Lake Tahoe Vacation - Day 2

Today we:
-lounged around for awhile
-walked to KFC for lunch
-walked along the beach with BOB
-raced the boys in their umbrella "racing" strollers
-played pool for the first time in over 8 years
-had chaos* break out at about 7:10 PM

*chaos:
Striker has had allergy issues since we got up here. He wasn't feeling well around dinner time so he went to rest. At 7:10 I checked on him and he was burning up! Immediate evacuation of all baby items and quarantine of Striker in the bedroom. Then it was bedtime for the boys...which was a challenge because Alex skipped his last nap and Tony couldn't have Daddy put him down. Then it was 10 PM and Grandma Barbie and I realized that we'd be sleeping on the floor so as not to wake the boys pulling out the sleeper sofa. Well one of us had to, but we're both pretty stubborn. ;)

More Carpet

National Bowling Stadium, Reno, NV

BTW, this pattern can make you REALLY dizzy walking down stairs.

Lake Tahoe Vacation - Day 1

We left our house at 5:15 AM and arrived at our final destination around 4:35 PM. Needless to say it was a LONG day, but overall I think it went very well, especially considering the not quite 5 month old boys were trapped in their car seats for 8+ hours. We only had to make 2 unscheduled stops, not bad since only 3 were originally scheduled. (Normal drive time without twinfants and without getting a ticket is about 8 hours).

Striker ended up driving the whole way and Grandma Barbie rode shotgun. Oma and Opa met up with us in Inyokern and followed us the rest of the way. I was left to be Alex and Tony's entertainment committee...for some reason no one was eager to trade for that job...especially the last 2 hours of drive time when the boys were ready to be anywhere but in the car. (BTW, we're considering driving all night on the way home so the boys sleep the whole way...I think my singing might have pushed us over the edge).

It is a tradition for Striker and I to stop at the "Snickers Ice Cream Bar Place" on our way to Mammoth/Reno/Tahoe. Today (on our 4th trip) we finally made note that it is a Mobil gas station and Brady's Mini Mart in Inyokern. They have a very eclectic assortment of items available for purchase (if I go in on the way back, I'll take pictures). Highly recommend this place for a pit stop if you're ever in the area.

We made a 2 hour stop in Bishop to visit with one of my other "little sisters" and to give the boys a chance to be out of the car and meet "Aunt" Kimmy. We had an excellent picnic lunch packed by Oma with just about everything but the kitchen sink! If I can remember most of it: 3 bread choices, 4 meat choices (plus liverwurst, gag), chips and dip, grapes, pineapple, watermelon, carrots, red bell peppers, green onions, and I feel like I'm forgetting stuff. On our way out of Bishop we stopped and got beef and turkey jerky at Mahogany...not a tradition, but a treat since the stuff is $35/pound!

After Bishop, the trip gets a little blurry. I know I used everything in my arsenal of toys and tricks (and really really really think the boys should know their ABCs by now). We stopped in Bridgeport and Gardnerville. The last 20 miles were BRUTAL. I promised the boys that with the exception of going down to Reno to watch Striker bowl on Monday, we wouldn't be putting them in their carseats until our drive home on Friday. If we can't walk there with BOB or the umbrella strollers, we'll pass.

We had pizza for dinner and got the boys to bed. Grandma stayed with the sleeping boys so that Striker and I could relax in the hot tub a bit, which was awesome after the long day in the car. This is likely to be a nightly ritual.

I'm declaring Day 1 a great success! Now if I can just get the room climate controlled...

24 Fans?

I wonder if the nice people of Bishop are all fans of 24? That's the only logical explanation for why the front row parking at the park has a 24 minute parking time limit (except Sunday).

Tough Cookie

Tony had surgery on Wednesday to repair his bilateral inguinal hernias (very common in premature boys) and was a great patient! He did really well and only cried in recovery.

We got to CHOC bright and early with Alex and both grandmas in tow. I'd mentally rehearsed the entire timeline a million times and had tried to think of every possible scenario. I was prepared for everything except a Code Red (fire), but luckily it was in a completely different area and I didn't have to go barreling into the OR to grab Tony. ;)

They were able to move his surgery up about half an hour so he didn't have to go the full 4 hours without eating. This was an added element that kept our little patient patiently waiting. All of the nurses were great and it was cute watching them show off "their" twins to the rest of the staff in the Short Stay Unit.

Perhaps because of our entourage, or just because they're cool like that, they let us stay in (the slightly larger than the others) patient prep room, instead of waiting in the waiting room. This gave us a quiet place to feed and entertain Alex (who did really well all day despite being out of his element and being totally off schedule) and a TV we could control.

When Striker and I were allowed back to see Tony in recovery, he started crying, so they gave him an extra shot of pain meds which knocked him out for THREE hours. That means that we sat there staring at him and STARVING for 3 hours when we'd probably had been out of there in an hour without that shot. Now don't get me wrong, if Tony was in pain, I want him to be comfortable as quickly as possible. In hindsight, we think he was just pissed off because they'd tried to feed him something in a bottle (which he absolutely WON'T take), wouldn't let us stand up and hold him, and couldn't wiggle freely with all the wires stuck to him, BUT better to err on the side of comfort.
Anyhow we were starving by noon, so Striker went to the gift shop to find some snacks to hold us over, so we wouldn't start gnawing on Alex's extremities.

Tony FINALLY woke up and ate a little after 1 and we were home by 3 after driving thru Duke's Burgers and shoving food down our throats. I vaguely recall ordering and swallowing a Double Cheeseburger.

I gave him Tylenol as soon as we got home and for 24 hours after, but I don't think he really needed it. He's been smiling and wiggling since we got home. Yesterday he woke up with that smile on his face and continued trying to roll over. Alex had a tougher time getting back into the routine, but he was very worried about his little brother. ;)

Bumbo Baby

Alex has finally learned to love his Bumbo seat! He sat in it for half an hour yesterday just looking around and checking stuff out. Happiness!

(Yes, Kim and Jane, those are the frames you got us with the stock photos still in them. So not fair getting frames with 3x5 and 3x6 holes! Sigh, didn't you give me until their 1st birthday? 7 months to go.)

Playdate with Sadie

Alternate title: Triplets
2nd alternate title: Boys vs. Girl
3rd alternate title: BOB rocks

Today we met Jessie and Sadie at a super awesome park in Tustin.

Sadie is exactly one month older than the boys, but as one lady pointed out, they look like they could be triplets...this was far better to hear than that Alex was pretty enough to be a girl.

Girl stuff is so very foreign to me...I've never been too girly, and would almost always choose blue over a pink floral pattern, so of course I immediately noticed the contrast between our blue/gray BOB and Sadie's pink/brown BOB and our quilts. Yes, I am easily amused.

While I am ridiculously out of shape from a cardio standpoint, BOB makes me want to be a runner...almost. I will say that I never would have attempted pushing my 36 pounds of babies up the hill in any of our other strollers, but found it doable with BOB. I need to find a good park close to home with a good walking/stroller path. The big square across the street isn't so exciting.

Thanks Jessie and Sadie! We had a great time!