Trust the GPS

The racquetball courts were calling my name. A 5 minutes drive, and a kidless hour was all that stood between me and some great exercise time. The first solution Richard and I came up with, was to go before the children wake up. This means EARLY! We left at 6am, but apparently no one else like to get up that early on a Saturday morning to work out. The gym was closed!! Of course we couldn't let this setback waste our early waking efforts. So we jumped on some bikes and took off. Richard informed me that there would be a big downhill, and then we could get on a nice biking trail. So we went down a hill, and I thought: this isn't too much of a problem. However, it wasn't until we reached the next huge hill that he informed me this was the hill he had referenced earlier. By this time my butt and legs were burning from last night's Wii fit, so I made the executive choice to turn around. This pathetic little bike ride was enough for my out of shape behind!

We ended up getting back before any of the kids had even gotten out of bed! I sat around like a zombie for a while, until Nancy came up with the idea to take the kids with me to the gym. I wish we could have though of that earlier! Nancy wanted to get some kidless cleaning time in anyways (mom was arriving later), so this was the perfect solution. We got to play racquetball, and she got to clean without kids. The poor nursery lady didn't know what was coming for her: 6 kids at once. And this wasn't one of those super nice/big kid areas in the monster gyms, there was only 1 kid in there before we got there.

Things like racquetball are my favorite kind of workouts. During the workout, you aren't thinking about how tired you are, only about how you want to win. This applies to things like dancing too, where you are just having fun. Treadmills and elipticle machines just make me feel like a hamster. After 3 good games, I was already trying to plan the next time we could come back!

The day was flying by fast, and we still had a lot to do. We needed to pick up the grandmas (mom and great grandma) from the airport, and make signs to welcome them. I left the signmaking up to Ruth, and jumped in the shower. By the time I got out, it was time to leave. We all piled into 2 cars. All of a sudden (after a while), I looked to my right, and there it was: the Pentagon. I guess important sites like that are all over the place here, I just didn't expect to see it.

Great grandma was going to her daughter Nancy's (I'll refer to her as Nancy W) house for the week, so we made the drop. The kids promplty started playing with her son Christopher (10). Any time my kids are playing contently, without fighting, or whining, I try to milk that moment as long as possible (see park post). The others were ready to get back to Nancy's for some downtime, so the kids and I decided to stay longer and play.

My kids got introduced to Wii. Winter turns out to be a great bowler. Sterling and Ginger hold their own in golf. I wish I could have gotten some video or picture, but we had planned to just go to the airport and back, so I didn't want to lug my backpack around. When Ginger plays golf, it really looks more like the hitting a baseball bat.

Nancy W's community pool is the social hangout. Her kids do swim team there, and stay to play the rest of the day. Nancy W has 2 boys, and we didn't come prepared for swimming, so she magically assembled several swimsuits for my girls to choose from. She even had a swimsuit for me. (more tropical/flowery than I'm used to, but it fit) I cherish these times of happy play. It sure beats fighting/bickering/roughhousing/boredom.

I wasn't prepared for the drive home. The GPS was my only way to navigate, I didn't have my cell phone, or my wallet. It started out okay, but soon I got to a road that was a "pike". In Dallas the pike is a toll road, and like I said, I didn't have my wallet. So I decided to go a different route -not the "toll road". Turns out, the toll road is exaclty where I ended up. The sign said: Dulles Airport - no toll. I guess this road was parallel to the toll road, and is only supposed to be used my airport passengers and businesses. This also means I wasn't able to take the exit I wanted, because this road only led to the airport.

The gas empty light came on. Oh cr*p. I'm still miles away from home, lost, no phone, and now out of gas. I figured, at this point, I should stop deciding my own route, and trust the GPS instead. I finally did make it home, a half an hour later, and running on fumes. Lesson learned: if a GPS is your only navigating guide, in a strange city, without a phone or money, trust the GPS. Even better: don't leave the house without your phone or wallet!

drive back, get lost with GPS, out of gas

quote sterling: grandma, you missed the reunion