Summer vacation 2013

July 23, 2013July 23, 2013Leave a comment

We packed our bags and headed to West Virginia last Wednesday. They say that a procrastinator should never marry another procrastinator or nothing gets done. Jon and I are both procrastinators so a summer vacation never got scheduled. We found ourselves near mid-July without any plans. I just happened to be on a conference call at work and a flashing ad came up for Oglebay Resort in W. Virginia.

“Paddle boats, fishing, putt-putt, swimming, zoo, and more!”

The ad enticed me between the kids activities and the short distance (2.5 hours away). Pretty soon I was on the website looking up rooms. I remembered my grandma talking about this place and I faintly remember another older relative (was it Grandpa Bill?) talking about it, too. I remembered this because the website was geared towards 65+ year olds and the rooms looked like ones decorated by my grandma – big florals and gawdy colors and maroon carpets that looked like they were straight out of my grandma’s retirement home.

I called a few other resorts but they were booked. I debated with Jon whether to do it or not and after listening to me him and haw for 30 minutes, he demanded I just go for it. So I did. Wednesday through Saturday. A short trip. Even if it was unbearable it was only two full days.

Ri played with her barbies on the way there while Mario watched Ben Ten. We held our breath under the West Virginia bridge. We commented on the old school restaurants off the exit – Perkins! Hardee’s! Long John Silvers!
As soon as we pulled into Oglebay, we spotted deer grazing on the hills. The kids went nuts pointing them out. The land sloped up and down and was peppered with pines and oaks and deer and a random groundhog. It was quite serene and poetic. Jon and I glanced at each other and raised our eyes silently saying “hmmm, maybe it won’t be so bad.”

We got our room keys and had the requisite talk with the kids about fighting over who opens the door. “We take turns back and forth, got it?” They shook their heads with excitement not getting anything. The room was huge. We had a living room and side kitchen and bath and a bedroom suite with a large bath and two queen beds. The kids mouths dropped for an entire five minutes and they dragged us all over the rooms to show us every detail. The living room couch pulled out into a bed which they believed to be a piece of heaven brought to Earth. “We can watch tv all night and fall asleep out here alone!” Jon and I were so excited we booked another night so we stayed until Sunday.

We checked out Schenk Pond and did some paddle boating and fishing (Ri and I boated and Mario fished all by himself, god love him).

After paddle boats and the Aqua Cycle, Ri and I joined Mario on the bank. Within ten minutes, he had a fish. Luckily, a teenage boy helped us unhook him. Mario wanted to throw it back in the water but got scared so Ri took control. Thank god for big sisters.

After pleading with Mario to stop fishing to no avail, we finally had to bribe him with the pool. We threw on our suits and headed to the rather small indoor pool. Over the four days, however, it grew on us. One plus was that it was heated. Another plus was that you could jump off the side, which led to lots of cool cannonballs and dives.

The kids begged for room service after the pool. They loved the idea of getting food served in our room and eating it while watching Spongebob. Ahh, the vacation life!
Every morning we had to drag Mario to breakfast – he wanted room service for every meal. Meanwhile, you had to strap Ri down for a few minutes in bed or she would have thrown on a pair of shorts and bee-lined for the breakfast buffet as soon as she opened her eyes. She has her mom’s and great-grandma’s love for buffets (Grandma Menkedick used to love to bear witness to Ri’s excitement over the Season’s buffet bar). She is a total carb lover. Her plate always included two types of muffins, a cinnamon roll, biscuit and waffle (she was stacking up her energy for the day). Mario’s plate was the same every day. Cinnamon rolls. And maybe a slice or two of bacon. And that’s it.

On Thursday, we took the trolley to the Oglebay Zoo. Yes, it has a zoo…. with zebras. It was a tiny area with about ten different animals scattered around. It also had dinosaurs that would roar at you as you passed. The kids are finally at an age where they understand they aren’t real but they still had fun with them (thanks to me pretending to be scared too death). The lorikeets were the biggest hit since they drank nectar from cups M&M were holding.

The best part of the zoo trip was eating popcorn while we rode the train around the zoo and spotted animals.

We returned to the hotel and did some more fishing and paddle boating. Maria had been longing to head into the fountain in the middle of the pond when we went paddle boating the day before but I had nixed the idea. When she pouted, I steered the boat just enough into the fountain that she got wet and I just got a drizzle. On Thursday, I decided to let her go for it and steer us right into the fountain. And she didn’t flinch. I got soaked to the bone with her. The smile on her face made my heart happy (a saying I got from Meg-pie). Jon and Mario stayed on shore trying to catch fish. Mario gets so angry and frustrated when he doesn’t catch one. There were little fish that would swim up to the bait and nibble at it until it was gone leaving none for the bigger fish. This got Mario red hot.

“Those stupid As!”

Mario heard the word “a–hole” a while ago and knows its a bad word so every once in a while when he gets super mad he yells out the “A” vowel.

We ordered room service for a second night on Thursday not wanting to head out after another long day. Pizza for Mario and burgers for Ri. Jon and I determined we were food snobs after all our nights out at Hyde Park and Mitchell’s – the hotel food just didn’t do the trick for us.

Each night, the kids and I would head to the pool for a swim nightcap. We played mean games of hot potato with our beach ball where you had to name a super hero while you threw the ball. They were exhausted by the time we got back and were fast asleep as soon as they hit the pillow to watch tv. And they slept in until 8 am! Alleluia.

On Friday, we hit the Wheeling Park pool. It had a water slide. A nice sized slide at that. The only problem was that it kept thundering and the guards would shut the pool for 20 minutes with each round of thunder. Ri wanted to call it quits bit Mario wanted to stay. What else were we gonna do? We made Ri stay, bought hotdogs and soft pretzels, and played charades. The kids put on our flip-flops. Nothin’ better.

Finally, we were allowed back in the water. Ri and Mario jumped off the diving board (Mario dove). Mario wanted to do a flip like some kids were doing but couldn’t quite get up the nerve. The slide was a blast – it was actually fast and dumped you out into a giant wave of water. The kids loved it.

After the pool, we went to High Tea at the hotel. It sounded super fancy and Ri had been wanting to go badly. It ended up being a carafe of hot water and Lipton tea bags and a few random cookies and cinnamon bread. But that was all that was needed by Ri. She loved it. We filled up our cups, got our treats, and sat outside on the balcony. Ri actually enjoyed the tea!

Mario came with us the next day and loved the cinnamon bread. He did not enjoy the tea.

The kids and I took the trolley Friday evening to the mansion and the flower shop, sweet shop, and glass store. They both wanted to take pictures on my phone of random things… Ri took the fountain and wine picture (true Italian) and Mario took the butterfly ones.

Mario and I went to town at the sweet shop. So much chocolate we could have lived there forever. Ri liked looking at all the trinkets and the wine holders. Mario fell in love with a stuffed animal bear that sings “Will you still love me when I’m 64?” He absolutely fell head over heels for it. He played the song and stated into its eyes. He hugged it. He begged me to buy it. I couldn’t resist. My aunt Julie has a bear like this one that Mario has loved since he was little. It has a top hat and sings “My way” by Sinatra. My Grandma Heile would chuckle watching Mario stare at it as a baby.

Maria found a last minute gem – a night light with horses on it. She also forced me to buy a Yoda coffee cup knowing that I never buy anything for myself. “I will pay you back $12.95 if you buy it, mom.” I told her she didn’t have to pay for it later and she reiterated “I will mom because you need souvenirs, too.” She’s always looking out for us.

On Saturday, we hopped in the car to Cabela’s. It was a rainy day and Jon had allowed me to get an hour massage so I owed him one. Mario loved looking at the animals; Ri was appalled, especially at the stuffed Bobcat – her school mascot.

They enjoyed the toy section (Mario checked out every gun possible and Ri gawked over Duck Dynasty memorabilia).

Ri ended up with a Cabela’s Barbie set with a tent and horse (I approved of that Barbie who was dressed like a cowgirl) and Mario got a walkie talkie set. They made out. We ate ourselves some Cabela’s lunch and headed back to the hotel for more fishing and boating.
The hotel had a s’mores campfire that night, which Ri enjoyed immensely. Mario just liked burning the marshmallows for me to eat and then watching the stick burn in the fire. I’m pretty sure I saw the word pyromaniac rise from the ashes as he sat on the stone bench in awe.

We hit the game room last – we had avoided it the whole trip. It was a small little room with only a few games. Jon and I competed on Ms. PacMan and the kids drove fast cars.

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They also won a few super balls in honor of their mom’s childhood obsession.
We ordered room service once again and watched Jessie episodes for Ri. The kids just could not get over how awesome it was to be served food in bed while watching their shows. “This is the life” they thought as they fed their faces and then lied back on their pillows with the tv blaring.

Maria gave a toast on our last morning in the hotel.

“This is a toast to Oglebay. We had some good times here fishing and swimming and being together as a family. But we must go and so we wish others as much fun as we had here.”

Amen sister!

Spring Break 2013 – Phoenix

April 13, 2013April 16, 2013Leave a comment

“The Grand Canyon is not that big.” This was Mario’s initial observation as we stared down into the vastness of the Canyon. It takes a lot to impress that kid. Jon and I decided to pay for a four-hour tour knowing full well that we would not be able to provide the education that a guide could provide. Maria is at the age that she slurps up all the facts and information provided by teachers so we knew she would enjoy it more. Mario, well, we could have just led him run throughout the canyon and he would have loved life.

We had a guide named Dora who had been a park ranger for years. Her husband is a geologist. She focused in heavily on the trees and the berries and, of course, the rocks in the Grand Canyon. Our first stop was at a juniper tree. There were berries just beginning to mature on the tree and Dora plucked on off for us to try. When you cracked open the berry, there was a tiny nut to eat. RI and Mario were skeptical but they each asked for one to try. Neither of them spit it out but neither of them were overwhelmed. Then Ri looked in her berry and found something. A worm. Jon and I and even Dora dismissed her telling her it was just part of the berry. But Dora took a second look and said “you are the first person to find a worm in their berry.” Ri kept eating and was proud as can be. She also introduced us to Pinyon Pine and pine nuts (we all loved those), oak, and ponderosa trees (Ri loved the ponderosa pines on my behalf because “they are named after mom’s favorite restaurant!”). Next, we learned about the different type of rock making up the Grand Canyon. Ri asked a ton of questions and held a long conversation with Dora about the different layers. She loved the look of the sandstone. She bought a bag of rocks to take home with her to show her class. The last adventure as a fossil find. Mario loved it. He would grab Dora’s hand to pull her over to a rock with a fossil to show her. When she confirmed it was a fossil, he looked up at me with that look of self-pride and moved on to the next rock. Jon spotted a mule deer on our way out. Maria peppered Dora with more questions ending with the ultimate one “how did we get here on this Earth?” Our old-soul girl. Dora loved it.

The night before we stayed at the Best Western Hotel near the park. It had no indoor pool but it did have a hot tub, an arcade room and, strangely enough, a bowling alley. We arrived at 6 pm which is 9 pm our time so we were all exhausted. We went down for dinner to the seedy sports bars near the arcade where the waiters looked completely miserable and the clientele consisted of locals or other exhausted families. Mario had a breakdown waiting for dinner – he was so tired and irritable and saying “I hate this place!” every two seconds. Ri was completely dazed out. The food was horrid except for Ri’s baby back ribs. Yeah, that is what she ordered at the seedy sports bar. She does know how to live it up.

By the time he hit the arcade it was close to midnight our time. I knew when Mario put quarters into a hunting game and it didn’t work, that all hell would break loose. Although he reacted better than I thought he would, he was still shot. It really was time to just head upstairs and call it a day.

After the Grand Canyon, we headed back to Phoenix with Mario watching movies on the iPad and Ri talking up a storm about everything and anything. She’d finish telling one story and there would be a pause, Jon and I would open up our mouths to say something, but then Ri would jump into another conversation. We laughed at the difference in the two of them. Mario could plant his nose in technology for five hours; Ri needs conversation. Three and a half hours later, we were at Desert Ridge Marriott. What a place! A lot different from the cabins and tents I stayed in as a kid. Ri and Mario have now stayed in the RItz in Naples and Desert Ridge Resort in Phoenix. I think their significant others will be treated well when they find them years from now.

The hotel grounds were gorgeous with a huge grassy area out back that led to the lazy river, regular pool, and fountain pool. We were on the fifth floor and had a balcony overlooking a desert garden and a large patio for parties. The kids loved the balcony and got an awesome surprise as they stood looking into the garden. There were bunnies everywhere! One hopped out of the cactus and Ri and Mario screamed for us. Then another bunny hopped, and a baby followed. They could not believe it. And that became our entertainment every morning and afternoon. One afternoon we came up to our room to take a little break in swimming and the kids sat on the balcony for over an hour acting like scientists studying the movements of the bunnies. They got water and soap and spread it on their bodies to attract the bunnies and them got notebooks and pens to write down their observations. Every five minutes they’d come in to give us a report.

The lazy river was great because you could float in it or you could swim or walk in it. Mario typically chose to swim, I walked, Jon floated, and Ri did a combo (she always had a tube in hand but would switch between floating and walking with it; she used it as her laboratory spying on people). It had a slide in the middle of the river that the kids loved. It wasn’t that fast and the kids were a little skeptical at first but it quickly endeared itself to them and they were doing all sorts of poses as they slid down. They about lost it with glee when Jon went down; they stood on the side of the pool and waited anxiously and when Jon flew out, they laughed and applauded as if he was a celebrity. When it came to me, well, I was just expected to slide down with them.

The breakfast buffet was a slice of heaven. They had anything your heart desired (they should have at the amount you have to pay) – the typical eggs and bacon to corn meal pancakes to donuts to granola. Ri and I were beyond excited every morning to hit it – we asked for the table closest to it so we could dig right in. We got our money’s worth with me and Ri; however, Mario ate a few bites of donut and piece of bacon and he was done. He was more concerned with going out on the green space and playing with the other kids. The only problem was that the other kids all knew each other and had no desire to ask Mario to join them. He looked like such a sad soul standing outside watching them. Ri went out to cheer him up. I followed after one last bite of a chocolate muffin.

We did cartwheels on the lawn while Jon watched (I swear he looked like Don Corleone when he sat in the garden chair with no one by him). Other families looked at us with either awe or disgust but we didn’t care. It was refreshing.

We swam everyday and hit the Family Play Room the last two days. The Family Room provided a refuge from the sun and the pool (after being in it for four hours). RI and I colored pictures, Mario played Wii and on the iPad, and we all played foozball (I am horrid). They had cubicles of hershey kisses, caramels, tootsie rolls and apples and raisins. I grabbed Mario an apple to eat when he complained of being hungry. He ate it and then turned the corner and saw the hershey kisses. I wish I would have had my camera to capture his reaction. He stood with his mouth agape absolutely flabbergasted that all of those kisses were available to eat.

We drove over to Jon’s best friend, Paul’s house to visit him and his wife and their kids on Thursday night. They got pizza and Mario glued himself to their son, Sam (age 15) and Ri did the same with their daughter, Eve (age 11). Sam played football with Mario and listened to Mario’s stories; Eve showed Maria her horse awards and let her play with her iPod. Jon got to hang with his best buddy and I got to hear all the particulars about how their daughter’s fiancée proposed. We left at 8 pm, and both kids were passed out within ten minutes of our drive back to the hotel. I carried Ri and Jon hauled Mario from the car all the way to our hotel room. We were both sweating and out of breath.

We hit the putt-putt for tradition’s sake. The course was the most boring one we have been on to date. I kicked everyone’s butt (my lucky day). Maria got a hole-in-one and Mario stayed calm about it. He did not play well but instead of acting out, he just kept to himself laying on the grass or sitting in the shade. It broke my heart. He’d go to the next hole and just sit under a tree looking like a little orphan. But he perked back up at the end when we agreed to let them bounce on the trampolines. After the trampolines, we played in the arcade and all found out we love air hockey.

The kids and I also got in a hike at Pinnacle Peak. I loved that. I was surprised that the kids made it up nearly a mile (the entire route up was 1.75 miles). I was worried about Mario in the beginning because he slipped and cut his knee on a rock. You would have thought it was deep gash by the way he was hopping around and crying. It was a small cut that barely even bled. But he just kept saying “I can’t go any farther, mom, I can’t.” Luckily, a mother approached me with two band-aids. “I know how kids can be about cuts,” she told me. I bandaged him up but he still made me hold him. That was the first sign we probably wouldn’t make it the entire way up. But then his competitive spirit awoke when he saw Ri charging ahead. He started to walk with a little limp and a big bodybuilder walked by him and said “Way to go guy – keep it up!” Mario looked at me and asked if I heard what the man said. I told him “yes” and Mario said “he said it just to me mom, not to you or Ri.” Mario, Mario. But that is what it took to get Mario motivated. Within five minutes, Maria complained of feeling sick and complained that she couldn’t go any farther. That sealed the deal. I could not carry her for 1.5 more miles. I held her for a while and then we’d stop in the shade for a bit. We did this off and on until he hit a perch near mile 1. A kind soul saw that I was carrying Ri and said “congrats – you reached the top!” Mario looked at me and asked “we did?” I winked at the woman and declared “yes, we are here!” Mario would have freaked if he knew we did not make it the entire way; he wanted to find the bodybuilder on our way down to tell him that he hiked to the top. The flowers were gorgeous and the sights beautiful. Ri walked the entire way down and when we got to the bottom both kids were sweating. I told Ri she could empty the remainder of her water on her when we reached the bottom. She promptly did so. Mario followed suit. They filled their bottles up with more water and did it again, and again.

I did not want them to get their car seats soaked so they took off their bottoms for the drive home. They both found this hilarious, and laughed the entire way home (I must admit I was chuckling when I glanced back at these two half-naked goofs). They made me crack up even more with this picture near the cactus. Cards, they are.

Jon and I found out they had bicycles to rent and a trail to ride around the hotel. We had this idyllic scene in our head of all of us on our bikes riding past gorgeous cacti and flowers ad smiling at one another. Reality took over with Jon and Ri biking and me running alongside Mario who was too nervous to ride a mountain bike. Mario complained that he wanted to stop biking while I kept saying in my cheerful little voice “Come on, you are doing great. We are having fun.” My hypnosis didn’t work and our bike ride was all of fifteen minutes.

Out of all of that fun, the kids may most remember being asked by the pilot if they want to sit in his seat. Their eyes opened wide and they looked up at me like it was a practical joke. But there they were ready to fly us around the world.

I tell my folks that I have a new-found appreciation for my vacations as a kid because I realize the work that goes into them on the parent side now. But boy are they worth all of the planning and hand-holding and fuss when you see the faces of your kids entranced by the glory of the Grand Canyon or the simple hopping of a bunny.

Stepping out

February 26, 20132 Comments

Our trip to Cancun started with a box of Whoppers and Bossypants. I must have snacks and a good book on a two-hour flight (in fact, any mode of transportation absent a bike requires emergency snacks).

We left Mario with Patty and Joe and Maria with Meg for the first two days of our trip and then M&M went to the farm for the weekend. Mario is beside himself at Patty and Joe’s house even more than before because they recently bought a Wii. Mario packed up his Skylanders and couldn’t wait to spend hours showing them off to Grandma and Grandpa (they will be sainted). It was almost as awesome as Christmas morning for him. While Mario was at Grandma’s house, he made a formal declaration to her: “Grandma! My mom doesn’t buy me any clothes that fit.” He did this after he went in the bedroom to get dressed and came out with a pair of high water pants and a long sleeve shirt that could have been short-sleeved on him. In my defense, I bought him clothes this year but I have tended towards the smaller sizes because up until this awakening with Patty, he never wanted pants that went to his ankles and he wanted his shirts skin-tight. So, I’m glad to see he’s turned a corner and that Patty got to be his personal shopper while we were away. He dragged her into Children’s Palace, picked out clothes, and had her and Joe wait outside while he tried them on in the changing rooms “like the girls get to do.” He walked out with an Oxford shirt and a pair of jeans and asked if he looked cooler than Justin Bieber. Patty told him he looked cooler. He was smitten. He found a tie to match his shirts and he was set. Thank you Patty for clothing our rock star.

Maria hung with Meg and dragged her all over the house to see random things – her fish, her clothes, her on-line games. She even got to take Meg to see her classroom and demand Meg to definitively tell her whether it was Jack’s old room or not. They ate pizza with Jen and hit Target for a new pair of hip peace symbol pajamas.

On Friday morning, Maria got the present of her life – a day off of school due to the ice accumulation. Poor Meg had to deal with the school closing (Jon and I lucked out!). Not only did she need to deal with the school closing – she had to deal with a migraine and vomiting. We would have never known had Maria not left me a voice mail that I got when I returned home on Saturday that went something like this: “Mom, please call me as soon as you hear this message. Something is very wrong with Grandma and we need you to come home.” Lovely. Meg ended up feeling better by later in the afternoon and luckily the kids were able to spend a few hours at the neighbors’ house dancing to Gangum Style while she rested. Mario got to eat chocolate for breakfast and Maria got to fill her cereal bowl with Lucky Charms so all was good with them.

Meanwhile, Jon and I ate like 16th century kings and played in the ocean like toddlers. We are one of few folks from Jon’s work that actually go into the ocean, probably because there are always red flags on the beach (meaning you shouldn’t enter) and because you wouldn’t want to hit the waves if you are the tiniest bit intoxicated. The waves were angry this year, and Jon and I were hurting after a half hour in the water. We limped out complaining that our shoulders hurt, our legs were weak, our calves were twitching. It’s not easy getting old and still acting like you’re two. But we continued to jump in every day we were there. We may be immobile for the next two weeks but we did it.

I had a rough Wednesday night and Thursday due to some rockin’ gin and tonics. There was something about the ocean, full moon and 80’s music that made me do it. And it will be another year before I do it again. I just don’t have it in me to recover quickly. I woke up in my dress Thursday morning with Jon laughing at me. I felt like I had swallowed a cat. When I stood up, my legs felt like spaghetti. I was hurting. I tried to make it the gym to ride the bike with the hopes of sweating some of those nasty toxins out of me but as soon as I pedaled, it felt like someone was squeezing my head in a vice. It was no use. I went back to the room and curled up in a ball. Jon returned from breakfast and shook his head.

The rest of the day consisted of a facial and a massage and lots of steam room and sauna action. I refused to leave the steam room until I was dripping in sweat. Those little alcohol toxins were going to be blasted out of my body somehow if not by exercise. I ate two entrees for lunch. We sat with Jon’s colleague, Dave and his wife Jen (the “sporty couple”). They are always a treat with hilarious stories about their kids or their house or some random event that happened to them. They also give us a little glimpse of what M&M may be like in a few years since their kids are a few years older than ours.

By the evening, I was back with the living. We had dinner at a fish house with Jon’s boss and others on Jon’s team. We sat outside and chowed down on crab, lobster and apple pie. One of Jon’s friends, Craig and his wife Julie (the “healthy couple”) sat with us at dinner. Craig gets on Jon for eating McDonald’s for breakfast; he gasps when he hears Jon order his breakfast and tries to urge him to eat oatmeal instead. God love him. There was an ongoing joke at the restaurant that Craig and Jon were “together” since they sat next to one another (I sat across from Jon and Julie and Julie and I decided the boys could have each other). It led to much laughter through the evening in addition to the laughter that came from discussing 80’s tv shows (Love Boat, Dynasty, Eight is Enough, Chips – it was hilarious to hear the names of these shows that we all grew up with in the 70’s and 80’s).

Friday was a much more friendly day to me. I had not drunk at all on Thursday night and my body thanked me. I got out of bed ready to take a run in the heat and hit the gym. Jon and I hit the breakfast bar together, too, which is one of our favorite things to do on these vacations. For a girl who loves chocolate and bread, I was in heaven, Chocolate croissants, french toast with almond slices, nutella, chocolate donuts, chocolate muffins. Maria would have been hitting the bar with me five times over if she was there. We swam in the ocean again Friday and then met up with the president of Jon’s company and a throng of others to have dinner at a Mayan restaurant. We sat with a good group of folks including Jon’s colleague, Joe and his wife Lydia (the “chic couple”). They are precious. Lydia is Sicilian so Joe had some hilarious stories about dinner with her parents. He also told us the story of why he enjoys Porsches and VWs so much. Jon wants to follow in Joe’s footsteps and buy a Porshe. I told him he could if Joe promises to provide maintenance on so it so we avoid throwing thousands of dollars at a car shop when something goes awry.

We were so full after our dinner on Friday night we could barely move. We packed up some of our clothes for our 8 am departure on Saturday but then gave up and laid on the bed like two beached whales. When the morning hit, I did one last run to remember the hot weather (I would much rather run in cold weather) and then hit the breakfast bar with Jon. We got to the airport two hours early as the hotel requires us to do and then found out that our flight was delayed three hours. So we had five hours to kill. We played Gin Rummy and ate Dominos pizza. It was the bomb even though Jon is up 7-4 on me. But I did win our one and only game of Crazy Eights. Yeah, I’m bad.

We arrived home late Saturday night and called the kids. They were so excited to hear from us they couldn’t stop grabbing the phone from one another. That felt good. Meg said that Maria cried for me when the night-time rolled around – sweet baby. Mario got me on the phone to tell me he thought of me when he looked at the sky and he wanted to see me – second sweet baby. I hung up the phone feeling loved. The kids reported their adventures when they returned from the farm – Mario helped Peepaw cut a trail in the woods (he showed me his cuts from the thorns); Maria helped Peepaw clean bird nests and found two blue eggs and Meg taught her the process of sewing (that is a talent we need in this house). Both kids got to go fishing on Saturday when it was a tepid 45 degrees outside. They got some bites but no fish.

When they arrived home on Sunday, I ran out to greet them. I got two of the longest, strongest hugs in a while and sat on my knees enjoying them. Then I got pulled inside to look at Maria’s eggs and to show Mario where the iPad was so he could play on it – he hadn’t been around technology for two whole days! Maria was by his side within minutes helping him try to buy gold coins to use in his Spiderman game. And we are back to normal….

Vacationing with sand dunes and Michigan cherries

July 27, 2012July 27, 20121 Comment

We just arrived home from our 6 day, 5 night trip to Traverse City, Michigan. All of us packed in the truck with lots of snacks, water, movies, and “when will we be there” questions. We stayed at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, which I found on-line after researching furiously two weeks ago when we decided we’d go on a vacation last week. Nothing like waiting until the last-minute. The website for the Resort promised to be loads of fun for the family with two indoor pools and two outdoor pools, a private beach, and two queen size beds (a must after trying to fit the four of us in two full-size beds in Florida – we have become too accustomed to a king size bed and we have to deal with two sleep thrashers). Jon and I debated staying in a cabin on the lake like I used to when I was a kid but we worried about Mario complaining that he was cold in the lake and us being plain out of luck for the week.

We figured we’d have the best of both worlds like we did in Florida – we could go to the beach and the pool. And we were hoping that Mario might like the lake more than the ocean since he hated the salt water in the ocean. When we got to the Resort, the kids were ready to explode. Seven hours in the car (with a pit stop at Cabella’s to check out the stuffed animals – Maria and Mario reacted appropriately to the stuffed skunk) and they were ready to let out some energy. We immediately headed to the indoor pool, which did not disappoint the kids. It had an enclosed slide and a rope climb where the kids could step on four plastic animals floating in the water and hold on to the rope above to try to cross to the other side. Maria loved them both. She slid down the slide with no fear while I had a mini-heart attack on my first slide down because it was so narrow and dark. On the rope climb, she used her brute strength to grip onto the ropes above her and move her legs from animal to animal. When she fell, she laughed and tried again until she made it. Mario was too scared to try the slide so he stayed with the rope. But he was too short to reach the rope so he just jumped from animal to animal sometimes with his chest hitting the side of the animal when he jumped. It didn’t bother him because he was too determined to reach the other side.

After the pool, we hit the Traverse City strip to find some dinner. I got my wish come true when we spotted a Ponderosa along the road. Jon must truly love me because he stopped. We have not eaten at a Ponderosa for years – and for good reason. Jon got deathly ill when we went to a buffet during law school and he has refused them ever since that time. But he saw the stars in my eyes when I saw the sign, and agreed to it. His face was hilarious while we ate. He looked like he was in true pain. But he took a few bites and hung in there with me while I danced around the buffet bar with Ri oohhing and ahhing over all of the selections (of course my girl loved it!).

The next four days were a welcome departure from “reality.” The reality of work and deadlines and library book returns. Our first destination was the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. It took me back to my trips as a kid – absolutely gorgeous. The kids loved the last stop – a view of Lake Michigan and a steep sand dune. They immediately began running down the dune, which drops suddenly straight down to Lake Michigan. I told them to go about an eighth of the way down and if they could easily get back up, they could go all the way down. It took us 20 minutes to climb back up. They were spent and had no desire to head all the way down after that climb up. We hit another dune on our way to Platte River – the dune I remember climbing as a kid. Maria got about 20 feet up the dune and said “forget it.” Her feet hurt from the hot sand and she was tired from the preceding climb. Mario saw me head up the hill and did not want to give up. But when I wouldn’t hold him any longer, he asked if we could just climb a little further and then run down together. I agreed (as much as I wanted to climb the whole thing!) and we ran down together holding hands and laughing.

We drove to the Platte River and played all day long in its warm waters while occasionally dipping our toes in the cold waters of Lake Michigan. Platte River was everything I remembered. Clear and calm and warm. And it contained the most gorgeous rocks. I could have planted myself in the shallow water all day long and looked at rocks. Maria practically did that. She knows how much I love them and every chance she gets to find good ones for me, she takes it. This time was no different. She dove under water incessantly until she found just the right rocks for me. Then she’d walk them over to me and describe why each one was special. She is a dear. Mario fought off the current in the river for a long time but then he finally decided to join Maria in finding rocks for me. He would approach me with one or two and make it a production: “Mom, I found this rock for you and I think you will love it. Close your eyes.” And then I would look at him and express my love for it and he would smile in pride and say “wasn’t that a cool rock, mom?!”

Another day, we took a boat ride on the Bay. The water was choppy but Jon did an excellent job not capsizing us. Our daredevil girl begged Jon to go faster. She loved the thrill of bouncing up and down in the water and the sprays of water in her face. She did not want me to hold on to her when she sat up front. Mario and I meanwhile, were ready for the boat to go back to the dock after a half of an hour. He did fine at first but the poor guy started to turn green towards the end. Nevertheless, he continued to sport a smile through it and have a good time. He did not want to ruin everyone’s fun. We rented a water trampoline and slide afterwards, and that was a lot of fun. Our daredevil Maria loved sliding down the slide head first. She would beg Jon and I to get the slide more wet so it would go faster. If you swam under the trampoline, you could stand above the water and breathe. The kids loved swimming under it and waiting for Jon to scare them when he quickly swam under and grabbed at their legs. We joked that we paid $60 for the kids to play under the trampoline.

In the evening, we were able to watch the sun set from our hotel room. One evening, the sun was brilliantly red and I told Maria and Mario that if we held hands and made a wish before the sun set, it would come true. We all stood together holding hands and making our wishes. When we finished, the sun was almost set. All of a sudden, the kids realized dad was not in on our wish-fest and they yelled “DAD, you have to make a wish, too. HURRY!” Jon, who had been in the bathroom, ran out, grabbed our hands, and we all made a wish again. Then we continued to hold hands and stand in awe as the sun disappeared from the horizon. What a great way to end the evening.

The last day of the trip was overcast so we drove to some fishing towns and watched mama river otters feeding raw fish to their babies on the shore. The kids scored a couple more stuffed animals from a fishing trinket store and got to slide down an old metal slide liked I used to slide down as a kid. We ended our driving adventure in Glen Arbor for some yummy cherry pie. I could eat that pie every day and night. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at putt-putt golf for one last putt-putt game – we had already played three games earlier in the trip. I had won two of them, Jon had slammed me on one of them and we had this one to determine the champion. And we ended up in a tie. Maria, our anti-competitive girl, was very happy.

We played some ping-pong, too in the indoor pool area. It took Jon and I back to our honeymoon in Alaska where we played ping-pong along the Kenai River. We had some good volleys back and forth and again, tied winning one game each. Maria and Mario weren’t too bad at volleying. Mario liked to hit the ball high up in the air for everyone to admire and Maria liked to avoid any hit that would attract attention – complete opposites they are. This vacation definitely reinforced their different demeanors.

Mario: When we were at the market, Mario asked a woman at the checkout line if she could grab a 5 hour energy drink for him to give to his mom. She looked at him suspiciously. I walked by when he asked her a second time and she looked over at me. I whispered to her that he was just trying to get the 5 hour drink for me. He heard me and went ballistic. “Mom! I wanted to surprise you with one of those! Now you ruined it!” He cried and pulled his body away from me when I tried to hold him. I had to kneel next to him and tell him how awesome he was for thinking of me before he talked to me again.

He gets so upset when things do not go his way, and holds a serious grudge. He seems to get angry in two instances: 1. he doesn’t get something he wants, be it the computer or a toy or 2. he wants to do something for you and you “ruin it” by finding out about it early or not reacting happily enough. I was telling Patty that he has two modes lately: super-duper sweet and endearing or angry and pouty. Lucky for us, his super-duper sweet and endearing side trumps the angry and pouty. At the hotel in Michigan, he bought two chocolate hearts to eat for a late-night snack. As he opened one up, he walked over to me and said “mom, this reminds me of you.” He pointed down to the red aluminum foil to an indentation of a heart. Yeah, those little moments make up for the other ones. And the other ones are fierce but short. If you tickle him or tease him, he typically turns off his grudge and laughs and gives you a hug. It’s pretty simple with him – he craves attention and recognition. We constantly get questions from him about who we love more – him or Ria. Or who we think is cuter – him or Ria. When Maria does something and we laugh, he tries to do something funnier. I think it’s his age but I also think it is who he is. He loves to entertain people and make them laugh. He also has no qualms about approaching people. When we were at the outdoor pool, he walked up to a couple in the hot tub and asked how the water felt. He told them his name and where he was from and how old he would be in September. All this without them even asking! When we went to the lake, he walked up to a boy who looked about his age and said “do you want to play with me?” He is not scared to take a chance on getting a “no” response. Complete opposite of our girl.

Maria: And then there is Ri. She would never approach someone and ask them to play with her, and during this trip, she actually steered far clear from anyone that approached her to play with her. Two little girls jumped in the pool and tried to talk to her and Maria swam over to me and told me that she did not want to play with them. Then she told the girls the same. My girl likes her space. But if she sees girls that look like they may be fun to play with, she will stand to the side and wait to see if they ask her to play. She did that with girls on the rope climb, and they eventually asked her to play and she really enjoyed her time with them.

Maria is a total daredevil and a lover of life. She is self-deprecating and real. And she cares about how people feel. When we went to putt-putt, Mario would shoot a hole in one and Maria, who is not the best at putt-putt, would say “I’m certainly not going to get a hole-in-one; I might get a hole-in-six!” When we rented the water trampoline, Maria walked up the ladder, jumped high on the trampoline, and slid down head first without hesitation. When we went out to eat, she ordered BIG and loved to head back to the hotel candy shop for late night sundaes. She took care of her little brother during the trip. When Mario got upset because he wanted to play on my phone, Maria pled his case for him arguing that he had not played with it for the entire trip and he had been a good boy all day long. She treated Mario like her baby – ordering his food (when he let her), letting him go first in line, letting him push the buttons in the elevator, and giving him more superballs then she got.

Vacations are a necessary component to our lives. It gave Jon and I a chance to breathe and let go of all of the deadlines and worries we have with our jobs. We were able to concentrate fully and completely on ourselves and the kids for 7 days. We know Maria and Mario up and down and side to side but this vacation reinforced in us how wonderfully diverse they both are and how many incredible qualities they both exhibit. And I believe the trip reinforced for M&M how much Jon and I love them and want them to experience great things. On the ride home, we stopped at a rest stop to go to the bathroom. We all hopped back in the car to continue our trip and I looked back at the kids to make sure they had their seat belts on. Then I looked over at Jon as he pulled out onto the highway. I closed my eyes and gave thanks for the time alone with them. When I opened my eyes, Jon verbalized my thoughts saying “I had a great time with you guys on this trip. I love you.” The kids responded “Love you, too” as they watched the final episode of Scooby Doo.

A Wicked Hat and We’re Ready for the Beach

March 30, 20121 Comment

“Guess what, mom? We have four more days until summer vacation!”

Mario stood in the kitchen on Wednesday morning and gleefully informed me of this fact as he drank his gatorade. He doesn’t quite get the whole “spring break” deal. After we counted down the days again together, he proceeded to talk about what he was expecting to do in Florida.

“I am going to put my goggles on and swim in the ocean and pet a dolphin and a shark and an alligator. I am going to make sure that the shark moves far away so Ria is not scared.”

Always protecting his sis. Maria chimed in on her expectations for Florida:

“I am going to put on my bikini, lay on my beach towel, and get a tan.”

Remind me again that she is 6 and not 16?!

We headed to Target last night to pick up some necessities and a few “fun” items like hats and sunglasses and coloring books. Mario picked out a west-side ball cap with a skull and bones on it at first. I cringed when he picked it up. It was two times too big for him even though it was in the little boys’ section, and thank go for that fact. Remember, Mario hates anything that is big on him – he likes things tight. He quickly discarded the skull cap when he saw it swimming on his head. There was a beach straw hat I had my eye on for him, and I was excited to see him pick it up and try it on. He modeled that hat in the mirror for five whole minutes. Turning from side to side and adjusting the hat in numerous ways. What a ham. He finally turned to Maria and me and commented “This hat is wicked!” Yeah, that is his new term he loves to use.

Maria picked out a princess ball cap at first. I asked her why she would pick a princess cap when she was not into princesses anymore and she just shrugged her shoulders. I know the reason she picked it. It was right by her side on the shelf and she was tired from a long day at school. If she is tired, my girl could care less what she gets. I had to help her pick another hat because I couldn’t bear to see her revert to her princess days. She ended up with a pink ball cap. We grabbed some sunglasses and beach wear. The kids kept pointing to beach towels and sunscreen but I told them we’d stop at a store on our drive to Naples. They were amazed that there would be stores like Target in Florida!

Mario walked around the store with his straw hat on, flipping it off his head when girls approached him and saying “Howdy partner!” When we got to the checkout line, Maria marveled at the woman in front of us with three-inch red heels on her feet. “Mom, you should get a pair of those for Naples.” I asked her “when would I wear them, Ri?” Her response: “to breakfast, of course!”

"MOM!"

Adventures in the Life of a Working Mama

Tag: Vacation