Christmas 2002

Go, Gretch. Go.

Kid.

Big kid. Little kid.

Big kids and little kids.

Glad kids and fad kids.

Mad kids and rad kids.

Dad kids.

The kids are all going around and around and around.

Go around again!

That about sums it up… Go! Stop! Go! Go around again!

We’ve been reading Go, Dog. Go! for thirteen years now. Like people with their pets, I guess it was inevitable that we would begin to resemble the characters...

“On the Road Again” is our official theme song for 2002. Our year developed into one continual road trip beginning with the holiday hop from hell last New Year’s when we made the grave tactical error of flying into Newark to expedite our six-day three-state extravaganza. Airport insanity was compounded by Cameron’s ear infection, my sinus infection, a Friday night New York rush hour, multiple simultaneous sleepovers (all in different towns) and was topped off with a stomach flu that traveled from Irvington to Philadelphia along with us. Are you starting to sing along?

Immediately following our return trip to Colorado and despite our travel travails, we gamely hit the road again in January at 6:00 AM every single $^#**% Saturday for six weeks along with a million other Denver nutcases making the manic drive to ski school. One hundred miles up and one hundred miles back with seven hours of skiing (scared) in between. As Kristen would say: “Oh, joyous occasions!”

Getting four kids and a wife into ski equipment every week wasn’t enough for Phil (he’s been a closet masochist for years…); in February, he volunteered to chaperone the seventh grade ski trip to Steamboat Springs…So on Kristen’s thirteenth birthday he set out in a bus with Kris and fifty-seven of her closest friends for the ultimate father-daughter, daughter’s teachers, daughter’s friends, daughter’s ex-friends, daughter’s crushes, daughter’s crushees, daughters’ ex-crushes, daughter’s ex-crushees bonding experience. Imagine his surprise when the four and half hour drive concluded in a fifty-eight person hot tub despite the darkness, the sub-zero air temp and the fact that the tub was designed for eight…max.

Before we moved to Colorado, our kids’ idea of a long trip was a drive to the mall…but here in the wild West, people’s idea of a Sunday drive is a drive that takes the WHOLE Sunday! Do you think it was a cop-out to get a car with a VCR and five sets of headphones? We don’t! So…over the kids’ spring break we took out stock in Blockbuster and caravaned to Tucson with our good friends, the Friends (cool, huh?) 18 hours…one way. What’s one missed turn…a four hour shortcut?!! Yikes.

Come June we road-tripped again…but this time via United to the Jersey Shore for a brief reprieve from the hectic schedule. The east coast was blissful. The only time I climbed into the car was to venture off the island for supplies. We had long weekends with both of our extended families as well as an extremely memorable Fourth of July when our crazy pals, the Cashels, parked their thirty-two foot long RV in front of our house which has only 28 feet of curb (much to our neighbor’s dismay!...)

In August, we embarked on a short (anything is short after Tucson) trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons by way of Jackson Hole. We sped along desolate Wyoming roads with Cameron belting out Baptist songs courtesy of Kristen’s southern camp experience: “Rise and shine and give God your glory glory, rise and shine…”

For the first time, Kris ventured off to sleep-away camp in North Carolina along with her best NY pal, Cub. Imagine our distress upon hearing that only one week after I got her settled she slipped her Grandma an S.O.S. note while attending the local mass. After much hoopla, calls to counselors, dramatic phonecalls, desperate letters, we were startled to find posted on the camp website a photo of her slow-dancing with some unfamiliar boy! Suddenly her letters became more upbeat…well, of course she was happy: the carefully chosen all-girl camp had imported boys!!!

Will spent part of his summer back at Camp Thunderbird in Minnesota tackling his own big road trip…a 140 mile three day bike journey! Back at home, he opened last week as Charlie, the anvil salesman in The Music Man at our local theatre: he has gained the nickname “Velcro” due to his uncanny ability to attract teenaged girls.

Kevin gets around on his own set of wheels…over the past two years he’s become a lean mean rollerblading machine...a big player on two winning teams. I repeat: winning teams! Phil has experienced nirvana. Kev’s hockey player buzz cut was a big hit with the girls at cotillion…and to our great surprise he didn’t really seem to mind.

Nicole is our real road warrior. She sports her purple belt in taekwando, is soccer goalie for “The Groovy Girls”, serves as Cameron’s own personal stand-up comedian, plays a mean piano, and is well-known in the second grade for her prowess with a yo-yo. Road rage still rules when she and Kev share the back seat of the Suburban…sigh…so we’ve resorted to moving the car-seat between them …the Great Wall of Cameron. So far so good.

Speaking of Cameron, “Go, Cam, Go!” has also been an oft-heard phrase as this was the year of the potty-training. After his initial reaction to the suggestion that he do his business in the bathroom was “ I hate bafrooms” he eventually caught on and became so enamored by the idea of having my undivided attention, that some mornings would insist on sitting there for half an hour!

Our continual wrestle with the ubiquitous journey/destination question took a sober turn in late August when Phil’s dad and best friend was diagnosed with cancer. We lost him in less than five weeks and it’s been devastating. The one comfort we have is the legacy that he left…ten grandchildren and counting. He will live on in our hearts and theirs forever. We feel extremely grateful for the prayers, love, and support offered by all of you during these difficult months.

We send you our thanks and love as well as our own prayers for peace.

Gretchen, Phil, Kristen, Will, Kev, Nicole and Cameron