Where were we? Or yes, crying and driving. If you are just tuning in, go to the Previous Post to get the Whole Story.
Ryan was very quiet during this part of the day. And he actually ATE the wadded up cereal bar. We got back to the car dealership at 5:45 PM. I get the keys and begin moving back in to my now super clean car. All is forgiven. Ryan is again "driving" and I hit the lock on y remote so he doesn't fall out (such a safety conscience mother) (it does not lock, since a back door is open) while I go inside to get some help with getting my car seat out of the loaner. The middle seatbelt had taken it hostage. The nice salesman came to help me, and even picked up my keys off the ground when I dropped them. I stuck them in the seat pocket while I began the maneuvers that are involved in car seat installation all over again. I can't find the receiver for a seat belt that was replaced during this service visit, so I get out and shut the door. The car locks. With Ryan and my keys inside. BAD THING #8. I rush back inside and calmly explain that I have 2 more problems. A missing seat belt half and a locked car with child inside! All three salesmen came out to assist me. One guy was really animated and got Ryan all excited to hit buttons so he could unlock the car. After many of the wrong button, he finally hit it and the guy jerked the door open. I caught Ryan as he tumbled out (my fear all along) and the car alarm started going off! We all cheered and Ryan was happy to have helped. (don't think he had a CLUE what was happening).
It took 2 salesmen in the back seat of my car to find the missing seat belt receiver, but they did, phew. After that, we packed up, met Daddy for dinner in Poulsbo (I made him order FOR me as I was driving the 20 minutes north again- remember my lunch portion?) and made Jeff drive us up to Port Townsend. We survived and had a nice weekend away. I am exhausted again after this retelling of my Series of Unfortunate Events.
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Friday, May 7, 2010
I had a Bad Day- A Series of Unfortunate Events
Last Friday was so horrifically bad, I am just now able to break it down enough to write about it. The day was made of many small items which led to big problems, which led to tears, but ended in triumph. Just like a movie. Maybe made for TV movie, as Ryan and I both tend toward dramatics when the going gets tough. Here is our story.
Last Friday, we were planning to have a lovely family get away weekend to the Peninsula. Our friends Nick and Lacey were hosting a joint birthday party for Nick and Jeff at their "family compound" in Port Townsend. Our plan included Ryan and me going to get the car serviced in Bremerton then meeting Jeff at the ferry terminal (he would walk on from Seattle) then driving north together to Port Townsend. I would love to include a map here, as it is helpful to the story, but Google the Washington Peninsula, and you will get the idea.
Our car drop off time was scheduled for 10:30 AM, I don't schedule anything where I am responsible for getting other people ready before 10 AM. However, due to poor sleep the night before, neither Ryan nor Mommy woke up before 8:40 AM. Oops. (bad thing #1) We didn't leave the house until 9:45- no big deal, I call the dealership and say that we are running behind. But the car guy says they may not be able to do the interior detail (a service they owed me due to a missing part last time) if I don't get there quickly. (the back leather seats were covered with a fine mist of rotten milk- If anybody needed a detail, it was ME) While on the phone, the milk that I have placed in a sippy cup/cooler/cloth grocery bag begins forming a puddle in the hallway. (bad thing #2) This is immediately AFTER the phone call to my husband to say that we were leaving, where he reminded me how nice it is to come home to a clean house after being away all weekend. Virtual middle finger went his way, as I ran through the house trying to find something absorbent enough to hand Milk Pond that won't matter if it has to be pitched due to rotten mild smell. After repackaging our food bag and leaving things in the sink that would haunt me Sunday afternoon, we BARELY made the 10:10 Kingston ferry. I achieved a relative state of Zen after some paper bag type breathing once our car was loaded onto the ferry. We arrived at the car dealership at 11:30 AM.
At the dealership, they provide a loaner car while my car is serviced. I love this. However, I have an entire weekend packed into the back of my Forester. And they give me an Outback. Which has a much smaller cargo space. Also, I am 23 weeks pregnant. An elderly woman and her deaf teenager had pity on me ferrying my carload of crap and helped me move some of it over. I placed Ryan in the front seat and let him "drive" while we moved stuff around. Installing a car seat is never a picnic, as you have to use your body weight to work it into the seat and keep tightening everything around it until it is snug. This is fine if you are a slim, and realitively limber individual. Not so great with Nugget in the way and me unable to get my knees up so high.
During the Car Swap Olympics, Ryan pooped in his diaper. This is something that unfortunately still happens at least once a day, and is usually when we have walked into an establishment that does not have a suitable area for changing and when we leave the diaper bag in the car. Luckily, I had the diaper bag, but had to balance him on the edge of the sink while doing the change and got poop on the changing pad that I would be using all weekend long. (Bad thing #3).
My big plan for the time the car will be at the dealership involves driving north about 20 minutes to a town called Poulsbo for some lunch, and to look around at the real estate in the area to get a feel for neighborhoods and housing options. Ryan and I head straight to lunch. He passed out for his nap just as I was ordering our turkey sandwich at a quaint little bakery. Unfortunately, this bakery was SO quaint, they were cash or check only. I had $6+ change in my wallet. A whole sandwich was more like $7+, not to mention the pies, cookies, and other yummy things that were SPEAKING to me as I walked in the door. Ryan and I SPLIT a HALF sandwich, I ate all the chips (he was asleep anyway) and I bought 3/$1 cookies for a treat. Bad thing #4- eating 1/4 of a sandwich for lunch and being out of $. After wandering the downtown for a little bit with my sleeping charge, I headed up the hill again to our parking spot (only 1 hour parking was open) and who should wake up upon our return to the car? Mr. I Don't Need Much a Nap Today! So, I get him into the car and feed him his 1/4 of the sandwich and some black olives (he loves these) and his cookie. We are then on our way to explore the town. I found the Chamber of Commerce and we inquire about our bank (I thought it was a national bank, but could not find an ATM). The kind lady sent me to the nearby grocery store to the ATM (my backup plan was to buy something there and get cashback anyway, so not a bad thing). I have never seen such a tiny ATM as the one I used at Albertson's. It was straight out of the 80's. It actually made that dial-up squealing modem noise while accessing my funds! I had to laugh out loud.
We spent the next couple of hours playing in a park, sharing an apple, and touring a track house (never done it before, wanted to see what all the hype is about- not my style. I need a house with Personality). Jeff was to board the 3:00 ferry from Seattle, which would put him in Bremerton at 4. He called to say that he made the ferry, but then called again at 3:45 to say that he had arrived. So we start back south and I tell him to find a good meeting spot and I will be there in about 20 minutes. On our way to Bremerton, my phone rings again. It is Ryan's pediatrician. They have test results on a urinalysis we ran earlier in the week. Ryan had been complaining, "Something is wrong to my pee pee," so I took him to the doctor to see if there was a real issue or not. Collecting pee from a diapered boy is no picnic. It involved gluing a baggie to his body for a while then REMOVING it (oh the horror) and taking the pee to the Dr. The immediate results were negative, but the culture grew some bacteria. Granted, this is normal skin type bacteria, but since he was still complaining about it, they wanted to give antibiotics just in case. I am in an unknown area here- my kid is complaining, when he had surgery last fall, they said to always believe it if your kid says they are in pain, so we went with it. Anyway, this all resulted in me having to find a foreign pharmacy during my weekend getaway so my kid can have his meds. The Dr. decides to call it in to Bremerton, so I can get it on my way. No big deal, right? wrong.
I go to meet my husband first. While I am headed that way, the dealership calls and says that my car is ready for pick up. My plan of attack-- get husband, pick up med, go swap cars, go to Port Townsend. Easy, right? Wrong. After numerous phone exchanges and loops driven through the ferry terminal area in Bremerton, we discover that Jeff has walked on the the WRONG FERRY!! He is in Bainbridge Island--no where near Bremerton. This is why he arrived so quickly! I yell at him that he is an A-hole, tell him to get on a bus to a central meeting location and head out to find this mysterious pharmacy to get my kid some drugs. Bad thing #5. I am not all that familiar with the geography of Bremerton, but I had the address of the pharmacy, and knew from the in-car compass that I was heading north (away from car dealership). I ended up at a Safeway nearly all the way in Silverdale. I must have passed 5 other pharmacies along the way that would have worked just fine, but it's 5 on a Friday, do you think I can get a hold of the Dr.'s office again. No way. Bad thing #6. I rush into the pharmacy and ask for a phone book map so I can figure out how far I am from where I need to be- it looks like a 30 minute trip back down to the car dealership. So I call them. They are closing. But they will leave my keys with the salesmen who will still be there when I arrive. Phew. In the course of providing my information and waiting for the medicine to be mixed up, Ryan poops AGAIN. (see previous history of pooping while diaper bag is in the car). I burst into tears in the pharmacy in front of the entire staff. (bad thing #7/straw that broke me) I scoop him up and head out to change since we are still waiting for medicine. A turd falls out of the car while I'm changing. I just kick it away. We go back in, get the medicine, and directions to get back to the car dealership.
At the car, Ryan asks for a cereal bar snack. He has his weird toddler things, like any kid, and will throw a FIT if it is broken. Guess what? It broke. He screams, and I screamed right back at him. I wadded the bar in my hand to make it whole again and left it in his cupholder. I got in the front and started sobbing as I drove back to the dealership. At this point Jeff calls and says that he will meet me at a restaurant in Poulsbo. He has taken a bus from Bainbridge Island to Poulsbo to be on the path to Port Townsend. I start to breathe again. But it is too soon.... I will have to continue my story later, as this is the World's Longest Post.
Last Friday, we were planning to have a lovely family get away weekend to the Peninsula. Our friends Nick and Lacey were hosting a joint birthday party for Nick and Jeff at their "family compound" in Port Townsend. Our plan included Ryan and me going to get the car serviced in Bremerton then meeting Jeff at the ferry terminal (he would walk on from Seattle) then driving north together to Port Townsend. I would love to include a map here, as it is helpful to the story, but Google the Washington Peninsula, and you will get the idea.
Our car drop off time was scheduled for 10:30 AM, I don't schedule anything where I am responsible for getting other people ready before 10 AM. However, due to poor sleep the night before, neither Ryan nor Mommy woke up before 8:40 AM. Oops. (bad thing #1) We didn't leave the house until 9:45- no big deal, I call the dealership and say that we are running behind. But the car guy says they may not be able to do the interior detail (a service they owed me due to a missing part last time) if I don't get there quickly. (the back leather seats were covered with a fine mist of rotten milk- If anybody needed a detail, it was ME) While on the phone, the milk that I have placed in a sippy cup/cooler/cloth grocery bag begins forming a puddle in the hallway. (bad thing #2) This is immediately AFTER the phone call to my husband to say that we were leaving, where he reminded me how nice it is to come home to a clean house after being away all weekend. Virtual middle finger went his way, as I ran through the house trying to find something absorbent enough to hand Milk Pond that won't matter if it has to be pitched due to rotten mild smell. After repackaging our food bag and leaving things in the sink that would haunt me Sunday afternoon, we BARELY made the 10:10 Kingston ferry. I achieved a relative state of Zen after some paper bag type breathing once our car was loaded onto the ferry. We arrived at the car dealership at 11:30 AM.
At the dealership, they provide a loaner car while my car is serviced. I love this. However, I have an entire weekend packed into the back of my Forester. And they give me an Outback. Which has a much smaller cargo space. Also, I am 23 weeks pregnant. An elderly woman and her deaf teenager had pity on me ferrying my carload of crap and helped me move some of it over. I placed Ryan in the front seat and let him "drive" while we moved stuff around. Installing a car seat is never a picnic, as you have to use your body weight to work it into the seat and keep tightening everything around it until it is snug. This is fine if you are a slim, and realitively limber individual. Not so great with Nugget in the way and me unable to get my knees up so high.
During the Car Swap Olympics, Ryan pooped in his diaper. This is something that unfortunately still happens at least once a day, and is usually when we have walked into an establishment that does not have a suitable area for changing and when we leave the diaper bag in the car. Luckily, I had the diaper bag, but had to balance him on the edge of the sink while doing the change and got poop on the changing pad that I would be using all weekend long. (Bad thing #3).
My big plan for the time the car will be at the dealership involves driving north about 20 minutes to a town called Poulsbo for some lunch, and to look around at the real estate in the area to get a feel for neighborhoods and housing options. Ryan and I head straight to lunch. He passed out for his nap just as I was ordering our turkey sandwich at a quaint little bakery. Unfortunately, this bakery was SO quaint, they were cash or check only. I had $6+ change in my wallet. A whole sandwich was more like $7+, not to mention the pies, cookies, and other yummy things that were SPEAKING to me as I walked in the door. Ryan and I SPLIT a HALF sandwich, I ate all the chips (he was asleep anyway) and I bought 3/$1 cookies for a treat. Bad thing #4- eating 1/4 of a sandwich for lunch and being out of $. After wandering the downtown for a little bit with my sleeping charge, I headed up the hill again to our parking spot (only 1 hour parking was open) and who should wake up upon our return to the car? Mr. I Don't Need Much a Nap Today! So, I get him into the car and feed him his 1/4 of the sandwich and some black olives (he loves these) and his cookie. We are then on our way to explore the town. I found the Chamber of Commerce and we inquire about our bank (I thought it was a national bank, but could not find an ATM). The kind lady sent me to the nearby grocery store to the ATM (my backup plan was to buy something there and get cashback anyway, so not a bad thing). I have never seen such a tiny ATM as the one I used at Albertson's. It was straight out of the 80's. It actually made that dial-up squealing modem noise while accessing my funds! I had to laugh out loud.
We spent the next couple of hours playing in a park, sharing an apple, and touring a track house (never done it before, wanted to see what all the hype is about- not my style. I need a house with Personality). Jeff was to board the 3:00 ferry from Seattle, which would put him in Bremerton at 4. He called to say that he made the ferry, but then called again at 3:45 to say that he had arrived. So we start back south and I tell him to find a good meeting spot and I will be there in about 20 minutes. On our way to Bremerton, my phone rings again. It is Ryan's pediatrician. They have test results on a urinalysis we ran earlier in the week. Ryan had been complaining, "Something is wrong to my pee pee," so I took him to the doctor to see if there was a real issue or not. Collecting pee from a diapered boy is no picnic. It involved gluing a baggie to his body for a while then REMOVING it (oh the horror) and taking the pee to the Dr. The immediate results were negative, but the culture grew some bacteria. Granted, this is normal skin type bacteria, but since he was still complaining about it, they wanted to give antibiotics just in case. I am in an unknown area here- my kid is complaining, when he had surgery last fall, they said to always believe it if your kid says they are in pain, so we went with it. Anyway, this all resulted in me having to find a foreign pharmacy during my weekend getaway so my kid can have his meds. The Dr. decides to call it in to Bremerton, so I can get it on my way. No big deal, right? wrong.
I go to meet my husband first. While I am headed that way, the dealership calls and says that my car is ready for pick up. My plan of attack-- get husband, pick up med, go swap cars, go to Port Townsend. Easy, right? Wrong. After numerous phone exchanges and loops driven through the ferry terminal area in Bremerton, we discover that Jeff has walked on the the WRONG FERRY!! He is in Bainbridge Island--no where near Bremerton. This is why he arrived so quickly! I yell at him that he is an A-hole, tell him to get on a bus to a central meeting location and head out to find this mysterious pharmacy to get my kid some drugs. Bad thing #5. I am not all that familiar with the geography of Bremerton, but I had the address of the pharmacy, and knew from the in-car compass that I was heading north (away from car dealership). I ended up at a Safeway nearly all the way in Silverdale. I must have passed 5 other pharmacies along the way that would have worked just fine, but it's 5 on a Friday, do you think I can get a hold of the Dr.'s office again. No way. Bad thing #6. I rush into the pharmacy and ask for a phone book map so I can figure out how far I am from where I need to be- it looks like a 30 minute trip back down to the car dealership. So I call them. They are closing. But they will leave my keys with the salesmen who will still be there when I arrive. Phew. In the course of providing my information and waiting for the medicine to be mixed up, Ryan poops AGAIN. (see previous history of pooping while diaper bag is in the car). I burst into tears in the pharmacy in front of the entire staff. (bad thing #7/straw that broke me) I scoop him up and head out to change since we are still waiting for medicine. A turd falls out of the car while I'm changing. I just kick it away. We go back in, get the medicine, and directions to get back to the car dealership.
At the car, Ryan asks for a cereal bar snack. He has his weird toddler things, like any kid, and will throw a FIT if it is broken. Guess what? It broke. He screams, and I screamed right back at him. I wadded the bar in my hand to make it whole again and left it in his cupholder. I got in the front and started sobbing as I drove back to the dealership. At this point Jeff calls and says that he will meet me at a restaurant in Poulsbo. He has taken a bus from Bainbridge Island to Poulsbo to be on the path to Port Townsend. I start to breathe again. But it is too soon.... I will have to continue my story later, as this is the World's Longest Post.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Hawaiian Hiatus
While you all were digging out from "SNOWMAGGEDON" (headline in HI newspaper) my family and our close friends the Burghdoffs were soaking up some sun in Hawaii, the ONLY state that did not have snow last week. HUGE SMILE.
Best part of trip: seeing several endangered species including: An albino humpback whale, green sea turtles, and a Hawaiian Monk seal.
Worst part of trip: Two hours of screaming overtired children (Ryan age 2 and Hazel, age 18mths) on the red-eye plane ride home. I gave up my seat so my son could stretch out and sleep and sat by total strangers two hours into the long flight who gave me a real stink eye for moving into an empty seat! I ignored them and tried to nap. Boo to the airline for NEVER Turning off the stupid TVs!
Lessons learned: I love boogie boarding. However, a pedicure was a waste of money, as the sand destroyed it. Also, spray tanning looks good, if you can keep it off of your feet. I'm still sanding some of the orange bits away a week and a half later. Also, video taping dolphins that are leading your boat at over 30 MPH will not turn out well, it will be very blurry, and 12 minutes is too long to tape anything!
We took lots of photos, but I think the best parts were captured on video. Hopefully my editing department (jeff) can sort through the footage and we can get a video montage up soon. In the meantime, here are a few photos.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Christmas Trip
We're back! We survived the flights, cold weather, and bad tempers to visit our family for an early birthday/holiday celebration last week. Here are some highlights.
Ryan loves riding horses and tractors. Grammy and Grampy have two horses, Sabi and Jewel. He just had to ride BOTH of them! The tractor would not start due to the cold, but the horn still worked, much to his delight. The bottom two photos are Great Grandad getting "nosies" and Great Grandma holding Ryan.
I just downloaded 93 photos from the last two weeks, so more posting to come!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Colorado Cruising
We just returned from a week long roadtrip through southern Colorado with my parents. We had a fabulous time and saw some amazing bits of the country. We went to the top of Pike's Peak, visited 3 different natural hot springs, toured ancient Anazasi ruins at Mesa Verde National Park, and saw lots of farm animals and tractors along the roadside--all of which were pointed out by Ryan. Ryan can now say "Grammy" and "Gym" (grampy?) My parents were positively basking in the glow from their time with Ryan. Here's a sampling of the photos.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Our Hard Work
I haven't been blogging because I've been out DOING! We've had AMAZING weather for Seattle in May/June, and it's showing in my gardens. We have lived in this house for 3 years now, and this is the BEST the gardens have looked! We were blessed with a good base of plants and bushes that came with the house, but have been inundated with weeds and grass between the plants each summer. We attacked early this year with 1 1/2 cubic yards of mulch.
The veggie garden at the south side of our house is new this year. And it's grown twice as big since I took these photos a week ago! (I counted three baby yellow squashes tonight on one plant) The raised bed garden is in its 3rd year also, Ryan is in charge of the watering there- and he does a great job.
We went camping on Orcas Island for the weekend. Ryan did great! The only way I could get him to wake up on Sunday morning, was to make Blueberry pancakes and tease him out of the tent with them! He enjoyed every bite.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
San Diego 2009
We're back from a fun filled week of sand, sun, and lots of animals. We went to the San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park, and Sea World. We also ventured out to Coronado Island for the beach and conquered the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) by taking a train to the Mexican border and buses and trains and taxis all over town. We also walked our little legs off.
When I was a kid, my sister, brother and I would marvel at how our pets had "grown" when we were away on vacation. I don't think Claudia changed much, but I am amazed at how much Ryan has changed in a week. Yes, we were together that whole time, but getting him back into his environment at home and seeing these changes is amazing. New words this week (phonetically spelled for fun): anmals, big bus, choo choo, jam-gees, cream (includes lotion, sunscreen, and diaper cream), sham boo (Shamu).
I took over 170 photos of the trip, and will not bore you with all of them. Many of the pics I took are for Ryan to see all of the animals again. I think his favorite parts of the trip (photos of all) included: wrestling with blocks in the pit at Sea World, wrestling the bolster pillow at the Omni (see blurred photo of action), getting wet at the wild animal park, eating ice cream at the zoo, and digging in the sand at the beach.
This was our first real vacation with air travel etc, and we had a blast! Too bad I have to deal with unpacking and laundry now. :(
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Little RJ is changing SO fast! Today was his 6-month checkup at the Dr. He is finally on the charts for weight and height! He weighed just under 15 pounds and is 25 inches long. Dad took him to this appt, as I had to work. He also got 4 shots and barely cried!
The little guy has started sitting up for several minutes at a time before falling a different direction each time. He just did a face plant! He has discovered his feet and occasionally gets one to his mouth.
We're expecting the real teething to begin ANY time now. He's making extra drool and biting everything in sight. Also stronger is his pincer grasp, which seems to be advanced for his age. I didn't know I had so much neck meat to bruise!
We also took a family trip to AZ last week. RJ got to see where CJ and I were married. We stayed at the resort for a night and the baby slept for 7 hours straight! It was heaven.
New pictures to come soon.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Mother's Day Bliss
After experiencing my FIRST Mother's Day, I have to say, yes sir, may I have another? I didn't do any dishes or laundry, and we got to eat out!
We spent a family vacation weekend at the Oregon Coast. It was RJ's first trip in a car across state lines and his first hotel stay. He did alright. I barely slept, but it was still fun. The weather bordered on terrible, but the sun came out and it warmed into the high 50's on Sunday just before we left.
For my first official Mother's Day gift, I received a beautiful jade and pearl necklace which I opened while sipping a latte and eating a cinnamon roll. PERFECT.
We spent a family vacation weekend at the Oregon Coast. It was RJ's first trip in a car across state lines and his first hotel stay. He did alright. I barely slept, but it was still fun. The weather bordered on terrible, but the sun came out and it warmed into the high 50's on Sunday just before we left.
For my first official Mother's Day gift, I received a beautiful jade and pearl necklace which I opened while sipping a latte and eating a cinnamon roll. PERFECT.
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