flea circus and cat bites = ER visit :(

After a fantastic week in Philadelphia with mother-in-law, and after driving 534 miles in 11 hours, we came home to a house infested with fleas and mold growing up the finished basement walls!! Apparently a huge storm brought in about 3 inches of rain under an hour. The dehumidifier didn't work properly, so the result was a mess of mold. Lucky that the circus planned a nerf gun fight which required the moving of furniture to creat a "field" downstairs! Otherwise the walls were covered by sofas! I'm seriously allergic to mold but managed to get it cloroxed quickly and have had fans running to dry it all out.

We actually didn't see the fleas until the next day -- thankfully I guess, as we never would have slept that night! My circus ring leader, son #1, stepped right in to help! All the boys all pitched in to super-clean the house! I was lucky to convince the pest control folks to work us in to their schedule that day. Took the dog to the groomer and daycare, washed what seemed like 50 loads of laundry.
Gave the cat a flea bath-- boy that was fun-- the whole circus participated until a flea jumped on our youngest and he freaked out and then threw up! That sent our middle, who was capturing the whole event on film, running for cover!

The vet closed early but left meds for me to give the cats--3 pills each "just hold their mouths open and pop 'em in". Yeah right. With #1 holding the cat, Paul, wrapped in a towel, I managed to get the flea killing pill in him. With Fleas jumping everywhere, cat wriggling around, pill #2 keeps coming out -- on our third try, the cat manages to take a chunk of my thumb in his mouth and spits out the pill!!! Foaming and bloody cat mouth and cursing, screaming mama sends the son running! 911 mommy? Gathered my composure finally, left the cats in the flea ridden bathroom and then had the bright idea to crush the pills into some wet catfood! How could I be so stupid?!!!

Well, stupid continues as I sit in the ER 24 hours post cat bite with a now swollen thumb and hand, waiting for meds to kill the infection And an ortho consult to check the possibility of tendon damage! I can say the fleas appear to be gone, although I won't hold my breath yet!

that hill was bigger and freedom costs more than I thought!

I vaguely remember visiting colonial Williamsburg as a kid, but am sure swarms of redcoats and ladies in period costumes were everywhere.

I returned to Williamsburg last week and only saw about 25 costumed people on the streets.

I remember visiting Disneyland at age 11 and thinking the castle was the biggest ever.

Took the kids to Disney a couple years ago, and I'd swear that castle shrank!

#2 had the same kind of moment the other day: Went back to the house where he was born and lived for 4 years in Maryland and he could swear that hill in our yard was ENORMOUS! Not so much anymore. And the hill hasn't changed.

the old house...

If you've been following the blog or our travels, we've spent several days in Williamsburg learning trades and ways of life that are so amazingly foreign to us now, but yet still the same in many respects. The boys enjoyed an apprentice program with a gunsmith, cooper and tailor. They wanted to totally immerse themselves in the colonial culture: complete with costumes and of course, guns and hats. Unfortunately, it was really hot there, so it was hard to feel like walking in and out of every trade shop --we left much to be discovered.

Learning from the gunsmith...

#3 tries his hand at carving wood to make barrels with the cooper

We also participated in a re-enactment of Revolutionary War --boys thought we were going to have some sort of battle --they came dressed and armed! I came ready to take pictures, but turns out I had to participate with the boys, no cameras allowed and instead of battles right away, we were there to learn how to be soldiers.

#3 was scared silly when the Sargeant started to yell at us to march, stand, answer correctly, and he almost bailed on the program, but I held onto his hand we stayed in the program. I wonder how many colonial boys wished their mom could've held their hands in those lines. The program demonstrated proper gun use and the war techniques of that time.

In the end we discovered the ultimate irony in all military that still rings true today. Don't know why I never thought about this before: Our military members (and ultimately their families) sign up to protect and defend the values that our forefathers set before us: freedom being the first and foremost of those ideals. The amazing irony is that when you join the military, the first thing you give up is your freedom. Freedom to choose when you work, where you'll live, when and where you'll get sent to war, and the list goes on and on....

Demonstration of war techniques at Williamsburg...sure glad I wasn't there for real!

Re-purposed Santana

I'm all for recycling and totally buy into the whole idea that products we purchase are way too over-packaged, over-bagged, etc. As a matter of fact, I really hate it when the grocery boy tries to put all my veggies in a plastic bag to place in my toter! However, I'm just beginning a journey into repurposing items that seem to have no use to me in certain settings. My good friend, Jen, is a master of this and I admire her greatly for that perspective!

So, yesterday, I took my first jog in weeks (months, actually) and discovered my Santana playlist. It has been my mood music for grillin' and drinkin' margaritas with my friends/family, and now was the perfect tempo and mood for a run from the Franklin Institute all the way up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum (you know them --from the Rocky movies) and back!

As a matter of fact, I think I repurposed my legs --they hadn't found that running mode for awhile! I don't know, Jen --is that possible?!

feels like forever and that'll be $200 please!

It's been a long couple of days since Daddy left on the ship --that's what the circus determined last night! I agree...feels like forever and it's only been 3 days! Took the circus to Busch gardens to participate in the heroes program --1 day free admission for active duty folks and their family members. Nothing on the website to tell you what to expect, but with deployment papers in hand, thought I was well armed. (I really couldn't see paying full admission for 4 of us as none of the circus wanted to ride roller coasters, but thought it might be fun to check out.)

So, deployment hits me square in the face when the lady asks for military id cards for the 10 and 12 yr olds accompanying me! In Ohio and even California, we've known we could get the id cards for the boys, but never saw a need for them --this was the first time I was ever asked! I assured her the circus was definitely mine! Didn't work --that'll be $200 please. So I say to the boys, sorry, we can't afford to do that (and not ride the rides) and I start in crying because she said if the active duty person was there it would've been easy. I show her the deployment papers and she starts in crying too as she sees the boys' disappointment. Really, honestly didn't plan to cry, but daw gon it --it all hit me at once. Next thing I know, we've got VIP status and the folks at Busch Gardens are terribly sorry for any inconvenience they've put us through.

The cost of an untidy chamber and for want of a quiet tongue --I think they got these boys mixed up!!!!

#1 convinces brothers that the hammer ride will be easy --and he was right!!! WOO-HOO! We rode this one 3 times in a row!

We ended up having a great day, although the AC was out in most of their buildings and it was excruciatingly hot! After the Soaring over Europe type ride, they loved meeting the zookeeper best, learned about sloth butt moths, ate brats in Germany, loved the da Vinci rides and totally tore up ELMO's world for the rides they could handle there!!!!!

'espicable me and the rat maze

Yesterday, we took the circus to the ship and totally felt like rats in a maze! You'd think with all the access to paint they have, the navy would at least paint the decks different colors! Besides making it easier to get around, it would be a little more "homey"! Ohh, and the showers...remember how it was in college? These are similar except no windows and a dingy lightbulb! Definitely DON'T drop the soap! Hopefully they use clorox on the floors! We are told that if you lie on a bed before you put on sheets, you'll get chicken pox or scurvy or something! All I know is that Mike is WAY braver than the rest of us!!!!

It was pretty awesome and until you've been on a ship, and I'm not talking Disney, you have no idea how truly huge they are. The USS Iwo Jima is a small carrier for LCU boats and helicopters. The boys got to see the pilot house and only once did someone try to turn the wheel! Good thing the captain keeps the keys in his pocket!!! They did have fun playing with the CO's battle helmet! My apologies to the captain :)

Took the boys to see "despicable me" so mommy could have a nap at the theatre! Sometimes it's worth the $$ to have a nice dark nap midday! It was a great movie according to the boys!

are we there yet?

I must have heard that phrase 17 thousand times today along with "this is taking forever" and "why can't we just stop here?!" Funny how the boys can read my mind! We drove 454 miles down i64 from Huntington West Virginia to Norfolk, Virginia. Oh, and #3 threw up 2 hours into our trip and it took us 11 hours to get here! Wish I could say we saw something cool along the way but it was raining in the mountains and after that the road was line a tunnel thru the trees. The best part of our day was finding daddy at the hotel :)

If you need a song for your next long trip, check out http://www.troutmusic.com

our adventure begins

The circus of three boys has always been an adventure. The whole process started in 1998 with boy #1 in Texas, closely followed in 2000 with boy #2 in Maryland and boy #3 in 2005 in California. Since then it's been a circus with me, the mom, spinning lots of plates!

We are embarking on a road trip this summer from Ohio to Virginia to wave goodbye to Daddy as his ship sails away for the next 5 months and he becomes one with the US Navy. (He bleeds Air Force blood, though.)

So, today we are in Huntington, West Virginia visiting friends, checking out weapons (yes they were the penultimate of safe handlers) and enjoying their iPad--trying desperately to resist the urge to buy one for the rest of our trip!!! Oh, and viewing Saturn thru the telescope!