Thursday, February 24, 2011

I got robbed. A1-5 might have won this time.

First of all, HOLY COW.  I was thinking I hadn't blogged anything in a while and I haven't kept up on reading the blogs that inspire me and interest me and let me read something other than Hop on Pop.  And to see that I haven't told you anything since February 4th!  Really?  What the heck?  It's not like we haven't done anything.  In fact, we've done quite a bit.  Breckin has had plenty of antics and Ella says a new word every day.  Today, it was "small".  Yesterday it was "down".  She adds something new every day, I swear.

Well, let's get caught up.  I'd love to walk down memory lane of February but there is one glaring event that blurs out the rest.  It threw me for quite a loop, made me drowsy and spacey for an entire day, and kinda smooshed every other thing that happened before it together behind this veil of holy-crap-ness.  Let's just say- the frickin Groundhog lied.  And, he lied big.  Spring did not come early, rather, winter had one last HA HA HA YOU'RE AND IDIOT FOR CROSSING THE PASS IN FEBRUARY moment before March starts. 

We did some stuff in February, blah, blah, blah.  And then, on February 19th I hosted a beautiful baby shower for a dear neighbor and was so excited to have some long overdue girls time that I left for Spokane- a 300 mile trip- at 5 pm on Saturday night.  Pass was clear and dry and it was actually a perfect time to leave cause the kids ate dinner in Ellensburg and crashed in the car for the rest of the trip.  I got to zone out to some Twilight soundtracks and mentally vacate the child-focused portion of my life to reminisce in my head about all of the fun we had in college and beyond.  I love driving alone- or mentally alone- for the pure sake of thinking about whatever without conversation interruption.  It was a nice and much needed mental break. 

Anyway, we got to Spokane about 10:30 at night, waited for the girls to get back from the hot dog store, and settled in.  The kids fell asleep relatively well and on we go.  I don't remember if it was late at night on Saturday or it waited until Sunday morning but A1-5 made an appearance.  A1-5 is Breckin's imaginary nemesis and he shows up now and then- mostly in the comfort of our own home.  This time, he drove across the state and invaded Joslyn's house.  Fortunately, Joslyn was ready with a secret hideout (the back covered porch), a bad guy gun (a caulking gun), and a team of spies on the good side (Mo, Maggie, Jos, and me).  Breckin made us look out for him constantly. 

What's the best place for a bored little boy with no Saturday morning cartoons, not many toys, no computer games, and an imaginary bad guy to chase?  A mostly empty pizza shop.  He jumped right up on the bar stool and chatted with the hostess.  He was fascinated by the pizza maker throwing the dough and asked if he could watch.  He checked the fire now and then for OUR pizzas.  He turned everything in the store into something related to A1-5 hunting.  He did anything he could to not sit in his chair. 



We spent most of Sunday just hanging out at Jos's house, walking around Riverfront Square Park Mall- or whatever it's called- and letting Breckin get some wiggles out at the children's museum.  Miss Hands Tenneson joined us and we headed back to her place cause most of us had never seen it.  The kids were losing their very last ounce of patience when we went to dinner at Red Robin and back home to crash. 

Monday was spent in Coeur d'Alene or as Breckin says "I didn't know we were going on a vacation while on our vacation!"  He loves that town from the last insane road trip and we did our now-ritual stops at the ice cream shop, Figpickles Toy Store, CdA Olive Oil Company, the giant metal moose, and the big rocks in the park.  Of course, A1-5 was there and Breckin had to hide in Jos's little storage closet in the oil shop.  Just after the fire truck made an appearance, I was notified that A1-5 had to go potty and we hightailed it out of there to hit the road back home.  Except the road hit us.

We left Coeur d'Alene around 2 pm thinking even if we got to the pass around 6 pm, it'd just be getting dark and we'd make it over the pass with no problems.  Three potty stops, a dinner stop, and some slow traffic later got us to the pass later than expected.  We knew there'd be a bit of snow but hot damn.  I was more nervous than I'd ever been.  I turned Looney Tunes on for the now awake kids in the back seat and white knuckled it.  We swerved.  We spun in a circle and somehow straightened out.  I was absolutely sure we'd lose all traction trying to get on Highway 18 and called Dustin to get ready to come and get us.  I can't convey in words what a scary drive it was.  We locked up and spun our tires and- by the grace of God- made it over the pass, through Issaquah, and home by 10 pm.  Eight hours after we started.  I think A1-5 was responsible for the snow. 

All the next day I was drowsy, couldn't stop yawning, could not focus on anything, and felt a little nauseated.  It was a horrible feeling but the kids slept in and just wanted to play quietly.  I think they were worn out, too.  It was worth every moment to see my girls and spend some much needed time just being together.  It's a good thing we planned that trip at the beginning of a week off of school cause we have needed every day to recover. 

Friday, February 4, 2011

My Little Budding Photographer

Breckin got a Lego camera for Christmas and he LOVES to take pictures of things he's made, people who happen to be nearby, and his favorite things around the house.  Like toilets.  Or his sister's butt.  He's classy like that.  Here's a few and via The Photos link, there's his own little album.  Fair warning- the flash is ridiculously bright so everything is overexposed but it's his perspective and he likes them.