Quick Jaunt up to New York

It's been spring break right now, so I have been drowning in children.  In addition to my five, we've got two extra boys in the house, and I suspect a couple neighborhood girls will be knocking on the door any minute now.  It's hectic and crazy and sometimes it makes me want to tear my hair out, but I also kind of like it.  At least, I like NOT getting up early to make lunches.  And I like seeing kids running around being kids.  And we don't have a whole lot scheduled, and I like that. 

So, yeah, spring break.

We haven't just been home for it-- the kids didn't have school the previous Friday, so we packed up and drove to New York Thursday evening.  I did all that myself (I'm getting good at that, actually) so we could pick Craig up from work and go.  This had two advantages: one, it forced Craig to actually leave work, something he's not super good at.  And two, it meant we didn't have to wait for him to drive home, since we would just be doubling back toward his school anyway.  We drove and drove and drove, stopping only once for a bathroom break.  I had packed sandwiches and snacks for everyone (I used an entire loaf of bread!!!!!) so we wouldn't have to stop for food.

Just as we were driving over the George Washington Bridge, the fuel light came on.  Oops.  Turns out you just can't make that drive on one tank of gas, even if you topped off at the Costco right by Craig's school.  So then we frantically found a gas station and filled up (again) ten minutes from Leah's house.  Oh, well.  We got there around 11pm, which was still really good time.

Friday we'd planned to take everyone into the city.  I figured that was the best day to do it-- the kids' cousin Eliot would be in school, so they wouldn't miss playing with him.  And hopefully things would be slightly less crowded than on Saturday.  (But it's New York City, so you just have to assume that everything will be crowded.)  Unfortunately, Friday turned out to be a day where it POURED rain all day, and it was about 40 degrees outside.  Lovely.

We got all ready anyway-- Tracy was there with us for a few hours, and Rachael was going to meet us at the Museum, so there was no going back, as far as I was concerned.  As we were packing up, Brian (my brother-in-law), spoke up, "I might regret this, but do you want to just leave Colton and Camille here with me?"

Say, what???

After the offer was on the table, I just couldn't say no.  The idea of only dealing with THREE kids (ages 6-10) and not needing the double stroller was too wonderful to refuse.  We hurriedly explained nap times and rushed out the door before Brian could change his mind.

We stopped at Levain Bakery first (and got a cookie for Brian, too!) and then headed to Rachael's apartment.  We were picking up Tracy, but my kids wanted to see Rachael's place, so Craig found a parking spot (!!!!!) and we went in and visited for a few minutes.  Then we drove to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I love that place.  I mean-- it's kind of an awful maze, where there are too many doorways so you always feel like you're missing something.  But I still love it anyway.  I ran around squealing in delight at all my favorite paintings, giving little mini art history lessons to the kids and anyone who was within earshot.  I just love it.  I've said it before on this blog, but there is something so good for your soul to look at beautiful things.  And some of these paintings have become so familiar to me that they feel more like old friends that I get to pay a visit to.  It was a joy to see them all again.

Ryder immediately made himself at home on Rachael's bed.

Bentley liked this Nile Crocodile

Kendra, of course, liked the Sphinx

Notice Bentley walking like an Egyptian.  The Bangles would be so proud.  Don't look at my hair.  That's what the rain did to it-- I really do have the naturally straightest, lamest hair in the world...

We heart George Washington

We took this picture as an homage to the following pic from a few years ago....

Kendra's reaction to the following painting

I can't really blame her for that face...

A very battered print of this hangs in my living room-- it's so fun to see the actual painting!

Ryder showing that he's scared of the tiger

Me pointing out the hidden angels in Joan of Arc

About an hour and a half after the kids began whining, we finally headed out.  Into the pouring rain.  We walked to the Shake Shack and actually managed to get a table, where we devoured our burgers, fries, and concretes.  So good.  So so so good.  I'd wanted to swing by the MoMA, also, since it was free Friday afternoon there.  But the kids had had it, and it didn't seem worth it to fight the rain and the crowds just to make my kids even more miserable.  So instead, we walked in the rain back to where Craig had parked our van-- for only $70 a day!-- and drove back to Leah's, grateful that we weren't messing with trains and subways.  And extra grateful that we had only had to drag three belligerent children around, rather than five.  And a double stroller.

It was nice to get back to Leah & Brian's (where Colton and Camille had been having a splendid time playing with Theo) and change into some dry, warm pajamas. 

At the Shake Shack.  My kids are weird.

Craig also pulls weird faces.  So I guess we know where the kids got it from!

Nothing like a lightsaber and a bottle

The next two days we mostly just hung out with Leah and Brian and their kids, and Rachael and Ian and their baby, and my cousin Jan.  My old college roommate, Suvi, came Sunday morning and it was kind of amazing to see her again.  I think it had been fifteen years since we last saw each other?  So there was a lot of catching up to do! 

We also got to attend Eliot's piano recital, which was great.  And everyone took turns going out in the rowboat on their lake (Kendra LOVES the rowboat and went out every chance she got)...  It was just a really nice trip.  I'm so glad my kids have fun cousins to play with.  And I'm so glad I have awesome sisters to visit!

Kendra gets bundled up in Leah's vest and Brian's hat to go out on the boat in the cold

And again on a warmer day

Leah getting snacks for the boys

Camille gives a piggy back ride to Curious George

Jan, playing with Camille

I love it when my kids get their knees dirty.  I feel like I'm doing something right as a parent.

Eliot and Ryder, two peas in a pod

So many fun things in this basement!!!!

The return trip was easy breezy.  The kids were used to being in the car AND we figured out to put Bentley further away from Ryder, so that reduced the amount of whining by probably 70%.  We made one long stop for lunch (and gas!!!) in Delaware and other than that just plowed on home as fast as we could.  We had a couple narrow misses with DC traffic, so that was lucky.  It was good to be home!

An old toll booth on display in Delaware

Camille makes herself comfortable to travel

The kids are back in school tomorrow!  Maybe I'll finally clean my house!  Maybe...

School Stories

Ryder came home from school one day talking about pigs.  This is not unusual for him-- since his birthday, he just loves pigs.  I didn't really think much about it, until I got an email from Mrs. Garland, his teacher, that night.  She explained that it had been National Pig Day (who knew?) and so a different teacher had brought her pet pig to class.  Knowing how much Ryder loves pigs, Mrs. Garland had arranged it so Ryder could spend an hour in the other class, hanging out with the pig. He also got to make a pig hat for the occasion.

She included this picture:

That is one happy Ryder right there!  This picture makes me smile every time I look at it.

In other school news, Kendra's class has been studying the Supreme Court, so they had a mock trial wherein Kendra got to be one of the Justices.  All parents were invited to attend, so Craig and I enjoyed seeing our daughter taking this role very seriously.  (And true to life, one of the Justices was out that day, so they only had eight for the case!)

Listening closely during the hearing

All the Justices.  I liked the artwork here, also done by students.

With her two friends, Kinsley and Grace (who was the Chief Justice)

What pleased me even more was how seriously Kendra took her role.  She told us what the trial would be about (they were debating whether or not to keep having the fire truck come for field day and spray all the kids with water-- this also tied in to their unit on the water cycle) and when Bentley asked her how she'd be voting, she responded indignantly, "I have to stay neutral until the hearing, Bentley!"  Good girl.

Unfortunately that night, she was throwing up, so she wasn't able to go to school for the actual vote.  But apparently a bunch of the judges were all out, so her teacher emailed everyone asking for their votes, and Kendra's opinion was the one that won.  (It was what I would have voted for, too, although I didn't tell her that until after she'd told me how she voted and why.  See, I can stay neutral, too.  For a bit.)

Anyway, I'm very happy with my kids' school.  It's a nice feeling.

A Review: The Hamilton Mixtape

I'd been hearing about Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton Mixtape and wanted to check it out before I actually purchased it (yes, I'm cheap), so I was delighted when I discovered that my library had a copy of the CD that I could, well, check out.  As soon as my copy came, I popped it into the CD player of my car and got to know it's 23 tracks as I drove around town running errands.

And I hate to say it, but I was disappointed.  I'm glad I didn't actually buy it.  But I also realized that I am not right audience for this CD.  For one thing, I generally don't like covers of songs (with the glaring exception to this rule being everything ever recorded by Glee)-- I usually feel like whoever sang it first did it exactly right and any deviance from their artistic choice is immediately questionable to me.  So an entire CD of covers wasn't really going to be my thing.  Plus, they made most of the songs from Hamilton more like the rap you hear on the radio, and I'm not actually that big of a fan of rap music.  So, yes, I was totally wrong for this.  So take everything I say with that huge grain of salt.

Some specific things I didn't love...  Jimmy Fallon's cover of King George's song, "You'll Be Back." He actually does a pretty good job of it.  He's no Jonathon Groff, but he's not terrible and it's fun to hear.  But because he seems embarrassed to be trying, he begins with about a minute long introduction making fun of himself before he just sings the song.  And the intro is pretty funny the first time you hear it.  But then there's no way to skip it, so every time you listen to that track, you've got to get through 60 seconds of Jimmy Fallon joking around before he finally just sings.  And it gets more tedious every you listen to it.  (This was nice for backing up my sister's theory that Jimmy Fallon really just wishes he could be a rock star.)

I also didn't like the song "Say Yes to This."  It just grossed me out.  I'm not a fan of adultery, and this one felt so much more pro-adultery than the Broadway version.  The original song, "Say No to This" is about Hamilton trying to resist, but succumbing to what he knows he shouldn't do; this new version was all about Maria Reynolds actively trying to seduce him.  It just made me hate her. 

Also, there were two tracks listed as "Interludes."  These are both less than a minute of a loop of music that probably could have worked great for the background music of an actual rap song, but then there wasn't actually a song to go with them.  So it's just two throw-away tracks, which seemed kind of dumb.  I mean-- I get that Hamilton had 23 tracks on both of its CDs, so it's kind of cool to repeat that here.  But those two tracks left me feeling like Lin-Manuel cheated.

My kids loved the song "Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)" based on the popular line from the play and it did spark a good conversation for us about how immigrants have it tough and have to work harder than anyone else to get by in this country.  But for me, it felt too preachy.  If you haven't already figured this stuff out, Lin-Manuel Miranda explaining it isn't going to change your opinion at all.  The whole immigration debate annoys me, because I feel like the two parties aren't even talking about the same thing-- I've never met a single person who was against immigrants or immigration in general, but I've met plenty of people concerned with illegal immigration, which is a totally different issue.  But I'm going to get back to my review before I get any preachier.

There were some tracks I really liked.  I loved Regina Spektor singing "Dear Theodosia" with Ben Folds Five-- there was something about the quality of her voice that I found mesmerizing.  And Dessa singing "Congratulations" was hilarious, and exactly what Hamilton probably should have heard after he idiotically had an affair and then published all the salacious details of it himself.  "Burn" was also beautiful, although this version was a lot angrier than the Broadway recording.  That's not wrong-- Eliza certainly had every right to be angry.  But in the play she just sounds so wounded, and I find that far more heartbreaking.

I was too busy being annoyed with the senseless pluralization of "Washingtons" in the song "Washingtons on Your Side" to ever focus on the lyrics and figure out what Wiz Khalifa was actually trying to say.  So that was probably my bad, but I still didn't like the song.

I like some of the tracks where you got an expanded version of what got cut from the play, "Valley Forge (Demo)," "An Open Letter," and "Cabinet Battle 3."  And one of the points Hamilton made in "Cabinet Battle 3" about how the problem of slavery will only grow as the slaves reproduce and there are more of them that people are relying on was something I'd never thought about.  I've always felt that since the Civil War nearly destroyed our country, Washington must have made the right decision to put off ending slavery until the country had time to grow stronger.  But maybe I'm wrong about that-- putting it off also allowed the problem to grow, too.  Perhaps, like cancer, it would have been easier to root it out before it took a firmer hold.  So that's been interesting to think about.

Also, there were more f-words than in the Broadway CD, and they were harder to see coming and edit out, so I didn't really want to listen with my kids, so that was lame.

So in summary, the Hamilton Mixtape has some good tracks, but not enough to make it worth buying.  Unless you really like cover songs and/or rap, I would skip this one.

A Pet for Kendra (and Maybe for Me, Too)

For Christmas, Kendra said all she wanted was a pet.  She told us that she didn't care what she got, as long as it was alive.  She even clarified that she would be happy with a fish or a frog or anything.  She just wanted something that was living.

We promptly told her there was no way that was going to happen for Christmas-- we had too much going on to sort out a new pet, too.  Plus I figured if she got a pet, everyone else would immediately be dissatisfied with whatever presents they got.  Having four disgruntled children seemed like a bad way to celebrate the holidays.  I told her we'd consider getting something for her birthday (and emphasized that this did not mean it would necessarily happen).  Once things had settled down after Christmas, Craig and I began considering what we might be able to get for her.  This is very tricky, because Craig is allergic to dogs and cats, and I'm something of a germophobe, especially when it comes to animals.  As in, I feel the need to wash my hands and maybe sometimes change my clothes after petting people's dogs.  Or spending time in a house with a cat.  And between all the diapers and dirty socks, I already wash my hands a lot.  So this was a bit of a concern for me.  (Yes, I realize this is not normal.  As long as it doesn't escalate, though, I'm not going to worry about it.)

As a kid I LOVED bunnies and always wanted one for a pet (and a killer whale).  But my parents were pretty certain that our big German shepherd/black lab mix would kill a bunny within five minutes of us bringing it home, so they never got me one, which was probably a kindness.  But because of this, I immediately wanted to get Kendra a bunny.  (Good parenting is all about trying to make your dreams come true through your kids, right?  Right???)  So we started researching bunnies.  And it turns out that the people who write books and websites on caring for rabbits are either raising them to eat them, or they're crazy.  As in, all their advice pretty much ended with, "And if you aren't willing to do this then you don't even deserve a pet rabbit, you terrible person."  This included everything from where to keep your rabbit (inside, or you're a terrible person), whether or not to spay them (even if you only have one and you're keeping her inside, you better spay her or you're a terrible person), and even clipping their nails (if you aren't prepared to clip their nails, you don't deserve a pet.  You terrible person).  So I worked to figure out which things were really necessary and which things were a little extreme.  We worried about what we would do if it turned out Craig was allergic to rabbits, too.  (I tried to ask around on a neighborhood website and got a lecture about how bunnies are a big responsibility.  Yeah, why do you think I'm researching it before I get one????  Thanks, though.)  Then I started worrying that maybe this was just becoming all about me and wasn't even what Kendra wanted, so I asked her to make a list of pets she was interested in and rank them by which she wanted most.  Bunny was #1, so I breathed a sigh of relief and went back to researching.  (It's possible that she'd picked up on my cues, but I did hide all the library books on bunnies from her.  Still, Kendra is a perceptive little thing...)

I looked all around to figure out where we could get a bunny from.  It turns out that pet stores don't really carry rabbits any more, so I ended up scanning a website that listed Virginia rabbit breeders, the local SPCA, and Craig's List.  I loved the idea of rescuing a bunny, but I didn't love the fact that you just had to take whatever they had on hand.  We did go play with one bunny, who was super sweet.  But her leg was a bit chewed up and we worried about getting a bunny that would require huge vet bills right from the start.  Plus, I didn't love the idea of buying the first bunny we saw-- they can live for ten years, and that demanded a little more shopping around, I thought.  I contacted some Craig's List people, and got no responses.  I contacted two people from the breeder list, and one texted me back to say her number was listed there erroneously and she knew nothing about rabbits.  And the other one had two litters that would be born right around Kendra's birthday!  Success!

A few weeks after the bunnies were born, she texted me pictures of all the does (yup, female rabbits are does; males are bucks).  And then we went out to see them on a Sunday afternoon.  That was when I found out that even though the website listed her as being in Charlottesville, she actually lived in Orange, about an hour away.  So that was kind of a pain.  But all the people listed on Craig's List were even further away (and non-responsive to my inquiries), so there weren't really any better options.  So we drove to Orange!

And when I met the person I'd been texting, I discovered that she was about 12 years old!  Surprise!  But to her credit, she was always super professional about responding to my questions and requests for pictures.  So I guess I really can't complain.  But it was pretty funny.

We picked up all the does that were available and finally Kendra picked out this little cutie:

As we drove home, Craig pointed out that a perfect name would be Oreo.  Kendra squealed in delight and declared that that would be her name.

A week later I got another text from my 12-year-old correspondent saying that the bunnies were ready to leave their mother.  We all piled into the van and drove back to Orange to pick her up.  She's so cute and sweet-- we already love our little bunny so much!

I'm going to be obnoxious and point out that I look super skinny in this picture!  It's a lie-- I'm not-- but I love this picture, lies and all.

Introducing Camille

Inside her pen (because if you keep her in a small cage and/or keep her outside, you don't even deserve a rabbit, you jerk.)

Oreo is a combination mini-rex and Holland lop.  She'll probably grow to be about five pounds eventually, which is on the small (read: cute!!!) side

Colton is making sure it's cozy

Bunnies like a place where they can hide away every now and then.  In our noisy house, this felt especially important.

She was having a hard time drinking out of her bottle, so we gave her a plate of water, too.

Camille is just a little excited

Happy birthday, Kendra!