Brain. Moving. Slowly

Woke up on Friday at 6:30 am East Coast time. Went to bed at 1:00 am West Coast time. Kid woke me up Saturday morning, ready to party at 5:30 am West Coast time. Been awake for 24 of the last 28 hours. I'm just sayin'.

Loved, loved, loved the time with the cousins. My brain is not functioning well enough to write about it in essay form, but I'll throw in a few of my favorite moments:

Tons of pool time, with lots of water gun battles. Yesterday we spent the morning in the pool, which culminated in an East Coast/West Coast family water polo showdown.



Walking through the temple with Tony. It's about twice as big as last time we were there, and more impressive than ever. Luke was honored that Tony took a moment to open up the Torah for him.



The nighttime glowstick birthday party for Eli. He will turn three next week so we took the opportunity to have some cake and candles and general mayhem. None of the kids opposed the idea.






A hard-fought father/son chess battle. Very, very serious. Please do not disturb them while they are playing chess. And eating chips.




A lovely Thanksgiving dinner with Neil and Charlotte. This gave Zach his long-sought-after opportunity to eat "turkey with bones."




Gathering 'round to watch Tony open the coconut the boys had found. Moments after Tony got it open and the boys had a chance to sample the coconut juice, we were on the road headed back to the airport. It was so sad to leave, but it was a great finale. In fact, I think all vacations should end with a ceremonial bashing of a coconut. Thank you, thank you, thank you to our Florida family for a smashingly good time.


Today we are busy as all get-out as we attempt to unpack and then get ourselves ready for the next season. I told Luke, "Today I think we are going to put up a 'C.T.'"

Luke: "What does 'C.T.' stand for?"
Me: "I'll give you a hint: The 'T' stands for 'tree.' Today we are going to put up a 'C. Tree.'"
Luke ponders this for a moment, then says, "Conifer?"

The reason for the season

Luke: "Zach, what do you like best about Thanksgiving?"
Zach: "Uhhh...the trick-or-treating."
Luke: "No - that's Halloween. What do you like best about Thanksgiving?"
Zach: "Oh - opening presents!"

Headspin

I'm feeling a little dizzy right now. Last I knew I was in California. Then I went hurtling through space in a Southeastern direction, landed in Orlando and somehow found myself whipping at high speeds through Hogwarts castle. Next thing I know I'm at Tony and Joanna's house. What time is it, by the way?

We are on our Florida trip, and it is happening pretty darn fast. But it's fast in a good way, in everyone's opinion, except for Luke who is already mad that it's not going to be longer. As we headed out on our fantastic Virgin Airlines flight, Dave used the text feature to send a giddy message to me from the row behind: "This may be our best vacation this year!"

Luke and I spent the first day at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, or should I say waiting in line there. I'll sum it up with the amount of time spent in each line. Getting in the front gate of Islands of Adventure (10 minutes); waiting for timed entry passes to Harry Potter (10 minutes); waiting at the front entrance of Harry Potter (10 minutes); waiting at Olivander's wand shop (65 minutes); waiting at Honeyduke's candy store (20 minutes); waiting at Three Broomsticks for lunch and $10 butterbeers (60 minutes). After lunch I didn't think I had the stomach to wait in line again - and we hadn't even gone on any rides. But the castle beckoned and the sign said the line was "only" 75 minutes, so we decided to do it. The line zoomed right along and after about 30 minutes we happily entered the castle and gleefully watched the portraits talking to us in each room.

Then came the ride portion of the castle. I had assured Luke that there would be some turning and dipping (he is frightened of even the most gentle roller coasters) but it would be a fun way to see the castle. They strapped us into our chairs and - FOOM! What followed was the single most terrifying six minutes of my life with Luke. We were whipped, twisted, and catapulted through a 3-D scene of dementors and skeletons chasing us and flying through the air on broomsticks. (Oh - so THAT's why you have to be over four feet tall, not pregnant, in perfect health, and not over 260 pounds to go on this ride) I was holding Luke's hand but the scene was so loud and our heads were strapped into dividers so I couldn't talk to Luke or even check in with him to make sure he was OK. At a certain point, I didn't know whether I was more scared of the ride or more worried for Luke. But then it was done and, even though he declared he never wanted to do it again, he was fine, no tears. Just guilt for me.

Meantime Dave and Zach were having a rollicking good time at the water park where we stayed, and even after Luke and I dragged ourselves back from Harry Potter, Dave and Zach continued to go down the waterslides again and again and again.

Three hours after they dried off, we arrived at Tony and Joanna's house and we have been soaking up the Florida sun ever since then. The boys have been busy with toys, video games, and pool time; and last night we participated in an annual Florida Thanksgiving-Eve tradition: Dinner at the Deli. Then, even though we got home late, we had an impromptu birthday party for Eli out on the back patio. The boys blew party streamers and waved glowsticks in the air, and I took pictures that were so blurry they were dizzying. Kind of like this trip.

In the interim

It's strange, I just don't have that much to say at the moment. Let me run through the repertoire: Amusing kid quotes? Not really. Sardonic life observations? Nah. Self-deprecating it's-so-hard-to-be-a-parent stories? Nope.

My creative brain has basically shut down the blog portion of its operations while I work on our holiday card and on the family photo books. Let me just say that we have had some great times this year, and everyone looks incredibly handsome in book form. (These are two of the pictures a friend of mine took at a beach photo shoot she did for us.)

Now can I have some peace and quiet around here please?

Nick of Time

"Downtown Train Departs in 2 Minutes," read the digital sign near the baggage claim at the Portland airport. Dave was fiddling with the buttons on the ticket machine; the boys and I had assumed ready-to-run positions with our luggage. A pleasant attendant approached and helped Dave assess where we were going and how much it would cost to get downtown. "Downtown Train Departs in 1 Minute," the sign seemed to nag at us, heightening our anxiety. Plunk! The tickets dropped out of the machine. And - GO!!!!!! We dashed off through the airport exit, across the drop-off zone, and over to the tracks. And at the very second our feet touched the floor inside the train, we heard a *ding!* and then the automated voice, "Doors closing!"

That, folks, is what it is like to be Dave. Things just ...work out, albeit in hair-raising, last-minute fashion.

So Portland was beautiful, the weather was astonishingly perfect, there were these cool bubbly water fountains on every corner, and we got around without ever once setting foot in an (energy-wasting) automobile. Luke and Zach both had an opportunity to collect leaves and sticks in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Oh, and the train and bus system was so efficient that on Wednesday we even decided to stay downtown until 1:30 (for a 3:15 return flight) just because we knew we could count on the train to drop us back off at the airport in a timely fashion. But then again, that's Dave.

Of course one of the highlights was having a room connected to Grandma Joan and Papa; an unexpected benefit was meeting Dad's friend Rich, who is essentially his long-lost brother. Kind of like having an extra Papa around - beard, twinkly eyes, liberal politics, and all.

We won't dwell much on the election except to say that the returns were somewhat expected. While the men-folk were off enjoying Portland wine and political conversation at the election parties, Mom and I took the kids out for ice cream. Strangely enough, by 8 pm the Ben and Jerry's was closed, so we wandered around looking for something - anything - sweet, and finally wound up at a McDonald's. The only notable thing here was that while Luke was looking around the place suspiciously ("My friend Shane says that McDonald's doesn't care if people die!") Zach got busy with his chocolate-dipped cone and declared, "This is the best ice cream EVER!"

Clearly the trip made an impression on Zach because the next day he was inspired to narrate a story to his teacher, who wrote it down in book format:

The Hotel Room, by Zach.
There are two hotel rooms. One with Grandma and Papa and one with me. The alarm went off. There are alarms on the box. I ate a chocolate chip muffin.

Yep, that pretty much sums up the trip with the perfect blend of fiction and non-fiction. Except he didn't mention anything about running to catch the train. Maybe in his book that's just a given.