Evie put our day into perspective with a little ditty she made up all by herself this evening. I wish I could convey the difference in the 2 voices she used, but I’ll leave it at this – the first one was clearly meant to be an unflattering version of me and the second was meant to be a determined, middle-finger-high-and-proud version of her. The refrain went something like, “{my voice} Oh you can’t touch X, oh no, oh no, oh you can’t touch X OH NO, {Evie voice} But ohhhhhh yes I can….” over and over and over again. Noted.
When I told her yet something else she couldn’t do, she squared her shoulders to me, looked me right in the eye and said, “Oh you don’t want to say that to me. You don’t want The Bear to come out.” The Bear is naughty Evie. Normally she hates even the mention of The Bear. Noted (and she’s right – I don’t want The Bear to come out).
Ok… we’re on practice trip #2. We’re in the campground owned by Poland Springs. Yes, that Poland Springs. The natural spring is about a mile from our campsite. The reality is that we’re just down the road from Grandmom’s house. It feels, as you might imagine, less-than-adventurous.
Yup – you’re right. You’re picking up on it correctly. I’m doing my best to fight off ‘salty’ (and losing, by the way). Salty is the New England version of crotchety, crabby and/or crusty.
I knew this day was coming… it just came sooner than I expected. Let the record show we’re on day 3… a whooping day 3. I’m going to tell you this next part specifically so that you can laugh at me, not with me. In the future, when it’s time to make fun of me…. you use this. Ready?! We seriously need our nanny back. I’m losing my shit. Taking over full-time responsibilities for the kids was bound to try my patience. Of course. I’m not an idiot – I expected this. While we have awesome kids… they can also be the most annoying creatures that roam the earth (and they innately know how to hide this in front of ‘others’ so no one ever believes me).
They say yes and then immediately change their mind to no (and vice versa). They freak out over milk instead of apple juice (like… lose their minds). When one cries, the other starts crying for no reason. They seem to know right where I need to go and instead of getting out of the way, they setup base camp and try to put themselves under my feet as though my feet were a basement and a tornado is headed right for us. They want to play with animal poop.
Let’s not even talk about the more-than-Herculean-effort required to pick up after 2 little people and Scott. The scale of project I took on knows no bounds.
Yannet – if you’re reading this – you are a saint. {Yannet – si tu estás leyendo esto – tu eres una santa.}
So… the theme for practice trip#2: No pain no gain. We’re actively engaged in learning. A friend suggested we get a morale meter for the blog. I think that’s a great idea. I’ll try to add it in the next few days when I add our beacon track.
Did I mention that we got about 5 miles away from Grandmom’s house today when she called. “There’s this funny bolt-like thing with a red handle that I found in the driveway. Do you need it?” Me, “Yup… yup, we need it. It’s only critical. That part secures the Grey Man to The Chief. Right now the car is hanging off the RV by, essentially, a hairpin. Thanks Mom.” And so it continues….
