The rest (of the Caribbean)

Surprise of surprises, school is not letting up like I'd hoped.  (Yup, I have "naive" written on my forehead).
So many tiny, fleeting, visceral thoughts dance in then out of my head with nobody taking time to make sense of them.  It's plenty depressing.

But I did promise to make a record of our trip, and an abbreviated one will have to do.

Mr. Renn, blessed man that he is, got all goal-oriented about doing something "big" to celebrate our 10th anniversary.  When we first discussed this idea, well before grad-school landed in my lap, I was totally on-board.  But when it came time to actually plan something I was up to my neck in navigating strange waters, and had no space in my brain for tackling extra stress.  So I told Mr Renn, "Sure, we can go.  But you'll have to plan every last bit of it. I simply cannot."

He opted for a cruise in mid-January.  Optimizing bang-for-buck is a priority for this man.  I have mixed emotions about cruises on-principle, as they offer only a glossy peripheral sense of a space.  One cannot really say they've "been" to a place after only a 4 hour excursion there.  So that's the fault of it.  But the culture going on in the space of the cruise ship was its own anthropological wonder.  There were crew members on our ship from more than 100 different countries, and it was fun (and rather proletariat of us) to visit with them.  And frankly, having housekeeping and room service and dining out every night was a delightful diversion.  Watching the systems in place to keep that vessel running was crazy impressive.  Everything was always so clean, even though we were constantly watching messes get made.  The speed with which everything from spills to fingerprints were eviscerated was just awe inspiring (For this lady who can't keep up with 4 kids' messes).

So - the trip.

Day 1 - We flew to Florida and stayed a night there.

Day 2 - Boarded our Ship, spent a Day at Sea.

Day 3 - Ocho Rios, Jamaica.  We toured the Coyaba Gardens, then hiked Dunn's River Falls.  We missed the "wear a swimsuit" memo and looked pretty silly, also Renn's phone died a watery death.

Day 4 - Grand Cayman.  Because snorkeling on a sandbar out in the ocean holds absolutely 0% attraction for Mr Renn we visited the world's only sea-turtle farm.  We played with baby sea-turtles, and birds (I was supposed to be feeding colorful little birds, and instead got attacked by this lone ugly pigeon), and we snorkeled in an enormous salt-water tank.  (Controlled environment = only way Mr Renn's ever going to snorkel.)

Day 5 - The ship docked at Cozumel, Mexico.  We took a taxi, ferry, and then a Perrault to Tulum, Mexico where we got a private tour of the ruins.  Easily the most gorgeous place I've been in years.

Day 6 - Day at sea.

Day 7 - Spent sitting on the floor at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport.  Then retreated in poor spirits to a 1-star hotel where the bathroom door wouldn't even close and the floors were all TILE.  Imagine the implications.  Pretty well cried myself to sleep.

Day 8 - Finally made it home, with no time to recoup anything, as real life had to start the next morning.  I think, 2 weeks later, that I've finally got everything unpacked, caught up, and even most thank-you's distributed.

So ultimately, the trip, the break from reality, was lovely.  The transitions out of and then back into reality were painful.  Vacations are double-edged swords.  But I maintain that the vitamin D was unequivocally beneficial.  I can totally understand why some people regularly vacation in the Caribbean in the middle of Winter.  Being comfortable outside just feels so healthy when one has just spent a month in freezing temperatures.  

heads above water

Mr Renn and I are back from our Anniversary trip.  Being there was amazing, though the work that went into getting out the door and then into coming back through it again were rather ludicrous.



(Turtle Farm in Grand Cayman.  Also - I really hate Flickr's new embedding format.  A LOT.)



(Coyaba Gardens in Jamaica)

I did my best to be thorough and prepared and to assuage my parenting guilt over being unreachable for a week.  We made freezer meals and cleaned, and organized, and wrote a novel on our kids' routines, and cleaned, and made videos of ourselves for the kids to watch each night we'd be gone.  We were trying to make things easy on our babysitters and on our kids, and a lot of it was overkill, but it's hard to leave your kids for a week when you're in the trenches.

Getting back home again was worse, though. We were in the Fort Lauderdale Airport by 9am, and were not allowed to check in until 4 hours before our 3pm flight.  Then, our 3pm flight got delayed after everybody was on the plane, then delayed some more, until they made everyone deplane, told us everyone would certainly be missing their connecting flights, and set to work rebooking almost the entire flight.  The earliest we could get out was the next day at 2pm, so we resigned ourselves to a shifty 1 star hotel for the night, bought ourselves toothbrushes in a gift shop, and I cried my eyes out while we attempted to sleep through crazy noises via paper thin walls and tile floors.  After a week I was just ready to be home again, and not in a shifty motel without any of my belongings.  So that was a rather devolved, anticlimactic way to end an otherwise nice trip.

Once we landed at home, utterly exhausted, Bunny and Sir O got sick and took turns keeping me up all night.  I'm trying frantically to get caught up in my schoolwork again, and watching the house fall to pieces after I had worked so hard to get it unembarassingly neat and clean.  Coming back to the world of mealplanning and doing dishes is rather painful after a week of indulgent dining out.  But there you have it - I'm back to my middle class reality, ever so slightly sunburned, and rather missing my housekeepers, waiters, chefs, dishwashers, drivers, and babysitters.

 I know it looks like I was on this trip by myself, we weren't very good about getting our picture taken together and I'm saving a few we did get for a vacation recap once I finish reading about 400 pages of authorship theory.

 

Mini Vacation - Heber

On the other end of Mr Renn's week off, we overnighted in Heber.  My boys think staying in a hotel is some sort of Xanadu.  Bunny, on the other hand, takes to sleeping away from her own bed like a rabbit in a den of foxes.  Rough night for me.


But the unequivocal highlight was the family-night special on the Heber Creeper.  The Captain calls it "the party train" because there was karaoke and live musicians.  He's still singing his own version of YMCA - it goes something like "Y-it-C-it....."  We love it.









Boys + Trains, there's something kismet there.

Lavender Festival

Bad mom.  Remember that time back in September when Mr Renn took a whole week off work and we tried to get out and vacation a bit without messing up the house-of-cards that is my homework schedule?  It was actually pretty great.  On one end of the week we visited the Lavender Festival in Mona.  It was A) - really affordable and B) - really not-crowded due to the crazy thunderstorms throughout the day.  So we got wet, but we had fun.

the gorge

We were able to squeeze in another trip up to Flaming Gorge over the long weekend, and brought my family along.
 

Despite being dry and desert-y, it was still a perfect release into the mountains and nature for my boys.  Clearly everybody needs to spend more time out of doors.  (If only the pregnant lady was fit to comply).



Why yes, the 8 month pregnant lady in her Sunday dress DID look out of place at Red Canyon, thank you kindly.



Sir O, the fearless.... luckily being restrained here by triple paned glass....




We also made it to Swett Ranch, which despite being 5 minutes from Mr Renn's grandparents' house... had never once been visited (by Mr Renn or I).  It was interesting to see an intact homestead, although I kept wondering if the isolation of living on one would drive me literally insane.



We introduced my family to the "Big Damburger" in Dutch John.



And Sir O got to help make fresh salsa with a vintage meat grinder....



Not bad for a last-second trip!



We're all in recovery mode this fine Tuesday.  The laundry piles are daunting and I'm very much feeling that I'm in the last month of this pregnancy.  Looking it too...  sciatica, heartburn, and the whole nine yards.

Hello, Goodbye

It is very easy to get out of the habit of blogging when there are plenty of adults to talk to in real-life.
But we just got home last night from our month-long vacation. I was worried it would be too long, but it was actually really nice. We weren't too terribly rushed and the boys had enough time to get comfortable with most everybody.

(Oliver got a little edgy toward the end there, but we're choosing to blame that on the copious sugar binges he was continually on)

So now we're back. And I'm remembering how much I hate adjusting to being back; to being the only adult around all. day. long. After being with Mr Renn all day every day it's pretty lonely by contrast, not to mention how much more work it is.

But, back to reflecting fondly.....

The Captain had a superb first birthday.
My family made sure (behind my back) that he got his fill of cake.

And his favorite gift was a pink birthday card from my grandma.


The HSF showed up, making me feel like a rockstar. (Actually everyone who showed up made me feel like a rockstar..........)


I got my owl fix, it's now out of my system - complete with Mr Renn's cheeseballs, arranged by my mom.



Yeah, we are nerds. But we had fun!
Lots more photo and video on my flickr.

traipsing about, what fun!

Oh we have been having a grand old time!
I wish I had time to sit down and do my new memories justice.
But in the interest of not getting so far behind that I give up and skip everything....

Our days have been full of:

Sledding



Building gingerbread structures


Visiting the Hill Aerospace Museum


Visiting delightful Friends


And riotously fun family Christmas parties. I don't know when I've laughed so hard.
Here's my brother winning one of many scouting-inspired competitions:


And the grandkids (and great-grandkids) Rudolfing:



(Dear family, the rest of our party photos and videos are on my flickr)

in which we hit the ground running

We have landed (minus Sir O's coat that mysteriously disappeared from our stroller's basket between gate-checks) and are vacationing, inasmuch as one can stay in their parent's house and call it a vacation. (Not intended to be a comment about my parents, just the non-exotic locale).

I have such a complex love-hate relationship with Utah, it's pretty remarkable. And if I were to make a two-column list, half of the things I hate about Utah would also be things I love about Utah. There is no other place quite like it.

(And my dear Utahns who wish to see us - shoot me an email. We are making progress on the scheduling front).

I managed to arrive in mediocre health (we think a sinus infection accompanying my stubborn cough turned bronchitis-ish-ness), and am slowly nursing myself back to functionality. The boys are warming up to my family at about that same speed. (Or rather the Captain is, Sir O loves anyone who will play with him or feed him sugar).

Mr Renn is playing hard and resting hard. I think the man needed a break. This last semester has been an intense one for him in the clinics, and as soon as the holidays are over he "gets" to start studying for boards. "Oh, goodie" says my sarcasm.

Amidst all this craziness I have become determined to inflict as much holiday magic as possible on Sir O. I think he's just reaching the age where he's going to remember things, and I want those memories to be superb. I want him to get excited about every little thing, (and I want him to learn to be grateful).

So today we drove our little family down to Thanksgiving Point for the lights and the reindeer, and for the fun of singing Christmas Carols all the way there and back again. (And since I sound like a dying moose when I sing right now, this is bound to be a great memory....)

Sir O + Christmas lights = oh the entertainment!(in the dark....and I'd taken my seatbelt off to bring SirO into the front seat while we drove 4 mph though the light display - hence the seatbelt light being on and him being fixated upon it)



And Sir O's gift to us today: he made it through an afternoon nap and this lengthy outing in underwear, without incident. It was quite the breakthrough. I have yet to determine whether he's actually making potty-training headway, or is just dehydrated. I dare not get my hopes up too high after so many months of disillusionment.

Where I've been, what I've seen, what I've done.

The past two weeks have been such a fast-paced blur. I feel like I've been everywhere. I haven't, but I feel like it.

My family drove out to see us and to try to see as much as humanly possible in one trip. It was good to see them; it was good to see so many places and things.
Although I now need a nap just thinking about it.

We met them at Gettysburg. We beat them there as they had some car trouble and accompanying miracles. We killed the extra time with Mr Renn and Sir O in a train museum, and the Captain and I nursed in the car. Yeah, you're jealous. I sort of didn't take any pictures this entire day. Oops.

Next Day we ventured forth to the Shady Maple and Amish Country. The camera again disappeared into the nether regions of our diaper bag as I had my hands full with two overstimulated kids. That evening we had Sir O's first birthday shindig. It involved ice cream and Sir O making shrill sounds.

Day 3 - Washington DC. Camera never surfaced. That is so not like me, I know. My hands were full. Minimal sunburn-age, and I'm so happy the American History museum is finally open.

Day 4 - Church and Valley Forge. I took lots of pictures this day on my mom's camera. Too bad that doesn't help here......

Day 5 - Taking Philly by storm. (took a whopping 4 pictures) Sir O begins this business of throwing ridiculous tantrums over stupid things he can't possibly really care about.

Day 6 - Drive to upstate New York. Stop by Aaronic Priesthood restoration site and Whitmer Farm. Sir O begins to express his stir-craziness by running around like a maniac and trying to destroy important historic artifacts. I get upset with Mr Renn for being interested and learning things, because I didn't get to.

Day 7 - Visit the Smith Farm and Sacred Grove. I try frantically to keep Sir O from pulverizing other people's spiritual experiences. I spend 45 minutes with him in the parking lot waiting for everyone else to finish. I find myself in a bad mood. We visit Palmyra Temple, Hill Cumorah visitor center, original Book of Mormon publication site, and see Hill Cumorah pageant. After a David Copperfield-esque ascension in the play, Sir O decides that he's now terrified of Jesus as well as Santa and Fireworks. Terrific.

Day 8 - Venture to Niagara Falls. Ride Maid of the Mist. Very cool, but I wouldn't recommend riding it while holding a fussy baby. Very distracting.


Bid my family adieu and head to Henrietta, NY to meet up with Mr Renn's Sister's Family and his parents. By popular vote, we spend the evening at ChuckECheese where Sir O gets a second birthday party, is terrified of the mouse, and runs around like an overstimulated headless chicken. In retrospect he decides he loves it and asks to go back.

Day 9 - revisit sacred Grove, where a smart Mr Renn makes sure I get a few moments to be by myself and reflect. Part ways with family and start the long drive home. Spend almost 90 minutes in a traffic jam. Mr Renn about lost his marbles. Crash and burn once we get home.


Day 10 - Up and at 'em! Drive back out to Amish country to meet up with Mr Renn's other sister and her fam. The last of his siblings to make it out to see us. Sir O enjoyed the make-a-friend (or make a tractor) workshop at Cherry Crest Farms. We were treated to dinner at a farm-restaurant and Sir O embarrassed us by his hyperactive tantrum-ing.

Day 11 - Church, where it was my week to teach a lesson to all the kids in the primary. It's all a blur. Sir O got his 3rd birthday cake/party and got to play with his cousins at home.

Day 12 - I stay home and unpack, take the Captain to his Surgery pre-authorizing Dr. apt., make important phone calls and lick my wounds while Mr Renn's Sister's fam drives around Philly. We treat them to Zwahlen's and I am impressed by their Napoleon.

Day 13 (Yesterday) - Spend 1/2 day with Mr Renn's sister & fam at Longwood Gardens then see them off for Virginia. Attempt to make a dent in cleaning the apartment. Get discouraged.

Day 14 - (Today) - Smother the desire to curse my kids for waking up so early, vacuum, make a board game for sir O out of packing Styrofoam. Realize the carpet is now covered in Styrofoam granules and needs to be vacuumed again. Sort laundry, procrastinate making the trip down 3 flights of stairs to start it. Lay on my bed and let the captain play with my face.

That about sums it up.
Does it make you tired? It made me tired.
Photos and Videos here.