Life’s too short...to never sleep in a treehouse! 8/27 TR is up! Link in siggie

[KathyRN137]

I'm on the edge of my seat!


Kathy

 

[glennbo123]

Sounds great! Don't stop now!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Oh my goodness! You were a regular cat burglar in the weeks leading up to the trip! It cracks me up that Evan noticed a pair of his shorts were missing -- Connor would never notice!

Hope those puzzles don't end up being a source of tears!

 

[Happydog]

KUDOS on the STEALTH. HIGH STEALTH factor there!!!

Um, yeah, the puzzles.... I am more worried about the puzzles on the plane.. you know when they have those moments of turbulance, and well, the turbulance brought on by a sudden shift in the seat of the passenger in front of you, or the random elbow from the passenger (even if it is family!) on your right.... that kind of worry... I hope it turned out all okay!

Can't wait to find out, though!!!

I HOPE they were not playing along and knew all the time!

It doesnt sound like the hair gel got left behind...

 

[All7OfUs]

Good gracious you are a busy woman!! I'd have been going nuts with everything going on AND trying to get ready!!

But ready you got- and we get to hear all about it!

Keep up the great story telling!

By the way, your "priorities" cracked me up....

 

[eandesmom]

5:30 am rolled around all too soon. Still, we were mostly ready. I needed to get the never ending bowl of cat food and water ready, grab Evan’s hair gel and then get myself showered, dressed and ready, bags zipped, back of van cleaned out and stuff loaded in 45 minutes and then go wake up the boys.

I also needed to print up the activity books I’d made for the kids.

Guess what didn’t happen.

Yep. No activity books.

Car loaded, one cup of coffee down I went in to wake up the kids.

“Whaaaaaaa why do I have to get up now”
“what TIME is it?”
“huh?”
​

Both rolled over and tried to ignore me.

“You need to get up now, get dressed and get in the car. Bring a book and a stuffed animal if you want”
“Why?”
"Well, remember we are going to visit that friend of mine."

"I thought that was tomorrow?"
"Well, we decided to leave today"

​

They were tired but they followed orders, albeit grumpily. And of course Eric got dressed in something that REALLY didn’t match. I don’t even recall what it was but we made him change.

I asked Eric.

“Are you sure you don’t want to bring Spot or Snowy?" (his stuffed animals, he is VERY attached to them, Spot especially…aka Psycho Puppy for those who recall from my last TR).
“No. I’m ok.”
“Are you SURE? We are spending the night.”
“No. I’m ok.”​

I think I asked him three times. “Do you want me to grab Spot?” “ Are you sure?” “Ok, if you are sure.” I couldn’t really push it. I’d tried to sneak into his room the night before and grab Spot but he was in Eric’s death grip so that idea was out. Snowy was probably under the bed with the rest of the menagerie. Anyone else wouldn’t have been up to snuff.

I had a BAD feeling about this but what could I do? Insist? He’d clue in at some point.

So off we went. On time actually.

They were pretty out of it. And surprisingly quiet.

"why are you taking my picture?"
"because you look funny"​

​

“How long will it take?”
“A couple of hours”
“OK”
​

All too soon we were at the airport, we drove into the parking garage on site. I’d assumed we’d be parking at a long term parking spot but I guess Jeff didn’t want to risk it and we were cutting a little close on time. I couldn’t exactly ask him!

We park, Jeff completely ignoring my suggestions on garage floor level and location. Dude, I’m the previous business traveler, not you (who always does long term parking off site anyway) I think I know what I’m talking about.
But no. He had to pick the first floor. And then end up on the opposite side of our check in.

“Why are we at the airport”?
“Did I say we were driving to visit my friend?”

​

Confused looks.

“we’re going on a plane?”
“Where are we going”
“Do you really think I’m going to tell you?”
“How long will it take?”
“I told you, a couple of hours”
"OK."
“We have suitcases?”
“What’s in our suitcases?”
“Clothes”
​

We get into the terminal and Jeff realizes where we are.

“You should have insisted!”
“You were right.”
“I should have listened”
​

Sometimes silence is golden.


So we hike, I mean roll, all the way from one end of the terminal to the other to check in. Jeff hangs with the kids while I get us, and the 2 bags checked in. It also (of course) keeps the boys from hearing where we are going.
We head off to security, through security and to the waiting area. We were flying into Long Beach and as a result, it would be on a puddle jumper, a Bombadier, via Horizon on a code share with Alaska. This mean a regional gate and so you have about 4 different destinations listed for the same gate with different times. So all the kids could do was try to guess which one of the 4!

“It can’t be Bellingham…we’d drive there”
“It can’t be Long Beach, that’s in New York” I about lost it with that one.
“Where’s Eugene?” (Pronounced u-gen-ay )
“Missoula?”
​

It was priceless. What was even more priceless is the dorks had boarding passes in their hands to go through security and DIDN’T look at them! We’d taken them back once through, for safety reasons of course, and at some point Evan clued in that he’d blown it by not looking. It was an interesting morning geography discussion. Apparently Evan thought Maui was in California and there were a couple of other goodies but they escape me now.

Even seeing the Disney plane outside the gate didn’t clue them in. It wasn't our plane, that one goes to Orange County but still!

Our plane was delayed due to technical difficulties and they finally ended up changing planes. So off we went and the Evan went LONG BEACH? We’re going to NEW YORK?

Eric corrected him. “No Evan, that’s LONG ISLAND!”. I said Evan, do you really think you can get all the way to New York in a couple of hours?

“So where is Long Beach?”
“Do you really think I’m going to tell you?”

​

Once on the plane of course we told them they could have their first clue once we hit 20,000 feet.

“FIRST clue? How many clues are there?”
“Do you really think I’m going to tell you?”​

​

Of course during the taxi out the pilot did announce the temperature in LONG BEACH California. CALIFORNIA? We’re going to California? Are we visiting Ron and Mary? (Jeff’s Dad and Stepmom).

“No”
“Where is Long Beach?”
“It’s a big state.”
​

All too soon it was time.
Puzzle time.
Each boy got a puzzle, pure luck of the draw.

They got to work.

continued in next post...

 

[eandesmom]

They got to work.

Jeff and I both helped. I helped Eric separate edge pieces from the insides. I’m not quite sure how Jeff and Evan were doing it as before too long, Eric was off and running. I stopped helping.

He is the puzzle king. Who knew?

Jeff and Evan noticed.

They DID NOT LIKE the fact that Eric was kicking their butt’s.

They got busy.

Jeff helped.

A LOT.

Eric kept going

“Who cares!”

He was just grooving on the puzzle, he truly didn’t care who finished first.

The cheaters, I mean Jeff and Evan, finished first.

By literally one piece.

It took most of the flight. I have never had a flight fly by so fast, literally.

The puzzles were the BEST idea ever.
Thank you Jackie!!!
I will admit that Evan’s was the harder of the two though again that was just luck of the draw. They LOVED the puzzles.

We walked through all of the pictures and what we’d be doing. Well most of it anyways, I did still have a few surprises up my sleeve. They wanted, begged I believe, to head straight to the hotel and the pool. But we reminded then that 1) we couldn’t check in yet and 2) Schooner or Later, we had to eat!

So in between the "You're the best mom ever! "I thought this was going to be a boring spring break" And then Jeff going "hey what am I, chopped liver?" a lot of very excited chatter and happy little boys! I think it was something none of us will ever forget.

Up next, the eagle lands and a trip down memory lane for Jeff.

 

[cdotla]

Ooooohhh...that was good. You are a cruel mom!

Those puzzle surprises were such a great idea!!!

 

[All7OfUs]

Long Beach, New York

and

Maui, California!!!

This is all too funny!!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hurray for successful puzzles! The boys (including Jeff ) did a great job! I didn't realize there were planes all decked out with Disney on them! We need those for Orlando!

Baseball Bear is Connor's stuffed animal that has to go everywhere with him, so I, too, have a bad feeling about Spot!

 

[carissanboys]

Welcome home Cynthia! Sorry I'm a bit late with that.

I agree that the puzzle idea was the best ever!! So glad everything is going smoothly so far.

 

[glennbo123]

Awesome! Looks like the puzzles were the perfect level of difficulty.

 

[Angies1274]

Great updates!!!

That's so funny....“It can’t be Long Beach, that’s in New York”

It sounds like the puzzles were a hit and everything is going great so far!!

I can't wait to read more!

 

[eandesmom]

Can't wait to read about the reveal.

read away! Sorry for the gap between updates, darn shower invites took longer than I'd planned.

I'm on the edge of my seat!


Kathy

Sounds great! Don't stop now!

Sorry about that, got interrupted! Not to mention photobucket took forever to upload for some reason yesterday!

Oh my goodness! You were a regular cat burglar in the weeks leading up to the trip! It cracks me up that Evan noticed a pair of his shorts were missing -- Connor would never notice!

Hope those puzzles don't end up being a source of tears!

I can't believe Evan would either. On the one hand, I can, as if he likes something he does keep inventory and he is high maintenance on the clothes and "look" factor, but on the other hand his room is generally such a disaster that how he could know what's missing is beyond me.

I actually went to pack him up a good three weeks ago and had to make him completely clean his closet and drawers to be able to find anything. Of course he didn't know why I was making him do that.

 

[eandesmom]

KUDOS on the STEALTH. HIGH STEALTH factor there!!!

Um, yeah, the puzzles.... I am more worried about the puzzles on the plane.. you know when they have those moments of turbulance, and well, the turbulance brought on by a sudden shift in the seat of the passenger in front of you, or the random elbow from the passenger (even if it is family!) on your right.... that kind of worry... I hope it turned out all okay!

Can't wait to find out, though!!!

I HOPE they were not playing along and knew all the time!

It doesnt sound like the hair gel got left behind...

I was worried about that too. I was also terrified of the drinks on the trays. But they really were the perfect size and as they got assembled really stayed together well. We didn't lose a single piece which was shocking.

They suspected something for sure. Definitely not this!

Good gracious you are a busy woman!! I'd have been going nuts with everything going on AND trying to get ready!!

But ready you got- and we get to hear all about it!

Keep up the great story telling!

By the way, your "priorities" cracked me up....

NO busier than normal but yeah, getting ready around real life can be hard to fit in.

I have my priorities straight! Even if Jeff was joking I was married to "Ruby" yesterday. My laptop is red, he started calling it Ruby. I was working on the darn shower invites most of the day.

 

[eandesmom]

Ooooohhh...that was good. You are a cruel mom!

Those puzzle surprises were such a great idea!!!

True, I believe in torture. Secretly they like it.

Long Beach, New York

and

Maui, California!!!

This is all too funny!!!

I was ROLLING! I knew they wouldn't have a clue where Long Beach is (and we did have an interesting discussion about Long Beach Washington, which of course they've been through a million times) but I had no idea how clueless they really were.

I think Evan was mixing up Malibu and Maui.

Hurray for successful puzzles! The boys (including Jeff ) did a great job! I didn't realize there were planes all decked out with Disney on them! We need those for Orlando!

Baseball Bear is Connor's stuffed animal that has to go everywhere with him, so I, too, have a bad feeling about Spot!

I think there is one that goes to Orlando, We may have flown on it before, it's the non-stop they have that runs 2x a day. We'll be on it in August! They have several decked out for CA.

Ah yes, Spot, aka Spotty Spot, aka Psycho Puppy, left all alone at the house....

 

[eandesmom]

Welcome home Cynthia! Sorry I'm a bit late with that.

I agree that the puzzle idea was the best ever!! So glad everything is going smoothly so far.

Thanks Car! Not that late, we only got back on Weds

Awesome! Looks like the puzzles were the perfect level of difficulty.

They really were! Figuring out the best way to pack them up to save them after they'd assembled them was another story.

Great updates!!!

That's so funny....“It can’t be Long Beach, that’s in New York”

It sounds like the puzzles were a hit and everything is going great so far!!

I can't wait to read more!

He was so serious too, I about died. He'll never live it down.

 

[All7OfUs]

Sorry about that, got interrupted! Not to mention photobucket took forever to upload for some reason yesterday!

Photobucket often stinks. They are dangerously close to being renamed by THE authority "PhotoSuckyBucket".

 

[MEK]

What a great start to your trip. I read the update with pictures at work. So I can't see what the puzzles actually looked like, but if it took almost the whole flight to put them together than - WOW - they must have been perfect. Congratulations on totally keeping the kids guessing. Way to go! Such a fun start. Can't wait to read more!

 

[MEK]

Oh Cynthia - I just saw the puzzles and they are great! What a superb idea. It's so funny to see the boys expressions going from tired, to sullen, to intriqued, to full blown excitement.