Eating

I know it looks like we all dressed alike in blue T-shirts, but I swear we didn't plan it. Cross my heart.

One of the best parts of our vacation was food. Not so much while we were driving, because even though I packed lots of snacks and things to eat, food on the road is just plain gross. But while we were at our beach house (more on that later) we could eat what we wanted. You know I'm a stickler about pretty healthy food around here, but when I'm on vacation I break out the fun food. We ate ice cream every. single. day. Not vegan. Not healthy. And truth be told, sometimes we had it twice a day. We consumed lots of calories. Lots of breakfasts that involved vast amounts of syrup. Lots of meat for the family and lots of California rolls for me.

I can sum it up in one word: yum!

For me, vacation means I shouldn't spend more than 30 seconds a day planning what we're going to eat.  Everyone still got their quota of fruit and (some) vegetables, but it was heavenly to just eat what we wanted whenever we were hungry. And Galveston has really yummy pumpkin pie ice cream downtown. Lily and I both agree.

Now that we're back home it feels good to eat normal again, but I'm still going to work on re-veganizing myself. Wee bits of dairy are finding their way into my diet these days. Well, they're finding their way in because I'm putting them there, duh! But other than that I'm back to meal planning and pushing the spinach and cauliflower and making sure everybody is ship shape in the nutritional department.

At least until our next family trip.

Gulf Of Mexico, Volume 2

I am so happy to tell you that we had a fabulous spring break. Fabulous. There was one evening when David and I briefly discussed what we would have been doing in London, but only once. Every other minute was spent with our kids and each other, cramming in some serious family time, enjoying how relaxed we were, and creating great memories. While the car trip was long, I know Carver, Lily, and Zinabu will always look back on this vacation as one of their favorites. They were superb travelers, despite being cooped up for two days each way in our van. On our way home they actually got so slap-happy we thought Zinabu would suffocate from laughing so hard.

We left Colorado reeeeeaaaaalllllyyyyy early on Saturday morning and drove all day to just outside of Dallas. We stopped to play at a park and eat lunch.

 We made sure to drive through downtown Dallas to visit the site of JFK's assassination. It was amazing how small the road is... how close to the president people could be... how different it was back then. Carver doesn't know it, but he's a bit of a history buff and enjoys facts. I especially love this photo of David explaining what happened on that terrible day in Dallas.

 Then I wanted to know what this little cabin was all about and I laughed out loud when all three of my children began to whine that they were tired and hungry and didn't care.

We made it to Galveston the next day, by late morning. We wanted to take advantage of a huge water park that was open. The weather was sunny, hot, and the kids had a ball.

After a day of some hard core water slides and swimming, we settled into our beach house. The views, the fact that our kids could be right on the water, and the fact that we had hour after hour of time just to look for shells was priceless. We spotted dolphins, lots of pelicans, a few jellyfish, and plenty of crabs. It was like Jacques Cousteau was there with us.

So we "beached" it to our hearts content, and we also were able to fit in a couple of day trips to the Houston Space Center and Moody Gardens.

Coming home was hard. Zinabu especially was not ready for our vacation to be done. We still had plenty of fun on the drive home, but I was tired of eating "on the road." Food just got gross after a while.

Thank you, Texas. We loved you!

Gulf Of Mexico, Volume 1
I could bore you with all 129 pictures that I took on our vacation, but that would be mean of me. Instead, I'll start off with our "real" pictures... you know, the ones that truly capture the real family vacation. I'll definitely show you my favorites later this week, but for now please join me on our trip to Texas.

In Dallas after 12 hours of driving. The kids were zombies. They're actually standing on the grass next to the road where JFK was shot, but it took them a while to appreciate the moment. Note the brown spot on Lily's pants from the massive bloody nose she had somewhere after Amarillo.

On a tour at the Houston Space Center. David is trying to keep the boys from touching one another.

We found an old London telephone booth, which was as close as I was going to get across the pond this spring break. Please note that Carver was not happy. Does he look 13 or what?

Typical. I ask them to smile and I get this.

Feel free to caption this. Between the stair step pose, Zinabu's missing body, Carver's face, and David's "are we having fun yet" expression, I am at a loss about where to begin.

I was trying to take a sweet profile picture of my youngest, but he never stops talking. He was actually talking to the stick here.

This photo looks innocent enough, but Lily wanted to be in the picture alone and was mad as a wet hen that Zinabu weaseled in on her turf.

Hilarious. David in seventh heaven with his three pound cajun crawfish feast, Zinabu liberally dumping hot sauce on his  plate when he thinks no one is looking, and Carver watching the both of them, wondering why they eat the way they do.

Perfection. Despite the momentary grumbles, this was our what we spent most of our time doing. It was wonderful!

Spring Break, Plan B

Fortunately, I am okay about not going to London. Alone. With David. All right, all right, I am mostly over it. But we needed a plan B. And we think we've settled on the perfect plan B.

We're headed to Texas! Yee haw!

I know it's not very spectacular, but we're rolling with it. Working with what we've got. Making lemonade out of lemons. And Texas just so happens to be lemonade-worthy. We did a little researching, and David and I agreed that we needed a get-away that would wear the kids out, be somewhat warm, and would provided some great rest and relaxation. Texas has the Gulf of Mexico and beaches and we can drive there. Perfect. Also, our spring break falls after their spring break, and it appears that we'll be there without any crowds or college partying. It's off season, and we found a house--ON THE BEACH--for the same price as a Holiday Inn. The house has no Wi-Fi, cable, or bedding. Perhaps that's why it's such a great deal. So we bring our own sheets and books to read. Whoopie! I can hardly wait. We'll also be an hour from the NASA Space Museum and the Houston Children's Museum. Extra whoopie!

The best part of all is that we have something to look forward to and we will be able to get away as a family. Not so shabby, if I do say so myself.

What Have You...
given up for your child?

In the wake of the London Vacation Tragedy (as I now refer to it in my head), I find myself teetering on the edge of feeling sorry for myself and feeling grateful to be able to take good care of Lily. I allowed myself one weekend to feel all the pain about cancelling our vacation plans, and then I had to move on. I confess I still have to be careful not to spend much time on Facebook, because it feels like everyone and their third cousin has just traveled, is traveling, or is going to travel to somewhere amazing. If I dwell there too long, I feel a pity party coming on and I have to be super-duper careful not. to. go. there.

Over the past week, though, I've challenged myself to think about what I, as a parent, continually give up in order to be a parent. It's not just one trip to London. Parenting is a lifelong act of giving up. Everything from sleep to a trim waistline, from complaint-free meals to song choices on the radio, from financial abundance to worry free evenings, you give up a lot. But would I have it any other way? Certainly not. Despite the fact that I still spend way too much of my free time attempting to match up socks, I would be the most selfish person on the planet were it not for my kids and the lessons they teach me about letting go. Letting go of having things my way in order to embrace a new way of doing things.

And unless you grew up in a cave, someone gave up a whole lot in order to raise you. Regardless of your relationship with your parents or caregivers, you are a walking, talking, functioning member of society because someone sacrificed for you. Their time. Their money. Their season in life to travel. Whatever.

So London is currently off the table of things we're looking forward to, but my day-to-day bursts of joy are not. They remain ever present. Ever there. Ever reminding me that my sacrifices are not equal to the love I receive.

Besides, maybe someday the doors will open for us to go to Holland.

Highlights from Thanksgiving
Our Thanksgiving trip to the mountains was fabulous on so many levels. Mostly because we left "life" behind at our house and escaped from all our responsibilities and demands. Lily was feeling pretty good that week, too, so she was able to keep up with her brothers in the pool and in the snow. It's always hard going on vacation because our family feels so conspicuous. I don't feel that way at home. I guess when we're in our own town keeping to our own routine I don't feel as sensitive to people's stares and questions. But when we're away from home, I'm hyper-sensitive to it. It doesn't help that my kids were the only children of color within a 45 mile radius. The only African American we saw that week was our waitress, which is not exactly what I'm looking for in regards to diversity. But my kids get trophies for adapting to their environment, sticking together, and shrugging off long glances and stares. When you become a conspicuous-looking family, you sign up for a lifetime of being under a microscope. I'm not complaining about it, because we chose this. You do get tired, though, of the same personal questions from strangers over and over and over again. Is it bad that I hope one of these days one of my kids will just pipe up and say, "Shut up!" to the next person that asks if they're siblings?

Watching the kids play.

Lily comes down the sledding hill. 

My kids in a blizzard at the inner tubing hill. You can barely make it out in the background. It was ffffrrreeeezing, but they totally rocked it anyway.

A whole week of this view. Good therapy indeed.

Do You Know The Way to San Jose? 
(And Other Highlights from San Francisco)
I was so fortunate that when David had a conference in Sacramento last week, we were able to arrange for me to join him over the weekend. My mom had the kids, and I flew out and met David at his hotel. We drove to Oakland the first night for a baseball game--which was a blast. I do love me some sports, and sports with my husband is pretty much the bomb.com.  The next day we drove to San Francisco and spent the entire day walking. We went to an amazing vegetarian cafe where David was a total sport himself and ate with me.

The United Nations Plaza.

The obligatory cable car.

Entering Chinatown.

Once in Chinatown, David wanted to take me to a tea tasting. There are multiple shops that sell tea and many of them offer tastings. You just walk in, sit down, and they brew up different kinds of tea and let you sample them totally free. Unfortunately, we mistakenly walked into what had to be the most expensive tea shop in the world, and they charged for tastings. We had to politely look interested while the sales clerk explained prices and brews, and when she finally turned her back, David said, "Let's run for it." So we did.

In a "free" tea tasting shop.

I look like I've had too much, don't I? And let me just say right now that the salty sea air
did not agree with my hair. Blah.

I made David buy one of those tapioca drinks that were so popular there. He
drank a few sips and then threw it away. Not such a fan of the tapioca.

Off the main tourist street is the real Chinatown, where residents shop and food vendors are plenty.

The streets of San Francisco. It was a good workout.

Inside Coit Tower, admiring the many post-depression era murals.

Shrouded in fog and clouds. See if you can spot Lombard Street.

The sun came out for an hour. This was off of Fisherman's Wharf. That's Alcatraz in the background.

Me and my honey.

After a lot of walking and a lot of good food, I was ready to leave San Francisco. I love big cities. Love them. But I was tired. We drove to a small beach town and stayed the night there. I'm sure the ocean was beautiful behind all the fog and rain. The next day we discussed our plans. We were an hour from my childhood home, and I had told David that I didn't want to go back and see my old neighborhood. Since my dad died, some things are too hard. But once I was in California, and we were so close, I changed my mind. And I'm so glad I did. It was hard and I sobbed, but sometimes you do hard things and sob to also experience something special.

My bedroom was the top left upstairs. I spent some of the best years of my life at this house and in this neighborhood. The house is a different color and has had some cosmetic changes, but still very recognizable. We walked the street and I called my older brother and my mom and cried a lot, but I was so blessed to remember so many sweet memories with my family.

After leaving San Jose, we drove to Sonoma and Napa Valley. We like wine, but we're not educated enough in wine to really care about touring vineyards or grape varieties. However, we do love good food and lovely landscapes, so Napa was still a pretty sweet place to be.

This is where I'm supposed to say I missed my kids. But I confess I didn't. I really didn't. I think this was the first trip I've been away from them where I did not miss them at all. Perhaps because they're older now and I don't have to worry about them as much. Perhaps because I really needed the break from them. Perhaps because being a plane trip away meant that I couldn't worry about them because I couldn't get to them quickly even if I wanted to. Perhaps because they annoyed me to death the week leading up to my trip.

Perhaps.