HOME SWEAT HOME

So it was time to come back. Our road trip up to Vancouver and back was done. Another notch in our belt for Tai/Dodge/Yu Travels, Inc. And thus another road trip for the books. Back to school. Back to work. I actually love it when we come back from a trip because I’m filled with excitement about what’s to come during the fall. Fall is my favorite time of year. There really isn’t much more to add…well, we did hit Bravoland, as Tiffany had promised, and the “comical taxidermy” was complete and utter bullshit! I don’t know about you but when I hear the term “comical taxidermy” my head automatically fills with visions of chickens wearing little Hawaiian shirts, or squirrels playing golf, or alligators playing banjos. What Bravoland had was a poor man’s Disney animatronic bison and moose head that sang only a fourth of “Ghost Riders In The Sky.” And it cost a dollar. Boo, Bravoland, BOO I SAY!!!

I’m just going to come right out and say it simple:

I love my family.

And there is nothing more awesome than traveling around with Joyce, George, Eric and Tiffany — with experiencing new things with them. We make a fucking fantastic unit.

I’m proud of our bond. It’s weird how well we get along. We could have done double the distance and still had enough to talk about.

And I couldn’t ask for a better wife than Tiffany. Make no bones about it — she’s the ring leader of our operation. This trip and most of its planning was all due to her. Without her and Joyce this trip wouldn’t have happened, and I don’t think I’ve shown my appreciation for it. I don’t think there is really a way to show it..other than by pointing out that these trips are like treasure for the kids…

The one thing I really haven’t written that much about is how wonderful the kids were on this trip. I think with all the hustle and bustle we forget that at the end of the day we sort of do these things for them, otherwise every vacation would just be Las Vegas for two weeks.

I’m really proud of all of our children. They are wonderful travelers. And they get along really well. We are lucky. So often as I was driving along I could hear them all goofing off and laughing with each other in the background. I know it is the hope of every single one of us adults that the kids grow up to love each other and want to spend as much time with each other as we do…and I’m hopeful that the kids are well on their way to that.

My only regret with this dumb blog is that it’s all from my point of view. I wish the kids were able to chronicle how the road trip was for them. But then again that might be a disturbing sight to find Piper up until 3 am working away on a six hundred word blog entry. As our trip was nearing its end I sort of came to peace with one of the truths about being a kid. And that is, you’re not gonna remember everything you experience, but that’s okay. Because it all still helps shape you into the person you become.

Piper has grown so much since our last road trip. She was intent on being a part of whatever was going on. She even lost a tooth on the trip! One of my favorite things she does right now is she’ll overhear part of an adult conversation, then she’ll ask out loud… “Whhat?” There’s something about her tone in that “Whhat?” that just tickles me so. It means the gears are turning in her head. She’s starting to try to make sense of the world. She wants in on hubbub. Piper is bubbly and defiant and turns off like a light switch at about 9pm sharp — no matter the circumstance. Thus, that means she’s also a morning person, up at the crack of dawn. Piper is growing up to be quite the exquisite young girl and just watching her makes me excited to see how she’ll change in the future.

When Cayden was younger he was very uneasy around me, but now I can count on Cayden to walk up to me and randomly play a drum solo on my gut. He’s thoughtful and sweet and I can tell that he is a romantic at heart. You’d think that being surrounded by nothing but girls would bend a boy out of shape after a couple of days, but Cayden thoroughly enjoys hanging out with his cousins. It was a joy to see him whoop as he jumped off of the river raft to float along in the Klamath. And he’s so polite and considerate with the adults it’s very hard to say “no” to him when he asks for something…but I confess it’s hard to say “no” to any of them. If only they realized that they all would have ended up with tons of toys this trip.

Now, Tyler REALLY hated me when she was a baby. I used to accuse her of being racist, even though she didn’t understand words at the time. Ultimately, she succumbed to my relentless bribes and cajoling…Tyler has grown up to be an effervescent little lady, and I can chat with her for hours on just about anything. As you can see from the picture this seemed to be the first vacation where she was really able to stretch out and do things the older kids do, and I was very thrilled for her. As mentioned before, she took on some thorn scratches, and she handled it cool as a little cucumber. I’m not surprised. She’s an awesome gal.

Chasie, my Demon Dodge. I’m not exaggerating when I say that she was definitely the “Captain” of our group of road trip kids. She kept tabs on them, laid down the law, played with them, endlessly, tirelessly, and was so insanely considerate for each and every one of them that she really put all of the adults to shame. Months before the trip, Chase had prepared a travel bag for each of the kids, loaded with crayons and activities and stickers, and even assembled a coloring book catered to each other their individual tastes. And she even brought some of her own money to buy them souvenirs! I’m not sure if she realizes how much we all appreciated her help as we were constantly bustling about. But every single one of us did. I didn’t realize that Chase had such a taste for adventure, and was amazed at her shooting the rapids in the kayak. She’s thoughtful and fearless. Picky, too. Very picky. But that’s okay. I’m working on that. And this girl can cut me down with her humor in a split second. She’s dangerously funny, but will never admit it.

And then there’s the Devil herself, Charlie. Look, I’ve already gone on and on about why this was such an important road trip for me in regards to her, and I don’t want to get choked up here so….moving on… I think during this vacation, more than any other, Charlie hung out with the adults. But at the same time, she had a chance to really hang with the younger ones in a way that she doesn’t get to when we are in the midst of the daily grind back home. She’s the furthest from the kids, age-wise, and has always been concerned about them not relating to her as well as they do to each other, but she doesn’t have to worry. Charlie is insanely curious, loves museums and concerts and went to Powell’s a total of three times this trip…so you get it, she loves books. She’s easy to hang out with, but is very passionate about social justice and is ready and willing to conduct debate judo over any issue close to her heart, no matter how exhausted you are. But that’s not a complaint. I’m glad she’s cutting her teeth on all of that because it’s very important in life to be able to articulate a thought… it’s also important to learn how to get your ass kicked in a debate as well. Hee Hee. Charlie and I also tend to lob jokes back and forth to make each other roar with laughter. I hope I’m not teaching her to be too cynical. It’s a big flaw with me and I don’t want to poison her worldview with it. So maybe I’ll stick with Dad Jokes.

And thus I’ll close out this blog with a moment I had with all the kids during this trip…

When we were standing next to the state seal on the floor of the very echoey Oregon Capitol, a joke occurred to me, so I gathered all the kids around to tell them.

Me: “Hey Kids, what did the Eagle say after he pooped?”

Piper: “What?”

Me: “CACAWWW! CACAWWW!”

Charlie: “Dad. No.”