Thursday, April 22, 2010

eleven minutes

so ive got around eleven minutes before the lumpy one will be joining me after he hops out of his crib without any effort to blog and im thinking eleven minutes is actually a pretty long time. jack has begun climbing out of his crib with the ease of spiderman and while i was initially panicked, im now seeing it as a sign of him growing up, becoming responsible for his own sleeping habits and of course getting one day closer to being capable of making my coffee.


we just got back last night from a quick weekend trip to hershey, pa and for those of you who are exceptionally slow, that would be the mother ship of the chocolate company. i consumed enough chocolate to make me sick and the kids started and ended each day with a mouthful of sugar. we did a day at hershey park (thank you hershey man for making it a discounted day for the military) and better half and i were able to rediscover one of our first loves. roller coasters.

somehow, in spite of our shared fear of fixed heights, we both looooooooove a great roller coaster. the pics they snap mid ride always tell the tale...this time around i had one pic that looked like i was on the brink of tears (thats a good ride) and another that looked like id just been told id won a winery in tuscany (this would be a happy crazy surprised face). both of them, however, only showed one chin so i was pleased and as tempted as i was to throw down the $12 for these tacky 4x6 souvenier pics to commemorate the thrilling time, i did manage to pass on them. we spent that $12 later on a kids meal. anywho...we had a really great day and loved spending the weekend with some of our besties and the fam.

a close second to my love of roller coasters is my love of people watching and for me, an amusement park is like hitting the mother lode on this obsession. i waffle between judgment and relief (im just being honest here) as i see the landscape of our country and where i fit in. and im still amazed at the number of tattoos that everyone seems to have. as one who has longed for one since i was 15, i can now safely say that over the last 6 months (no kidding) ive decided maybe i dont want one. the truth is they seem to be the least badass thing you can do these days with everyone from soccer moms to dentists having them. and really, that dolphin i desperately wanted 17 years ago would look like a dying beached whale on my navel at this point. and of course the sun i wanted on my back would look like a tramp stamp and the turtle i wanted on my foot would look like an open wound from a distance. most recently i wanted a word (i love words) on my wrist. alas, i couldnt decide on a word and am now thankful i didnt slap one on there. i guess im just realizing a tattoo is not a wise investment for a gemini who changes her mind at least twice a minute and has the attention span of a drunk gnat. i still see one on occasion that has me a little envious, but as time goes (and i seem to grow up....imagine that) i become less and less enamored with the idea of permanently putting something on my body. my parents are not so silently relieved.

road tripping with the little people is always a pleasure as well. mind you, this was only 2 1/2 hours, a laughable amount to all you road warriors with hundreds of hours logged and the crumbs proudly stuck in between the seats marking all of your journeys. however, for us amateurs, it was a drive. before heading home i decided, in a move that i was certain would pay dividends later, to find a parking lot and slap some jammies on these over sugared, under slept kids. while it did require a bit of effort, i assured my better half it would be worth our time, making for a seamless transition from car to bed with sleeping children upon our return home.

i somehow forgot we have the only two children who are incapable of sleeping in the car. as in, gk prefers to giving us a mile by mile commentary on her ever changing surroundings and jdub prefers throwing books and blowing his nose (his new talent) in his hands. i had to explain to the peach why we were no longer eating snacks as we had just completed 48 hours of chocolate and amusement park food and while that seem to satisfy her for awhile, she eventually began questioning my mothering abilities with, 'mom, did you pack any healthy snacks for me? im really hungry'. no, georgia, nothing healthy. rule #3 of a road trip is crappy snacks that taste great, curb hunger and can also do double duty by bribing you to be quiet when your dad and i get desperate. cant really imagine getting much leverage from a carrot stick.

and so it went. for 2 1/2 hours. they were really really good even if they didnt sleep and im just counting down the wake ups until we get to start our 16 hour road trip to the beach. perhaps by then ill be splitting a tylenol pm between the two of them. ill research that for the rest of you and report back.

happy summer and happy road tripping.




2 comments:

TAVA... said...

You know what else doesn't work well for bribing at this age? Cash. I've tried it... That trip sounds like it was a lot of fun. Of course, how could you go wrong with chocolate and roller coasters?

Unknown said...

i've "heard" benadryl works great! actually, i would highly recommend you spend the money and invest on a dual screen dvd player for the car!! do you have one???? then buy lots of nick jr. dvd's and disney movies and headphones so they can each watch their own video and you don't have to hear it!! works wonders for us on long trips to granny's house!!