Nana's House

5 Kids and 2 Moms happy to be out of the car!

(Autumn and Emmie; Colin and Hunter; Justin, Lisa, Annalise)

Getting ready to go again

(Autumn and Emmie; Lisa and Annalise; Colin and Hunter; Justin)

We left South Dakota and headed south to Nana's House where I knew a warm shower, good food, a big hug, and a glass of wine were waiting for me! We took a route through Wyoming and had a few adventures at the Pizza Hut where I had my kids stand in separate corners (for fighting) while we waited for the pizza to be brought to the table. It's always interesting with those two...

Our stay was supposed to last two days but the next morning we realized that it was a full 12 hour drive to the Grand Canyon where John was waiting for us. As you may have guessed, this would have been a challenge for a carload of 5 kids. We decided to spend the day in Denver at Nana's pool before heading out that afternoon for Glenwood Springs.

I spent the morning packing the U-Haul with all kinds of treasures from Mom's house. I'm such a good daughter because at least I gave her a warning (as she drove out to buy me a coffee)! "Anything in the house is fair game, right?"

In the end I came home with boxes of Christmas decorations, more 'nic nacs' and a beautiful mirror that I thought she'd be mad about. When I fessed up, she laughed at me and wished me good luck getting it home in one piece. After we had a full trailer, the thunderclouds rolled in just in time for us to head to the pool. We took a look at the skies and decided that we were safe from lightning so we packed up the sandwiches and headed down there. We had a good afternoon playing at the pool all by ourselves - first in the rain and then in the warm Colorado sunshine.

It's funny how even at 34 years old, it feels so good to be at my Mom's house. It always feels like I'm on a vacation when I'm there becase she takes care of me and there's always this odd feeling that everything will be OK when she's around.

South Dakota

The Petrified Garden

Going for a hike in The Badlands

Mining for gold at Wall Drug

Cooling off at Wall Drug

Arguing at the Air and Space Museum

Mount Rushmore

We left Michigan on Tuesday, June 22nd with 5 kids, 2 moms, and one dog packed comfortably in the Suburban. While this sounds absolutely crazy, it's very manageable if you choose the right moms to travel with. I promise. I arrived at Autumn's house to find three Sivyer children walking out the door in a neat and organized line. Each had a bag with them and they got to work right away loading the trailer and climbing into the car so that they could watch their movies.

The day passed very quickly and we stopped for the first night in Lacrosse, WI before continuing the next day to Murdo, SD. Once we had made it to Murdo, we found a very classy Super 8 and spent the night there in style. Believe it or not, I even had artwork in the bathroom! There was a red laminated piece of paper stapled to the wall listing out the prices of all items in the room in case I wanted to liberate any of them. The "plastic ashtray" was $2.50. The "tin ashtray" was only $1.50.

We started the day off with a visit to the Petrified Garden and then headed into the Badlands. Justin was very excited about this because he recognized it right away as the place where they film Dinosapien. He showed me several places that he had seen in the TV show and told me what had happened there. Annalise joined in his excitement and I think she convinced herself that she recognized all of the places too. We stopped for a little hike and Justin got to go to the top with Autumn while I stayed down at the bottom with Jasmine and the girls. When Autumn got back, she sent me up and said I had to see the view but about halfway up, Annalise took a spill that made me envision her sliding down the whole face of the mountain and I called it quits. The view we saw from halfway up was certainly one for the books anyway.

After we left the Badlands, we headed to Wall Drug (which is now a mall). We had lunch there and the kids played in the water, posed with characters, tried on hats, went mining for gold, rode a covered wagon, watched the T-Rex come alive, shopped, and ate ice cream. It was a fight to get them out of there! After leaving Wall Drug, we stopped at the Air and Space Museum where Hunter and Justin had a good time debating all points of every aircraft they saw as well as all recorded events of US history! Autumn at one point told them that we would have to leave if they did not zip it - these were hardly casual debates.

The highlight of the day was a drive through zoo where we got to see Arctic Wolves, Elk, Reindeer, Mountain Lions, Buffalo, and Bears right next to the car. There was one bear close enough that I could have reached out and touched it had I been brave enough. Another bear decided to amuse us by relieving himself on the tire of our U-Haul trailer!

We ended the night at Mount Rushmore and we were trying to hold out for the lighting ceremony but the kids were ready for bed. We shopped in the giftshop (where my kids decided to purchase and begin collecting harmonicas!) and walked out to the car. We stayed in Keystone, SD and I thought it was a very cute little town. I would certainly go back!

The next day we spent some time at Crazy Horse before heading to Denver. The kids enjoyed hearing about the Indians and the history but they were ready for a rest after all of the excitement. We climbed into the car for an 8 hour drive to Nana's house in Denver where I knew a day of rest was waiting for me.

Grandpa's House

Giving the lambs medicine

Riding Otis

Otis came to see me for a picture and a pat on the head.



Annalise riding with Jenny

Annalise and the baby pig

Annalise riding on Uncle Seth's foot

It's what rock stars do, I guess!

We made it to Dad's house before dinner on Saturday and, wouldn't you know it, he took us to Good Time Pizza! The kids managed to talk Uncle Seth out of $30 and me out of another $15 in the game room so they considered the evening a great success! For the first time ever, they won one of those toys out of the game where the claw goes down and tries to catch a stuffed animal. It was a case of beginner's luck that struck on Annalise's first try ever so Justin has renewed conviction in his debate that the things really do work. It seems that the secret is in holding the button down while the claw is moving. Who knew?

On Sunday morning, Justin got to help Grandpa work the sheep. Grandpa administered the medicine and Justin marked each of them with the chalk as they were done. The project had to be done in several batches so Justin got to help corral the sheep, section off batches, mark them when they had been given their medicine, and release each batch through the chute when they were done. It was hard work for a junior farmer! After Justin's job was done, Uncle Seth stepped in to help out with the rams and we watched from the safety and comfort of a shaded spot on top of Dad’s trailer.

Uncle Seth taught Justin how to catch fireflies on our first night there. After he learned, it became a mission for him to catch enough in a jar to serve as a lantern at night. For me, this was the part I will always remember about the trip because I am generally too busy to slow down and enjoy the quiet times with the kids. Justin asked me to help catch fireflies and I didn’t have the internet, bills, dishes, laundry, homework, groceries, etc. to distract me. I played outside with the kids and they put me in charge of getting the jar ready for the fireflies (a huge responsibility and a tremendous honor). I poked holes in the lid so that they could breathe, I caught fireflies, and I was consulted on what kinds of food and supplies they would need while in the jar. The project was a success and we had a bright nightlight in our room the third night there.

When looking back with joy on this trip, we’ll just skip over most of the Jasmine stories. We won’t talk about how she took a running start and jumped through the window screen on Dad’s living room window because I made her stay inside (twice), or how she shook the bed all night long crawling underneath it from one side to the other during the thunderstorm, or how she rolled herself in pig manure several times before going to bed at night, how I gave her a bath and how she immediately rolled in it again, or how she managed to sneak through an electric fence and come close to spooking the horse my son was riding. She’s lucky to still be in the car with us at this point…

What I will remember is that Justin ate a Big Boy, they both learned how to whistle with a piece of grass, learned how to ride a horse, threw a stick in the lake for the dog, learned how to throw a ball/kite contraption, rode around on Uncle Seth’s foot, got mud on their shoes, walked with bare feet, visited a farm to see how fair pigs were coming along, learned about electric fences, spent an hour listening to the thunderstorm huddled in bed with me, and they got to eat farm eggs and drink farm milk. I'll remember the important things.

Niagara Falls

When we got there, a very friendly Niagara Falls guide offered to take our picture. While friendly, she was not exactly speedy and we stood like this for a long time while she focused and worked to "pose" us. Not a great effort, but a picture of me and my kids just the same.

Justin enjoyed the view and worked on getting some good shots on his camera.

They ran up and down the stairs playing in the "rain" for a long time!

Annalise admitting that she is too scared to go on the ferry.

And here she is, brave face on, and getting ready for the Cave of the Winds tour.

Enjoying the Tour

Bridal Veil Falls - This is the deck that Justin stood on so that he could be in the waterfall.

We woke up in Buffalo on Saturday ready to see Niagara Falls. We all felt charged up after a good night's sleep and we happily filled up on a delicious buffet breakfast at the hotel. Like I said, it was a new day and we were ready for adventure. (Small Note: Jasmine was not as happy as we were and she let us know how mad she was when we went to breakfast - we returned to our newly improved room to find the foul smelling "presents" she deposited on the floor in protest to all of the changes going on in her life). Onward and Upward!

We drove to Niagara Falls but we were denied entrance to the parking lot due to the trailer. I did a tight little U-Turn and headed over to the "other parking lot" on Goat Island. As luck would have it, that was the perfect place to park! The kids hopped out and took about 20 steps before they could see the falls. We enjoyed the view together for a few minutes, the kids ran through the "rain" blowing off the falls, and they spent time looking through the binoculars before Justin decided that he really wanted to go on the ferry that went under the falls.

While the Falls were beautiful to enjoy from a safe distance, Annalise was not the least bit interested in experiencing them first hand. After trying unsuccessfully to bully his sister into riding the ferry (Example: "Annalise, we're going on it and that's final!"), he tried a slightly more diplomatic approach. He asked her why she didn't want to go on the fairy and she admitted that she was scared. He told her that if she could handle the shuttle launch simulator then she could handle anything! They eventually found a compromise and they both agreed on going through the Cave of the Winds.

The Cave of the Winds was spectacular! We were issued yellow rain gear and green river shoes before we were taken down to the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls in an elevator. Once we were out there, the water washed over our feet and the rain from the falls fell on us. The ultimate experience was to go under the falls in the "Hurricane" section of the platform and Justin did this twice. He loved it! I wish I had a picture of him in there but there was entirely too much water for my camera to be anywhere other than tightly secured in the plastic bag.

Our departure from Niagara Falls was quite an adventure as well. John had called to say Hello and I was having trouble finding time to call him back because there was always either chaos to deal with in the car, a lack of cell phone coverage, or some combination of the two. I was talking to him when I looked up and realized that I was about to go over the Rainbow Bridge into Canada. That was certainly the bridge I wanted to take, but it was a Toll Bridge and I realized too late that had given my last few dollars to the parking attendant! I hung up the phone and got ready to give the guy in the toll booth my sob story and I was sure he'd let me mail in my payment in a little IOU envelope. No such luck there!

I gave it my all on the "Can I pay my toll through the mail?" pitch but he was having none of it. At least he was amused rather than annoyed when he said, "Do you have a credit card?" I breathed a big sigh of relief and said, "Of course!" thinking that this was all going to be OK and that it would be nice if they'd post the little VISA/MASTERCARD logo on the window so that I wouldn't have to panic over the cash situation. Nope. He smile an evil smile and told me, "OK, just run into the store over there where they have an ATM and get some cash. Oh dear lord! He was serious!

I had no other choice! Right there in the toll lane, I had to park the car, run across several lanes of traffic to the Duty Free, ask for the ATM, head clear over to the opposite corner of the store, wait for the dinosaur of a machine to spit out my money, endure the honking and screaming as the cars behind my car all jockeyed into different lanes, and climb back in to pay my $6. Not one of my finer moments. On the bright side, I remembered to get the receipt!

The rest of the ride was generally uneventful and we eventually made it through Canada, back into the United States, and on to Grandpa's house for some dinner at Good Time Pizza.

Driving Out

Justin, Annalise and Ironman (in Justin's hand) supervising the loading of the truck. As you can see, only Atlas Van Lines will do for this family! The very familiar blue truck provided some comfort for me.

Annalise entertained herself all day long by drumming for the movers.

It was tough to find entertainment with all toys packed in boxes, but they managed. Here is the "race car" that they drove up and down the street on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

Hangin' with Luther - one of our packers.

This was taken while Rick, Paul, and Luther were at lunch. They work fast!

Oh boy! Today felt like an out of body experience! I seemed to opt for a very business like attitude and I didn't ever have it in me to say "Good Bye" to anyone. I seemed to hear myself saying, "Have a good day and I'll see you soon!!!"

We spent last night with the Perlmutters and we woke up to Bayley and Graysie's "Crazy Hair Day" do's. When I walked into the kitchen, Bayley was sitting at the counter eating his cereal with electric blue spikes sticking out of his head in every direction! It was awesome! ("Adorable" is what I would say but he would not like that at all!). We enjoyed breakfast with Bayley and Kathleen before Justin took a last swing in the tire and Annalise proudly collected her new purse collection (given to her by Graysie). After some hugs and the beginning of my water works, I took the kids to Bristol to get our truck weighed. It was a rather odd experience when the guy at the scales asked me to come in and try to figure out how to use the computer! For the record, I figured out the computer AND backed the trailer out of the scales...

Annie came over to help me load the trailer and we did a darn good job! Justin and Annalise patiently played "Go Fish" in the car waiting for me. Eventually, I took one last look at the house and I suddenly didn't care any longer what I was forgetting. I called Jane and told her, "I'm sorry! I left it a disaster but I can't take it any more!" Can you believe that she shined it from top to bottom by 2:00pm?

On our way out, Thom found us filling up one last time at Cumberland Farms with our "Free Friday Iced Coffee" (me) and the gigantic ICEE for $0.79. He came over to meet us so he could drop off plenty of U-R-IN Control packages for Justin and help make sure I had packed everything safely. I got a "Boy Scout Approval!" and we headed out as I tried again in vain to control the water works. Our last trip over the Sakonnet Bridge was especially tough because the sun was out, the water was extra blue, and the boats seemed ready for some weekend fun.

Today was a long drive with three sad Dolbys in the car. We were also quite grouchy. Now we're settled in at the La Quinta decompressing and getting ready for a good night's sleep. I have my own bed again! Tomorrow we're very excited about going to see Niagara Falls and starting the ROAD TRIP!!!! Today was "Good Bye" and tomorrow will be "New Adventure!!!" Day.

I don't have any pictures from today but I posted a couple of cute ones from the process of moving.

Wings or Roots

I can promise you that a year and a half ago, I had my doubts! I remember packing the ski jackets and ice scrapers in the car while sweating in the sunshine of our San Diego driveway. It only got worse when we picked the kids up from KinderCare and watched them say “Good Bye” to the teachers who had held them from the time they were babies! I was a crying mess and I wondered at the time what kind of parents could take their kids away from so much love, stability, and happiness.

Fortunately, I was quickly comforted by the life we found when we arrived in Portsmouth. We were greeted with friends from the moment we set foot in the snow and we learned about life in a way we had never considered before. Justin still played football and Annalise was already dancing the first Saturday morning we were here, but more importantly, we quickly learned so many new East Coast things. Justin learned how to collect a full meal off the beach with nothing but a pail and Annalise has conquered the game of “Popcorn” on the trampoline. We know how and when to use “wicked” and I have finally mastered the finer points of the “Fritalian Shabby Katique” decorating style (otherwise known as “Cottage”). John’s got another Master’s Degree, I am freshly retired, and our furniture collection has grown substantially over the past couple of weeks. We have seen Boston, New York, Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Michigan, Virginia, Florida, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Newport Yachts in the summer, the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and we’ve collected stories from each place that amaze me every time I look back.

I find today that I am again faced with the same challenge that I felt a year and a half ago. How do I successfully take these kids away from such a wonderful place?

The answer came to me last night as I was “sleeping” in my bed, surrounded by boxes, and shielding myself from knees and elbows being thrown by the lovely children sleeping peacefully on either side of me. (It was easier to sleep in the middle, believe it or not, because it at least eliminated the high pitched, “he/she won’t give me any roooommmm!!!!!” drama that suddenly comes out of nowhere each time I start to drift off).

Our family has wings.

As you go through life, you can choose to have wings or roots, but you cannot have both. With roots, you get to grow up in one place where you know everyone and everything. It is a wonderful and comfortable way to live. It’s how I grew up. With wings, you grow up with experiences from all over the place and you learn about the different cultures in the world you are living in. It’s an adventurous and, from time to time, a somewhat scary way to live. It’s a way of life that comes with “Good Bye” but is always tempered with a warm “Hello” when you arrive at the next place. Our family has wings.

The truck arrives today and our boxes will be loaded up. They’ll head to California and they will (hopefully) be waiting for us when we arrive. I’ll try to hold it together as we drive out of Portsmouth but I know I’ll cry. I also know that when I see the first green road sign saying that we are in San Diego (still 60 miles from our house), I’ll probably be flying with excitement and I’ll have a hard time respecting the speed limit signs asking me to drive my family safely the rest of the way to Chula Vista.

To my kids: Wings are good! Wings show you the world and help you better understand the choices you will someday make when we do not make them for you. I never would have known life as I do today had I not decided to choose “wings” and drive my car to San Diego to give it a try. It was there that I met your Dad, got married, bought a house, and was blessed with two beautiful children! Saying goodbye is hard, but never knowing the things you are saying goodbye to would undoubtedly be worse. I love you both my brave little boy and girl and I thank you very much for living the adventure with us!!!!

Everybody Dance Now!

She's the one in the middle

Beautiful Girl in her stage make-up

Backstage

Butterflies in her tummy

Outside the High School

Dress Rehearsal

Rainbow Ice Cream for my Tiny Dancer after dress rehearsal

Annalise performed as a sunflower to the song "Music Box Dancer" last night in Position One School of Dance's 31st recital. It was Annalise's second recital and she was a beautiful dancer!

I have to be honest and tell you that she was not excited about her costume due to the lack of pink and the "sticky outy" skirt, but she got into the mood when we put her make-up on and she saw the other girls dressed in the same outfit. I'll never forget when she looked in the mirror and said, "Well, I guess I'm a sunflower and that's just the way it is!"

She was fine for her dress rehearsal but she told me on the way to the "dancer drop-off" for the performance that she had butterflies in her tummy. We took some pictures to distract her and I taught her how to do an air kiss to preserve her fresh lipstick from smudging. These simple things seemed to get her mind in the right place. She disappeared backstage and got ready for her performance!

After the dance, her Daddy picked her up from the backstage room with flowers in his hand and she thought that was simply the best thing ever! She stuck with him all night long, smiling and snuggled in his lap, and watching the performance in her sunflower costume. He keeps saying, "Wow! All you have to do to win this girl's heart is buy some flowers!" but he forgets that she loves him that much just because of the amazing Dad he is every single day.

The flowers are proudly displayed on the desk in her room and she stopped on her way to bed tonight to smell them and remind me that she got them from her Daddy because she's a beautiful ballerina.

Retirement

Jasmine and Annalise on the way to the beach

Are there any berries yet?

Finding "very white" seashells

Now that I'm "retired" I find that I am busier than I ever have been! One of the greatest joys I have found is the ability to spend time with Annalise during the day while Justin is at school. On the day of Justin's birthday, we took Jasmine to the beach with us while the cake was baking. Our goal was to find some "very white" seashells to take home to San Diego with us. Sadly, we did not wind up with a very good selection but we've decided to try again before we leave.

Eight Years Old

Annalise took it upon herself to show Justin his "Baby Book" this morning (she's mad because she doesn't have one yet so she revels in his). He spent some time looking back and enjoyed the stories for a while.

Our arrival at Cindy's

Reading Pookie's Card

Boogie Boarding at Sandy Point Beach


Mark eventually convinced Justin to get out of the water

They found a little boy to help them collect food for dinner

Setting the crabs free

Is it any surprise that I could not get a group shot?

Spaghetti Tacos

A Seaside Birthday

Opening Presents

June 2, 2010

Happy Birthday Justin!

I'm not sure where the time went because I could SWEAR that just yesterday you were, well, not eight! You were asking me for more juice, Tia, a Buzz Lightyear toy, or maybe even something so grown up as a cheeseburger. Today, those things are in the past and you're asking me for "spaghetti tacos" (discovered on iCarly), strings for your guitar (electric - inspired by Uncle Seth), a DSi XL, "DJ clothes", and a camera because you want to be a photographer. You're singing to Taylor Swift (all the boys are!), discussing politics with me, and you are popping your head into the house after school just long enough to tell me that you'll be at a friend's house. While I hate to see you grow up so fast, I love the kid that you are and I can't wait to see what the next year brings to your life. If I could describe you today, I'd use words like kind, caring, adventurous, raw, confident, active...very active..., and very brave.

Your birthday started off with a visit to our favorite spot here on the island since Dad headed to Florida. Cindy's. We took one present with us for you to open and Pookie got the honors. You opened the package, completely convinced that it was "just clothes," and you were very pleased to discover three "How to train your Dragon" books. That Pookie knows her books! After you finished your chocolate chip pancake, we headed to school to drop you off so that Annalise and I could head home to bake the "warm cookies" you requested for your class as well as the "chocolate cake with blue icing" you requested for your birthday dinner. I also had to do some food shopping because I did not have all of the ingredients I needed to make the Spaghetti Tacos with Meatballs that you requested for dinner! Much to my dismay, you are still watching iCarly and you discovered this little gem on that show. The directions were simple: "Mom, it's simple. You take spaghetti noodles and put them in a taco shell. Hard. Then you put sauce and meatballs on the top. Easy Peasy!"

At about 3:00, Leah came over to ride with us to school and the beach. We all came to Hathaway, dressed in beach gear, to drop cookies off for your class. Lucinda Landon was in the class autographing books and we completely stole her show - I felt very badly about that! You did not. You most certainly enjoyed handing out your cookies to your friends in class and they most certainly appreciated receiving them! You do manage to get yourself into some trouble at school but I am very happy with the way that the kids enjoy being around you all the time. Your stories are amazing, you're very excited about school, and you often steal the show with some random fact that you have learned from a book that amazes Mrs. Dufour. You are a creative and generous kid and I hope that spirit lives with you as you grow even older.

I took the girls to Cumberland Farms for an icee while we waited for the school day to end and then we picked you and Mark up so that we could all go to the beach. Wouldn't you know it...we were sweating to death in the parking lot at Hathaway but the fog rolled in the minute we hit Sandy Point Beach! A little fog never stopped you though! You and Mark boogy boarded for a while until the goose bumps and chattering teeth got annoying and then the two of you decided that you needed to collect food for dinner. (Did you forget you were having spaghetti tacos?). You collected a bucket full of mussels and crabs but Dad said you had to put the crabs back because they probably weren't safe. Thank God for that because I didn't think I could handle getting those little guys into a pot! (I have to admit, I called him for that because I suspected that's what he would say).

I finally got you guys off the beach and we went home to cook dinner, play with friends, and wait for Nana and Papa to arrive so that you could open presents. You guys ran around like crazy people playing tag for a while and eventually the dinner was ready. You "enjoyed" your dinner for about 15 seconds before you were all off again the way most 8 year old kids are. When Nana and Papa arrived, we sent everyone but Leah home and we opened presents. Unfortunately for Annie (who was in the emergency room with a smashed toe), but fortunately for us, we got to keep Leah around for the party because it would not have been the same without her! She even had so much fun that she decided to try her first sleepover. (She made it until 1:00am when she woke up scared and really wanting Mom...).

You're a very blessed child who got way too many presents! Your favorite from the family night was your camera. You worked on setting up shots and worked on getting the composition just right. You were not pleased when your shot of the candles burning on the mantle over the fire did not turn out right, but when I explained that it was a very tough shot to manage, you started working with the settings on your camera and became a real photographer. The shot did eventually come out and I'm impressed with the way you kept at it.

You were also very grown up when you opened your DS. We talked about how well you had done with the old DS (you held on to it for three years before losing it recently somewhere in the house) and how this was an "upgrade" but not a "replacement" for a lost item. You understood and I'm proud of you for that. You also politely told Nana that what you wanted was something just a little different and she said we could go exchange it. You put the box off to the side and patiently waited until we had time to go exchange it. You wanted to play your game but you held out for just the right thing. Now that you've got it, the thing goes with you absolutely everywhere! (It's got a camera in it and distorting pictures is your favorite thing to do - especially pictures of me that you turn into big blimpy messes!).

Like I said, I cannot believe you are eight years old! You and I argue on a daily basis about many things but I'm so proud of the way you politely stick to your guns these days. You're growing up and you're growing into a child I am very proud of. Stick to it! I love you!

Silly Bands

When we were in Tampa Bay over Spring Break, we were introduced to "Silly Bands" because Zachary and Zane were each wearing thousands of them. Polly wanted to know if our kids had any and I quickly assured her that we were much too smart and sophisticated to participate in such a silly little fad. Famous last words!

Wouldn't you know it, the craze has hit Rhode Island. Last Tuesday the boys convinced me to take them all to Cumberland Farms for an Icee (where $0.79 gets you so much sugar coated ice that you could kill a small animal) and then to Olympia Sports for Silly Bands. I'm a sucker for a 7 year old "please!?!?!?" so we went. It was Justin, Mark, Bayley, Leah and Annalise. They got their Icees and then we headed to Middleton for the real prize. I remember my Mom telling me about how she waited in line for hours for my Cabbage Patch Kid (Marilyn was her name) in the middle of a Colorado Winter. Luckily, this was not as painful but it is a day I'll always rememeber.

We went to Olympia Sports and everyone picked out the Silly Bands they wanted. Justin wanted to hold out for the "rarest of rare" (rainbow colored) bands and asked if we could check CVS. I said that we could; however, if CVS did not have the bands, I was not coming back to Olympia. I explained that he was gambling and that sometimes gambling works and sometimes it doesn't. "Yah Yah...let's go to CVS." Wouldn't you know it - they were completely sold out! He cried and whined and begged me to take him back to Olympia and it broke my heart! I wanted so badly to go buy him a pack but I decided that the life lesson was way too valuable to pass up. So, I broke his heart right back. I know, I'm a mean lady.

He cried for a little bit and then we talked about trading his friends for volume rather than "rareness" of the band. He was intrigued by this idea and he made his first trade in the car - one "rare" band he had for three "regular" bands. He was on his way! Eventually his wrist was covered with the ridiculous volume that everyone else's was.

You would not believe the "Silly Band Craze" that has hit. If a parent wants to go get more "Silly Bands" they have to wait until Tuesdays when shipments come in and there is an effective gossip train that informs the moms when a supply is found. The problem is that as soon as you get over there to pick up a pack, the supply is gone again because of the very effective teamwork and gossip circles currently in effect.

Luckily the evil things have been outlawed in the schools and the next new thing is going to have to roll in. I'm happy that we've come to the end of this particular trend but I've really enjoyed watching the kids deal with them. You can try to teach them about money, toys, and value all day long but there's no faking it when they don't really care. These "Silly Bands" teach them some important skills about negotiating, protecting, purchasing, and (most important) keeping track of something that means a lot to them. In fact, I love the things because I could get either kid to do many things they don't usually agree to (examples: "please take the trash out" or "please go clean up the shoe rack in the entryway") simply by promising them one of the very rare (very uncomfortable) silly bands I had on one of my wrists.

I wonder what will be next...