Vacations...are they really?

We decided to take the last week of summer off and spend some quality family time together. Our weekend started with some camping. Yes, I said camping. For those of you who know me, camping isn't really a past-time in which the Fukai family participated. For a long time I thought it was an Asian thing. Most Asian families I know don't camp, so naturally I assumed no Asians camp. (Sorry, I digress. We can talk more about this subject later.) Back to the vacation! We left Friday and headed up to Farragut State Park in Idaho. Everything was looking good, we were organized, in good moods, the weather looked decent, we were meeting some good friends and their kids, and Troy's parents. This was going to be a great camp out. (I should probably clarify here, that when I say camping I mean we own a 29 foot travel trailer that sleeps 8, shower, toilet, DVD player, A/C, fridge, you get the idea. It isn't tent camping. I don't sleep on the ground and pee in the woods.)

We arrived early in the evening, met our friends, and found our spots. The spots were great. Close to facilities, grassy area for the kids to run and around on, trees to climb, volleyball court to play on! Perfection. Could this get any better? The kids were getting along great. Troy's parents arrived. We had dinner, started a fire and chatted the evening away! Surprisingly, the kids even went to bed moderately well! In the morning we headed out to find the park. The kids played on the playground and we went on a little hike/exploration mission to find the waters of Lake Pend Oreille. The mission was successful, there was only a little crying (I think it was one of the kids, but it could have been me). We headed back to the campground for a little lunch and rest before heading to the beach. The beach was great! There was a little cove with beach that the kids could wade into the water. Have I mentioned that this vacation is almost perfect? When we had all had enough sun and surf, we loaded up and headed back to camp for a little dinner, fiesta mexicana! A yummy dinner, some "skinny margaritas", and homemade ice cream! What fun! Seriously, this is too good too be true. Well it was.

Before bed I started to feel a bit nauseated, nothing terrible. Maybe it was too much dinner, maybe it was the skinny margarita. Whatever it was I am sure it will pass. Well it didn't. I had a terrible case of montazuma's revenge. Puke city! I gotta tell you, puking in a trailer, while trying not to wake your kids and husband is not fun. After a night of puking, I was still not feeling well by the morning. My darling husband took the kids on a nature hike with his parents and our friends while I stayed behind and tried to recover. I kept telling myself that I would feel better after I rested. Well, I never felt better and we decided that we should end our trip short and head home Sunday, instead of Wednesday as we had planned. I felt bad to cut the trip short, and I hoped that nobody else in our party would get sick!

By Monday morning I was feeling much better. The good news was I had made my goal weight and it was raining terribly, so our camp out would likely have been cut short anyway. The bad news was that by Monday night Troy was violently ill. The worst part was that we had told Mason we would take him to Silverwood on Tuesday. Now that Troy was sick I was certain those dreams would be crushed. However, Troy gets Dad of the Year awards. I had already told Mason that his Daddy was sick and wouldn't be able to go to Silverwood today, but we would go this week. By late morning, Troy was moving around and decided he felt decent enough to go to Silverwood, although he wouldn't go on any of the rides. I decided I could man-up and handle the roller coasters, and Mason was ecstatic (again moments that melt your heart). So we headed out to Silverwood.

I have never been to Silverwood, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I have to say, and I am not an amusement park gal (with the exception of Disneyland), it was a fun day. We didn't even make it to the water park (which looks really fun). There was a great area for the little ones, and ours had a ball. Mason went on the Antique Cars, the Tilt-a-Whirl, and a bunch of other rides. The biggest roller coaster he went on was the Timber Terror. Now Mason isn't a daredevil, or even close to one. I was shocked when he said he wanted to ride it. He really wanted to go on the Aftershock, which fortunately for me he is too small for, so he settled for the Timber Terror. This "ride" takes you up over a 100 feet and then drops you down a speeds I can't believe. Now as we are waiting in line, I tell him "It's OK if you don't want to go on this ride. We can get out of line anytime." He assures me he wants to go on this ride. "I remind him that once we are on the ride there is no getting off, so if he doesn't want to do it we should get out of line before then." He again assured me that he was good. We got on and went for the ride of my life. I have never been so terrified. It wasn't even for myself. The ride starts out on a nice slow ride to the top. I tell Mason if he is afraid of the heights just look down at your legs. (I was looking at my legs.) I also told him to close his eyes if he got scared. Just as I said that we began the horrific decent. You feel like you are falling out of your seat. I quickly looked to Mason and could instantly tell he wasn't enjoying this ride. The look of sheer panic in his face instantly remedied my own fear and focused attention on his. I managed to pry my death grip off the bar and grabbed onto his arm to assure him that I was there and everything would be OK. He looked a bit better when I was holding him, but he still looked panic stricken. It was the longest 2 minutes of my life. When the ride ended, Mason was frantically unhooking his seat belt. On the verge of tears, I quickly hugged him and told him how proud I was of him. What a brave guy! Mason told me he would not be going on that ride again until he was eighteen! Whew, I am in the clear! I don't want to go on that thing again either. Abbey also had her moment of bravery, she rode the merry-go-round all by herself. She wanted to be on a horse that went up and down, but she needed us to hold her. The first time Troy held her. The second time I pretended to hold her. Once she figured out that she wasn't being held I was instructed to get on the other horse and leave her alone. She was so proud! It is amazing how a child's pride can translate into parental pride.

With camping, the flu, and Silverwood behind us what would our next adventure be! Chuck-e-Cheese! My kids love the idea of Chuck-e-Cheese. They just don't love Chuck! Well, Mason has grown to love Chuck. Abbey and Jack, they hate Chuck. They love pizza, pop and games, but that big mouse can stay the hell away! All was fine until Chuck made his big appearance. Jack wasn't aware of his presence until the big rodent was right next to him, at which time Jack let out a scream that could break glass. Abbey in the meantime was hiding in the booth, curled up in the fetal position waiting for Chucky to go away! Once he was gone a good time was had by all. $300 dollars later and pocket full of crappy 10 cent toys and we were on to the next adventure.

I have to say, I am pretty pleased with my husband. He has been a real trooper on our vacation turned "staycation". I am sure he was disappointed that our camping adventure didn't quite turn out as planned but he really rallied and managed to enjoy Plan B. So for our last adventure he wanted to take the trailer back to his parents place on Pend Oreille river and camp out for a couple nights. I have to say, I was not feeling a great deal of love for the trailer. After the last adventure, the love was gone. Troy really wanted to go and I really wanted to be excited, but I just wasn't. The kids were starting to turn on each other and turn on us. The weather wasn't shaping up to be really outstanding. We needed to take the trailer back and Troy sensing my lack of enthusiasm put the trip to a vote. The kids were all asked do you want to spend one night or two in the trailer. It was unanimous, two nights. Remind me to bribe the kids before a vote occurs. With the votes cast and the decision made, I sucked it up and we packed up and headed out. We didn't get up until late in the afternoon. We really didn't have much time to do anything but make dinner and set up. That night went relatively smoothly, but there were many moments of screaming, most of which was done by me.

The next day we did some fishing. That was fun. All the kids caught fish! Abbey and Jack caught their first fish. Mason caught a huge fish! Everyone caught something, except Troy. After some fishing and some fighting (the kids, not Troy and I) we decided a road trip may be in order. I had never been up to Ione and Metaline Falls so we headed up that way. For your information, there really isn't much in Ione. Metaline Falls is a bit bigger and was gearing up for a street fair of some kind. They also have a train ride, so we got out at the visitor center and walked around, checked out the train schedule and cruised main street. It was past lunch time and the kids were starving. We stopped in Cathy's Cafe and had an reasonably enjoyable lunch. Jack was not in a mood to wait for his grilled cheese and so he spent some time in the truck with his Daddy. With full stomachs and hot tempers we loaded back into the truck and prayed that the kids would fall asleep in the car.

Jack did fall asleep, but not for long. Abbey and Mason thought he needed to be awake. So they graciously tried to keep him from sleeping. After some more yelling and treats of missing birthday parties, Jack was back to sleep! Of course transferring him from the truck to the trailer never works well and he was awake as soon as we got back. We threw everyone into swimsuits and headed back to the dock for some water time. The weather wasn't overly warm and it was a bit windy, but the kids managed to have some fun throwing rocks into the water and at each other (no one was hurt-this time), swimming, and some more fishing. The kids all caught a few more fish and Troy found his luck by using Abbey's Barbie fishing pole! The good times quickly went south as the kids thrill with the water was gone. The whining was in full affect and our patience was quickly running out! Back to the trailer for some dinner, a bath, and a movie. We thought that the movie would wind them down, but after the fight over what movie we would watch and where everyone would sit, Troy was ready to go home and I was ready to sleep with the fish! We finally got everyone to bed and Troy and I got a few minutes of quiet and watched a movie ourselves. Thank God for the DVD player! Never go camping without it!

Now that we are home again, getting ready for work and school I am left feeling like I need a vacation from our vacation!

Moments that melt your heart

As parents, we have those moments that actually make you feel so happy that you could cry. I had one of those last night.

Mason is really into Ben10. For those of you who actually get to watch shows that are not animated, Ben1o is a boy who can change into different alien superheros. This is right up Mason's alley, as he loves costumes and to be able to be 10 different superheros, well that is more fun than words can describe. Well, for Christmas last year he asked for a Ben10 costume. I frantically searched the internet and after many unsuccessful bids on Ebay, I was unable to secure the costume. Mason assured me that Santa would be providing the costume so there was no need to worry. Mason was very understanding when Santa left a note that Ben10 costumes were backordered due to a production problem. Needless to say, I have been searching for Ben10 costumes ever since. As luck would have it Halloween is quickly approaching and I found a costume on-line. The problem: it really was backordered until the end of September. I ordered it anyway; at least my order would be in the que. I just finished clicking the order button and the phone rang. It was costume express asking me if I still wanted to place the order, because the costume had been further backordered and wouldn't be here until late October. I figured he has waited this long, what is another month. (Hopefully he won't want to be Ben10 for Halloween).

Last night we came home and there was a package at the door. It was the costume. Mason had no idea I had ordered it and so when I opend the package the look on his face was priceless. PURE JOY! I wish I could have captured his face on film. I almost started crying. Of course he wanted to put it on right away. I told him he had to take a shower first (he was very dirty from a fun evening at Pavillion Park in Libery Lake). It was the fastest shower I have ever seen. I had to throw him back in because he didn't wash his hair. I guess superheroes don't wash their hair. Once he was clean he grabbed his costume and belined for his bedroom. He instructed me not to allow his father to see him. I dutifully gaurded his door and when he emerged as Ben10, a tear came to my eye. He was so happy!

Why do I try to take three kids anywhere?

So, I had to take Mason to the doctors office. He has tubes in his ears and he has developed a mean case of swimmers ear. I tried to call the ENT doc to get his ear drops re-filled, but after three messages to the nurse and no return call I had to take him into the pediatricians office. I know that all of this seems harmless but in a few minutes you will see how one decision quickly turns an entire trip.

I picked Mason up from soccer camp and rather than going on a solo mission, I thought I should bring the other kids too. They love to play with the toys and get stickers and suckers, so why not. I got the kids and everyone was in a fine mood. Abbey and Jack were wearing slippers (which is another story), but they were fresh off of naps and snacks and ready for fun. The car ride was great and when we got to the office the waiting room was empty, plenty of playing room!

I was enjoying an old issue of People, when I hear Mason yelling, "Mom, someone is stinky." It is then that I remember I don't have a diaper bag. I mean, why would I. The doctor's office will surely have them. By this time there is a bit of a line at the front desk, so I take the brood into the restroom and attempt to clean Jack up. There are no diapers in the restroom and I am already well into the changing process, so I have to make do. I clean Jack up and clean the diaper up (yes, I know, gross, but what can you do). In the mean time, Abbey is taking all the urine sample cups and trying to fill them up with water at the sink and asking me if I want a drink. Mason also decided that since he was in the bathroom he should go. Well, the toilet is meant for toddlers, not first graders. He towered above the toilet and when I looked over, I saw him peeing everywhere but in the toilet. All the sudden he yells, my shirt is wet. Yes, he managed to pee all over the front of his shirt. I am beginning to think this is some sick joke, right? How can all of this happen in a few short minutes. I managed to get everyone cleaned up and the bathroom as well and we head back to the waiting room.

The nurse finally calls for us to come back and they take us to what is most definitely the smallest room they have. Perfect! As soon as we get back there, my kids lose their freakin' minds. Mason starts crawling up onto the table and I think he is going to try to jump down to the floor. Abbey and Jack are squealing at the top of their lungs because the room echos, special! I am trying to talk to the nurse and get her filled in on Mason's dilemma. While I am talking Mason is yelling "Hey, I just need my ear drops! Where are they!" In my head I am thinking the exact same thing. Why couldn't they just give me the stupid prescription over the phone and save me this nightmare. But, I guess rules are rules and they need to see the patient. I bet they will rethink that policy after this visit.

The nurse leaves and says the doctor will be in shortly. That is the funniest thing I have heard all day! So, the kids continue playing/screaming and then I hear Mason again, "Who stinks?" I can't believe it! Jack pooped again. On the plus side there are diapers in these rooms. No sooner do I get done changing the nastiest diapers I have seen in a long time (note to self no more oranges), when Abbey says "I pooped too!". Great, more diapers and poop!

Finally the doctor comes in! It isn't the usual doctor we see, and this doctor comes in wearing a Batman utility belt, which is great! However, since it isn't the norm my kids are pretty fascinated. Mason especially wants to push the buttons, which are located, well where belt buckles are. So my kids are basically poking at the doc's privates. Lovely. We finally get everyone off the "bat-belt" and the exam can finally begin. I would like to say I was able to hear what the doctor said, but at the end of the day all I know is that we got ear drops.

When I got home and told Troy of the ordeal he said, "I wondered why you were going to take all three?"

Lesson learned: One child per doctor visit.

Welcome to the Jungle!

I never thought I was the blogging type. I always thought that a "blogger" had to have something meaningful that would interest others. Then I realized that we all have something to say and while it may not be meaningful to everyone, it is a way to share and document this amazing time in our lives. As our loved ones move away and our lives become increasingly busy I have found a need to consolidate where necessary. Then I had, as Oprah would say, my "ah-ha moment". A blog. What a great way to document my children's lives and share with our family and friends, mutitasking made easy. I love it when I can be more efficient with my time!

So welcome to our lives, its not as crazy as Jon and Kate plus 8, but its not Leave it to Beaver either.