Is This It?

Do you ever have one of those, "Is this all there is to it?,  kind of days?  Every so often, I find myself in the midst of brushing my teeth in the morning before Getting Ready For School and I look at myself in the mirror and think, "Really??  This is what my hopes and dreams have amounted to? Where brushing my teeth suffices for 'getting ready in the morning' ??"  One pair of stretchy pants and an old, stained t-shirt later (which may or may not have a hole in it- today's did), and I'm good to go for the day!

Then there's the 45 minutes of asking the kids to do the same task over and over and over again, and it still doesn't get done:  "Derek, go put water in your hair and brush it.  You have bed head."  Two minutes later, " Derek, go brush your hair." Two minutes later, "Derek, did you brush your hair?" (He pretends not to hear me), ok, obviously you didn't. Go do it".  Repeat for 45 minutes until it doesn't get done, and Derek goes to school looking like a crack addict.

It's at this point that my best threats usually come out:  "Grayson, you eat that oatmeal or I swear I'll make nothing BUT oatmeal for the next 10 years!!"  or "Carissa, if you aren't ready to walk out this door in two minutes I am taking you to class in your underwear!"  or one of the best: "You guys stop fighting or there will be no treats, no movies and no fun this weekend!! And no soccer, and no volleyball, and no friends over!! I mean it!" (direct quote) I've been know to threaten to cancel Christmas on occasion.  But only after Thanksgiving.

Then the lunch packing begins.  Every kid wants something different which means if I only have turkey, but no cheese, then Derek won't eat it, unless it's on crackers, in which case he will, but not if they're in a plastic container, because then they get soggy, so only put them in saran wrap, and make sure there's ice in there so they don't get "gross".  And I must remember that Grayson only eats GREEN grapes and GREEN cut-up apples with lemon juice, not plain because they get brown and that's "gross", and no sandwiches for him because they get too smushy in the lunch box and the jam soaks on the bread and that's "gross".

One of my favorite lunch packing conversations went like this:

"Grayson do you want a ham sandwich for lunch?"
"No, mom.  Yuck!  You know I don't eat those!"
"Ok, well how about  lettuce and mustard on bread with some ham?"
"That sounds good.  Can you put some cheese on it?".

No joke.  That's seriously how it went down.

And for the record, he didn't eat the sandwich.

And don't even get me started on the daily Search For Socks.  It doesn't matter that the night before I told the boys to go pick up the 10 pairs of sock they left in various parts of the backyard, or that they've been hoarding dirty socks, crammed into crevices of their room- every morning it's a shock of epic proportions when they open the sock drawer and lo- there aren't any socks!!!!  This results in an all out scrounging for socks throughout the premises which usually ends with the dryer yielding 4 unmatched, but clean, socks.  The end of this fun is usually something like, "Mom, why don't you ever do our laundry?" or "Mom, you need to buy us more socks".  Nokay.

At some point in all of this there is a very dirty, stinky diaper that has to be changed, a carseat that has to be transferred from one car to another, a lost shoe (see above paragraph on the Search For Socks to fully understand what this entails) or a car that is literally running on fumes because the last driver forgot to fill it up the night before.

If somehow, after all of this, we are out of the door before 7:21-, (and I say out of the DOOR, which is very different from out of the DRIVEWAY, because out of the DRIVEWAY implies that everyone has found their seat in the car, including the baby, and that the inevitable Struggle For The Front Seat has been decided, a struggle that sometimes eats up another 3-4 minutes of precious time, in which the older, stronger sibling and the younger, more stubborn sibling wage an all-out battle of words and names for whomever got to the front seat first, until one relents because they realize they are going to be late/lose handball time.)- then we have a relatively easy drive.  But heaven forbid we get to that 7:25 mark- we are screwed.  If that happens, I transform into something vaguely resembling a cross between a speedway driver, a New York City cabbie, and turrets sufferer as I navigate the 4 miles to the middle school and all the other strung-out moms on the road.

At the end of it all, when the shaking subsides and I enter a house that looks like it was vandalized by the Mob while we were out, I count down the hours until I get to go through The Afternoon (much, much scarier than The Morning), and hope I can at least clean some socks and put away the crackers in the next 6 hours.

I kid you not- this stuff is real!

Perhaps I haven't properly trained my kids- I'm certain that that is part of the problem.  Or maybe they are just normal.  I don't really know.  But yes, sometimes I do ask myself, "Is this it? Shouldn't I be doing something better or more important with my life?  Can I just wear something for once that isn't stained, torn, spit-up on or really old? Can I please use the toilet once without having a kid run in to show me their scrape/school paper/lego creation? Do the curious habits of 7-9 year old boys have to be the topic of my conversations and thoughts instead of something more intellectually stimulating?"

But those thoughts are beside the point.  The point is that this IS IT for now.  THIS is not forever.  THIS is what I chose.  It's not what I hoped and dreamed about in college ( "I'm going to save the world one river at a time, man!"), or even what I dreamed of in grade school playing MASH ("I'm going to live in a mansion and drive a limo and work at a restaurant!"), but THIS is what each decision along the way has become.  The babies, who have become children, who have become independent beings with unique thoughts, desires and opinions need me and need me now, and I CHOSE to be their mother.

So here's to another crazy morning tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that...until these days are over, and I find myself wishing that they weren't.

Snapshots of Brooke

Because sometimes you just need to get in the 3rd world squat on an open dishwasher with your sippy cup.

Understanding Zombies

Me:  "Derek, can you kill a zombie with a bullet to the brain?"

Derek: "No. Zombies don't have brains."

Me: "Well, then how do you kill them?"

Derek: " Well, they only come out at night, so that means they don't like sunlight, so that's probably a good way.  But I think it's easier to just tie them up."

Adventures With the Bradfords

As the naturalist Carl Sharsmith said, "If I only had one day to spend in Yosemite, I would sit on the bank of the Merced River and cry."

13 years ago, barely pregnant with Miss Carissa, Lee and I spent one day in Yosemite.  We only had time to go to the cute church and climb Yosemite Falls and vowed we would come back soon to see the rest of the park.  Well...4 kids later...we spent another DAY in Yosemite, this time with Grandma Pam, which isn't nearly long enough.  And far from sitting by the river and crying, we tried to make the best of it:  we rode our bikes all through the valley floor, went up to Mirror Lake, back toward Nevada Falls, over to Yosemite Falls, and stopped for lunch at the river.

The kids probably would have spent all day here at Mirror Lake/Trickle skipping rocks and splashing in the shallow water.

Especially Miss Brooke.

Obligatory family photo.

  Hiking up Vernal Falls toward Nevada.  We didn't make it too far up, but got a taste of the beauty of those waterfalls.

So many rocks to climb in.

 And scare me by climbing on. (They still hadn't found the last body lost over Nevada Falls by the time we got there.)

Could there be a better spot to have lunch??

More rocks.

 Trying to motivate the troops to hike up Yosemite Falls.

This is how far we made it.  Not even close to the top.  But I don't know what I expected, trying to start a hike like that in the afternoon after riding bikes all day.

After a gorgeous drive to Sonora to stay in the cutest little hotel, the Gunn House, we stopped at Columbia State Park.  The kids wanted to try out the candle dipping.

Grayson dipped a heart.  Cute!

Of course we visited the old schoolhouse and cemetery, as well...and neglected to take any photos, but the kids had fun finding the oldest headstones they could.

Then it was on to Calaveras Big Trees.

Although I have visited this park many times growing up, it is always mind boggling to see the massiveness of these trees up close.

I love this bench.  It was so peaceful and quiet there, staring up the big ancient trees.

Derek was determined to push the trees apart.

 And there was lots of make-believe and super heroes being played out among the trees.

Brooke just wanted to walk and walk and walk.

 The boys climbed on and jumped off of every tree they possibly could.

 After the hike, we trekked out to find the old swimming hole on the Stanislaus River from my childhood, which we found!  Unfortunately, I was too busy scrambling across rocks with a baby in my arms and gear for the kids to have room for a camera.  Too bad, because it was beautiful and the kids enjoyed jumping into the freezing cold river off the rocks.   Next time...

Then it was on to Placerville and Wrights Lake for some camping with the family.

Girl Tent!

 Brooke and her Daddy.  She liked camping in a tent.  It's just like sleeping at home or anywhere else, for that matter:  snuggled up next to mommy. But for more on this adventure, see here:  http://private-bailey-blog.blogspot.com/2013/07/wrights-lake.html

After 3 glorious days of camping we headed back down the hill for some quality  El Dorado County time, which included a visit to the drive-in with the cousins!

And a bike ride in 103 degree weather down to the river to watch the rafters go by,

 swim in the water,

put on our Duggar suits,

and, of course, skip rocks.

And finally, to complete this northern trip, every baby must get naked in the backyard with a hose!

We had such a great 2 weeks, it was hard to say goodbye.  Until next summer....

First Day of School! First Day of School!

Well that summer went fast!  We barely even had time to get to that super bored, what-should-we-do, when does school start phase of summer.  

So here we are:  mid-August and we're back at it.  Although I didn't nearly dread school starting this time like last year, when I was juggling a 10 day old baby, 3 schools, a new kindergartener and a new middle schooler.  THAT was insane.  

No, today was easy.  A piece of cake.  Totally relaxed.    We even had plenty of time to take pictures! So here we are at 7:15 a.m. on the front porch before heading out to do drop off.

"Mom, what's 'rad' ?" said Grayson.

"You are rad, Grayson!!"  Totally awesome, dude.  Here's my first grader, headed off to school with his big brother...finally.

And my totally chill 4th grader.  His main concern?  "Mom, what if Marisol is in my class again??" (she's had a crush on him since 2nd grade.)  Turns out she IS in his class again, along with his BFF, Matthew (for the 3rd year...score!).  Oh, and least 5 girls like him now.  He counted.

 This girl was very excited to be in the 7th grade.  All different teachers for all subjects, including yearbook.  And an average of 45 kids per class.

And here we are at Balboa for the requisite 1st day of school picture.  I can't believe they are almost the same height.  They are so excited to be at the same school and to be able to play together on the yard.  

 
I was surprised by how sad I felt as I dropped each of them off.  I actually found myself a little weepy as I said goodbye to each one.  Derek even refused to give me a kiss!!  (Guess he didn't want Marisol to see).  Thank goodness I still have Brooke to keep me company!

Passing Time

 We've tried to keep our days busy this summer and, until this week, we've done good job of going on outings several times a week.  One attraction we couldn't miss was seeing the "Endeavour" down at the California Science Center in Exposition Park.  After retiring the shuttle, NASA flew it into LAX sometime last year and paraded it through the streets of LA en route to the museum, where it could be enjoyed by all for a small fee of $2.

Cali was chosen as her final resting place in part because she was assembled here in SoCal back in the 90's, after the Challenger disaster.  Endeavour made 25 missions, I believe, and was named for Captain James Cook's ship, the Endeavour.  It was cool to see something so massive up close and realize where it had been.  Because the Museum is in the process of creating a permanent exhibit, there is hope that eventually people will be able to get closer and possibly go inside some parts of the ship.  We were all struck by the spongy look of the white paneling, and the thickness of the heat tiles.

We had hoped to get to all of the exhibits, along with about 10,000 other ppl and summer camp groups that day.  We had a prolonged stop at the aquarium area because Brooke was entranced.

I've NEVER seen her hold this still for anything other than sleep.  She stayed here until I moved her out of the way of a crushing throng of summer camp kids.

Sadly, the electricity totally went out right after this and the museum closed early, which was odd considering it was only mildly warm that day.  But at least we got a head start on traffic!

Another day we took advantage of the cooler weather and headed out to Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce, so named for the 19th century bandit, Mr. Vasquez, who hid his stolen horses in these rocks.  Ali and Susie will remember the thrill of bringing 5 small children over these rocks, 2 of which (Grayson and Ben) were in backpacks.  I was surprised at how easy it was this time, not carrying 2 year old Grayson.

The kids were up this high before Lee and I got out of the car.  He had to run up after them just to get a picture!

Can you see Brooke and me?

My ever-cautious Carissa.

There we are!  Brooke would have nothing to do with the pack without a fight.

 
Almost to the top!   There are so many different ridges and formations that you could spend hours exploring them all.  We stayed until the sun broke through the clouds and became too hot.

 Of course, summer wouldn't be complete without trips to the beach.  This has been the summer of volleyball training for Carissa.  She has been working hard with Lee, having taken a huge interest in the sport. She's improving rapidly, too!

We'll see how long the father/coach thing works out, though.  Prediction:  not much longer.

"Dad, come swim with us."  Not when the water is about 68 degrees, boys.

Carissa getting out of the sand.

 

 

Derek always wants to race.  Lee still lets him know who the Alpha Male is, but I am long past being able to out sprint this boy.  Sad.

Doing their "wall sits"

And no summer would be complete without a backyard fire and campout.  We had FHE this night and made s'mores.

And after sleeping 3 nights in bear country at Wright's lake in tents, they all got scared at about 11:30 and came in to sleep in their own beds. Seriously?!?  What am I raising here?  City kids??

The local park is always a great place to finish up the day.  They have free swimming from 3-6 everyday and if you're 8 or older (or just happen to look like you're 8- wink, wink), you can go without a parent!  Although swimming at a city pool means mostly being afraid that the 15 lifeguards are going to yell at you ( "don't run!", "don't dive", "don't splash!", "don't go under the ropes!", "don't breathe!!!")", the kids like to do tricks off the platform ( but you must jump STRAIGHT OUT! Lee discovered this when he got yelled at after doing a can opener on the lifeguard standing to the side) and they like to swim in a really deep pool. Most days we take along the only neighbor friend the boys have, Aracelis, who is 10.

 They finish it up with a round of tag on the playground equipment and, on this day, Grayson just pooped out and fell asleep on the wall.

I gotta say, after this summer, that's exactly how I feel.  I think I'm ready for the craziness of school! ...well, sort of.