Holiday Trip Part 4: Chicago B

So we made it back to Chicago safely and quickly and had plenty of time to prepare for Christmas Eve dinner. We actually fed the kids at the regular time and put them to bed before getting out the good stuff for the real dinner when Tom got back from work. That's right. Work on Christmas Eve. But before we put them to bed we let them open their new pjs and one gift from popo. They really did look adorable in their new footies.

I have to say that dinner pretty much rocked. The turkey breast was moist and bursting with lemony herb goodness. The Chinese ham rivaled our Aunty May's. And the roasted veggies were a perfect complement. While Iz's custard pies didn't hit his usual standard, my attempt to recreate a childhood memory for Tammy worked rather well. She's a sucker for the no-bake cheesecake/Nilla waffer/blueberry (only the can--she hates fresh) thing. It was too much Coolwhip for my taste but I'm glad she got to relive the good ol days.

We spent Christmas morning opening gifts and picking away at leftovers while the Burton's traditional breakfast casserole finished baking. Wouldn't it be great if every morning could be like this? We relaxed and watched Happy Feet and exuded a general contentment with the world. Some highlights of Christmas presents included:
-Keilani's immediate fear upon opening Popo's Christmas Eve gift (a vibrating cuddly pink pig--Keahi loved the vibrating cow back in Laie). She's also deathly afraid of the small cow flashlight her parents bought her a while ago. She likes to take it out of the cabinet and then run away from it when it moos. I think she's got a hang up about barnyard animals. Luckily, Popo's other animal gift (a calico cat pillow with a blanket tucked into it) went much better.
-Jarom ignoring all other presents after opening the Thomas train track set from Aunty Tammy. He even started running a loose train over the picture of a bridge on the box cover. He couldn't wait till we let him open it up to play with the actual track pieces inside.
-Opening my awesome present: an ice cream maker attachment for the kitchen aid mixer Iz got for me. So awesome. We've made cookies, bread, ice cream, and flourless chocolate cake. Yum! My biggest Christmas present ever.
-Keilani's eyes following the candy wherever it went.
-Jarom and Keilani hanging out in a box learning to say Melekalikimaka.

Then for our last day in Chicago we headed to the Museum of Transportation which was a big hit with the boys. Life sized trains and massive farm equipment? What little boy wouldn't be giddy? The boys kinda crowded poor little Keilani, raining down too many affectionate kisses and hugs from rowdy little boys. Afterward, we picked up Tom from work and ate at an awesome Cuban restaurant. Everything was amazing and I loved mine especially (though Kervin's oxtail stew made me realize I'd been missing out on ambrosia all these years). I also really enjoyed the drive through hazy Chicago at night. You can understand why they filmed The Dark Knight here.

I feel like I'm missing plenty of amusing annecdotes but I guess that's what happens when you wait this long to record events. I'll edit later if I recall anything.

We really enjoyed our visit in Chicago--even though we nearly lost some fingers and toes to the cold.

While we were gone...

Kervin and Mary arrived in Chicago the day that we left for our ski trip so we didn't get to see them till we got back. Poor Kerv was still sick and with the insanely cold weather he missed out on going to Monday night football with Tom. I wonder how crowded the stadium was with hard core--cold blooded--fans. But by the next day, Kerv was up for the Shedd's Aquarium with the little boys. We're sad we missed out on all the shark-filled fun (but not to the point that we'd have missed out on our ski trip) and the pictures were so cute I had to post some. I love the shots of the boys with their snow pants suspenders showing. Winter gear is so cool--pun unavoidable. It's always difficult to get in face shots when their attention is so riveted on the fish but Kerv managed to get a really good one of all three of them looking. I was pretty impressed.

There were some incidents and Tammy's response was basically "Wow. Boys are way different." I head about how Keahi got a hotdog out of Tom when he got home from work after being refused by everyone else. Tom said he gave it to him because he reasoned with Keahi. I wasn't there, but from personal experience I know that if you're not careful, that clever little boy can spin his logic around you pretty tightly in order to get what he wants. I know bath time was an adventure since it was when we got there. Popo seemed to coast through it all though and thought the boys were pretty easy since they like to play together and I guess Jarom's whining didn't bother her too much. I have a pretty rockin family to look after our two active boys for two and a half days.

PayPal Nightmare

If any of you have a Paypal account, please check it right now to make sure no unauthorized transactions have taken place. We're in the middle of trying to sort out a whole ton of money (more than we actually had) being transferred from our bank account and we're racking up the overdraft fees and it's just a nightmare. I don't know if we are part of that whole credit card hacking incident but look after all your accounts.

7 year Anniversary

Usually for our anniversary we go out to dinner. Chili's or something similar. This year since we had a house full of family to watch the kids, we opted for something more ambitious. We planned a 3 day/2night ski trip to Treetops Resort in Michigan. We'd considered many different possibilities but in the end we went with the most affordable one that would still put us in pretty landscape rather than something closer (and flater) to Chicago--against Tammy's recommendations. She'd been worried about driving conditions and she wasn't wrong. But our driving dramas start before we ever got into the car.

The morning we were to leave, we got up early and were mostly--amazingly--on schedule. But when we started loading up the car we had borrowed from Arron, we were shocked to discover broken glass littering the front seats and even the hammer the thief used to break the passenger window. We'd taken basically everything out of the car but the GPS mount on the window was enticement enough for someone to break in. They made off with a mount and a charger converter thing (with 2 regular outlets for laptops or whatever) but not the desired GPS. Honestly, I was so stunned I kinda shut down and my mind went blank. I just didn't see what we were supposed to do next and we stood there in the snow staring at the gaping hole with bags in hand.

Luckily, Tammy and Tom were not stumped. We pulled the car around back to the garage, cleaned out the bulk of the glass, attempted to get the cops to come make a report (a futile effort even with the hammer as evidence), moved all our things into their all wheel drive Outback and headed out only about an hour and a half later than planned. They even managed to get it fixed by the next day (Dec. 23rd--not the best day for getting anything done) while we were off having fun in the snow. Do I have the coolest sis or what? Oh and Tam and Tom also leant us their ski outfits. Awesome. Actually, I was wearing Tom's smaller pants. Not so great for my self-esteem.

So even though we were off to a rough start, we made it safely to our ski resort in about 8 hours (as compared to the projected 6 hours by googlemaps) which was excellent time since we were expecting worse conditions. The first hour was sunny and gorgeous. And then we hit the snow and icy roads. Iz got really good at driving in these conditions while I napped (I know, I know, but something about cars just sends me off to dreamland) and watched the scenery. It was beautiful to watch the landscape drift from urban to rural, all blanketed in fresh snow. How is it that snow can make even beautiful things more breathtaking? Maybe it's my rosy tropical eyes.

By the time we'd checked in, changed and rented all our gear, we only had a couple of hours to ski, which was perfect since it gave us a chance to try out our snow legs without the chance to overdo it and be too tired the next day. But before we hit the slopes we had yet another misadventure--we locked ourselves out of the room. We had the key card. But that doesn't do any good if the chain is also locked since we'd left through the glass sliding door. That also added to our lack of ski time that first night.

First, let me say that watching me try to skate across the level area to get to the tow rope must have bordered on the insanely ridiculous. Not a graceful line in my body. Second, that tow rope is trickier than it appears. It zips so fast and if you don't have a strangle hold on it the thing just slips through your fingers, burning through your gloves while you totter about on your skis making jerky little spurts up the hill till your husband tries to help and you both end up in a twisted pile of limbs, forcing someone at the bottom to turn off the dang thing. Sigh. And then you let a bunch of little kids zip past you while you regain your breath and try again. Fairly humiliating. But it only happened the one time and I quickly figured out how to get that strangle hold at the start and keep my poles out of the way, too. Soon I was zipping up to the top of the bunny hill with the rest of the kids.

I'm actually pretty proud of how well we both did. I only fell once and was even starting to get the hang of curving down the hill. It was all french fries for me down the bunny slope. No need for pizza feet. The time I did fall was in order to avoid another beginner who was swerving into my space I had to quickly turn aside and had too much speed to stop before I would have hit the side fence so I toppled myself over. Tom had given me a lot of tips but I had forgotten to ask him how to stop quickly. Iz made friends with an employee who took him onto an intermediate run using the ski lift. Even though everyone had warned us that everyone falls on the lift, Iz, of course, did not. Except for when the employee (this was his 2nd time snowboarding) went in front of him off the lift. By the time our 2 hours were up, Iz was pretty comfortable on his board, even carving up little hills and stopping in a swoosh of snow like a pro. And I even went down the intermediate run with him a couple of times without biffing it. Definitely pizza feet though. And I could skate better, too, except only on a slight decline and not on the flat parts. Problems with my momentum.

We headed back in and returned our rentals feeling pretty good about the world. Everyone at the resort was incredibly friendly (that may be our NY lowered expectations speaking here), the employees helpful and genuinely interested in their customers. They had joked with us before we headed for the slopes after hearing we were from Hawaii, telling us to save our more spectacular falls for outside their window. And even the kids getting their own gear on were nice, immediately striking up conversations and wishing us luck. The midwest is pretty cool.

We went into the nearby town, Gaylord to look for something to eat and found a gem of a Mexican place with friendly staff and huge portions. I was really happy with all our culinary samplings this trip. The next morning we used our free breakfast vouchers and had one of the best breakfasts in a long time. Iz's ham steak was extra thick and tasty and his eggs buttery and hashbrowns perfection. My huge plate of banana bread french toast was lush and almost like dessert with the caramel sauce drizzle. I guess they realize they have to feed you well to fuel your day on the slopes.

The day flew by with chilly rides up and exhilarating runs down the slopes. Iz did several harder intermediate runs while I stuck to the longer beginning one and the first intermediate run. The wind really picked up and the snow was coming at us sideways and I was really glad we'd gotten me a pair of goggles or I wouldn't have been able to see anything. I biffed it again, this time on the intermediate slope. I have a harder time turning toward the right than the left and I was going too fast and ended up going head first into the snow. Iz said the poof of snow was pretty impressive. Then it was my turn to watch Iz as he plowed through a little girl in the half pipe, grabbing her and trying to cushion the fall. Poor thing was so frightened--being attacked by a grown man must be pretty scary. But neither of them were hurt and they both made it down the hill. However, Iz's pocket was open and the car keys had flown out and into the snowy haystack. It took some time and lots of prayers but he eventually found them. Whew. Crisis averted. At around 4:30 (when the visibility really dropped and my hands were freezing inside my gloves inside my pockets)I got this really awful feeling that something was wrong. I couldn't really put my finger on it but as I timidly approached the run one more time (both Tam and Tom had warned about those "one more times") I said a silent prayer seeking protection. And it was almost like hearing a sigh. Like God was saying, Really? You're asking me to protect you as you set off to do something you already feel is stupidly dangerous? So I called it quits and returned to our room to warm up while Iz kept going, getting better and better. But just before I was winding down, I did get to see Iz Anyhow, while I vegged out in front of a tv with more than the 6 channels I'm used to, Iz continued to carve it up out in the blizzard. He did get injured though at the end--doing something reckless, of course, like jumping off a 15ft side bank. Jumping wasn't hard but the landing sure was--he'd tilted backwards and had his board slid out from under him while his arm was ripped up and around at body contortionist angles. And he still hasn't gotten back full motion.



After eating a mediocre dinner at the lodge, we went back to our favorite mexican place for the most massive brownie ever--served on a sizzling skillet with 2 scoops of ice cream. Awesome. Life is definitely good. It was a nice end to our little ski adventure. We'd decided to forego another amazing breakfast at the lodge since all the weather forecasts said the next morning was going to be brutal--as in only drive if absolutely necessary and be sure to have food and blankets with you at all times. But our immense driving luck (which apparently did not extend to parking luck) held out and we made it back to Chicago in excellent time. We only had torrents of rain instead of snow. Even with a pretty long breakfast stop at Steak N Shake, it only took 6 hours to get home. Plenty of time to help out with Christmas Eve dinner.

Holiday Trip Part 2: Chicago A

Thirteen hours later we arrived in Chicago. Things of note on the drive:

While googlemaps said it would only take 11hours that's only drive time and unless you're traveling exclusively with young bachelors, you have to stop at least for bathroom breaks if not to eat. I'd heard about certain people's experiences peeing into bottles in the car but thought it prudent not to require this of either Keahi or popo. I exclude myself from this because of my preternatural ability to hold it and not because I was willing to be one of the guys.

Popo's portable dvd player was a godsend. While they didn't actually watch too many shows, each episode was a blessed brief break from Keahi's nonstop chatter and Jarom's mood swings between adorable happiness (when he'd say, "Mommy, I'm happy!") to cranky whininess (when he'd say "I want...I want...I want..." or, my personal favorite, "Waaaaaah!"). Popo was impressed with the sheer volume of opnions and thoughts Keahi liked to share with everyone.

Sliding in a vehicle on an icy road feels a lot like ice skating. Only you have even less control, are traveling much faster, and you can't just run yourself into the side walls without serious damage. Tom gave Iz quick pointers on the phone after our first experience sliding. Fortunately we didn't really slide again.

So we got there safely and were greeted with warm, helping arms full of stuff from our loaded trunk. After a quick dinner for the boys (hot dogs---actually they ate more hot dogs while in Chicago than they've ever had it in their lives before (because Keilani adores hot dogs and the tiny sweetheart is even more underweight than Keahi) which actually explains why Jarom had a hard time finishing his hot dog today), we sent them up to bed. Which reminds me about a key point of interest. The aerobed (a generic one and in this case apparently name matters) had sprung a leak and was deflating before our eyes. So what's there to do besides jump on it. The kids had a grand time bouncing around and then Tammy joined in to do some pretty entertaining launching of tiny children. But....when Iz got involved launching turned into something more like acrobatics.

And this was the second round. The first time he flew even higher. We told him we wouldn't do it again because he'd get hurt. At the end of this video (I wish I'd kept recording), he held his ear and laughing assured us, "See, I didn't get hurt." And then Iz launched Tammy up and over, crashing into the legs of the crib. What fun.


The next day the kids enjoyed playing in the snow outside until the bitter chill chased the adults--dragging the boys with us--indoors. At first Keilani was not a fan but she eventually warmed up to the cold. Keahi and Jarom were in snow heaven. Oh, and did I forget to mention that with wind chill it was 30 below? Yeah. And this is the day we picked for going around town. We only made it to Santa's Village for a quick photo op and then into Macy's for a rather lame letter to Santa gig that was hyped up far above its actual glamour. But the window displays were a big hit. Oh, and Iz was able to buy a couple of pairs of jeans since his (fairly new) ones ripped at the knee the night before. Not a good look for 30 below.

We ate leftover curry (from the massive amount Tammy thought was appropriate for company)and hung out in the warmth of the apartment and Iz and I looked forward to our ski trip the next day.

Holiday Trip Part 1: Maryland

My mom touched down in Brooklyn on Thursday the 18th of December and after a quick drop off of nonessential luggage at the apartment we left for the first leg of our journey--a 4 hour drive to Baltimore. The first snag: the Rav 4 we opted to rent under the impression it would have those 2 extra seats in the back only had empty compartments. Convenient for storing all those presents, but not helpful in transporting 4 adults and 2 carseats comfortably. At least the journey there was uneventful. I got to dubious honor of sitting between the boys and refereeing all conflicts and roughhousing that naturally ensues from cooping up two active boys for 4 hours. It was almost a relief to be banished to the back trunk when headed for D.C. the next morning. But I'm jumping ahead of myself.

Arron Hieatt is a doll. A peach. A whatever more manly word is out there for the kind of thoughtful, caring person he is. He gave up his bedroom for me and the boys and even bought the kids Thomas and Lightning McQueen bedding. Yeah, he knows the way to a little boy's affections. After getting the kids to bed (but not to sleep since that didn't happen until close to midnight), we stayed up way too late talking and reminiscing in the usual way of old friends. Oops, I forgot to mention that my mom brought 2 bears for Jarom--Pooh Bear and Pooh in Disguise--which he was supposed to share with Keahi. She told them a bedtime story about the bears as they lay cozy under their new blankets, and then finished with the ground rule that while they both belonged to Jarom, he had to let Keahi choose which one he wanted to sleep with that night. Jarom quickly clutched Pooh in Disguise to his chest and stretched out his other arm with Pooh Bear in Keahi's direction saying, "Here. Choose." Smart boy. He's not taking any chances. Luckily, that was the one Keahi wanted anyway. So while the boys played with their bears and the blankets with flashing lights (who thought that one up?not so restful in a blanket), the adults went down stairs to chat.

In the morning we headed out to D.C. to see the sights, first stopping at a local dinner (featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives--one of my fav foodnetwork shows) for some breakfast. Now I can say that I've tried Scrapple--which Arron said was a must while not having any for himself--and that it's not bad. Jarom, of course, loved it. And he practically inhaled the waffle with blueberry sauce that Keahi insisted on even though the plain one came with a combo for cheaper. Scrapple, for those of you unfamiliar with the delicacy, is made from the liver and other less savory parts of the animal that are boiled for hours before being shaped into patties and fried for good measure. The other noteworthy thing about the diner is that Keahi got a bear for his own from the vending machine outside. After a quick and unsuccessful attempt to snag the furry red bear, Iz was ready to pack up and leave. But popo pulled out another 2 quarters and said to give it one more go. We were shocked and impressed when Iz managed to grab it and then we were all in fits when the dang claw wouldn't open up once it was over the chute. But, some persuassive shaking later, Keahi had a brand new red bear to go with his old blue one back home. Sahweet.

What Jarom did most of the trip.

What Iz did most of the trip.

After an uncomfortable ride (Iz needs to learn about gradual acceleration/braking), we made it to the train station. Maryland trains are much nicer than the NYC variety. Carpeting, no visible bodily fluid stains, and cushioned seats. Awesome. While Jarom was obnoxiously whinny most of the day(except when he saw the tiny aquarium at the museum or when popo and I would swing him across the street), we did get to see some pretty cool things. The Natural History Museum. Lincoln Memorial. Washington Monument. And a pretty view of the Capitol building. Plus, I also got to help Keahi squat behind some bushes when he felt diarrhea coming while we were waiting for a cab. Nothing actually happened and I didn't have a diaper to put on him so I gave him a sanitary pad instead just in case. And I brushed off his inevitable questions about what it was and hauled him back to the street curb. Never a dull moment.

This picture just sums up our trip so well.

We had to leave early the next morning for our longer trek to Chicago so we swapped cars that night and prepared for another long haul by what? that's right, staying up late again. This was partly unavoidable since upon returning back to Arron's place we realized that Iz has left Keahi's winter coat in the bathroom at the grocery store we had stopped at along the way. Did I mention that he had previously left the baby wipes container in another bathroom in D.C.? Not his day. But while the wipes were history, we did recover the coat. The whole way back to the store I kept praying that it would be there. And then in the midst of telling God how much we needed that jacket, I'd also acknowledge that there might be someone out there who needed it more and maybe finding it in the men's room (though it seemed more likely that this someone would be a woman and so therefore never come across the windfall) would seem like a personal miracle and who was I to deny them that? So I was conflicted and a little guilty by the time we got there. But my relief was complete and unfettered by residual guilt when Iz walked out of that bathroom holding the jacket aloft. Whew.

Poor Arron was also up late with us and then picking up his sister at 1am and then waking up super early to send us off. He also inadvertently gave us his file cabinet key with the car key. The one that opens up the drawer containing his passport that might come in handy when traveling to Italy. Oops.

One regret: not having time to play Arron's amazing keyboard. You can't even really call it a keyboard. And not being able to hear Arron playing it for us. I wish I had more single female readers who could appreciate my bragging about my friend. I mean c'mon, what girl doesn't like the idea of a guy playing the piano?



Here ends the Maryland portion of our journey. Up next: Chicago.

dreams

This morning as I was herding the boys out the door to take Keahi to preschool, I leaned around Israel's shoulder to kiss his cheek and thank him for doing the dishes. He mumbled something about it being silly that he gets thanked for doing something he ought to do.

"All right, then, No thanks for the dishes."

"And you're NOT welcome."

We laughed and I ran out the door after the kids who were already at the building entrance making a ruckus. I didn't really give the incident any more thought until Iz came home early from the hospital and told me about his dream. Apparently while I was dreaming about happy things, he was having one of his not infrequent nightmares about my leaving him. (Any psychology majors out there with an opinion?) I had been unhappy for months and been confiding in Letty Jackson about all the things that made me want to leave. And in this dream reality, Iz was hearing all about it from Letty at a church function.

"So. . .this morning I was doing the dishes."

Dreams are powerful things. Silly and unfounded. But, hey, I'm not going to look a washed dish in the mouth.

Ice Skates and Toy Soldiers

After Iz finished up his pediactric rotation we had a little less than 1 week to get the house ready for company and play together before the holiday travels would begin so we decided to head to the ice skating rink at Prospect park to introduce the kids to the art of falling down on ice. Thankfully, Keahi's puffy jacket helped cushion the many....many...many falls. But he loved it instantly. Jarom, on the other hand, was having none of that. We ended up buying Keahi a pair of those double-bladed adjustable skate attachments but lost a critical screw so that he only got to try it out for 30sec. I've since fixed it so the next time we go he can zoom about on even keel. I was impressed with his determination and joy in it though. Iz and I, though with little grace, also made several rounds. So much cooler than Ice Palace.






Then the next day we went back to the park to play ultimate frisbee since we hadn't been able to play in a while. Only we somehow didn't get the message about the change of venue so after throwing the disc about with a couple of other forgotten players we headed off to the Bronx Zoo for some winter wonderland time with a brief production of the Nutcracker by the Albany Ballet Company. The kids loved all the colorful dancers and it was deliciously warm indoors. The jaguar ice sculpture and the goats were also big hits.

Waay too much to catch up on

So this is what happens when you stop posting for almost a month right before a major holiday. I've got about a thousand (no rounding up here) pics to go through before posting anything about what we've been up to this month. For now, here's quick post about my brilliant kid reading a Christmas book to his class. When he practiced at home it seemed loud enough in our half bedroom space with only me, but with the larger classroom full of noisy kids both inside and out in the hallway poor Keahi's voice gets drowned out. But it sure was adorable. And I reread it to the kids afterward.