The Next Installment

Here is what we did next: went to Sesame Place. It's an amusement park almost entirely geared towards kids under eight, with about 60% water rides. It was fantastic! It was in the 80s the whole time, so whenever we got hot we dunked ourselves into a nearby sprinkler.

I was SO EXCITED to meet Cookie Monster. I mean, for Dylan to meet Cookie Monster. Although he turns out to be sort of feral. I had to yank her away because first he was eyeing her hungrily, then tried to squash her with his paw.


This was topical because we have a CM talking stethoscope on the trip that is very sensitive, so if I so much as turn a corner in the minivan we hear "Eat two cookies, and call me in the morning."

Dylan proudly told everyone there about our dog Snuffleupagus.


Dylan is (almost) fearless since Disney and went on just about everything. Although the roller coaster we'll save for "maybe when I'm older."

I am impressed with Dylan for gracefully tolerating a seven-hour day with Kate In An Amusement Park.
I do have to point out that while this picture is cute, it is only because she is incapable of turning off her camera face in front of a camera. What she was saying was MOMMY I CAN DO IT BY MYSELF DON'T TOUCH MY HORSE.

Ollie says CHEESE now too. And is self-packing. He just needs a little ice.
This is clearly Dylan's work.
I only have a third of the pictures to post because I had to buy a waterproof film camera (see: water park) after the first day and my phone ended up in a bag of rice to (successfully!) dry off. I had to do a lot of explaining to Dylan about why we couldn't see the pictures right away. Relatedly, after several days of ipad time in the car Ollie now tries to touch the pages of books as if they were a touch screen.

This definitely fell under the "exorbitant amusement park" portion of the trip. I don't feel like we got a deal, per se, because I am sure that nobody gets a deal at these places, but I do feel like we escaped with as little damage as possible. We brought a cooler in and there was a shuttle from the hotel (parking was $15!) and breakfast was included and maybe I just won't think about it any more. Ollie keeps missing stuff because he needs to sleep to make up for the hours of which we don't speak. Dylan went swimming five times at our current location and Ollie went zero due to this issue.

She and I did the lazy river three times because it was so much fun, although it was quite a different experience, depending on if you were her or me. I could use it as god intended and relax, while Dylan just used the tube as a fancy kickboard and flailed around wildly the entire time. The only downside to really relaxing was the freezing water features that could catch one unawares.

Up tomorrow or when I have time: back in NY, via NJ

Re: our whereabouts

Yes! Permanent vagabonds! (see comment on last post) I like it. But only if my time in the car with the children is limited to less than an hour a day, and the hour is nap time. The fatal flaw of a road trip is that we have to be in the car with the kids. Manning the back seat for long stretches on trips is one of my least favorite parenting tasks. This trip we have six-hour car days on the first and last days, but otherwise no more than 3-4 hours, with a bunch of days with little or no travel.

We have done very little traveling since circa 2006 that hasn't involved family. Which is the most fun! Of course! Hi, loyal blog readers who are related to us! This trip is ALL ABOUT family, as you will see. But we also got to plan a bunch of stuff on our own and it's been really fun to have just the four of us for parts of the trip, at least between the hours of 8am and 8pm. We will never speak of those other hours again, CHILDREN.

Here I go, rambling on, and still not revealing where we are. Currently: somewhere in the Hudson Valley. We started out last Friday heading to Philly. I think you've all gotten a flavor of the actual journey, thus far. We camped out in a hotel room there for a couple days ("c'mon kids! pile on in the bathroom!")
Aaron, I guess, used the opportunity to practice his mime routine with actual glass to make it more realistic.

Then we eventually made our way to Tommy's college graduation. Remember when he got in? Right here on the blog? Because of his trustworthy photographs? I was waiting for Dylan to be born in that last link! I am STILL glad that finally happened.

Anyway, graduation!It had the requisite hot and uncomfortable, and also immediately upstaged my graduation with a brilliant student speech and the coolest venue ever.

I got around the hot part by volunteering to spend two hours in the air conditioned car to let Ollie nap.

Dylan got to relive her swinging glory from last time she visited. She has a single-minded focus on college attendance thanks to this swing.

The Giant Adirondack Chair: the novelty never wears off

Of note, Aaron and Ollie wore matching outfits in honor of graduation, but I didn't get any good pictures because of Ollie's grueling overheating/napping schedule. The best I could do was the one at the top of the post, in Ikea after we left. Because OBVIOUSLY buying furniture is an awesome idea at this point.

I think that gets us up to about Monday. WHO KNOWS where we've been since then.

Joooooooooin Us

Aftermath

From right after Ollie got sick Friday.








- Posted from a temporary way post

2 for 2

That is, the number of children, out of the number of children in our possession, who have puked voluminously in the car during a trip this month.

Day 1. Awesome.


- Posted from the open road

Location:Somewhere in PA

Days of endless labor powered by pandora

Here is a tip: if you want to guarantee that your new mattress will be really, really comfortable, sleep on the couch for a week before it comes. Force your husband to do the same, for his own good.

I moved on from the (relative, sort of) fun of painting the bedroom and moved on to: the hallway, stairs, living room, dining room, and entryway. With the bedroom at least I could flounce about discussing my design aesthetic and repurposing my clutter into an elegant, tasteful display (note: this did not happen). The rest of the house was varying shades of off-white and is now: varying shades of off white. Spending days and days painting to achieve a feel of "slightly less grubby" is less than satisfying.

What we decided was, as long as we're not moving, let's at least make it FEEL like we're moving. Or so it seems. Really, the thinking (that was done. by us) was that we'll almost certainly move in three years (DON'T LAUGH) and have to do all those minor repairs that you have to do before selling a house and then you kick yourself because hey, this is nice, why didn't we do them for US? So we are doing them for us and it is nice, but guess what? It's a lot of work and it feels like we're moving.

It also dawned on me that I have eased into the role of general contractor, as I attempt to coordinate: the driveway guy, the mason, the tile guy, the tree guy, the plumber guy, and the window guy. None of whom seems eager per se, to exchanges services for money, but at least it is I who am the middleman. Really, it's a new hobby I'm exploring.

***

The school district says it will mail out assignments Friday. We leave Friday for many days of road tripping (note to thieves: neighbor Karl has his eye on you). I called to see if I could call once they're mailed to find out and they told me: no, maybe late next week, when we have the assignments in the computer. I guess they hammer them out on stones first, then deliver them to people's house, THEN put them in the computer.

My NEW BEDROOM

Several items are of note.

We have a bed frame. Technically, we had one before, but it since it just barely performed its "keep the mattress off the floor" role and was not visible to the naked eye, I'm not sure it counts. Thank you, craigslist.

We do not have a mattress. I got a little excited to throw the old one out since it just happened to be garbage day when I got started last week (Aaron: "I have a number of questions regarding this plan.") In retrospect, garbage day THIS week might have been a better selection. The new one should get here by...Wednesday.

It looks like a furniture store. That is because there is a big heavy desk that we are not capable of moving. It will no longer reside in the bedroom someday, insha allah.


Not pictured: Dylan, pouting in the corner because SHE wants my new bedroom. I JUST DID her room. She got to pick the paint color! It is exactly equal parts pink and purple! There are glow in the dark stars and a ceiling-mounted remote controlled rotating solar system! There is a laundry chute in her closet and shelves full of toys and a big box of all her treasured play bills and postcards. I don't want to hear it, kid. Although it's quite fun to have a child who enthusiastically appreciates my every minor home improvement. She gets all excited when I so much as pick up the toys in the living room.

shorts

Perhaps we should keep better wraps on Aaron's wallet? "Look what I've been working on Mommy!"

***

It is embarrassing to graduate from medical school and walk into the frame store and ask them if they can match your diploma frame to your PhD one.

***

I would like to emphasize how short and squat Ollie is. Really, it's silly.
He's still working diligently to manage a fine balance of affection and cuddles with evil and destruction. He has had a lot of success, thus far, because what else does he have to do, in a day?

***

I've been painting again. I swear I've learned something from all the HGTV. Although I haven't learned enough to know that even though I love yellow and red-orange, for example, they may not be the best colors for the walls. I do know enough that at least I got samples first. Other teaching points from this painting adventure: 1) it goes a lot faster without any wall repair, and 2) perhaps it is best to contain one's zeal in throwing out the ten-year-old mattress until a new mattress has been procured. Our bedroom thus has no bed, but is now a distinguished grey with white trim.

Backing up (beep, beep beep)

I got a little behind, so let's rewind a few days. When last we left our intrepid Bleisenblogs, we were traipsing about New York City, attending weddings and taking turns ejecting our stomach contents. As of last Friday though, we were in the midst of a whirlwind of graduation whatnot as I finally finished my formal schoolin'. Persevere, kids, and you too will be done by the time you're 30!

Aaron actually flew out of town during the graduation party taking place at our house. I always tell you, we know how to party. Thanks to everyone who sent their best wishes and came and helped us celebrate! I particularly appreciate how gracious you all were with respect to having your cars whisked away due to parking restrictions and cramming into the back seat of the minivan to be shuttled to the not-brief ceremony. That's dedication, right there.

Do you know how many pictures I have of the festivities? One. Sent to Aaron on my phone during the rehearsal to document that it would NEVER END. Not perhaps the best picture in all the land, but no one has sent me anything else yet, so it's what you're getting.

***

In other events, they've cancelled the Lilac Festival for the third day in a row because it started raining again. I've never heard of anything like that happening. I guess it's good we've been teaching Dylan to swim.

Things I have learned in the last 48 hours

Dylan mentions ache and pains almost daily, and they invariably amount to nothing. Nonetheless, when she insists from the back of the cab with increasing urgency that she feels sick, it wouldn't hurt to take action, let's say, before she does. Sorry about your rain coat, Aaron. And underwear.

Donald Trump announced his non-run for presidency today from the same hotel where were staying. Coincidence? You decide. I did stay up an hour later than I meant to last night watching the celebrity apprentice, so that clearly played into the decision-making process.

Having left a starbucks minutes before a cab crashed into it will make Aaron refer to "safe starbucks" (those in malls, hotels, or airports, I've surmised) for an indefinite period of time.

Just because Dylan SEEMS like she hates every minute of the horsedrawn carriage ride due to complete exhaustion and its attendant malaise, it doesn't mean she won't ask to do it again the next day.

Ollie would like to have a word with me, about the horse.


Ollie would like to have a word with all of you, also. He picked up like 20 of them in the past four days.

The apple store does not want you to hang out in their vestibule, driving rain or not.

The huge HD screens in the apple store are an AWESOME place to watch the shuttle launch.

Fielding questions about future astronaut career options is a bit of a downer though.

A deep love for AIRPLANES! does not necessarily translate into endearing behavior on airplanes. Ollie, looking at you here.

I hate to use the term "boot and rally" here in reference to my four-year-old, but honestly. That's her there, the pink blur.

Dylan thinks she is in a musical every waking minute. She just accommodates the rest of us in our routines as necessary
Aaron can totally pull off a tux. (Congratulations Brenda and Andrew! For getting married, that is! Not just for getting Aaron in a tux! The whole thing was amazing!)

He can also pull off an entourage. Hm, looks like he had: Ollie, Dylan, the stroller, and the bags, while I had: the cameraphone.
I am a SERIOUS lightweight, booze-wise. Or else I had food poisoning. Or a virus (see: Dylan, #1). Possibly all three. Am doctor now.

Ollie. Strong like bull. Seriously, I packed that suitcase, and it was not light.
Neither rain nor lightening nor dark of night nor ATROCIOUS behavior at the restaurant can keep up from getting cupcakes after dinner.
I am way scarier as an underbridge troll than Dylan. Seriously, what is she, like three foot six? Plus she can't compete with the retainer.

more unfortunate skills the short round one has acquired

-Turning on the toaster oven. He can tell when it's on, too, then he leaves.
-Adjusting the burners on the stove. There's a cooking theme here, I guess, since he still opens the oven on occasion.
-Turning on the faucets in the bathroom. All of them.
-Spitting resentfully at people who are not me, when provoked.
-Honking car horns (requires adult enabling).

His current redeeming features are: a seamless transition to the new daycare room, 15 hours of sleep per day, big, slimy kisses, an indiscriminate appetite, and awesome moves to Wheels on the Bus.

***

My retainer is awethome, right? It's nothing too exthiting, I just had a couple teeth that were thliding around driving me nuth. Dylan kept making me say words for her amusement. So did my friends, for that matter. Gymnastics and chick peas are favorites. "World's Strongest Man" was mistaken for "World's Drunkest Man" in one instance. I'm leth lithpy now, but Aaron and I have agreed: best to remove it for phone calls.

***

Should hear about at least one school next week.

***

We socialized more this week than in the past...three weeks! Combined. Plus or minus a year or two. Because! Annabelle returned to the ROC to visit us, which is like adding a third person to our marriage, for better or for worse. She ran with Snuffy, took Dylan to the movies, and lurked happily in the basement lair. I took like one picture, so here you go. Dylan asked if she was a giant, but I told her no, it's trolls that lurk in the basement.

***

waiting for daddy to return from Out West

anyone need a babysitter?

Now with lisping action!

greetings, comrade

hodgepodge

I was rewarded for my hubris Saturday thinking I could manage alone with both kids (if you count recruiting friends "alone") with sort of a grind Sunday, although I do recommend going to toys r us and playing with all the toys if you're having a hard day. The kids liked it too. The Dylan/Snuffy combination is a tough one since it's hard to get him enough exercise without covering some distance, and some days it's draining to cajole Dylan into covering any distance at all. Ollie just gets strapped to my back, which works for him. He's fun because he's quite the gearhead since he knows the appearance of shoes, boots, sunblock, hats, helmets, or whatever means we're going to do something cool. He cries when we take the bike helmet off. Here's some pics from our rainy day bike excursion. Note to future self: if it seems like a good idea to put rain coats on the children, it is not a good idea to go biking. The addition of a driving wind is another clue as to the correct choice if you have your wits about you.

I think this one's ready for school

She spent AN HOUR on Friday writing (not illustrating) her book, despite not being able to spell any words independently. I feel like she could be five years older in this picture.

She also put a copyright symbol on it after asking what the one on the Cheerios box meant. She did not, however, mark her book Kosher.

She is so excited to be 4 and three quarters, but she's not quite there yet and we're nerds so I told her she can tell people she's 4 and two thirds.