teamed up with the fam across the street for a trip down to the river. Apparently we bought a boat. I vaguely remember something about that transaction happening a few months ago. My brother had a little boat for camping and then got a new one, so we bought the old one. Anyway, we took both boats with us, but the current was too strong for the tiny motors, so no boating was to be had. The boys had a grand old time playing in the water. Even Graham plopped right in and starting throwing rocks in the water. And that is why camping is such a great thing with this gaggle of boys. They can stay entertained in the great outdoors for such a long time. Maybe one of these days we'll get that trailer out again...
Brothers sharing a moment. Gavin just loves Graham lately, which is new and awesome. Like, it's the best. He laughs at Graham and hugs him and pats his head and plays with him all the time. He's vacillated between indifference and disdain until now, and I am a happy mom.
He sat here throwing rocks for such a long time.
This was the only boat ride these guys got today.
They don't come sweeter than this!
Actually, I don't know...these guys are pretty sweet, too!
Kristin takes better pictures of my kids than I ever can.
A cousin fishing adventure!
Wait, is Graham drinking a beer?
I suppose after a weekend as great as this, we should probably try to do something responsible tomorrow. Maybe...we'll see. We did manage to clear off some walls today, and the paint guy is coming in the morning to take a look at things. It's happening in baby steps...but we're starting to see some progress around here. Anyway, we'll send Dylan off on a trip later this week, but for now, I think we'll fire up Netflix and close out the weekend on a high note.
I'll go with lots of pictures and few words to tell you the story of our New Year's. It wasn't planned far in advance...more of a spur of the moment decision for everyone to go to the cabin. I think that always makes for the most fun, and this was no different! We loaded up the truck on Friday morning and met my parents at their cabin just minutes after they arrived, themselves.
I snuck in the back with the boys for a bit to make sure everyone's needs were met. Three hours is a long time, especially for these guys who are no good at sleeping in the car.
We warmed up by the fire while the heat in the cabin kicked in to high gear.
Then, we headed to down to the golf course to play in the snow. There wasn't much there, but that all changed, as you'll see if you stick with me.
Our littlest guy was crabby all weekend and ONLY wanted his Nonna. He's had something up with him for a couple of weeks, between ear infections and molars and whatever else. But it seems we have our happy guy back...at least for now!
We tried to make snowballs, but they were all wet and no good.
Max and Kristin and the boys arrived in the late afternoon. I don't think we've ever had all of us together at the cabin, so that was awesome. Gavin had a blast with his cousins, and once we got all the boys to bed, we brought out Cards Against Humanity. I don't remember when I've ever laughed that hard.
The next morning, New Year's Eve, after a hot breakfast, we made a field trip around the corner to the Family Center at Torreon. Gavin drove, of course.
Free arcade games and fun for all.
Shooting guns and other wholesome activities.
As we were leaving the Family Center, the snow started really coming down!
We took a field trip to find some deeper snow for sledding and ended up almost to Sunrise. But it was worth the drive. So much fun!
Papa sent Gavin down on his first hill.
He loved it!
Graham was perfectly still and happy out in the cold. He didn't even mind wearing his hat, which was a first.
There's a guy that can rock a beanie straight out of the 70s. #lovehim
Hudson was so sweet and took Gavin down on the sled with him a bunch of times.
Baby Pierce got in on the fun!
Even Graham got a turn.
Cruz was awesome, too. Gavin was digging all the attention from his big cousins!
Getting a free ride to the next hill.
Uncle Max took a turn at launching Gavin.
Snuggles to keep the baby warm. Eventually, my mom kept him in the warm truck while we finished up our last few minutes of play.
Look at his face!
One last toss into the snow...
And a photo with my favorite baby before we loaded into the truck and went back to the cabin.
The videos were my favorite part. I took so many. I don't even know if the Cloud has enough storage them all.
(This video is called Cruz and Gavin, but it's actually Hudson and Gavin. Whoops.)
Back at the cabin, we took a family picture, minus Graham who was sleeping pre-6pm, and that was about it for our NYE celebration. I was asleep at 9 and Dylan by 10. But we woke up really refreshed!
Cartoons with cousins before bed.
This guy spent his first ever night in the top bunk.
Morning screen time with Piercey.
Never a dull moment.
Sitting in the pantry for hide and seek.
...and then, later in the morning on New Year's Day, it snowed at the cabin. It snowed and snowed and snowed and snowed. It also happened to be my parents' 38th wedding anniversary. Usually they are off at a fun New Year's event to celebrate, but this year was awesome and unique having us all together.
And finally enough snow had collected on the golf course to go sledding!
Hudson giving Gavin a helping hand.
One run down the driveway before moving the party out to the back.
It was cold and so fun and so beautiful.
Four dudes, one sled.
Boarding on the sled. This guy, the oldest cousin, will be a natural snowboarder.
This foursome sled ride ended just how you'd imagine, but everyone had a great time.
My heart melts over this sweet face. He was such a good sport out in the cold and snow.
Trudging back up the hill with daddy.
One last run with Cruz.
Can you see how, at the bottom of the hill, there's a cliff with running water (a creek...or a stream) down below? Can you guess which kid sledded right off the cliff and into the water?
Yep, this guy. Dylan fished him out and ran him as fast as he could back to the cabin where we stripped him down and got him in a warm bath. He was totally fine after a few minutes and really enjoyed the attention that everyone gave him.
In baby jail while the rest of us gushed over Gavin in the tub.
Good as new in no time.
We packed it up shortly after our final sledding hurrah and headed back toward home. But we didn't get there quickly. We got stuck in a traffic jam behind a jack-knifed semi on the Beeline for a couple hours, so Gavin decided to spread some New Year's cheer and waved at the oncoming traffic through the sunroof..
Graham wanted to check out the view, also.
He got lots of waves and flashing lights and honks, and we laughed our butts off from inside the truck.
And just like that, we're home and starting our routine in 2017. We were able to pack up the last of the Christmas decorations yesterday, and we sent Dylan off this morning for the week. Since he hasn't spent a night away in almost a month, we got really spoiled with having him around at home. We're all pretty sad about it...except for Dylan who just reported that he enjoyed a glass of wine and a filet for dinner somewhere in Ohio. I'm not sure I'll remember how to get us out of the house in decent condition for a work/school day tomorrow, but I'm sure it'll happen somehow. For as many days off that I get in the week, the short work week always comes around again far too quickly. Ugh.
But to bring things back to the uplifting side of the spectrum, I must say that I'm loving the feeling of starting anew that comes with the New Year. 2016 wasn't terrible for our family or for me, specifically, but I'm very glad to be hitting a refresh button. I didn't make any resolutions or specific goals for the year, but in general I'm going to try and be more present and cut loose a little more often, and just be content in my really great life. (More books, more wine, more movies, more homemade meals. Basically drink more and be more lazy...just like most people's goals, right?) Happy New Year, and may it bring you lots of love, health and prosperity!
