A Storybook Weekend

Our trip to Washington, as dictated by Agent 004.

Illustrations by yours truly.

The text (in case some of the pictures are too fuzzy):

We drove all night to get to Washington, DC.

On Thursday we rode the Metro, went to Mass, walked in the March for Life (We met Uncle D and T there), and ate Indian food with Uncle 7.

We slept at "Uncle 7's Hotel." He does not live there, but it is near his apartment.

We went to museums on Friday. We saw dinosaur bones, gems and butterflies at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. We played with blocks at the Building Museum. We saw art at the Portrait Gallery, but we mostly looked at the fountain and put trash into the talking garbage can.

We ate Japanese food for dinner. Some of the fish was raw. We ate with chopsticks.

We went to the zoo on Saturday morning. We saw lots of animals. Agent 002's and Agent 004's favorite animals were the elephants.

Then we drove home. It took a long time. We stopped to eat dinner with Grandma, Aunt A, Uncle D and Cousin T. It was very late when we got home. We were very tired, but we had a lot of fun. I can't wait to go back again next year!

Grover's Presidential Tour

Grover insisted on blogging a bit more about "his" vacation. In this post, he tells you about an obsession he shares with mr warillever -- presidential history.

Forget the imbecile act you see on tv. In real life, I am a history buff. In particular I like to visit presidential sites.

I have been to the Lincoln Boyhood homesite; Calvin Coolidge's farm in Vermont; the Franklin Pierce Homestead in New Hampshire; James Polk's house in Columbia Tennessee as well as the site of his Nashville home; the Hermitage (Andrew Jackson); Mont Vernon (George Washington); Herbert Hoover's childhood home in Iowa; Gerald Ford's birthplace in Omaha as well as his museum in Grand Rapids; Eisenhower's museum in Kansas; James Garfield's and Rutherford B. Hayes' homes in Ohio; and Harry Truman's house in Independence Missouri.

The warillevers have also gone to a few (JFK, Adams, Adams, and Chester Arthur) without me. I still hold that against them.

On our California trip we stopped by the Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon's library/museums. Here I am in front of both signs:

I love it when the warillevers take my picture.
The Reagan museum is at his ranch in the Simi Valley. Beautiful view.
The Nixon museum is located at his birthplace. Pretty neat little house. We didn't go in, though. Something about the kids being too tired for a stuffy museum. I need my own wheels. Or rotors ! Then I would go to every single presidential site in the whole country! Maybe Ronnie would carry me?

The Road to Los Angeles

Thus far, my travel dispatches have not described a very "warillever" vacation.

You know, the warilevers that set out to see Grand Rapids, but came back from Des Moines with a new car. Or the warillevers that drove accross the country with a Subaru station wagon, two boxes of cereal, and $100.

Don't you worry -- our vacation did not end at the Ritz.

As soon as the conference ended, we picked up a rental car and drove down the coast. Well, not really the coast, since the coast was on fire. And the Pacific Coast Highway was closed. So we started down the coast (to check out the 87 foot whale skeleton), then headed inland and saw this:

...for hours on end. Beautiful!

We took a little break in Soledad to stretch our legs and tour Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad. The name means "Our Lady of Solitude." The statue of Mary in black dress startled Agent 004 and led to an interesting conversation about Jesus' sacrifice.


We also stopped by the Mission San Miguel Arcangel, which is still an active parish. Ironically the 300 year old church was damaged in a recent earthquake and masses are now held in the parish hall.

After dinner in Grover Beach, we spent the night in San Luis Obispo and attended Mass at the Old mission there. We made a quick stop at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, then on to our friends' house outside Los Angeles.

We spent two low-key days catching up with the D's. Their children are now 4, 2 and 9 months, so the Agents had a splendid time riding bikes and splashing in the wading pool with them. We caught a view of the Hollywood sign from the Griffith Park Observatory,then let the children loose at Travel Town.

Our visit came to an end much too quickly, but we were very excited to set off on our desert adventure nonetheless.

And that shall be the subject of another post.

The Eagerly Anticipated Vacation Post

A map of our travels:

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Days 1-3: San Francisco
Days 4-8:Conference
Days 9-10: Drive to Los Angeles with stops
Days 10-11: Visiting friends in LA
Day 12-14: Desert Tour
Day 14-16: Yosemite

Stay tuned for a few more posts about aspects of the trip, including my impression of the desert and tips for travel with children. Grover has promised to help me out with a few more posts as well.

Guest Post: Grover Beach

I am honored to have a real television and internet star as my guest blogger today. In addition to his fantabulous blog (Grover's Travels), he has been known to save kittens from trees and dry the tears from babies' cheeks. Welcome, Super Grover!

Between dazzling rescues and filmings of my hit television show I frequently spend some downtime with the warillevers. They are fun, and they travel to amazing places.

This past month, they took me along to Grover Beach, California.

I enjoyed the sunset:



and really appreciated it when they let me drive the rental car

Since this is a family-friendly blog, I won't tell you about all of my adventures, but I will leave you with a teaser photo....

I Never said Tomorrow

...the precise term was "tomorrowish."

My vacation posts are being delayed by life. As usual.

Here is a sneak preview of what I have been working on:

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The Value of Luxury

After three days San Francisco,we headed on down the coast to a luxurious resort for mr warillever’s conference.

Mr warillever and I have stayed in a few nice hotels in our day, but never one quite so lavish as this one -- freshly cut flowers in each guest room, fluffy bath robes, a marble-tiled bathroom with an extra-deep bathtub, down pillows, twice-daily housekeeping, ocean and golf-course views from our room.

It is very nice. The staff is incredible friendly and helpful, and the beds are so soft… but if I actually had the $500 a night to stay here, would I?

Not on your life.

For one, most of the “luxuries” do not add value to my stay. Who needs three telephones in a single 200 square foot room? Or ten pillows for two beds? Or a maid to turn down the sheets every evening? It also oddly lacks the conveniences of a highway motel like breakfast or free internet service in the rooms.

Secondly, the opulence is wasted on us. My children would prefer to watch trains and cars from our window rather than the waves crashing onto the shore. The lap pool is not quite so much fun as our backyard wading pool. The children do not enjoy being shushed in the halls or cautioned to avoid spills at meals. In fact, if we had come out only for the conference, it probably would have been a waste of a trip for the three of us.*

Most of all, I wonder why anyone would spend this much on lodging. To reward oneself for a job well done? To celebrate an anniversary? To clinch a business deal? Aren’t there treats of more appropriate scale? Aren’t there less wasteful ways to while away a vacation?

That being said, it is awfully nice to be pampered. Let me get back to enjoying this for one more day. Then it is back to warillever-style adventures as we spend the next week exploring California at our own pace.

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*The trip is NOT wasted for mr warillever, whose conference has been amazing. If he allows me to share, I will do so in a separate post.

Even Laundry can be an Adventure

Anyone who has traveled with (or lived with) children knows that they go through clothing quickly. No matter how well you have packed your suitcase, you will soon run out of clean clothing for the smallest members of your entourage. Days filled with messy play, food spills, toilet accidents, and swimming necessitate several changes of clothing for each person.

The resort has a laundry service, but it charges by the item – to clean a shirt costs $8, a pair of underwear $3.50. A dress (if I had one) would cost $14 dollars. I figured that at these rates, my children go through $144.50 in laundry daily*.

Fortunately the hotel offers free car service into town, enabling us to bring a suitcase packed with grimy garments to the local coin-op laundromat. And so the adventure began.

My suburbanite children were in awe of the spinning, whirring, wooshing, foaming machines. The jangling change machines, the magical detergent vending machines and the squeaky-wheeled carts were all part of the magic. And dropping change into the timered dryers? -- The treat of a lifetime. Only for small children is laundry a treasured vacation memory.

Gregarious Agent 002 chatted up the other customers, oblivious that not a single one spoke English natively. He managed to make friends too -- sharing carrot sticks and peanut butter dip made a very shy boy open up to him. Agent 004 hid behind my leg whenever a stranger looked at her, but one elderly woman engaged her in a vicious game of peekaboo that nearly ripped the pants off of my waist.

With all of this fun I lost track of time. As the sole person left on the planet without a cell phone, I had set an appointed time to meet the hotel car, which we missed by a quarter of an hour.

We ambled around town until we found a pay phone outside of the public library. The phone was out of service, but I noticed that the contractors across the street were cleaning up for lunch. Lugging the children and the bag of laundry across the street, I offered them the fifty cents that the pay phone would have cost if I could use a cell phone. A stone mason graciously allowed me to place a call on his phone.

The hotel car arrived moments later, transporting us out of our laundry adventure. Which leaves us with the question -- what shall we do after nap???????

Home Cooking on the Road

I love the occasional restaurant meal. It is so refreshing to sit back and let someone else prepare a meal, to have the liberty to have an actual conversation at the table instead of jumping up every ninety seconds to fill someone's plate or clean a spill.

But eating out for two straight weeks? Not so much fun. Especially not so much fun on a limited budget or while traveling with small children who despise sitting still.

So I prepare as many of our meals as possible, saving our restaurant money for quality meals that we all will enjoy. Seven days into our trip, we have eaten at three restaurants -- for fresh seafood on the wharf, Thai noodles, and pancakes at IHOP.

We have been eating cold cereal for breakfast along with mini-bar refrigerated soy milk and fresh fruit. I have "cooked" lunch and dinner using shelf stable ingredients. These recipes can easily be accompanied by couscous or ramen noodles if you have access to hot water from a coffee maker.

In addition to washable plastic flatware, we also brought along 6 bowls that store nested inside of each other -- two mixing/serving bowls as well as four cereal bowls. Our kitchen tools are minimal -- a thin cutting board, a paring knife, a vegetable peeler, and a large spoon.

The recipes are old family staples as well as new family favorites culled from the disaster recipes at Busy Cooks.

Mango and Bean Salad
can black beans, rinsed and drained
can corn with peppers, drained
can mango slices, cubed (we used one whole fresh mango)
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup oil and vinegar salad dressing

Gazpacho
14 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 red onion, chopped
11 oz. can corn, drained
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
3 cups vegetable cocktail juice
6 oz. can tiny shrimp, drained
1 cup garlic croutons

Combine all ingredients except croutons. If possible, refrigerate before serving. Top with croutons.

Bean Salad
1 can kidney beans
1 can green beans
1 can chick peas
½ cup oil
½ cup vinegar
¼ cup sugar
dill or other spice

Mix sauce, pour over beans.

Tuna
2 cans tuna
1 stalk celery
½ onion
mayo
saltines or bread

Mix first four ingredients; use as sandwich filling or as a dip with crackers.

Carrot Salad

3-4 cups freshly grated carrots
½-1 cup raisins
1 large apple, cored and chopped
¼ to 1/3 cup mayonnaise (or yogurt if refrigeration is available)

Combine all ingredients . If possible, refrigerate before serving.

Smelling the Flowers

We have been in San Francisco for the past three days. Mr warillever will be attending a conference this week and we all came along for the trip.

Yesterday was full of urban exploration. We took the Caltrain into the city, a cable car down to the bay, and then ambled around the piers for a while. The kids rode on a carousel, and then it was back to the hotel on BART and a bus.

Our little gearhead (Agent 002) loved the trains, but it made for an awfully long day. As we tried to figure out the logistics of today's adventures we realized that public transit just wasn't going to cut it. We rented a car from the lot across the street. Agent 002 loved that too -- he was enamored with the PT Cruiser we rented.

We started the day with mass at the local parish, then returned to the hotel for breakfast. After that it was off to the San Francisco Zoo. Agent 004 loved the kangaroos; Agent 002 liked climbing the giant spider web outside of the Insect House. I loved seeing them have so much fun. The giraffes weren't so bad either.

Later in the day we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge (which the kids knew all about from the book Pop's Bridge) and went to Muir Woods. I was reticent to spend the $10 entry fee charge for a short walk in the woods, but my husband reminded me with a smile that this is why we spent a thousand dollars to fly out here in the first place.

And it was so worth it. I have never seen anything so amazing. Plus it was free because it was after 6pm. I'd show you a picture, but my camera battery had expired by then. I don't think that pictures would do it justice anyway.

So I will leave you with a picture of my Baby Girl smelling the flowers in the hotel parking lot.

What does she think, that she's on vacation?

Future Blogger

Agent 002 has started his own (offline) journal. While he learns basic skills, we are using the same book for creative writing and copywork -- he writes as he "hears" the words, then I show him how it would be written "in a book." He ends by copying what I wrote with all of the proper spelling, letter case and punctuation.

Thus far he loves it. He has been showing it to everyone. I hope that he will learn to enjoy writing and to see its power as a communication tool.

In this entry he is talking about the MonsterJam race we watched on Saturday.

The race was more fun than I could have ever anticipated, and he now has a favorite monster truck -- GRAVE DIGGER.

Grave Digger won the very scripted competition with flair that included car-stomping, wheelie popping excitement.

I have submitted this post as a "Works for Me Wednesday," because it really is a good way to get a new writer to practice and hone his skills.

The warillevers do Washington (2008 ed.)

We just returned from our annual pilgrimage to our nation's capital for the March for Life. We go every January, arriving a day or so early to see the sights.


Washington is wonderful in the winter -- the crowds are smaller, the weather is quite pleasant, and the pandas are more active. Plus Uncle 7 has a bit more spare time to be our tour guide. This year's tourist highlights were the National Zoo, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the National Building Museum, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

For anyone with toddlers or budding engineers, the Building Museum is a must-see. Here is a 7-foot tall arch that we built:

Grand Adventures

Not that this is anything new, but you may have noticed that I am behind on my blog posting. I have a good excuse this time, I swear. We have been out of the country on a grand adventure -- five days in the Canadian backwoods.

Okay, not really the backwoods, but we did spend five days playing outdoors in Canada. Grandma's Christmas present to the entire clan was a 5-day stay at a ski resort. Our home for the week was a luxurious log cabin ten-minutes from a large alpine ski resort and within a national park (or is that parc national?).

It was amazing, astonishing, extraordinary, incredible and lots of other initial-vowel adjectives. Did I mention that it was really nice?

The big kids (which includes Agent 002) spent three full days skiing on the mountain, while the little folks (including Agent 004) tried out the bunny hill and explored the village.

Aunt K, Uncle Ichabod and I got a chance to head out on cross-country skis for an afternoon while the dads took the kids snow-tubing.

A marvelous time.

Now to explain the dearth of blogging. Have you ever packed for an outdoor cold-weather vacation? On the day after Christmas? While trying to keep the rear window unobstructed for the six-hour drive?

Impossible, I tell you. Well, not if you have mr warillever around. He pulled out the van's back bench and built a ski rack along the floor. Then we piled our baggage on top of that. It was an act of sure genius. We managed to fit eight pairs of skis (we each have a pair for cross-country and downhill), as well as snowsuits, mittens, hats, clothing, and Christmas gifts.

And then there is all the work after a trip. Laundry (loads and loads of laundry), finding places for all of the new toys that generous aunts and uncles gifted, and dealing with young children on a post holiday, post-vacation let-down.

But the laundry is almost done, the toys are mostly away, and the children are falling back into a normal routine. And it really was a grand adventure.

The warillevers do Washington

Or trip to Washington was not all business. We spent some time visiting with Mr warillever's brothers Uncle Ichabod and Uncle 7, ate great food, and patronized two of the Smithsonian institutions.

My favorite was the Lebanese food on Saturday, but I think the agents had the most fun at the National Zoo.

March for Life 2007

March for Life 2007
Originally uploaded by warillever.

Mr warillever, the agents, and I joined up with friends from college and their children for the March.

Nothing went according to plan, but that itself was a blessing. By the time we arrived at the Verizon Arena (an hour before mass), the building was over capacity, and we could not attend the Youth Mass. We were instead directed to a local parish, which was already at standing-room-only itself. In all, 3 churches, a lecture hall and a professional sports arena were filled with worshipers. I was brought to tears by the mass of humanity gathered in prayer.

The weather was miserable -- it was colder and snowier in DC than it was in New Hampshire -- but if anything the adverse conditions intensified the experience. Thousands of people coming together to stand up for justice is always an incredible thing, but to see people who traveled hundreds or thousands of miles stand in the cold for two hours in order to find a space in line to trudge a mile in the slush was inspiring.

This is our third trip time marching, and I think that we will continue to do so, even with small children. The kids were real troopers and really seemed to enjoy the experience. They do not comprehend abortion (nor should they at this age), but it was nonetheless educational. Agent 002 was reading letters off of the signs around us, and pointing out each picture of Jesus he saw. He understands that we love EVERY SINGLE human being, no matter how small or how weak. I hope that all of the children will understand how important it is that we stand up for things that we believe in.

Residential Skyline

Residential Skyline
Originally uploaded by Reprehriestless.

...and a different view of Moscow.

Beautiful Moscow

Kremlin
Originally uploaded by Reprehriestless.

Kitty

Kitty
Originally uploaded by Reprehriestless.

Even the cats are tired in Moscow.

There seems to be a national sleep-crisis, where the only place people sleep is on park benches or in the metro.

Oh Beautiful Night

Moscow
Originally uploaded by Reprehriestless.

It does actually get dark in Moscow in the summer. Very late at night, that is. When I first got here, it was only dark from midnight to 4am. It is now 10:30 to 5 or so.

Bird Stalker

Russian Pigeon
Originally uploaded by Reprehriestless.

I have been stalking birds here too. I will have lots of pictures like this o share when I return.