The Terrible 2's, 3's, 4's and 5's

I kind of expected that the terrible 2's would last into year 3 and 4.  I have girls.  It takes a while for them to outgrow that terrible stage.  My 10 year old and 7 year old (while they do still have terrible moments) basically were finished with the terrible 2's by the time they turned 5.  Well... we are well into our 5's with the last one and there is no end in sight!

There is terrible on a daily basis.  Don't get me wrong... I love my 3rd daughter.  I just really, really HATE having to still deal with mall tantrums, baby talk, hitting, spitting, fighting and general "terrible 2's" type of behavior.  We've been through kindergarten once... and yes, every day I thank God that we made the right choice of repeating.  She'll be 6 in a few months and I don't think I can bare the thought of her todder behavior following us into the 6's. 

It's hard to say but I am embarassed and humiliated by her so often that I dread taking her out in public.  I know, my husband will be totally pissed off that I even had these thoughts much less put them down in print.  But honey... we can't possibly be the only parents on the earth with a 5 year old daughter who acts like she's 2.

No... she won't eventually outgrow it.  My best hope is that she at least tries to tame it.  One day she'll make a great lawyer... she lies and tells stories with the best of them.  Maybe she'll be a politician... she seems to like living in a fantasy world.  I kind of think she'd make an amazing actress.  She likes to be the center of attention... and she likes sparkly things!

My little girl... so much trouble... I'm hanging by a thread for that one day I can finally say, it was all worth it.

Life is Boring!

It's week 3 of summer vacation and all I have heard today is, "I'm bored."  Never mind that we took the kids to lunch and a movie yesterday... never mind that the 10 year old spend the entire night and morning at her friends' house... never mind that they have plans to go swimming and have dinner with Grandma today.  No... they are just crazy bored.  Seems that the TV is the only thing that can make them "not bored".  But wait... even the TV gets boring after about 10 straight hours of watching it.

There are lots of things to do...

Read books (boring!), clean rooms (boring!), be creative (boring!).  5 more weeks of boring to go!  How boring!

Traveling... with Kids.

It's always the same question.  Where do we go for summer vacation?  What always trips us up (no pun intended) is the fact the trip has to include three children.  With three girls 10 and under, we are kind of limited.  Never mind the expense factor ( 5 airline tickets are almost always out of the question), and let's not forget that cruises don't cater to the 5-in-a-room philosophy, but deciding on a place that will entertain two adults and 3 kids is a guessing game at best.

Once again we opted for a drive and stay vacation.  Last year we did the Grand Canyon and Phoenix... this summer we chose Tucson.  Not too far away, nice resorts, lots of pool time.  Good choice huh?

Sure... assuming your children behave.  Ours don't.

It's quite the whirlwind, never knowing if they will get along (insist on sitting next to each other because they absolutely HAVE to play Barbie Dolls together) or if they will despise each other (putting their feet up, pulling hair, sticking the tongue out and generally doing everything they can to annoy).  Usually it's the latter.  Sigh!

I keep thinking that each year it will be better.  They are older, have learned how to get along better, right?  Wrong.  They haven't learned a thing.  And after a week of ups and downs, it is so, so good to finally be home.  Where we can actually send them to their rooms!

Love the Dives

If you are ever in Tucson I highly recommend eating breakfast at Frank's on Pima Blvd.   This place is the biggest little dive, but the food is awesome.  The Food Goddess (aka Candy) is a gruff looking and talking waitress that at one time was the Manager before she was fired and then came back after several years and is now waitressing.  I had the spanish omelette, hubby had the huevos rancheros, kids had a sausage omelette, egg sandwich and egg plate that they all enjoyed.  Coffee was perfect and hot!

Somehow we have a knack for finding these places.  Best meal in Tucson.

On to Tombstone...

Biodome 2

Just spent the morning visiting and touring Biodome 2 in Arizona.  Wow... what an incredible place.  It was such a great learning experience and I highly recommend going at least once.  It is among the top 50 places in the world to visit.   If you aren't very scientific (like me) and donMt know what Biodome 1 is, let me educate... it's Earth!  Biodome 2 simulates all the earth's climate conditions.

It is incredible that scientists can recreate the conditions in different parts of the world and really study them in depth.  The one important fact I came away with?  Don't mess with the earth!

Here in the Desert

Woke up to an amazing view of the mountains... after the kids flung open the drapes to let all the sunlight stream in and wake me up.  Once again... all four girls in the room dressed and ready and sole male still walking around in a towel.

We were pretty lucky getting here yesterday in about 7 hours with one bathroom break and a stop for lunch.  Yes, the girls whined and complained the entire way.  Lauryn asked about a dozen times if we were almost there... and she decided just as we entered Tucson that she wanted to go home.

But we're here... of course I forgot to bring my makeup bag... guess that just means I get to go buy all new stuff.  Fun for me!

Ooooo... just saw a little bunny hop across the gravel near our porch.  There are rabbits everywhere here.  Also saw a family of quail yesterday.

The Family Trip

Here we are once again... just last summer about this time I started this blog to write about our road trip down Route 66 from California to Arizona.  One short year later, we are getting back in the car and back on the road to travel to Arizona once again.  This time we'll be heading to Southern Arizona and planting ourselves in Tucson for the entire week.  Pool, horseback riding, Tombstone and lots of Mexican food.

Spent the last several hours packing up... doing laundry, taking out trash, cleaning house.  I think I am over-tired... you know, when you are way too tired to even lie down and sleep.  I think I have a million things running through my mind, not the least of which is the fact that I feel totally unprepared for this trip.  Other than our hotel (excuse me... RESORT), this is the least planned out trip we've ever taken.  Of course, Arizona was like 6th on our list of summer vacations.

1. Cruise (too expensive)
2. Hawaii (too expensive)
3. Bahamas (too expensive)
4. North Carolina (too expensive considering we also wanted to add South Carolina and Georgia)
5. Oregon/Washington (couldn't stomach the thought of all that time riding in a car with three girls)
6. Arizona

Anyone want to place a bet as to our estimated time of departure tomorrow?  I really wish I could say we'd be on the road by 9am... but anyone who knows my husband will probably guess the time to be closer to 11am.  You know... gotta stop at the bank, gotta stop at the tire shop, gotta stop at the gas station... you get the picture.