The Year He Learned to Swim

It was 2010.
It was the year he turned four.
The summer of his first run at school- preschool.
It was the year he learned to swim.

Not too many milestones have reduced this usually sappy mommy to tears.  An odd admission since those who know me well know sometimes I can't even make it through the movie previews without the water works coming on.  Just yesterday when reading to the kids I babbled my way through Guess How Much I Love You,  a children's book all of 150 words and literally had to take a moment before I could finish reading the final sentence.

But this year at swim lessons I found myself feeling quite emotional.
Definitive lines are being crossed and my senses keep reminding me of all the changes.
My ears can hear the baby talk leaving him.
My nose smells the gel in his hair and says- that's not your baby anymore.
My fingers comb through her long, lovely, almost three year old hair and wonder- when did her hair get SO long?
And last month my eyes witnessed my little boy swim for the very first time by- himself. 

Good job, Luke! 

I love you right up to the moon- and back!

 

Nervous Laughter

Nervous laughter.
I have been plagued with it all my life.  It dates as far back as I can remember.  I mean, really, I don't think I've ever made it through a funeral without a major case of the giggles and that includes my own father's when I was just 12 years old.  As a matter of fact, if memory serves correctly my mother and I both had a mean case of the nervous giggles during his services.  It was rough, but I guess laughing relieved some of the pressure.  Kinda like when some people have to have a hole drilled in their head to relieve the pressure of brain swelling, that's what laughing at a funeral is like for me.  It's not ideal, but hey, it's my own defense mechanism, OK?

And things were no different yesterday when I had to take the 4 y/o for his yearly check up.  I knew that he was going to need four shots to the arm and I was mentally prepared for it.  What I wasn't prepared for was my brain signaling the funeral patrol on me. 

There I was with the nurse holding my kid down for the shots and BANG!  the first shot goes in the left arm and my boy wails in pain.  I start wailing too- but with laughter.  OHMIGOD.  Hold it together, ANN!  This is so not cool.  The second shot goes in and I am losing it.  We both are.  I'm leaning over my boy and trying desperately to hide my face behind his head.   Third shot goes in the right arm and he is now screaming at the top of his voice, "NOOOOOOO!  DON'T DO IT!  I DON'T WANT ANOTHER ONE!!!!"  This automatically sends me into giggle fit. We are both shedding tears now, but mine are nervous, front row at the funeral kinda tears- complete with dopey  smile on my face. I'm trying to pull myself together.  But I can't.  I can't contain myself.  I am officially in hysterics.
  
The final shot goes in and I immediately go into recovery mode.  I squeeze him to me in an attempt to shield my face.  Maria (the nurse) is just staring at us.  He is still crying.  I am still smirking.  Maria is still staring.  Then she finally says, "you know, it's OK.  I get so many different parents in here, I've seen it all.  The parents who cry, the parents who laugh, the parents that have to stand outside the door cause they can't watch.  It's OK."  Thanks, Maria, that made me feel better.  Now keep the judgement at bay a little longer as I dangle some Yummy Cupcakes in front of my boy's face to speed up the process.

Martinson Family Road Trip

A wise blogger (ahem, Tacy) once taught me that when you have writer's block you can always resort to the trusty bullet point method. And since I am a fan of the bullet point method and I do have writer's block here is a run down of my family's road trip.  To help me along I'm going to attempt to bullet point my trip thru the alphabet.  Oh, you know you love it.

• A Family's First Road Trip, 2010

• BURBANK, CA to Grants Pass, OR - 704 miles, 14 hours.

• CHICKEN! Chickens were ALL the rage on my facebook page the week before leaving for our trip.  A friend rescued a chicken and started an avalanche of chicken stories that encompassed 7 days worth of cluck-cluck mania.  How to wash them, feed them, house them....everything you can imagine! And naturally, when we got to Julie's farm they had chickens there...and so the chicken frenzy continued.  We fed the chickens, watered the chickens, and played with the chickens.  I know more about chickens and roosters than I ever thought necessary! 

This rooster got a bit cocky with me.  He charged me and I tried to be brave but I let out a primal scream that was thankfully only witnessed by my own family. 

 

 Julie's favorite hen

their feed has ground up oyster shells in it.  It supposed to help them lay more eggs. I'll take shell bits over hormones any day.

• DEER!  Jay and I shared a moment the last night of our trip in Oregon,  a mommy dear and her fawn crossed right in front of our path to our trailer!  It was awesome!

• EGGS!  Farm fresh eggs.  There were SO many double yolks!

• FRESNO!  I picked Fresno because it is the birthplace and hometown of Kevin Federline.  And also because when passing thru Fresno the cows smell so incredibly bad that the impression from it still lingers in my brain.  TEN days after the fact.

• GEESE!  We had so much fun feeding the Geese at the Rouge River!  Watch as my boy cautiously seeks safety atop the bench and my girl almost gets goosed by a goose!

• HELMET!  Luke was kinda introduced to quads on this trip.  There were boys and quads everywhere!  He loved wearing the helmets and especially this green one.   And so we let him have a go at the mini quad. 

My country boy

He loved that green hemet

Maverick

The Matthew Boys
• I have to pee!!!!  Road trippin' for 14 hours gets you your fair share of yucky restroom stops but a stop on the side of the road always makes for a good photo opp and the kids earned their first road trop merit badge: The Side of the Road Stop!

"No, don't pick up THAT pinecone!" Actual quote.
• JAY! Our faithful driver.  He drove almost the entire way up to Oregon and then the ENTIRE way home!!  He was quite the (road) trooper!  And a handsome one at that, I might add.

He listened to audible books the whole drive!  He has "read" more books than me in the last six months, and that never happens!  Thank you http://www.audible.com/

• KIDS!  Between us we have 4 kids, 3 boys and 1 girl and Julie and Tommy had their nephew, Blake, 15 visiting as well.  We had a full house and alot of fun!

Luna, Jack, Luke Jay and Luke James

Cousin Blake
(he was a little camera shy)

but I caught a little sliver of him here on the right

and again when I had Luke come in with a surprise attack,
but the elusive teenager looked away!
• LUMBERJACKS! Restaurant.  Our first stop (excluding bathroom stops) after an entire night of driving. Yummy Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes for the kids!  COFFEE FOR THE PARENTS!

Redding, CA

Luna refused to be in the picture because she was afraid of "that guy"!
• MOUNT SHASTA!  What a beautiful sight!  Such a looming figure in the distance.  So large and powerful.  And more importantly, DORMANT!

• NECK PILLOWS!  What a lifesaver!  I really think that's what helped the kids so much in the car....they LOVED these little doggy pillows.  I highly recommend them!  We got ours at TARGET!

Yes, she's still using her paci.
But only to sleep! Don't judge me, it was a
LONG RIDE!
Click here to read about our Paci Predicament
• OREGON!  Sweet Oregon, You were like a breath of fresh air.

• PLAYING!  The kids really played great together!  The boys were rough and tumble but Luna staked her ground! 

Playing Operation

Playing with water guns

Playing in the creek

Luna made her own water table.  And then she got in it.

playing at the park

and down at the river's edge

looking for frogs

and playing dress up. 
What else would Luke and Luke dress up as than Star Wars?
• QUIET!  Thankfully our kids sleep great in the car and that made for a very peaceful drive!  We left at 10pm on our way up but drove thru most of the day on our way home, either way...the kids slept...

and they slept....

Ahhhh, Q is for quiet!

 (looks like I could use some sleep too!)

• Rouge River Rafting!  Rafting with the family was SUCH a fun experience!  We spent 4 hours on what was mostly a calm river float with minor baby rapids.  Of course this niave mom assumed we'd be battling class 4 rapids with 4 children  on board....but my fears were quickly calmed when our gracious hosts assured me that it was safe and quiet ride.  And indeed it was!  Fun was had by all, especially the parents who were free to indulge in a little river Corona time!

Getting everyone ready and more importantly, strapping the cooler down!

Friends since 1990!

R is for Rafting!
• SHOOTING RANGE!  Tommy, an experienced elk hunter, wanted to take the city slicker, Jay, out to the shooting range.  Jay loved it.  I love the pictures.

The hunter's assortment

hey, when in rome...


I saved the best for last.   This one is hot.
• TRAILER!  Our gracious hosts had 2 different sleeping options for us and we opted to sleep in their fully stocked trailer.  It was a good choice for us and fit in with the rustic road trip vibe.  The only downside?  We were right next to the chicken coop.  Turns out roosters really do crow at the crack of dawn.   Here's a lil tour of our digs.

Luna was having a moment.

The kids slept in the bed right under that window.

The kitchenette.  To the left of the fridge is the master bedroom
(which I didn't get a shot of)

• UNPACKING sucks!  As if packing weren't bad enough.  Here's all our crap, ready to go.

and here we are a good 5 days after getting home and we were still living out of our suitcases.

and yes, those are my children using their suitcase as a snack stand.

• VACATION!  The Road Trip worked out well for us.  We had such a great time, we're planning a Road Trip Redux next year!

• WATER!  Between the creek, the rafting, the water guns and the chickens we had our fair share of water play!

• X is for EXPEDITION!   Our car kicked ass.  It was comfy and roomy and we love it.  (Carbon footprint counters, cover your eyes- NOW!)

• YREKA!  Sucks!  Well I guess I'll end this chain off with a good old fashioned road trip, "I have to poop!" story.  The 4 year old is under obvious dirress.  We can tell because he's screaming, "I'M UNDER OBVIOUS DIRESS!".  Just kidding.  It was more like, "I HAVE TO POOOOOOOP!!!!"  Our first chance at an exit was Yreka and getting there took a while.  Jay finally finds a stop, jumps out w/ Luke, runs inside only to be told by the old hag behind the counter that "We are a restuarant not a reststop" and refused Jay the key....oh no, she didn't!!   Bring on the mommy with the crazed look in her eye....I went in and gave my spiel, and long story short, Luke pooped in her restaurant not in her rest stop.   Hey, when ya gotta go, you gotta go!

• ZOOM!  The End!