NMB Day 2

Today began with a trip to Wal-Mart. Seeing as we had only enough stuff to scrape by on breakfast, we decided that we needed some groceries. After all, the bottle of Malibu we brought wouldn't hold the kids off for long. So, after breakfast we loaded up all five kids and headed off to Wally World.

I have to say, the kids were pretty good. At first. After a couple of hours though, it was getting close to lunch time and the cheese and cookies weren't doing it for them anymore. Therefore, the entire time we were ringing up our purchases we had no fewer than three screaming kids at all times. Our receipt, by the way, ended up being over a foot and a half long.

After we finished up there we headed home, unpacked, and got the kids fed and ready for naps. Carter and Hailey were both pretty upset at being in pack and plays in new rooms, so Hailey screamed herself to sleep and I rocked Carter after trying the "let him cry it out" method. He screamed for over a half an hour and then fell asleep on my shoulder immediately after I picked him up.

In the afternoon we headed over to the pool for the first time. The kids had a great time playing in the water and we wore them out enough to come home, eat dinner, and head off to the playground before coming home for baths and bed. It was nice to have a low key day after our long car trip the day before, and the pool and playground wore the kids out so that they all went down without a hitch. (Side note from Kelly - Gavin learned to swim on his own with his floaties!!!)

Myrtle Beach - Intro Day 1

So 2 days after we got back from Italy, the kids and I packed up and headed to North Myrtle Beach for a 3 week vacay! Our friends (Ashli (and her two kids Nathan and Carter) and Cara (and her daughter Hailey) caravaned with us as they were coming down for a week also! It took a little over 13 hours to get there but was pretty good as far as I was concerned. Since I am very late in posting this - I am going to cheat and copy my friend Ashli's blog as she detailed each day they were down and spent with us very well! And some of her quips about her sons are too funny you have to read them too!

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The car trip went fairly smoothly, we only ran into traffic once due to an accident and by the grace of God we made it through before they closed down the road and started to divert traffic off the highway. The only snafus? I found out that Nathan gets carsick in the third row. Luckily this was brought to my attention when we stopped at a rest stop so we were able to give him some Benadryl to calm his stomach, (i.e. we missed the puking stage) Also, Carter and Hailey decided to have a screaming match. Back and forth. For the last hour or so of the trip. Oh well.
(***Side note from Kelly - I was lucky because my kids are great in the car - not one peep! - But it was funny to call the other car and hear screaming!!!)

The most interesting experience of the whole car trip had to be the restaurant Kelly picked for our dinner. Since the last 100 miles or so of our trip were on back roads there weren't exactly a lot of things to choose from, and with the kids getting hungry she pulled off to a restaurant called Lizzie's. It didn't look too bad from the outside, but inside was another story. We thought at one point that we were all going to come out with some sort of food borne illness, but luckily we all made it past in one piece. The kids wanted to play out in the parking dust bowl, and had some of the magnetic Thomas Trains with them which quickly picked up what had to have been some sort of metal ore in the dirt, and I have never seen them all so dirty. They had fun though. The ironic part was that about three miles down the road we ran into a town with several fast food places. Oh well, win some lose some.

After we got to Kelly's house around 9 something, I watched the kids and Kelly and Cara unloaded the cars, then we got the kids into baths and bed. There was a great soaking tub in the master and luckily for us it was big enough for all of them. We all turned in pretty early that night!

Italy - Last 2 days

We spent the last two days in Rome. Well, actually we didn't get in until late at night, and we just went to the Piazza Navona center, got our sketches drawn (even though they don't look like us) and had dinner. The only problem was Patrick was really sick at this point and could barely make it through dinner. We finally got back and just crashed. He felt a bit better on Saturday morning so we went to the Vatican. Lesson #1. Cover your shoulders in the Vatican.

We waited in line through security and made it all the way up to go in, when a rude man points to me and says "Prego". At first I thought he called me fat. Then I realized he was kicking us out because all of my shoulders were not covered. I had a sleeveless top with cropped pants - a nice looking outfit - but the sleeves weren't covering enough of the shoulder area. So we rushed to a local vendor, bought a cheesy ROMA shirt and went back. It was gorgeous, breathtaking, inspiring, etc. We walked to the top (which is a HIKE) and enjoyed the views of the city.

Then back to the hotel, to the airport and back home. The flight was great again and I could not wait to get back to the US and see my kids!!! One week is a long time away! As soon as we got back, I woke Gavin up and hugged him for 5 minutes. Then I went and watched Evelyn sleep - and snatched her up too!!! I missed my little guys!!!

Italy - Day 5 - The Wedding

Today was the big day for Denny and Katia. We went to Denny's early on for a late breakfast/early lunch. And for some Texas Hold 'Em to release any stress.... which there didn't seem to be any. I took a nice nap (since I suck at Hold 'Em and was out early) and then we went back to the hotel (our new hotel where the wedding was to be held) to get changed. We arrived at the town center where the groom showed up with his family - and then the bride and her family shortly after. Just as the ceremony was about to begin, Denny asked his brother (their witness of the ceremony) if he remembered to bring his passport, which was needed. Of course not!!! So I took off my shoes and ran through the town as fast as I could to where they were staying, ran up to the top of the building and searched the apartment for his passport. It was there that I had the most surreal moment yet of my life (besides giving birth). I was in this strange foreign town where I did not speak the language, running to a place I had only been a few times (but still got there on the first try) and finding this guy's passport. I had never even been out of the country before and now it was second nature to me in that moment. I remembered Patrick's friend always saying "Live in the moment". So I tried to remember all the things I was seeing and feeling - and to quote from the movie "The Peaceful Warrior", I realized that there are no ordinary moments. As I was running through the town I was focused on getting to my destination, but then tried to listen to what was going on around me. A man yelling "Bella Donna (beautiful woman)". Two lovers kissing. A mother scolding her 2 year old then hugging him. Extraordinary. Things that, as an American, I did not expect to see anywhere except in the US. But here is was. Just as plain. Just as beautiful. The streets I was running on were worn down from time, the stones smooth as ice (and just as slippery). The old buildings, looking beat up and, well, old...were scarred with memories of battles and ancient times. Time seemed to go in slow motion and I felt the salty ocean breeze waft upon me as I ran (okay, jogged). I was truly in the moment and then came to the ceremony which in itself was extraordinary. Two separate families, merging together. Two separate people merging together. It reminded me of my life with Patrick. When we first met. Our journey that led to love...which led to parenthood and marriage...which led me to wonder if one lifetime on Earth was long enough to share with this man I loved to love.

The wedding was beautiful and the reception was so fun. One of the most fun to which I had been. The Italians love to play tricks at weddings and there were 2 that stood out: 1) Denny had to strap a cucumber to his nether-regions and Katia had balloons tied around her belly. He had to swing the cucumber and POP all the balloons! It was a riot. 2) The waiters were bringing out their cake when one tripped and the whole cake went flying! It was a fake cake - but looked exactly like theirs. It was sponges with icing on it - but everyone was SHOCKED! Including the bride and groom who looked like they were either going to cry or kick the waiters a**es. But then they brought out the real cake and all was well.

Of course, towards the end of the drunken night, the men had to show off their strength and do silly strong man competitions. Patrick won pull-ups, but Danielo won one-arm push-ups (but to me he was cheating because his belly was resting on the ground because he was much bigger in that area)!

Italy Day 4

Continuing from the last post - I spent most of the morning and day by myself, laying on the beach and walking around Terracina. Patrick was HUNG-OVER! Anyway, while cruising around the town I ran into Denny's Aunt and Uncle, Mom and Dad and friends. They had a place on the beach where you rent the space. Even though I had my own nice little section at our hotel, I joined them for some fun. I eventually went and got Patrick and managed to drag him out of bed to come play. It was gorgeous outside (come to think of it - it was gorgeous every day - not even 1 cloud in sight). We stayed there for a while then went back to get ready for the rehearsal dinner party. It was at his/his in-laws house outside of town.

They had it catered but it was still awesome food (of course). And even though I didn't speak the same language as most of the people there, it was still so fun. Love is definitely a universal language. Those crazy Italians know how to party though! As an Italian tradition, Denny had to write and sing a song to Katia. He made up the words to the song "Don't cry for me Argentina" but made it into something about Terracina. Very clever! And very romantic! His brother-in-laws whipped out their guitars and played background for him. ***On a side note, all the songs over there are American songs so they can sing the words perfectly with no accent - but they have no clue what they are saying!!! It was crazy!

We ate, drank and danced into the night. Dessert was my favorite!!! There were so many good things to choose from! I gained all my weight back that I lost though - but it was worth it! Love was definitely in the air and fun was had by all - even hungover Patrick.

***Another side note - By this point I was comfortable enough not to call the kids every other hour to check on them so I really was able to let go and have fun!

Italy - Day 3

Today was our trip to Pompei. We got to the train station right on time with no problems. We did run into some problems when we had to switch trains - twice!!! I am not a public transportation girl, so I was totally confused but caught the hang of it in time. Once we got to Pompei, we had lunch right outside the station and walked about a mile or two to get to Pompei. Bad idea. It was hot and we had 4 older folks and a baby too! But we survived and made it. Once we got there, though, we did not get a map of the place so we were just wondering aimlessly. Another bad idea. Although there is a ton to see, we came mainly to see the statues of the victims. And we couldn't find them anywhere! We walked for hours and even had one of the older ladies quit and just sit down and wait for us to some get her when we left. Finally I asked someone to see their map and we were able to find one of the areas which was right near the exit. We saw it for about 3 minutes - and it was quite depressing. I am glad we went, but overall the day was LONG!!!

When we got back, Patrick and I went out for pizza. I think I like American Pizza better! Anyway, the dinner was great and we had a blast. We were quite spent though and went back to the hotel - hoping to go to sleep. But the guys had other plans. They decided to throw Denny and impromptu bachelor party. I wasn't going to go, but there was another wife there who wanted me to join too - so I bucked up and went. Mistake #3 of the day. If you ever go to Italy and want to go to a strip club during the week - DON"T! It costs us $10 Euro to get in (each) and then we realized that it was not a strip club - it was a (how should I say this?) - a place to get hookers. Once we realized this everyone wanted to leave but the pimp guy made us pay for what it would have cost - $400 euro. So Patrick was pretty drunk (which always annoys me) and then we have to pay all the money we had left (about $100 euro) just to leave. Let's just say I was in a "leave-me-alone" mood all night and the next day. Luckily Patrick was too sick and hungover to come to the beach so I had some alone time the next day to cool down... More on that day later!

Italy Day 2

We were so zonked after our flights and the time difference, etc that Patrick and I slept until noon the next day - and finally woke up when Denny got to our hotel to pick us up. You know how it is in hotel rooms where it is so dark and you can't tell if it is night or day?!?!! Anyway, he picked us up and we went for an awesome lunch at his/his in-laws house. They live on the outskirts of town on a ranch-like home at the base of a mountain. They had vineyards, olive trees, and gardens to grow. Lunch was one of the best meals I have ever eaten. SO fresh and yummy! Again, the Italian charm and hospitality was perfect. After lunch, Patrick and I went back to our hotel and laid out by the sea. It was great. Then we headed off to a romantic dinner by ourselves.

Literally, by ourselves. We got to dinner around 9 pm and thought we were late - but then remembered that most people don't eat until after 10 here. Their day is perfect - work from 9-1, siesta from 1-5, work from 5-8. It rocks!!! Except that there is not one store or restaurant open from 1-4 which stinks, and not even one person walking around (except us damn tourists)! But it still makes for very happy people. Anyway, another couple arrived at our restaurant around 10 to ruin our fun - but they sat far away. I ordered steak (who orders steak in Italy?) and Patrick got the "freshly fished fish" (say that three times fast). It came out whole, and embarrassed Patrick had to send it back to get filleted. He said it was delicious!!! We then walked to the town center (which was bumping for a Monday night - but apparently is crazy every night!) and got some gelato from the place Denny recommended. It was SOOOOOOOO good. The best I've had. We walked around and enjoyed the celebration a bit but then back to bed for an early trip to Pompeii the next morning.

Our Italy Trip - Arriving Day

Even though we went to Italy over a month ago - it still is so fresh in my mind. The trip was great - especially for Patrick and me to regroup and spend time as a couple sans the kids. The flight was great. We flew EuroFly and had our own tv screens to watch movies, play games or listen to music. Since it was a red-eye we spent most of the time sleeping - except for when the 3 year old next to us was screaming for over an hour. Poor kid and poor mom. Anyway, it was a pleasant trip. Upon arriving, we waited for over an hour for luggage until we realized it was on a different belt then what they said...so once we figured it out, we picked up our stuff and met Denny and Katia right away!

One thing I was not prepared for was the amount of graffiti and trash there was. And how much gas cost!!!! But I guess their government is way different then ours. It was still beautiful, despite that. It took about 2 hours to get from Rome to Terracina by car - but what really amazed me was the craziness of the drivers. Denny calls it "organized chaos". Pretty true. People would go whizzing by - even if it was only one lane. And there were scooters everywhere! It was actually fun - once I just imagined I was in a video game, and not real life. If I would think it was real I would have been petrified!

Denny dropped us off at our hotel (which was so gorgeous) and we spent a bit of time sleeping on the beach. Then we were off to Denny's brother-in-laws place. They live in old town which is this ancient part of the city (older than Rome) up on top of the hill that overlooks the Mediterranean. The streets were cobblestone and it was 100% old-Italian charm. It was exactly what I wanted to see! We arrived at this small house/apartment - but inside they used every inch of space to capacity. And his bro-in-law (Danielo) was a designer so it was so chic/modern/beautiful. They had a great table that opened up to accommodate all of us. Me, Patrick, Denny, his parents, his aunt and uncle, Katia, her parents, Danielo and his wife. It was great. And the food was fantastic! True, authentic Italian! Of course, we weren't prepared for the SEVEN courses, so Patrick loaded up on course one because he was starving, and barely made it to the final round (dessert). I saved up my room just for the dessert! It was a perfect evening, and even though I didn't speak the same language as half the people there - it was still so welcoming and loving.

One funny moment - Danielo was giving Patrick and me some really good wines to taste and he pulls Patrick over and asks him (in the best English he could muster), "So, you lika my wife?" (instead of wine). Patrick didn't really know what to say!!! He immediately realized his mistake - but it was the running joke of the week.

Another funny moment - When Denny says the only way to keep an Italian woman quiet is to tie up her hands.

Be back soon!!!

Somehow this trip keeps getting longer and longer - with NO email and internet access!!! What started as a 10 day trip, ended up close to a month. Some people may think it is silly of me to go away for this long - don't I miss my husband? Don't I miss my house, my bed, my routine? YES. Yes, yes - a thousand yeses....but I also know that my husband needs a break too, and even though he works 100 hours a week...us being gone is really a break to him too. He got to go to a bachelor party with no guilt, he had his best friend over for a weekend, he worked on the deck, studied, finalized his grand rounds paper and got to sleep - with no guilt. When we irst started dating, we figured out that sometimes we need some alone time to do things without feeling bad for not spending that time with our significant other. So, for the past 3 summers I have been going to Myrtle Beach (or some other beach) with the kids for a few weeks to get out of Patrick's hair. We miss each other dearly, but it is very healthy for our particular relationship. I can't wait to get home to him this weekend - but I know he is enjoying his time, as I am enjoying mine. The only thing that would be better would be for him to not have to work and he could enjoy the beach with me!!!!!! But while he is working his ass off - I will get out of his hair once in a while and make sure he knows I love him and miss him!

Check back next week for a complete update on my past month in Italy, Myrtle, Charleston and the Outer Banks. We were just invited to fly out to Tahoe for another week - but I think I have had enough!!!!

Stolen poem from Mary

My girlfriend Mary posted this on her blog and it is exactly how I am feeling now (especially after a long trip away and tons of housework to catch up on)...

I Love to Be a Mother
Author Unknown

Some houses try to hide the fact that children shelter there.
Ours boasts of it quite openly, the signs are everywhere.
For smears are on the windows, little smudges on the doors,
I should apologize, I guess, for toys strewn on the floor.
But I sat down with Gavin and Evelyn; we played and laughed and read.
And if the bathroom doesn’t shine, their eyes will shine instead.
For when at times I’m forced to choose the one job or the other;
I like to be a housewife but I love to be a mother.

Ciao Ciao!

So we are back from our trip to Italy. It always goes by way too fast, but it was so nice to see the kids again! There is no better feeling in the world than to see your kids (in a sleepy haze because we got in so late) open their eyes and finally see you after a week, and just smile and hug you. Of course, they are letting us have it now by not letting us put them down or leave them for a minute. But I don't blame them...I don't want to be gone from them anytime soon anyway. We have tons of pics that I will downoad and attach a link to, as well as many funny stories. I have way too much playing and fun to catch up on now so I can't write much. My kids are waiting...

Passport fiasco

Never get a passport. Or if you do, apply for one, like a year early. Or two years. Patrick tried to warn me of the governments' ineptitude about paperwork. We applied for our passports OVER 4 months ago and when they still had not arrived in late June, I started freaking. We are to fly to Italy on July 14th for our friend Denny's wedding. We have had our tickets booked forever and the hotels - so no worries, right? Wrong. It seems like everyone and their Grandmom was in our situation though.

So like I said, when they didn't come in June I called the passport information center to find out what to do. They told me to call back when I was within 14 days of travel (this was told to me after 45 minuted on hold). I was 16 days out as I called on June 29th. So I waited til the following Monday, called bright and early, and was only on hold for 25 minutes this time. The guy told me he would put a request in to expedite them and they should arrive to me no later than wednesday, July 11th. He put lots of hope in my head but at the end of the conversation he added, "Of course we cannot guarantee they will be done by then so you should make an "appointment" at the local regional office." Ok - he was being political and had to say that, I made an "appointment" but he was so nice and reassuring that I knew they were going to come. Wrong again.

I called again on the next Monday, making sure they were processed and about to be sent out (overnight mail) to receive them on Wednesday. Turns out they weren't even done. Not close. So they put another rush on them. I called tuesday, and after 40 minutes on hold, the computers were down. I called again and they said they were in the final stages, just had to be printed then shipped. Cool. I call 1st thing wednesday. Mine is done and is being printed. Patrick's is still not done but should be within the next few hours so they will both get printed and shipped overnight so we will have them by thursday. I call later that afternoon (now mind you, each time I call it is at least 45 minutes on hold and 5 times the computers were down and I had to call back later) and mine is printed but was not shipped. Patrick's is still not done. I call late that night (like 10pm) and have them overnight both to Patrick's parents house so we might receive them on friday. I call Thursday - Patrick's is still not done, and mine did get shipped...to OHIO not PA where we are going to be.

So after all those minutes wasted on the phone, we still just ended up at the regional office in Philly. Our "appointment" was at 9:30 so we left extra early to miss traffic and so we could have a nice breakfast in the city. I keep putting air quotes around appointment because we arrive way early and there is a line around the block and onto the next block already formed. We were warned of lines 5 blocks long, but since we had an apointment I thought we were fine. Wrong again*3. The appoinment was just a way to get you there, then you had to stand in this god awful line. We got there at 8:15 and didn't get into the building until noon. And we were semi-close to the front. I took pics to document the horridity of it all.

We did stand next to very nice people which helped the time fly by. And it was gorgeous weather and we did not have the kids (like some poor fools there). You could hear everyone say - "But I had an appointment". Yeah lady, end of the line please! My back hurt from standing so long but otherwise it was actually a strangely, weird in a good way, experience. Once we were in they told us that both of ours were already processed (Patrick's had just gotten done that morning at the head office in New Hampshire) so they just needed to reprint them. We were only inside for about 20 minutes or so and they told us to come back at 3:30pm. We saw the "come-back" line with thier times and people again were all over the place. Your time meant nothing except you couldn't get in earlier than your time. During the break, I got a pedicure, Patrick did a crossword and we got lunch. It is a beautiful section of Philly so it was cool. Then back in line at 2:30 (hoping we would make it to the front near 3:30). Well, we finally walked out of there, passports in hand, at 5:00pm. 9 HOURS!!!!!! Insane, but screw them - We are off to Italy tomorrow :-)

Lesson learned: Apply way early for passports. If it is about to expire, apply for renewal way early. Apply for your kids passports now, even if you have no plans. You do not want to go through this!!!

Messy Art Party

So today we had our 2nd annual messy art party. I couldn't make it last year so we were excited to be part this year...although we thought it might get canceled due to bad weather. But the weather held out and was actually a great day! It was at Ashli's house and the kids got to use pink or blue paint to put their handprint on a shirt. Everyone had a blast (even little Evie) but Gavin was too sissy pants to get his hands dirty (am I mean or what?) Honestly, this boy gets so upset when he gets dirty. Very anal and type A - definitely not from me!!!! So his best bud Nathan stepped up (like a good friend does) and made TWO handprints so Gavin could pretend one was his. How cute? Here are some pics (you'll notice Gavin has his shirt off in case he came too close to anyone with paint...)

Sick, sick, sick...

So there is this Dr. Seuss book that we read to Gavin every night that has the ABC's in it. For the letter "S", Silly Sammy Slick sips six sodas and gets sick, sick, sick. It's one of Gavin's favorite versus because it is easy to say (well, the sick, sick, sick part is for him). Well, yesterday - I woke up in the morning running to the bathroom! I don't know what is was - maybe some type of flu, but I was ILL! Our friends had it, and I think Evie had a touch of it, so I am just glad it happened before we left for Italy...although I had to cancel my hair appointment. Anyway, I swear kids can tell when you are not feeling well, and Gavin was super snuggly to me and asked, "Is mommy sick, sick, sick?" How cute!?!? I think once he saw me throw up he knew the answer was yes!!! He sais, "Mommy threw up and made a mess". Yes, son, very observant.

So until about 5 o'clock, I just laid around on the couch and put every movie we had on, threw all the toys on the floor and let the kids go at it. Not mother of the year! But once I started feeling better, I cleaned up (a little) and took them outside for about 20 minutes then bath and early bed! I slept 4 hours during the day (during the 2 two-hour naps Evie took) and went to bed myself at 9. But I feel much better today! I just hope Patrick doesn't get it!!!!

We still don't have our passports. I call twice a day (20-30 minute hold times each) and they just say they are in the process of them. They were supposed to be mailed yesterday to be delivered today but not as of last night! So Patrick switched his call shifts so he is working tonight instead of Thursday and we will head back to PA tomorrow so we can go to the regional Passport office there to get it. We'll see. I am still hoping they get it done today and ship it overnight to us and we get it tomorrow before we leave. Wishful thinking!

Turning one day into three...

How to make one day with daddy seem like a whole weekend (since he was on-call for 2 of the 3 days):

1. Go out to breakfast the second he walks in the door.
2. Make our weekly trip to Lowe's.
3. Help him work on the deck.
4. Let him shave Gavin's hair.
5. Have him watch Gavin play on the slip-n-slide.
6. Show him how Evelyn can "walk" (grab onto) one toy then to the couch.
7. Watch him change the oil in his car.
8. Make a really good filet mignon dinner and eat nicely as a family.
9. Put the kids to bed early so mommy and daddy can chill and watch a movie (almost like a date)!