It was fun watching the girls get excited about being in a hotel. They were very interested in crossing the elevator buttons, checking out the hotel lobby mirror installation, observing parts of downtown Colorado Springs from our window, and getting cozy in their bed.
I had a really nice time having dinner at The Keg while Miss Kristen watched our children. It was good to get to chat with Jen in particular without having our kids around.
I had a great time every time I got to play Catan. I felt like I was a decent contender and I even won the last game I played which was nice. But even when I don't win, I enjoy it. I like the trash talk and the strategy talk. I'm amused to watch Neil and Emily's dynamic with each other when they are in competition.
I'm really glad we made time to go to the ranch. Jack got to take Clara, Jane, and Jamie on the four-wheeler. And the ghost town is a lot of fun when there's bunch of kids getting excited about it.
At some point both Calvin and Jane were napping simultaneously and I got to get some SPL stuff done which I find so deeply satisfying. Additionally I had a long and very invigorating conversation with Emily planning how to move SPL forward and getting feedback from her. She seemed very interested in helping personally which is surprising and touching.
Matt's cooking for the entire trip was unbelievably awesome. of course is actual Thanksgiving food was amazing and all the more so because you made almost all of it gluten-free. That was so touching and I don't think I will soon forget it. But he also had amazing food for everyone every day before Thanksgiving too. Cinnamon rolls, emoji bread, bacon egg muffins and bacon grease hash browns, etc.
One evening he did pizza night and while people were making their own pizzas and then retrieving them to eat, we were also all watching Moana and that was really relaxing and enjoyable. It's the kind of movie that people of all ages can enjoy.
We also got to do a small version of the taste test and I was able to tell the difference between diet sodas and regular sodas and even the difference between diet Pepsi and Diet Coke. of course we need to have a larger sample set but it was fun and surprisingly emotionally invested lol. Ellen and Rocket were also able to correctly identify Diet Coke so we all took pride in that.
And this might be a small thing but I really liked having Thanksgiving specific outfits for all the kids. And I got at least one good picture of it so there.
Calvin slept in, so hopefully he will *not* sleep on the drive to the airport and *will* sleep on the airplane.
I packed small backpacks for each girl, including snacks, crayons and paper, books, and of course their Kindles. They are excited to have their own supplies to carry. In fact Clara won't take her backpack off even though we don't leave for the airport for about 2 more hours.
We no longer have to stress about finding an Uber or Lyft with enough capacity for us. Now that we have the Mazda, we can just drive ourselves to the airport!
Clara can't wait to go to the ranch so she can put more stuffed animals in jail (the ghost town jail Dad built).
Matt is making Thanksgiving dinner and he got the right supplies to make **all of it** gluten free. Clara will get to fully participate! Means a lot to me.
The last couple nights Jane has insisted on reading bedtime stories to me instead of the other way around. She's so proud of herself as she sits in the rocking chair and describes whatever she thinks is happening in the pictures. Even does character voices, albeit softly. And I like it because I can just sit and listen without trying to maneuver holding a book while fitting three kids in my lap.
Clara scraped her knee, then informed me that she was bleeding because germs were biting her.
The girls are watching Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving, but I think instead of learning about friendship and kindness, Clara is just learning that it's NOT okay to serve non-traditional food on Thanksgiving.
Photo from Nov 7, 2020 - Clara proudly shows me the fancy drink we made her.
I told the girls they can't get up from their seats until they eat all their food. They keep discussing the different things they'll be able to do once they eat all their food, which they are not trying to do at all. Some of it I say they will be able to do and some of it I say is a non-starter. For example I'm not going to help them do any painting today. Just now Clara starts to list all the possibilities of their post-eating day:
Clara: So! If we eat all of our food, we get to [starts counting on her fingers] have a piece of candy, paint a turkey- Me: No we are not painting any turkeys. Clara: No! I'm just saying all the things! Me: Yeah but we aren't going to paint anything. Clara: Stay calm! Me: [laughing] ok? Clara: I'm just talking right now! Clara: Okay. So! If we eat all of our food... [She continues listing things to herself without my unhelpful input.]
Jane and Clara are pushing/pulling Calvin's rocking chair to bring him into my room, but it gets stuck.
Jane (2.5 years old): Dammit!
Me: Um, no, can you say "darn it"?
Clara: Darn it!
Me: Good job.
Jane: No! DAMMIT!
Calvin was happily cuddling a burp cloth.
Clara: Mom, we gotta get this blanket so he can see us.
Me: No, leave him alone. He's cuddling the blanket. He can still see you.
Clara: Calvin, can you share? [pauses, uses a different voice] "Yes!" [back to her normal voice] Mom, Calvin says he can share!
I made the mashed potatoes and asked Clara if she wanted to try some. She looked at my mashed potato-covered finger uncertainly, took the tiniest of licks, raised both eyebrows and said "Yum!" and then ate the rest eagerly.
Last night Jane listed everything she thinks we're eating on Thanksgiving: "mashed tatoes, con on cob, chips...waisins...cheewios..."
Also last night I asked Clara if I could have a hug. She ran up and gave me a big hug and, even though I hadn't said anything else, she whispered in my ear "I love you too."
The travel day was not bad at all. Calvin slept on the way to SMF and we made it through security no problem. At the gate he hung out with me watching out the window while I messed on my phone. Once we boarded Neil and Emily were already on the flight because they very graciously left Portland early so they could help me with him from SMF to DEN. Emily slept most of the flight and Neil and I visited and did crosswords together. He helped me a lot by holding various items while I adjusted Calvin. It makes a big difference. Once we landed they helped watch my stroller and things while I changed Calvin and got readjusted. We met up with Everett, then Henry, and all drove back to COS together chatting happily and driving carefully because it was snowy. Calvin slept the whole way. What a good traveler. It was great to get to Tejon and not be concerned about gluten. Matt made a bunch of pizzas in the brick oven and we enjoyed those with some wine. Miss Kristin took Calvin and we all went to early karaoke (we arrived about 7pm). It was also great to go out and know that I wouldn't have to wake up, move, and try to get back down two toddlers at the end of the night. Getting a little baby to go back to sleep is a bit easier. So I really enjoyed the karaoke night. I just had a few Angry Orchard's and tried a few new karaoke songs (some worked (Ruby Baby) and some didn't (Written in the Sand), but it was good to try), and just generally enjoyed myself. Afterward, we all traipsed to the Air BnB. Actually we drove because it was pretty cold out, but the place is so close by (half a block) that we probably could've walked just as easily. The Air BnB was adorable - a little cottage with a cozy bedroom downstairs and several more beds in the A-frame attic. We set up the pack and play in the downstairs bedroom and Calvin and I slept there peacefully. And because it was just me, there was plenty of space to bring Calvin in bed through the night and nurse him while half sleeping, which is something I always really enjoyed with Jane and was glad to get a chance to do with Calvin for once. In fact in general it was great to get to spend so much time with Calvin, just the two of us. Now that I'm back at the lab I don't see him as much during normal weeks and it was good to get lots of cuddles in. It doesn't hurt that he's mostly very easy and cheerful and everyone else also enjoys seeing him. It was great to stay at an Air BnB so close, because I could just walk Calvin and me back and forth whenever I needed to without impacting anyone else's schedule or needing to borrow a vehicle.
[This as far as I was able to write at the time, the rest are just my quick notes.]
--Our Air Bnb is adorable and cozy, with plenty of space for Calvin and me to have our own room. Plus it's less than a block from Dad's house, so we can just walk back and forth.
--Emily took Calvin so I could take a much needed nap. I slept peacefully on Dad's huge bed for probably 1.5-2 hours and the other adults just took care of Calvin, feeding him and keeping him busy. It made a huge difference in the overall day.
--It was the most relaxed Thanksgiving day we've had, probably because there were fewer people, especially children, and because Matt did all the cooking so Dad wasn't stressing about it.
--And so of course the food was especially amazing, including bacon wrapped turkey stuffed with rum-soaked fruit or something.
--Calvin fell asleep right before it was time to eat dinner so I got to eat the whole dinner in peace. In fact I specifically remember sipping lavender wine (weird but delicious) and telling the room in general that I was in such a good freaking mood because I felt well-rested and was about to eat an amazing meal and Calvin was being very easy and I got to hang out with everyone.
--Then I got to sit on the couch and cuddle and play with Calvin while most of the other adults cleaned up the mess of a kitchen.
--Everett took Calvin so I could play the Paper Game, and I got through almost the entire game before needing to tend to him. When it was time to read our cards and I was taking care of Calvin, Rocket was very happy to read my cards for me, which was sweet.
--Henry went ahead of me to the Air Bnb to set up the pack and play, so when we got home I was able to sing to Calvin to calm him enough to nurse him lying down (my favorite, and something I've really enjoyed on this trip) and then put him to bed.
--Then I got a good 2.5 hours sleep before I needed to pump again, which is when I took the chance to write all this out real quick. And of course then go back to sleep. --We made no plans for Sunday so we were able to lounge and play games and pivot at our leisure. --I got to play a game of Catan while Emily and Henry kept Calvin busy/happy. --I laughed a lot at how one-sided the game was and, actually, how good Rocket was and how he kept accidentally trash talking. --I enjoyed Thanksgiving leftovers all day, especially cheesy potatoes. --I got to visit with Ellen for awhile. I don't get to talk to her as much anymore because she's so busy with residency so it was good to chat one-on-one while we unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. --We rewatched all of Dad's 60th Birthday video and then decided to watch the 50th one as well. --I got to play two games of Quiplash while Calvin leaned against Emily and happily hung out with everyone. I laughed very, very hard, especially when Everett answered "What should the next Lucky Charms marshmallow be?" with "Hot sog mmmm burger meat so good marshmellow." Seriously. Laughed until I cried. It was such a fun and relaxing trip.
Took the girls with me to look for Halloween/fall decor discounts and they had a wonderful time. They were so excited about all the beautiful crafts and decorations that we ended up walking slowly through the entire store just so they could look. Jane's favorite part was all the fake pumpkins and pumpkin-based decor. Clara's favorite parts were the large artificial Christmas trees and an oversized Rudolph doll.
And while the three of us got out of the house and took our time exploring, Jack got to enjoy some peaceful one-on-one time with Calvin, who basically watched Jack clean and offered emotional support in the form of smiles and coos. And that in turn means *I* got to return to a much cleaner-than-usual apartment.
Oh, plus I bought one new Halloween decoration and a couple things for a Thanksgiving craft I'm making, all for less than $10. So yeah, win for everyone involved. :)
Last night I was taking down Halloween decorations and putting up Thanksgiving/fall decorations. Clara asked why and I explained that Halloween is over until next year. Just now Clara got home from school and asked "Is it Halloween yet??" Guess she enjoyed it this year.
Because Neil, Emily, and the Wolks had to leave Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving on Wednesday.
First of all, it was great for my family to stay at the Air Bnb. It's like a two minute drive from Dad's house, as opposed to a 40 minute drive between the ranch and Dad's house. We got to sleep in until the kids woke up naturally, and when they did wake up we didn't have to worry about waking anyone else up. I gave them a bowl of Cheerios which they happily ate together and we turned on the big screen TV for them to watch Super Simple Songs. They both seemed pretty impressed with that huge TV, which is on a table only a couple feet off the ground. For them it's probably like a mini movie screen. We got ready to go in our own time and then drove the very short drive back to Tejon.
When we arrived Dad was making pies. Zoey, Rocket, and Sola were cutting hearts, stars, and flowers out of extra pie dough to make pretty pie toppings. There was a lot of flour around, and I let the kids know that because Clara has celiac she can't touch the flour and if she does she has to wash her hands. They seemed to understand and take it seriously. I like when kids get to the age where they feel sort of honored at being given real responsibility.
I was also gratified to see how seriously Dad was taking it. A year ago when we arrived for Thanksgiving he went to hug Clara while he was covered in flour (he just didn't remember), but in contrast this year when the older kids were done with pie decorations he instructed Rocket to go to the master bathroom, change all his clothes, and wash off his hands and arms. He also had Rocket get Zoey a chance of clothes, all so that they wouldn't likely get flour on Clara. Dad still had several hours to go in the kitchen, and so he kept reminding people to please keep Clara out of the kitchen because of the flour. It is a relief to see the people around us take her Celiac seriously and make sure she's protected. Of course when she's a bit older it will be much easier because she will understand and keep an eye out for herself, but right now when she doesn't get it the extra eyes help.
Not long after we got there, Jack took the kids and Julie and I walked to Safeway to get contact solution for her and gluten free pizza for Clara. After we walked past her old house and then back to Tejon, visiting the whole way, mostly talking about marriage and kids. It's good to have a sibling that can relate on that level.
The next few hours were actually pretty relaxed. I visited with Dad and Jill and whoever was in the kitchen/dining area while helping Dad prep different dishes. Jane napped for a long time on Dad's bed. Clara played very happily either directly with the other kids or near them with the fake food, especially the ice cream scoops and cones, which she loved. Jack even found time to do a couple quizzes.
Clara and Malcolm dump clementines out of their truck.
Eventually everyone arrived from the ranch (Neil, Emily, Ellen, Everett, Henry) to help out. There was a bit of chaos as Dad tried to make sure there were enough ovens to keep everything warm, and Jack and Everett ran some dishes to our Air Bnb to use the oven there. I mostly watched the kids and stayed out of it. When Jane first got up from her nap she was a bit stoic but she warmed up eventually.
I was also kind of excited that this year we officially had a kids table. We pulled the coffee table from the front living room into the dining room and Zoey, Malcolm, and Clara sat at it. For a second Clara was upset because she wanted a chair, but we found a step stool for her and she was fine with it. She ate her gluten free pizza and didn't care in the slightest that everyone else was eating other stuff. I guess she's used to it. Even better, Jennifer brought individual gluten free pies, so after dinner Clara got her own apple pie. I thought that was really sweet, since she'd been pointing out the pies all day.
At the grown up table I got to eat in relative peace thanks to Julie taking Jane for a while and then Jane eating happily from Jack's lap. There were waaaaay more cheesy potatoes than we could possibly go through, but that's a good problem to have. There was also rare steak, which was awesome, and Jennifer's cranberry sauce was excellent! It's some kind of finely diced fruit salad type recipe including celery for crunch and nuts. Really the best cranberry dish I've had for Thanksgiving. Neil and Emily made a lot of vegan food and their vegan "cheesy" potatoes were pretty good. Their vegan spaghetti (zoodles = zucchini noodles) and sausage was delicious too. I wouldn't have even known it was vegan if Julie hadn't told me.
After dinner there were plenty of hands to help clean up and Dad was playing a lot of very cheerful dance songs he likes. Jane had really started to warm up and would kind of sway to some of the music. She also does this little move where she puts one arm behind her back and the other across her stomach and kind of bounces her knees a bit. It was a big hit, especially with Paul and his parents. Paul seems to really love little kids.
Also now that Dad was finally not covered in flour he was able to play with Clara. She had been calling for him ("Papi! Papi look!") all day to show him what she was doing but he had to watch from a distance because of the baking. But now he could play. He went down to the family room and danced with Clara, Malcolm, Zoey, and sometimes Rocket. Malcolm in particular was getting waaaay into the music and just going nuts. Apparently he especially likes 'No excuses' by Meghan Trainor, because when Julie put that song on he sort of froze for a second in a look of delight and astonishment, and then started dancing crazy fast. It was great. Clara had a similar reaction to the recent favorite: 'I've been everywhere man' by the Road Hammers. They sing the verses very quickly and she marches her feet up and down as fast as she can while yelling 'Faster!' It's awesome.
The day before Sola had asked me if we could play The Paper Game or Quiplash and I told her not that day but probably on our Thanksgiving day. She had mentioned it once or twice during today also, and Harrison also asked about it, so clearly they were excited. Neil kindly set up Quiplash on his laptop (hooked up to the big screen) and a lot of people got to play. It was a big hit. It's great to have a game that allows you to sit still on the couch and laugh, and in our big and chaotic family it's also great to have a game that can keep moving along even when various people get interrupted and have to leave and come back to it. It also worked out well that my siblings were playing but so were Harrison, Sola, and even Rocket (Emily lent him her phone) because there were sort of two groups of humor and it caused a lot of split votes, instead of one side dominating with only one person the odd man out. It was also a good way to wind down as the music is a lot more low key compared to the dance music Dad had been playing.
After a few rounds of that it was time for those of us with small children to go back to our Air Bnb's and put them to bed. I helped Jack get our kids to bed, and then I went back to Tejon and Dad and I drove up to the ranch to join Neil, Ellen, and Everett for DOOM! (Neil had been trying to get the DOOM network working with a lot of frustration, and he had previously mentioned he didn't know what the point was since we'd never get a chance to play anyway without me staying at the ranch. I told him I would absolutely make a trip to the ranch to play DOOM, which I think is extremely fun, so he felt more motivated and figured it all out). Dad watched us for a good hour, and we of course were laughing our heads off. At first there were some settings issues with this version of DOOM and none of the guns were reappearing, so we were having a lot of pistol fights which we still found hilarious. Neil fixed it eventually though. Also this version allowed us to change the colors of our players to anything, so I was black and Ellen was purple. This version also showed your rank (X out of 4) and the spread between first and last place, which was kind of cool. We played for a little over two hours. There were at least two points where I was laughing so hard I had to stop playing and just get it together. I love it.
I was pretty exhausted when I got back home so it was good to get into our already warm apartment and pass out. Overall an excellent Thanksgiving.
We traveled all day yesterday from Sacramento to Denver airport to Colorado Springs to Dad's ranch about another 45 minutes away. I'm sure it was overwhelming for both the girls, but especially clara who (1) is old enough to be more anxious about all the unfamiliarity and (2) had barely slept at all. She did pass out near the end of the flight on Jack, but she woke up not 20 minutes later as we were trying to put all out stuff together to deplane, and then she didn't sleep the whole drive to COS, surprisingly. (Side note: Jack was so sweet on the plane trying to hold Clara still so she could sleep while still gathering our belongings with his feet and whatever.)
Anyway, Clara also fell asleep at the very end of our drive to the ranch. (We got there at like 10 p.m.) Jack took her upstairs and put her in the master bedroom but she woke up, and then he had to take her ponytails out and she was very fussy. I felt bad for her, but once Jack brought our bags up, I remembered we had packed her very favorite Maurader's Map blanket and her teddy bear (Bobo). I got the blanket out and gave it to her and she smiled and smushed her whole face into it. Then I got Bobo out and gave him to her and she gave him a big hug, and held on to both him and her blanket, and kept saying "It's Bobo!" and "It's a blanket!" It was so sweet.
We didn't even try to get her to sleep in a bed separate from us. The master bed is king size anyway, so it isn't really difficult to have sleep between us. I ended up sleeping on a matress on the floor most of the night with Jane (easier to nurse her that way without worrying about Clara kicking her or rolling on her or something).
Clara woke up at about 7:30am (which really isn't that bad - over 7 hours of almost continuous sleep is pretty good for me these days). She was fussy and teary eyed, I suspect because she didn't know where she was. But I cuddled her for a long while and she calmed down. Then she layed on her tummy next to me while I checked a few things online and absentmindedly rubbed her back. At one point I stopped rubbing her back to type something and she sat up, grabbed my hand, put it back on her back, and layed back down.
I softly sang "If I Only Had a Brain" to her and when I switched to "If I Only Had a Heart" I had Bobo sing it to her, which made her smile a lot. She eventually took him from me and snuggled him. It was a nice 15-20 minutes of quiet cuddle time with her while Jack and Jane slept.
Even after Jack and Jane woke up, we all hung out in the master bedroom for probably 45 minutes or so just taking our time. Jack built another fire in the wood burning stove and we kept that going for a while. Between that and the electric blanket it was cozy enough, although without those it would have been too cold. Clara had a smoothie and I skimmed FB to see what everyone else was doing to prep for the holiday. It was a pretty relaxing morning.
Eventually we got up and started getting ready to go. It took quite a while, but we left by 10:45 am, which isn't too bad. Henry went with us, and Neil and Emily stayed at the ranch to cook their vegan dishes.
Shortly after we got to Dad's, Dave called via FB (facetime? I think?) and Clara, Jane, and I got to see the Jackson clan at their Thanksgiving. In particular Clara and Naomi got to stare at each other through the phone for a bit. They both said hi a few times. Naomi was impressed with what she thought was a cupcake (actually an acorn) on Jane's onesie. It was nice to briefly see everyone.
It was weirdly calm and relaxed at Dad's. Normally on Thanksgiving it feels like a lot of bustling about trying to get everything ready in time, but Dad and Jill had prepped a lot of their food in advance, and Ellen, Everett, Henry, and my family had all gotten there so early we had hours to get ready. Ellen and Everett prepped green bean casserole and cheesy potatoes while I boiled sweet potatoes Jack, Henry, and Everett all took turns keeping an eye on Clara, and Jane got passed from person to person pretty regularly (and cheerfully). It's a lot easier getting cooking or anything else done with children around when there are so many adults to help look after the kids. It was nice to sip some wine while prepping food too.
After a while, Jill's younger brother Stuart and his family arrived. Jill had been particularly looking forward to this and had told me multiple times what a sweet guy Stuart is, and she was right. He was very friendly and joking around a lot. He was very easy to talk to. His son, Wilder, is about 6 months younger than Clara, so that gave his wife, Alexis, and me common ground to talk about, which was nice. I appreciate how often being a parent has made conversations with new people easier.
Stuart and Jill made a pretty delicious bowl of sangria, too. We had quite a bit of that.
It did start to be a bit of a rush at the end. Dad got into host/solution mode especially regarding the many dishes we needed to bake in only two ovens. He pulled it off well. By the time we were ready to eat we had covered the kitchen island, computer counter, coffee maker counter, and fully extended baker station with food, including sweet potato casserole (one vegan, one gluten free), cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, the turkey, stuffing, vegan eggplant parmesan, vegan Swedish meatballs, vegan mac'n'cheese, cranberry salad, sangria, wine, beer, and of course a whole bunch of different pies...
including the caramel rose applie pie from this video:
The feast was wonderful. Jane sat in my lap. The last week or so she's shown a lot more attention to my food, so today I decided to let her try the tiniest bit of sweet potato casserole. She seemed really taken aback, but I assume by the texture because sweet potato casserole is delicious. I didn't give her any more at that point. We'll start her properly with rice cereal when we get home. I had made one of the casseroles gluten free and tried to get Clara to try it but she wasn't having it. Amazingly picky eater, that girl, but it kind of works out in our favor.
After everyone digested (and cleaned up) a bit, a whole bunch of us played The Paper Game. I think there were 10 people playing, which is more than enough to only go around once, which is a nice change of pace. Also Sola had this big set of multicolored gel pens for everyone to use, which makes it easy to track who drew or wrote what since everyone has a different color. Neil's drawings are always some of my favorites but I gotta say Sola always impresses me with the Paper Game. She's a lot younger than everyone else playing but keeps up with the humor, both laughing and making others laugh. It's awesome.
Once The Paper Game was done (which gave us more time to digest) we busted out the pies. The caramel apple rose pie was delicious. So sweet. I think that's actually the only kind I ate, although yesterday I did try a slice of chocolate pie with homemade whipped cream. Jill also made a flourless chocolate cake and earlier I ate some of the leftover icing to that, also fantastic. So many wonderful foods.
We went back to the ranch house and this time we put the heater on, which is much more efficient and consistent then the fires. We still made fires in the living room and the wood burning oven of the master bedroom, and they were cozy too.
