the little travelers * travel blog

so inspiring...

I'm really so inspired by all the great stories that are being told!  In our house we, too had an ongoing saga usually about the girls when they were in the two and four range.  Then somewhere around 5 or 6 they tired of it and I stopped doing it.  The next thing you know, years have past without a made-up story!  How does that happen?  It's crazy how fast time flies past.  They were both quite pleased with the homespun story last night and couldn't wait to hear what happened next tonight.  It's such a good reminder that the kids go through phases and just because they've grown out of a phase doesn't mean they won't grow back into it again at some later date.  So, I will certainly be borrowing many ideas from those posted!  Thanks.

And congratulations to Laura for the Iran dvd.

Today for my giving Day 15 (half way!), I gave a ditch day to my youngest daughter.  We spent the day at the Phoenix Art Museum and had a really nice time together.  Now that the girls are in school it actually felt weird to be out during 'school hours.'  I never thought about it when we homeschooled and was constantly reminded by strangers who asked why the girls weren't in school, but no one asked today but I felt its strangeness.  It was positively delicious!  I don't think I will ever mature out of enjoying breaking the rules.  Why on earth I wonder, is that such an enjoyable thing for me?  

They had an exhibit there that I knew she would love and she certainly did.  It's an all mirrored room that's pitch black except for a bunch of randomly hung tiny LED lights.  It's called the Firefly Room and really delivers!  As you walk through the room you bump into the lights hanging which starts them all moving around into infinity in the mirrors.  Since I was giving her this day as a gift, I had no other agenda in the museum of art that I wanted to see.  So needless to say we spent most of our time in this little dark room.  Being a sister, though, she couldn't fully enjoy it on her own and kept saying, "I wish sissy would've come.  I know she would love it."  The big sister contemplated coming with us all week but woke up this morning with her decision to attend school instead.  So the little sister kept talking about, 'when we come back with sissy.'  It's fun to get one on one with each child but so often for my girls it ends up like this- only half enjoying until we can all go back together.  But then there's a catch in that since the one that already saw it thinks they know all about it and keeps mentioning the prior time she was there- and we all know how that goes!  I don't know of anyone who likes seeing a movie with another person who has already seen it! 

Iran DVD giveaway!

All this giving and then I realized I haven't even given away an Iran DVD yet!  That's where real life and blog life sometimes forget to mix!  But here's the catch:  I met Ray Bradbury's daughter yesterday- well, I actually have known this woman from yoga, but found out yesterday her dad was Ray!  So of course I asked what he was like as a dad and what it was like growing up with him.  And, not surprisingly, she said, "Well, of course we had the best bedtime stories."  She said he'd drag them out over weeks in little installments that would keep all the kids begging for more.  How fun.  So I felt inspired to do a little homespun story telling myself tonight.  And here's what you have to do to enter winning a dvd- a little story telling yourself tonight to your kids.  I think we forget how fun a made up story can be rather than reading a book.  So tonight after reading a chapter of the book we're in I'll begin the tale of The Littlest Pumpkin Goblin.  I have no idea where it will end but I still have an afternoon drive that'll give me some time to think of something.

So tell me the name of the homespun tale you plan on telling your kids tonight before bed so when they are 50 years old and someone asks about their childhood they will reply, "We had the best bedtime stories."  Now, I know I'm no Ray Bradbury, but I am the only Mom my girls have so I will find the best story in me that I can conjure.  Now tell me yours!

overflowing

The new baby in our midsts continues to be a major hit.  Everyday I'm met with pleas of, "Can't you pleeeze have another baby?"  The short answer being, "No."  Pretty much the same as the long answer.  There is rarely a moment when the new little one doesn't have 10 sets of fingers touching her.

We are diligently working on Voice Over for the Germany DVD right now, so with each scene of Germany comes more begging, "When are we going back there again?"  It's funny how in hindsight the nettle soup now becomes, "So good."  When the first time around it was just ok.  Now, the idea of walking through the forest and collecting nettles is so quaint and inviting since we're living in the desert.  There are no forests around here for many, many miles and it certainly does look inviting on screen.  I don't know what it is about this time of year but it always makes me anxious to get moving.  The girls dad is in Japan for business right now and calls conveys messages of fall leaves in Japan and I feel like I could sell my soul for a bike ride through the countryside stealing persimmons.  I know, not technically a nice thing to do.  But when I lived there I lived near a very large orchard that I'm sure did not miss the few I would eat along the way.  And then we'd stop in at an onsen for a nice bath and meal and then bike home again.  This was of course when I was in my 20's and had no kids, but now the girls are finally old enough to keep up on their own bikes- but here there are no great bike paths.  I mean, they are well maintained and paved with asphalt, but they are definitely not great!  Biking along a concrete-lined 'river' with no trees overhead is not great.  We are here in AZ right now for the grandparent factor, which has its perks, too.  But I certainly sense a move coming on...

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Day 11 of the 29 days of giving and I'm really enjoying myself!  It has really been fun to think of little things each day - whether it be a greeting card on a stranger's car in the parking lot to hiding chocolate in one of the girl's teacher's desk with a little note of appreciation- it has really been fun.  It's also been interesting to watch when things don't turn out quite as I planned.  The big sister got her braces off last week and I took off enough time to leave room to go out to breakfast to celebrate before heading back to school.  The little sister was thrilled but the big sister's reply was, "No, then I'll miss too much school.  I'd rather go back."  which sent the little sister into fits, "No, I'd rather go to breakfast."  What to do?  I lowered myself to the, "You can get a hot chocolate- even on a school day."  taunt, that was met with sheer determination to get to school asap.  Part of me was thinking, 'But this is my planned giving for this day!' and then thought about it and realized that if the recipient did not consider it a gift, but rather torture, was it truly giving?  So, we dropped the big sister back off at school and the little sister and I went out to breakfast to celebrated the removal of the braces without the subject of the celebration.  It was certainly not as planned, but it felt like the most generous solution to both parties.  That older child is always challenging me on what I think is 'best.'  And let's face it, the younger one and myself do not share the same love of institutions that the older has, so there was no need for us to miss out on our Nutella crepes and hot chocolate!

stretching

My giving continues in this organized way.  It is a very different feeling to wake up wondering what I will give to whom and my other requirement that it be fun in some way.  So I was laying in bed Saturday morning thinking about what I could give when 4 little girls burst into my room at barely 7am (2 daughters, 2 nieces) and in one big excitement asked if they could play Chopped, the Food Network show where a random set of ingredients are given to them and they have 30 minutes to make something yummy with it.  My first reaction to myself was, "Oh, no.  Not on a Saturday morning.  The one day I can lay in bed for a little bit and read- and the kitchen will be a gigantic mess to clean up..."  And then I remembered that I was just thinking about what I was going to give that day and decided this could actually be fun.  So I got up, set them up each one egg, 2 dates, a sprig of thyme and an apple.  Then I set the timer for 30 minutes and went back to bed.  The 8,9 & 10 yr old did the cooking while the 4 year old and myself were the judges.  I wish I would've taken pictures because the outcomes were hilarious.  I wouldn't really say delicious, but creative and amusing for sure.  The most interesting concoction was using cream cheese to grease the pan because we ran out of butter and then mixing the egg with hazelnut milk to make a sauce.  Needless to say it was one big brownish, grayish curdled, chunky 'sauce' that was topped with a burnt piece of toast- but it actually didn't taste that bad.  The 4 year old ate the whole plate!  There were apple wedges with 2 nut butters for dipping, and 'omelet'- term used loosely, and a scramble with nearly every ingredient from the pantry in it.  All dishes were edible and were finished.  I even offered to do the dishes.  It actually was very fun even though was a gigantic mess!  But I was amazed how a quick change of mind made all the difference in this experience!  It turned from dread to fun in an instant.

 

Sunday I got some practice with giving something I was slightly attached to.  I have this up on our nature table right now and a friend of mine has been asking me to make her a set and offered to pay for it.  I really would love to make her a set and intended to but my days are seriously so packed right now it felt like one more 'thing to do' on my list and was just stressing me out.  I thought a few times of giving her my set but I really like having it out this time of year.  So, yesterday I packed it up and gave it away when she came over.  It actually felt great.  It was liberating and I know she'll enjoy it.  There definitely is a difference between giving something away that is made for that person vs. something that was mine and I love.  I'm very good at giving away things I don't use any more, am finished with- like a book, or have grown tired of, but something I currently love and am enjoying felt very different.  A good kind of different.  I was a little surprised that I didn't feel any attachment to it once I decided.  I felt good and clean- better than if I had made her her own set because that would've involved squeezing it into my already busy schedule and just trying to get it done.  A lesson well learned!

I still haven't decided what will be given today- but I'm feeling it ought to be something to a stranger today...  What are you giving today?

29 days of giving day 2

My Japanese students have been begging to watch anime during class time, which I have repeatedly refused.  So I thought a fun thing to give for day 2 would be to show up with Ponyo in Japanese with no subtitles and Japanese snacks to go with it.  Usually  we have quizzes every Friday- but yesterday a movie and snacks was the surprise for them.  Needless, to say it went over very well with the students.  I'm not sure about how it will go over schoolwide when the word gets out- I have a feeling there will be a bit of fallout to come from this, but it was a fun day!  And I was very impressed with their comprehension after 5 weeks.  I did make them work while watching and write down all the words they understood- and most got between 30-40 words, which is actually quite high for it being spoken so quickly.  They also recognized about 10-15 characters each from street signs and buildings.  

Here's another very inspirational piece on giving:

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29 days of giving

Many of you may have already heard of this, but I just found it today.  I was completely inspired by this story and decided to jump on the bandwagon.  

I watched this and immediately thought, "I'm totally going to do this!"  Then I thought about what I should give today.  Well, let's see, my sis in law just had her baby on Monday so I still have her older kids staying with me.  I pick them up from school, we then stop by to visit Mom and Baby, while they visit I go and pick up dinner, then I bring them back here, bathe the gang and get them to bed.  Today if half day so I was planning on taking the kids out to lunch, which is rare and special for us- so surely I'm covered for today already!  Then I sat there and had absolutely no job with deciding to give.  There was no fun in it at all!  Those were already all obstacles in my day to conquer before being able to hit my pillow at night and just sleep!  I mean, I'm happy to help, but all those things were already planned and things I had to follow through on.  I needed a fun intervention.

So I started to think of something fun I could give when it hit me.  A few weeks ago I had yard duty at the girls' school and overheard two little girls writing notes to the faeries and leaving them by the tree.  At the time I thought to myself that I ought to bring fairy dust or little crystals to plant there the next day but kept forgetting.  Well, I remembered today.  They weren't even real crystals- just pink Himalayan rock salt hammered into small pieces that a faerie might be able to transport.  I tossed them by the tree and when I saw the two girls at pick-up I mentioned that I saw something by the tree that might be for them.  They ran over to the tree and were over the moon with excitement.  They danced and laughed and jumped up and down and shouted to the sky, "Thank-you faeries!"  And it was perfect.  Costed nothing, but the reward was huge.  Now that's a game worth playing! 

So, today is day 1 for me and I would love it if some of you played along!  I think it would be a blast to see posts here of what some of your are giving each day that are fun and creative (what I LOVE about my readers!) and can inspire each other.  I particularly liked the part where she said you should give what you're lacking or that you have an attachment to!

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I also wanted to say thank you to all of you for your lovely support on the Iran DVD!  I really do appreciate it!  Thanks!!!

Iran DVD available!!

Finally!  I really can't believe how long it took me to wrap this up!  It was 90% completed before leaving for Germany in February.  Once we were in Germany some serious computer issues put me back months and then there was working on a whole other country filming, while at the same time living in someone else's home- and all of those girls! haha.  So, anyway it is finally finished and available!  Thank all of you who have kept patiently emailng me asking WHEN it would be ready.  The answer is NOW!

 

Watch trailer here.

Purchase here.

I love all of the countries that we've covered, but this one is somehow holds a special place for me.  I think it is because I know most Americans will never travel to this country themselves, where the other countries we've gone to a more likely.  I feel I have a bit more responsibility in showing what it was like for us there since so little information is available to the West about the realities of this country.  I really hope that as many people as possible will watch this DVD.  Even the mere name Iran, evokes a negative response by most people in the West.  Yes, the president and the ruling regime are pretty wacked out, but the people of this country were so lovely to us and most of them are really wanting change.  It is a bit heart-wrenching to see what is going on there politically right now.  But this DVD is not political.  It is the country through the eyes of children.  We went to amusement centers, beautiful gardens, into homes, mosques and ate very well.  It is the Iran that very few people get to see and I feel very fortunate to have had the experience and to have shared it with my two daughters.  I really hope you all enjoy it!

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And PS, I got out of bed, turned on YouTube and actually did the gratitude dance first thing this morning.  The kids came in asking me what on earth I was doing and I told them to join in!  They mostly just stood there laughing at me- but we were all in a great mood afterward.  I think this is going to be my new morning ritual.  It was a bit of a workout actually to keep up with him for a full 5 minutes.  Time to get in shape, I guess.

And I think I've turned into my mother!  I do recall having to do jumping jacks in the morning as a kid while saying, "I'm enthusiastic!"  Only, with her heavy German accent it was more like, "I'm entoosiastic."  Now I'm asking my kids to join me in the gratitude dance.  haha.  But I just have to say there is no way one can be in a bad mood while doing the gratitude dance.  It is so goofy- all we could do was laugh.

the gratitude dance!

So, it occurred to me that my last few emails have been quite a b*tch fest!  Enough already.  Time to stop focusing on all the noise of this world.  There will always be things that aren't right, but for now I've definitely got to shift my focus and get it on something positive!  I found this and am sooo in love with it.  I went digging through YouTube videos on gratitude and found Matt.  I have no idea how I've missed him all this time.  But I'm in love.  Time for me to get off all my tangents and just do the gratitude dance!  Enjoy.

I just really love this!  It made me tear up!!

A few things I'm grateful for today are:

Newborns

Big Sisters

Choices

My friend Heather

YouTube

And being able to sleep with the window open again (nights are now in the 60s!!  heavenly)

Daytime temps under 100!

And even Dr. Mercola!  I love the web and how we all have so much information now.  There are excellent Dr.s like Mercola who put out so much great info to be the voice of balance and reason in a fear-based, pharmaceutical-driven economy.  (I'm kind of slipping into another negative tangent, aren't I?)  But the best thing about Dr. Mercola is that he does the gratitude dance!  Boogie Down, Dr.!

What about you???  What makes you do the gratitude dance?

auntie, again.

Some things never get old- like welcoming a newborn into our lives.  I'm an auntie again.  The new baby girl was born around 3 am this morning.  But I have yet to meet this new little person.  She's at a hospital about 5 minutes from  here- so why haven't I seen her?  Well, I am watching the 3 older sisters and there are no children allowed at this maternity ward!  My sis in law made it to the hospital with about 30 minutes to spare before the little one arrived.  She opted for the 'no drug' route and showed up with a doula.  I, too was a doula before I had my own children- but that was in LA county.  The hospitals were not thrilled to have me there but dealt with it.  Here in Arizona, where there are no helmet laws and children are still allowed to ride in the back of pick-up trucks, doulas are not so welcome.  The request by the doula to have her out of stirrups on her back was met with absolute resistance.  More than resistance really since it was just stated that , "We don't do that here."  But she did save her from "mandatory pitocin after delivery to ensure a quick exit of the placenta."  What on earth??

During the pushing phase when Mama was making some noise the lovely MD says to her, "Now, now... you're the one who chose not to have the drugs- so I don't want to hear it- you brought this on yourself."  in a mocking voice of condescension.  Unbelievable.  And when they wanted to check out today to go home,  the Pediatrician on staff said he would absolutely not sign the paperwork under 24 hours and if they decided to take the baby from the hospital prior to HIS release, they would be reported to CPS for endangering the baby.  Unbelievable.  

It's been nearly a decade since I was highly involved with the natural birthing scene and it seemed then that things were changing a bit.  I haven't paid much attention in recent years because most of my friends and myself are past that phase and I stopped working as a doula when I had my own babies due to the very unpractical schedule!  But, wow.  How did we get here as a society?  So cut off from our own birthing process and any sort of connection?  The siblings have to be completely cut off from their mother and seeing the baby for two days if that baby comes during the inconvenient hours?  I just wonder where we are headed as a society?  What will it look like another 50 years from now?   But on the bright side, there are options!  Those who want something different can always choose homebirth.   Thank goodness it is still a right that is available and hasn't become completely outlawed yet- though many are working on it...