Progr-mess?
Construction started 3 weeks ago and the foundation is being poured today after the inspector gave everything the "A-OK" yesterday. The side of the house and part of the roof is already removed in anticipation of the coming 3rd story. However hard it was to be on the road with 2 one-year olds and a 14-year old dog, it would have been nothing compared to trying to live around this mess. However, mess is progress and we are oh-so-thankful for that!
We muse over lessons learned on the road, creativity we didn't know we had, and friends we're really glad we got a chance to visit: my Aunt Carolyn hosted us for 3 nights in Seattle - they have 7 acres of lush garden and "wild" greenage where the girls loved to play; aging Grandma Dent (or G.G. for Great-Grandma) hosted us for 3 days in Salem, Oregon and we enjoyed hearing her stories as we perused over old heirloom photographs - I'm eager to learn as much as I can while her wealth of knowledge and history is sharp and around; my crazy friend Kathy and brother Jim hosted us for 3 days in Ashland, Oregon. Jim and his wife have 4-year old fraternal twin boys - it was fun to see what the future looks like with older twins and to see the 2 sets play together; my cousin Holly also hosted us for 2 nights in Sacramento where we got to ride a "real" train as well as visit the local zoo full of rescued animals.
All the while we kept in touch with home where we heard of progress with the house and I reported new ways of coping with a van full of dependents. I didn't realize how amusing some of these skills were until I relayed to my mother, after her questioning, how I refined the "art" of our bathroom stops along the road. Since most restaurants don't take dogs, the many rest areas along the way are a great alternative. Being by oneself, it's really a more complex process than having another person along to be with either the kids and/or the dog:
Steps to Stop (to eat/pee/etc) on the Road with 2 Kids and a Dog:
1. Pull into a nice rest area - in Washington and Oregon, there are nice ones every 40 miles or so.
2. Find a parking space in the shade and close to the "pet area."
3. Lay out large picnic blanket under the shade of a tree
4. Get out Superyard (6 panels) and open into a circle
5. Take kids out of carseats and plop them into Superyard center with a bucket full of toys (so much easier than running 2 different directions dragging an old dog!)
6. Get dog's leash and let doggie "take care of business" while keeping kids in sight so that onlookers don't think they are abandoned
7. Tie doggie to Superyard and get ice chest, dog's water bowl, and diaper bag out of car
8. Get lunch out of ice chest and feed girls as they teeter around the play yard
9. Get bottles out of ice chest and change diapers while they lay on their backs drinking
10. Return cooler and diaper bag to car and come back with double stroller
11. Put kids in stroller so you can take them with you to go to the bathroom (gotta let the mommies go as well!)
12. Tie dog to tree or car bumper in case a cat (or something "chasable") comes along and dog drags the Superyard across the parking lot ruining the paint job on 10 cars.
13. Let Mommy pee and wash her hands
14. Pack kids back into the car
15. Pack up the Superyard and blanket
16. Pack dog back into the car
17. Do a head-count to make sure you've got the same number of kids and that you're not pulling "Rover" around like National Lampoon's "Vacation"
As a re-cap, I created a montage of the highlights of the whole 4-week+ trip. Ava and Tina learned all kinds of vocabulary and also figured out safe ways of climbing and descending stairs (whew!). Nine-minute recap below:
