Galownias Go West

In what is going down as the Best Summer Ever, California got a visit from the Galownias! No easy undertaking loading up three kids and going across two time zones and coordinating a work schedule so that Brother Dave could join in, but Leiah made it happen.

It took two cars to get these people and their things transported from the airport to my mom's house. Luckily Betsy has been in Cali for a long stay and was able to play chauffeur with me while Mom worked. Once we got the transport done, the delightful chaos took over. Chunks played in the sink, Ben ate all the red raspberries, and all was as it should be.

It didn't take too many trips to the roof to look at the ocean before the kids were ready to go swim. We headed down to the beach with about an hour of sunlight left and enjoyed the magic.

Since mom's house is a touch far from mine, I conned Leiah into meeting me for lunch in a town in the middle one day. We went for Ramen, noodles Leiah's children call Momma Noodles. Because it's what Momma cooks them a lot. California's Ramen is a touch different than Momma Noodles, but they didn't seem to mind.

Getting them cultured.

Once David made it to town, we decided to do some tourist things that Leiah, Ben and I had done during a visit 10 years ago. He was about the size of Chunks then, and one of his favorite things was riding bikes on the beach in Venice. We had waaayyy more people than we did then, but we hopped on bikes and dodged scooters and bikes and raced each other to the Santa Monica Pier.

The kids faces tell exactly how much fun they were having. 

We stopped in Santa Monica and the kids ate some food while the adults had some libations. The ride back was much more chill somehow, and Lilly and I kicked everyone's asses!

We also wandered Venice Beach for a bit, strolling the canals and taking in the public art. Lilly stopped at Muscle Beach and put the boys to shame. David climbed a street sign, which was crazy and totally normal at the same time. 

Touring LA with three kids in two cars ain't easy, so we spent the next day at my house in Long Beach. Chunks got to play in a kiddie pool and meet her "Chicken Cousins" as Leiah named them. She was so cute with them. We'd say, "Touch em!" and she'd stretch her hand out really far without moving her bottom half any closer and groan like she was trying so hard to touch them. That kid is something else.

Ben showing Chunks around Mack's piano, something he's been playing with since he was her age.

We also walked up the street to get some legit donuts, one of which was called a margarita donut and had actual tequila in it. It took about 8 hours but nearly every morsel was eventually eaten.

Somehow we managed to squeeze in a trip downtown. We grabbed a bite at Grand Central Market, which was about 1000 degrees inside. Afterward, Mom took the kids to explore and we met Cousin Shannon for a cocktail at Perch, a cool rooftop bar that Betsy discovered with Isaac. 

One thing I really wanted to do was take them to this awesome spot I camped at last month called La Jolla Indian Reservation Campground. The logistics of camping -- tents, air mattresses, transporting all of us and kids -- became a bit much so Leiah and I decided to make a day trip of it instead. Ben was feeling sick and Betsy had to cancel, so we left them at home and took the car-sick prone caravan on some windy roads to the woods. I showed Lilly how to tube the little river there, which was pretty low but still fun to wade in and explore, and Leiah taught her how to slide down rocks. We roasted hot dogs and S'mores before deflating our tubes and heading for home. I really wished we were camping there after we got there, so Leiah and I put it on the list of things to do next time.

Leiah had really wanted to go sailing, but it's not all that relaxing with kids on board. Betsy said she'd stay with them for a couple hours so Mack could take us out, and it was such a treat. The kids got to craft with their aunt Bebe, Leiah was a riot finding her sea legs, and she and David were something out of a book about lovers with their little poses. 

After the sail, we relieved Betsy of the hot house (we desperately needed an air conditioner this summer) and took the kids to the boardwalk to play games. Lilly won enough tickets for a ring. Ben won enough to go to college. Chunks learned how to use her small stature to assist so we didn't have to use tokens to play the basketball game.

After a busy couple days of adventuring, Ben taught Chunks how to relax, just like Uncle Mack taught him a decade ago. Chunks got the hang of it real quick.

Since Mom's house is closer to the airport than mine, the Galownia finished up their westward voyage back on the beach. Betsy and I took the kids down early, and they did all the awesome things kids do. They buried each other in sand. They gave up on the boogie board and called it dumb until their awesome Auntie Am showed them how it works. They ate popsicles from the beach vendor in the sloppiest way possible. They somehow elevated the beauty of a place beyond comprehension with their very presence.

I love these things so much. And it's not even about all the wonderful things we did together. It just about the being together. All this joy happens on accident, without planning, often when we're just doing the stupidest waste of time things. Like Snapchat. Lilly was Snapchatting her cousins or friend or something and we did a face swap. For two hours we all face swapped, which caused us to laugh our faces right off. This is why when they leave me, my heart starts to drain. Thank god I've already got my next trip home planned.

Wild and Wonderful

Something about the 4th of July doesn't feel right unless there's a million mosquitos, a swimming spot, a bonfire, and a bunch of dirty kids running around unsupervised. When I was little, I was one of those kids running around unsupervised, dropping firecrackers into septic systems, fetching beers for a nickel, and drinking as much Hubba Bubba soda as I wanted. It was awesome, true unabashed freedom.

Now that I'm a grown-up living in a highly flammable state, I crave that wild reverie. Luckily Indiana still delivers. Dad's got the woods, Tina's got the pool, Tee's got no sense, and my sisters and cousins have the kids. Some of my favorite memories in life are from 4th of Julys in Indiana, so I grabbed my sisters, jammed their families into a car, and north we went to cause a ruckus.

Dad set up the guest house (a tent) for us, and it was a matter of minutes before we'd eaten all his fresh caught wild Alaskan salmon and depleted his beer stores by half. We sat on the porch watching mosquitoes eat the children and laughing at Nynie who was simultaneously fascinated and terrified by the deer skulls all over the yard. Kieron and Lilly took off into the woods, and we didn't even care what they were doing. Chunks got mostly naked. Life was perfect.

City kids gone full country. 

Grandpa Greg teaching the littlest ones how to beat the heat.

Dad feeding the children with the sweetest meat to the skeeters. 

My cousin Kristin brought our Grandma over for a quick visit. All the chaos of the clan wore her out in just a few minutes, but it was such a gift to see this tiny little woman enveloped by two dozen people who love her. Dad baited the kids with popsicles and we managed to get a pic of him with his own half dozen sacks of chaos.

We gathered up the sticky, sweaty kids and headed to Tina's, where we swam and ate and drank to our heart's content. Jaden and Kennedy were the responsible adults (they are 16 and 12), and we put all our trust in them and the power of arm floaties. Ryan and I taught the next generation of cousins how to chicken fight. Aunt Becky waged war on UV rays. And we all gathered around a raft for happy hour. No cover charge and hands down the best bar I've ever been to.

Ben one. I was the base for one fight and my neck was broken for two days.

Max will never fully appreciate how much Grandma Wonderful adores him because boys.

Sam. This boy is everything. With a cute floppy hat on top.

Charlene and Nynie. Bonded since Nynie joined us. 

I don't know how Andrea made such perfect kids, but Kennedy is absolutely amazing. Chunks knows it too.

Didn't take long for Nynie to find her fearless. 

This is after Becky took the beer out of her cleavage and Leiah left to pee in the bushes. Hahaha!

In between swimming, the kids took breaks inside, mostly watching Moana and falling asleep. I caught Renee being nice to the little bits. Busted!

The day wound down with a cookout and some games of corn hole, where Kennedy and I got smoked by Uncle Vince and Jaden. Nynie tried to play too but mostly she just ran around being crazy. 

I swear I'm going to steal her one day.

Excellent form. Yet still, we were defeated. 

Shout out to Tee for keeping the beer stocked and playing with all the fire products. He's grooming Jaden for the takeover.

The cherry on the top of this mound of perfection that was 4th of July 2018 was getting a quilt custom made for me by my mind-glowingly creative and talented Aunt Becky. To start, the quilt is enormous. Me and 40 of my friends can easily sit on this fabric garden. But what really makes this quilt magical is all the personal touches on it. The flowers in the garden... Becky and I sewed some of those on a flight together. The picket fence... Becky put that in after doing a google image search of my house. The flowers going up the fence post have stuffing under them, making the whole scene a little three dimensional. In two of the corners, Becky put in chickens. CHICKENS! And across the top, she put in a strip of silky fabric because I have a silky addiction. It didn't stop there though. She embroidered the most wonderful sentiments into the silky part, all derived from adventures we've shared. I honestly think this is the most thoughtful thing I have ever been gifted in my life. 

Tee gave the day a proper send off with a bonfire so big it sent a bunch of us running to the pool to escape the flying embers and a fireworks show that puts most of the nearby small towns to shame. There's something to be said for being in the middle of nowhere surrounded only by the things that matter.

To think socks almost derailed her...

Laila is done. She slayed high school with physics and calculus and English, solving problems beyond my comprehension and writing poems so amazing and twisty they should be in a book. At one point during this school year she was talking about some physics thing and I just looked at her and said, "You've passed me up. I am of no use to you. Unless you want to learn to sew. Do you want to learn to sew?"

The kid who threw a three-hour fit about wearing socks to kindergarten has become one of the most extraordinary people on this planet. She's a safe driver, she keeps her room clean, she takes good care of her rabbit, her eyebrows are on fleek, and she is freakin' funny. She has good self-esteem, manners, and expectations. Sure, she's a bit of a noodle and can't open jars, but that means SHE NEEDS ME STILL.

I don't have or want my own kids precisely because I have Laila. She gave me a taste of what parenting really entails, of how children really are, of the capacity of love and the hilarious joy in the unpredictable. I was talking to some of my peers at work the other day about making friends, and I was like, hmmmm, my best friend is probably my sister-in-law. She's the person I call to do stuff with when I know Mack will say no. She's the person I can goof off with or just veg out with. She's on my wavelength. And then I thought, is it weird to be best friends with an 18 year old? Laila assured me it's not and she's a damn genius.

It has been a pleasure in my life to watch her evolve as a person and nurture her as a human, and I couldn't be more proud of her. This girl can be or do anything, and I'm stoked to watch her master this next part of life. I love you, Lablr. Always will.