National Park Road Trip 2017, Day 2 (and Day 3; also sickness)

I'm writing to you from the couch, after a miserable 6.5 hour drive home in which my children still expected me to function and help them do things, and am currently surrounded by a new box of tissues, a tiny trash can, all the medicine a small town Walmart could give me, and a big glass of hot water with honey, lemon, and a splash of honey bourbon. Most importantly, I am ALONE and The Great British Baking Show is on and no one is making me speak so my throbbing headache is slowly slowly starting to abate. My nose, throat, sinuses, and ears are still a hot mess though. And I have a fever. I love them so much, but after a scientifically rigorous experiment of two trips, I've concluded that National Parks make me sick you guys. Devastating.

But they're worth it.

They're SO worth it. And I say this with sinuses I want to smash with a hammer. It'll make them feel better, I'm SURE of it.

I woke up on Monday at 6:30 with a throat of fire and a facebook message from a friend who just happened to also be in Carlsbad telling me they waited 1.5 hours to get into the Caverns the day before and we should get there when it opened. So when Cora was chirping cheerfully from her bed with Claire, we all just got up, rather than pacifying her with her road trip kindle. We drove the 25 minutes from Carlsbad to the Caverns and got there 5 minutes before the tours open up. There was still a line for tickets in the Visitor's Center (you have to buy a ticket even if you're walking in via the natural entrance and not taking any guided tours; it's just your entrance fee- $10/adult, kids are free. They check your tickets at the cavern entrance.), but we moved through it quickly and the kids were able to get their Junior Ranger Workbooks.

At 8:35 we were walking over to the Natural Entrance. It's a 1.25 mile walk down into the Caverns main room (the "Big Room") and I highly HIGHLY recommend it. Even if you don't end up doing the full walk around the Big Room inside (there's a short cut), don't miss the winding extraordinary experience of walking 71 stories into the earth through the mouth of the Cavern. I actually enjoyed it more than the Big Room itself (though I enjoyed the heck out of that too).

Every step was incredible. Thousands of bats flew overhead. The water drip drip dripped, slowly adding another millimeter to the stalagtites and stalagmites. The formations were incredible and blew us away with every step.

The total walk is supposed to take about an hour? I think we did it in 45 minutes, thankful again to have gotten there early when we could move at our own pace without any crowds at all. No strollers are allowed (the pathway is very narrow and frequently wet; it has guard rails on both sides the whole way), so we put Cora in the hiking backpack. She may be heavy and probably too big now, but I think James was more than a little thrilled to get to carry her one more time.

And all of us were definitely thrilled to have her contained because that child is CRAZY and it would have been a lot of yelling "Cora!" to keep her from touching all the untouchable formations. The Ranger at the entrance told us to whisper because sounds travel far in the caverns. That is not conducive to the nagging of toddlers.

Mostly though, we just walked, awed at the width and breadth of what we were seeing. I kept reminding the kids to "look up!" because it was so hard to remember that many of the most fantastical things were actually above us.

We got to the Big Room and did the full 1.25 loop around it. 1.25 miles! to walk around the inside of a Cavern! It's incredible.

I cannot recommend Carlsbad more highly. There are even restrooms down below and then you can take an elevator the 71 stories back up (or walk back out, if you want to wind your way up again; that would be... hard. It was a very steep walk down; my legs are still killing me.)

The kids finished their Ranger Guides in the Visitor's Center and got sworn in as Junior Rangers. I love that program. I stamped our passport books; the Caverns have a beautiful stamp!

We made lunches in the car, eating PBJs made from the ingredients we packed in our cooler from home. We'd planned to make a picnic of it, but it was too windy outside and we really didn't mind some quiet car time. Fueled up, we drove out of the park (it takes about 7 windy, beautiful miles to go between the cave and the park entrance) and then out of New Mexico as we headed to Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Salt Flat, Texas. Between the time change on Sunday morning and the crossing between CST and MST every time we crossed the Texas/New Mexico border, we really never knew what time it was.

Guadalupe Mountains is a national park I'm ashamed to say I'd never heard of until I was planning this trip. Previously, I'd thought Big Bend was the only one we had. But nope, this lovely place is just 30 minutes from Carlsbad Caverns. Despite my lack of awareness, apparently everyone else in the world knows about it because the main Pine Springs Visitor's Center parking lot was full and we had to turn around. Five national parks and this was our first full parking lot. Luckily, you can park at Butterfield Station just 400 or so yards back and hike in to the Visitor's Center. Or drive on 7 miles to McKittrick Canyon Visitor's Center and do the hikes there.

But I'd already fallen in love with this Devil's Hall hike a bunch of people on Tripadvisor told me to do, so I was determined to make the Pine Springs Visitor's Center happen. We loaded up with water, sunscreen, hats (even me!), and the hiking backpack yet again and headed out. Devil's Hall was supposed to be 4.2 miles and we were only adding about half a mile with our offsite parking, and though my throat was still full of fire and my sinuses were increasingly full of cement, I was pretty sure this would be fine.

I wear hats now

Except, turns out, the Visitor's Center is nearly 3/4 miles from the trail head. And we made a wrong turn or two on the hike... all together I think we hiked about 6 miles. Plus the 3 at Carlsbad. That was probably ill-advised.

But this little Bear never complained once! A first, as she usually prefers her daddy hold her for at least a mile or three on all hikes. She's growing up.

So is Landon, obviously. Every picture I see of him I'm shocked at how mature he looks. Who is this man child and where is my little Lanman?

After much trail walking, lots of rock climbing and hopping, and then even more rock hopping, we made it to the Hall!

It was super cool. Love the shale formations and striations and all the new opportunities for climbing.

Obviously, we did lots of that. And by "we," I mean James and the kids while I sat on the rocks and watched, wondering if I could make it home.

I did! And so did the kids and I'm really glad we stuck with the plan. It was great to hike with the kids again- I always get worried if we go too long between trips they'll forget how much they like it and how good they are at it. But confidence remained high. In the words of Landon, "I'm just a really good hiker mom." True.

And while I'd actually felt pretty good during the day, other than the fire throat, I felt thoroughly terrible by the time we started driving back to Carlsbad (past a time zone line AGAIN; my poor watch, but there are NO hotels near the Caverns or GMNP) and had to make James stop at the town's Walmart to buy all the medicines. We ate at a diner (the "No Whiner Diner" a name which thrilled me, even as I felt awful) and I counted down the minutes until everyone was done. Back at the hotel, I took a lot of medicine, hoping something would work, and tried to pass out. Nothing says "sickness recovery" like sharing a hotel room with four other people. I survived until morning and discovered the nearest Starbucks was 68 miles away and I was very sad. Also stuffy.

But even with my National-Park-induced illness, I deeply enjoyed the trip. It was the perfect length, we loved the Sand Hills (the kids each said tonight it was their favorite stop; though James and I both said the Caverns was ours and the kids agreed they were a CLOSE second, they just didn't have enough sliding), LOVED the Caverns, loved exploring a new mountain range. I just checked our credit card and for all meals, gas, entrance fees, gift shop purchases, and hotel suite fees, we spent precisely $527. Not bad for 3 days and a family of 5.

I've rounded up some facts I found helpful or wish I'd known about each park. Let me know if you have any other questions! I'm mildly high on cold medicine right now, but there's a chance I'll know the answer!

Carlsbad Caverns NP
Carlsbad, NM

- Located about 30 minutes from Carlsbad; the Visitor's Center is another 7 miles once you pass the park entrance sign and the drive is quite beautiful.
- You must enter the Visitor's Center to pay your entrance fee; there are a number of amazing ranger-led hikes, all of which have minimum age ranges, none of which Cora met. That said, "just" doing the Natural Entrance tour and the walk around the Big Room blew our minds and we didn't not feel like we missed out at all.
- CCNP is the rare park with a restaurant in the Visitor's Center, so for once, you don't have to pack like it's the apocalypse before entering the park.
- ONLY water is allowed in the Caverns, to protect the formations and the bats; they are very strict about this (as they should be), so save yourself a walk back to your car and clear all snacks from your backpacks or hiking bags.
- Wear shoes with good tread's, it's wet in there (though the gravely cement walkway keeps things from being too slippery).
- The caves are a constant 56 degrees year-round; I wore pants, a tank, and a thin GapFit long sleeve shirt. I also wore a jacket that I was thankful for for about 5 minutes and then took off and wished I'd left in the car. It's also really humid. 56 degrees and humid was a new combo for me. I'd straightened my hair before we left, but it was a mass of curls when we came back up.
- Bring flashlights for the kids. The Caverns are decently and artistically lit, but the kids loved having their flashlights to wave around and investigate formations further.
- There are tons of places you can stop and sit and rest along the way, all creatively built into the walkways. They've really done an incredible job with the whole set up.
- The Visitor's Center opens at 8 a.m.; the caverns open at 8:30. We arrived at 8:20 and it was perfect- we had our tickets in hand right when the Caverns opened.
- We found a morning to be sufficient, but if you had more time in your schedule, there are some above-ground hikes around the Visitor's Center and we could definitely have spent more time in the Visitor's Center itself. Someday I'd also love to do one of the Ranger-led tours of the other rooms, like King's Palace or Spider Cave, that we didn't get to see.
- Don't forget to get your Junior Ranger packet to participate in the awesome (and free!) junior ranger program!

Guadalupe Mountains NP
Salt Flat, TX

- Located above 30 minutes from Carlsbad Caverns NP, nearly an hour away from Carlsbad, NM. You cross back into Texas between the two and lose an hour. The Visitor's Center closes at 4:30 and the time-jumping can affect your kids' ability to turn in their Junior Ranger packets...
- Back to traditional park rules- there is no food. There IS a water fountain and pretty decent bathrooms. There are also bathrooms at the trail head for Devil's Hall and Guadalupe Peak. There are also parking spots and I wish to god we'd gotten one because it would have cut nearly 2 miles off our hike.'
- Butterfield Station is a few minutes before you get to the Visitor's Center and is a great alternative parking spot if the Center is full; there is a marked gravel path you can walk to get there.
- The mountains are really lovely. Not as imposing as the Rockies, but majestic in their own way and full of white limestone rocks the kids greatly enjoyed climbing.
- There is VERY little shade.
- Devil's Hall is the shortest hike off the Pine Springs Visitor's Center. It says it is 4.2 miles, and that is probably true from the trailhead, you have to walk about 3/4 mile from the Visitor's Center to get the to trailhead (follow the directions to the "camp ground," walk past all the campers, and then there's a new set of buildings with a bathroom and signs for the trails). There is NO sign at the Visitor's Center with directions to the trails. Just camping. We walked back and forth many times looking for it.
- If you do Devil's Hall wear the best hiking boots you have; you walk over about 3 miles of empty river bed, full of rocks of all sizes. The ground is very mobile and very uneven. Both big kids rolled their ankles multiple times. (They were fine, but it was the first time I wished I'd bought them real hiking boots instead of them just wearing their low-ankle running shoes.)

Lodging
We stayed at the Comfort Suites in Carlsbad. They were about 3 miles further out than some of the other hotels, but the rooms are quiet large, with a sitting area sectional that can be converted to a bed, a mini fridge, microwave, and large bathroom. Even sick, it was genuinely comfortable for our family. Everything looked new, the bedding was really comfortable, and the freebies in the lobby were excellent- popcorn, tea, and coffee all day, cookies in the evening, and a solid buffet breakfast. We'd stay there again.

Food
- Breakfasts: we ate the free buffet in the hotel each morning.
- Lunch: we made our lunches from the items we'd packed from home, though Carlsbad Caverns did actually have a cafe.
- Dinner: (1) Danny's Place- bbq, comfort food. Pretty good, very cheap, no alcohol. The bbq turkey was actually really good. (2) No Whiner Diner- American/comfort food. Solid, cheap, again, no alcohol.
James noted on night 2 that he wasn't sure he could stay more than 2 days because the food was all too similar. The kids were very pleased with getting to eat chicken nuggets and mini corndogs for two days, and I couldn't taste anything anyway. There is a taco truck that is supposed to be amazing, but by the time I was sick it didn't sound good and the first night we wanted a place we could sit inside, but you should all try it! We saw people at GMNP who had packed theirs to go to eat for lunch and that seemed like a brilliant idea.

National Park Road Trip 2017 COMMENCE! (and the Monahans Sand Hills)

Yes! Precisely one year from the date we embarked on our last Great American National Park Spring Break Road Trip Adventure ("GANPSBRTA" because it just rolls of the tongue that way), we have embarked on another! This one much shorter in distance and days, but once the National Park Rangers led the resistance and I realized we were going to go a whole year without a trip where we drive somewhere to climb on stuff, James and I decided we needed to squeeze in one more trip. Old school style. Because all-inclusive swim-up bars in Mexico and ski resort villages in Colorado are lovely, but our vacationing roots are buried in rocks and soil, a dozen PBJs stuffed in a gallon ziploc bag, and really fast Texas highways. The kids need to remember what it is the Lag Liv family does with a few days off work. (Coincidentally, on the anniversary of my first day at the SEC; now 5 years. Crazy.)

Can we all sleep in one bed?? (NO.)

And so, I planned a short jaunt over to New Mexico to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park, and then an even shorter (25 minutes!) jaunt back over the Texas border to hike Guadalupe Mountains National Park, with a stop at the Monahans Sand Hills State Park along the way. Two National Parks, one state park, two nights, only 14 hours of driving. A National Park Tour Lite. And those two parks are in a little cluster that isn't naturally along the way to any other trips we're planning, which was important because we really needed to keep this cheap and quick. No temptations to drive just a liiiiiittle bit further to see one more awesome thing. I've curtailed us. For now. On the drive today I used my National Park book to plan us an epic Utah 2.0 trip for March 2019. 8 National Parks, 11 days. It's going to be amazing. James still doesn't have a voice, so I took his silence to equal speechless delight.

But today we were just heading to Carlsbad to stay the night before heading to the Caverns tomorrow, with a stop at the Monahans Sand Hills along the way because we'd decided not to add White Sands National Monument to our itinerary in New Mexico (short and sweet! staying focused) and I love state parks just as much as their majestic big siblings. So after a leisurely 5-hour drive in which Cora held her microphone the whole time she watched princess movies on her kindle so she could be ready to burst into song at any moment, we had just passed Midland when Google Maps told me to exit! turn off! Giant sand dunes to the right! This seemed unlikely since we were on our millionth mile of flat, desert landscapes filled with pumpjacks, but I like to follow directions, so we turned off and saw the visitor's center, though still no sign of the promised dunes.

We paid our $4/adult entry fee, declined to rent sleds because we'd brought ours with us (purchased in Steamboat 2014!) and got a surprisingly comprehensible state park map. Drive to the picnic area, park by the last table, biggest dune is three over from there. And bam. 1.5 miles of windy road later and there they were.

Our shoes went off and we were out the door.

The big kids, immediately taking the lead, and Cora scurrying as fast as her little legs could take her.

She worked SO hard.

There was sledding.

And running.

I did a lot of life guarding.

Then there was stomping away indignantly because of gravity only to then spend 20 minutes climbing up a steep hill like a little spider monkey WITHOUT HELP and then roaring in joyful pride when she made it to the top.

It was a very cool place and very worth the $8 and 2 hours of our time. And running through acres of soft sand was an excellent workout for our generally indefatigable children. We loved their shouts of joy when we said we were going on a national park hiking trip, and we love how much pride they get from being able to tackle the world around them. Sometimes literally.

Ever since we got back from our ski trip, Cora has kept her "pack pack" packed with her most precious items, quickly slinging it on her back anytime she saw me grab my purse and head for the door-- "We goin' on a trip now?!" she'd exclaim. No, honey, just running to the grocery store. "Oh, okay," she'd respond dejectedly. And while we can't actually vacation all the time (sad face), I'm so glad we were able to make this trip happen. Three days, a $500 budget, 4/5 of the family off school/daycare/work for a full week, and a refusal to let a year go by without a trip to one (or two!) of the wonderful legacies of land that our past presidents have left us.

Vintage Lag Liv family vacation time. I can't wait for tomorrow.

~ ~ ~

Details: Monahans Sand Hills State Park
Monahans, Texas

- Stop at the Visitor's Center to pay the fee ($4/adult, kids free), rent sleds (~$2/each), and get a map. They have a few things for sale and a little educational area in the back to learn about the dunes, the sand, and the animals that live in them.
- We found 2 hours to be the perfect amount of time. There are picnic tables, but it's very windy, so I'm not sure how great it would be for cooking out, particularly with giant sand dunes blowing all over the place a few short feet away. We just played on the dunes and left, totally satisfied with our investment of time and money.
- The sand is VERY fine and smooth, it's almost like silt and it's very sticky. We chose to go barefoot (this is controversial because there are rattlesnakes and scorpions around, but I did not want very fine sand in my hiking boots and socks 5 hours into a hiking road trip and most people we saw on the dunes had decided the same thing) and after an hour having my feet buried in sand, I'm very glad we did.
- It is very windy and sand will generally get everywhere and in everything. We were really lucky with this, it had rained lightly all day until 15 minutes before we pulled up, so the sand was held down by the thin layer of wet sand on top. That's the only reason I brought my real camera and backpack. On a normal day, I wouldn't have brought anything out of the car except my barefoot self. And sunglasses. You must have sunglasses to cover your eyes.
- There are showers at the picnic area, so you can bring towels, soap, and a change of clothes. I did this, but once we got to the car, we were able to brush off all the sand and just climb back in. I thank the morning rain for us being able to skip this step.
- We brought snow sleds, but you can also just rent them for a few dollars at the Visitor's Center. You'll want sleds, it makes it super fun. The visitor's center also has wax you can rub on the bottom, but since our sand was semi-wet, we didn't need it.
- It was in the upper 40's when we were there today and it still felt hot under the sun; in the summer, it would be REALLY hot. You'd probably have to wear shoes whether you want to or not and you will need a hat and a ton of sunscreen. There is no shade.
- It is a super fun, totally random state park that you should definitely visit if you're at all nearby.

Sunscreen and Saran Wrap

So I know you're all dying to know what's happening with my weird crusty index finger knuckle- well, if you guessed "eczema + secondary infection" on the last post (and some of you did!), you were right!!

Your prize is the cookie I ate yesterday while feeling sorry for myself because going to the dermatologist ALWAYS makes me feel sorry for myself.

doctor-prescribed mummy-finger

I mean of course it could be much worse, I'm reminded of that each time I go in there too. But I just turned 34, and it depresses me that every patch of questionable skin on my body is dubbed precancerous and has to be frozen or carefully monitored or eyed suspiciously for when it next tries to turn into cancer because all of my skin is trying to do that. Well, not all. The skin on my face looks great cancer-wise, I really was very diligent about sunscreen in my youth because I burned so quickly and painfully, but I generally only reapplied on my face, not my neck, back, and shoulders and that's where the cancers are all lurking now. And even now, I put on sunscreen every day, but just on my face, forgetting again that daily UV damage is hitting me everywhere, including the skin exposed on my arms, chest, and upper back, anytime I'm in its path, including just riding in a car by the window or sitting at my desk. This is why it is SO important to think beyond sunscreen. First because it's not a steel barrier between you and the sun, you're still getting some damage, but also, the sun is damaging all the time, not just when you're going to the beach or sitting out by the pool. Wearing UV blocking clothes, applying sunscreen to all exposed areas, and just generally minimizing your exposure are all also critical.

Lag Livs in Mexico; rashguarded forevermore

I continue to love Coolibar for UV clothes and swimwear for all ages and genders and Cabana Life for super cute swimwear for women and kids (their rash guards are the ones I'm wearing in all my pics from last summer; I think this one may be this summer's selection. I used to love shopping for swimsuits. If I must now be fully covered, I insist on feeling cute while I do it. And you can use LLSPF for 20% off your order!). I wash all the kids' outer clothes every season in this SPF laundry rinse, which Good Housekeeping found to be effective after many tests. Sunday Afternoons has the best array of head wear I've found and I MUST force myself to buy and wear a hat this year. If only I thought I looked non-ridiculous in them. But as the skin cancer scar across my chest that my dermatologist confirmed yesterday is quite permanent (sob) reminds me, it's better to look less cute at the pool than to have to burn off all your flesh with a zombie skin cream.

Maybe this one? I don't know you guys; I've never bought a hat in my life

My doctor also recommended IPL photofacial treatments for the damage on my chest. Not only would it just improve the appearance of the skin, which I would not mind as it is discolored and bumpy (though not terrible), it would pull out the sun damage, offering a preventative treatment for my future basal cell carcinomas that just waiting to materialize. It isn't cheap ($300/treatment) and it would take 3 treatments, but it's on my list for future consideration. If anyone has done IPL phototherapy I'd love to hear how it went. And in the meantime, I will be wearing doctor-ordered saran wrap around my finger for the next 10 days to keep my high dose steroid cream smothering my eczema and my infection contained and my finger weird and shiny and also hitting all the wrong keys on my keyboard. I'm also on an oral antibiotic for 10 days too. As I learned when my doctor and her assistant jumped back from my hand when I showed it to them, my finger was pretty messed up. Sometimes my life motto of "everything is fine/everything will be fine" does not work out.

stylish

As always, I walked over to the cosmetic side of the practice after my appointment feeling vulnerable, handed them my credit card, and asked for something that would make me feel pretty. I now own this clay mask and did it last night while eyeing my cryotherapy blister bubble on my precancerous arm with deep suspicion. (Is it supposed to make a bubble? Like a big full bubble? My face couldn't make any expressions because of the clay mask, but I had a concerned look in my eyes.).

[Not pictured; I mean, it IS pictured, but after 10+ years of blogging I'm trying to maintain just a little bit of mystery.]

I will say, my skin feels amazing post-mask and my pores are sparkling clean and much minimized. I continue to love everything I've ever used from Skinceuticals. My skin, where it is not seeded with precancers, is glowing. Also after my appointment I made myself go to yoga at lunch so I would feel powerful in my body again instead of just betrayed and I did 8-angle pose for the first time. It helped even more than my new clay mask. I don't think anything makes me feel as good in my skin as yoga does.

(picture from this instructional page)

In continuing my theme from the last post, we had some extra time before bed last night, so James and Landon played a Super Nintendo game, Claire read a book, and Cora played a puzzle game with me. Everyone doing their own different thing, all within a 4-foot radius of the others. That is precisely us.

And finally, on Tuesday night Claire had a special evening out as James and I went with her to see her outwork displayed at the Fort Worth ISD District Art Show!

Her piece was picked among one or two others to represent the 1st grade and she was SO EXCITED. We got dinner together just the two of us beforehand, met James post-coaching at the show, and then all got ice cream with friends after. Landon and Cora stayed home with Tara and it was a very special night with our bear.

The show was held at the Central Public Library downtown, which seemed perfect after all our talk about the beauty and importance of the public library system. And I loved this quote, emblazoned across the lobby:

I finished Morning Son, book #3 of the Red Rising trilogy in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday and I LOVED it. I thought his story-telling got better as the trilogy went along and I just loved the ending. I also love that he's putting out another trilogy set 10 years later and the first book comes out in August! I'm thrilled to have new author with new releases for me to breathlessly anticipate. Speaking of those, Patricia Briggs had a new Mercy Thompson novel out on Tuesday and Kresley Cole has another coming out in April. I can't wait! My kindle has a bounty of books on it right now and I'm about to dive into my next (Into the Fire; the last book in her Night Prince mini-series, a solid spin-off of the Cat and Bones books which I loved (at least the first few; the last few weren't my favorites. This happened with the Charley Davidson books too; I loved them in the beginning but I really couldn't stand her character by the second-to-last book and have still never read the most recent offering, which is unheard of for me. It was like the author took what was quirky and fun about Charley's personality and made it ALL of her personality and I stopped enjoying her, but I suppose I should get some closure and read the last book, especially since the library lets me do it for free. I may read about demons and witches and vampires, but I do not like my characters to be ridiculous.)).

Anyway, I need to get to my next round of ill-advised late night reading binges, so I leave you with this random picture of James coaching one of his adult students, a triathlete wanting to improve her swimming split. I enjoy the image of him giving orders from a water chariot. Totally what his job is all about.

(You cannot imagine the number of times I had to hit backspace while typing with a saran wrap covered finger. I am deeply committed to wining about my skin and telling you all to wear sunscreen and SPF clothing. DEEPLY COMMITTED.) (Backspace 3 more times in that little parenthetical. ARGH. I feel a water chariot would somehow make this better.)

Peace, Love, and Video Games

So rather than actually finish one of my many unfinished drafts that require thought and reflection (I have a New Year's resolution draft from January 2016 that's just begging to be completed. Crying out, even), I'm going to recap our weekend. Because I have pictures and I don't want to forget the Great Oatmeal Drama of March 2017 and I read Morning Star (book #3 of Red Rising) until waaaay too early this morning before getting up for my Orangetheory workout- marking the millionth time my workout has been saved by OTF's 8-hour advance cancellation rule. By the time I know I'm going to sabotage myself with reading until 3 a.m., I'm 4 hours away from my workout and can't cancel. Also, today was precisely my one-year anniversary for Orangetheory, and who wants to miss that? Not that anyone gave me a present. Unless an endurance workout with 3 miles of running, 80 push-ups, and a 1,000 meter row counts as a present, and since this is Orangetheory, it probably does.

So, the weekend! It began on Friday with a mani/pedi lunch break with a coworker (30% off at the new salon by my spin place!). I hadn't had a manicure in at least a year, probably two, and the technician took one look at my deep cuticles and rough lawyer hands and said "ohhhhh." Oh yes. I sit indoors and type all day and my hands are somehow that bad. My manicure looked amazing and I adored it for the 12 hours it looked that good.

The picture below is 48 hours later, please ignore the giant chip (argh, always), and please focus on the painful, burning, cracked and oozing patch on my top index finger knuckle. What is this??? Google and our pediatrician told me probably eczema. It popped up in January and then went away after much pain, bleeding, and seemingly unhelpful rubbings of cortisone cream and eucerin ointment. I have an appointment with my dermatologist on Wednesday, but until then, I turn to you. Help. It hurts. Even holding a pen is super painful. Do you know how often you bend your top knuckle on your index finger? ALL THE FCUKING TIME. And every time I do, my skin cracks open again. Washing my hands is so painful I have a fierce internal debate about how dirty and germy I am comfortable being. Don't shake my hands right now.

Then, when I got home, I had the brilliant idea to grab my camera and get a few pics of our beloved nanny Tara and the kids. When I made the kids' photo books for Christmas this year, I realized that even though Tara is a near-daily, and definitely essential, part of our life, I didn't have a single picture of her!

And now I do! She and Cora have a particularly tight bond and I absolutely love it.

Then after she left I found this note Claire wrote her in the playroom. As I wrote in this post last year, one of the most wonderful and surprising aspects of being a working parent is the relationships we've built with my kids' caregivers, and I continue to think "it's nothing but good that my kids have had other adults in their lives who they love and trust and who love them in return."

As Cora exclaims when Tara knocks on the door if she comes to babysit at night, "MOM! My Tara is HOME!!!" She really is part of our family.

Saturday began with James heading out to Dallas at 6 a.m. for a swim meet (he's now the all-time 3rd fastest swimmer of the 100 IM in the United States in his age group!) and all the kids getting up an hour early to show me how much they love me. I read YA dystopian novels on the couch while they watched a hotly negotiated TV show (they settled on Ninjago; and by "settled" I mean Landon paid Claire a dollar to watch it and Cora watched Beauty and the Beast on her car ride kindle that I let her get out of storage; when you only have 1 TV and you only get to watch TV on weekend mornings and you have two big siblings... you really miss out on all your age-appropriate TV shows). Then a friend took Claire to her team soccer pictures and the big bro, little sis, and I got ready to head to the game.

It was cold and super windy again, because that's just how soccer rolls, and when I glanced over from watching Claire on the field I saw these two all snuggled up together to keep Cora warm.

Ten minutes later Landon had collected another toddler and was entertaining both with an impromptu puppet show. He would really truly love for us to have 5 more babies. And until we do, he's going to borrow the babies of others.

Claire did great at her game- she remains unsurprisingly aggressive and kinda-surprisingly focused. Her two besties are on the team, so it's exactly as fun as 6-year-old soccer should be.

After the game we went to a pizza place 0.2 miles away from the field that I never knew existed- James even got to meet us there! Then we headed home to the start of 36 straight hours of grey skies and rain and a slow descent into kid-chaos. Claire blessedly played at a friend's house forever. Landon went outside to play with said friend's older sibling and another friend. Yet this was still somehow not enough friendness because by midday Sunday, everyone had been inside too long and they were making each other (and me!) crazy. The girls played pretty adorably together for awhile (Cora's grin below just screams "I'M PLAYING BIG GIRL GAMES WITH MY BIG SISTER!"), but Landon did handstands for 3 hours and got really hungry and tried oatmeal for the first time (I don't know how he missed it for his first 9.5 years) and then ate 3 packets and when he asked for a 4th and I said maybe he should have some fruit instead because I feared for his digestive system, he devolved in less than a minute to yelling "I HATE MY LIFE AND EVERYONE IN THIS HOUSE" and attempting to slam his door but our pier and beam foundation shifts all the time and the door doesn't fit in its frame at the moment so it popped back towards his face instead.

So then James took everyone out on a 7 mile run/bike ride which mellowed Claire out but was not sufficient for Landon so then they played four-square in the rain for a while and THEN we decided we should all talk to each other as little as possible so James pulled out his meager box of childhood belongings and decided today was the day to introduce the kids to his old Super Nintendo.

It worked! It worked and teaching the kids to play Street Fighter 2 Turbo and Super Mariokart was the PERFECT way to end the rainy weekend.

We've never played a video game with the kids before, so they were really blown away by the sweet graphics of the SNES.

Cora and I played puzzles and matching games. It was really lovely. I gave genuinely affection goodnight kisses to everyone at bedtime 30 minutes later.

And that was the weekend! I have to go to bed now (... to read more of Morning Star), but there have been some great book recs on the last post and I always welcome more!