My New Favorite

This Thanksgiving has to be one of my most favorite ever.

Ever.

Every minute of it was perfect.

Well almost.

The trip down to the beach was a little lacking in the fun department. It could be blamed on the dog vomiting in the car. Or the bumper to bumper traffic. Or the non-stop poring rain. Or the fact that I, once again in the role of the "Navigator" got us lost. Or that my deodorant quit working right when I really needed it to. But needless to say, once we reached our destination, all that other stuff was forgotten!

This year we traveled to Manzanita with some friends of ours, The Summerfields - Bob, Julie and their 4 children,  and we rented a beach house together. Let me tell you all the things I loved about this trip.

 I loved...Football on the beach. Owen pretended to be Tim Tebow.

 (And so did Mark).

I loved... Mark posing for me so I could practice using my camera on the beach. What a good husband I have!

I loved ... watching our dog have the time of her life and act like she was a puppy again.

I loved ... The weather on Friday and Saturday. No wind. On the Oregon coast you know that is rare! We were quick to take advantage of it and the kids got busy right away digging in the sand.

The kids would dig and dig and then wait with anticipation for the waves to come so they could see how their castle fortifications would hold up.

 I loved ... Seeing how much fun they were having. It made my heart sing it's own happy song.

I loved ... How men will be men. Bob and Mark braved the cold weather and got wet. They kept their sweatshirts on mind you, but they did hang out in the surf for a looooong time solving the world's problems.

Sierra was the only girl brave enough to join them. I used my camera as an excuse!

 I loved ...hanging out with people who we have so much in common with. We had the best conversations over food, games, movies, and just hanging out.

The two of them have a love for each other and their children that is awesome to see.

I loved ... How effortless everything was. A truly relaxing vacation can be hard to come by but I found it this week and while it was hard to leave, it was truly a Thanksgiving to be thankful for!

Turbulence = Turbulent Tummies

Carry-ons?     Check.

Disneyland tickets?     Check.

Barf bags?    No barf bags! Well that's not a big deal.

I would be remembering those thoughts bitterly just a few short hours later. I would also be wearing and smelling them too.

Last Spring Break, Christmas was no longer the coolest day of the year in the eyes of my children. It was the day they got to fly on a magical airplane to take us to the happiest place on Earth. I could hear them talking about our trip before they went to bed and I could hear them whispering about it again at the buttcrack of dawn the next day. Mom and Dad G. drove us to the airport and the whole way there the boys kept talking about the airplane and who got to sit by the window.

As for myself, I was already feeling queasy. I hate flying. It's the whole taking off and landing part. And also the part in the middle where I am suspended several miles above Earth. Maybe it's also the part where if something goes wrong - I have a snowball's chance in hell of fixing it. And yes, the turbulence just confirms my belief that people were not meant to fly and it's a miracle every single time I am in a plane and don't die.

All that being said, I was excited by the excitement of the boys. How could I not be?
Once we boarded and settled in I was happy. To be honest the entire first flight was pleasant. We landed in Utah with no problems and all we had left was a short flight over some mountains and then we would land in sunny California.

Again, we boarded, Caleb and Owen sitting with me on one side and then Mark across the aisle from us. It was Caleb's turn for the window seat and he was thrilled to death. I was just anxious to be done with the plane rides and get to our destination so our real vacation could begin.

Take off was smooth and time quickly passed. The boys were playing with some i-touches I had borrowed from a friend, Mark was chatting with the people in the seats next to him and I was content reading Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. Then the first bumps started. No big deal. I was calm, cool, collected - bumps don't bother this woman. That's the image I was trying very hard to project. Then the bumps escalated and our plane pitched a wee bit. Hmmm... As the bumps increased the volume of sweat in my armpits did also. I put away my book and began to grip my handrests in the hope that by my holding tight to them it would somehow miraculously force the plane to stop doing what it was doing. (Logic is not included in the telling of this story). Conversations were beginning to stop and the fasten seatbelts signs came on, when the pilot came over the loudspeaker telling us that we were passing through a storm system and we would be experiencing some turbulence. I had thought that's what we were experiencing but nope, that was small stuff compared to what was coming.

The bumps increased and at one point the plane dropped so suddenly that the overhead compartments in the back opened, things came flying out, and my coat that was in my lap, flew up and hit the ceiling. In between my steady praying I decided I needed to check on the status of my children and be ready to give them the "This Is Normal and We Are Perfectly Safe" speech. I opened one eye and peeked over at them. This is what they were doing in the midst of the worst turbulence I have ever experienced:

    Both of them have their hands in the air just like you do on a roller coaster ride. They are laughing with wild abandon and at one point Owen says "This is the best ride ever!".
Needless to say they were not concerned.

Finally, the worst part of it was over. Conversations began to resume throughout the airplane. I begin to unclench my hands from the armrests truly believing it was partly my valiant efforts that kept us in the air. The pilot made another announcement saying that the we were waiting our turn to land at John Wayne International but that it wouldn 't be much longer. So began the circling...

It all started with the child who was sitting behind Mark. His parents were behind me and I heard the boy whisper to his Dad, "Daddy... I don't feel good". The Dad told him to hang on; that we were almost done.

The poor kid couldn't hang on. He threw up all over the place. Mostly on the floor but some on the seats, some on his Dad and some on himself. I covered my nose and tried to think happy thoughts when I happened to glance at my children to see how they handling the vomit. Caleb looked at me and I instantly noticed he was white. Very white. I asked him if he was doing ok and he silently shook his head. Now Caleb is my "well child". The one who is never sick and has only thrown up maybe 3 times in his life and that number might be an exaggeration. I started to look for a barf bag and that's when I remembered not being concerned about it earlier. I finally found one in the seat in front of Caleb and just as I brought it up to his little face, he vomited. The poor peanut tried to get it all into the microscopic size hole of the bag while I held onto the bottom of it and rubbed his back. I tucked Owen into my armpit figuring it had to smell better than the fresh puke that was barreling out of his brother's mouth. As the bag filled up with hot liquid (that I ccould feel as well as smell) I suddenly realized that motherhood has given me superpowers! I could overcome the smell of vomit! I had some on me, was holding some in my hand, and I didn't feel the slightest big queasy! Just as Caleb's vomit was getting close to cresting the top of the bag he leaned back and said he was finished. I motioned to a stewardess and handed the whole stinking mess off. 

We were preparing to land by this point and all I could think of was that I was so grateful to be getting off the plane. I looked over at Mark to share my thoughts and saw that he was also holding a barf bag and looking green so I didn't want to break his concentration. I figured he was holding it back by sheer force of will. This is the guy that vomited our entire deep sea fishing trip and who cannot even look at a Tilt-A-Whirl without gagging. 

Just as I started to look away, I saw out of the corner of my eye the person in front of Mark vomit. Seriously. Right into her lap. The smell in the cabin of that airplane was becoming a little much - even for me with my newly discovered superpowers. I was also starting to realize the limit of said superpowers. They only applied to the vomit of my own offspring. Other people's puke was still disgusting. And the smell of it was making me want to puke in sympathy. 

We were finally done, the fasten seatbelts sign was off and I unbuckled Owen and moved him towards Mark so that I could help Caleb clean up with some napkins and spit. Just as I finished, I heard Owen say "Mommy" and I turn in time to see Mark put the barf bag in front of Owen. Owen then vomited for the next 5 minutes while I could only watch in disbelief. 

Finally. Finally. We were allowed to leave the plane and I was already swearing to myself that I would never fly again when I noticed that there were towels and bags all over the seats and aisles everwhere. We had sat towards the end of the plane and after passing several towels, I finally spot one that has leftovers on it. Puke! The people of this plane had been vomiting everywhere! We had to step over it and go around it all the way to the front. 

You know how when you are leaving the plane, the pilots and stewardesses are smiling and thanking you for flying with them? Not this time. Our flight crew all wore shell-shocked faces and couldn't form a coherent sentence much less muster up some thanks for having us fly with them.   

I don't know who had to clean up that plane, but I think they earned a bonus and a half that day. Once we were safely in the airport the boys finally broke their silence.

  Caleb: "Mommy, I am never, ever, ever flying in an airplane again."
  Owen: "I want Grandma and Grandpa to drive down and pick us up when it's time to go home."

I was all for Owen's idea but Mark vetoed it and said by the end of our time in Disneyland we would have forgotten all about our plane ride that was bathed in throw-up. Whatever - trust me. The memory was emblazened in my mind and it would rear it's ugly and smelly head again later in the summer when it was time for me to fly to Europe.

But that's another story for another time. Happy flying everyone!

Flashbacks

Since almost a year has passed since I was blogging I am going to make you suffer through lots (and lots!) of past footage. I am going to do this for a couple of reasons.

Reason #1 - I don't scrapbook anymore and I need to do something to preserve memories of my children's youth.

Reason #2 - We had so much fun doing some of these things that I can't stand to keep it to myself!

Be prepared for lots of pictures of ...

DISNEYLAND!

Last winter, Mark and I decided to take the boys on a trip to Disneyland. We had been thinking about the idea for a while and debating whether or not the boys were too young, whether or not Owen was too short and whether or not we should be doing such a thing while in the process of selling our house. In the end, we decided what the heck and we went for it. We purchased our trip in December for the upcoming Spring Break and we were ready to go.

So March rolled around and we still hadn't told the boys we were going. I decided to do a scavenger hunt the day before we left to clue them in. Mom and Dad G were part of the fun and I managed to catch a few minutes of it on video.

Be warned! My amateur video efforts here are more reminiscent of the Blair Witch Project than any noteworthy effort of filming. But I did get some great moments and I also captured Caleb's efforts at reading. FYI - the word he miscues on is Mickey and he says McKay instead. Totally changed the whole meaning of the clue. His reading teacher (me) should have been working with him!

THERE SHOULD BE A VIDEO HERE BUT MY COMPUTER IS NOT COOPERATING SO I WILL TRY AGAIN IN THE MORNING! STAY TUNED! INSTEAD PLEASE BE THRILLED TO PIECES WITH THIS PICTURE...

This is Owen's super sneeky spy look. Don't ask.Tomorrow (or possibly the day after or even possibly sometime this weekend...) I will post about the airplane ride that gave me my first gray hair, cured me of my phobia of handling vomit in a bag, taught me that there are worst things on an airplane than turbulance, and convinced me that flying really is for the birds - not people!


I don't really get it either. I just know it about breaks my camera every time he does it, which is at least 349 times a day.

Be prepared and have a barf bag handy!

What's New - Post #1

It has already been almost a year since we have sold our house, bought 6.25 acres, moved in with Mom and Dad out in Pilot Rock and started the adventure of building our own home.

This is our new home:

 "Hmmm..." your probably saying to yourself. "Um, Miriah... where is the house?"

Well, let me tell you my friends, the house is still in our heads at this point, but believe it or not we are getting closer to someday living in this fictional house of ours. As of today we have finished the utilities, have the gravel driveway done and are now ready to pour concrete. Mark has told me it could be this week or it could be the week after. In building a new house terms that means the same thing as:

 It will happen when it happens.

I have learned to put little faith in time lines.

Working on the property has been a ton of  fun though and since we have moved out of Mom and Dad's into a rental here in town, we have had lots of time to spend on the place. Now that things are finally moving along, we have made sure the boys are right in the thick of things.

Whether it's digging the trench for some utilities...

 Or just digging...

Or marking the lines of the house for the excavator...

Or being the excavator...

the boys have had a ball!