Tucumcari, NM Part 2 (Main post below)

Here's Day 21 (I think) of the 2007 Road Trip. Us driving from Santa Fe, NM to Amarillo, TX. Contains great audio of Steph and me having stupid arguments about nothing and generally being immature.

The "DISASTER AWAITS" title references that this is just before the RV broke down at a Stuckey's truck stop in Adrian, TX.

I am posting this video now because it contains several shots of Tucumcari billboards along I-40.

Enjoy:

Tucumcari, NM

Hey, everyone!

First, an explanation of Mari's nickname. Her "real" name is Marisol ([mah'-ree-sohl] a Spanish name -- "el mar" is "sea" and "el sol" is "sun" -- "sea and sun" -- perfect for our beachloving selves)... We are a family big on nicknames. We have millions of them for just about everyone. SO, when Mari was born, Matt recalled the name of a town in a book that he loves (a road trip book, of course) -- the town being "Tucumcari, NM". He started calling her "Mari Tucumcari" -- that evolved (devolved?) in to Mari Tucums and then just Mari Tooks and eventually it came to what it is today -- "just" Tooks or Tooky. In fact, Z took her to a once a week gym class for toddlers. Every week when the kids had to tell the group their name, she would say "Tooky". Not Mari. Sheesh. We knew when we named her Marisol that it would be rough -- people in good ole' Cincinnati aren't exactly well-versed in Spanish pronunciation. But now she calls herself Tooks or Tooky. Oh well. Oh and Matt found out eventually that "Tucumcari" is actually pronounced "too-cum-carey" -- oh well again! What will we do at preschool in the fall when she calls herself Tooky?

So another productive day. The babies slept through the night again last night (did Matt already say that?). They got showers and so did Matt and I. We played downstairs. We ate lunch. I finally took Faith and got to the library to get a library card (we moved here in March [I was 32 wks pregnant w/ twins] and moved from a different county). Let her pick out 3 books for herself and 2 for Tooks. Got 3 for myself (a HUGE laugh -- if I DO find time to read for pleasure, I inevitably fall asleep -- as I did this afternoon). Eventually, my mom came over, we had dinner and AM came over. Mom and AM watched and played w/ the kids while Matt and I began to tackle the garage. My great aunt (whose house this was) moved out about a year ago at which time we started de-cluttering our condo to put it on the market. The de-cluttering went to the garage here. Now we are trying to get through at least some of these boxes. We made a pretty good dent, actually. Got a good hour and a half done on it. AND, the girls got really worn out by AM!!! AND, my awesome mom did our dishes and cleaned up our kitchen. Pretty good.

I went to pokeno last night. First time in like 4 months I think. My sister originally invited me to this group -- it's all "her" friends although I consider them mine too, now! Anyway, we take turns hosting once a month. The host makes dinner (always AWEsome -- those women can sure cook) and buys the prizes. We eat, play, tell stories & give updates on our lives, eat some more, get the prizes and go home. It's a generally great time and we laugh quite a bit!

OK. It's time for babies to eat and go to bed -- Matt says his leg is falling off from bouncing Robby, so I better relieve him!
Steph

GUMPTION

We did a pretty good job today! We finally got our books out of storage and onto our bookshelves (only took us almost 4 months), played an actual board game with our kids, made a cake with Faith's Easy-Bake Oven, and I got a new video done.

Here's the footage of our trip to Huber Farm in Indiana from the Louisville trip a few weeks ago (seems like ages ago now). This one fell right into place. Looks and feels very appropriate, I think I captured it well.



All in all, not a bad day. Mari was great, Faith is still being very challenging, but she ended her day well.

OH, and how could we have forgotten to tell you this - 2 nights in a row, Robby and Hannah have slept through the night. Very nice.

Thanks for checking in, everyone.

Matt

Back Home (part 2 - more pics)

First post is below, here are some more pictures:

Faith, Zayde, and Mari (can't see her) on the Little Dipper

Tooks finally got on a roller coaster! This kiddie coaster at Memphis Kiddie Park is actually the oldest Steel Roller Coaster in North America - who knew? Anyway, this was Tookie's first roller coaster and she LOVED it! When she rode with me the first time, when we got to the top of the hill she said "Are you ready for the fast part?" So cute! And Steph was watching and said she had the biggest smile on her face the whole time. Faith rode in a seat all by herself this time. Hard picture to take.

This picture is so cute and perfect it's almost sickening - it either belongs on a greeting card or a commerical for some kind of antidepressant:


Long story:

Basically, I exiled myself to keep the kids amused so the other adults could converse in peace. They had already exhausted all the possibilities of hide and seek, ring around the rosie, and even done a pretend concert. All there was left was a bag of paper cups.


You know your daughter's bangs are out of control when they get full of ice cream:


Summing up the trip in a single picture:

Back home

Sorry about the odd post - it looks like the Fairfield internet connection had some kind of block on the word "girl". Anyway, should be fixed now.

To sum up the rest of the trip - it got a lot better. Everyone finally decided to behave themselves. The dinner event went smoothly, the girls were good, even adorable at times, we had a wonderful breakfast at Jack's Deli this morning, and are now back at home with a pound of corned beef and a half a loaf of good rye bread.

Aside: Anyone reading this who knows of a good Kosher or Kosher-style deli in Cincinnati, please let me know. We literally have to drive 4-5 hours to get corned beef. And don't say Izzy's. No offense to the good people there, but saying Izzy's serves good corned beef is like saying Taco Bell is authentic Mexican. Anyway...

So we're back home now in that post-drive daze, just trying to get ourselves to bedtime. Our BIG summer trip to the Smokies and Chattanooga is in a couple weeks.

Here (and in the next post) are a few of the best pics:

Artificial bliss:

Now, I feel the need to clarify. I am not a big fan of the in-car DVD player. I want my kids to look at their surroundings and actually have the getting there be an active part of the trip. That said, the drive from Cincinnati to Cleveland is genuinely boring. There is nothing to look at. So this time, I didn't mind. The girls know that when we go to Tennessee, there will be lots of times when they are not allowed to watch a movie.


For a Cincinnati family, this is a weird sight:


Took 'driving':

This is funny too - when Faith first went on 'car rides' like this, she was super serious and we're pretty sure she thought she actually had to steer. Mari on the other hand doesn't even try to pretend. Just free-wheelin' it.

After government cuts, this is all that's left of the space program:


Just before the skies opened up and we all got soaked:


more pics soon!

Greetings from Cleveland

Okay, so if it's possible, things have gotten worse. And no, not because we're in Cleveland. Forget what you've been told, it's actually a pretty nice town.

Anyway, I'm in the Fairfield "business library" on a public internet connection, so not a lot I can do right now. The highlights:

* Both girls eating 2 lunches yesterday and still whining that they are hungry.

* Both girls eating 2 breakfasts today and still whining that they are hungry.

* Mari continues to demonstrate that she is the poster child for being 2. One day, perhaps I'll look back on her balling up her fists, shaking her arms, and literally trembling in anger as she screams at us...and find it cute. Now it's just scary.

* A new pinnacle of parental embarrassment when Faith decided that she didn't like her burger, but still wanted the brownies she'd get if she finished it...and started letting half-chewed burger bits fall out of her mouth onto the floor of our wonderful hosts. Randy and Paula, I am so sorry.

* Literally running out of privileges to take away from the girls.

* And today, getting caught in a torrential downpour at the Memphis Kiddie Park.

And I'm sure there's more, but that is all I can stomach for now. Pray for us.

Matt

P.S. Congrats, SID - you deserve it!

I NEED A DRINK!!!

In the name of all that is good and decent, what a freegoan CRAZY NUTSO day!

We both need to go vaccuum now because all the hair we both pulled out today is all over the STINKING floor!

Okay. Let's walk through, shall we?

Twins had their 2 month checkup today. But Steph also had a dental appointment today at the same time. Which meant that I had to load all the kids into the car, take the big girls to B&K's so they could play with J&M while I took the twins to the doctor.

No big deal, everyone was good (more on the checkup later) but it made for a wild morning, and of course trying to explain what's happening to Mari who has a memory like a food processor (as in, you put in nice fresh pieces of information and she mashes them up into goo or paste) is always trying.

So the first sign of the disasters to come was when I attempted to carry the twins into the doctor's office, with the diaper bag on my shoulder. Of course the diaper bag slipped off and, oh, sort of landed on Robby's head. No big deal, little scratch. Didn't even cry. Maybe he was stunned.

They both were great at the appointment, but at the 2 month checkup, the babies are pincushions. 4 shots each, and an oral rotovirus vaccination. And the doctor was out of the infant's Tylenol he usually gives us to help them with the pain and soreness. No biggie, I'll just dose them up when we get home. So they scream bloody murder during the shots then get sleepy, as Faith and Mari always did too. No big deal, I come home.

Get home, give the babies their medicine to help them feel better, throw together lunch for the girls, and before long, I hear the van pull up and the sound of Mari in pure meltdown mode. She comes stumbling up to the door, Steph gives me that "Yep" look and says "She lost her milk privilege."

Now, this may sound strange to some. But one of our challenges with Mari has always been finding something she values enough to get her attention by the threat of losing it. Most things she just doesn't show enough interest in to make that kind of thing effective. And yes, I know we should try to do more positive reinforcement, but any parent knows that in the heat of the moment stuff flies out of your mouth and you sometimes talk yourself into a corner. So every so often, we end up having to take away her milk. She loves her milk. Always has. Would probably drink a gallon a day if she could. Long after she was done with bottles, we still had to give her a sippy cup of milk every night before bed. So of course, Mari was a mess at lunch.

At any rate, the story was, Mari started whining and crying as soon as Steph got to B&K's because she didn't want to leave yet. Steph gave her more chances than she would normally get to get herself under control on the way home, and so...NO MILK FOR YOU!!!

Okay. Next item. Steph starts asking about the appointment, looks at the vaccination records and says, "Didn't they get the rotovirus vaccination?" And my jaw drops. Our wonderful pediatrician (seriously, he's great - we go to the office farther away so he can be the kids' primary) forgot to order it, and I (being the dumb dad) forgot about it while holding my children down for their 8 other shots. So we call the doctor's office and they're great, they'll get us into the office closer to us at 1:30.

Fine, except that I DESPERATELY need to mow the lawn. It's been like 2 weeks at least, it's embarassing and we're pretty sure that the reason the dogs have been going in the house a lot more lately is that the grass is literally too tall for them to go out there. So I'm gonna need to mow while the girls are inside, hopefully sleeping. No problem with Mari, but Faith likes to come out 5 times with this that and the other problem just because she doesn't want to sleep.

So I explain to Faith that I'll be mowing the lawn and if there are any small problems she can take care of it herself...if she has to go potty, wipe herself and go back to bed, etc, etc...And that if there is a real, serious problem, she should come find me...but if she comes to get me and there is not a really serious problem, she's going to be in big trouble, blah blah blah.

I start the lawn. Get the back done. Start on the front. Suddenly, there's Faith in the doorway. I take a deep breath, turn off the mower and go find out what's wrong. Faith has 'leaked' in the bed. And long story short (because this kind of thing has happened before) she did it on purpose so she could come out and tell me that something was wrong.

So I go in, probably yell more than I should (but at the same time there's a line here that Faith needs to know about even if she can't quite understand it yet) strip the sheets off our bed (she naps in our room since Mari won't nap unless she's by herself) change Faith, and send her into her room where Mari isn't sleeping anyway.

Steph comes home, I explain the situation then go finish the lawn. Come back in, and as God is my witness, I decide to tell Faith the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf...which is just too ironic since we've been making a million 'wolf' jokes since the Great Wolf Lodge. Have no idea if Faith got it but I made the effort.

ANYWAY, Steph then tells me that at the doctor's office, Hannah basically spit up most of her vaccine and that the carseat cover is now pretty wet from it. Nice. Meanwhile, it's become quite clear that the twins are extremely uncomfortable and in pain from the shots. Hannah is crazy crying and can't calm down.

Soon after, we realized that we had an errand to run which required us printing out a couple of pages of information. No paper. Scrounged around, found two kind of crumply pieces of paper, good enough. Print one out. Printer out of ink.

Long story short, needed to deliver the papers to Grandma D's house anyway, so I threw everyone into the car, and left Steph to start packing unmolested. On the way there, Mari falls asleep. Then, about 10 minutes later, I see Faith in the rearview mirror messing with Mari's face. Now please understand. If Mari wakes up from a nap before she's ready, she is absolutely inconsolable for about 20 minutes. She can not stop herself from the hysterics. So, once again, probably more than I should (but this time out of sheer incredulousness) I start in on Faith.

Faith's response is to say "I will scream all the way home because you are being nasty to me" and then scream rhythmically every 2 seconds. We work through that and get her calmed down.

Run the errand, Faith falls asleep too. Normally, this would be bad, because it's now about 6pm and if they sleep this late they might not sleep at night. Just this once, I genuinely DO NOT CARE. Accident on the I-275 bridge. Thank God they're sleeping.

Grab dinner and head home. Mari and Faith are both a wreck from their interrupted nap. Mari between howling cries tells us she can't decide whether to eat her burger or her apples first. They didn't give me the dressing for my Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad. To heck with them (this is a family blog so I can't say what I really want to say there - use your imagination). Hannah and Robby are crazy crying in the other room.

Honestly up to this point, neither of us have really had time to realize what a crazy day this has been. Steph and I go in the other room and end up having a really nasty stupid fight about nothing at all. Then I (thinking it will be good therapy and help lighten things up) tell her we should each just tell the other one what's ticking us off most about them. She says something I didn't expect and I get all offended. What a jerk I am.

We go get the girls ready for bed. It is SO bedtime. Somehow while reading books, Steph and I manage to get in another dumb argument. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to us, Robby silently and without fussing, spits up all over himself in the other room...in his carrier...on the couch. Steph soon discovers that it has leaked through, and frantically tries to clean up the couch.

I finish reading to the girls (forgetting of course that Faith was not supposed to have books since she decided to leave her mark on our bed) and go call dad to tell him that we can't set the carseats up in the Suburban tonight, because we have to wash both the covers.

OH FOR CRY YI.

It's still just 9:30 - what else could go wrong tonight? Or is this all a preview of tomorrow - a 4 1/2 hour drive to Cleveland, crammed into a big red Suburban, with Zayde, who will probably have some new excuse for not wearing his hearing aids?

Keep us in your prayers. Pass the salt.

Matt

P.S. Robby is 13lb 1oz and Hannah is 11lb 15oz

For God's Sake, Contribute!

That's what Matt just said to me. Whatevs. Like I never post. I have always hated writing, though.

Ok, so Tuesday at Great Wolf Lodge just strengthened our appreciation of it! The girls actually slept in that morning ('till almost 8am) and the babies went 5 hrs that night for the first stretch! Not bad at all!

Got up, got dressed, waited for Matt's dad to call to say he was on his way (he had a tennis game early that morning). Went back to the "Loose Moose" for our free breakfast buffet. It was WAY WAY better than dinner had been the previous night! A really wide variety of food and well-cooked! We stuffed our faces (even the girls ate well) then went back to the room to finish packing up. Matt loaded the car, we put our swimsuits on, checked out and headed to the waterpark area. We were allowed to stay until close at 10pm if we had wanted.

Mari had a general tough time that morning/afternoon. Besides the fact that the acoustics are horrible in there (it's a huge, really tall building with tons of water slides/water splashing) and we could hardly hear a word she said, she was tired. We managed to get her on two more slides, but that's it. And I think she never did go back on the lazy river, much to my dismay (I LOVE those things)! The most she wanted to do was sit in the shallow end of the wave pool and play in the fountains there. Oh, and fuss and cry and whine. Oh well. She's VERY two!

Faith continued to have a WONDERFUL time! She was a machine on those kids' slides! She loved it and went on the slides, I think Matt counted 46 times! I also think she did the lazy river once and also got to jump some waves in the wave pool. By about 1pm, we were all beyond exhausted. We got changed out of our suits (the locker rooms had "bathing suit water extractors" which is fascinating to me!) and got in the cards. Z and I had to work hard to keep Mari awake for the 5 minute drive to McDonald's. We were successful, though, and after a good lunch Z headed to his house and we headed to ours.

The girls fell asleep in the car no more than 10 mins in to the drive. Matt actually made a successful transfer of them in to their beds. We finally woke them up around 4:45 for fear that they wouldn't go to bed that night. Oh and the babies continued to do well -- slept most of the time at the waterpark that day and ended up sleeping well last night, too!

I was asleep by like 11pm at the latest. I was beyond exhausted!!!

So today is our day "off" -- tomorrow we have appointments in the morning, Matt has to mow the lawn and I have to pack for Cleveland. We leave Fri morning!!! Matt's paternal grandmother's family is having a small reunion and I am looking forward to it. I always like trips and I've only ever met his uncle from that side (and his Zayde who passed away in 2000).

I am sure we'll be posting a bit this weekend about our trip to Cleveland!

Please keep Matt's mom (aka: grammy) in your thoughts and prayers -- she's traveling to Kenya tomorrow!

Steph

Howlin' at the moon...

Sorry, no pics. The logistics did not allow us to get the camera out. Here are the highlights:

First of all, very cool place. Just FYI, we're only here because a friend of ours hooked us up with a free night as part of a grassroots marketing job she had. We could never afford this place on our own. BUT, we think that even as expensive as this place is, when the twins are Faith's age, it would be totally worth it, provided we bring our own food or drive out to the local McDonald's to eat cheap. The dinner buffet left quite a bit to be desired. I can honestly say I've never been to a buffet with more items which I could not identify. Some things, even after I ate them. It was either fishy pork or really tough salmon. Not sure.

Anyway, the waterpark is very nice, very cool. Kinda bummed that we weren't free to go on the big waterslides. Maybe next time. The kids area was great, 5 slides Faith's size. Mari could have easily done 3 of them, but on her first try, she sort of slid down on her back and so refused to do another slide the rest of the day. Faith on the other hand went down about a hundred times.

Mari did finally find something she liked...the lazy river. She went around that thing on Zayde and my and Steph's lap like 15 times. And eventually, she fell asleep on Zayde's lap. And then later, she fell asleep at the buffet.

Anyway, this room is really cool - it has a semi-seperate 'kids' room with one twin bed and one bunk bed. Faith is getting to sleep in the top of a bunk bed for the first time. She's very excited.

Again, sorry about the lack of pics - but hopefully this will be entertaining for everyone:

New Blog Title

In honor of all the stupid things people say to us when they see the twins, we have decided to rename the blog "You've Got Your Hands Full". Check back later today for pics from Great Wolf Lodge up in Mason.