I believe that what I meant when I wrote this goal was "Take the boys on 10 field-trips to somewhere that they have never been on before".
I am clarifying my goal because, any of you with children (especially mine), know that ANY TIME you go on a field-trip you are most likely going to encounter a unique experience. For example: I took the boys to the grocery store (yes, we homeschoolers can even make a quick trip to get bread and milk into an educational field-trip), what should have been a quick in and out stop turned into an hour long "experience" which included a broken pickle jar, a cart full of unneeded items, and a now frazzled mom and two unhappy children who wished that their mother would take them on a "unique" field-trip that didn't require a clean up on aisle 12.
When our homechool co-op planned an Amtrak train trip to Portland for the day, I had not prepared myself for how "unique" this field-trip would be. Let me start by giving a big shout out to my mom who accompanied the boys and I on the trip. She was my a huge help and a great source of comic relief.
When my alarm went off at 5am, I knew that this was going to be... an experience. The train was scheduled to leave at 7:44am. We needed to be at the station 30 minutes early and it takes 15 minutes to get to the Tukwila station from my house, which meant that I needed to be out the door by 6:45am (I am not that bad at math... I added an extra 15 minutes in to assure that we would be on time).
Now for those of you who know me well, you can attest to the fact that I am not a 7am kind of girl. My alarm is usually set to go off at 7am and my day doesn't really start until around 8:30 or 9... at best!
Luckily I had packed most of the lunch and activities for the 3.5 hour train ride
the night before. This only left me with showering, waking up the kids, doing breakfast and getting everyone (and everything) into the car. One might think that 2 hours is enough time to do that... one would be WRONG.
My shower greeted me and beckoned me to stay "just another 5 minutes", my children pleaded from the comforts of their beds for "just another 5 minutes", who knew that breakfast at 6am requires "just another 5 minutes" and when it was time to walk out the door I was the one praying for "just another 5 minutes".
It was no surprise when we pulled into the train parking lot almost 15 minutes late. I was outwardly composed, but internally I was a tired and frazzled mess. I was relieved to see other moms arriving late too. Everyone was smiles and hugs, but I know some of them must have also been thinking "why in the world did I sign up for this craziness?"
It was a chilly morning and all of the adults stood huddled together chatting and reminding the kids to stay behind the yellow safety line, so that they wouldn't fall off the platform onto the tracks.
7:44 came and went, we found out that the train was going to be 45 minutes late... just enough time to run to Starbucks for hot cocoas for the kiddo's and a warm cup of sanity for mom and I.
45 minutes turned into an hour which turned into two hours. My body was no longer finding comfort from my latte, but rather an uncomfortable pain was beginning in my bladder. The kids were restless, Ben wanted to know "exactly why were you in such a hurry to get out of the house?" I was restless my sweet & gentle reminders to stay behind the yellow line were now sounding something like this "Do you want to die, because I can arrange that.... Get behind the yellow line NOW!"
The train finally arrived and we were off!
3.5 hours on a train is a loooong time. I had tried to pack light knowing that whatever I took would have to be hauled around with us. The boys sat a few seats in front of me with some of the other co-op kids and my mom and I sat with some other co-op moms. This arrangement worked out for the first 2 or 2.5 hours. I found out that I had not known what restless was on that train platform, NOW the natives were restless.
When we arrived in Portland I decided to go with a group that was visiting Voodoo Donuts (someone had seen it on the Travel Channel) and to Powells Books (the best bookstore that I know of).
Voodoo Donuts was.... an experience. (If you are a sensitive reader then don't read the following paragraph, just trust me and know that this place was a "one of a kind" type of place that had decent donuts and a not so decent menu)
Usually I ask my kids what they want, this time I tried very hard to get them to not read the menu reader board. When asked what Cock-N-Balls was I was able to convinced them that it was referring to roosters (I was relieved when they didn't ask why it looked like something else, hence the name) I nearly choked when Micah asked what penetration was. I explained that Ben's choice, the Triple Chocolate Penetration donut (chocolate donut covered in coco-puffs) was named that way, because the donut was "penetrated" with chocolate. Micah got a Dirty Donut (donut frosted and covered with Oreo's) which needed no explanation, everyone knows that Oreo's look like dirt. Ben told Micah not to read the "Old Dirty Bastard" donut because it was a bad word that he shouldn't be reading (but it's OK for him too read it and then say it???).
If you want your children to stay innocent then do not visit Voodoo Donuts.
Powell's bookstore was a much needed break after our donut experience. We spent hours browsing through the books. I love bookstores and I am so blessed that my children have inherited this love.
The train ride back was much quieter, we were in a train car with one other family, while the rest of our group was in the other car. The boys read their new books and my mom and I chatted with another co-op mom while her child slept.
All in all it was a fun-filled field-trip for my children. They will hopefully look back on this experience with smiles.
Our next field-trip (also with our co-op group), was yesterday. The boys and I drove 1.5 hours north to the Golden Glen Creamery. We got to look through wire at chickens, look through pens at cows and look through a window in a door at a room where cheese is made (no cheese was actually being made at the time). It was very educational but not nearly as exciting.
#46 - Try 20 new recipes
I tried a new hummus recipe. It was easy, which may be why it doesn't taste so great. It's edible but not fantastic.
#88 - Try 10 new restaurants
I went out to reconnect with my cousin and have a much needed girls night. She suggested we go to Il Fornia for their free appetizer happy hour, it was a good choice. The appetizers were simple but yummy and free as long as you order a drink (diet cokes count).
#3- Update my blog every 3 months on my weight lose
Have you been reading this post? If you have you can probably guess how my weight lose is going. Donuts, creameries, recipes and restaurants do not make for a good diet.
My last update on this was in September, at that time I had lost a total of 13 pounds. I am happy to inform you that I have lost more weight, I am sad to say that it is only 2.5 pounds.
I wish that I could give you good explanation but honestly I can't. The winter months are always difficult for me. Now that we are out of the rainy season I expect for my number to go up, the loss number not the weight one.
With that being said, I am going to put my laptop away and take my kiddo's out for a walk. I hope that attempting to complete #5 will help me get #13 at a -60 and inspire me to blog about #3 on more regular basis.
No comments:
Post a Comment