Winter Break US Tour

Hi all, First of all, sorry for moving all the old posts…Believe it or not, too many guests were finding our blog in searches. Not that we have anything to hide, but…you know…It is kind of creepy…Bill can send a link to any of the old posts if people are interested…This one is Cathy’s report of the jet setter tirp around the US during school vacation…yes, we were brave enough o leave Bill all alone to man the fort…..sorry no pics..could not get them uploaded,,10 weeks of Cassidy and Liam on school break…they enjoyed December sleeping in. Cassidy and I took a few surfing lessons and are ready for more. We were busy with guests and did a few day trips and light shopping in Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo.
Christmas decorating brought out familiar, well loved ornaments and memories. Holidays are not as advertised here, which was weirdly welcomed as the only shop that adds Christmas items is the grocery store! We’d stocked up on scented oils and brought in the familiar smell of pine for the month. The lights were hung with ornaments alongside up along the loft beams. The kids and I were leaving at 7am on the 27th so all ornaments were gently tucked away the day after Christmas. We charged up the gameboys and headed out.
Our vaca was a whirlwind bash starting in Milwaukee at the Witty compound; we were surrounded with comfort and family. Christopher was home from college in Arizona, and it was a treat to have him home too. We were so cozy and warm with the soft, fuzzy blankets and flannel sheets Erin set us up with. One beautiful snowfalling day we watched the kids gear up and go out for snowman building and snowball fighting. Red faces and runny noses were treated with hot chocolate. We had a fire going and were inspired to go sledding that night with a light dusting coming down until midnight. We had the hills to ourselves and enjoyed various snow buddy sledding teams and Liam snowboarding. Late nights enjoying O’Witty bailey snifters, home cookin and movies were a treat and the kids would go MIA downstairs with the ultimate game room: pool table with a ping pong top, legos, playstation, couches, recliners, bean bag chairs, blankies and pillows…the cave. Erin and I had a luxury day of facials, lots of shopping stops and wii hunting. We went to our first Harlem globetrotters game on NYE day, great seats and downtown Milwaukee scenes was a celebration day and a great steak dinner and snacks. We were able to meet Christopher’s friends and squeeze a dinner with Kyle’s family where we learned a new board game. We also made a journey to Chuck E Cheez, Trader Joe’s, Luke’s basketball tournament with coach Kyle. Muffy had been down with the flu and luckily was feeling better so we got to visit with her and John and doggy Frieda. It was the coldest there, getting down to 6 degrees with that frozen nose feeling. Cassidy, Erin and Kellen took Gracie for a snowsuit walk and Erin kept me going with a Billy Banks workout and a custom in home gym circuit. Not sure it cancelled out any caloric intake but was fun and felt invigorating! Love and thanks Witty family
Next stop was Grammy and Grampy’s, aka home, and I hung out many nights w/ Kelly where we went out for country and U2 nights for live music and watched the Patriots win the last 2 playoff games at the bar scene circuit she knows which was fun. Chris and Deb had us over for a delicious dinner and Bobby shared his playstation system with the kids. Chris, Kelly and I went out one night for a few drinks where Deb works and one afternoon we went to take pictures on Chris’ new Harley. My dad had fallen while hiking about a month before we got there and had surgery and wasn’t adjusting to crutches so we didn’t do the planned train to Boston days, etc but had fun chilling and renting movies, and a few old favorite restaurant stops. It’s so nice to go back home for family dinners and stopping for a few old familiar foods like Cristo’s salad, pizzas, Chinese food and Dunkin Donuts! It snowed a few nights and Liam was helpful with Grammy shoveling and as Grandpa’s assistant for mail, the paper and whatever his needs were while Cassidy, Grammy and I did lots of shopping. One afternoon Grammy took the kids to a movie at the mall while I shopped for 2 hours alone bouncing like an ADD afflicted adult from shop to shop. Those after Christmas sales are amazing. Our original flight out to Phoenix got cancelled, luckily a full day ahead, and we had time and an internet café to rebook flights out the following day. The storm didn’t prove to be as bad as predicted.

We had a direct flight to Phoenix and Janice picked us and our 8 huge bags of luggage up at the airport. Luc was with and was such a treat to stay with us while mom chauffeured for the afternoon. We had big plans to make our Greece trip reservations…still working on thatJ Can you imagine me and the kids lugging body bagged sized bags—sky cabs and singles kept us going. It was such a bummer to miss a day in Phoenix as the afternoon we flew in was the get together with Heidi & Brent, Ada& Bryan, Hannah and Zane; Tina & David, Colin and Ethan, Kimberly and Mark and Cassidy and Liam’s friends and families. No time for sleep—the Legacy resort was a nice place to make home base and had a spa size tub we filled up for relaxing. We also rented a car which was a freeing feeling since I hadn’t driven since May. Cassidy and Liam hung out and had sleep over and the Bailey’s treated me to a fabulous dinner and drinks. Janice had us over for dinner and a visit and the kids caught up play and we enjoyed catching up and visiting. We did an afternoon of shopping for last minute needs and missed getting to Our lady of Mount CarmelL It’s hard to get it all done with late nights and early mornings! Traffic afterschool was crucial—not something I miss although in the free upgraded, leather interior 2008 Ford Explorer it was easy to pass the time searching through 3 satellite radio stations! I believe this is where Gary was able to run over and get one of the cherished wii consoles Colleen found for us in Dallas! Phew~ that was close!
We got into LA and Moe just happened to be playing in town for 2 nights so thanks to Jill & Jacob and Aunt Mary we did kid dropping in Hermosa beach for a boardwalk arcade night and an Original house of Pancakes –no Cassidy OHP is not Old home for People but the Original House of Pancakes where we met Jill and Jacob for a delicious breakfast and a retrieve the kids spot! Aunt Mary flew in from Chicago and picked them up for a sleepover up on the hill and out for a movie, out for dinner, shopping and homemade cookie time. Luckily, MLK day coincided with a lazy post show Sunday and Uncle Dave whomped up a delicious bbq for all. He also took us to Universal Studios which was a nice change from the Disney rush as there aren’t as many on the list of things to do. Home cooking, Jacuzzi time and satellite TV and saved dvr recordings kept us all at awe, equipped with pillows and blankies, for hours.
Our last stop was Dallas w/ Colleen, Gary and JC who took on the much needed designated wii teacher and game partner. We were on our fourth bottle of airborne by this point and needing a bit of R&R which is exactly how we enjoyed our visit with Colleen and I catching up over senseo coffee pods, yummm, and wine in the evening and home cooking, order out pizzas and unlimited Shellcrosslee pantry raids! We didn’t even go for lugging the bags upstairs and opted to rearrange bags for weight downstairs while Colleen set us up with laundry services for the journey homeward. We rented blockbuster movies one night Colleen and I wrapped up in her luxurious bed for a movie. Our freakishly early flight out on Sunday was touch and goes as it was foggy and nearly missed the hour international time limit—nice woman there walked us though security and we made the flight without having to do the re-check on the connecting flight.
Ah, touchdown. It wasn’t over yet…our driver showed up with a small car, mind you we had been filling large SUV’s to the brim, so we spent some time watching James and a helper waterproof our bags and tether them to the roof of the car for the journey home. We called Bill and excitedly reported we’d be there in about 4 hrs. Well, about an hour out was ended up in a traffic jam caused by a fatality on the highway, this requires finding the judge of the province to come and do his official things. We rolled in about midnight, Bill was waiting for us and we excitedly crawled out of the car and walked down the lush jungle path home. Despite being exhausted we opened the suitcases and found the comfy blankets we hunted down after staying at the Witty’s; Erin spoiled us with the softest, humidity friendly, couch blankies. We were thankful to have made it home safely, regardless of delays. Bill had been busy while we were away ! We woke to see shelving in Cassidy’s room, a towel bar and the entire wood interior was cleaned and varnished. That was in addition to cooking, dishes, laundry, and guest relations. I think Bill’s favorite thing we brought back is this ‘Monkey Butt’ powder Kyle found for him.
Feb 11 began the new year for Cassidy in 7th grade and Liam in 4th and the first report given by Liam’s teacher that also works at the local Duende Gourmet market is that they are doing great using Spanish. The one downfall they’ve reported is that the new school director stopped the pre and post school pulperia, corner market, shopping so no more before and after school treats.

till next time and promise to get some pics up...