Mexican kindness

This is a sign in the carpark near the door to a Mexican supermarket. A space reserved for pregnant women. How nice.

Mexico is hot.

Is there a word for that moment when you are so bothered by an itch or being too hot, or uncomfortable that you feel like the appropriate answer to any question asked of you is, 'FUCK OFF'.  As if an imaginary audience has appeared and you suddenly find yourself on a quiz show with no ability to even understand the question let alone guess a response. Inevitably at moments like this I look down and there is my 3 year old, undoubtably asking me why that mans t-shirt is black? Oblivious to the heat, the fact I am balancing an umbrella in one had and an asleep babies head in the other. Sweat gluing us together where we are forced together by the baby carrier, tired from the same baby manipulating the whole world by a series of small events to feel that it's reasonable to offer only two options to me at 6am every morning, feed me or have me cry so loud I wake everyone else up for the day then refusing to go back to sleep. The three year old is unaware of how much further it is to walk, and how irrelevant it is that there are taxis because babies wake up in taxis and will then not go back to sleep, and really need some down time over nap time.

Why is heat so unbearable? We have arrived in Mexico, and although I through Florida had set us up for being used to the heat, I was wrong. This morning when I got up the thermometer in the bathroom said it was 29 at 7am. We don't seem to be adapting either, today is day 3 and I was still dripping wet by the time I unlocked the gate one flight down from our apartment, already ready to scream at anyone wanting my concentration. It's a possibility, perhaps one of hue he liberating things about travelling, we could always move on early.

I think I am going through my first dip in this travelling episode. The time when I ask myself what is the point of travelling? I get fed up of endlessly spending money without earning any, I miss contributing meaningfully to anything, and I miss the ease of home (ie knowing where to buy food, what items are in the supermarket, and being able to prepare a meal without spending at least half the time looking for implements or trying to work out how to turn on the cooker). But what a thing to wine about. I even honestly feel like I miss the great british weather! Oh how I will lament this just a few months from now.

Also because it is so hot the kids are not having a great time. Although they are not complaining about it too much, it's hard to play outside when there is so little shade and all the floors are burning hot. One thing we have learnt is how hard work it is to take a pre walking baby away to unknown places. She continually has dusty knees and shins and has eaten no end of 'things' off the floors because we simply cannot keep her contained in her pushchair all day.

I'm sorry I am moaning, this is a trip of a life time. It's easy to lose focus on what I am doing right now as I am not entirely sure what I am doing, but as the famous Allen Saunders says (or has at least copyrighted),

'Life is what happens while we are making plans'.

I need to spend more time focusing on the little things, the first rough and tumble fight that Cookie and Starbucks had yesterday, the kisses that Starbucks gave me son my hand as we walked to dinner this evening, the laughter in Xss's eyes when he eventually found his pjs he had been looking for, on me. It'll be over too soon and we will all be split up again going to work and child care. So tomorrow I am making Jo plans but to try and enjoy them. If only it weren't so damn hot.

Moving on to Mexico.

Kids are good at travelling. They just take each minute and hour for what it is. I could learn from that. Here they are enjoying looking for our bags to come off the plane. I was just thinking about the rest of the journey ahead.

T-Rex in Florida

There's been a gap in blogging as we were staying in florida with my in laws and it felt rude to write in the evening rather than chat to them. I realised the other day that I don't blog in front of my children as I feel like that's rude/anti social but I do sometimes read a book when I get a chance, so what's that saying. I'm going to try to blog when they are awake sometime as it's good for them to witness me perusing something I enjoy.  That being said, if Starbucks or Xss ignored me I'd much prefer It were a good book and not a horrible, glancing media product.

The culinary highlight, well scenic highlight, was a meal at the t - Rex restaurant full of moving roaring dinosaurs. There was also a 45 minute wait for a table which we filled with playing in their sandpit which had bones buried in it! Archeology for beginners :)

Shirt dress

Please be a punk. Please be a punk.

With limited resources comes great creativity. Here is Starbucks wearing my tshirt as a dress. She even got some compliments from people who didn't know. New line of work perhaps?

Disneyland!

Parade joy!

I didn't think my kids would like disneyland; they are too young, it's too hot, too many crowds, long queues and the food would be crap. Turns out that that's why I don't like disneyland, both girls loved it. Absolutely. And there are few things in life that warm your heart quicker than seeing your child truly happy. Starbucks loved the rides (how are those little cars that pulsate to a cheesy tune outside the supermarket ever going to be fun again?) and seeing her favourite disney characters in the parade. She has only watched Frozen, Tangled and Elf (the first and last on an alternating daily basis) but luckily she spotted rapunzel and Anna & Elsa.

Cookie watches no films, for Cookie cannot sit still even through a 10 minute dinner (was it all those mocha cookie crumble frapacinno's I had whilst pregnant with her?). I was surprised that she was allowed on so many rides providing she sit on a lap (do some babies just sit on laps at 10 months and not spend their entire existence trying to wriggle down to the floor?!) What she really loved was the little mermaid ride, loads of bright colours and black lights accompanied by cheerful music. She was

delighted and jumped up and down the entire time.

I would definitely go again. It would be nice to go with older children who could recognise and enjoy the numerous small details put into the park (a toilet block decorated to look like the village in Tangled, eating establishments that not only are in theme with the films but serve the appropriate food types too (bought from people dressed up like the corresponding townsfolk). Trees carved in to shapes of characters.

The crowds in the evening. No space left to walk!


Anna waved at Starbucks! (This is my life. I am delighted that someone dressed up like a cartoon character waved at my child).

Ice ice baby

I had another one so they could be friends. My dreams are coming true. Usually only for ten minutes a day, but that's ten minutes less that I have to play with them (although secretly I enjoy most games we play), and allows me time to get my camera.

Beware of the adults in church!

Were in Orlando, ready for THE Disneyland experience later in the week. (Will it be quieter on a weekday?) today we went to church.

Xss and I have been discussing the way that Americans socialise differently to us: chattier to strangers, really put themselves out for their friends/others,

We have mooted the possibility that this is due to such early socialisation in daycare since their parents have such short maternity/paternity leave. This seemed even more prevelant today when we took Starbucks along to Sunday school. She was in the lowest 'class' of 0-4 year olds, and they really tried to get us to leave her there alone. Starbucks, in my opinion, is not shy or unconfident. She will often speak, unprovoked, to adults as if they were her peers, or sometimes her minions. but I also believe that she is appropriately cautious of unknown adults if she is not with me. I know some kids who would thrive in a new environment like this whilst left alone, she is not one of them. However, the attitude of the workers there was nothing short of curt and downright stubborn is trying to deter me or Xss from staying with her. (We won).

As I sat in the service trying to work this all out I began to wonder if our behaviour, for the Americans, was very odd. If  mothers are forced to return to work so quickly then their children are likely being left with strangers from a few weeks old. For me to be concerned about ,my 3 year old being with strangers perhaps seemed like I was ridiculously babying her. But I've only left her with a couple of friends and family, and at one nursery after I'd spent a week there with her too. So it's possible that a section of Americans are used to trusting adults they don't know from a young age, and then seeing everyone as a potential friend, rather than A-threat-until-proved-otherwise as we british do. I'm not sure what is healthier, or how Americans with stay at home moms fit in, perhaps it's nothing to do with nursery at all?

Any Americans/others want to comment? Do you think you are friendlier? If so why? (You won't get any email spam or anything for commenting on blogger)

The everglades date stamp

Xss has planned to take Starbucks to the Everglades national park to look for alligators for a long time. We've discussed it with her a lot. Although you know kids always seem to love and remember the bits of the trip you did not plan, I never thought that the highlight of seeing real 'gators in the wild would be using the gift shop ladies date stamp. Here she is showing her work off proudly. 

People charmer cookie

This baby has gotten SO much attention since she left home it's unbelievable. She can't enter a shop, a plane, a supermarket without almost every single person who passes her trying to get her attention and fawning over her. Here she is charming the check in lady at the airport whilst trying out the luggage scale. Sometimes it's tough on Starbucks because nobody seems to notice her. However, even though Starbucks doesn't get many comments made about her at all she did get a saucer of glacé cherries from the bar man the other day, and a packet of chex mix from the air hostess, so she's obviously saying the right things to the right people.

This is why we came travelling

Aruba, we won't be back.

 

Last few photos of Aruba. It was a nice little island to visit, but I wouldn't go back. The 'rich culture' of the Caribbean was not obvious (is this the most insulting thing to say about a country? Am I turning into a colonialist?) The beaches were great but there really is nothing to do on a cloudy day. Well actually now we have kids clouds are perfect for beach days. The map showed a couple of old one room chapels but nothing to hold anyone's attention for long. I felt like they needed to take some tips from America. Here are some of my favourite American attractions:

- big Sue the largest Holstein cow (a 34 ft model cow in a field in North dakota)

- the first place the British stepped foot on the land (literally the rock their feet touched. Even if this is not dubiously found until 60 years after the event)

- Wall Drug Store. A chemists in a place called wall. It was advertised for over 100 miles on the road. To be fair it did have a model dinosaur in the parking lot

- the corn palace. A building which has a small amount of corn pinned up on it, not a palace made out of corn which people might wrongly assume.

- a house where a criminal grew up (There are numerous but I've seen Jesse James' house first hand)

- crazy horse statue. Again not quite what you think. Pay your entrance fee and turn the kink in the road only to see that it's not finished. In Fact It still looks very much like a cliff face and not at all like a Nobel Indian pointing to the land where his kin lie dead.

Ready for a seafood dinner :)

Ice cream for breakfast. We've really settled into this travelling thing!

Chilling in Aruba

We are really enjoying Aruba.  Firstly the weather and beaches are uncertain, but also because it is a little bit more like our old (pre children) style  travelling. Challenges are being overcome and it's that familiar pride of having arrived in a new town with no map (there is a scarcity of maps and guides to Aruba? ), no experience of how to get around, where to eat, or more importantly where to go to entertain the children. I think perhaps this is a large part of what travelling is to me; rising to the challenge of living in an unknown place.

Aruba is a really hard place to try to understand. It is impossible to identify a local by skin colour, first language or anything else so it's tough to even work out who you should be blending in with. Since it is a Dutch territory the Dutch come and go as do the Aruban's. There is a large American influence here, several chains like dunkin donuts, Wendy's and burger king. I don't care for the American tourists here, who much like the British and Australian tourists elsewhere, seem to want the weather but nothing else of the country. I didn't manage to get a photo today but an American zoomed past us today on a noisy jet ski. It sent a torent of waves and noise over us and the locals all enjoin the beach but he didn't notice as he was having fun. This seems the opitamy of irresponsible travel, trashing another's culture for your own quick kicks. But isn't this what I myself as doing too? Speaking only English, enjoying my starbucks and spending my American dollars enjoying a picturesque beach? Can travelling ever not be harmful to the host culture?

This is how Cookie naps for now.

What do 3 years olds think when having out to a sea they can't quite understand?

Safety first.

Who needs toys?

One of my big concerns when packing was what toys to take for the girls. Although Starbucks shows little interest in any toys, it seems bizarre to think of her not playing with any for the 10 weeks we are travelling. As for Cookie I felt bad about leaving her walker behind at such a crucial stage when she is so keen to walk. Well, Starbucks vigilantly picks up her toys and packs em in her bag when we move on to each new location, but the only reason they are out the bag is because Cookie has a love of putting things in and out of places at the moment (if anything is lost just look in the bottom of the pushchair and there it is! Bingo!) however, I needed not have worried about the walker, Cookie has found numerous tables and chairs to push around instead.

We've only had one unfortunate incident where this when wrong, while staying in the hostel in Boston she pushed over the coffee table I was using for our breakfast things. It was only hrs and I, and like all good mothers I was busy on my phone what's app'ing my fronds when she pushed it over smashing the plates and sending two cups of water, a mug of tea and my two beloved waffles in maple syrup over the floor. The whole, crowded, room looked. I'm not sure what cool people do in these situations but I just shouted 'sorry' as loud as I could.

Sent from Samsung Mobile

Bostons children's museum is Awesome.

I've loved Boston. I'm writing this from our double bed underneath Starbucks bunk in the dark as she just wouldn't go to sleep tonight despite the threats of no sweets tomorrow. Cookie on the other hand fell asleep as normal she's not distracted by sleeping in our room, although she does now wake up every night, just once, at 4 am and then falls back to sleep quickly with a cuddle (how do I break this pattern?!?)

Boston is clean, it's based around a large park called Boston common, with independent coffee shops, cafés etc surrounding it. Short walks in any direction will bring you to old brownstone houses, museums or a shopping district. Today we went to the boston a Childrens Museum which we LOVED. We could have spent an hour in each of the rooms they have there playing, but they had too many. We also saw two short plays (20 mins each) and Starbucks got on stage and did some dancing.



Cookies favourite area was one with loads of golf balls you roll down slides etc although she just liked sitting holding the balls; and did that cute baby thing of struggling to pick up three things with two hands, constantly dropping one as she gained another.


Hand cycling to generate electricity .

Starbucks favourite, chairs that make music when you sit on them. She can't work out how they work though.

Magical animated butterfly's that land on your shadow

One of three water ways for boats.

Making pictures with tuning forks. Fun, but also something we would probably do at Tower tots on a Monday. (tower tots rocks)

Only criticism of Boston? No Dairy Queen. I've also already googled Aruba, no Dairy Queen there either. Oh I do love soft chocolate ice cream with pecans and brownie bits in. Oh yeah Georgia Mud Fudge, I'll be back!

Lazy Boston Sunday

I'm always worried about going to a church I found through googling. The first time I did this I went to a very welcoming and kind baptist church in Minnesota. In contrast to my overly large death metal t-shirt and more holes than demin jeans, their young ladies were all wearing gentle ankle length skirts and modest head coverings. Although we worshipped the same God that morning, it was never going to be more than a second-cousins hello.

This morning we went to Holy Trinity church in Boston and it was home away from home. (Although all the women in this church were also better dressed than me, it wasn't so much due to Old Testament interpretation than scruffy being my style. (I generally dont dress up for church as God is 

everywhere and isn't fooled by my attempts at smartness when I attend the church building. It's hard to impress or fool someone who created you.) (also have you seen me try to look smart? I usually look like a 13 year old girl playing dress up, with trainers, always trainers).

Any who, the sermon was awesome today. Simple truths are just so effective at encouraging learning and change. The preacher focused on why Jesus ends many of his miraculous healings by telling the 

individual involved to I not tell anyone. Surely someone starting a new world religion would need the word spread as far as possible. But the preacher argued that Jesus was not starting a new powerful religion through thunder and lightning antics, but in a way that attempts to encourage us to engage in meaningful relationships with each other. Indeed isn't that how we learn most? Through those we are in relationship with. 

It refines a focus on life which I've been reviewing a lot lately: this could be it! Wouldn't it be great to 

say that you hadn't done something because you were too busy talking or hanging out with a friend? 

In an age of everything being punctuated by the regular checking of phones (not even just answering them when they seek out our attention), it is so important to me to spend the time I am with people, actually with them. But I do get too caught up on doing the housework and putting things in order, perhaps a messy house is not a bad symptom of being engaged in life with other people.

I guess for me I spend so much time with my girls and Xss that I need to consider them as people to be I fellowship with, not people to gain space from by hiding in the toilet with theiPad. 

• Make a rule, and pray to God to help you to keep it: Never, if possible, to lie down at night without being able to say. "I have made one human being, at least, a little wiser, a little happier, or a little better this day." - Charles Kingsley

 Starbucks and I spent a long time today playing in the frog pond park in Boston Common. For some reason she enjoys either putting the water out of the pool via a cup, or walking around on the side not actually going in. I feel that this is like carrying around a book but never opening it. I'm just jealous because I want to run in screaming and lay flat on my back in the middle. But I only had spare clothes for the children :(

11 things that 3 year olds do that you compassionately tell them off for because really you want to do it too:

1) shout yuck when they don't want to eat something and put both hands inside their mouths to dig at their tongues
2) continually say 'I'm tired I need to be carried'
3) look you in the eye and drop whatever they don't want to eat on the floor
4) state the truth. Yes that man is very fat.
5) hit piano keys all at once as loudly as possible pretending you are a concert pianist.
6) after spilling half a cup of milk on your parents mattress at bedtime focus on the fact that you NEEDED all that milk and cry about not being got more milk whilst the spill is dealt with
7) when people ask you nicely to help them do something just calmly say no.
8) bite people when they annoy you. (Just imagine your boss asks you to redo that report you just wrote, no need to reply, just lean in and bite him). Satisfying.
9) pick the best parts of dinner off someone else's plate and shove them in your mouth before anyone can stop you.
10) push the baby over, just to see how she will fall.
11) wine 'I'm tired' continually to see who will carry you, push you in a pushchair or source any other transport method to facilitate your laziness. Imagine stepping out your door and expecting anyone walking by to deliver you to where you need to go with no effort on your behalf. If it works start demanding snacks that are not brown.

Happy 4th July!

The stores had loads of red-white-blue clothes so I dressed them up, however not many other people dressed up and the day was sadly normal. The only part of the celebration seems to be fireworks at 22:30 which is too late for the girls :(

I thought quite a lot about whether I should keep them up/ take them out in carriers for the night, but what makes me happy in life is having happy well rested children. Good food and good sleep make for a happy me and them. We will catch the fireworks at bonfire night later in the year.

Plus apparently here in Boston people begin queuing at 6am for a good spot to see the fireworks. Erm, no.

Sisterly licking

Crazy golf

This week we are camping, in a cabin, at a campsite which has crazy golf, a swimming pool, a bouncy castle, and several climbing frames. It is heaven for Starbucks who has adopted a love for crazy golf. Since Cookie is happy to just sit on the course it's been nice to actually do a fun activity together as a family.  Although there appeared to be more obstacles on our course than others.

Cape cod

Starbucks happily skipping along the beach at Dennis, Cape Cod, ten minutes before she and Cookie both began crying hysterically. Being lost as to what of the many issues it could be (too much sun, hungry, lack of shade, boredom, scary sea snails, the brown seaweed ('I don't like brown things')) we all huddled under our umbrella and ate our pot of fruit salad. As we trekked back across the beach to our car they both fell asleep in carriers on our backs! Oh. 

We are really struggling sometimes with the car culture here in America as we want to arrive at a destination with parking, some sort of food, and toilets. It appears that often you have to drive to each one of these, via the coffee shop on the way. It makes for a drawn out longer day with less time for the activity we wanted to do. Or less food.



Cookies first look at the sea. She was mesmerised. Based on this i am going to encourage her to like mermaids. Perhaps one day we will make synthetic mermaid tails together in metallic greens and blues and purples. Living through my kids? Never.