"Alamosa, we hardly knew ye."

October has been a golden, glorious succession of crisp mornings and sunshiny afternoons this year. Or so I hear. I have been out of town for most of the month.

I think I'm recovering from our trip to Alamosa, CO last week with four children and no spouse. This is surely karma for my relaxing getaway of the week before. Cory needed to stay here and catch up on all the work that was piling up while he frittered his time away on a beach, and I felt obligated to take my children somewhere while they are off-track, since this is the last year they will all be in year-round school. So...we made a long overdue trip to south central Colorado to visit my sister and her chillins. (They live in the middle of nowhere so I feel obligated to include as many country phrases as possible. When else will I be able to say things like "dag-nabbit" or "I was fixing to?")

My sister is one of those people who makes you feel like the biggest sloth in the universe. You know the type...teaches her kids Latin, sits on the board for the community homeless shelter, cooks a full breakfast for her family...every day. She makes her own cheese, for crying out loud!

(Just a little side note here. My children have become so accustomed to cold cereal for their morning repast that when Cory got up one Saturday and made pancakes, Anna told him, "Daddy, pancakes are for dinner!")

But my sister, Larissa, (the old goody-two-shoes) is also my biggest blog fan, so I feel extra pressure to make sure I get an account of all the goings on with the "country cousins" included in this here history.

Monday-We drove the 9 1/2 hours to their house, including a 30 minute stop for lunch. Thank goodness for books on CD, a DVD player, and a navigation system. Seriously, traveling with kids has become so easy now that I feel like I should cut a check to my parents to pay them back for all the whining, fighting, and car-sickness their generation was forced to endure without the distraction of "Bugs Bunny" cartoons on continuous play in the back seat.

Tuesday-We got up early to attend the children's play "Grimm Pajamas" at Alamosa's local college, Adams State. It was darling, but I still have not figured out a way to get the theme song out of my head...especially since Zachary has adopted it as his own personal soundtrack. After the show, we drove straight to Great Sand Dunes National Park. Imagine an endless sandbox blowing around the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Now imagine six boys age 6-11. They had a fabulous time. Anna, on the other hand, betrayed her sissy, city roots and spent the morning terrorized. It might be my fault. As she got more and more frustrated on the walk to the nearest dune I may have inadvertently scared her boots off by the following conversation:

Me: It's kind of hard to walk in all this sand, isn't it sweetie?

Anna: Why is it hard?

Me: Well your feet sink into the sand a little, and it makes it hard to lift them back out.

Anna: (face pales, eyes grow wider, I see an image of sinking in quicksand flitting through her mind)...oops.


When the afternoon wind picked up, we packed up the shovels and loaded up the ol' cowpokes for a trip to the pool. (My sister is so smart...what better way to clean off a couple of van-loads of sand-encrusted kids than a dip in the pool? It must be all of that book learning she done got at college.) The pool is actually filled via a local hot spring and was more like taking a long and luxurious bath. I had to threaten, cajole and bribe my kids out of that place.

Wednesday: Here's where the sloth part comes in. While my sister productively checked things off her to-do list (meetings, meal preparation, world peace) I hung out with the kids reading, watching movies and playing board games. In the late afternoon, we all went downtown (through 2 whole streetlights!) to attend the grand opening tour of the city's new water treatment plant. Anna of course was terrified because water treatment includes a lot of ear-piercing machinery pulsing out decibels just slightly higher than your average Ozzie Osbourne concert. That girl is such a wuss...I really must figure out a way to toughen her up to country standards. The boys were interested for the first 5 minutes, and then, driven by boredom, spent the rest of the time trying to turn my hair gray by running around open vats of chemicals. Everyone managed to survive (even through the mayor's speech and reporters' interviews...my brother-in-law is the city manager, so his kids are more inured to this particular type of activity.) We finished the day off by eating ourselves sick at the local Mexican buffet. Isaac thought he had gone to heaven...all the cheese and taco shells he could possibly ever want.

Thursday: It must be a rare sight for a town this size to have such a metropolitan presence because when we woke up Thursday morning, we discovered a picture of ourselves on the front page of the Alamosa paper. Don't believe me? Follow the link below to a search of the local paper. Under the date, enter 10/22/08-10/23/08 and under article text type "water treatment." If you look closely, you can even see Isaac behind Zachary.

http://www.alamosanews.com/V2_search_archives.php?heading=3#

Of course we had to leave town that afternoon to avoid the autograph-seeking masses, so we hitched up a team (okay, so we really just drove in minivans) and rode off to the nearby Alligator Farm. Some local entrepreneurs have taken advantage of their own hot spring by raising Tilapia to sell to nearby restaurants. Many years ago, they hit upon the idea to introduce a few alligators into the system to eat up the waste...kind of organic waste management. With the warm waters, the experiment thrived, and pretty soon, they were the proud caretakers of hundreds of prehistoric reptiles. Always thinking about that bottom line, they hit upon the idea of selling entrance tickets to tourists interested in getting a close-up view of gators far outside the Everglades. I had heard about this place prior to our visit and had always imagined something akin to a zoo...and it is exactly like a zoo...that is if a group of rednecks got together and opened a zoo. Imagine a zoo without any kind of codes or regulations. Imagine power cords dangling precariously over open fish tanks. Imagine a zoo, where the only thing separating you from ferocious, wild animals is a chain link fence, jury-rigged together in several places with ropes and plywood. Imagine a zoo whose sole security system is a kennel of junk-yard dogs and a couple of fractious ostriches. The alligator farm is everything that is great about America and a free-market economy.

We took turns holding the little alligator. I'm a little afraid to post this blog lest the EPA come and shut down the entire operation.

Gives me chills just thinking about it.

Across the entrance from the farm is a "playground." You walk over a bridge, through a gate into a pen with a swing set and slide 30 feet high, a couple of goats, a donkey, a pond, piles of old tires, and a mountain of animal droppings. The only rule here is, there are no rules. On our way out, Zachary forgot to close the gate and we soon discovered we were being followed by a very tall, very stubborn goat. You would think maybe there would be some kind of staff on hand to deal with this kind of thing, but no in the end, we sent our kids off to chase it back. When that didn't work, we told them to try to lure it back to the pen with hay. When that didn't work, we told them to slap it in the right direction. Finally, I had to stop laughing long enough, join the kids, and push the stubborn animal with every ounce of my strength back into the enclosure. I'm pretty sure the owners of the "establishment" were watching these proceedings from their office just to poke fun at us poor, helpless city folk.

Oh, and did I mention that Anna was terrified? When we pulled in, we saw some ducks in a separate pond, and she said, "Um, I don't think those ducks should swim with the alligators."

Friday-We did lots of down-home cooking this day...or Larissa did. I did lots of down-home eating this day. In the afternoon, we attended the college's "Chemistry Magic Show." Just one more way for me to traumatize my daughter. They exploded balloons filled with gas in one of the "tricks." I don't think she'll ever go near a balloon again. The rest of our crowd had a marvelous time however, and even Anna enjoyed going to the lab and doing some experiments of her own after the show.

Doing a little ph-testing.

Saturday-Why is it that the drive home always seems to take twice as long? We survived it though, and came home with colds instead of souvenirs. It was a wonderful week.

Here's what the kids said were their favorite parts of the trip:

Anna-"playing dollies with Nicole" Those two little girls are peas in a pod...we hardly saw them the whole week.

Here they are putting makeup on in the bathroom. After the photo, Anna told Nicole, "She's taking our picture because we are so beautiful."

Isaac-"the sand dunes and swimming"

Noah-"playing boardgames"

Zachary-"I don't have a favorite thing." How typical...you know those city cousins...they are so wishy-washy!

I apologize to all those who may have been offended by the content of this post...especially any alligators or goats who may have seen themselves depicted in an unflattering light. It was intended to be all in good humor.

Travelogue Stardate 10-1-1

Don't you hate it when people send you email bragging about their most recent exotic vacation? That's why I like to post my bragging vacation accounts right here on my own blog instead. So much less obnoxious that way.

Cory and I just got back from a week in Oahu...that's right...just us..no kids (thanks Mom and Dad!) and now it's time to journal the highlights of a relaxing, tropical getaway. I promise only to hit the high points and not record an annoying play by play of all the relaxing hours on beautiful beaches with a refreshing, tropical drink in one hand.

Here are a few of my favorite things (cue Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music).

We tried to balance the week out by spending complete days sitting on the beach doing nothing but reading, snorkeling, and the crossword puzzle and days driving around to all the spectacular sites on the island. I can't decide which kinds of days I like better. Snorkeling was a surprising highlight--we didn't go anywhere special, just right there at the resort where we were staying. I was pretty sure I would see rocks, sand, and maybe a fish or two if I got lucky. Imagine my surprise when I put my mask in the water and discovered entire schools of brightly colored fish, urchins, corals and even sea turtles within arm's length. Completely surreal to see the white legs of tourists splashing in the surf just yards away from me while I followed a brightly colored humuhumunukunukuapua'a along the rocks (yes, it's a real fish, look it up). Then after soaking up enough salt water, I was perfectly content to dry off on a chair in the sand while Cory played volleyball.

The last two pictures represent the great sushi episode known as "Before and After." Okay, I know they are out of focus, but they're also priceless so into the blog they go! Cory is pretty into sushi these days and so convinced his sister Kim and her friend Becky to try it for the first time with us. Can I take a minute here to point out that neither Kim nor Becky are exactly known for great culinary adventure and risk-taking. I think their Island dining highlights include Wendys and Taco Bell at the top of their Zagat rating system. But they were good sports and went along with us to "Banzai Sushi Bar." After much trepidation, spit, and tears, they formed a firm and unchangeable opinion on this particular type of cuisine. This is a case where a picture is definitely worth any of my thousand words...even if it is out of focus.

Cory and I took one day to drive down from the north shore where we were staying, to follow along the eastern coast of Oahu. This drive is fairly rural and dotted with small, charming villages, agriculture, beaches, and shrimp farms. We made it all the way to Pali Lookout, which is a jungle-covered cliff where you can see everything along the eastern shore. It was spectacular..cliffs covered in dense growth, Diamond Head Crater, enormous suburbs tucked between the ocean and the mountains, inland lagoons, all in the same view.

Here is sunset from our hotel. The whole week, I was disappointed with my inability to transfer the gorgeous surroundings into my photography. This picture still doesn't quite do the scene justice, but was something of a triumph for my photo-inept self.

I'm no World War II buff, but our trip to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial was sobering. It's hard to view this peaceful, isolated place as the site of battleships and torpedoes. Nearly 70 years after the Arizona and most of her crew were sunk to the bottom of the harbor, the ship remains there and even continues to emit oil into the water.

The dwindling survivors refer to this phenomenon as "the tears of Arizona."

The gold at the end of this rainbow is the Dole Pineapple plantation...mmm...sorry, got a bit distracted there...hold on a minute while I go wipe off a little drool.




In honor of my father--aka "waterfall hunter"-- we made a valiant effort in this trip to visit a waterfall...Hawaii is famous for them right? Our first effort to seek out "Sacred Falls" involved a drive down the coast, a visit to "Uncle Bobo's," some quick Blackberry research, and the discovery that even though this waterfall shows up on the tourist map, it's been closed for almost ten years after a tragic Mothers' Day landslide that killed 3 people. Not to be discouraged, a few days later, we paid the $10 park fee for "Waimea Falls," hiked the paved trail, began to grow concerned as we ambled next to a very dry river-bed, and discovered that October is the dry season for waterfalls in Hawaii. The guides at the top assured us that they were expecting the falls to open up at any moment, but in the meantime, this pathetic trickle was the only fruit of our earnest labors.



Try as I might, I just can't find a way to capture 15 foot waves into pixels. Surfing looks fun and terrifying at the same time. We watched one surfer ride the waves into shore with a little boy no more than 4 riding along the same surf board on his tummy.





My favorite "field trip" for the week was to the Polynesian Cultural Center. The grounds are divided into different island nations, and at each "village" natives of the island teach you about their history and culture. I love folk music and dancing...and it was great to hear young people who are passionate about their heritage. If we had the time, I would have gladly devoted another complete day to the PCC. The video above is something I taped for Anna at the pageant of canoes. (she's crazy about hula dancing)

Our village tours and activities were followed by a traditional luau and an evening show complete with grass skirts, ukuleles and fire dancers...amazing!

We got to attend the Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation in the Laie 2nd Ward. Guess what? Sunbeams everywhere are shy and scared about saying their parts into the microphone. And the popcorn effect that happens when kids get up to sing a song must be a universal phenomenon. We also were able to visit the Hawaii, Laie temple just before it will be closed for 18 months of refurbishing.

Someone told us not to miss out on "Puka Dog" in Honolulu because despite the unappealing name, this was the greatest hot dog you would ever have. I wouldn't call myself a hotdog connoisseur, but I have to admit that it was delicious. They toast the bun on the inside, fill it with garlicy-lemon sauce, pineapple salsa and tangy mustard, and then stick the hot dog in. In an ironic twist, while reading the Honolulu newspaper dining section, there was an article about this Cult-following Restaurant. You'll never guess where they ship the hot dogs from? If you guessed Utah, then give yourself a pat on the back for understanding the meaning of the word "ironic."

After a tedious day of travel, we are home with sunburns and sandy suitcases. Next up? It's the kids' turn. I'm taking them to Colorado to visit with cousins while they are off track next week.

I'm Still Here

I have spent the last two hours catching up on all my friends' blogs. Of course, I just got home from a week-long trip and have laundry, unpacking, and settling things to do. Of course, I'm getting ready to leave for another week-long trip in 3 days and have packing and cleaning and preparing to do. Of course, reading and laughing at blog entries all morning is probably not the most pressing priority on my list of things to do. But boy is it good to be back and to see that my regular life is still kicking. Not that I would say no to another week in Hawaii.

The End of an Era

Remember all the way back to the summer when I decided to deep clean every nook and cranny of my house? Well...summer's over, and I only managed the first 2 levels; the basement is still looming. In the crunch of back to school and after school, I have been putting off this final frontier for as long as possible, but this week I decided it's time to assault the mother-lode of mess, the big cahuna of clutter...that's right...the playroom. (Day 3...still no end in sight.) It's a good thing my kids are back in school because this has proven a great time to go through all the toys and get rid of the things that are broken or outgrown. For the most part this has filled me with unbridled glee (I have 3 garbage bags of toys sitting in my garage...shh, don't tell the kids!) but there have been a few partings that have caused me pangs of unexpected angst.

Like these guys.

These battle-worn veterans have rescued many a suffering pony, have opposed evil rivals in a war against freedom and won, and oh yes...have enjoyed several delightful tea parties. I'm sorry to see them go, but their box on the shelf is beginning to collect dust. They long to be in action, not sitting in a cubby, swapping stories of their glory days.

So, we will send them off to some other child's playroom where they can aid and assist and earn the name of "Rescue Hero" once more. Good luck guys; I almost think I could shed a tear over you.

And then there's these.

It hurts to think that there are no little boys interested in lining you up, motoring you around, and leaving you in exactly the right place so that everyone will trip on you. My heart aches when I realize that just 2 years ago Isaac could tell you the name of every truck in the Big Book of Trucks. Now he's more interested in pokemon. Au revoir, old friends.

This one feels like true sacrilege!

Cory grew up with the Hardy Boys, and I never intended to let these pass on, but Zachary and I tried reading one together and found they are so old-fashioned as to become almost incomprehensible. They use phrases like "stout chum" and "Hessian mercenary." They have been in the family for a while though, so it's hard to let them go...for now I am just boxing them up and saving them for my mother-in-law who might never forgive me if they end up in a rummage sale somewhere.

All of this sadness, I guess is just the result of a physical reminder that my kids are growing up.

And no, I'm not doing this to avoid actually working on the playroom...I just thought a proper eulogy would help me move on.

Things I Never Thought I'd Be an Expert At

I remember when I started college and took my first course list in hand to register for my first semester. It was such an exciting book of possibilities! I had already decided to major in Elementary Education, but there were so many classes I could take on the way to that final degree. I felt in total control of my future and the path of my own personal knowledge.

Now that I'm a lot older, and a little bit wiser, I find myself reflecting on the direction my knowledge and expertise have gone. (Well, maybe "expertise" is pushing it...) I have become "expert"--or a little more skilled-- in areas I never would have imagined. As it turns out, I didn't have as much control of this as I thought...life started happening and I started learning things out of necessity instead of what sounded good on a course list. The 18-year-old imagined a resume with items like, "curriculum design, conversational Italian, or classroom management." My real life resume is so far different, but strangely every bit as exciting as my imagination.

So here are some areas where I have gained if not "expert" status, at least a step above the amateur ranks.

Diaper Changing. Four children, and 10 years of bottom wiping have definitely elevated me to mastership of this particular challenge. I can change diapers in a car, in a gas station bathroom, on a beach, on an airplane, on my lap, with one hand, even with my eyes closed. I can make a 3 second determination on the number of wipes a particular change will use, and I know every trick to avoiding an open-diaper-accident. Although in the last year and a half I have retired from this particular field, it's akin to riding a bicycle...this knowledge is going with me to the grave.

Running. If you had told my college self that this would one day become my passion I would have laughed in your face. I don't do running. But now I live for it! I use words like fartlek, recovery time, weight-bearing cardio exercise, and bib in the proper context. My 4-year-old daughter was eating breakfast one morning when I got back from a run and nonchalantly asked, "How many miles did you do?" We live and breathe distance training in this household. I have recently come down with an overuse injury called trochanteric bursitis in my hip that has sidelined my running for the next couple of months as I recover, and I quite literally spent an entire day crying over the news. (Just ask my poor husband.) Now don't get me wrong, I love being a mother, but one of the things I love the most about running is that it's an identity I have that is completely unrelated to being a mom.

Trochanteric Bursitis.

ADHD. This is not a field that I have ever had any aspirations to become expert in, even as an educator. It has taken a long time to get through the denial, anger, and frustration phases of dealing with this, but I feel like I'm going to make it now. When I was pregnant with Zachary, I was finishing up my last semester at BYU, and taking a class called "Human Exceptionality." Every chapter dealt with a different syndrome, disability, or other special need. Every week I would read a chapter and then fret over whether or not my unborn baby was afflicted with that particular challenge. What if my baby has autism? What if my baby has down syndrome? etc. Strangely enough, I didn't have those same concerns when I read the chapter on ADHD. I don't know why I somehow thought my child would be less prone to this particular problem. Who knew? I'm still not an expert on this, but if knowledge is power, then I am doing my calisthenics every day by reading, researching, and taking district classes. I don't want to be an expert on this misunderstood disorder, but I do want to be an expert on raising a son who can overcome his challenges. I want to be such an expert at advocating his rights in a classroom that other moms of children with ADHD will ask me for advice. I want to be an expert on communicating with coaches, teachers, leaders, peers, and especially my son about what ADHD does and does not mean. I didn't choose this area of understanding, but I want to pursue it with my whole heart and energy.

Doing Disneyland with 4 children. I swear one day I'm going to write a book on this one...we have got the system figured out. Of course it doesn't hurt that I happen to love running and that usually Cory and I are the ones dragging our children half asleep by the end of the night. I took my sister to Disneyland with us once, and by the end of the second day she said, "Cami, I swear I am walking as fast as I can and I can NOT keep up with you. I feel sorry for your kids!" If you ever want to know how to make the most of stroller passes and fast passes...give me a call!

Anyway, I guess that's enough of waxing philosophic for one day. Still, it makes me wonder what special areas of knowledge are in store for my future. I also find myself wondering what Cory or my kids would consider as their field of expertise. Oh, and it also makes me wonder how many times anyone has ever used the words "expertise" or "wonder" in one post. Hmmm.

Blog Envy

The more I dive into this cyber-world, the more I begin to enjoy it. It has been a treat to reconnect with old friends...a surreal experience to suddenly flash forward 15 years into their lives. I am writing again in a semi-meaningful way for the first time since, well, college. I find myself thinking about language and finding the funny side of family disasters because wouldn't that make a really great blog entry? Wait...let me go find my camera. This is an honest way to communicate with my friends and family about my ups and downs without running up an astronomical phone bill...and yet it's completely controlled and manipulated at the same time. I honestly wish I could devote more time to my site, but have tried to take a disciplined approach so I don't lose track of the time I live in the real world. I have been amazed at how big the blogosphere really is...there is a whole civilization right under my nose that I never knew existed even a few months ago. But there is a dark side to this new hobby that I have discovered lurking in obscure corners. It's Othello's green-eyed monster of jealousy.

As I visit more and more sites and smile at anecdotes or funny photos, the more I want my own pathetic and stunted web page to hide. Everyone, it seems, is full of engaging and witty dialogue; who knew there were so many undiscovered authors in the world? And the photography on some sites seems much more than amateur...maybe I shouldn't waste my money on family portraits...I should just ask one of my blogging friends to take pictures for me. Some sites are techno-fantastic which makes me feel like the girl in the computer lab who is taking the tutorial on how to use a "mouse." I find myself coveting backgrounds, layouts, applications, and oh such CUTE ideas! But don't worry. It's nothing serious. Thank you all you wonderful bloggers for inspiring me to think bigger even if right now I'm at a place where I'm barely maintaining my humble little corner of the universe.

We have a Ballerina!?!

As a mother of 3 boys, you begin to adjust to certain routines and expectations. You understand that you may actually have to say the words, "Yes, you have to change your underwear every day!" more than once. You become an expert on Newton's lesser known law of inertia: An object at rest will be put in motion as soon as one of my children enters the room. And although you may not ever really understand it, you resign yourself to the need your children have to tackle each other on sight. So when we brought this sweet little pink and white infant home 4 years ago, I assumed she would be a tomboy ready to roll with the roughest of them. Who knew she would turn out to be such a girl?

So she has rejected the world of organized sports for now and embraced her inner grace and, well, diva-hood. We can't wait to see what she does this December in the Children's Nutcracker Ballet.
But lest you worry that she is too much a priss...Anna has also lately taken to training on our furniture for "Ninja Warrior."