The Eye of the Storm

It has been nearly two weeks since I've sat down to document anything of our lives because we just haven't stopped moving. Along the way there were of course large portions of time that were spent in inactivity (unfortunately not many of those were through the night), but all in all we've been going.  It started two weekends ago with a visit from Great Grandpa Pinter and Great Grandma Dottie. The other Fay cousins came over for a day that same weekend, plus Nana and Papa had come to town to drop Paul off and pick up June. Talk about a lot of people in a little house.  It was a really nice weekend to catch up with Joe and Dottie and let them experience the joys (and sorrows) of five of his great grandkids.  We even managed a picture.

This photoshoot yielded about five good pictures (I just clicked the shutter continuously for about 5 minutes). Kye spent most of the time screaming but in this picture his look is fairly ambiguous - maybe he's laughing. Lucy looks great in just about every picture, and June wouldn't keep her fingers out of her mouth.  Ruben mostly looks bored.  Sam started out slightly behind Joe's arm and ended up hiding nearly all the way behind him by the end.  I call it a success!

On Sunday we shipped June off to stay with Nana and Papa for nine full days.  As we tucked her into the Camry and said our good byes, I thought we were being terribly naive.  How could we possibly be away from her for that length of time? I was going to miss her sooooo much and she was going to a strange place (Kansas) and was going to be surrounded by new people and new activities with only Nana and Papa as anchors. What if she hated it and cried the whole time? 

Thankfully, a good time was had by all. June was homesick just enough to make me feel needed but didn't give Nana and Papa too hard a time. My favorite story from the week was a conversation I had with Papa on the phone on Monday afternoon. One of the first things he said was, "have you talked to your mother yet?" I hadn't because Nana wasn't answering her phone. Dad proceeded to tell me that in an earlier conversation that afternoon Nana had lamented that "the dishes from breakfast and lunch were piled on the counter, toys were all over the living room floor, laundry was piling up, and she was exhausted." It's refreshing to know that someone else has to deal with all of that for just a little while. I should mention that Nana was exhausted because she took June to every single preschool appropriate place in Topeka which includes a kids science museum, library story time (with crafts included), the zoo (with Grandpa and Grandma Fay), and Bonkers - June's favorite - an indoor play play made out of loading straps and slides. June also had fun playing with Aunt Betty, Blake, Sarah, and the Schmeymers. What a week!

 When your Nana is a therapist, you end up spending part of every vacation in therapy.  Thankfully, June loves music time especially when there are coins to play with as well as an awesome aunt and uncle

 At the zoo with the Grandparents Fay

Poor Ruben was left home all by himself.  I had really worried that he was the one who would struggle with the separation the most.  However, as soon as June left, he took full advantage of the quiet and started making his own noise.  The decibel level at our house did not change whatsoever when June left. Ruben managed to fill the space surprisingly well on his own.

All of a sudden, it was time to go.  I usually like to have the house clean and everything packed the night before but since we weren't leaving until afternoon I overestimated the time I had.  Thankfully, I got stuff packed but didn't get the house as clean as I would have liked.  Ruben enjoyed playing at the Des Moines airport.  Dad had crumpled up a business card and they played ball for nearly an hour.  He also kept walking up to complete strangers and handing them his sippy cup for them to hold while he wandered around.  

Ruben did great on the flight. He loved looking out the window while we taxied and then he nursed and fell asleep for nearly the entire flight.  That was the formula for each of our four flights (we had a layover in Denver both directions) which was good since instead of serving peanuts, Frontier airlines serves warm chocolate chip cookies.  I'm glad he was asleep so I didn't have to share. Karl and I spent most of the flights there simultaneously reading the Steve Jobs biography. I love technology.  I had the kindle and he had his iphone. 

It was finally time to see Katy and Eric - we gained two hours on the flight so even though they picked us up shortly before midnight Pacific time, I was feeling extremely tired. However, good friends and a baby who wakes up and thinks it is time to play made for an extremely late night.  

The reason we went to San Francisco was so that Karl and Eric could go to a conference and hear one of their "man-crushes" speak.  It all started with an email from Eric letting Karl know that N.T. Wright would be speaking at a small conference in San Francisco and that registration was fairly cheap (just over $100 for a two day conference). The email was meant to be a joke I think, but we had been looking for an excuse to go see the Robinsons and this was the ticket. What started as a two day conference for Karl ended up being a 5 day vacation for 3/4 of our family.  I hope Katy and Eric didn't mind us inviting ourselves over. 

The LOOONNNGG weekend was great.  Katy and I explored shops around the area, started some crafts, and even managed to fit in a long walk. I was especially proud to make an advent calendar with Katy. When I say I made it, I do mean that Katy made it but that I am currently finishing it by sewing on over 300 buttons.  

Karl and Eric enjoyed the first day of the conference but took the second day off because Eric was still recovering from pneumonia. The best part about hanging out with old friends is that we don't even have to do anything to have a good time.  We spent a lot of time just sitting around with a drink in hand, watching videos or just talking while watching Ruben interact with Sake and Scotch (their cats).  We did however get out of the house enough to make it up to Muir Woods, a redwood forest nearby. The winding road through the hills did a number on my stomach but the trees were so worth it.

N.T. Wright - it looks like he's giving us the finger but he's not

Golden Gate Bridge

Muir Woods

Suddenly it was time to leave California - hadn't we just arrived? Flights back were uneventful, but by the time we hit Des Moines, Ruben was fed up with sitting still and ready to move.  It was not a pleasant 2 and half hour trip from the airport to our house, but eventually we made it. 

The next day was Tuesday, November 22 - hey guess what, my birthday! So like all people love to do on their birthdays I spent the day shopping for Thanksgiving food, cleaning the house for all our Thanksgiving guests, and unpacking suitcases. Actually it was a very pleasant day to spend with Ruben and Karl and we topped it off by going to Noodles and Co. for a birthday dinner (free food since I'm on their email list). Nana and Papa and June rolled into town late that evening and it was so great to see June and thankfully she reacted like a little girl should who has been away from her parents for a week.  She squealed and screamed as she and Papa walked up the front yard to the door.  She just couldn't move fast enough! So great to finally snuggle her again!

Wednesday brought Kory, Cara, Sam, Lucy, and Kye (who turned 1 on Tuesday - birthday buddies). We spent the day just enjoying time together and making a lot of really good food (and eating that food). Nana and Papa decided to spend some time away from the kids since they haven't been empty-nesters for nearly 3 weeks and it was getting to them (not really, but I like to kid), so four brave parents loaded the vans with kids and we headed to Thanksgiving service at church.  Thankfully, Karl wasn't involved in the service so we had a four on five defense mounted. I can't say I heard much of the sermon, but there were no major outbursts that I can remember. 

And then, Thanksgiving. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, gravy, rolls, pies (pumpkin pie sans sugar so that one wasn't a huge hit), apple cake, relish tray, veggies. Need I say more? After a much needed nap we traipsed over to the hotel where Nana and Papa were staying and looked to shed some of those calories in a healthy swim. But the water was COLD!! Five kids, six adults and for the longest time no one dared immerse themselves in the water. We were about to call it quits, but there was energy that needed wasted so finally Mom, Paul, Karl and I took turns with the older kids in the whirlpool portion of the pool playing tag and generally screaming our heads off.  The more we screamed the more we realized how overchlorinated the pool was and nearly everyone was experiencing asthma like symptoms when we decided to get out of the pool and get cleaned up. Whew...what a day, but still time for cards even after wrestling five kids into bed (and I do mean wrestle...) 

Friday morning was beautiful with cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs but slowly people headed back to their own homes and we were left alone with only two kids and two adults and a whole weekend in front of us. It was like we didn't know what to do with so much time on our hands.  Karl had to spend some time preparing for church on Sunday but other than that we were totally free to just hang out.  And we did. It was the eye of the storm. 

When I started this blog post I didn't know that the eye was going to be so small.  I assumed that life would catch up with us on Monday or Tuesday but on Sunday morning at 5 a.m. Karl started throwing up. Welcome back storm! We're ready to jump into the Advent Season.