Dub Travails. I mean Travels. Part 1

Doug and I just got back from a pretty big, pretty epic trip to Europe. When we started out (and I immediately started overgramming) it became imperative to pick the perfect hashtag. Something to use on all our Instas so that post-trip ChatBooking would be a breeze. Doug came up with #DubTravels. But my mind kept switching it to #DubTravails. I could NOT quit reading it as #DubTravails. So I made him switch it to #DubAdventures.

You see, we took two teenagers with us. (Truth in blogging: One is 12  years 11 months. But close enough.) I wrote this post on two separate occasions while in Europe but thought I would percolate on it a bit before publishing. Doug says it's too negative and only talks about the bad stuff. He's right. The annoying stuff is way more fun to write about. We actually DID have an amazing trip and even these *ehem* painful memories are starting to fade leaving only the good stuff. All the more reason to record this. (Truth in Blogging again!)

tra.vail

noun

1. painful or laborious effort.

synonyms: ordeal, trial, tribulation, trouble, hardship, privation, stress

Three weeks ago
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The thing about traveling with kids is, because you are going out of your way to entertain them in an extraordinary way--usually at great expense--you assume their fundamental personalities will fundamentally alter the minute you set foot outside your house.

But they don't. 

If your kids were a couple of turds before your trip to Disneyland, odds are, if there is any standing or waiting* involved (which there obviously will be because I said Disneyland) their innate turdiness will come out. 

(*And by "standing and waiting" I mean anything that isn't riding a high speed roller coaster. Turns out, this is true even in Europe when roller coasters aren't even an option.)

Such has been the case on what should be the most epic vacation of Max and Sam's relatively short lives. 

Now, because we were in the Airforce stationed in Japan for three years, these kids have been on some cool vacations. But, due to their young ages when we lived over-seas, or possibly their obstreperous personalities, all the details of former trips are fuzzy or forgotten all together. 

It might seem like I'm calling a lot of names here, but that's because I am on vacation with my kids.

Currently, we are in Paris, France. This is my third visit. Doug's second, and Maxwell and Samuel's first visit. 

It was on my last trip (Doug's first) that Paris became one of my favorite cities in all the world. Sure, I haven't been to all the cities in all the world, but I'm assuming most people agree with me on Paris superiority based on the lines we've encountered thus far. 

We arrived yesterday and here are some of the things that have already dripped from my ruby lips:

Stop shoving him.

Stop touching him.

Stop teasing him.

Stop.

Just stop!!

No.

No, you need to wait.

OBVIOUSLY NOT!

Just wait.

Get off that.

Dont open that.

Stop that!

Open that back up!
Be careful!
Watch out!
You're knocking people over with your backpack!!!

Why would you do that?

Slow down.
Come back!

SLOW DOWN!!!

Hurry.

Hurry up.
Catch up!!

HURRRRRRRYYYYY!!!

"Those kids are such big turds."

Here are some things I've heard from my little angels in response:

Ugh.
Ughhhhaaaaaaaahhhh!
Why can't I play a game?
It's fine!
Can I have my phone back? 
Just to take a picture, I'm not going to play a game. 
Why can't I play a game in this line?
Please? 
Why? 
But this is so boring. 
Why? 
Why? 
That's so dumb! 
WHY?!?

 Speaking of games, smart phones, as I think we all realize, are a huge blessing and an even huge-er curse. 

Max just recently inherited my old iPhone six which means Sam inherited my even older (first smart phone ever!), iPhone 4. 
It has about a 24 minute battery life and can support 3 different games that are so out of date they still run. 

Obviously, because we are us, these phones are heavily restricted and regulated. Max has limits on ages, ratings, and maturity levels. As well as no access to the internet nor the ability to install or even uninstall apps. 

Sam's phone is just too old and slow to be fun so it self limits a lot. 

However, this doesn't stop these phones from being more addictive than {insert a highly addictive drug of your choice} to a {insert susceptible consumer of your choice.} 

{Being a Mormon with no experience in these things, I would pick maybe binky and baby which lacks sufficient literary umpfh--which is why I leave it to you...}

For the first two days of our trip, they were pulling their phones out every spare second. 

"Oh, we're in a line?" Phone. 

"Dad stopped to look at a map?" Phone.

"I'm not on a high speed roller coaster--just at the top of the Eiffel tower? So lame!" Phone.

Talks, turning to lectures, turning to threats, didn't work. Phones kept coming out for "pictures" and staying out for games. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just think maybe the games can wait and they should take in the scenery on their first (and last) trip to Europe!

To be continued..PART 2

Friday and Saturday in Hawaii

Friday was an especially fun day for Sammy and I.  Since Doug and Max got to swim with Manta Rays, Sam and I got to swim with dolphins.  You'll pardon my 80's if I say it was "totally rad".

The deal is, you get on a boat, they provide snorkel stuff, and then the boat drives(?) to where they know there are usually pods of dolphins.  When they spot a pod, they let you hop off the boat so you can swim with them.  (or near them.  Or actually usually quite far away from them because shockingly, dolphins tend to keep moving.)

Anyway, I've never seen a dolphin up close, so I thought it was extremely cool.

So here's what happened.  The boat went to the first stop.  There were dolphins everywhere.  We were all suited up and ready.  We jumped in the water.  Sammy, who has been practicing with a mask and snorkel for a few weeks, looks down, can't see the "bottom" and freaks out.  He did not like swimming with fins, and a noodle (instead of a life jacket) and he did not like the depth of the ocean.

It took some persuasion to get him to try again, but he did it.  We swapped out the noodle for a life jacket, ditched the fins, and went to an area where you could see the ocean floor.  (It was super clear water.)  Sam jumped in, stuck his face in, and popped right back up.  "I SAW ONE!  I SAW A DOLPHIN MOMMY!!!"  It was, again, totally rad.

During one stop, our "driver" spotted a pod and stopped.   Everyone (there were about 11 of us) jumped in and started swimming away from the boat.

I looked in the opposite direction and saw a dolphin jumping in front of the boat and headed towards it.  When I started swimming, I realized I was surrounded by dolphins...they were just all below the surface.  That's when I saw the mommy and baby swimming together in the distance.  Very very cool.  I wish I could have gotten closer but they were a bit ahead and swimming away from me.  

For the last stop, we left the dolphins behind us and went to snorkel a reef near the shore.  Since this area was relatively shallow, this is where Sam did the majority of his snorkeling for the day.  He actually got pretty far away from the boat and looked at the reef and tropical fish with me.  For a little while, he let me hold his hand and swim with him.  It was fantastic day and that was the icing on the cake!

(And now I really need to wrap this up...)
Saturday:  We did some stuff.
We took a red-eye "home" through L.A.
It was a horrible flight.
It was delayed.  Children were cranky. Bags were lost.  Then found.
We finally made it HOME to San Diego on Sunday morning.

HOORAY!

(More tomorrow.  Or the next day or day after that...)

Thursday in Hawaii

So much to blog, so little time...

Gotta finish up Hawaii so I can talk about my NEW HOUSE!

So, Thursday was our VOLCANO day.  Since we stayed in Kona, the volcano was a ways away.  Therefore, trying to get the boys excited was next to impossible.
"We have to drive for TWO HOURS?  Why can't we just go to the POOL?!?!?"
Little ingrates!
But we shoved 'em all in the car and set off anyway.
To break up the trip, we made two stops along the way.  First, to the southern most bakery in the United States for some Hawaiian sweet bread.  (YUM!):

Handsome group!

 Next, to a volcanic black sand beach:

Neato!

Why yes, I did take a smidge for my sand collection!

Turtles chillaxing

(Aside:  So, we're standing around oohing and ahhing over the sea turtles, and a Japanese gentleman gets really excited to see them, walks over, and happily smacks one on the face to get it to move.  The Americans gasp and say "NO!", and my arms automatically come up and cross in front of me making an "X"; the universal Japanese sign for 'no' or 'stop'.  He didn't touch the turtles after that.) 

"I know I'm adorable!"

Yes, I did buy my shirt at Costco, and yes, Gray did eat more sand.

Playin' in the waves.

Finally, we arrived at the volcano visitor center.  They gave us maps and told us what the "must-see" attractions were for single-day visitors.  Here are a few:

In a lava tube tunnel.

The boys walked across this caldera.  I stayed in the car with sleeping Gray.

Barren landscape cleared by flowing lava.

Cute buzz boys.

Smoking volcano!

Smoking volcano after dark.  Sweet!

We stayed for quite awhile but only managed to see a little bit of the "park".  It was really amazing.  The boys were disappointed they didn't get to see an actual eruption, but seemed to think it was cool anyway.  The glowing crater was pretty close, so that got high marks.

We'd definitely recommend a trip to the volcano if you're ever in the area.

More tomorrow.  Hopefully I can wrap this trip up!