I only need add a few details to my cousin’s well-written summary of the straws that broke the back of her birthday. When we left the restaurant without having eaten, one member of the party didn’t understand the reasoning, and didn’t understand that yes, lunch was still in her future. So as A and I walked along Seventh Street, she would periodically collapse onto the sidewalk, howling bitterly, lashing out with hands, nails, teeth, feet—anything she could use as a weapon. We got more than our share of attention, I think. No one stopped to ask why I was brutalizing a child, so it must have been clear who the brutal one was.
Eventually, she calmed down, I met the rest of the gang back at the van. JaxMom was still on the phone, so I headed them up and moved them out, meeting her at the exit to the parking lot. We did indeed go back to the cabin where I threw peanut butter, jelly and bread at the children, then got them interested in a math game. (Muggins! I do love the Muggins math games.) JaxMom took a walk to the campground store and a nap.
When M and I went to go get dinner that evening—this would be my godson, M, who is perfect—he turned to me with a guilty smirk and said, “You know earlier, in the restaurant, when Mom snapped? And she said, ‘Forget it! We’ll just go through McDonald’s drive-through on the way back to the cabin!’? That was completely something that I would have said!” I agreed. I’ve never wondered where a certain perfect godchild got his flair for the dramatic. (Not that I’m casting any stones, mind you. Just an observation.)
Friday, September 7, 2007
Birthday Gone Bad
September 7, 2007
My birthday started out earlier than I had planned. J woke up at quarter to nothing. I let him live for a couple of reasons: he’s three, and he’s not my kid. He’s a very noisy child, and brings his own percussion everywhere we travel. The bright side to waking up so early was that P had promised me her specialty breakfast—pancakes. I opened up my laptop to check for birthday greetings. JaxDad is in the last couple of months of a one-year excursion to Djibouti (7 hours ahead of us), so I just knew he would have sent me an email to find when I woke.
No such luck. Men just don’t get it.
And then my daughter told me we had no eggs for the pancakes.
Fine. Plan B. We’d have the same breakfast we’d eaten every day so far—bagels, oatmeal, toast. Not so much of a birthday celebration, but that was fine. The saving grace would be the nice lunch that we’d promised ourselves in Philadelphia. Not too nice, because we were accompanied by the rabble. But nicer than peanut butter and jelly.
Changing breakfast plans, getting our ducklings dressed and lined up and ready to go, and my cousin’s lack of coherence in the morning meant that we didn’t get out the door until 8:30, which was cutting it fine for our deadline to pick up tickets to Independence Hall. And then, as the cousin said, we took the scenic route through a part of town that wasn’t very scenic. Even with the historic tree.
We made it through Independence Hall and saw the Liberty Bell. J made up for the early wake-up call by pointing out the crack in the bell, and telling us all “I didn’t break that.” Since he does break a good many things, I guess he thought that needed to be made clear.
My birthday started out earlier than I had planned. J woke up at quarter to nothing. I let him live for a couple of reasons: he’s three, and he’s not my kid. He’s a very noisy child, and brings his own percussion everywhere we travel. The bright side to waking up so early was that P had promised me her specialty breakfast—pancakes. I opened up my laptop to check for birthday greetings. JaxDad is in the last couple of months of a one-year excursion to Djibouti (7 hours ahead of us), so I just knew he would have sent me an email to find when I woke.
No such luck. Men just don’t get it.
And then my daughter told me we had no eggs for the pancakes.
Fine. Plan B. We’d have the same breakfast we’d eaten every day so far—bagels, oatmeal, toast. Not so much of a birthday celebration, but that was fine. The saving grace would be the nice lunch that we’d promised ourselves in Philadelphia. Not too nice, because we were accompanied by the rabble. But nicer than peanut butter and jelly.
Changing breakfast plans, getting our ducklings dressed and lined up and ready to go, and my cousin’s lack of coherence in the morning meant that we didn’t get out the door until 8:30, which was cutting it fine for our deadline to pick up tickets to Independence Hall. And then, as the cousin said, we took the scenic route through a part of town that wasn’t very scenic. Even with the historic tree.
We made it through Independence Hall and saw the Liberty Bell. J made up for the early wake-up call by pointing out the crack in the bell, and telling us all “I didn’t break that.” Since he does break a good many things, I guess he thought that needed to be made clear. 
I had asked at the visitors center where a good, kid friendly restaurant was for lunch, and they were very helpful. It was a few blocks away, so we set off.
On the way there, AtlMom and I had a brief conversation about afternoon plans. Our recollections differ. I heard her say that she wanted to go back to the cabin after lunch. She claims that she said we should consider, because some of the kids were fading. In any case, it was clear that my plans for the day had continued to fall apart.
We made it to the restaurant, and it was packed. When I told them we were a party of seven, the hostess told me that it would be 10 to 15 minutes. I might be imagining the slight sneer on her face as she said it, and then again, I might not. The children were as patient as hungry children generally are while waiting in a restaurant. As they created havoc, the servers ducked past them with food, giving us and them the hairy eyeball.
This was not working out as I had planned. In fact, it was too much. I gave up.
I knew that the relaxing birthday lunch I had envisioned was not going to be relaxing in a nice restaurant with 5 kids. So we left. As we walked back to the car, my husband, with impeccable timing, called to wish me a Happy Birthday. I was able to vent my frustrations without getting sent to jail for child abuse. I don’t think it was the birthday call he had envisioned. We did go back to the cabin, as it was obvious that everyone needed a rest. After a nap, things looked much better, and we were able to have a birthday celebration for dinner. Tomorrow we will regroup and try Philadelphia again.
On the way there, AtlMom and I had a brief conversation about afternoon plans. Our recollections differ. I heard her say that she wanted to go back to the cabin after lunch. She claims that she said we should consider, because some of the kids were fading. In any case, it was clear that my plans for the day had continued to fall apart.
We made it to the restaurant, and it was packed. When I told them we were a party of seven, the hostess told me that it would be 10 to 15 minutes. I might be imagining the slight sneer on her face as she said it, and then again, I might not. The children were as patient as hungry children generally are while waiting in a restaurant. As they created havoc, the servers ducked past them with food, giving us and them the hairy eyeball.
This was not working out as I had planned. In fact, it was too much. I gave up.
I knew that the relaxing birthday lunch I had envisioned was not going to be relaxing in a nice restaurant with 5 kids. So we left. As we walked back to the car, my husband, with impeccable timing, called to wish me a Happy Birthday. I was able to vent my frustrations without getting sent to jail for child abuse. I don’t think it was the birthday call he had envisioned. We did go back to the cabin, as it was obvious that everyone needed a rest. After a nap, things looked much better, and we were able to have a birthday celebration for dinner. Tomorrow we will regroup and try Philadelphia again.
Phirst Day in Philly: Phunny and Phrightening
Not really frightening, though. More of a subtle uneasiness, but that couldn't be spelled with a ph now, could it?
For her recent 40th birthday, my cousin and fellow traveler was given a Lady in a Box, also known as a GPS navigation system by her parents. (I wondered if they lacked confidence in her map-reading skills, but haven't asked. I still have to spend a couple of weeks with her.) The Lady is pretty good to have around, for the most part. If we miss a turn (or decide not to turn) somewhere she's instructed us, she reprimands the driver with a terse "Recalculating!" Awfully snooty for someone who has never driven a car. On our way into Philadelphia today, she gave us a set of directions that had us going via interstate for the most part, then hopping off, then hopping back on. Having given up free will to The Lady, we followed, unquestioning. And things were fine, at first, but then we noticed that block by block, the buildings were shabbier. The graffiti was more frequent and layered. The loiterers were more common and less friendly. We weren't really scared, but it did make us decide to stick to the interstates for the most part. Unfortunately, "avoiding inhospitable areas" is not an option for The Lady.
I was grateful for this route for at least one thing, something that wasn't mentioned in any of the tourist books. As we idled at a red light, I looked out the window and saw a tree. In front of the tree was a sign.
"Historical Tree"
No other details were provided.
Our phirst stop in Philly was to pick up tour tickets for Independence Hall, 60 minutes before our scheduled tour time. We barely made it. Parking was made complicated by the fact that we'd decided not to take the clamshell car top carrier off of the van, which made the height exceed the 6'6" that would fit in the official parking lot. Of course, we didn't actually realize we were too tall until the carrier bounced the warning sign around. Then I had to reverse back onto the busy city street, and go find another place to park. Preferably one under the blue sky, as I'd already proven my idiot status.
After Independence Hall, which was interesting, we went to go see the Liberty Bell. J had been waiting for this the whole trip! In fact, outside of Independence Hall, he pointed to the tower and said, "That's where the Liberty Bell used to hang." I have no idea how he knew that. We'd read a book about the bell the night before, but it was more about the crack. And he's 3.
There's more, but I have to get permission to post about it, and let my cousin approve. As I said. . .I'm going to be with her for two more weeks.
For her recent 40th birthday, my cousin and fellow traveler was given a Lady in a Box, also known as a GPS navigation system by her parents. (I wondered if they lacked confidence in her map-reading skills, but haven't asked. I still have to spend a couple of weeks with her.) The Lady is pretty good to have around, for the most part. If we miss a turn (or decide not to turn) somewhere she's instructed us, she reprimands the driver with a terse "Recalculating!" Awfully snooty for someone who has never driven a car. On our way into Philadelphia today, she gave us a set of directions that had us going via interstate for the most part, then hopping off, then hopping back on. Having given up free will to The Lady, we followed, unquestioning. And things were fine, at first, but then we noticed that block by block, the buildings were shabbier. The graffiti was more frequent and layered. The loiterers were more common and less friendly. We weren't really scared, but it did make us decide to stick to the interstates for the most part. Unfortunately, "avoiding inhospitable areas" is not an option for The Lady.
I was grateful for this route for at least one thing, something that wasn't mentioned in any of the tourist books. As we idled at a red light, I looked out the window and saw a tree. In front of the tree was a sign.
"Historical Tree"
No other details were provided.
Our phirst stop in Philly was to pick up tour tickets for Independence Hall, 60 minutes before our scheduled tour time. We barely made it. Parking was made complicated by the fact that we'd decided not to take the clamshell car top carrier off of the van, which made the height exceed the 6'6" that would fit in the official parking lot. Of course, we didn't actually realize we were too tall until the carrier bounced the warning sign around. Then I had to reverse back onto the busy city street, and go find another place to park. Preferably one under the blue sky, as I'd already proven my idiot status.
After Independence Hall, which was interesting, we went to go see the Liberty Bell. J had been waiting for this the whole trip! In fact, outside of Independence Hall, he pointed to the tower and said, "That's where the Liberty Bell used to hang." I have no idea how he knew that. We'd read a book about the bell the night before, but it was more about the crack. And he's 3.
There's more, but I have to get permission to post about it, and let my cousin approve. As I said. . .I'm going to be with her for two more weeks.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Dotting the 't's and crossing the 'i's
A couple of nuts & bolts things before I start this post:
Please comment. Seriously. You don't realize how much it means to us. And the kids. I hope to get some posts from them up; let's face it, they're more entertaining than we are. You're not reading this to find out about us.
Also, we're a couple of days behind. We know that. But we're posting with the dates/times they were written. Remember we spent a few days without internet, so there's a little matter of checking the 1,593 emails in my box. So if there's a new post at the top, scroll down. There's probably another one below.
Finally. . .crap. I knew there was a finally, but I don't know what it was. I'll get back to you on it, so I guess instead of finally, it's more like to be continued.
Please comment. Seriously. You don't realize how much it means to us. And the kids. I hope to get some posts from them up; let's face it, they're more entertaining than we are. You're not reading this to find out about us.
Also, we're a couple of days behind. We know that. But we're posting with the dates/times they were written. Remember we spent a few days without internet, so there's a little matter of checking the 1,593 emails in my box. So if there's a new post at the top, scroll down. There's probably another one below.
Finally. . .crap. I knew there was a finally, but I don't know what it was. I'll get back to you on it, so I guess instead of finally, it's more like to be continued.
Day 6: Travelling to Philly
Today was our travel day to Philly. All of the kids have passports, which they can get stamped at each National Park. Somewhere between taking the last picture at the Yorktown battlefield, and getting back into the car, C lost his beltpack with his passport in it. So we did a quick drive-by of Jamestown to buy another passport and get it stamped there, and then we went back to Yorktown Battlefield, since the Visitor's Center had been closed when we visited before.
After the ritual stamping (C's passport went in MY backpack after that), we toured the museum. We got to see the actual tent that 
George Washington slept in! They also had a recreation of one of the French ships that blockaded Cornwallis. This was C and J's favorite part. You could go into it and see the sailor's bunks and all the cannons.
George Washington slept in! They also had a recreation of one of the French ships that blockaded Cornwallis. This was C and J's favorite part. You could go into it and see the sailor's bunks and all the cannons. After the obligatory picture on the cannons we were headed to Philly. (We had thought we would make it to the Yorktown Victory Center, but with a 5 hour drive to Philly, and a somewhat late start, we decided to head north)
We went by way of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. (The Bridge-Tunnel project is a four-lane 20-mile-long crossing of the lower Chesapeake Bay. The facility provides the only direct link between Virginia's Eastern Shore and south Hampton Roads, Virginia. The crossing consists of a series of low-level trestles interrupted by two approximately one-mile-long tunnels beneath Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake navigation channels.)
We drove up US 13, which was a very pretty drive - however, there are NO McDonalds with Playplaces on US 13. When we had finally given up on finding a playplace, we went ahead and stopped at a plain McDonalds. We then discovered that there are no McDonalds with Wireless Internet on US 13. This is actually more dire than it sounds, as AtlMom had to email a press release (the deadline was 5 PM). After lunch we pulled into a hotel parking lot and pirated their Internet long enough to send off the press release.
The kids were all excited when we got to Philly, because we had crossed four states that day (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania). AtlMom and I had been through a few more (Confusion, Anxiety, Denial). But we arrived safely at the KOA Campground, and settled into our 2 room cabin. With 1 bathroom. We had been very careful to make sure everyone had a bed when we made the reservations, however, we had forgotten to do the math - 7 people (including 1 toddler) and 1 bathroom.
Tomorrow we will visit Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. This is one of the highlights of our trip for me. Incidentally, tomorrow is also my 40th Birthday. What better way to spend your 40th Birthday than immersing yourself in American History with your children?
Day 6 - Kudos
We will be writing a longer post for the events Thursday, but I did want to give Kudos to M. While we were packing up the car on Thursday morning - shoehorning everything in - he offered to wash the dishes for us (unprompted!) and did three sinkfuls of dishes.
Teenagers can be a good thing to have around sometimes!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Day 5: Williamsburg
The cabin in the State park has been great to stay in. In the mornings you could step outside and watch the sun come up (courtesy of J who is an early riser, and who exuberantly sings at the top of his lungs each morning). The fields are quiet and misty in the early morning.
My favorite feature is the four poster bed with netting. (It's also my daughter's favorite!)
Williamsburg was really fun! The highlight for me was seeing the interpretation of "The first reading of the Declaration of Independence". I will admit that I got a little choked up. Both M and P are memorizing the first part - up until "that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive to these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government." P was really excited when she realized that she knew what they were saying. M actually admitted that is was "kinda cool". Remember, he is a teenager, so actually admitting that he likes something is like jumping up and down for the rest of us.
I think the highlight for C (and probably for M, though he might not admit it), was "drilling" with the "guns". The got to carry "guns" (wooden sticks) and learn how to "load" and "shoot" them. With sound effects! C was determined that he was going to get a real hat like the soldiers. He didn't care how much it cost. He didn't care if he had to spend all his allowance - he wanted a soldier's hat. I made him wait until the end of the day, to make sure that was what he REALLY wanted. He didn't want the plain one - he wanted the one with the gold trim. He finally got his hat, and it hasn't been off his head since. A's favorite part was also the gift shop. She found a beautiful cloth doll there named Margaret. She decided to change the doll's name to Virginia. The best quote of the day came from M as we were eating lunch - "This place has really good food, considering that the whole place is a museum!" I think the food in question was a roast beef sandwich. We ate lunch in Shields Tavern.
When we first got to Williamsburg, we decided to skip the movie "The Story of a Patriot" and see it later in the afternoon, when the kids were tired (and more willing to sit still). About 3:00, we decided we had reached our saturation point, and headed back to the Visitor's Center. We arrived at 3:32, and just missed the 3:30 show. We headed to the gift shop until the next showing (3:50). Well, the kids got a bit carried away in the gift shop (plus the checkout lady wouldn't stop talking), and we raced back to the theatre just in time to see the doors close. We finally made it to the 4:15 show. J decided to take a nap during the movie.
One of the other highlights for the kids in VA has been taking the ferry every morning and every afternoon across the James River. They know the names of all four of the ferrys (Pocahontas, Surry, Williamsburg, Virginia) and each has their own particular favorite.Tomorrow is our travel day to Philadelphia. We are going to go by way of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. The KOA we are staying at has wireless Internet, so hopefully we can post more frequently.
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