Happy Campers

Camping. I like it. These little ones, though, they love it, and seem born to a life in the wilderness.  The dirt, the sunshine, the grub, the sleeping bags, the trees, the critters, the sounds.  It's only natural they love it at this point: they need only show up and have a grand time in great outdoors whilst all the prepping and planning duties rest on the shoulders of the grow ups.  Nevertheless, we bid a happy adieu to summertime with a quick family camp out in Swan Valley.

Tin foil dinners, check.

Tent, check.

S'mores, check.

Big stick, check.

Dirty little boys, check.

Midnight visit from a moose, check.

Happiness, check.

36 hours in Dallas

I took a quick little trip, just little ole' me, to big ole Texas to check out a cool new car for Nissan. Details about that over here. The hotel was swanky, the meals elegant, the weather divine, and we even spent a little time at the Nasher Sculpture Center, which was really rather blissful. A few highlights:

My room, with edgy artwork, posh touches and fun details, like the little pillow on my bed. I really should get myself one of those. And of course, the chair cushion embroidered with pearls of wisdom.

Driving past some Dallas landmarks...Rangers Stadium and that den of iniquity where the Dallas Cowboys play.

Cruising in a blue convertible with Amy. My hair still hasn't recovered.

A few of my favorites from the Nasher.

into the sunset

Montana has been on my mind every since our long road trip earlier this month. So, when I noticed that the latest issue of Sunset magazine featured a few pieces on the Big Sky state, I purchased a copy. So glad I did. This is one of the articles (in this case, not about Montana) that caught my eye and now has me day dreaming of constructing my own little DIY no-frills cabin in the mountains.

long time gone

montana. beautiful. everywhere. 

the last few weeks have included 1900 miles and 30 hours of interstate driving, 8 billion loads of laundry, 2 packages of licorice, 5 books on cd, 3 hours at the dentist, 6 hours at the mall (I was held captive), some travel bingo, some travel i spy, 5 repetitions of Miss American Pie, dozens and dozens of ee-i-ee-i-o's, not nearly enough sleep, and enough family drama to drive us home early. The breathtaking vistas between here and there, plus new precious memories with dear ones, surely make up for the short lived unpleasantness. but now we are home and settling back into bedtimes and mealtimes and pouring my  juice in the morning while still in my pjs. tending my humble garden and playing in the backyard with my little boys. Though my wanderlust is a chronic condition, and I so rarely feel homesick, it sometimes is just wonderful to just be home. wherever we make home to be.

 windmills at the columbia river gorge. enormous. 

snoqualmie pass. gorgeous. 

tuning up

we are prepping for a lengthy road trip soon. that means a big fat checklist on the fridge. and on the checklist: gather favorite summer road tunes.  Seems like old and familiar songs are ideal for a long trip, but I'm taking recommendations for anything new and hip to shake things up a little. Good thing our little travelers like to be-bop in the back seat to just about anything. Some of our standbys:

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Indigo Girls

Beach Boys

Van Morrison

Glee

Country: Garth,  Dixie Chicks, Chris Ledoux, Lady Antebellum, Alison Kraus

Abba

Jack Johnson 

Jenny Lake

it's a favorite spot of ours in Grand Teton, and a yearly jaunt. We took the wee ones on a little hike. I'm only pretending that Nanuk doesn't feel like a gazillion pounds on my back. A morning hike at the lake, an afternoon in Jackson, ice cream cones and sunshine made for a perfect start to our holiday weekend.

I love that on a road trip through these parts one is bound to encounter livestock, like thisgroup of mama cows and their calves, herded by a little family on horseback..

School Days: Quiz Time

Via Travelin Oma's School Days Seminar: Travel Studies

Final Exam!

1. What is your traveling style?

~ Going on a super luxury cruise, relaxing and eating well for a week.
~ Going with friends on a history bus tour with a guide.
~ Going on a wildlife safari or a mountaineering expedition.
I go for a combination of the three!

2. How many clothes do you usually take along on a holiday?
~ At least 2 new sets of clothes for every day of the vacation.
~ One set per day is usually enough.
~ I can easily manage in 3-4 sets, no matter how long the vacation.

3. How many pieces of luggage did you carry on the last vacation?
~ Including the sleeping bags and the tent?
~ Two suitcases, carry-on, shopping bag, purse, tote, diaper bag, laptop, pillow, coat.
~ A backpack, that's all.
2 suitcases, 1 bag, 1 purse (a family of 4!)

4. Given the following choices, where would you prefer traveling to?
~ Alaska or Tahiti
~ India Or China
~ Kenya Or Greenland
In order of preference: Kenya or Greenland, Alaksa or Tahiti, India or China

5. What is your preference regarding hotels, while on vacation?
~ A luxurious five star, with a room service 24 hours duty.
~ A medium priced hotel, with just the necessities.
~ A Tent rules.

6. What are your food preferences on a holiday?
~ A six course meal at the best restaurant in town.
~ A decent meal at a good place for $12.
~ Whatever you can carry in your cooler.

7. How do you travel while on a holiday?
~ A rented car.
~ Public transport.
~ By foot, wherever possible.

8. What's your dream vacation?
~ Biking down the California coast.
~ Eurailing around Europe for three months.
~ Two weeks at a beach resort.

9. You and your friends are hiking. You
~ Take the most difficult route; it's no fun otherwise.
~ Take the route everyone else takes.
~ You take the simplest route, after all reaching the destination is important.

10. While on a beach
~ You prefer to go surfing or scuba-diving.
~ You are content with swimming in water.
~ You would rather stay on the beach and build sand castles.

11. In an amusement park, you will be seen
~ On the new gigantic roller-coaster.
~ Taking the scenic train ride.
~ Watching the kids while reading a book.

12. Someone says they're taking you bungee jumping.
~ You are totally game for it. Wow!
~ You express your doubts, but are persuaded.
~ You throw up.

13. When you are on a camping trip
~ You cook and eat whatever you can catch.
~ You bring fried chicken for dinner, and muffins for breakfast.
~ You hire a dutch oven chef.

14. You're planning a long road trip with the kids. You
~ Buy a new car with a built in DVD player.
~ Take plenty of benedryl.
~ Buy several copies of Harry Potter, and read it out loud together.

15. You're in Washington DC for a long weekend. You can't wait to
~ Visit all the Smithsonian museums.
~ Take a city tour to see the Lincoln Memorial and other monuments.
~ Sleep in every morning, take in a movie, and see a live ballet that night.
Timed test: You have 15 minutes to plan a trip. Use Expedia, Travelocity, or any other resource to find a flight/driving route, plus a hotel/place to stay in a city of your choice. Is it do-able? Pack your bags!  Planning is easy.  Actually being able to go is a different story. 

writing assignment: travel studies

What's in your suitcase? via Travelin Oma's School Days

Homework assignment:

~Get a baggie and go to your make-up drawer. Using extras, pack a make-up kit you can keep in your suitcase. Have a toiletry bag ready to go: Put baby wipes in a baggie (if they dry out, just dampen them) to wash your face, and refill or buy some travel-size toiletries. ~Make a packing list of comfortable, washable travel clothes to keep in your suitcase. (The list, not the clothes.) ~Blog about something you never leave home without. Prompt: "I never go anywhere without double-stick tape. I use it for _________.

Bon Voyage!

Well, the kits and the packing list are put together. They've been put together for ages. A few years of frequent business travel taught me preparedness, packing light, and anticipating snafus. Adding children to the mix isn't much different, it just means more stuff. So the kit for mommy, the kit for daddy, the kit for toddler, the kit for baby and the respective packing lists sit patiently on standby, likely reminiscing of their bygone jet-setting days.

I never go anywhere without...baby wipes. Even when I don't have the babies with me, I have the wipes. I'm admittedly a bit of a germ freak, and I hate to feel dirty, especially when I'm away from home. Feeling gross puts a damper on any outing. I never know when I might need to wash my hands or give a questionable surface a quick swipe. I wipe down high chairs and table edges in restaurants before my little ones get strapped in. Its true. My friends laugh but I don't mind. The thought of what could be sitting, living, breeding on such things just makes me shudder. I use baby wipes on shopping carts, cell phones, steering wheels, travel toys. In hotel rooms every surface gets a wipe the instant I set my bags down. If my diet coke takes a little tumble in the car, baby wipe to the rescue! Sticky toddler faces and gooey toddler fingers? Clean in an instant. Baby blowout? Got it covered. Baby wipes are my new go-to accessory, right up there with lip gloss, bobby pins and big sunglasses. Very chic, very on-trend, no?

Writing Assignment: Travel Studies

Assignment: ~Where is your ancestral home? Most of us have roots in several places. Pick one city or country you'd like to visit,find it on a map, and explore some travel websites, just for practice. A few of my favorites are: multi-map, Rick Steves,Cheap Flights, Budget Travel.

Such a delicious topic for today's writing assignment from Travelin Oma's School Days. Travel. I love to travel. I really really love to travel. I've travelled more than some, but not as much as I'd like, not as much as I dream. There are places I want to visit and revisit with such longing I feel a little pang in my heart when I think of them. I've had just a taste which has only fueled my appetite further, rather than quench it. I have repeated bouts of incurable wanderlust.

My ancestral home is not singular--I'm "Heinz 57" as my mother calls it. But, my paternal grandmother was born in the US to first generation Italian immigrants; her siblings were born in Italy in a little tiny town near Turin, called Villanova. My family took a trip when I finished college, to visit distant relations who still reside there. It is indeed tiny. I photographed my mother as she stood at one end of town and I stood at the other. It's hardly map-able, if that's a word. The village cemetery bears the names of my ancestors over and over. There is a beautiful park with a pond where our relatives hosted us for a magnificently catered meal. One of several magnificent meals on the same day. The food just kept coming. Later we were guests in the home of my grandmother's cousin Olga--something of a matriarch in the community. I am quite certain that nothing happened in that little town without her knowledge or even her approval. We feasted some more, we sampled cheeses from their wine cellar--enormous wheels of pungent cheese. Some excellent, some so strong my eyes stung! Hospitality was the name of their game and well played it was. An evening I hope I never forget.

We spent a few days in Torino. Turin. Not one of Italy's romantic show-case cities but rich with culture and history just the same. Once occupied by Napoleon. Once the capitol of Italy. Site of famed battles of ages and ages past. Home to Alfa Romeo and Fiat and also the shroud of turin. Which I did not see. Birthplace of snacking chocolate (bars, pieces) as we have come to know it. Aha! My love affair with good chocolate must be genetic. Also touted as the origin of cafe lifestyle with charming little eateries and their tiny tables and chairs, sparkling beverages, handmade hazelnut chocolates, simple sandwiches. Places for greeting and meeting and sipping. And then, then there was the gelato. Everywhere I turned, wonderful gelato. I confess I enjoyed it every day of my trip, sometimes more than once a day. Not a fashion mecca like other Italian cities, but a wonderful place for history, culture, and gastronomic delights.

If I could go back today (there's that pang in my heart!), I'd spend more time at Olga's home, learning more about my ancestry and their day to day lives in a town where everyone is related. She would teach me to cook meatballs and gnocchi. I'd spend more time on the piazzas, visit the Cinema Museum. I'd travel to the top of that distant hill to visit the mysterious cathedral, and I'd remember the mysterious story that surrounds it. Emiglio (goodness his teeth were awful), pointed it out one evening as it's spires jutted against the evening sky. He told a story that fascinated me at the time but whose details I've ruefully forgotten. I'll go back to that gorgeous lake and the water-front cafe and sip ultimate lemonade in a fabulous narrow cylinder of a glass. I'd go back tomorrow. For any reason. To do anything, to do everything. To just be there.

oh give me a home...

Took a little day trip to Yellowstone National Park. Because we can do that when it's practically in our backyard. Fresh air, sunshine and rain, animals and baby animals, road-trip snacks. Those baby bison are just so cute. 

Quote of the day from Piglet, as Old Faithful erupted:  "Oooooh wow! It's like a rocket ship! To infinity and beyond!"

Someday I'd like to go

...to the Kentucky Derby, and wear a fabulous hat, simply for the spectacle, excess, and history of it all. 

My boys in the frozen wilderness

Last Friday afternoon, I packed and bundled my boys for an overnight trip in the wilderness, 2 hours from civilization. 4 Daddies, 4 toddlers (boys ages 2.5 to 5), 4 snowmobiles (it's just what people do around here), and a one room rancher's cabin with a concrete floor, wood burning stove, no electricity or running water. Sounds like fun?

(my boys, all ready to go--that's M's new camera face)

(the instigator)

The idea: male bonding and wintertime fun while Mommy got 24 hours all to herself. A nice theory. And a strange feeling, I must admit. I didn't sleep, wondering all night if they were safe and warm and sleeping.

The reality for them: Our boy didn't fall, nay, collapse into sleep until 1:30AM, after everyone else had been slumbering for hours. He awoke at 3:30 and screamed like a banshee until 5AM. "I wanna go home! Go home! Want Mommy! Want Mommy!" Note: our boy doesn't wimper. He wails. To wake the dead. Another collapse into sleep at 5 until 7:30. Also note: had I been present, he'd have wanted nothing to do with me.

(that haze in the photos? smoke, from the fire, they'll all probably get cancer!)

The reality for me: Friday night was spent prepping for Saturday's baby shower, which occupied all of Saturday morning (I was happy to do it uninterrupted, mind you). Afterward I decided to treat myself to lunch and a chick flick. Precisely at that moment my filthy boys arrived home, earlier than planned. And with them, their dozens of layers of clothing and gear permeated with the aroma of campfire. Which meant instant laundry for me, and immediate bathing for them.

So much for 24 hours of me-time. But, they did manage to have a blast. Especially M who is still talking about it a week later, and that makes me happy.

What to wear

I'm a little envious of the trips I see fellow bloggers enjoying or planning or remembering. Steph went to Paris, Design Mom is going to Mexico. Both offering fabulous tips on what-to-pack for such lovely and exotic vacations. But, if your travel plans include a thrilling visit to Idaho between now and June, here is what you'll need:

Big, warm, not-necessarily-cute boots.  Traction, warmth, and water-proofing really say "style" in this locale.  Stilettos this time of year will only invite mockery. And likely injury. 

Thermal underwear.  Which can double as pajamas, because if you have to pack those boots, there won't be room for much else.

Vaseline.  Your average body lotion is useless; you'll need industrial strength moisturizing against the refreshing arctic breezes. 

Cozy hat. Really cozy. Fashion statement optional. 

ATV or Snowmobile. Everybody has one, or both. Everybody. For getting from point A to point B, snow removal, or for pulling sleds full of children through the neighborhood.  So, you might as well arrive in style. 

Friendliness. 

When in Rome? If you want to blend in with the locals, be nice. And carry a tool of some kind. Folks around here are friendly, and they all know how to build stuff and fix stuff and live off the land and stuff like that. 

and one more