Thomas Spring Break -- Grizwold Style

Our Spring Break included a visit to Carlsbad Caverns, 2 MLB baseball spring training games in Tucson, a visit to a Desert Nat'l Park, a Mission in Tucson, then to Flagstaff where we saw Grand Canyon, a Pueblo Nat'l Monument, a day of snow play, then a trip through the Petrified Forest Nat'l Park on our way home. We usually go snow skiing for Spring Break. We usually book it before Christmas, and drive to the snow in March. It is nice that way... we know what to do, where to go, how to proceed. It is exhausting, but we stay in one place for at least 5 days. We are very well trained for taking a family of 6 to the snow.

This year, due to the economy, we did not plan our usual ski trip in advance. We did not expect a job loss or catastrophic event, but John is mr. conservative, always prepared, so we waited to see what the Spring would have in store before we committed. Plus... being the frugal man that is my husband, I think he expected to find a last minute "deal". As March approached, there really were not any great deals to be found. We surveyed the kids for their wishes for this trip, and they started to think about trips other than snow skiing. Disney was one request. Hawaii was another. We needed a driving trip due to our last minute planning and large family. Maggie requested that we go somewhere that we could take our puppy Marshmallow and hike and do outdoor activities. Grand Canyon was one idea. We wrote it off because it seemed too far (20 + hour drive). This is Carlsbad Caverns. We were speedy tourists here! We will have to visit again one day when we don't have 20 other National Parks and Monuments to hit in 5 days!

Anthony wanted to go to MLB Spring Training in Arizona or Florida. The other kids could care less about baseball. We started to think about Big Bend National Park in southern Texas. About an 8 hour drive, it didn't see too bad. I began to research and ran into a problem with finding accomodations for our family of 6 that accepts kids AND pets. I tried every lodging facility I could find, and they all laughed when I asked about a date so soon, with the criteria of 4 kids and a dog, then I gave up on that location. It wouldn't be a fun trip if we couldn't find a place to stay. We like camping for 1-2 days, but a whole week is a bit much. I turned my search toward Grand Canyon.

This was the moment when John became "Clark" (Grizwold") John then says..."well... maybe... we could just "swing by" Big Bend on the way, then up to Carlsbad Caverns, then into Tucson, then we should "go by" the Grand Canyon on the way home. If you look at a map, this seems quite comical. 2 adults, 4 kids, and a puppy, with all of these detours. I protested... and of course my vote has a lot of weight in this family (yeah, right!) HA! Well, at least we missed Big Bend.

We did, however, "swing by" Carlsbad Caverns on our way to Tucson, where we got in 2 MLB Spring Training games, then toured a National Park in the desert, a Pueblo monument on the way to Flagstaff, then Grand Canyon, snow skiing, and the Petrified Forest "on our way" home..

Maggie loves her Puppy (and her mommy -- sometimes), Marshmallow was so good on this long trip.

We went through Phoenix (and I was proud of John for not finding a detour in or around Phoenix) on our way to Flagstaff, where we would base for our Grand Canyon adventure. -- Oh wait... there was that Pueblo between Phoenix and Flagstaff that we visited. It was a cool pueblo built into a cliff, that housed 35 people about a thousand years ago.

Check out the missing fence behind us in this picture... Little Ben could have gone over in a millisecond! I was a nervous wreck!

We went for a day trip to the Grand Canyon. It was so beautiful. My mom had warned me when we first started to plan this trip that Ben could just slip under the barriers. She said she would be a nervous wreck if we took him there. He is so busy. As usual, we had to see it for ourselves. We went... we saw the beautiful canyon and scenery (truly one of the great wonders)... then we decided our hiking in the Grand Canyon would have to wait until the kids were teenagers. Even the 8 yr olds didn't really grasp the danger of that huge canyon.

(Note to self: Listen to Mom more often)

Anthony tried to tease me by putting one foot up on the rail like he was going to climb... then the others would follow, and they laughed when I freaked. My stomach sank every time Ben or Alexander got close to the barrier. Some areas don't even have barriers, which I am sure some visitors prefer, as it is great for pictures and scenery. This momma would have liked a prison fence around that canyon. I have never held on to my children so tightly. It was gorgeous, but I was so relieved when we called it a day and we still had all 4 children and a puppy. I breathed a big sigh of relief. We are glad we went, but we will look forward to a more relaxed visit when the kids are older. On our second and last day in the Flagstaff area, John and the twins visited snowbowl ski area for a day of fun in the snow. Because the March temperatures were around 60 degrees at the base of the mountain, the beginner ski school was closed, so our little guys were out of luck. Mommy hung out with them all day. We found a small snow patch and played in the snow for a while. That was all the little guys needed... so easy to please at age 3 and 5. Can't we just freeze this moment? Pretty Please? We rented houses in both Tucson and Flagstaff, through VRBO.com, a company that we have used before for renting private homes for our vacations. Our Flagstaff home was a little too far south for us to really get a lot of time for exploring in Flagstaff, but it was in the mountains, and had a great game room, so the kids enjoyed it. Ben called both houses "our camping house". The kids really didn't even want to go to dinner... they just wanted to cook at our "camping house". It is so easy to please them at this age.

Finally after about a month of activities in only 6 days, we were ready for our journey home. John doesn't like to sit around on vacation... he is a machine! I was like a horse heading for the barn. I was ready for home! I stayed up and loaded the car on Friday night, then I was up at 5:30am on Saturday, ready for our driving home day, and couldn't seem to get John out of bed. I thought we would just get dressed quickly and throw the kids in their pjs in the car and go. He wanted to cook pancakes and bacon on this last morning... we were not really on the same page here. After a great pancake breakfast, we were on the road by 8am, but we would lose 2 hours on our 20 hour journey home.

John is the main driver, and it just works better that way. I make him nervous, and he annoys me with helpful suggestions if I drive, so I usually only get a shift if he is desperate for a rest... then he quickly learns that co-pilot with 4 kids in the back is not really a resting place either, so I think it really doesn't involve my driving as much as he really can't hack the co-pilot chaos. It is really much less stressful to be the driver! Ben has been potty trained since Christmas, but his bladder is just small, so he needed frequent potty stops, and Alexander doesn't give a lot of warning for his needs for stops, so it seemed like we stopped every 30 minutes for a while.

Just when I thought we were cruising, John took a turn for the Petrified Forest National Forest. I love this man for his commitment to educate our children every chance we can, but I was so ready to get moving. It was beautiful, and we probably made one of the quickest trips through the park, and the kids got away with some samples of the petrified wood from the gift shop.

We were on the road again... finally. It was at this moment, that I began to beg John to just keep moving. Please, please, no more visits to parks or monuments! Then I began to work on my ploy for driving all night to just get home. He didn't want to, but he gave in and just kept going. He didn't even let me have a driving shift. I napped a little off and on, but we all were tired. Still, better to be home and tired than still on the road! We arrived home at 8am on Sunday morning. There is truly no place like home! I sent John to sleep upstairs and told the kids that whoever woke him would be grounded. As it happened, Ben let Marshmallow inside, and she ran right into the room where John was sleeping... nap was over... but what the heck... our OSU Cowboys had a basketball game in an hour! No place like home! It was a great week of hanging out and seeing a lot of things, but these trips make me appreciate home, and suddenly our busy week of sports schedules and chaos doesn't seem that crazy!

Little Ben at the Spring Training baseball game..."Mr Happy"... so easy to please

Boys and Baseball

Spring Break - Family Time

We are planning our spring break trip this year, at the last minute, just like a lot of people. Because of the uncertainty of the economy, we decided to wait to plan our trip. John is big on family vacations. Even though he is frugal as all get out, and this economy is likely causing him major anxiety issues, he will give up almost anything before a vacation with the whole family. Sometimes I curse him for this, as at times, I have really wanted such things as a new refrigerator, hardwood floors, new washing machine, and he puts that off, yet has no problem splurging for a family vacation. It makes me crazy, but I do love this man for this. When I was pregnant with the twins, and still in the throws of my corporate HR career, a co-worker who officed next to me happened to have 2 year old twins. She quit before my twins were born, but we have stayed in contact. She was like my mentor into parenting twins. I was shocked at the thought of one baby, much less two, so she really helped me a lot. One piece of wisdom I will never forget is that when she goes with the family, it is a "trip", but when she travels without kids, it is a "vacation". She told me never to confuse the two things, because, though family "trips" are fun, they are far from a vacation. How true this.

John has been all over the map on this trip. He first thought we should go skiing like we normally do at Spring Break. He recently visited his friendly orthopedic doc who gave him some bad news about his knee that he neglected back in college and has already had ACL surgery on -- surgery is looming here. We then had a Grizwold style family meeting to discuss our options, and the kids threw out things like Hawaii, and Disney. John explained that this is last minute, and would need to be a driving trip, so these were not options. Even without last minute, with a family of 6, we rarely fly. At the end of the meeting, we were looking at Grand Canyon, or Big Bend National Park in south Texas -- oh, and the kids wanted to bring Marshmallow the puppy along. My mom told me she would be a nervous wreck if we were to take "busy Ben" to the Grand Canyon. She said the barriers are not Ben-proof! We then considered Big Bend. I started searching for vacation rentals near Big Bend. We do better in a cabin or condo, so we can cook, etc., but options are limited. I finally narrowed down some choices, and John tells me that we should stay a few days, then head on over to Baseball Spring Training in Arizona, like it is in the next city over or something... we just have to cross through New Mexico, into central Arizona -- that's all! John makes me crazy on vacations, because he cannot sit still. He like to move 24/7. I just want to have the opportunity to finish a book or something. He is a great dad -- almost comical, he is so enthusiastic about go, go, going to show his kids everything he can possibly fit in.

I really like to find a place to stay, and set up "base" and do activities from that one location, vs. packing up every couple of days. The packing is stressful. I always pack more than John would like, and to punish me, he sometimes puts the things I need the most in the most difficult place to access, and claims it was an accident, but I know... man do I know. One year on our ski trip to New Mexico, we had to put the roof carrier on our SUV to get all of our gear in. I strategically packed the items we would need in our hotel on the way to go inside the car so we would not have to mess with the roof. In packing, my beloved hubby "accidentally" put my bag in the roof carrier. This meant that when we stopped at midnight in freezing temperatures, and I said that I really needed my bag, the stinker said, do you want it badly enough to go out on the roof and get it. The truth is that I did! It had all of my cosmetics, etc., and when mommy doesn't have that, it isn't pretty -- not that I am a big make up person, but I am 40+ now, so I need a little something. I was out in the cold, on the roof of my Ford Expedition, looking in the dark for my bag. I am sure it was a funny sight to passers by! I got it, and was not so happy about the mission. The next morning, the whole clan accused me of making a dent in the roof -- the kids got on board. After discussing this for the entire trip, we ended up at the conclusion that there was no dent -- it was just the natural contours of the ceiling. They all had fun accusing me though. I can laugh about it all now! The truth is, we have a great time on our vacations, but we always have some interesting event, whether a child in the emergency room, a problem with our car, lost luggage, a child with a major break down...We love it all though. Hubby is right in that we will not remember the new appliance, but we will always have memories of our time together on these vacations.
I am very tired right now, and I start to wonder why, then I tell someone what we are doing, and I hear myself spouting off this insane schedule that even Wonder Woman would struggle with. We have a solid 6-7 days per week of baseball, horseback riding, basketball, cub scouts, brownies, my part time teaching gig, John's full time plus career... help! I have fallen... and I can't get up. And little 3 yr old Ben keeps asking when his soccer coach is going to call. When we are racing from one activity to the next, out of the blue, Ben will blurt out "We are going to be late for my soccer practice". I have not signed Ben up for soccer. He is just used to tagging along to sports and he is ready to get into the mix -- poor guy. The insane thing is... we will likely get him started in soccer next year. We are to the point where we will have more than 2 places to be at one time, so we have to call in relief of family and friends. This is a great life, but I never knew it could be this crazy. I hope I still have my mind when I am older so I can remember these days.

The search is still on for Spring Break 09 in the Thomas / Grizwold familia, and we have made no decisions, and Spring Break starts in 2 days. I have comfort in knowing that if I don't make the plans, they won't get made, so I do have a little control here.

Saturday Chaos

Today, John and I left the house in 2 vehicles, with 2 boys in baseball uniforms, a girl in horseback riding gear, and a 3 yr old & puppy. We had 6 sporting events + a vet appointment, then a brownie cookie booth. I first got up, started the dryer, as Anthony had a baseball game last night, then had to be cleaned for this morning (he thinks it is "cool" to slide, even when it is not really necessary, which makes my laundry task more tedious). I quickly took my shower, then, I had to pull the tricks that my dad used to do to me to get up when I didn't want to. I stood in front of John who was trying to ignore our chaos, and demanded that I would not leave until his feet were on the floor. I ran around the house and turned off the kitchen TV where Alexander was watching cartoons, then the living room TV where Anthony was watching ESPN, and demanded no TV until they were both in their baseball uniforms. I then went upstairs and carried 46 pound petite Maggie downstairs and dumped her in the bathtub half awake. I washed her hair, gave her the horseback riding cloths, and sent her to the kitchen for breakfast. Somewhere in there, I managed to get myself into a t-shirt and sweat pants, and a tiny bit of makeup for this day. Anthony was telling me that we needed to find a way to "tape" his baseball socks so that they did not slide down, and was having a fit about these socks. Alexander(5) was fussing about wearing his cleats, and Maggie was asking if we could cancel her riding lesson at the last minute just "because". All the while, John has had a peaceful routine in the bathroom getting his shower, etc. It is now 7:45, and Ben (3) is still asleep. I race upstairs and quickly dress Ben while he is waking up. He comes downstairs in his sleep, asking for breakfast, and requests "eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausage" -- "not today buddy", I respond... "how about cheerios?" We have to have the boys at the opening day baseball parade by 8:30, and Marshmallow the puppy at the vet for a 8:30 appt. John asks for the camera, and the small camera doesn't have a charged battery. I offer him 2 other cameras, but they won't fit in his pocket so he declines...He leaves in disappointment, with a parting reminder that I should just keep the camera charged... thanks for that! I love my hubby, but his "helpful reminders" might one day cause him injury. He is out the door! I quickly scramble to get my other 2 children and puppy out the door and we are off. Marshmallow at the vet by 8:30, then horseback riding lessons at 10, basketball pictures at 11:30, then basketball game at 12:30. Brownie cookie booth in front of the grocery store after that. By the time we finished basketball, we could not find the brownies and we tried 4 grocery stores. We concluded they must have canceled and threw in the towel. It was now only 2:30 pm, but we were exhausted. We all arrived home at the same time. Kids ran around a bit, then snuggled in my bed w/ me for a movie. John went to hit a few golf balls, and came home to cook steaks for dinner. We will all sleep well tonight... of course it is daylight savings time and we loose an hour tonight! Go Figure!

I AM Murphy's Law -- Bank Robber at my Dental Appointment

Today I was at a routine dental appointment in a quiet location off Panther Creek (next to Dr. Anderson pediatric dentist). The below bank robbery occurred in the bank directly across from the dental office, and we were locked in the dental office for a couple of hours while the police chased the man w/ the gun. We live in this very quiet utopia suburb, where most people have this false sense of security. I think people are starting to catch on to this and take advantage of this. A couple of area banks and restaurants have been robbed lately, and we never really heard of this sort of thing so close until recently.

He was not caught. It certainly livened up a boring dental appointment. Episodes of Law and Order flashed through my mind as I balanced my worries with my need to get out of there and proceed with my long list of things to do. I think I AM Murphy's Law... I seem to be a magnet for these random encounters. What are the chances of a dental appointment ending like this?
Robber targets bank in The Woodlands
04:12 PM CST on Thursday, March 5, 2009
KHOU.com staff report

Authorities say that a man walked into the Wells Fargo Bank located at 4880 West Panther Creek in The Woodlands and robbed it at 10:50 a.m. Thursday.

MCSO photo
Witnesses say that the thief pulled out a black colored semiautomatic handgun from a briefcase and then demanded money from each of the tellers.
The man fled with an undisclosed amount of money.
The accused thief is about 6’0” to 6’02”, and weighs about 230 to 250 pounds.
He reportedly has a shaved or bald head, and was wearing sunglasses, a white button down dress shirt, yellow tie and dark colored slacks during the robbery.
Anyone with information should contact Montgomery County authorities at (936) 760-5876.