Line 'em Up, Knock 'em Down

The holidays are over. We had a great time. Maybe even struck the right balance between presents and not, and secured our 2 Christmas Day traditions: a hike (homage to Jeremy's Colorado roots) and Chinese for dinner (nod to the Jew in me) at whatever we deem the most neon-lit-up joint in town to be.

Christmas hike picture. Note one grumpy child, one delirious child.

Sigh.

Exhale.

And look to the future. In an effort to escape the misery that is the Inland Empire in the winter, I've lined up a trip a month until spring.

January - girls weekend in Portland. Stay at poshie downtown hotel, drink and shop and eat cupcakes and laugh. Score.

February - a *much* anticipated trip to Mexico. Just me and Jeremy, and our good friends. And 6 kids under the age of 4. 4:6. How's that for a ratio? I used to make fun of people who said they "went to another country" when referring to Mexico. Really? I mean, it's connected to our continent - it's travel light, at best. I also used to have a passport with extra pages added. My new passport reflects my new life, read: one stamp into Ethiopia, one stamp into Canada (see earlier comments on contiguous continent travel). With kids just traveling down the street can start to feel like waiting in line to cross the boarder from Thailand into Cambodia after a 6 hour ride in the back of a flatbed truck on dirt roads. I'm trying really hard to be the parent I think of myself as - laid back, unafraid, going with the flow. The unafraid I think I've got down. The going with the flow... may very well all go out the window of children are not sleeping. But that's what the margaritas are for, right?

And we wind it all up with a trip to NC to see my folks and brother in March. I'm flying alone with the kids and Jeremy is meeting up with us a week later. Will be first time on airplane with two ambulatory children. How hard can it be? (Those of you who have done it don't answer please).

So deep breath and away we go! Wish me no hangovers, no intestinal distress, and no flight delays, in that order.