This has been the quickest, craziest summer. Ree got out of school Memorial Day weekend, and the following week Jeff and the kids just relaxed and played at home every day. That was followed by two weeks with swimming lessons every day. Then there was a week off, and Jeff and the kids went on adventures most days since they were in the habit from swimming lessons. Then we spent a week and a half on vacation. We came home and got a couple of days to deal with vacation recovery and an air conditioner that was not working quite right. (It couldn't keep up with the 100-degree days, and it was creeping up to 83 or 84 degrees in our house in the afternoon. On the Fourth of July, it got all the way to 87 in the house.) Then we had a normal week. That was great. Then last week, which was already our last week of summer before Ree starts kindergarten, was extra insane. We unexpectedly spent the entire week living at my parents' apartment in town.
It's not that we're nuts (well, any more than usual) or that we just wanted a romantic getaway for our anniversary (already 8 years of wedded bliss!). It's just that last weekend, a whopping 8 days after getting the AC serviced, it went completely kaput. For my birthday, Jeff had gotten me a gift card for a spa package, and last Saturday I finally got to use it. I came home from my 4 hours of pampering only to discover the house was at 87 degrees again. So we packed up the kids and spent Saturday night at the beach with some friends. (And, miraculously, my blowout stayed rather unscathed.) The house was also a bit more comfortable when we returned that evening.
Sunday was more of the same heat related fun, and after dinner we opted to head to my parents' apartment for the night so that we could at least sleep in a truly cold place. They don't have internet, so as we were leaving I was frantically sending emails to cancel a Monday morning meeting I had at preschool.
We came back early on Monday, and I spent the morning juggling working from home and trying to track down reputable air conditioning people that were available quickly for consults and installation.
We spent Monday night at home, and after that, we decided we were done sleeping at home. I think Natalia and I were the only ones who got any rest on Monday night. On Tuesday, while I was at work, Jeff and the kids headed over to my parents', and they pretty much stayed there until Friday. I volunteered to be the dog sitter, feeding and/or walking them before work, at lunch, and after work in the evening.
After all of that, I am happy to say that as of 7pm on Friday, we have a brand new unit (a heat pump, actually, for anyone who is interested) that is working. The crew was here starting at 8am on Friday, worked all day, and they are actually returning to finish up on Monday. Apparently, our ducts were quite a mess. So hopefully, after Monday, we will be set for a LONG time, and we can get back to sleeping in relative comfort. Now here's hoping for a quiet hurricane season...
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Natalia and Food
Just some random Natalia stories from the past week...
When I got to work this morning, I noticed the muffins I had brought for breakfast were a bit furry. I knew who to thank, and it wasn't the dogs. While I was telling Ree, Leon, and Michael goodbye in their rooms, Natalia had gone into my work bag, opened up the plastic container with the muffins, and had taken them out. When I returned to the kitchen, she greeted me with, "Num-num-num-num-num!" and I found my breakfast on the floor. And apparently I also needed to sweep.
Occasionally I leave the pantry door open while cooking. Natalia has apparently decided to take advantage, and on multiple occasions over the past week, I've found her staggering around the house looking like Jim Morrison with a nice buzz, carrying a bag of Goldfish crackers in one hand while the other hand crams them into her mouth as fast as possible.
Last night when I got back from walking the dogs, I found Natalia chewing on something. I relaxed once I identified it as crackers, but I was curious as to where she got them. I ask her and she disappeared, so I figured she was hiding to eat her snack in peace. A minute or so later she came back, box of Wheat Thins in hand, very proud of herself. She was showing me THAT was where she got her crackers.
Despite all the snacking, at least Natalia knows how to clean up after herself. One day this week I also found her pushing the bottom rack from the dishwasher down the hallway by Ree's room. Apparently she had pulled it out of the dishwasher, and in seeing that it had wheels, she decided to take it for a test drive. She also managed to fully disassemble the silverware basket. Who knew it even came apart?
When I got to work this morning, I noticed the muffins I had brought for breakfast were a bit furry. I knew who to thank, and it wasn't the dogs. While I was telling Ree, Leon, and Michael goodbye in their rooms, Natalia had gone into my work bag, opened up the plastic container with the muffins, and had taken them out. When I returned to the kitchen, she greeted me with, "Num-num-num-num-num!" and I found my breakfast on the floor. And apparently I also needed to sweep.
Occasionally I leave the pantry door open while cooking. Natalia has apparently decided to take advantage, and on multiple occasions over the past week, I've found her staggering around the house looking like Jim Morrison with a nice buzz, carrying a bag of Goldfish crackers in one hand while the other hand crams them into her mouth as fast as possible.
Last night when I got back from walking the dogs, I found Natalia chewing on something. I relaxed once I identified it as crackers, but I was curious as to where she got them. I ask her and she disappeared, so I figured she was hiding to eat her snack in peace. A minute or so later she came back, box of Wheat Thins in hand, very proud of herself. She was showing me THAT was where she got her crackers.
Despite all the snacking, at least Natalia knows how to clean up after herself. One day this week I also found her pushing the bottom rack from the dishwasher down the hallway by Ree's room. Apparently she had pulled it out of the dishwasher, and in seeing that it had wheels, she decided to take it for a test drive. She also managed to fully disassemble the silverware basket. Who knew it even came apart?
Monday, July 9, 2012
Strange Foods
I am used to finding things in strange places. It didn't strike me as odd at all when I walked into the bathroom yesterday and discovered Duplos and a spatula from the kitchen in the bathtub. And when my comb went missing last week, I knew it would show up eventually. I found it at the bottom of the hamper along with a dirty fork while doing laundry. (I was totally disgusted with the fork until it dawned on me there was probably more food on the kids' dirty clothes than on the fork.)
But I was a bit perplexed on Saturday when my grocery list went missing in the middle of Target. I checked the floor around the cart but didn't see it. I asked the kids if they knew what happened to it, and they were clueless. I was a little annoyed. I was only about 2/3 of the way through my shopping trip and I was shopping solo with all four kids, so the list was the key to me actually coming close to purchasing what we needed. I took a deep breath and did the best I could to remember the key items. I resumed shopping, and a couple of minutes later I noticed Natalia was chewing something. I pried her mouth open and aha! There was my list.
I ended up forgetting quite a few things, but I had a good excuse. My baby ate my shopping list.
But I was a bit perplexed on Saturday when my grocery list went missing in the middle of Target. I checked the floor around the cart but didn't see it. I asked the kids if they knew what happened to it, and they were clueless. I was a little annoyed. I was only about 2/3 of the way through my shopping trip and I was shopping solo with all four kids, so the list was the key to me actually coming close to purchasing what we needed. I took a deep breath and did the best I could to remember the key items. I resumed shopping, and a couple of minutes later I noticed Natalia was chewing something. I pried her mouth open and aha! There was my list.
I ended up forgetting quite a few things, but I had a good excuse. My baby ate my shopping list.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Adventures in Hot Nights, Part II (The Kid Wash)
After our lukewarm night in a motel in Charleston, we headed to Cincinnati to visit with family. The days were hot and humid, but while there we slept in the nice, cool confines of the family room in my parents' basement. After five days there, we headed to Athens (Ohio, not Greece, as a good friend likes to say) for what was supposed to be a long weekend o' fun and relaxation. Little did we know, we were arriving less than three hours before The Storm.
Those of you in the Athens area, in Columbus, in D.C., and points between know exactly which storm I mean. The Storm blew in quickly, only lasted 10 or 15 minutes, and took out power to millions. The friends we were visiting actually live near Stewart, and the last I heard on Saturday, they were on Day 9 without electricity.
And thus our weekend turned into 48 rather hot hours with friends. It wasn't quite what we planned, but we made the best of it. They had a generator which they used to run the refrigerator, a chest freezer, the TV, a window unit A/C, and a power strip loaded with cell phone and computer chargers. They began by running the generator for two hours on followed by an hour off in the day time, but by necessity, the off periods grew as it became apparent it was going to be a LONG time before the electric was restored. Thankfully, we were able to take popsicle breaks and the weather was relatively comfortable on Saturday with temperatures in the low 90s and low humidity.
The kids also spent a ton of time playing in water.
They played in a kiddie pool and with water cannons.
But the best part had to be the kid wash, a contraption they built after discovering the plans in Family Fun magazine. The kids ran through it, and it sprayed water like an automatic car wash.
Ree was the first to get near it. She studied it...
...then bravely ran through.
Leon proudly exclaimed, "I'm doing it!" while running around the outside.
And he eventually ran through.
Michael choose to keep his distance the whole time.
And we thought once we headed home to Wilmington we would be able to sleep in the cool comfort of air conditioning again...
Those of you in the Athens area, in Columbus, in D.C., and points between know exactly which storm I mean. The Storm blew in quickly, only lasted 10 or 15 minutes, and took out power to millions. The friends we were visiting actually live near Stewart, and the last I heard on Saturday, they were on Day 9 without electricity.
And thus our weekend turned into 48 rather hot hours with friends. It wasn't quite what we planned, but we made the best of it. They had a generator which they used to run the refrigerator, a chest freezer, the TV, a window unit A/C, and a power strip loaded with cell phone and computer chargers. They began by running the generator for two hours on followed by an hour off in the day time, but by necessity, the off periods grew as it became apparent it was going to be a LONG time before the electric was restored. Thankfully, we were able to take popsicle breaks and the weather was relatively comfortable on Saturday with temperatures in the low 90s and low humidity.
The kids also spent a ton of time playing in water.
They played in a kiddie pool and with water cannons.
But the best part had to be the kid wash, a contraption they built after discovering the plans in Family Fun magazine. The kids ran through it, and it sprayed water like an automatic car wash.
Ree was the first to get near it. She studied it...
...then bravely ran through.
Leon proudly exclaimed, "I'm doing it!" while running around the outside.
And he eventually ran through.
Michael choose to keep his distance the whole time.
And we thought once we headed home to Wilmington we would be able to sleep in the cool comfort of air conditioning again...
Friday, July 6, 2012
Adventures in Hot Nights, Part I
Last night I was cold. To use a Leon quote (if a bit out of context), "It was fabuwous." It will be a long time before I take air conditioning for granted again.
We have had some crazy experiences with air conditioning (or the lack thereof) over the past couple of weeks. It started the first night of vacation. We ended up leaving earlier than we had planned and driving longer than we planned, and we found ourselves in Charleston, West Virginia at 6:30 p.m. on a Saturday night. Since we normally eat dinner at 5:30, we headed straight to a restaurant for dinner. We finished around 7:45 and set out to find a place to stay.
Jeff and I are cheap and have lots of kids who suck up all our money for silly things like food. Consequently, we both have dumb phones. In order to get internet access, we pulled into a McDonald's parking lot and managed to snag a parking space right by the door. Instant wi-fi. (Yes, we are very bad people. You should know this by now.) At that moment, hotels.com reported there were three places at that exit with vacancies. A Holiday Inn Express for $120 a night, a County Inn & Suites for $140 a night, and a Knight's Inn for $54 a night. Since the kids normally go to bed between 8:00 and 8:30 and we just needed a place to shower and sleep, we opted to at least check out the Knight's Inn before shelling out twice as much for a fancier chain. (Back when we were first dating, Jeff and I took a trip and spent almost 3 weeks driving cross country. We stayed at lots of Motel 6s and Red Roof Inns, and with the exception of one night in a Super 8 that smelled like cat urine, we had lots of great experiences. We are not opposed to low end.)
As we pulled in, we had to wait for a bunch of bikers to leave. This should've been a warning sign, but we did not drive away in horror and when we could, we drove around to the other side of the lobby and parked. From there, we could see families playing at the outdoor pool. Nice, normal looking families and not one of them threatening to beat or whip their children. The grounds were tidy, and the grass was green and trim. I was driving and sent Jeff in to the lobby to check it out, and a few minutes later he returned with a room key.
As we went into the room, we realized this was the first time we had stayed at a cheap motel with the kids. They are used to luggage carts and white duvets and breakfast bars with hot food. Still, Ree took one look at the floral bedspread and exclaimed, "Ooh, la la!" It does not take much to impress my kids, however, I think "Eww," would've been a more appropriate response. The room was a dive. It also felt pretty warm. I checked that the air conditioner was on the coldest setting and the fan was set at the highest level, Jeff turned on the bulky, non-flat screen TV and discovered a European Cup match from earlier in the day was being rebroadcast, and we went about settling in.
I gave the kids cold baths with them standing in the tub because, of course, the stopper in the bathtub didn't work. I was hot while giving the kids baths, but the bathroom was in the back of the room and far from the A/C unit. After baths, they had snacks while I tried to arrange the room to accommodate everyone. As I was moving furniture around, I realized I was pretty dang hot. Like my clothes were stuck to me. And I looked around and saw that Jeff was now watching soccer with his shirt off and he had sweat pouring off him. (I have never previously seen him watch TV topless.) Natalia was flushed. And Leon was bouncing around the room, because for some strange reason when he is hot, he cannot stay still. (Another hot night he started thrashing in bed, wildly kicking his legs, and saying, "I just can't get cold!" And to think, he's our kid with common sense!)
I felt the A/C unit, and it was clearly blowing warm air. Although it was cooling off outside, opening the door was not an option since the women from the next room were chain smoking outside our door. I looked at Jeff and said we had to do something about this. Yes, it was already 9:30, but there was no way we were going to get any sleep in there. I went to call the front desk and realized we had no phone. So I found my shoes and headed for the lobby.
The lobby was just as nice as the grounds and the pool. It was obvious where they spent their money, and it became clear how we (and I'm sure others) got sucked into staying there. The front desk clerk stared at me when I said our air conditioner didn't work and we wanted a different room. Thankfully, a manager was there and he quickly intervened. After a few minutes, they finally gave me a key to another room. I went to check it out before relocating the family. You know that nice blast of Arctic air you typically get when entering a hotel room? This room did not have it, but it did have cool air blowing. Upon returning to the first room, I realized the second room was at least 15 degrees cooler, and I got busy repacking and relocating all of out stuff. Of course the rooms were on opposite sides of the building, and it took several minutes to walk back and forth between the two. Plus I lost my book in the process, and it took 3 trips to locate it. (Natalia had wedged it so it was vertical under the bed, and it was a book with a black cover next to the black bed frame.) But by 10:30 that night the kids were all tucked into our not-quite-cold, but non-roasting room. The bed was horribly uncomfortable, but still, we all passed out and slept.
The next morning the kids enjoyed doughnuts from the lobby, and while I walked around the grounds, I realized it really was a decent looking place in a beautiful location. And quite oddly, there was a large vegetable garden on the grounds.
Little did we know, that was only the beginning of our adventures in hot nights...
We have had some crazy experiences with air conditioning (or the lack thereof) over the past couple of weeks. It started the first night of vacation. We ended up leaving earlier than we had planned and driving longer than we planned, and we found ourselves in Charleston, West Virginia at 6:30 p.m. on a Saturday night. Since we normally eat dinner at 5:30, we headed straight to a restaurant for dinner. We finished around 7:45 and set out to find a place to stay.
Jeff and I are cheap and have lots of kids who suck up all our money for silly things like food. Consequently, we both have dumb phones. In order to get internet access, we pulled into a McDonald's parking lot and managed to snag a parking space right by the door. Instant wi-fi. (Yes, we are very bad people. You should know this by now.) At that moment, hotels.com reported there were three places at that exit with vacancies. A Holiday Inn Express for $120 a night, a County Inn & Suites for $140 a night, and a Knight's Inn for $54 a night. Since the kids normally go to bed between 8:00 and 8:30 and we just needed a place to shower and sleep, we opted to at least check out the Knight's Inn before shelling out twice as much for a fancier chain. (Back when we were first dating, Jeff and I took a trip and spent almost 3 weeks driving cross country. We stayed at lots of Motel 6s and Red Roof Inns, and with the exception of one night in a Super 8 that smelled like cat urine, we had lots of great experiences. We are not opposed to low end.)
As we pulled in, we had to wait for a bunch of bikers to leave. This should've been a warning sign, but we did not drive away in horror and when we could, we drove around to the other side of the lobby and parked. From there, we could see families playing at the outdoor pool. Nice, normal looking families and not one of them threatening to beat or whip their children. The grounds were tidy, and the grass was green and trim. I was driving and sent Jeff in to the lobby to check it out, and a few minutes later he returned with a room key.
As we went into the room, we realized this was the first time we had stayed at a cheap motel with the kids. They are used to luggage carts and white duvets and breakfast bars with hot food. Still, Ree took one look at the floral bedspread and exclaimed, "Ooh, la la!" It does not take much to impress my kids, however, I think "Eww," would've been a more appropriate response. The room was a dive. It also felt pretty warm. I checked that the air conditioner was on the coldest setting and the fan was set at the highest level, Jeff turned on the bulky, non-flat screen TV and discovered a European Cup match from earlier in the day was being rebroadcast, and we went about settling in.
I gave the kids cold baths with them standing in the tub because, of course, the stopper in the bathtub didn't work. I was hot while giving the kids baths, but the bathroom was in the back of the room and far from the A/C unit. After baths, they had snacks while I tried to arrange the room to accommodate everyone. As I was moving furniture around, I realized I was pretty dang hot. Like my clothes were stuck to me. And I looked around and saw that Jeff was now watching soccer with his shirt off and he had sweat pouring off him. (I have never previously seen him watch TV topless.) Natalia was flushed. And Leon was bouncing around the room, because for some strange reason when he is hot, he cannot stay still. (Another hot night he started thrashing in bed, wildly kicking his legs, and saying, "I just can't get cold!" And to think, he's our kid with common sense!)
I felt the A/C unit, and it was clearly blowing warm air. Although it was cooling off outside, opening the door was not an option since the women from the next room were chain smoking outside our door. I looked at Jeff and said we had to do something about this. Yes, it was already 9:30, but there was no way we were going to get any sleep in there. I went to call the front desk and realized we had no phone. So I found my shoes and headed for the lobby.
The lobby was just as nice as the grounds and the pool. It was obvious where they spent their money, and it became clear how we (and I'm sure others) got sucked into staying there. The front desk clerk stared at me when I said our air conditioner didn't work and we wanted a different room. Thankfully, a manager was there and he quickly intervened. After a few minutes, they finally gave me a key to another room. I went to check it out before relocating the family. You know that nice blast of Arctic air you typically get when entering a hotel room? This room did not have it, but it did have cool air blowing. Upon returning to the first room, I realized the second room was at least 15 degrees cooler, and I got busy repacking and relocating all of out stuff. Of course the rooms were on opposite sides of the building, and it took several minutes to walk back and forth between the two. Plus I lost my book in the process, and it took 3 trips to locate it. (Natalia had wedged it so it was vertical under the bed, and it was a book with a black cover next to the black bed frame.) But by 10:30 that night the kids were all tucked into our not-quite-cold, but non-roasting room. The bed was horribly uncomfortable, but still, we all passed out and slept.
The next morning the kids enjoyed doughnuts from the lobby, and while I walked around the grounds, I realized it really was a decent looking place in a beautiful location. And quite oddly, there was a large vegetable garden on the grounds.
Little did we know, that was only the beginning of our adventures in hot nights...
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Vacation!
We got back from vacation on Monday night. There is so much I want to write about it, but I don't know where to start. I guess I could go with the obvious. We survived. You know how people like to gush about how wonderful there time away was? I promise, you will get none of that here. At least aside from this pic of the boys having "fun" at the zoo.
The cynical part of me wants to say that sums up vacation, but that's not true. There were also times involving significantly more screaming and crying! But, yes, we did have fun at times. And, yes, this trip was hard. Definitely the most difficult one we've ever taken, and I've yet to really figure out why.
Interestingly, I did realize part way through the week that aside from long weekends to visits friends and family, this was the first vacation we have taken just for fun since our honeymoon eight years ago. Every other trip has been to attend a function. We've gone to anniversary parties, several weddings, and birthday parties, but we've never before traveled with the kids just to travel. Perhaps we should keep that in mind in the future.
On the bright side, the kids keep asking when we are going to go on vacation again. They can't wait!
The cynical part of me wants to say that sums up vacation, but that's not true. There were also times involving significantly more screaming and crying! But, yes, we did have fun at times. And, yes, this trip was hard. Definitely the most difficult one we've ever taken, and I've yet to really figure out why.
Interestingly, I did realize part way through the week that aside from long weekends to visits friends and family, this was the first vacation we have taken just for fun since our honeymoon eight years ago. Every other trip has been to attend a function. We've gone to anniversary parties, several weddings, and birthday parties, but we've never before traveled with the kids just to travel. Perhaps we should keep that in mind in the future.
On the bright side, the kids keep asking when we are going to go on vacation again. They can't wait!
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