Category: Travel Photgraphy

London Day Three: “I’m Henry the Eighth I am. Henry the Eighth, I am I am.”

by CrazyUsFamily / Travel / Travel Photgraphy / Travel Tips / Travel With Teens2 Comments on London Day Three: “I’m Henry the Eighth I am. Henry the Eighth, I am I am.”

Hampton Court to Waterloo Station

Notes on Today, (because these here notes are working for me). See, I make notes during the day and post them here at night.

 

  • Jet lagged.  Ok this morning I woke up and felt that awesome hit-by-truck feeling. Somehow it kind of went away. That is a good thing.
  • Rash. Ok so occasionally and for years I have suffered from a lovely thing my dermatologist and I like to call, “Allergic Dermatitis.”  Any fellow sufferers out there will now that the itch is no fun. Thankfully for the British Pharmacy system. Dave and I walked into the pharmacy and came out with the best medicine ever. And seriously on the box it said, “This medicine is specifically used to treat allergic dermatitis.” What the what?  No doctor involved, and so far it has worked than anything I have used back home. Ah-hem.
  • Checking out of hotel: We left our lovely hotel, which was located just a few blocks from the British Museum. We were all sad, and worried it would be downhill. Alas, the new neighborhood rocks (see below), and the new hotel is equally good, if not better.
  • Texting Carrie at Hampton Court. Ok, so somehow there was wi-fi at Hampton Court. Knowing Henry VIII, I am sure he would not have it any other way.  And if one of his wives say protested the interest or was simply ugly it would be off with her head. Anyway, I was able to text Carrie at Hampton Court. She, herself, was in disbelief and asked if I had planned to run into our mutual friend, Robin. Here was my answer: “Yes, Carrie Poulsen, It was really she, Robin.” I still cannot believe I saw Robin and I am still tickled as a really good gluten free cake tastes on Father’s Day.
  • The Red Elk in Hotel Number One: I was thinking about the giant Red Elk statue that was sitting on a large ottoman in the lobby of our first hotel. Dave and I think it is the same Red Animal sculptor who made the giant stag we saw in the lobby of our Geneva hotel a couple of years ago.  What a fantastic gig that giant animal sculptor has, right?
  • BM is short for British Museum. Need I say more? I am glad I said this or perhaps you may think I am talking about something else.
  • Breakfast: While Dave ordered English breakfast at this lovely Italian café we think is owned by Greeks, Kyle and I ran back to the British Museum to see the Chinese Antiquities exhibit our friend recommended. The exhibit did not disappoint nor did the breakfast. In Dave’s own words, “It was a high quality breakfast. The bacon was good.”
  • Alarms at the BM: Ok so when Kyle and I were at the British Museum we went to enter the room where we thought we needed to be. Someone had set off the alarms. We were not sure what that meant. Was there a thief in the museum’s midst? We never found out.  We were not allowed in the room.  Kyle, my super guide, recalculated our route and we were on our way only to be stopped by someone who wanted me to take their picture. Of course I obliged. In the distance I noticed a film crew. Wait. Maybe that is what the alarms were about?  I would like to think it was. And in the room we could not enter, today I would like to think that Sting was inside.
  • Smurf Gummies: I found the Smurf Gummies and we all fought over Papa Smurf. There were so many Smurfettes, which seems kind of odd, because she was the only Girl Smurf I remember.
  • Resorting to headphones: Sometimes long trips require you to pull out your headphones and play some good music. Today was that day. My (current) Jam: Damian Rice’s whiny version of Radiohead’s “Creep,” Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Robin Thicke’s, “Blurred Lines,” because no shame & KCRW’s “Sounds Eclectic” mixes (there are many albums), because a little mix is always good.Travel Tip #37: sometimes a day with headphones is exactly what you need. Namaste!
  • It started to rain while we were in the gardens at Hampton Court. Kyle had a “meltdown” (fake meltdown, that is) about how his Hampton-Court-Garden-Experience was ruined because it was no longer raining. We took cover in the Casear room (I am sure that is not its actual name) when the rain stopped. The kids were bickering, Dave was sour and I was grumpy. That is when I pulled out an old standard: The make-everyone-say-something-nice-about-every-person-in-our-family game and I did.
  • While looking for Dave’s mom, Dave called out to the wrong grandma.
  • Pigeon announcement at the Train Station: Wherever you go and if there are pigeons, I am sure there will always be an announcement about not feeding them. Todays’ Hampton-Court-Train-Station announcement also cautioned that we would become very sick if we touched one of those crazy rat birds.
  • Pret a Manger: We had dinner there and it’s not bad when you are in a hurry.
  • Arcade games: We used our London Pass to play arcade games. Really Dave and Eli played this really long alien shooter game, adding tokens when whomever lost all of their health. Then we play a game of crazy air hockey, which involved copious amounts of neon colored pucks.
  • Disadvantages of sitting close at the London Plays. As Dave stated, “The disadvantage of sitting in row 2 is that you can see the underwear of the entire cast.” Agreed.
  • The dudes rating the play were funny. I am talking about the three guys, who were walking up the stairs in front of me after the play. They were not only rating the play we saw tonight, they were rating all of the plays. I believe “The “Producers” was their favorite with a nine out of ten with “Book of Mormon, the Musical,” with a vacillating eight and a half to nine.
  • Our second hotel is in a great neighborhood. I think the neighborhood is called, “SoHo,” or better, “The West End.” We are apparently close to Coventry Street and after seeing, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” tonight we walked through Covent Garden, which is supposed to be totes awesome. Dave just discovered that there is a Shake Shack in Covent Garden, which he plans on visiting tomorrow.
  • And speaking of both “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” and “Jersey Boys,” (the play my mother-in-law took us to ), I now feel completely comfortable taking the boys to see “Book of Mormon, the Musical.”
  • Overly cooked: that would be our boys.  Like a crazy revved up engine racing down the street, once in bed, they revved higher and would not stop. Once I stopped talking (ignored them), however, and turned off the lights, it took exactly  hree minutes for them to drop.  Huzzah!
  • In full competitive form Kyle is “fake” sleep talking tonight. I love my boys.

Goodnight. xo

 

Instead of Living Strong, How about Liiving United?

by CrazyUsMy Three Cents / Travel Photgraphy15 Comments on Instead of Living Strong, How about Liiving United?

“The intense need to get to the top and then stay on the top seems very lonely.”

Graffiti Wall in Bisbee Arizona

Blue is not blue, black is not black, yellow no longer lives strong, and Fifty Shades of Grey is a crass and poorly-written novel that somehow found its way at the tippy top of the NY Times Best Seller list. And books like The Secret, well, they have twisted our minds so perversely that now we believe that our secrets will not make us sick, instead the truths we hide away will somehow give us super powers. Shazam! Our well-crafted guise, our posturing, or our little white-rationalized lies, otherwise known as our deceptive convictions, will take us to that very special place, a place where if we click our heels together and say three times out loud, “there is no place like home, there is no place like home, there is no place like home,” or better, if we say three times out loud, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky, I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky, I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky,” our buried secrets, our self-deceptions, our bald-faced lies, small town or big world, will ensure that our kids get straight As, medal in their sport [come on, I had to list this one. I live in an Olympian-Ski town], will always be the other kids’ fault, not get us kicked out of our church, get us invited to the right party, get us invited into the best book club, damn it, and if we dream big, our giant exaggerations will get us on, say, Oprah, land us our very own Reality Television Show, or at the very least, get us on Babbles Top 100 Blog list! Hollah! People, we can win the Tour De France or be President, the President of the United States! We are not liars. We are rephrasers of the truth.

Seriously, shame on anyone who calls us out. If someone ever exposes our truth we will not stop until they disappear. When questioned about an exposed truth, we will bully, deny, scream, and kick very, very hard. We will call the truth exposer crazy, but not fat, never fat. We will tell their friends and our friends they are crazy. We will get all of our friends to call them crazy. We will shame them, make a giant pariah out them, and we will pour a little gasoline all over them. Then we will walk right up to them, look them straight in the eye, because that’s what people who tell the truth do, match lit then tossed, and watch them burn. As they burn we will scream, “See. See how they hurt me! See!” As they burn, we will stand strong, stand high and stand proclaiming our truth! We will do anything to stay on top!

Is this really our world?

When you think about it, this false life our world begs us to play in is actually propelling us back into a creepy and backward-thinking parallel universe, a heavily-draped-and-veneered-1950’s-June-Cleaver-lovely-dinner-on-the-table-at-5-he-does-not-beat-me-if-the-bruises-do-not-show-and-the-photo-I-display-online-is-really-how-I-look fantasy world where things like competitive Facebook status updates, cleverly crafted Instagram shots, and all your Twitter followers only serve to perpetuate. You want us to know that in spite of your low blood sugar (severe clinical depression or bipolar disorder), your three-week-work-related-I-will-not-be-able-to-respond-to-any-calls-texts-or-emails training sessions [nudge nudge wink wink, your secret is safe here (REHAB)], your healthy eating habits, hey, you are even a RAW Foodie (Obsessive exercise, calorie counting & starvation), your Irritable Bowl Syndrome (Cocaine or Bulimia), your super awesome wardrobe (overwhelming debt or maybe a simple shopping addiction), your happy marriage (then why do you always take separate vacations, always), your kids who never do anything wrong (because you are always too drunk to notice), well, that you are much happier, richer, more successful, Christ loves you more, your teeth are whiter, your kids are smarter, and you are just happier than the rest of us, damn it! I do not blame you. It is this crazy world we live in. You are simply attached to the Matrix via that big giant plug shoved into the back of your skull like the rest of us.

Because Oprah talked to Lance the other day, I keep asking, what happened to the Oprah of yesterday, a time where she interviewed us common folk and interviewed us common folk with reckless abandon while we shared our truths; identical twins openly and proudly sleeping with fraternal twins while one was a cross dresser, the other gay, all the while fighting over paternity? And then I ask, “what happened to yesterday altogether, a day where things did not seem so damn competitive, litigation-based or fearful; a time where people were good enough simply because they lived the truth?” Ok, maybe that was an imaginary time, because when I think about my past, I technically know that before now I was young and if you think about it, young people tend to be honest, not jaded and open. My past was not daisy-filled. I just thought it was, and I am glad I did. Then I started to grow up and quickly learned that my what-you-see-is-what-you-get perspective had no place in this world. “You are too honest and too direct,” is what I was told. “Keep your mouth shut!” I always thought it was me.

From where I sit now and it is really from where I lie, because I am tucked away here in my bed, it seems that even Oprah has been affected. James Frey may or may not have been the beginning with his Million Little Pieces SNAFU, and who cares if he lied. James is living the dream, writing bestsellers, making movies, making lots of cash, and in truth, his big lie has been a small price to pay. James Frey, Oprah and up until now, Lance Armstrong, were the types of people we have been taught we should aspire to be.

Call me crazy. Wait. You already have [wink wink], but I want to aspire to the truth. I want to be ok saying how I feel. I want my boys to feel good, even though they are not on the ski team. It is so weird because I know I have been blessed. I know I live in a lovely house, which is located in a lovely town, yet even my boys feel the tug of being less than? “Mom, why isn’t our house as big as so and so’s?” What the what? Why can’t we just be ok? Why can’t being a good cyclist be good enough…starters, just for starters?

Somehow I fear that slowly, but surely our Little-Engine-that-Could-you-can-have-it-all world with all of its lies, cruelty and competition is turning into a Post Apocalyptic Dystopian World I have read about and fear, a more, every-man-for-himself-literally-to-the-death Cormac-McCarthy’s-The-Road kind of world then a Stephanie-Meyers-(The Twilight Lady’s)-latest-incarnation-The-Host world, which really with its sparkles and paranormal teen romance wouldn’t be all bad, would it? I mean, come on, what’s a little sparkly-alien-body-possession really going to do to you…Oh wait! It already has done something to us and that is the point, isn’t it?

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Happy 10th Anniversary Camper Van!

by CrazyUsFamily / Travel / Travel Photgraphy / Travel Tips15 Comments on Happy 10th Anniversary Camper Van!
Picture Gallery
Happy 10th Anniversary Camper Van!

  • Seattle, WA 2003

  • Vancouver Aquarium, Vancouver, BC 2003

  • Moraine Lake Alberta, Canada 2003

  • Moraine Lake Alberta, Canada 2003

  • Moraine Lake Alberta, Canada 2003

  • The camper van in small town Nevada 2003

  • 2003

  • Boise, ID October 2002

  • Dinosaur National Monument 2002

  • Watching a movie and Riding in the camper van

  • The Grand Canyon 2003

  • The Grand Canyon, 2003

  • Bagdad, AZ 2003

  • Oregon, 2003

  • Boise, ID 2002

  • Sante Fe, NM, April 2004

  • Baby Bear in the road the Mountains of New Mexico, 2004

  • New Mexico, April 2004

  • Mese Verde, April, 2004

  • Side Mirror

  • Cuba, New Mexico, April 2004

  • The boys Portland August 2003

  • The boys Portland

  • The Boys BC, Canada, July 2003

  • Popping the pop top one last time before we sold her.

  • Us Oregon August 2004

  • Kyle & Eli Union Square, San Francisco, CA, 2003

  • Dave working on his laptop in the camper van

  • On the Road July 2003

  • Our friend Kevin Met up with us Summer 2003

  • Hanging out at our Homebase in American Fork, UT 2003

  • Easy E looking the camper van mirror Late 2002

  • Glacier National Park July 2003

  • Minnesota August 2004

EXACTLY Ten years ago we hit the road. We had been living in the Washington DC area and had just sold our house. Dave had just sold his company, was on a semi-retired hiatus and perhaps feeling the success of his early internet dreams fulfilled, he had this crazy-crackers scheme to travel for a year or so in a Camper Van. I am not making this up.

See, earlier in the summer he proposed the idea to me. We were sitting in our office. The kids were asleep. I could tell he had something important to say because he turned his chair toward me, looked at me and said, “Beth, I have this idea.” Let me just preface this next part by saying that anytime Dave has an idea I am equally excited and traumatized. His ideas are big. His ideas have taken us far and once in a while his ideas seem a little too crazy for this world. I like what Dave’s close friends have said, “Beth, you and Dave are a great fit. When he gets one of his crazy, big ideas, you know how to reign him in.” They are right – and better – maybe I am the balance, or at least have the most excellent organizing and in this case, packing skills, to enable Dave’s brilliant and brave dreams. At least that is how I like to see it.

Yes, it is true. After I heard his hey-lets-take-our-wild-toddler-and-spazzy-baby-around-the-USA-and-Canada-for-a-year-or-so-in-a-camper-van idea, I absolutely thought he was nuts. “How are we going to travel with a baby and a toddler (we hit the road when Eli was eight months and Kyle was two and a half)?” I asked him. “That is a loooonnnnngggg time on the road!”

After a lot talking, I insisted that, before we buy the van, at the very least we take a substantial road trip before we made this gigantic life change. Although the boys had already logged in thousands of airline miles, up until then the boys had only flown long distances or taken short road trips. We packed, gathered books, snacks, dvds and our laptops. Back then in-car dvd players were new and the iPod Touch was a thing of future dreams. We strapped our boys into their Britax car seats in our truck, and hit the road, traveling to Minneapolis, my hometown. Lovely. The trip was lovely. Bringing Dave to my favorite memories is magic I always hold close. He saw the Brainerd, MN Paul Bunyan statue in the flesh. How awesome is that? On our way to Duluth we had to make a stop at dusk only to be attacked by a horror movie’s worth of Mosquitos. I laughed as Dave quickly rushed back into the car swatting mosquitos for another twenty miles. Sharing these experiences together, he saw Duluth for the first time and we both saw the rolling fog of Grand Marais for the very first time too. The kids were great. I mean, so much better than I could have hoped for. After making it all the way to Northern Minnesota from Washington DC, I actually believed we could pull off this traveling-as-a-family-in-a-camper-van dream.

Those early travel days were dotted with slides, walkways and sandboxes. We learned that stopping at any park along the way was an important part of the journey. If we could find a park, the boys could get out their wiggles. And honestly, I think through their eyes, through our necessity to stop and let our kids breathe, I have been able to see a whole and very cool new world. Even now we always look for a good place for the boys to explore and roam.

After spending time with my family and friends we made our way back home. I gave my OK and after Dave bid for it on eBay, we flew to Southern Florida where we purchased our 2002 Eurovan Camper. Excitedly we drove off the lot on that very hot summer day when the Air Conditioner stopped working just miles from the dealership! True Story! We spent another week at the beach while it was fixed (Summer in South Floria with no AC is no fun) and then made our way back to DC. Favorite stops: St. Augustine, FL. Who would expect this super old Colonial town just down the road from the Spring-Break-Capital of the world? Other favorite stop: Savannah, GA. I hope the gold-tooth-grill-kiosk is still at the mall on the town’s outskirts.

Back in DC, our house sold, we packed our things and said our goodbyes. The goodbyes I said back then are still some of the hardest. Kyle and Eli were leaving their good pals Quinn, Max, Emma, Maddie & Winston, and Dave and I were saying goodbye to our dear friends. Bittersweet were those moments. I remember my friend Stephanie as we said our last goodbyes saying, “You know I can’t say it. It is hard to see you go.” I felt it. In her words I felt our worlds change. She and I had spent nearly everyday watching our husbands dream and watching our boys grow. With tears in my eyes and the frog in my throat huge, I choked back my sobs. I did not want to go, yet I was excited to fulfill our dream.

We left our little piece of Heaven in Northern Virginia, made our way only as far as West Virginia, spending our very first fancy-camper-van-night at cold and rainy gas station on the side of the road. I had to hold Eli until fell asleep as my excitement quickly faded into fear. Mornings and the laughter of toddler Kyle in his pajamas on the side of the road erased my panic. It was a new day. I took a deep breath and we drove west, establishing rules of the road and labeling an old Nalgene bottle “Pee Cup.” Man it is nice to have boys. We stopped in St. Louis to see my brother Bill. Leaving Bill and his boys we drove through my favorite college town, Columbia, Missouri and unto Colorado, where we drove through Rocky Mountain National Park on the highest paved through road in the Continental US. We were on our way and were once again following our dreams.

We chose Utah as a home base, never ever planning to stay here long. My mom was here. She could watch our things while we were away and our friend Kim graciously let us crash at her condo while we were in town. We wanted to explore the west and Utah made sense at the time. We usually took three week trips and made our way through Canada and all over the Western US. I loved it. I hated it and once back in Utah, I could not wait to hit the road. Moraine Lake in Banff National Park is still one of my favorites. Watching Kyle canoe on the beautiful mountain water was divine. And then getting to stand on the dock during a helicopter mountain rescue was pure delight. I wish the boys remembered as much as we do. We have pictures. They hear stories and this was our time to be parents of these beautiful little boys.

I fell in love with Vancouver, BC and tried to figure out how we could move there. Border Patrol was so much more intense near Seattle then it was in Montana. We had to get out of the car because I had apples, and see my Fuji Apples from the Vancouver Farmer’s Market were not allowed to enter the country. Eventually we made it through onto Seattle, then Portland. Our camper van took us to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Big Sur, Moab, Montana, New Mexico, Idaho, Nevada and Arizona. I am sure I am missing a state or two in there.

My very favorite part really was the kids. They thought living in a camper van was the best thing ever. Kyle was over the moon to be able to sleep in the pop-up part with Dave each night. Eli was too small and wiggly. I loved those seconds as his little body released in my arms as he drifted off to sleep. I miss those moments of snuggling him close. Towards the end our camper van journeys Dave and I were able to sleep on the same level. I liked that best.

I think it was those camper van days that have made the boys open and fearless. They know how to travel. They entertain themselves best while on the road. In the van when they had watched one too many “Land Before Time” movies, I would hand them a book of stickers or some dollar store Band-Aids. They spent hours covering themselves with every last one. It was hilarious and it is these moments that have forever changed and bettered my world. I am grateful. Happy Tenth Anniversary, Camper Van! We miss you!

—
PS: The links I have added to this post link back to original camper-van-travel posts. I am surprised at how different my memories of those times are. I love the Eli-barfing story on the Moab link. It is sad and hilarious! Enjoy!

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Mexico with a little Bill Bryson

by CrazyUsTravel / Travel Photgraphy / Travel Tips / Travel With Teens2 Comments on Mexico with a little Bill Bryson
Dave reading by the pool: The Lost Continent. by Bill Bryson

The Lost Continent.
By Bill Bryson

“If you could write like Bill Bryson, you would be really successful.” Dave said to me as he read by the pool.

Next to him I sat,
looking at the ocean. I thought for a second and in my vacation haze I responded,

“I’m not sure how to take that, but I would like to think I can write and who wouldn’t want to be successful?”

Sitting next to Dave and looking at the ocean

“He is a travel writer and he is really funny.” Dave continued.

“I like to think I am funny and I love to travel. Maybe there is hope for me yet.” I laughed or laughed as much as I could in the mid day heat. I looked to my left and saw Kyle reading one of my favorites: Gary Larson. “I could pull off a little Far Side, couldn’t I?” I thought.

 

Kyle reading the Far Side

Dave kept reading and so did Kyle. I looked over and noticed Eli to the right of Dave. Covered with his shirt, the boys had spent the morning at the beach and then swimming in the pool.

Easy E at the pool

Somehow our day came to this moment, the four of us each lying in a lovely beach chair reading, staring at the ocean or wrapping a shirt around our head. The moment was divine and the moment was brief. Soon Eli, Kyle & I decided we were hungry and I had to pee. We promised to bring Kyle a snack (we didn’t) and Eli and I went on a little adventure.  We found the baños below the pool walked back to our room. We could not get into the room because it was being cleaned so we decided to check out the tennis courts. Back in the hotel courtyard Eli looked up,

“Hey Mom, look. It’s the cleaning lady. I think she is done.”

We walked back to our room and decided to change plans. Dave and I would take a long (and it was long) walk on the beach while Kyle and Eli cooled off and hung out in the room. Best part: there would be snacks. Eli and I walked a different way back, asked Kyle & Dave to pack up their things and follow us because we had a plan. We did. They were settled in the room and Dave and I were off. . .

Little Cove on our Beach Walk

We lucked into this hotel. It is not what I had picked and I am glad. Do you like deals? We like deals. What happened is that Dave saw a Groupon for the Welk Resort. Coincidentally I had also decided I wanted to stay at the Welk Resort. Within hours the Groupon was sold out. Dave was discouraged and so was I. I was willing to pay full price for the Welk, but when I called they had no availability. Dave asked me to call the Groupon folks and I took it a step further and called the Welk People. No. I could not get the Groupon deal, but if I would be willing to listen to a Timeshare Presentation (yes, that is what I said), a timeshare presentation, then I could stay at a participating hotel (The Westin or the Hilton). We have Gold Status at the Hilton (you could too) and with Gold Status we get things like room upgrades (if available), free internet, kids eat free and treats. I have been very happy with this particular Hilton Deal.

Eli’s Kid’s Eat Free Adult-Size Cheesecake

See, Dave has always been a deal guy. For years our friends always say something like, “I am sure Dave has a coupon for that.”  He probably does. His Happenings Book is not far and we always skim the Park Record for two-fers doing the Shoulder Season.  We have always used coupons and any combinations of discounts.  It is how we roll. Some think this is shameful and most think it is awesome.   Dave recently upped the ante with the online Travel Deal Market.  With all these new travel deal website I need to understand, I  must admit that I have been confused and I have been slow. Dave often comes home telling me new credit cards he has signed up for and how if you spend such and such amount each month you will get something like a billion Delta Miles. It is pretty awesome and I am grateful he is on top of things.

I was hesitant to take the Groupon route. Look, the last time we went to Mexico (2009), I had VRBO’ed what looked like an amazing place in Playa Del Carmen and come to find it was the biggest Bait and Switch ever. Our first twenty-fours consisted of Tenacious Me getting us and our friends into a new place. Yes, and after $100 cash was stolen from my wallet, the three other adults were beaten down and the boys cried a lot, we (I) achieved our beautiful and lovely infinity-pool success. Sure, I wore the Playa Del Carmen folks down and secured not one, but two brand new condos, but I was skeptical. If I ever went to Mexico again, I wanted to know what I was getting into. A Timeshare presentation attached to the heels of a Groupon deal seemed a big giant fat risk.

And I am here to tell you that sometimes these risks are worth taking. I would stay at this hotel again. I would pay full price. I love it. I love the beach. I love our room. I love the little chocolatey treats they bring to our room (for being gold members), I love Mexican Doug (Hector, our waiter), I love the pool and I love having this time with my family. Yes, and we also used frequent flyer miles to pay for our trip (you could too). The deals are out there. No one is paying for me to say these things. I have no sponsor, but I should. Ok, Dave should. Hilton, Delta and the Happenings People, you need to sponsor my husband. I am just saying.

 

PS: And here is how you can play it. You can either (a.) brag to all of our friends about your fancy shmancy Mexican Vacation or (b.) tell your friends about the killer deal you got to stay at the fancy foo-foo resort. Either way, you win.

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Buenas tardes!

by CrazyUsTravel / Travel Photgraphy / Travel Tips / Travel With Teens4 Comments on Buenas tardes!

Hola from sunny and slightly cooler Mexico. I apologize for my short hiatus. Last week I was packing and now we are here. I keep thinking I will have time to post and then the sunny vacation days get away from us. Tomorrow we are just hanging out and I plan on taking time to tell you all about our trip to lovely Baja California Sur.

Picture Gallery
Buenas tardes!

More to come! Happy to be here and simultaneously miss you! [hugs]

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I needed to Fix Myself

by CrazyUsFamily / Health / Travel / Travel Photgraphy / Travel Tips / Travel With Teens14 Comments on I needed to Fix Myself
I was pregnant here. You can see the beginnings of my pregnant belly. 6.17.06
Dave & Me. Thanksgiving 2011

As I crawled in bed late last night Dave, who was already in bed, said, “I read what you posted. Wow! That was a lot. That was really good. You are a good writer.”

Thinking he was talking about the post I had just written on Overweight Women, confused and perplexed I said, “Well, thanks, um, didn’t you edit that post earlier?”

“No. The one you posted on Facebook.” He responded.

“Oh. My Fix-You Post.” I said and because I was tired and caught of guard by his thoughtful comment, I mean, (I don’t think Dave would feel especially compassionate about the overweight woman who was smoking while carrying her catheter bag into her dialysis appointment), I continued, “I am working on my archives. That was one of the last posts I wrote  before I quit blogging and it was one of the first posts I was able to recover from the sever-back-up Vortex. It was always a favorite.  I didn’t read it today. It is too sad.”

I turned over, smiled and was grateful that he had read it.  Dave’s feedback meant more to me than almost any other feedback I have ever been given. Go Dave!

The “Fix-You” Post was so sad  because I was so sad and right after that I quit blogging.  I quit blogging because my heart was broken and I spent the next five years trying to put my heart and the rest of me back together. It was more than blogging. I stopped and changed everything. I put my two feet on the ground and pointed them forward.

It is estimated that since Eli was born (he is 10) that I have had at least twenty miscarriages (I stopped counting). I could have chosen to adopt. I could have talked Dave into using a surrogate (probably not) and  even now that I am much older, every single month I still ask myself, “What if I am pregnant?”  It never leaves.  It just does not and so it is what it is. What I want you to know is that I use my pain to see opportunity. My heartache has morphed  into gratitude and  my lack of control has taught me to let go. And yes, getting here has been anything, but easy.

Opportunity.

Opportunity is what it was and opportunity is how I spin things now.  The one opportunity I did walk away from was my daily interaction with wonderful people who came to Crazyus.com. Without a word or an explanation, I unplugged and I walked away. Bloggers and readers alike were always kind and good to me and believe me, when I left, I missed all of them.  As I sit here and type I know that I would be over the moon if I ever could have that same internet connection again (get the play on words . . . internet & connection . . . he he he). Seriously, it would be beyond my dreams!

The opportunities I did have way back in August 2006 were my late miscarriage and imminent mental crash. It was time for me to accept the fact (or at least start accepting) that I may never give birth again and this was a not-exactly-how-I-had-envisioned-my-life opportunity to stretch.

Peggle

Here is how it went. We sold our house. We moved into a tiny tiny condo in Park City, UT. Dave would go to our land, work on our new house everyday, Kyle would go to school and Eli would go to pre-school. I, well, I would sit home and sleep or play Peggle. I spent hours and hours every single day playing Peggle. I played Peggle so much that I finally confessed my Peggle Addiction to Dave. He already knew. He mentioned an article he had read about combat soldiers who play Tetris. “They play it to help with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”  That was all I needed to hear and I kept on playing. I played Peggle for months and months and months. I loved my high scores I loved watching where the orange ball would go.

Eventually and still in my Peggle fog, we pulled Kyle out of first grade because he was so far ahead. He had gone to an accelerated kindergarten the year before and in October when the Principal at his new school told me it was fine for Kyle to “hang out” until the end of the school year (doing absolutely nothing, except getting in trouble), Dave and I knew something needed to be done. Because I was on Peggle-Auto-Pilot Dave took the lead and found a Homeschooling group (I was not about to Homeschool), which led him to this Hippie Montessori School. Dave went over to the school and loved it. I resisted for a few weeks until he finally dragged me over to check things out. Miss Diane, the long haired sixty-five year old director was wearing leggings, Uggs and a denim shirt. The school is in a house-slash-barn and I saw lots of feathers, Indian gear and Dreamcatchers. Because nothing is ever completely ideal, the school would end up being this crazy, dysfunctional, magical-talking-stick-duct-taped together Fairyland, but in that moment Miss Diane grabbed my sad sad face, kissed it, then looked me right in the eyes and said, “You will love it here. I know you will.”  She hugged me and welcomed me into her crazy-Hippie-Montessori-Planet. As confused as I felt, I knew and to this day know, that Miss Diane loves and accepts me, crazy parts and all. We paid our overpriced deposit, filled out our paperwork and signed Kyle up.

Miss Diane & Kyle

 

In late 2006 Diane and the Another Way Montessori School Community was everything this Adams Family needed to heal our broken hearts. No one knew anything about us. We had a clean slate and I loved it. We were simply the weird family, who was building a house up the street. And really at Another Way, everyone is a little weird and outside-of-the-box. Because of this we all fit into this little Park City Island of Misfit Toys. I loved it! I loved getting caught up in fundraising. I loved learning about Yellowhawk, the Indian. I loved that Sausha’s dad is Bart The Bear’s Trainer. I did not love that the dog-wolf hybrids came to the school, but my kids did.  I loved learning about the Talking Stick and I loved that Another Way was NOT Peanut Free. I sent my kids with their Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches to school and I loved that I could.

Miss Diane is a world renowned ski instructor and we love that she taught our boys to parallel ski. No snow plowing allowed. I love that the boys learned to ride and groom a horse and I loved that the horses were at the school. It was not very long after we signed Kyle up that Miss Diane convinced us that Eli needed to be there too. It was easy. It was safe. If I needed time to breathe, the boys could stay late.  As Dave and I continued to do infertility treatments I always knew we could leave the boys with Diane. I really believe we found our very own Modern Day Hippie Commune. It was disorganized, unpredictable and I loved it. The friends I made there are friends I will have for life.

As I was talking to one of those friends earlier today I was mentioning how our choices take us to where we need to be. I mentioned my second act, the-what-I-did -after-my-miscarriage-broke-my-heart act. My friend is my very same age and has had similar struggles and I said to her, “You know how you always tell me to put my feet on the ground and point them forward? Well, when I moved to Park City, that is what I did. I had no idea what would happen. I was so sad. And then I started opening my heart ever-so-slightly  and there you were, a better friend than I could hope for. You got it and  understood this crappy infertility road and since the moment we met at Another Way, you have always been willing to travel the road with me.”

Grateful.

Grateful is what I am. I am stubborn. I desperately want to control all outcomes. When I let go, when I point my feet forward, people and places always come into my life that heal me and are so much better than anything I could have imagined. Because I got out of bed and put my feet on the ground, I could begin to heal.

Eli the Very Serious Equestrian and Miss Diane
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