Travel, School, Sickness

Wow. School starts tomorrow. (Well, for my kids, anyway. My university started a couple of weeks ago). Labor day weekend. The last few moments of fun before school starts. And, boy, did this one go out with a bang.
Saturday started off normal. The kids and I did some small repairs around the house. I baked a loaf of bread to surprise my wife when she got home from work. I was a little tired, due to the crazy driver roaming the streets the night before, blowing his horn madly at each intersection and then disappearing for an hour or so. The police cruiser trying to find him (or so I assumed) never did (far as I know). But, that's okay, I still had two more nights of the Labor Day weekend to catch up in sleep. The rest of Saturday went normal as well. Went to school for a couple of hours after my wife came home. Did some more work in the workshop (building a card holder out of spare wood) and then playing a board game with the kids. (During which, they bickered the whole time. I think it'll do them some good to be going back to school and being around more kids than just each other). Then into bed. Late, since I went back to school after the kids went to sleep. Around midnight. (At least once school starts, the kids will start going to sleep on time. Wow, where did that laugh come from?).
Sunday. We left really early in the morning to take the kids to Grandma's house. So, no sleep that night. The drive down was remarkable. Around Olympia we hit a massive downpour. The freeway slowed to 30 mph, visibility down to nothing. What a rush. Spent a wonderful day. The kids got to see Grandma while mom and dad went shopping at the outlet mall. My wife and I wandered through the Borst House. (If you've never been there, this is a great place to go. Click here to see someone else's experience and some pics from it).
We went back to Grandma's and all went out for dinner. Then we went back to Grandma's for a game of cards. (Hey, mom and dad get some time with Grandma too). The drive home that night was just as crazy as the drive there. Except it was late and dark. An adventure radio show put the kids to sleep, but kept us company all the way through the dark, awful squalls. We got home after midnight and were asleep by one. But that's okay. We had nothing going on the next day. We could sleep in and get caught up. Woohoo.
Sunday night was fraught with kids waking up from nightmares, needing water and who-knows-what-else. Broken sleep with sleeping in is still good. Monday morning, early Monday morning, we were awoken by the sounds of vomiting. A sick kid. Early in the morning. So much for sleeping in. Cleaning with bleary eyes is almost as good as sleeping. Yeeesh. Tired, tired, tired. Spent the day rearranging furniture. (The kids are getting their own rooms for the new school year, so the playrooom needs to be cleaned out). Moving furniture, cleaning the backyard, and all the rest of normal weekly chores, while taking care of sick kid and entertaining the now lonely bored other kid, while simultaniously going to school and every other possible problem. Sigh. Went to bed late.

Maybe I'll get some rest at work.

Camping

Well, another camping trip is done. All I can say is, "Dang, I'm glad to sleep in a bed."

Well, okay, that's not all I have to say.
I do enjoy camping, don't get me wrong, but boy do I hate camping. Incompatible statement? Let me explain...
When I used to hike with friends as a teen, I really enjoyed camping, because it let me hike.
When I used to camp at SCA events, I really enjoyed camping, because it let me stay longer at the SCA.
When I started seriously hiking as an adult, I really enjoyed camping, because it let me go deeper into the woods.
When I started camping with my wife and kids, I really enjoy camping, because it let's me hang out with my family.
But, camping itself? No. Why? Well, let's take a look...

1. Sleeping on the ground, with a hiking mat and sleeping bag, my back can only take three nights at most, then I'm not standing.
2. Cold. Cold nights trying to get warm. Cold mornings, trying to eat breakfast.
3. Mosquitoes.
4. Manually heating water for washing dishes and face.
5. Sand. Sand everywhere. In food, in eyes, in hair, in sleeping bag, in coffee. (We camp at the ocean beach).
6. Hike to the bathroom. The odd dude hanging out in the men's room. (The guy this year was really weird).
7. No internet. Aaaak. No TV. Aaaaaaaaak.
8. Trying to play card games in wind, rain and/or heat.
9. Cooking, with two small burners, in the wind, rain, heat.
10. A long drive there, a long drive back. Setting up camp, taking down camp. Loading the truck (at home and at camp), unloading the truck (at home and at camp). In one short word... Work.

But, okay, there are some great parts...

1. Sitting and reading in quiet. Real quiet. Just birds and other wildlife (and, of course, the ocean).
2. Sitting around a fire and watching the embers glow.
3. Breakfast. Oh man, do I love breakfast while camping. Bacon, eggs, toast, corned-beef hash, coffee. I could, of course, eat the same while at home, but, somehow it's easier when camping. Possibly because there isn't a microwave, so no matter what I make, it'll take work.
4. No TV. No iCarly. No Spongebob.
5. Watching the kids jump happily in the surf. (Not strictly part of camping, but a by-product, like the sand in the "bad" list.
6. Chatting with strangers you'll never see again.
7. Watching my wife and kids have so much fun. Huh, can't top that one.

Guess I'll do it again.

Randomn Thoughts Through the Heat

Okay, I'll admit. This is hot. I know, there are places on Earth that are hotter. Fine. But those places are hotter more often, so buildings and habits have been built with all that in mind. Our fair city, with it's temporate climate, is ill-prepared for extreme heat or extreme cold (both of which was proved this year).
It has, however, brought our little family closer together. Oh, not the touchy-cryee kind of closer together that you see on a Lifetime Movie of the week or anything. Nope, we're just closer together, period. Normally, when I get home from work, the kids are in the playroom, my wife is in the living room and I head to the kitchen to start dinner. Not so these last couple of days. We are all in the same room, the family room in the basement. It's a good 15 degrees cooler in there, but it's not a big room, and we've recently been using it for storage, so it's even smaller. And with all of us in there, and various electronics running, the temp rises a bit, so it's only 10 degrees cooler. But it's better then upstairs.
In preparation for this heat wave (sorry, HEAT WAVE), I ran some cable through the basement, then disconnected the cable from the splitter that runs to the playroom and connected it to the basement. So we have cable (on an itty-bitty TV) in there. And moved the card table in there, so we could have a place to eat when needed and the table can be folded while the kids played. Great plan. It means we have to all watch the same shows, but, hey, that's suppose to be good, right? (This was fine, because my favorite show, Wipeout, was on last night).
We're closer together at night as well. The main floor is way too hot to possibly sleep. The 2nd floor? Much worse. So we set up a tent in the back yard and camped out. Around 3 in the morning, the temp drops to around 70 and I can sleep a little more peacefully. Well, except when the dog saw the raccoon, but that's a different story. An 85 pound dog leaping on you while it follows an animal outside just doesn't encourage relaxation. So, what has all this family togetherness taught me? That I miss flipping through channels on the TV at night.

While lying outside at 2 in the morning, waiting for the blessed cooling around 3, without a TV to watch, or a book to read (the lights wake up the kids), I find myself wondering things. Here's one... My dad's generation took a shower once or twice a week. My generation takes a shower every day. Some of our nephews (old people in their 20s) take a shower twice a day. So, what happens with the next generation? Just how frequently can someone bathe? "Dang, it's been 2 hours since my shower. I must stink." Think of the effect on the environment, all that water to clean not-yet-dirty people.
Speaking of the environment, here's another thing I thought about. During the winter, where we had that massive snow fall that never went away. I joked, "Well, heck, where did the global-warming go? Sure could use some now." Well, hey, here it is. Guess I better not say something like, "Well, heck, where's that ice age that scientist talked about. Sure could use one now." Might happen. So I won't say it.

Okay, I'll leave on a public service message. A beat-the-heat drink. I know, some people say you shouldn't have caffeine because it dehydrates you. (This has been called into question in some of the hiking communities, but we'll leave that argument for another day). In reality, I like a certain amount of caffeine in a day. It is too hot, these afternoons and evenings, for a nice hot cup of Joe. So here's a recipe that cools me off to the core...
You will need sugar, soy milk and instant coffee. Oh, and a fridge with a freezer. Got those? (Feel free to substitute real milk, but I think milk doesn't get as cold as soy milk does). So, take a coffee cup ( a good stout one that can take freezing) and put in one rounded teaspoon of instant coffee. Pour boiling water to about a third of the cup. (Don't use a giant-sized cup-of-coffee-you-can-bathe-in kind of cup, just a normal old-fashioned coffee cup). Add 2 teaspoons of sugar (my wife takes one teaspoon, but she also likes unsweetened coffee. I suggest two). Stir. Put this in your freezer until the edges start to form ice crystals (but before it actually freezes). It takes about an hour and 15 minutes in my freezer. Then take out and fill the rest of the cup with soy milk. (Make sure you've pre-chilled your soy milk in the fridge, or this won't cool you off). Stir (yeah, like I had to tell you that part). Okay, now enjoy (yes, "enjoy" is part of the instructions). You now have a high-octane way to cool off that doesn't cost an arm and a leg at a fastfood place and requires no gas for the car.

Next year, maybe I'll look into air conditioning.

How the Mighty Have Fallen

My cousins and I grew up with Shogun Warriors. Great fighting robots of ancient lore. Mighty bold warriors. Armed with battle axes and swords, they would rush into battle. What can I say? We were boys. My Shogun Warrior was Dragoon, the giant red robot.

As you can see from the picture, my daughter plays with him now. Gone are the days of mighty conflict. Forgotten are the glorious quests. Today, he dresses in lace, plays school and tea parties. My daughter drags him everywhere.

On the other hand, he has a new generation of playing, instead of sitting alone in a box. That was the message of Pixar's Toy Story, wasn't it? That a toy is only happy when someone is playing with it.

But... White lace?

How the Mighty have fallen.

Vacation

I was thinking about vacations yesterday, while I was figuring out what to pack for an upcoming vacation. Several thoughts occurred to me. Let's see...

First, there were road trips. In the olds days, P.K. (pre-kids), I would load up the car (one bag, maybe two if I was camping), leave in the morning and have a great drive. You know what it's like. You pull out, move to the fast lane, sit back and enjoy. Drive for hours, stopping rarely, moving at the highest the speed limit will allow. (Or, um... maybe just a little beyond that. You know. Umm...

"Ahem"

Okay, so what happens nowadays? Load up the car, with multiple bags. Well, that makes sense, with more people. Then you pull out, move to the fast lane, sit back...

"Dad, I gotta go paawteeeee."

Oh, yeah. Of course. we reached 30 minutes into the drive. Just arrived on the freeway. Just made it to the fast lane. Just sat back, ready to make some miles. And then comes the opera voice... "Poooootyyyyy". It's never "Father, if you please, could you perhaps pull over and let me relieve myself." Or even, "Hey dad, I need to use the restroom." Nope. "paaaaaaatiiiii."

Now, you have to fight your way back across all the lanes, exit the freeway, drive around looking for a restroom ("clean" restroom) and unpack the kids (those of you who have kids know it isn't as simple as stepping out of the car. For one thing, you have to say, "Okay, we're here. Let's get out of the car". Not once. Not twice. It varies, between 5 and 8 times). Then, of course, there's all the time it takes to reattach the kids to the backseat, refind the freeway, move your way back into the fast lane and, finally, sit back and really move.

"Get your motor running, head out on the highway."

"Daddy, I gotta go potteeeeee."

Dang it.