We returned last night from the best birthday celebration I’ve been a part of for a long, long time. Today is MorFar’s 65th birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORFAR!!!), and we celebrated his 65 years over the weekend.
My dad’s wish for his 65th birthday was to have his family together. My mom (the Master of making-a-vision-a-reality) made his wish come true in a big way. She sprang for treating us all to a weekend away, with many special treats thrown in. My parents and my sister’s family all live a good 8-12 hours away from us (depending on traffic, weather, who is driving, and who else is in the car!). The halfway point between where they live and where we live is somewhere in the viscidity of Worcester, Massachusetts… which is a pretty nice coincidence given that is where my dad grew up and where his dad still lives. So we all met up in the Worcester area for the grand celebration of MorFar’s 65th.
The centerpiece of the weekend was “MorFar’s Birthday Party” which took place on Saturday afternoon/evening at “the most fancy restaurant!” (direct quote from the bambinos). We went to an old favorite steakhouse of our family– One Eleven Chop House. Oh my goodness gracious, what a special treat for us all! It was my dad’s birthday, but I walked away from that restaurant feeling like my mom just gave each of us our own birthday present for the whole next year— it was that good! (THANK YOU MORMOR!) We went all out, ordering everything you can imagine, and I think it is safe to say we all enjoyed it to the max. Kyle, in particular, was totally smitten with the fancy-shmancy steak house experience. He keeps talking on and on about it reminiscing about the “tender juicy steak” he ate (his quote), and the hand-cut french fries that he discussed at length with the wait staff (“are these made here? are they homemade? from scratch? what kind of potatoes do you use?” etc! — yippee do dah day, my dream of raising foodies is coming true right before my eyes!!!). It was just a fabulous experience, complete with (for some of us — me included) an excellent bloody mary, oysters on the half shell, a great glass of cabernet, and incredibly delicious lamb (four of my very Top Ten Edibles in life). Impeccable service, a great vibe and atmosphere, and a relaxed group of 11 (nobody had to cook! nobody had to clean up!) made for a truly stunning 65th birthday party. Over the top excellent!
After dinner the party continued back at the hotel. It was so nice to be away together, without anyone having to worry about hosting or cleaning or anything else (thank you MorMor for the hotel!!!). That night the kids got to swim in the hotel’s pool with MorFar (a highlight of life for these four cousins is always and forever swimming swimming swimming! add MorFar to the mix and it is like putting icing on a cake!). Then we had MorMor’s best-ever homemade carrot cake and sang Happy Birthday to MorFar. We also, together, listed 65 things we love about MorFar. After the kids were in bed there were drinks and cigars late into the night.
The next morning the J-Ms joined my parents and Grandpa Les for church. This is the church my dad grew up going to, the church where I’ve spent every Easter of my life (and where my kids have too), and the church where my Grandma Lorraine’s memorial service was held. This church goes way, way back for the Johnson side. It is always special to go there. After church we went out to lunch with MorMor and MorFar before heading home. I had to snap this picture when I realized my boys were all matching on Sunday morning!
We J-Ms actually drove up to Massachusetts on Friday so that we could ensure our 3-year-old’s best spirits for Saturday’s celebration. It worked, and Meera (and all three of them, actually) was nothing but a charm for MorFar’s occasion. But because we had driven up on Friday, and the festivities did not begin until Saturday afternoon, we had a little extra time for something adventurous Saturday morning. We realized upon arrival in New England that we just happened to be there smack dab in the middle of Massachusetts maple sugaring season. So on Saturday we took the bambinos for An Education in Maple Sugaring.
We found a farm online that was open to the public, so we headed out for a little maple-sugaring adventure. And what an adventure it turned out to be! Turns out that not many people from the public actually do take part in the K E Farm “tour”… but nonetheless it did not seem to phase Ernie and his wife, the farm’s owners, when we showed up at their front door on Saturday morning! Ernie took our crazy family in stride and took us all out to his sugar shack where he showed us hands-on everything we’d ever want to know about how maple syrup is made. As a kid growing up in rural New Hampshire, it was not rare for my family to tap trees for sap, and cook off our own maple syrup in the early spring. So, I personally know all about it. But for Braydon and the bambinos this was a real eye-opening inside glimpse into the maple-sugaring process. We had such a good time! Ernie patiently answered the 1,000+ questions (and statements) that the bambinos came up with, dealt with their boundless energy and curiosity inside his sugar shack (and around his wood-fired sap cooker), and by the end Ernie seemed genuinely enamored with our crazy little kids– he was giving them all sorts of samples of syrup straight from the cooker, fresh maple sugar candy, and syrup straws (like honey straws, but with maple syrup inside instead). Thanks to Ernie the bambinos will never take real maple syrup for granted again!
All in all, just a fabulous fabulous weekend away for us J-Ms. We came home wishing the MorFar could turn 65 more often!!!
This past summer Meera and I had our First Friday with a picnic at a fountain she could play in. When we go by there now she often comments on it and how fun it was. Or maybe I just remember it that way: sitting with her playing and our enjoying it so much.
Six months – and seemingly a lifetime for a three year old – time stops for nobody – it’s First Friday for us. And with six months comes a whole lot more fancy. So we dressed up for the occasion.
When you get that dressed up, and you’re three, you start to worry that we might be leaving for a long time and you start to worry and start to miss mommy. But knowing that there is going to be great dessert makes it alright. That and assurance we’re coming home and a hug.
At our favorite French-Thai restaurant in Bethlehem – The Cafe – we had the place to ourselves. They waited on us hand and foot. And despite the down-to-earthness of the attentive staff, it was fancy.
For Meera, it was the glasses that made it fancy (since she had white rice and steamed veggies).
For me it was the Tom Yum, the chicken satay,
and green curry.
But really the food was unimportant compared to being scared by the “broccoli monster”.
After a while, my sweet, smart, pretty and adorable girl
Starting missing mommy.
But with a hug, it was finally, at long last, time for dessert. And everything was ok. Which you’d have to eat to fully understand how that can be.
The sweetest part was driving home having had a fancy First Friday with my daughter.
The bambinos love minestrone soup. Kyle and Owen, especially, go nuts for the stuff and always have. A few months ago I was listening to NPR and one of the chefs from Cooks Magazine was being interviewed. She was asked to give a few great food tricks/tips, and one of the things she said was this: V8 juice is the absolute best trick for making a great minestrone soup. She talked for just a minute or two about using V8 as the base for the soup, but I was totally intrigued. I’ve tried to make minestrone-like soups in the past and have never been totally happy with them. And I’ve always hated V8 as a juice, but have never tried it as a soup base. A few weeks ago I devoted a little bit of time to googling “V8 minestrone” and was shocked by how much I found! Turns out lots of people know about this little V8-soup-base trick!
The bambinos and I recently gave it a try. Without using any real recipe we made what all of us agreed was the absolute very best minestrone soup we had ever had! The V8 really made this soup so much better than any minestrone I’d ever made before. It made the soup thick and sort of creamy (but with no cream), and with lots of great flavor (but perfectly balanced). With a “special drink” (cans of seltzer for K & O, and an apple juice box for M), this soup was the best weekend lunch we’ve had in a long time! (And leftovers happily went into lunch thermoses the following week!) Super easy, super flavorful, and super fun to make with little ones… here’s our recipe:
The Bambinos’ Best Ever Minestrone Soup
(no real measurements here, just wing it and use what you like and you’ll be just fine! that’s the beauty of this soup!!!)
- In a large pot, over medium heat, sauté some chopped onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil. (We used 1 medium onion and 3 cloves garlic.) Cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent.
- Add chopped carrots and celery to the pot. (We love carrots so we chopped up a whole bag of them, and used 4 stalks of celery.) Cook, stirring often, until just barely beginning to soften.
- Add chopped zucchini and green beans. (We used one medium sized zucchini and a couple handfuls of fresh green beans.) Continue to cook for just a couple minutes longer.
- Add 1 large (46 ounce) can Original V8, 2 (14 ounce) cans vegetable broth, and 1 can of diced tomatoes. Stir to combine.
- Simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced and vegetables are tender. (We had time, so we let it simmer on low for about an hour, but it would be fine with much less time.)
- About 20 minutes before you want to eat it, add 1 or 2 cans of kidney beans and/or garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed), some frozen peas, some chopped fresh spinach, and as much small size/shaped dry pasta as you like (such as Ditalini). (We like beans and peas and spinach and pasta — and we like chunky soups — so we added a lot!). Once pasta is cooked through, it is ready to serve!
- Ladle into soup bowls and grate fresh parmesan cheese on top. Delish!!!
Today is Thursday. Thursday is “Library Day.” Every Thursday, Kyle and Owen’s class goes to their school library for an hour of library time. They do activities with the fantastic school librarian (a person that they both adore, in part because she is the only adult they know in their every-day-life who shares their status as “Adoptee” — like Kyle and Owen, she was adopted — which, to them, is huge), they listen to a book or two be read to them (by the adored librarian), they hand in their previous week’s two library books, and they get to pick out two new library books to bring home for the next week. K & O love Library Day. Every Thursday four new library books come home from school (two each).
But here’s the thing that really gets me—– Every Thursday, three of their four library books are chosen by them for them, and one is always a book that they have picked out specifically for Meera. This started the very first week of school, completely out of their own initiative, and has continued for each and every week since. They seem to trade back-and-forth (although it seems entirely unspoken) as to who is technically checking out the book for Meera from the library. Meera is always genuinely happy when they show her whatever book they’ve brought home for her each week. And it seems to make K & O genuinely happy to be empowered to enact this each week. I have no idea what the librarian (or their teacher, or their friends) think of it. But we at home think it is pretty sweet.
Today they brought home — as usual — three books for themselves (usually books on space, sports, or semi-bizarre often-complicated ethnically-based fairy tales from around the world), and one for Meera. The book for Meera this week is “You’re the Boss, Baby Duck!” I got such a kick out of it when I saw this book because it sums up a lot of our family dynamic (and especially sums up much about their sibling dynamic!) — while she is the baby duck in our family, Meera is definitely The Boss.
work trip: view from my hotel room in Times Square / work skip: view from behind my laptop screen as I type this today, a sick day for Kyle
When I was growing up, my father travelled a lot for work. When he’d come home from big trips, he’d always bring my sister and I gifts. Sometimes it would be a little trinket he picked up at the airport, other times something more substantial or special. It didn’t matter, I always loved whatever he brought me. As a mom now, I am sure to always bring something home for my bambinos each and every time I go on a work trip. Just like when I was a kid, my kids sometimes get a little knick-knack, or sometimes something more. This past weekend I had to go to NYC for a conference. K, O, and M all know that NYC is not very far away, but a work trip is a work trip, and I was away from home (anything more than a day trip, i.e. any overnight no matter how long, qualifies as a work trip), so — as far as they’re concerned — I may as well have been on the other side of the planet. In their seven+ years of life, K & O have never once asked me to bring them anything specific home from a work trip (in fact they’ve never even acknowledged that I might bring them home something, and each and every time they act completely 100% over-the-moon-surprised that I brought them home a “work trip gift”). Meera, however, is apparently a different story.
A couple of days before this last work trip, Meera asked me directly, “Mommy, when you come home from your work trip, will you please bring me a horse with real hair?” At the age of 3 she has already caught on to the pattern (work trip = gift). I was kind of stunned that she asked (and was feeling — as usual — quite guilty about the impending time away from my babies), so in a moment of weakness I responded (probably too quickly) to her question: “Yes! Meera, when I come home I will bring you a horse with real hair!” (??!!! OMG! a “horse with real hair”??!). I spent the next couple of days trying to figure out exactly what she was envisioning/expecting. (She was able to communicate it very clearly to me.) And then I kept my fingers crossed that it existed to be bought in NYC (I was banking on the fact that pretty much anything that exists can/could be bought in NYC). Turned out that the (in)famous Times Square Toys R Us was right next door to the hotel where I stayed for the weekend. On Sunday morning, before heading home, I walked over there in search of the ‘horse with real hair.’ It was pretty easy to find. I also found two “light up light sabers” (a toy which Owen and Kyle have both been coveting for over a year now; a toy which I never in a million years would have thought I’d ever buy for any child of mine). I figured that if Meera was getting a ‘horse with real hair,’ I better bring something super cool for the boys (it didn’t help that standing there in that Toys R Us, surrounded by throngs of kids-with-their-families, missing my own, feeling enamored with my boys for them having never asked for any work-trip-gift ever in their entire lives, and feeling significant Mommy guilt for being at work on a Sunday morning, I had a moment of weakness as I thought about how AWESOME they’d think I was for bringing them that particular uber-cool gift; I mean, really, what gift could be cooler for a 7-year-old boy and his twin brother [the beauty of twins and light sabers is that they always have someone to battle with]).
Upon arriving home with those three gifts, there was a moment or two wherein I’m pretty sure that my bambinos thought I was pretty much the most awesome working mommy in the whole wide world. That wore off quickly (it couldn’t/shouldn’t last), but it was pretty great for awhile. And now we’ve settled back into our normal routine (only now we have a horse with real hair and two light up light sabers added into the mix). But I’m always and forever being humbly re-reminded that “normal routine,” for us, means constantly flying by the seats of our pants and never really knowing what is going to happen from one minute to the next. Today I’ve had to cancel everything I had planned as I’m home with Kyle, who’s home sick from school with a nasty head cold. Home sick for him = work skip for me. The work trip seems like ancient history as I sit on the couch with my Ky Ky, both of us still in our pajamas, with me catering to his every whim (he is a very needy sick patient; needing some part of his body to be in constant contact with some part of mine at all times; needing a constant flow of liquids and snacks provided by me; needing help with appropriate placement of Kleenex under his nose; needing every-two-second reminders to cover his nose when he sneezes; etc.). But the light saber on his lap today is a constant reminder to me of where I was three days ago. And a reminder that more than anything else I’ve learned from this mommy gig, I’ve learned this: being a mommy means being a constant Giver. Whether giving work-trip-gifts or giving home-sick-work-skips, it is just giving, giving, giving. And sometimes that feels draining. But sometimes that feels invigorating. And there seems to be no rhyme or reason to when or why what feels like what.
It feels like just yesterday that I took Kyle and Owen for their first trip to the dentist. It was actually almost exactly four years ago. They were three years old, so cute, and so eager. This past Friday afternoon, Meera had her first dentist appointment.
In some really poignant ways it was like deja vu (Meera now = 3 years old, so cute, so eager, and in so many ways just like her brothers in her pure joyful engagement with most all of life). And in some really poignant ways it was so different (the boys were rambunctious highly spirited twins, whereas Meera is a sweet mellow singleton; with the boys we have no dental/genetic/medical history, whereas with Meera we have that all; the boys suffered from early malnutrition so we worry about their teeth, whereas Meera has had the most privileged of beginnings). None of this is lost on me, and as an adoptive mother, trips to the dentist with K & O always seem to bring a lot of particularly strong thoughts and feelings up to the surface for me.
I made appointments for all three bambinos this time, so I took the whole crew together (by myself! which I consider quite a feat!). Kyle, Owen, and I had been prepping Meera all morning for her big First Trip to the Dentist. We read her our Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist book, we talked about what a dentist is and does, and the boys role played the entire thing with/for her (with dramatic flair). She was prepped and ready when the time came.
When the dental hygienist called Meera’s name in the waiting room, Meera jumped right up and with a huge smile held the hygienist’s hand as they walked down the hall (with me trailing 10 feet behind!). Meera hopped right up into the seat with Bunny. She was a superb patient while she had her teeth cleaned and examined for the first time. No cavities! A toothbrush to bring home! And all was good. I was so proud of my girl.
The boys have always loved going to the dentist every six months, and this time was no different. They too have no cavities (and never have), and I was once again reassured by the dentist of their rock-solid-genes and their amazing lack-of-any-signs-of-early-malnutrition. Every time I hear that I get the lump in my throat: a flood of gratitude and awe for my boys’ life stories.
On the drive home we had to stop at the grocery store for a few things. As a small token of my appreciation for their superb tooth-brushing and their exceptionally good dentist-visit-behavior, I bought each of them a Silly Putty. Which the three of them played with in every which way imaginable for the rest of the afternoon.
Too much is happening too fast around here these days. The utter overwhelming nature of my/our life right now has led to a severe lack-of-blogging. Sorry to all those regular readers who miss us when we’re gone (thank you for all of your emails of concern about our MIA status). The truth is, I just haven’t been devoting the time to the blog. The truth is, it has been nice to blow it off. The truth is, I miss blogging when I get out of the habit. The truth is, it is sometimes hard to justify blogging when life is so fast paced (and so many things are falling through the cracks). The truth is, I’m back to the blog tonight. The truth is, we have a CRAZY week ahead of us so I’m not sure if I’ll drop off again.
Here are my Top Ten Excuses and Explanations (for the fact that I’ve been a Seriously Slacking Blogger these past two weeks):
1. These Three. They keep me busy. If that is not a statement of The Obvious, then nothing is. {thank you MorMor for the red-themed V-day outfits. I have had to wash the red UnderArmor hoodies every.single.night.since.you.gave.them.to.them… because the boys have strongly desired to wear them every single day.} The fact is, although these three provide ample blogging material, they just don’t leave me much time to blog.
2. This Project. Braydon and I are in the process of purging much of our earthly possessions. We’ve been at this since January 1. Over the course of the next few months we plan to radically downsize our life. The de-cluttering/de-stuff-owning/de-knickknacking/purging/giving-away has been (so far) one of the most interesting and awesome experiences I/we have ever had. I estimate it is about 2/3 of our “stuff” that we are ridding ourselves of. Braydon says it is more like 40%. Regardless, it is a lot. And it is occupying a lot of our time. It is a big project.
3. Basketball Games. In addition to the crazy (brutal) basketball schedule that Kyle and Owen maintain (and love) playing for their school team, we’ve gone to three Lehigh basketball games in the past three weeks (that is one game per Saturday). It has been so fun. Lehigh beat Holy Cross, then Colgate, then Lafayette. We invited Kyle and Owen’s school basketball team to the Colgate game. We hosted a group of 30 kids and their families, and I think it was probably a Top 10 high of K & O’s year.
We got to sit with Zahir for the Lafayette game. That was also a Top 10 high of K & O’s year.
4. Meera’s Latest Obsession. She is not obsessed with basketball. She tolerates basketball (very well, I think, all things considered). Her current obsession is coloring an entire sheet of paper with one color so that the entire sheet is entirely covered. This must be some sort of developmental stage (?)… but it is time consuming… and she wants me to sit with her while she does it… over and over and over and over (with various colors on various sheets of paper). It is such hard work for her; the creation of these masterpieces is a sort of sweet-but-painful experience to witness (over and over and over and over).
5. Kyle’s Latest Obsession. Kyle is obsessed (and I mean, absolutely obsessed) with space and all things space/solar-system/universe related. He is thinking and talking about space from the minute he wakes up until the minute he goes to bed. More uniquely, he has become “a prolific writer” (direct quote from his teacher). His teacher has him (and only him) now using composition books to try to contain his sheer-volume-of-pages-of-writing. He writes “mostly non-fiction, but some reality-based-fiction” (direct quote from Kyle). His latest was a 4 chapter volume (which he wrote in two sittings: a Friday night, and then the next [Saturday] morning) focused on his idea to create a company that will use rockets to shoot trash from earth into space where it will combust upon making impact with Jupiter and Venus. His plan is to base the rocket-launchers in Haiti, which will provide a substantial boost to the Haitian economy while at the same time fixing the “landfill problem for planet earth.” He backs up his “stories” with data that he finds in books from our bookshelves. If we were willing/able, Kyle would occupy all of our time with his obsessive-compuslive-writing.
6. Owen’s Latest Obsession. Basketball. Pure and simple. He is absolutely obsessed (he claims, “addicted”) with/to basketball. He literally wakes up, immediately gets dressed into something “basketball cool and sporty” (his words), and runs either outside (until his hands get hypothermia-like cold), or downstairs (to our little over-the-door-hoop) to play play play basketball basketball basketball. Every spare second he has it is basketball basketball basketball. It is driving Braydon and me absolutely crazy. He cannot get enough of it and it is jumping, shooting, dribbling, lay-upping, talking-basketball morning-till-night. He very often gets his brother and sister right into the action too. It is enough to drive their parents nuts. The non-stop-action finally, after about five years of pounding, took its toll on our little over-the-door-indoor-bball-hoop. And because we are truly out of our minds, we bought a new one. We can only blame ourselves for fueling the fire. But we could not handle the make-shift “hoops” that Owen was constantly creating to try to replace the real one.
7. MorMor & MorFar’s Visit. They came last week for five days. We had been really looking forward to it. Sadly, the photo below (MorFar and Owen play chess) is the only photo we have of their visit. Why?–you ask– well… let me tell you: They arrived Sunday afternoon, and it started out as a great visit. We had lots of plans for the week, and high hopes for all we’d do and bond over. Instead… we ended up bonding in one of the most horrifying/gross ways imaginable: over the course of the week SIX OF THE SEVEN OF US were struck with a HORRENDOUS STOMACH FLU. Imagine the worst. It started with Meera on Monday (picked her up early because she was throwing up at daycare… then on the drive home… then at home… then raging fever and the whole nine yards), and proceeded to move like a tidal wave through the rest of us over the next few days. Only Owen was spared (MIRACULOUSLY. I swear, the boy has an immune system of steel). It was awful. My poor mother did more loads of vomit-laundry than any grandmother should ever have to do (and then she got IT). Not one of the best visits with MorMor and MorFar (but definitely one of the most memorable). This ordeal (the SICKNESS), alone, would warrant at least a 10-day-blog-break.
8. Valentines Day. V-Day was in there somewhere too. Luckily I had pre-planned for it. I’d learned my lesson the hard way for the prior several years, and finally, this year, made sure we spent substantial time devoted to V-Day during the couple of weekends leading up to it. Still though, around here (thanks to a school that insists on multiple days of handmade gifts — which I truly appreciate and respect, but which is GOD-AWFUL WHEN YOU HAVE TWIN BOYS WHO HATE CRAFTS), V-Day is a huge project. (This year, I just want to say this: THANK YOU PINTEREST FOR SAVING MY LIFE THIS V-DAY SEASON. (And thanks to MorMor, too, who helped in a panicky pinch in the 11th hour). Note, for the record (to accommodate for 3 kids’ worth of classroom valentines): we made *47* of the button-candy hearts pictured below.
9. Trifle Et Cetera. I’ve been cooking and baking with Owen and Meera lately. Kyle has relatively little interest in the kitchen. But Owen and Meera are into it. Amongst other things, we made a Valentine’s Trifle for dessert for MorMor and MorFar’s arrival. I had forgotten what a great idea trifle is for a fun and “fancy” kid-friendly dessert. Try it sometime! Recipe can be found here.
10. Speaking of love… Slice of life: This morning, 9:15am — Meera and Kyle share a spacial brother-sister-breakfast together in Meera’s bedroom (mini pancakes and milk; Kyle’s idea) while Owen and Braydon share piano time downstairs in the playroom (Owen has long been figuring out songs on the piano, but his latest quest is to learn how to write out the music with actual musical notation; Braydon is trying to teach him). This (this tiny slice), for example, is why I am so in love with my life (and is why I want to blog, but also why I want to devote very limited time to it).
Postscript. Most of all, the truth is, who would want to be blogging when there is this to be a part of?—
There’s lots and lots of other stuff going on too. So, for the past couple weeks I’ve blown off the blog. Tonight, though, I finally forced myself to catch up on this old blog. We fed the kids an early “Kids Only” dinner (I’m sure someday I’ll miss making these little-kids’-meals), got them to bed, Braydon made martinis, and we turned on The Bachelor (the one and only show we watch, pathetically enough). And somehow, it is so cathartic to pound out a blog post. It makes it seem — somehow — like it will all be harder to forget if I write it down. And as much as these days are nutty-crazy-busy-over-the-top-overhwhelming-at-times… they are good days — truly good days — that I don’t ever want to forget. And these days are passing much too quickly.
Cheers!– to another crazy upcoming week in Never-A-Dull-Moment-Land. And cheers!– to you for following along with this old blog, despite my severe slacking. Thanks for reading y’all. ~H
(per request…) Our Top Ten “Must Pack” Kids’ Food for Hotel Travel:
- Single-serve, microwavable, macaroni-and-cheese packs. I buy lots of the Back to Nature ones and pack them for trips. (K & O will eat 3 each in one sitting.) These are a real special hotel treat for the bambinos. If we’re going for more than a day or two, I’ll often also pack pre-made pasta… I’ll make a batch of penne with pesto before we go (I’ll often mix into it a can of white beans, or a whole bunch of frozen peas), let it cool, then dump it into a heavy-duty storage back. Packed in the cooler, then stored in the hotel room mini-fridge, then microwaved in single-serve portions, this is an easy way to give the bambinos some comfort food while away from home. (note: plastic spoons and forks are always on my To-Pack list.)
- Fresh fruit & veggies (and a good, small, portable knife to slice them up with) to augment whatever else they’ll be eating at the hotel (room service; pizza delivery; take out; etc.). Baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, apples, bananas, clementines, and grapes make regular appearances on our hotel trips.
- Cheese & crackers. Our kids love the Cracker Barrel extra-sharp cheddar cheese sticks. I often pack those, along with mozzarella sticks, and other easy on-the-go cheeses.
- Yogurt tubes & single-serve yogurt smoothies. (and I try to remember to pack straws for the smoothies).
- Nuts and/or trail mix. A quick and easy great source of protein (and we thank our lucky stars that none of our kids are allergic!).
- Milk. And lots of it. Our kids are whole-milk drinkers. I’ve always packed milk in our trusty Nalgene bottles (leak-proof and compact). We bring a small cooler for the drive, and then store the milk in the hotel room mini-fridge (if we have one. if not, we use the hotel ice-machine to keep the cooler cold in the room).
- Bottled water. and lots of it. If we’re traveling by car I buy a case of bottled water in advance of the trip and stick it in the trunk of the car. it is sooooo much cheaper to do it that way that to buy bottles of water along the way! AND Seltzer (or other sparkling water). There is nothing more refreshing. I often toss in a lemon or lime for the trip for Braydon and I to slice up for our bubbly water (the bambinos like it straight up).
- Wine and/or Beer. Yup! The saving grace for the bambinos’ parents on each and every trip! Nothing like a nice glass of wine in the hotel room once the kiddos are snoozing! (and nothing like a cold one on the beach at sunset either!)
- Treats. Of course! Because trips are a special occasion! Road trip treats of choice: Kyle = Fig Newtons, Owen = Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies from our grocery store bakery, Meera = Fruit Snacks. I also always pack single-serve bags of Smartfood and at least a couple boxes of cereal bars/granola bars.
- Drink containers. bottles and sippy cups are no longer needed by us J-Ms.
but we still pack a “straw cup” for Meera, and our kids’ Camelbak bottles are our steady companions (whether we’re traveling or not). this way we can re-fill the containers as we go, and we don’t need to worry about car or hotel-room spills.
We celebrated our 7th Adoption Day with a trip to Chincoteague Island, Virginia.
Chincoteague is a unique, wild, beautiful place. It’s famous for its ponies — Chincoteague Ponies — and we saw lots of them. Ponies! Ponies just roaming around wild, grazing on marsh grass. It is a sight to behold. We took in lots of other sights too — like sunset so gorgeous it was hard to believe it was true, and three kids who reminded us (just by being them, in all of the fabulous and infuriating ways that they are just three young kids) that adoption is love.
Our first year of parenthood, as we were approaching the 1-year-anniversary of our adoption of Kyle and Owen, Braydon and I spent a lot of time talking about how we wanted to mark these yearly milestones for our family. We decided on two things: 1) we would give experiences, not material gifts, and 2) we’d celebrate these occasions with/for our whole family. We’ve stuck to these things, and we’re so glad we have.
Some highlights of this trip for us:
- The hotel: Hampton Inn Chincoteague Island Waterfront. By far the best Hampton Inn we’ve ever stayed in. We are Hilton Honors members (and try to be strategic about earning our points), so we often stay in Hilton-brand hotels. But this Hampton Inn was like no other. Seriously, we could not believe it was a Hampton Inn. As always, in planning this trip I did a ton of research. I kept finding that the Hampton Inn in Chincoteague was ranked the #1 hotel in the area. I read reviews that were just glowing, and I couldn’t quite believe the accolades that were being given to this hotel, but we went ahead and booked it. We were sure glad we did! It was more like a really nice boutique hotel, complete with all the bells and whistles. It was impeccably sparkling clean, and sitting right on the water. It had one of the best indoor pools we’ve ever swam in. And our room was unbelievably perfect, with a huge balcony right over the water.
- Speaking of the hotel, when we arrived around 9pm Friday night, we pulled up to find “WELCOME JOHNSON FAMILY” on the hotel’s marquee sign. We could not believe it. Nothing like that has ever happened to us and we were all completely shocked and giggly upon check-in. (Speaking of Hilton Honors members… on the online form to make the hotel reservation it had asked the purpose of the trip and in the box I filled out “we are coming to celebrate our family’s 7th Adoption Day.” Well, apparently they took that very seriously, and it made us feel very special upon arrival, that is for sure!!).
- We took a chance in planning this trip for January in the dead of winter. But our risk paid off and we lucked out with a long weekend of incredible unseasonably warm weather (clear blue skies, warm breezes, and tons and tons of sun). In addition to that good luck, we got the true prize of going in the off-season: we felt like we were the only people there. We had acres upon acres of nature trails, vast expanses of beach, and whole visitor’s centers all to our selves.
- The bambinos went fishing right from the dock/pier of the hotel. They caught nothing, but loved fishing.
- Seafood. Oysters, crab, shrimp, fish, clams. Chincoteague is not known for its food, and especially not in the off-season, but you can’t really go wrong if you just stick to what the local eateries know best: fresh simple seafood. We ate only two big meals out in Chincoteague (a big late lunch each day), and made due at the hotel the rest of the time (we are old pro’s at packing hotel-friendly kids’ meals). We ate one day at a place called “Wright’s Seafood,” and the other day at a place called “Don’s Seafood.” The kids got the biggest kick out of eating at “Don’s,” (MorFar’s name is Don), and insisted on us taking their picture in front of the sign (see post below). And as it unexpectedly turned out, Braydon and I had one of our Top Food Experiences Of All Time at Don’s… as an appetizer we ordered one of their specialties — a hot crab dip with baked pita chips — for the five of us to share. It turned out to be the best hot crab dip we’ve ever had (it was gone in a flash, and Owen was literally licking the bowl it had been served in). And– Braydon and I had bloody marys with it, which turned out to be truly some of the best bloody marys of our lives. That combo — the crab dip and bloody marys — is forever etched in my memory as pure delicious Adoption Day decadence (it is making my mouth water just typing this now).
- Wild ponies, egrets and herons at every turn, ocean and marsh teeming with life (we felt like we were on safari, no joke).
- Shells galore. Meera is way into shelling now. She could spend all day just collecting shells. And Owen found three huge perfect conch shells in the surf that completely blew my mind. I could not believe he found them that far north of the Caribbean (when you see the photo in the post below you won’t believe it either).
- NASA Wallops Flight Facility/Goddard Space Flight Center. K & O are way into space right now. Kyle, especially, is utterly obsessed with all-things-space. So one of the allures of Chincoteague was the very-close-by NASA Wallops Visitors Center. We went there on our last day, before driving home, and it was a major highlight of the trip for both Kyle and Owen. And again, because it was the off-season and we were (literally) the only ones there, we were treated like royalty. We left there with armfuls of amazing space-related hand-outs for the boys to bring back to their class.
- Misty of Chincoteague. This is a classic, Newbery Honor winning, children’s book that neither Braydon nor I ever read as kids. We started reading the book to the bambinos before our trip. And while we were in Chincoteague we watched the movie in our hotel room one night (we had bought and brought the DVD with us, and the hotel had DVD players for loan to guests). Very, very cool to connect the events and places of the story with what we were actually seeing and doing while we were in Chincoteague!
- Feeding seagulls (on the beach). Feeding ponies (at a pony farm, not the wild ones!).
- The Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, and Assateague Island National Seashore. These, alone, are worth the trip to Chincoteague.
- We stopped on the drive home for the kids to to pick out a special treat for Adoption Day to bring to school the next day. They picked out two cakes — one for Kyle and Owen’s class, and one for Meera’s class. They were so proud to bring those cakes to school to share with their friends. And that, really, is what it is all about for us– to try to truly foster (in real, tangible ways) a sense of pride and celebration for being an adoptive family. Unique sets of challenges, hurdles, and angst come with the territory of being in an adoptive family. But pride and celebration are something that don’t necessarily just come along with the package — we have to make that happen. So make it we do.
- We were only five hours away from home, but it felt like a different world. Which was a good thing. Because being away is the best way for our family to let go of all other distractions and focus in on our little unit of five. The connectedness that a trip like this fosters is worth every cent that it costs, every minute spent planning and packing and unpacking, and every ounce of energy that any good adventure requires. We come away knowing what drives us most crazy about each other (yes, just like all families, we drive each other nuts, and on this trip we had our fair share of blow-outs), but we also are reminded, too, of what makes us love each other like crazy cakes.
Our family has been hugely impacted by adoption. We think about that all the time. But once a year we take time out to really deeply remember it and celebrate it as a five-some.
(Lots more photos from our trip in the post below.)
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