Forced Family Fun

Just coming back from a long weekend away, there are things that we deal with now traveling with the kids that can be considered "normal" or "just for the sake of making mommy nutso."

Packing
I have to pack for myself and for the littles.  Otherwise my son will wear the same shirt for 4 days in a row, and the same stanky socks.

My tween is the only one allowed to pack her things.  Touch her suitcase and a meltdown is sure to ensue.

Bring exactly enough clothes for K, so she will not have a choice.  Otherwise it's sweats and long-sleeves in 90 degree weather or her bathing suit in 50.   Tell her "this is all that's left in the bag" and hide the dirty stuff, or a meltdown is sure to ensue.

Food/Snacks/Eating Out
No matter how many or what type of snacks you take in the car, they'll want something from a drive-thru.

K will eat 10% of her burger/nuggets/taco/main course.

She will be starving 10 minutes later.

She will refuse to eat the other 90% of her meal and beg for candy/slurpee/ice cream/treats.

Mommy will inevitably forget her headphones for the rest of the remaining 4 hours of the trip.

After 4 days of eating out, you want nothing to do with it and will beg for homemade lasagne, meatloaf, or even cereal.

Pep Talk
It seems that at ages 12, 10, and 5, the FFF (Forced Family Fun) Pep Talk starts every road trip.

"Attention kids:  You will have fun on this trip.  There will be no complaining, whining, or being bored. Smiling is mandatory and fighting will result in a NO ELECTRONICS penalty.

We are demanding you have fun, even if the 100th train in the museum looks just like the first.  Love it. Own it. Remember it. Appreciate it."

Love, Mom.

Activities
The tween wants to go shopping, clothes shopping.  A mall is good anywhere.

The boy wants an arcade, skee ball preferred.

The 5 year old wants tickets to buy junky toys that break on first use.

The hubby is happy reading maps of wherever we are.

I can never pass up visiting a  pizza place on our trips.

Perfect all our future vacations are to Chuck E. Cheese and we don't have to go further than 15 miles!

Home
Okay after 4 days, even I was excited for my own bed, my DVR'ed shows, and home.

Even if it involves unpacking, laundry, and grocery shopping.

Even groceries are exciting, eating out each meal makes mommy fat.

Precious is that when my little K comes home, she spends a significant amount of time in her room saying hello to her toys.  She missed them greatly and told them so.  Soon you see her with her toy stethescope and carrying all her stuffed animals to the living room.

"What's wrong honey?"

The animals are sick, their mom left on a plane ride and now they all need medicine!

"Oh then I'm so glad we came home so you can take care of them!"

Me too.

On the Road Again (Alternatively titled, "Shoot Me Now, Border Patrol")

Just about 24 hours in the car will make anyone rummy.

Like a total car zombie that wants to jump out at any moment just to rid themselves of the straight-jacket of seatbelts, static-y radio stations, and the smell of feet and corn nuts.

Though today, we drove through our first ever Border Patrol checkpoint, and walking aimlessly on the highway might have put me in a Mexican prison.

That's totally not offensive either.

I'm Mexican.

And, we were within a stone's throw of the border.

The BORDER of the US and Mexico.

Did you know there's this black fence that keeps us from our southern neighbors.

I really wanted to touch the soil just beyond that fence this morning, but my husband suggested otherwise. 

"See that mountain, it's Signal Mountain.  That's Mexico.  Just LOOK at it, we're close enough."

Oh well.  I did SEE Mexico today.  A first.

Plus a lot of other little towns like Calexico, El Centro, Yuma, and Holtville.

My husband's old stomping grounds when he drove tomato harvester in his youth.

Oh and I did see the Colorado River, twice this week.

We went to Arizona to spend a second Christmas with my husband's family.

It was very nice.

Arizon's housing is incredibly inexpensive, "from the $118,000s and 3-4.5 car garages!"

Not to mention there's a Walgreen's, Home Depot, and Dunkin' Donuts on every street corner.

Plus lots of rocks, brush, and cacti that look like they're flipping me off.

My SIL's family is moving back to CA next summer, so this was the last hurrah for the family to enjoy the holidays there.

Looks like we'll never have to drive further than 30 minutes to spend holidays with our family. 

Thank goodness, because this road trip may be the final straw that broke The Mom's back.

If I hear "are we there yet one more time...."

I'm going to fly for the rest of my life.

Happy New Year!  Here's to a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2011.

Sand, Snow, Cactus.

I love where I live.

You can be at the beach one weekend.


Strolling the sand, planning our next skim-boarding trip.


Then the next weekend you can head to the mountains.

Suit up in the warmest of clothing.

And, play in the snow.

That's our plan this weekend.

Snowmen. Sleds. Snowshoes. Bitter cold.

With dreams of heading back to the beach after Christmas.

San Diego.

With a hint of the desert (Arizona) in between.

Tis the season.

For fun travel.

Have a great weekend.

Fade to Fog: A Photo Story

I hate to say I sorta miss the deep-fry temps of Palm Springs right now as I sit watching Food Network in my robe, flannel jams, and slippers!  It's damn cold.

Plus the wind we get around 3pm every afternoon has creeped up to visiting at noon and you may as well take the parka out of your vacuum-packed storage.

What's the smartest thing to do?  Go north.  Up the coast. Sure it's not warmer, but it's pretty.  And there's blue skies.


But, off in the distance...fog.

Creeping in, ever so slowly.


And, in a matter of...


...miles...


...the fog wanted to...


...swallow us whole.

And it did.

But, oh how gorgeous the coast is even in it's greydom.


Then staying here...

...and enjoying this the next morning...


...makes it all worth it. Fog and all.