Barf Bag

I know, an unappetizing title for this blog post. I actually have two reasons for it.

First, I've been rereading Louis Sachar's Holes, and there's a character named Barf Bag in it. I rarely reread books, but I enjoyed that one so much, I decided to give it a try, and it's nearly as good the second time around. Part of the reason I'm rereading it is to get a feel for how he put it together, as November is fast approaching, and November is NaNoWriMo.

That's the crazy acronym for National Novel Writing Month, where over 50,000 people try to write a novel of 50,000 words or more in a month. In 2008 I did it, too, and it was a wonderful feeling. In 2009 I only managed 35,000 words, but that was still a great feeling. I'm trying to decide if I should make a go of it in 2010. Will I have time with two little kids? Can I get a novel planned in a few weeks? I have one in mind, so we'll see. Do you want to give it a try with me? Please?

The second reason to mention barf bag is that we're on vacation.

Sounds bad, doesn't it? I'll explain.

I took the kids and traveled back to the Midwest to visit friends and family. Now that Desert Boy is toilet trained, it makes traveling easier. For the most part.

On the plane he had to pee. So I took him and Emma to the cramped little lavatory. Then he had to go again, but Emma was sound asleep in my arms, so I sent him back on his own. A mom was sitting next to the door, and bless her heart, she let him in and ignored everything that went on as he left the door open behind him.

We were in the final descent when Desert Boy informed me he had to pee again. I remembered back to a random thought I had had pre-travel, when I had decided to put him in a pull-up for the plane flight. But that random thought had fluttered away as quickly as it had fluttered in. He wasn't wearing a pull-up, he was wearing baseball underwear, with little absorbing power.

I told Desert Boy he would have to wait a little bit, and since he usually gives me a 10-minute warning, he was okay with that.

We got closer to the ground, and he told me again that he had to pee. I told him he'd have to wait a little bit longer. He made a face, but didn't protest.

We landed and taxied forever. Finally we got to the gate and I let him out of his car seat. He stood up in the tiny space between the seats.

"Mama, I really have to pee." His eyes were bigger than usual. Uh oh.

This was an emergency. People were already standing in the aisle, so I couldn't even take him on a mad dash to the lavatory and beg for forgiveness. If I didn't do something immediately, I was going to have a wailing kid with very wet clothes and a smelly puddle on the plane.

My mind flashed to a bottle. If I just had a bottle, he could pee into it. That's what we use on long trips in the cave. (Note: Do not also take lemon-lime gatorade into the cave if you also take a pee bottle. They are the same color in the glow of a headlight. Just saying.)

I had a bottle, but it was half-full of water and buried in my bag, and by the time I pulled it out and dumped it out somewhere (but where?), it would be too late.

I had no ziplocks.

Emma's diapers were buried.

But I did have a barf bag, conveniently located in the seat pocket. I whipped it out, told Desert Boy to pee into it, and did my best to provide a modicum of privacy as people shuffled their way off the plane.

Desert Boy peed, and peed, and peed. He peed like three inches in that bag.

By the time he finished, everyone else had gotten off the plane. A flight attendant asked what he could do to help me off. I was so tempted to give him the barf bag of pee, but I resisted. Barely.

We made it off the plane and had to wait for the stroller, and lots of other people were waiting for their bags. I managed to focus all my attention on the kids and ignore the little white bag I was gingerly holding. I also tried to avoid eye contact with other passengers. I didn't want to know what they were thinking.

We finally got to the terminal, and I made a beeline for the nearest garbage can. I released the barf bag, and heard the plunk as it sank all the way to the bottom. If any of the passengers waiting were wondering what I had just deposited--or why the garbage can was smelling a little rank--I didn't stick around to find out. It was time to get out of there.

We had just survived another pee adventure, and that made my day a good day.

Picnic Lunch

After we had our walk last Sunday, we went into the nearby campground so we could have a picnic lunch complete with a fire. Desert Boy loves picnics, and Desert Girl loves sitting in the dirt and eating it and sticks and bark.

Oh, let's add pinecones to that list.

She has mastered the contemplative look.

Desert Boy was eager to help with the fire. No surprise there. It took awhile to cook the hamburgers, but they were worth the wait. It kept getting colder while we were there, so we appreciated the hot food.

Desert Boy had decided to bring his umbrella and then found where he wanted to set it up. He and Emma had their little picnic in the dirt.

Afterwards, Desert Boy had a lot of energy again, so I took him for a bike ride around the campground. Some of those hills were a little challenging, and I was expecting him to biff on one of the downhills, but he stayed upright.

As you can see, most of the aspen leaves are off the trees. They must have known that it was going to snow the next three days.

A Walk in the Woods

Last Sunday we decided to go up high on the mountain to enjoy the aspen leaves. My friend Jenny had captured such beautiful photos earlier in the week, and I was hoping to get some snapshots of the kids with the vibrant yellow background. But alas, most of the leaves had fallen in just a few short days.

We went for a walk along the nature trail, which is stroller accessible and had fun logs for balancing.

It was chilly, but a beautiful sunny day.

We found the same tree Desert Boy had posed at a couple years ago. I need to dig out those photos!

We tried a posed photo on this big rock, but the impromptu goofing around turned out much better.

I handed the camera to my husband so I could be in some photos, and Desert Boy and I found this nice tree stump chair.

Then we had fun playing balancing games. When I was a little girl, I loved walking on the curbs in my town. (And walked into parking meters, my mother tells me.) I still like walking on narrow things where I have to balance.

Desert Boy seems to be learning balance well.

We even tried a little dancing.

Desert Boy had so much energy that we decided to do the loop trail again, but run this time. So I guess maybe I should call this post a run in the woods! It takes a little extra energy at 10,000 feet!

On the Slide

I had to go to town earlier this week to get the van windshield replaced, so we had four hours to kick around town. Flu shots, shopping, and eating took up some of the time, but the kids really wanted to go to the playground. So off we went, and after Desert Boy played for awhile on the "big" equipment, we went to the "little" slides so Desert Girl could have some fun, too.

They found they could sit side-by-side, and Desert Boy immediately came up with some kind of train analogy. Desert Girl just enjoyed being by her big bro.

They both are good at hamming it up for the camera.

Then it was time to go down the slide, and I was impressed with how well Desert Boy took care of his sister. He put his arm around her to help her.

Emma doesn't look too certain about going down, but they did fine.

She even gave it a go alone.

Like the sock that is about to fall off? It did a little later and I never found it again. Somewhere out there is a lonely white sock.

It probably won't be the first.

Then it was time to make a different train and go down again.

This way also worked well.

Desert Girl is going to like playgrounds as much as her big brother!

What Every Kid Needs in the Backyard

We went to a party at some friends' house, and the kids were instantly enamored with the fun new toys. Desert Boy loves trampolines and jumped and jumped. Then Grandpa took Desert Girl up there for her turn, and she thought it was pretty fun, too.

But a trampoline, fun as it is, isn't what every kid needs in the backyard. After all, trampolines can be a little (or a lot) dangerous, and out here in the desert they have a nasty habit of blowing out of yards when dust devils come and stir up the yard ornaments.

So what is it that every kid needs in the backyard?

Well, for this model, we started out standing on a 55-gallon drum.

Notice the red rope? It's connected to a pulley.

And the pulley?
It's on a zipline.
A zipline that goes all the way across the yard.

Now how cool is that?

Desert Boy was a little short to disembark by himself, but fortunately his cousin Caleb was willing and able to help him.

Desert Boy agreed with me that this was an awesome thing, and repeated the zipline over and over. I had never seen him hold on to a bar that long.

We have discovered the solution to improving American youth's fitness: install ziplines at all schools. If the kids have fun playing outdoors and have to be strong to do it, they will!

To see Desert Boy in action, check out the video.

School Starting

Preschool started last week, and Desert Boy and his friends were so excited to go. I filled up the back of the van with six car seats (I love my van, despite what my brothers say!!), and off we went.

At first the kids have activity time, where they do individual activities and learn to put them away before getting out the next one. This has been wonderful to adopt at home!

Then it was group time, and they all piled on the bean bag.

Teacher Gwendy had them line up and they went over letters and numbers. Most of them were very attentive and eager to learn.

Some were ready for snack time and recess. The weather is about perfect, so recess is extra long, and they all have a great time playing outside.

They play together so differently than they did last year. There's a lot more interaction this year, whereas last year there was a lot more parallel play.

They decided that the little playhouse was the ice cream shoppe and were looking for customers.

They had every flavor of ice cream imaginable.

The slide was lots of fun for all of them.

Desert Boy dressed himself again, but did a better job of it than usual.

Ava wanted to keep her backpack on as she went down the slide.

She gave it a try on her belly.

Oops!

Diego thinks it's fun.

Time to go back to the ice cream shoppe!

Meanwhile, Emma was enjoying watching all the action from the lawn.

Or maybe not so much. You can see the dirt and grass around her mouth. She makes the most of any snack break.

Diego climbed up into the tree.

Desert Boy and Elizabeth went for a ride in the car.

And then it was time to race dump trucks.

Then it was time to see how many kids fit on a tire swing. Six seemed just right.

They loved spinning and going high.

What a good time!

A couple days later it was Joel's birthday and his mom brought a yummy tractor cake to share with all the kids.

Then we decided to get a group shot. Trying to get all the kids to look at the camera wasn't the easiest thing in the world!

The little guy in the orange shirt didn't want to sit still, and Elizabeth wanted her mom nearby.

Finally we got one that was fairly decent. I think they're going to have a fun school year!