A Few Pics

This summer has just been crazy!  I remember I hadn't uploaded the Handycam pics for a couple of weeks, so here are some you haven't seen.  This little camera just hangs out in my purse or diaper backpack for quick pics of whatnot.  A few from last weekend's NC trip:

Our first morning - look who slept between us all night.  It was not a good night.

Saying good bye to Grandma and Papa K. M is sad to go (actually, he's sad to be held.  He wants to run around like a mountain goat).

Everyone on the deck!

Cousin L, me and M hug good bye.  L was sad to see us go.

Darn Picasa!  How do I 'save' the pic once I 'turn' it?  Here's why I don't know: I never get a single minute to look it up.  Now that I've uploaded a couple pics and started writing, guess what?  The fellas are stirring from their naps, and I need to hustle to get a snack ready before I get them up because they wake up CRABBY!  I have time for just a couple more:

Cobb Salad with Classic French Viniagrette and Sourdough bread, today's lunch.  It was fabulous.  The boys hated it.  But I am determined to eat real adult food every now and then.

Daddy and the boys wearing their specs at MBS

M driving the playset at a friend's house on Tuesday

As for the Cobb Salad, I took a pic because it turned out so beautifully.  I'm not going to toot my own horn, but it was seriously delicious.  My cooking experiments is another blog post altogether, something along the lines of me discovering that I'm not the only college-educated-professional-turned-stay-at-home-mom who needs a creative outlet. 

As for the specs, it was too cute.  I keep them in their 'flying' bags with books, so they can be all studious while reading on the plane. 

And if you recognize the swim diaper M's wearing in the last photo, thank you. I was unprepared for the swimming party Tuesday (remember the flying debacle on Sunday and Monday) and you saved my sanity by giving me two swimmy diapers at the playdate.

Happy Fourth Tomorrow!  Enjoy spending it with family or friends, which is what I hope you're doing!

Inception Flight

I recently saw the mind-boggling movie "Inception."  Thanks to Netflix, I am only a few months behind on recent releases, rather than years.  Normally I choose romantic comedies, because they are harmless and brainless and I don't lie awake thinking about who did what or killed whom or have nightmares that someone's after me, but Hubs convinced me that I would like this one, so I put it in the queue. 

He was right!  I won't spoil the ending if you haven't seen it, but you have to understand the concept a bit to understand how yesterday I was living in "Inception."  You see, in the movie, Leonardo DeCaprio's character is hired to plant an idea into someone's brain during his sleep through a dream.  But in order to do it, he must create a dream-within-a-dream, which is dangerous, but this is SUCH a difficult case, he must create a THIRD level, a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream, and if things don't go exactly right, (and when do they ever?), he could fall into this dream (which is bad, of course, with people trying to kill him) and NEVER GET OUT but also NEVER DIE.  Sounds awful, right?

That was us with two toddlers trying to fly standby out of Charlotte, NC yesterday.  We had a fantastic time at the wedding (which I'll write about later) and kissed everyone goodbye Sunday morning.  The boys ate the cheese out of the bagel sandwich I gave them for breakfast in the backseat, and tore up the bagels, throwing the shards all over the back of the car.  N didn't want to play with any of the 7 toys we had with us for the whole weekend, so we had to pull off on a ramp and take the DVD player out of the trunk.  Thank goodness for "Finding Nemo!"  They still like Baby Einstien but those only last 24 minutes!  The ride just from the cabin to the airport was 2 hours!  Then we had to make a rest stop, then fill up the car and clean out the bagel shards, then return the car, ride the shuttle to the airport, stand in line to check our bags (oh, MSP, how we love your skycap service!!!), go through security (thank God for small miracles like the "family with strollers" line) wait at our gate, miss the first flight because there was only ONE open seat on it, eat overpriced Wendy's for lunch, watch "The Wiggles," re-read all of the children's books packed in our diaper bag, re-pack the diaper bag and Thomas the Train backbacks in preparation for being separated on the next flight (as in, he takes one boy to MSP and I wait in NC for the next flight with the other), only to miss the second flight because there was again only ONE seat (see, the second level of the dream within a dream-it's getting dangerous now!).  We pause the movie here to re-evaluate our options and use the restrooms and do a diaper change.  Someone's in the "family" restroom, so we have to take turns.  Instead of one trip to the family restroom, it takes 4 trips.  

We're sinking quickly into the third dream-within-dream which could keep us in pergatory forever.  We decide to purchase zed fare tickets on US Airways to fly from NC to DTW and there try to catch a DTW to MSP flight.  Hubs leaves the boys and I near near one of the 3 electrical outlets in the 10th largest airport in America so we can watch "Baby Einstein" and eat gummy bears while he leaves security to buy tickets at the gate where he decides to ditch our bags because otherwise it will take too long and we'll miss the flight before he retreives, re-checks, gets charged for them, and makes it back through security to get us.  Thank God, again, for small miracles!  N fell asleep watching Baby Einstein and M was content to eat 100 gummy bears during the movie. 

N sleeps through walking to the gate, Hubs lifting him out of the umbrella stroller, carrying him, the carseat, and a backpack onto the plane, me holding him while hubs attaches the carseat, buckling him back into the carseat, then the rest of the flight to DTW!!  This is a best miracle of the day, a sign that God IS with us and that we will one day awaken from this inception dream.  M falls asleep before takeoff, and for the first flight since they were 8 months old, we have a peaceful flight.

Upon landing at DTW, we disembark, waiting in the jetbridge for a small eternity for our strollers because once we leave the jetbridge, we CANNOT come back for them, so I hold a screaming M's hand in a very hot jetbridge while  passengers file past, staring at our little bedraggled family.  Finally an employee asks if we're waiting for strollers.  I smiled, but gave him the stink eye, while M cried and played "limp fish," trying to throw his body on the filthy jetway.  He brought the stroller that belonged to the little sleeping infant's family first.  I decided to let M keep crying.  He was just vocalising what I could not say, and that employee could just listen to it since he decided to stand there staring at us for many many minutes.  YOU contributed to this by delaying our strollers, my stink eye said, although I'm sure it was misinterpretd as something else.

We're not done.  We are in the US Airways terminal, so we have to take a bus, which the guys loved and charmed the busdriver and tried pressing all her buttons while we loaded our lighter load of junk onto the bus.  M tried talking to a fellow passenger who told him, "You're on the bus of doom," and I laughed - seriously threw my head back and guffawed right out loud!  What else could we do at this point?

Then we have to wait in line because the self-check in kiosks are down (is anyone surprised here?) and go through security again.  I'd complain, but the boys are champs when it comes to this.  They are very obedient and like to watch all the activity.  We have to check with the agent because there are just two flights left (it's 7pm by this time and literally the 11th hour of traveling) to MSP.  The computer system says they're both full.  We decided not to risk missing two more flights and shucking out more money to stay in a hotel and book ourselves on the flight to MBS (Michigan).

Mother-in-law doesn't quite understand what has transpired, since Hubs is again buckling the carseat into the airplane as he asks her to pick us up in hour, we're spending the night at your house, the door is closing goodbye, but she's happy she gets to see her grandsons.

I'll spare you the details of a less than helpful flight attendant who gave me the stink eye as I allowed N to tear out every page of Sky magazine since she took away all my bags full of treats and toys because we were in the bulkhead and they had to be stowed but there was no stowage overhead since we were the last ones on the plane and please keep the window open according to flight regulations, so No No, N, you can't play with the windows, only the Sky magazine.

I finally woke up from my dream within a dream around 8 am Eastern time, at my mother in law's house.  I'm not home and I don't have any clean clothes for myself or my husband, but there is coffee brewing and one spare outfit for the boys in their bag. 

At least our life isn't boring. 

Terrific Texas!

Wow, so much has happened!  We spent last week in TX with my sister and her family while they were on spring break (they're teachers) and while Hubs worked at DFW.  Here are some of the pics from the old Sony digital camera that I know how to both operate and upload.  (You should infer here that our new camera, a very beautiful Nikon Coolpix which makes me think of Ashton Kutcher every time I pick it up, is one that I do NOT know how to operate or upload and has dozens of great photos on it from our trip.  Maybe someday I can take a camera class...or read the manual, whichever comes first.)  With no further adieu...

Daddy and N ride the bus from DFW terminal to the rental car.  What a big boy!

N hamming it on the road trip from DFW to Louisiana

Best part of Louisiana?  The hotel, of course!

Waffle House hospitality - free boogers with every meal.

N and his teddy that we had to rescue from the hotel's lost and found

Hubs and his Great Aunt I

Auntie P at her baby shower with Baby L's first bikini

Cutie Pie Cousin L and her custard smile

One of these days I'll figure out how to upload pics from the new camera and I'll show you more good times.  But it likely won't be this week or next b/c I've got to pack! We're moving into bigger "britches" about 30 minutes south of our current location.  Seeing as how there is still laundry in the machine from our trip, I'm already behind.  But keep checking in on us - my Sony Handycam is working just fine.

In-Flight Photography

A few snapshots of how we fly, because we get asked all the time, "How do you do it?"  The answer: be prepared.  I would have made a good Boy Scout.  (You'll notice they're not in chronological order, but I'd rather ask your forgiveness than fight with Blogger.) 

Banana breakfast over the left wing. 

Studying airplanes while taxi-ing

More airplane books!

Tray tables - love them for the snacks and cars!  But not for kicking.

In flight magazine: M pointed to Fergie's coat asking, "Woof?  Woof?"

My future astronaut!  Stretching our legs at MSP's play area before the flight

Keebie and a moomie, our last trick.  I mean, pacifier and a movie.

Basically, have food, toys, books, DVD players with a full charge, pacifiers, in-flight magazines and, if you're really lucky, a very helpful flight attendant who fills your sippy cups with apple juice before food service when you ask kindly, and you should have a smooth flight. 

Family Christmas Pics

Merry Christmas 2010

Hubs' Parents and Sibs, minus...

Uncle A (who had to work Christmas Eve) with N playing "On/Off"

 

 

My family: Parents, sibs, spouses, neices and nephews: 16 in all!

Merry Christmas!  We've been packing so much fun into our days that it's impossible to post it all today.  Hum the tune "12 Days of Christmas" as you read our week in summary:

• 4 Family Christmas parties in 24 hours
• 6 grandchildren composed of one 7 year old, three 3 year olds, and my twin 19 month olds
• 1 waterpark double birthday party
• 1 Sunday morning spent worshipping the Lord at Urgent Care
• 2 toddlers with ear infections
• an untold number of gifts, treats, hugs, kisses, and massive quantities of food
• 1 incredibly fun morning spent at the Mid Michigan Children's Museum

Exhausting, yes, but it's all worth it to be able to spend time with our families. Now to pack the van with all of our goodies.  We've got a long drive ahead of us tomorrow morning.

Road Trip!

We did it again!  You won't offend me by saying I'm crazy - I already know it.  We chose to drive from MN to MI for our (National Lampoon's) Christmas Vacation.  This time, with a DVD player THAT WORKS!  What a difference!

All was going well....we were packed and ready to go when I discovered our first, shall I say, obstacle: a dead battery!  The luggage was being loaded, the babies were being readied, Hubs was making last minute business calls because Road Trip Day was, after all, a weekday (horrors!), when...dun-dun-dun.

Thankfully, Hubs was able to jump it and we taxied down the runway backed out of the driveway with at 30 minute delay 30 minutes late.  But there was a traffic jam and flashing lights at our neighborhood's exit.  Rather than take the long-cut to Jimmy John's, which was out of the way anyhow, we decided to go to Quizno's.

NOPE!  Quizno's is closed!  As in, no longer in business.  Okay....doesn't that new Subway have a drive through?

Nope!  But it IS open, and we can get food....

6:18pm, 48 minutes past our departure time, we rolled out of our city.

Garmin said we'd have a 6:30 AM arrival.  I hope Lady Garmin's optimism rubs off on me.  Or her persistence.

The boys were happy, though, because we rigged up the DVD player with a Baby (Crack) Einstein movie and we flew over the Wisconsin border, readying ourselves with Caribou coffee and Diet Coke.

About the time the boys were passed out and we had consumed massive quantities of caffeine, oh, say 9 pm, we were flying along I-90 when the entire eastbound lane came to a crawl.  What's going on?  It had begun to sprinkle, but we didn't think much of it.  Oh, an accident.  That's too bad.  But why are they diverting us off the highway?

At the Kwik Trip, we top off the tank and take turns using the restroom.  What?!  They closed I-90 because of too many accidents?!

That was FREEZING DRIZZLE we were driving through.  Ohh....

While we CRAWLED along tiny Wisconsin towns for 9 miles to the next on-rampI(and it WAS getting worse outside), I made phone calls to make reservations at a Madison hotel where we could use Hubs' well-earned points (free hotel!  Something's going right!) We were greeted by the sight of a semi/minivan accident being cleaned up.  It didn't look too good, so that's when we started praying.

And praying.  More accidents, including semi-trucks on their sides, were seen between Kwik Trip town and our Madison hotel.  Finally, finally, we made it!

The boys were SO funny when we removed them from the warm, dark, cocoon of our van and carried them through the brilliantly lit and decorated lobby.  Oh, oh! They both tried to press the elevator buttons, and LORD HAVE MERCY!  They discovered the light switches were only 3 feet off the floor in our room.

The 3 light switches in our suite entertained them until Daddy showed up with our luggage...ON A CART! (Oh, yeah, that was something else positive - unexpectedly staying in a hotel with 3 suitcases of luggage - full of clean clothes!  Believe me, that doesn't happen!)

So, at midnight, here's what we were doing in the hallway:

It made up for all of the obstacles we'd encountered all evening!  And for the not-falling-to-sleep-until-2:30-am bit, either!

P.S. The second, and longest, half of the trip, all day Wednesday, went extraordinarily, and Praise-the-Lord! boringly well and is not worth blogging about except for bragging on Super Hubby for being such a fabulous driver and my boys for being such fantastic DVD and semi-truck watchers.

Fly Babies

We fly so often that I sometimes forget that it's not "normal" to take your twins on an airplane - on a regular basis, anyway.  I'll be talking to a friend in general who asks, "What are you doing this weekend?" and I'll say, "We're going to Michigan to visit the grandparents."  If the person is a new friend - or unaware of our flight benefits - the person says,

"You're driving?!"  The drive from our home to our parents' homes is about 14 hours.

"No, we're flying," I say.

"You're FLYING!?" the new, or forgetful, friend repeats in disbelief. 

This is where it gets a little awkward.  I, of course, think we're perfectly normal to do this.  What sane person would drive 14 hours if they could fly 1.5?  But I also don't want to launch into detailed description of our flight benefits, so I try to say something general like, "Yeah, we can do it because of Hubs' work,"

Then, of course, the person says, "Oh, he's a pilot?!"  Because wouldn't that be something?

"No, he's not," I say and try to ask the person what SHE'S doing this weekend because I'm starting to feel like some sort of weirdo!

Daddy and N share a snack on the plane

Mommy and M sat right behind them

However, when we fly, I think of you, my readers, who ask me sometimes, "How do you do it?"  So when I remember (and my hair looks good) I snap a few shots to show you.  On our last trip to MI, we got seats behind each other.  M and I were together in the back row behind Daddy and N.  This arrangement is not my favorite, because we have to carry the carseats to the back of the plane, carry the boys and purses and backpacks, trying not to hit anyone all the way (if we aren't the first to board).

I like it best when we're in the bulkhead, the first row behind first class.  The plane we fly to MI is small enough that there is no first class and we get 1A-1D sometimes.  That's the best because it's the easiest to install the carseats.  And the guys get to wave and say, "Hi!" to everyone as they board.  And I get to talk to the flight attendants who are very helpful with spillage problems and tell me stories about how her daughters are only 11 months apart, so it's like she had twins.  (I disagree, but that's a different blog for a different day.)

The guys watch our luggage being loaded onto the plane

Mommy and N walk the jetbridge together

I wish I could take a picture of us going through the security checkpoint at MSP.  We are quite a scene, unloading two carseats, a backpack and its liquid contents (you can fly with full sippy cups - you just have to declare them and they'll screen them, but check to make sure they put the lid on right or you'll have aforementioned spillage), a purse, our shoes, the boys' shoes (mental note-wear pj's home), and the two umbrella strollers - that takes up the ENTIRE belt.  As we each were picking up a baby to go through the magnetometer, a man said to us, "That was really something to see!  I have one two-and-a-half-year old. That was impressive!"  We laughed and thanked him- we had no idea we were being watched so closely!

These are our fly babies.  I guess our fly toddlers.  I can't deny it anymore, especially when I see that last pic.  He looks like such a big boy, walking the jetbridge with his backpack! 

We're just a normal family that flies.

How to "Enjoy Your Flight" with Twins

How do you do it? People ask me.  

You just do, I say.

Anyone with kids knows that traveling, whether by plane, train, or automobile, just isn't the same as it used to be.  I've learned a few things, some by trial and error, some by fabulous tips gleaned from other moms, about flying with twins.  I've shared some that pertain to babies in the past: click here to read one entry, but now that the boys are one and mobile, we've had to learn some new tricks.

1. Okay, this isn't new, but it is the photo you've been waiting for:   Hubs and I carrying the boys' Sunshine Radian carseats.  We have a love-hate relationship with them.  We LOVE that we can get them on the plane rather easily (everything is relative, folks) so that the boys sit in their own seats.  We HATE that they are so dang heavy and cumbersome going through security.  Those suckers are 27 lbs. each, heavier than the boys are!  But totally worth it once we're on the plane.  See how happy we are?

 2. Next, BE PREPARED.  I was a Girl Scout, Hubs was a Boy Scout (okay, for one day, but it counts, right?), so we were ready for twins!  Hardly.  But there are few items I've come to make sure are always with us.  Study the next pic carefully:  

M is STRAPPED DOWN!  He has NO CLUE there is floor because we carried him to the seat, buckled him into the aisle seat while we buckled the car seat in, then buckled him into the torture device car seat.  Oh, wait, I got so excited, I forgot where I was going with this one.  Okay, first, the sippy cup.  Don't leave home without it!  This one is full of blue Gatorade (don't ask) which went through security just fine.  TSA lady waved her magic wand to make sure it wasn't explosive and it was all good.  Second, the Munchkin snack trap.  My fab sis gave these to the boys for their birthday and they are LIFESAVERS.  Just fill them with Kix, Teddy Grahams, Mini Nilla Wafers, yogurt bites (pictured here) or whatnot and you're good to go.  Third, binky on a leash, which is the little orange thing being shoved into the snack trap.  All hail the binky leash!  Fourth, the bib.  Otherwise your spendy carseats will be covered in yogurt bite goo.

3. Travel Bag.  I must give credit where credit is due.  Grandma A made the boys their own bag for the ride.  I've known I wanted to do this, but thought I'd need it when they're older, like two, but I was wrong.  Wrong, wrong!  This flight went SO MUCH SMOOTHER than the previous three that we've taken in the last month and this bag is why. 

N still hasn't seen the contents of the bag yet, so he's wondering what's up.  They were entertained kicking the bag for awhile (it's a lunchbox backpack!  So cute!) until the novelty wore off.  Inside was a book, two cars, a rubbery bouncy gooey toy and aforementioned snacks.  Thank you Grandma!  The bags are re-packed and put away for our next flight.  Woo hoo!

4. Last resort entertainment.  The snacks and the bag will last most of the flight (if it's 1 1/2 hours long, like ours) but you still need a couple tricks up your sleeve.  That's where the overhead light becomes a fabulous source of entertainment - on/giggle/off/giggle/on/giggle/off/giggle...you get the picture.  Same with the window - up/giggle/down/giggle/up/giggle/down/giggle.  You can bust out Peekaboo Barn on your *brilliantphone* if you're at cruising altitude, but on this flight we're only there for 30 minutes otherwise we seem to be ascending or descending.  But my all-time favorite last resort entertainment? Skymall Magazine!

Hundreds of pages for your one-year-old's ripping pleasure!  

Thanks for choosing Twin Engines Airlines.  Enjoy your flight.

Airport Antics

The airport was EMPTY last Saturday.  Hubs flies all. the. time. and said he's never seen an airport so empty.  And it makes sense.  Ours was the ONLY flight and had just 11 people on it.  We were 4 of them.

Being the ever-prepared momma I am (okay, used to be and still want to be, so sometimes occasionally am), we got there EARLY.  So early, in fact, the TSA was "off."  You know those "be back at..." clock signs?  No lie, it was hanging there, right where you're supposed to unload your junk at the security checkpoint.

So what did we do?  There's TONS to do at the teensiest little airport in MI, like...

play in the water fountain

and push each other in the SmarteCart!

and screech, run around, crash the strollers into things (and each other), and when the TSA comes back from their coffee break, which, by the way isn't so bad to NOT be rushed through security with two squiggly little guys, we watch our plane land.

Amazing!

What's cute about this is, ten years ago, hubs used to work this exact. same. ramp, working the flights just like the guys in the photo!  It's adorable to listen to him tell the guys, "now they're going to place the chalks...here comes the baggage tug..."  

"Our library book calls that an airport truck," I interrupt.  

"Well, it's actually called a baggage tug, so that's what we call it,"  

Aye, aye, captain!