And We’re Off

Today the whole fam damily left on vacation to visit my sister in Colorado.  Going on this trip are:

Davey – Also known as Dad or Papa, age 60
Bec – Also known as Mom or Grammy, age 60
Mark- Also known as Big Daddy, my brother,  age 34
Molly – Also known as Mama, my sister-in-law, age 34
Caleb – Oldest son of Mark & Molly, age 7, self described big brain
Eli – Second son of Mark & Molly, age 6, quiet, tries to be well-behaved, challenged when tired and/or hungry,  just tooted and it smells terrible
Isaac – Third son of Mark &  Molly, age 4, most likely to have something strange in his pocket
Lydia – Only daughter of Mark & Molly, age 1 ½
Me – Age 36

We’re headed to visit my sister who lives just north of Denver in the city of Brighton.  The family living there includes:

Kari – My sister, age 33
Jay – My brother-in-law, age, hmm, how old is Jay?
Isaiah – My nephew, age 12, recently entering puberty, sleeping long hours, has a funny voice
Cameryn – My niece, age 3, karmic reincarnation of her mother’s naughty younger self

In the weeks leading up to the trip, we all became concerned about Isaac and security.  For weeks now, Ike has had some really strange things in his pocket each time we see him-pliers, wrenches, snowman topped butter knives, measuring tapes, and his dad’s pocket knife.  No matter where his dad hid the pocket knife, Ike was able to locate it like a bloodhound tracking, well whatever a bloodhound might track.  So, for a while now, we’ve been concerned about what Ike might have in his pockets while going through security and wondering what his mug shot would look like.  His mother, in her infinite wisdom, decided to have him wear shorts without pockets today.  Smart move!  We patted him down anyway and then it was off to security. 

Who would have guessed then that the one member of the family who got an extra “random” security screening would be Isaac?  I think they had his picture in the back and set off the alarms when the saw him coming.  So, our four year old Ike got an extra pat down and had his bags thoroughly searched.  Thank goodness he didn’t sneak Daddy’s knife in there this morning.

The boys were pretty excited about the flight and enjoyed looking out the window and such.  We had a little gas issue with Eli and he eventually spent a fair amount of time in the rear lavatory.  I checked on him twice while he was in there and both times he told me he needed a little while longer.  I eventually sent his dad back to check on him and Mark discovered Eli was locked in and couldn’t get out.  With some help from the flight attendant, Eli was extracted without incident.  When he sat down, he turned to me and whispered, “I was in a hurry and didn’t wipe too good.”  

 The attainment of the rental mini-van took forever as they did not have our mini-van and the car rental next door didn’t have a spare.  Is this not what reservations are for?  We spent the remainder of the day relaxing, making dinner, going to the park and getting supplies at Target.  On the agenda for tomorrow is hiking in the morning followed by swimming at the local pool in the afternoon.  We’ll see how the hiking goes.  I may be hiking with Baby Lydia on my back.  I did buy hiking poles to help with center of gravity.  It can be a mildly challenging hike so we’ll see how it is with an extra 25 pounds on my back.  

Quotes of the Day

Caleb (while paying Wii):  What the hell?  (followed by a time out)

Cameryn:  Now, let’s go wake up Baby Lydia!

Eli (upon entering the airplane):  This is NOT what I expected.