Monday morning, we loaded the girls in the car and drove to the Children's Museum of Richmond (CMoR). Maybe if we become better traveled, I can write a definitive comparison of the nation's children's museums. I bet they all feature plastic fruit of some kind. The girls had a blast, oblivious to the $7 per person price tag for their amusement, and each of them focused on particular areas of interest. Juliette wanted to paint and play in the theatre - dress-up costumes, a stage, and hand puppets - while Ilsa wanted to spend the entire day with the water exhibit. She kept putting farm animals in bowls in order to bathe them. I think this is something we should consider for the future when we take homeschool trips: they are two completely different entities with vastly different approaches to learning and interests. Keven and I split them up, which worked well. We dined at the exotic nearby McDonald's.
What I liked about our McDonald's lunch was that it highlighted a unique revelation for me. I have never been to the South before. All of my adult life has been lived in northern cities which, by most accounts, are terribly segregated. Race = class in the North. If I wound up in a primarily black area of Cincinnati, that area was most likely economically depressed. The equation is fairly uniform in Columbus, Cincinnati, Chicago, Indianapolis: black = poorer. However, in Richmond, the populace was thoroughly mixed. The McDonald's was teeming with happy, hot, exhausted families of black, white, and mixed extractions. Bi-racial couples, families, and children were also much more common in Richmond than in Northern cities. I am vastly generalizing, perhaps, but the integration just seemed so much more complete in Richmond, making me wonder about the stereotypes of Southern racism that just did not fit what I witnessed.
After lunch and more time at the museum (free re-entry for the entire day, luckily, which made the $28 fee more bearable), we drove by Keven's workplace at Philip Morris's HQ - a giant goliath of gates and security clearances! No entry, however, because of the holiday weekend. We went to Barnes & Noble and Target in search of inexpensive in-flight entertainment for the kids. Keven took Juliette and Ilsa swimming that evening while I procured dinner: simple fare from Kroger of chips, fried chicken, and BBQ leftovers. We wound up cuddled in one bed in the girls' room to watch Madagascar on HBO. The kids and I have seen it, but Keven had not. We laughed and snuggled, and when King Julian mentioned cookies, I broke out the Oreos. That was probably the most quietly normal family moment of the whole week: no places to be, no dinner out, no one else to visit. Just the four of us watching a film, enjoying the fact we were together for one more night.
Tuesday was our last day in Richmond. We woke relatively early to begin the massive packing process, and I had to fend off maids with my rudimentary Spanish so that we could finish the process in peace. Keven's English mumbling just was not getting the point across! We drove to the house where Keven rents his room so he could set up his DVR for the Italy v. Germany semi and drop off the last of the fried chicken. We went to eat at a casual dining restaurant called Spinnaker's in the nearby mall, a place Keven had noticed served free food to kids Mon-Thur. Useful for those parents who do not want to pay for the privilege of watching their kids barf up lunch. I ate tons, knowing it would be my last proper food until we arrived home in Madison.
After lunch, we ventured to the mall's indoor play structure to let the girls run off their sillies for a while. And then it was off to the airport. No fun. The goodbyes were fairly easy, however, as we only have 30-ish days left to go before Keven's internship is complete. I only lamented the solo travel. It is not easy.
However, the girls made our trip home as smooth as possible. They were absolute angels for the entire journey. Not one bit of fuss. Not one crying fit. Everyone listened. Mama was happy. The Richmond flight was fine except that turbulence made trips to the bathroom either impossible or difficult. I had the girls in pull-ups for the flying portion, just in case of emergencies, but neither would use that luxury. Both charmed the stewardesses something fierce, eliciting free graham cracker cookies from two different flight attendants. I saved some for the rest of the trip. Upon disembarking, we found that some other child had not fared so well on her trip and had thrown up all over the exit tunnel floor. Poor thing! But Ilsa, mercifully, was done with her digestive escapades.
O'Hare was calm and delay-free. We actually arrived a little early from Richmond so we had just over two hours to kill. We took the long way around the terminal, riding on escalators and electric sidewalks - both of which amused the crap out of the girls. They loved practicing the ability to get on and off by themselves. For them, it was a mini carnival in the middle of O'Hare.
Ilsa made friends with a nice older woman who greatly resembled my mother-in-law, Linda. She just started talking to this woman as if they had known each other for years. I had bought them this set of four Finding Nemo books in a little carrying case, and Ilsa just kept talking to this nice woman about the books, about the characters, asking questions. But really, she was just interested in the mechanics of getting the books out of the case and putting them back in correctly. Meanwhile, Juliette and I worked on a dinosaur sticker book. Good times.
The flight to Madison is only 28 minutes in the air, which is hardly enough time to get comfortable. Still, Juliette had time enough to make friends with this nice college girl named Olha. I do not know where she was from, but her English was excellent. They sat on one side of the aisle while I sat with Ilsa on the other. Juliette talked about Adora, about her sheep (Bingo and Louly), and about Virginia, and she remembered her manners well enough to offer the young woman some of her potato chips - without me asking her to!
Then we were home. Well, at least we were back in the right city. We collected our bags with the advantage of a smart cart, walked to the taxi rank, and voila! Journey end. The girls quickly went to bed, and I called the appropriate loved ones to let them know we had returned safely. I had over 65 e-mails and an hour's worth of blogging to check out, all of which helped me calm down after the afternoon's exertions. Keven was back there in Richmond, eating Ilsa's leftover lunchtime mac-n-cheese and getting ready for work. I was studiously avoiding the big pile of unpacking that awaited me.
Today was quiet. Bills, laundry, unpacking, dishes, vacuuming, grocery shopping, phone calls, a library run, baths, hair washing, and these massive blog recaps. Jenn informs me that Tulip is alive, well, and waiting to come home. Katka and I already have plans for next week. Life goes on.
What I liked about our McDonald's lunch was that it highlighted a unique revelation for me. I have never been to the South before. All of my adult life has been lived in northern cities which, by most accounts, are terribly segregated. Race = class in the North. If I wound up in a primarily black area of Cincinnati, that area was most likely economically depressed. The equation is fairly uniform in Columbus, Cincinnati, Chicago, Indianapolis: black = poorer. However, in Richmond, the populace was thoroughly mixed. The McDonald's was teeming with happy, hot, exhausted families of black, white, and mixed extractions. Bi-racial couples, families, and children were also much more common in Richmond than in Northern cities. I am vastly generalizing, perhaps, but the integration just seemed so much more complete in Richmond, making me wonder about the stereotypes of Southern racism that just did not fit what I witnessed.
After lunch and more time at the museum (free re-entry for the entire day, luckily, which made the $28 fee more bearable), we drove by Keven's workplace at Philip Morris's HQ - a giant goliath of gates and security clearances! No entry, however, because of the holiday weekend. We went to Barnes & Noble and Target in search of inexpensive in-flight entertainment for the kids. Keven took Juliette and Ilsa swimming that evening while I procured dinner: simple fare from Kroger of chips, fried chicken, and BBQ leftovers. We wound up cuddled in one bed in the girls' room to watch Madagascar on HBO. The kids and I have seen it, but Keven had not. We laughed and snuggled, and when King Julian mentioned cookies, I broke out the Oreos. That was probably the most quietly normal family moment of the whole week: no places to be, no dinner out, no one else to visit. Just the four of us watching a film, enjoying the fact we were together for one more night.
Tuesday was our last day in Richmond. We woke relatively early to begin the massive packing process, and I had to fend off maids with my rudimentary Spanish so that we could finish the process in peace. Keven's English mumbling just was not getting the point across! We drove to the house where Keven rents his room so he could set up his DVR for the Italy v. Germany semi and drop off the last of the fried chicken. We went to eat at a casual dining restaurant called Spinnaker's in the nearby mall, a place Keven had noticed served free food to kids Mon-Thur. Useful for those parents who do not want to pay for the privilege of watching their kids barf up lunch. I ate tons, knowing it would be my last proper food until we arrived home in Madison.
After lunch, we ventured to the mall's indoor play structure to let the girls run off their sillies for a while. And then it was off to the airport. No fun. The goodbyes were fairly easy, however, as we only have 30-ish days left to go before Keven's internship is complete. I only lamented the solo travel. It is not easy.
However, the girls made our trip home as smooth as possible. They were absolute angels for the entire journey. Not one bit of fuss. Not one crying fit. Everyone listened. Mama was happy. The Richmond flight was fine except that turbulence made trips to the bathroom either impossible or difficult. I had the girls in pull-ups for the flying portion, just in case of emergencies, but neither would use that luxury. Both charmed the stewardesses something fierce, eliciting free graham cracker cookies from two different flight attendants. I saved some for the rest of the trip. Upon disembarking, we found that some other child had not fared so well on her trip and had thrown up all over the exit tunnel floor. Poor thing! But Ilsa, mercifully, was done with her digestive escapades.
O'Hare was calm and delay-free. We actually arrived a little early from Richmond so we had just over two hours to kill. We took the long way around the terminal, riding on escalators and electric sidewalks - both of which amused the crap out of the girls. They loved practicing the ability to get on and off by themselves. For them, it was a mini carnival in the middle of O'Hare.
Ilsa made friends with a nice older woman who greatly resembled my mother-in-law, Linda. She just started talking to this woman as if they had known each other for years. I had bought them this set of four Finding Nemo books in a little carrying case, and Ilsa just kept talking to this nice woman about the books, about the characters, asking questions. But really, she was just interested in the mechanics of getting the books out of the case and putting them back in correctly. Meanwhile, Juliette and I worked on a dinosaur sticker book. Good times.
The flight to Madison is only 28 minutes in the air, which is hardly enough time to get comfortable. Still, Juliette had time enough to make friends with this nice college girl named Olha. I do not know where she was from, but her English was excellent. They sat on one side of the aisle while I sat with Ilsa on the other. Juliette talked about Adora, about her sheep (Bingo and Louly), and about Virginia, and she remembered her manners well enough to offer the young woman some of her potato chips - without me asking her to!
Then we were home. Well, at least we were back in the right city. We collected our bags with the advantage of a smart cart, walked to the taxi rank, and voila! Journey end. The girls quickly went to bed, and I called the appropriate loved ones to let them know we had returned safely. I had over 65 e-mails and an hour's worth of blogging to check out, all of which helped me calm down after the afternoon's exertions. Keven was back there in Richmond, eating Ilsa's leftover lunchtime mac-n-cheese and getting ready for work. I was studiously avoiding the big pile of unpacking that awaited me.
Today was quiet. Bills, laundry, unpacking, dishes, vacuuming, grocery shopping, phone calls, a library run, baths, hair washing, and these massive blog recaps. Jenn informs me that Tulip is alive, well, and waiting to come home. Katka and I already have plans for next week. Life goes on.
1 comments:
I am glad to hear that the trip went well. I thought of you. I do know that travelling with two lively toddlers is not easy... especially with turbolencies. I had a very bad flight from Rome two weeks ago! It scared and made me sick. I had never experienced such a flight. And I was alone! Let alone if I were with two kids!
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