Travel Town

This morning we went to the Travel Town Museum. It was a good way to kill an hour.

The train ride was only $2.50 which isn't too bad until you consider the fact that there were seven of us. I spent almost $20 for a 5-10 minute ride. That is just synical adult talk though and I hope the kids had fun. I am not sure that Dewy did though. He was very upset that the kiddy train was the only operational train. I must have answered about a hundred questions concerning the fact that we were at a museum and the trains there are old.

After going home for lunch we made our first foray into the pool here at the condo. It's not real kid friendly. There were about 10 people there, all of which were there simply to work on their tans so I felt like the kids were just bugging them. After about 15 minutes Zaya came unglued that she had to go to the bathroom. I am not familiar enough with the place to know if and where there was a pool bathroom. So we all went back to the apartment so she could go potty. We then hiked back down to the pool where we swam for about 15 more minutes and she did the same thing again. This ended our pool excursion. Is is wrong for me to just want her to quietly pee in the pool like I am sure all the other kids were doing?

Now That's Good Advice!

The LA Zoo

We started off the day by dropping off Katie and then making a visit to the Doughnut Prince. (I guess that is the next best thing to Prince Charming.) We made our first visit to the LA Zoo. The kids had fun I think. Although once again there was a lot of complaining. (When do kids outgrow that?) Dewy and Zaya were afraid of some of the animals but all in all it was a thumbs up for today's outing.

PS I think I saw Holly Robinson Peete at the zoo today, but I didn't say anything to Cricket because Cricket has no idea who she is.

Day 1

Well sort of...Technically we arrived in California yesterday after staying Saturday night in Primm at Buffalo Bills (by far the grossest hotel I have ever stayed in). I have decided that since I am less distracted by life while I am here, I am going to try to be really good about documenting this trip on my blog.

We are in LA for the next five weeks and as I was discussing with Cricket last night, this will probably be the only time we ever get to take a five week long vacation at least while the kids are at home (I can always hope) so we better make the best of it. Right now I am stilling finding the whole thing very intimidating. Whoever heard of an intimidating vacation? Anyone who attempted to entertain six kids in a big city they were totally unfamiliar with for an extended period of time.

Jon drove with us out here, but he had to fly home today. Before he left, he was kind enough to take us to the beach. Neither of us is too familiar with CA so we ended up at the Santa Monica Beach. I could never had made this trip without him as my car is not equipped with a navigation system. We only hung out for a short while, then we headed down the road a bit to Venis Beach.

Lessons Learned:

1) Don't go to any water activities until after lunch- It was so cold when we went out around ten this morning. We kept it short because the kids were complaining so much mostly about being cold, but also that they were hungry and sandy.

2)Watch where you park.- Our inexpensive excursion to the beach was shot to the tune of $60 by a wonderful parking ticket at Venis Beach.

3)DO NOT use the public restrooms at Venis Beach (especially girls). It is co-ed minus the toilet seats. You are far better off pee-ing your pants. At least then you would know who's pee you were sitting in.

I took Jon to the Bob Hope Airport and picked Katie up from school without getting lost all by myself. (I know I had six kids with me, but you know what I mean)

Cricket would really like to see a movie star.

Tilly is her usual easy-to-deal-with self.

Dewy is pissed Jon left, but don't worry, it is not affecting his appetite.

Cute Cupcake Cards

Look how cute and crafty I am. These are Tilly's birthday invites for this year!

Poor Cricket!

I got a phone call last Thursday from Katie around lunch time saying she was down at the school doing playground duty and Cricket was in the office crying. She had fallen off the monkey bars and hurt her wrist. By the time I got to the school it was swelling. Off we went to the pediatrician's office and this is what we had a couple hours later. She has a buckle fracture just above her left wrist. She also has a non-waterproof caste. That means no boating, swim lessons, water slides etc. for five weeks. She had to drop out of gymnastics and will be sporting this caste in her annual dance recital. As Durfenshmutz would say "Curse you monkey bars."

What movie do you want to see?

Yesterday Dewy informed me that he really wants to go see Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid. Then walked around asking everyone if they want to see Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid. Well do you?

Hang ups?

I have discovered that being a mom has it's advantages and it's disadvantages and sometimes they are one in the same. For instances as a mom I have learned to ignore being constantly tugged and pulled on. This week I was in the bathroom getting ready and Dewy was yanking and pulling on me and I was ignoring him. Did I notice when he hung a child's hanger on the back of my pants? No. Did I notice it was there as I walked around the house cleaning and watering the garden? No. Did I notice when I got in car to go run errands? No. Did I notice when I went into my place of employment to pick up my paycheck? No. As I got back into the car, I sat on something and it was all caught in the seat. Dewy was dying laughing. He had obviously seen me get in and out of the car with a hanger hanging on my bum. He said, "I put a hanger on your butt." Thank you, son for keeping me grounded.