Catching Up Time...
Sorry for the lack of recent posts, dear readers. It's not that I don't have news, it's that I haven't had much of a spare moment to sit down and expound.
Obviously, we made it to and from Minnesota. Actually, the trip went much better than expected. We left from Newport on December 21st at noon and arrived in Rochester at 8:00 a.m. on December 22nd. We weren't sure how it would work out, but it worked great. We stopped once in somewhere in Connecticut (does anyone else have to say "connect-i-cut" when they spell that?) because Annika, reveling in the marvelousness of her newly forward-facing carseat, got a bit carsick. Well, it is rather a big change for her...we really should have driven around town a bit to give her a chance to get used to it. When one is used to scenery mainly comprised of a seatback and perhaps some treetops passing by...to be thrust, literally headfirst into rapidly moving scenery...well, it makes me a little dizzy.
Thank goodness she only threw up twice and that was that.
We stopped somewhere in Pennsylvania at McDonald's for supper and to let Josiah burn off some energy in the PlayPlace. Personally, I dislike PlayPlaces. They always smell funny and are filled with little bits of stale chicken nugget and french fry. Yuck. But, what choice do parents have? I think some brilliant person should start a chain of restaurants along the interstates that have really neat, clean indoor playgrounds and areas for crafts, plus truly nutritious food.
Of course, I say "nutritious food" as I'm sitting here downing my second Ding-Dong.
Anyway, to shorten this epic: the kids went to sleep around 8:00 p.m. and slept pretty much until we pulled up to Gen and Steve's. It worked out much better than trying to entertain and appease them during the day. And Hans and I didn't even come close to killing one another. We did pretty well. There was a time around 3:30 a.m. somewhere in the dregs of Wisconsin that I had to pull over so that we could rest our eyes for awhile, but otherwise, it went good.
Stayed with Gen, Steve and Sam in Rochester for a couple of days. Went to Austin on Christmas Eve, which was very nice. Stayed at the Holiday Inn, went to church and had a nice supper and opened gifts at Hans' aunt and uncle's place. Lovely company, good food and lots of kids running around to entertain Josiah and "Hannukah". One of Ricky and Amy's kids thought that Annika's name was Hannukah! That was funny and very holiday-appropriate.
Christmas Day: pack up the car and head to St. James. By the way, Futo the goldfish made it all the way there and back with us, comfortably ensconced in his Tupperware bowl. Anyway, Pete and Jan ran out the door the minute we pulled up. They may even have been waiting on the deck, I'm not sure. I almost hit them with the car when we pulled up! And then there was great rejoicing, then unloading and unpacking into their house. Relatives started showing up shortly thereafter and we soon had a full house. Thanks so much to everyone who went out of their way to stop by on Christmas--it means a lot to us.
Hans departed for the Cities with Donna that evening. The kids and I stayed in St. James with Gen and Sam. Ate at Jake's twice. Took some walks. Shopped in New Ulm. Shopped in Sioux Falls. Why Sioux Falls? Well, why not? It was a nice drive and we Kuehls like a nice drive. Packed up the mountain of Christmas gifts (many thanks, again) and headed to the Cities on Friday. Spent a lovely, romantic night with my husband (alone) eating at Buca and staying at The Grand in Minneapolis. Lovely, lovely hours of forgetting that we have two small children.
One final day of fun on Saturday. We went to Como Zoo and visited the animals, saw Pat and Liz and spent the evening with all of our good ol' friends from The Rock. Considered once more the option of leaving the Navy and coming home for good. As always, it is a huge temptation whenever we are home. We miss Minnesota so very much...and all of you. Shook it off and recalled that we have a very short time left before we retire with benefits for life.
One more breakfast with Peder and Sarah on wonderful Grand Avenue...jumped in the car and we were off "On the Road to Rhode Island"...arrived something like 25 hours later. Ugh. We kept running into strange traffic jams on the freeway. I got pulled over for speeding somewhere in Ohio. Oopsie. It happened just after midnight on New Year's Day. So much for my resolution to be perfect. Crap. Then, we hit heavy rains somewhere in Pennsylvania and had to crawl along at an insanely slow speed all night, into New Jersey, into Connecticut, into Rhode Island and finally home.
Since then, Hans and the kids have developed a wretched cold. The kids have been snotty and whiny all week long. Hans has been snotty and whiny all week long. It should be just about done. How have I escaped it? I have no idea. I've been snorting Zicam like a coke addict. Maybe that's what's kept me healthy. Or maybe it's all just mental. Mothers cannot get sick. Especially when everyone else is falling to bits. Maybe I'll be able to get sick once they are all better. We'll see.
Hmmm. I went to one yoga class on Thursday at the Y. It was O.K. Even though we were moving very slowly and it was dark in the studio, I still managed to get my right and left arms/legs confused. But it was truly relaxing. I joked to someone afterwards that I wasn't sure if we should be operating heavy machinery. I think I'll try it again this week. I need all the meditation and relaxation I can get.
Last bit of news: Josiah is going to school! Hurrah! We toured a school on Wednesday. He was so excited when he heard we were going to look at a school. He ran and got his shoes! He will start in a "Toddler II" program on Wednesdays, and eventually, when he is of the right age and pottytrained, he will move up to Preschool two days a week. I'm so excited for him. I'm so glad that we finally took this step and found something for him to do.
One resolution down, many to go.
Obviously, we made it to and from Minnesota. Actually, the trip went much better than expected. We left from Newport on December 21st at noon and arrived in Rochester at 8:00 a.m. on December 22nd. We weren't sure how it would work out, but it worked great. We stopped once in somewhere in Connecticut (does anyone else have to say "connect-i-cut" when they spell that?) because Annika, reveling in the marvelousness of her newly forward-facing carseat, got a bit carsick. Well, it is rather a big change for her...we really should have driven around town a bit to give her a chance to get used to it. When one is used to scenery mainly comprised of a seatback and perhaps some treetops passing by...to be thrust, literally headfirst into rapidly moving scenery...well, it makes me a little dizzy.
Thank goodness she only threw up twice and that was that.
We stopped somewhere in Pennsylvania at McDonald's for supper and to let Josiah burn off some energy in the PlayPlace. Personally, I dislike PlayPlaces. They always smell funny and are filled with little bits of stale chicken nugget and french fry. Yuck. But, what choice do parents have? I think some brilliant person should start a chain of restaurants along the interstates that have really neat, clean indoor playgrounds and areas for crafts, plus truly nutritious food.
Of course, I say "nutritious food" as I'm sitting here downing my second Ding-Dong.
Anyway, to shorten this epic: the kids went to sleep around 8:00 p.m. and slept pretty much until we pulled up to Gen and Steve's. It worked out much better than trying to entertain and appease them during the day. And Hans and I didn't even come close to killing one another. We did pretty well. There was a time around 3:30 a.m. somewhere in the dregs of Wisconsin that I had to pull over so that we could rest our eyes for awhile, but otherwise, it went good.
Stayed with Gen, Steve and Sam in Rochester for a couple of days. Went to Austin on Christmas Eve, which was very nice. Stayed at the Holiday Inn, went to church and had a nice supper and opened gifts at Hans' aunt and uncle's place. Lovely company, good food and lots of kids running around to entertain Josiah and "Hannukah". One of Ricky and Amy's kids thought that Annika's name was Hannukah! That was funny and very holiday-appropriate.
Christmas Day: pack up the car and head to St. James. By the way, Futo the goldfish made it all the way there and back with us, comfortably ensconced in his Tupperware bowl. Anyway, Pete and Jan ran out the door the minute we pulled up. They may even have been waiting on the deck, I'm not sure. I almost hit them with the car when we pulled up! And then there was great rejoicing, then unloading and unpacking into their house. Relatives started showing up shortly thereafter and we soon had a full house. Thanks so much to everyone who went out of their way to stop by on Christmas--it means a lot to us.
Hans departed for the Cities with Donna that evening. The kids and I stayed in St. James with Gen and Sam. Ate at Jake's twice. Took some walks. Shopped in New Ulm. Shopped in Sioux Falls. Why Sioux Falls? Well, why not? It was a nice drive and we Kuehls like a nice drive. Packed up the mountain of Christmas gifts (many thanks, again) and headed to the Cities on Friday. Spent a lovely, romantic night with my husband (alone) eating at Buca and staying at The Grand in Minneapolis. Lovely, lovely hours of forgetting that we have two small children.
One final day of fun on Saturday. We went to Como Zoo and visited the animals, saw Pat and Liz and spent the evening with all of our good ol' friends from The Rock. Considered once more the option of leaving the Navy and coming home for good. As always, it is a huge temptation whenever we are home. We miss Minnesota so very much...and all of you. Shook it off and recalled that we have a very short time left before we retire with benefits for life.
One more breakfast with Peder and Sarah on wonderful Grand Avenue...jumped in the car and we were off "On the Road to Rhode Island"...arrived something like 25 hours later. Ugh. We kept running into strange traffic jams on the freeway. I got pulled over for speeding somewhere in Ohio. Oopsie. It happened just after midnight on New Year's Day. So much for my resolution to be perfect. Crap. Then, we hit heavy rains somewhere in Pennsylvania and had to crawl along at an insanely slow speed all night, into New Jersey, into Connecticut, into Rhode Island and finally home.
Since then, Hans and the kids have developed a wretched cold. The kids have been snotty and whiny all week long. Hans has been snotty and whiny all week long. It should be just about done. How have I escaped it? I have no idea. I've been snorting Zicam like a coke addict. Maybe that's what's kept me healthy. Or maybe it's all just mental. Mothers cannot get sick. Especially when everyone else is falling to bits. Maybe I'll be able to get sick once they are all better. We'll see.
Hmmm. I went to one yoga class on Thursday at the Y. It was O.K. Even though we were moving very slowly and it was dark in the studio, I still managed to get my right and left arms/legs confused. But it was truly relaxing. I joked to someone afterwards that I wasn't sure if we should be operating heavy machinery. I think I'll try it again this week. I need all the meditation and relaxation I can get.
Last bit of news: Josiah is going to school! Hurrah! We toured a school on Wednesday. He was so excited when he heard we were going to look at a school. He ran and got his shoes! He will start in a "Toddler II" program on Wednesdays, and eventually, when he is of the right age and pottytrained, he will move up to Preschool two days a week. I'm so excited for him. I'm so glad that we finally took this step and found something for him to do.
One resolution down, many to go.
Comments
I'm so glad you made it home safely. Sorry Hans and the kids have colds -- not fun.
I'm excited for Josiah and his new school opportunity. I think he will do very well. It was so much fun having him and Annika here with me. The time went by way too fast. All of you are welcome anytime.
Heidi
I simply cannot imagine Hans being snotty and whiny, having known him from the University. He's the very image of the stoic American naval officer...lantern-jawed, gleaming-eyed, d@mn-the-torpedoes, virtually daring the elements to spit in his eye!
*snorts a laugh*