So Day 7. Yeah. F**k Day 7! Day 7 always sucks a** at some point. The point where we have to leave and drive 15 hours back to Louisiana. That point sucks sooooooooooo much!
I can't even really write about it. Here's the brief version:
We went to Jen and Tim's around 9:30 AM.
We got in as much nephew lovin' as possible.
We let Jen feed us a delicious lunch.
We said tearful goodbyes. Really tearful. F**k, I hate that part.
And here are some pics:
My Colin! Oy, look at dat face!
My Quinn! Could he be any cuter?
My boys! I wanna steal them. For reallsy.
My cutie patootie nephews!
They loooooove their Uncle Bydee.
Quinn with his Nanny Kate Transformer
Colin in the garden
Concentration Quinn Face
Probably my fav Colin pic of the trip. That is Colin in a nutshell!
And some video that will make you want to jump through your computer monitor and inahale these precious boys:
I adore going to Columbus. I abhor leaving Columbus. The end.
P.S. The full Columbus Tour 2009 set can be found on my Flickr page.
P.P.S. There will be another Video Extravaganza this year, but it won't be as extensive since I didn't bring my video camera because I couldn't find the battery, and I kept forgetting that I have a video option on my digital camera. Basically because I am an idiot. But you already know that.
So Day 6 began at the crack of dawn, and I didn’t mind one bit.In fact, I nearly ran out of the door in my PJs and bed head to get my Jack and Benny’s on.Ah, Jack and Benny’s!How do I love thee?Let me count the menu items.Well, maybe not.That would take all blog as I have a slight obsession with the place.More so even than with Schmidt’s Sausage Haus, ye of the beloved cream puff and Bahama Mama, and that’s saying something.Let me put it this way.All tallied, I have been to Columbus seven times now.I have never, NEVER, not gone to Jack and Benny’s when I am in town.I think I would crawl over broken glass while being forced to eat beans if it meant that at the end of it I would be able to eat breakfast at Jack and Benny’s.
At 7:30 I picked up Jen, and we headed downtown.We arrived five minutes before they opened and were the second ones in the door.I knelt down and kissed the doormat on the way in.Not really.But I wanted to.
Outside
Inside
The menu at Jack and Benny’s is very extensive and it’s ALL breakfast food.That’s it.Breakfast all day.Well, hello there HEAVEN! Am I right?Yeah, I’m right!Jen and I each got the Jack’s Dad which is two eggs cooked to order, hash browns, corned beef hash, and toast.You can even get rye toast (rye toast, people!), and that is exactly what we did.This is a major clue that we were raised by a Yankee mother.We actually eat and love bread that doesn’t say Evangeline Maid on the package.Also, the corned beef hash.I don’t know how it is that, being raised by a Yankee mother as I was, I had never had this stuff until last year at Jack and Benny’s, but I am now totally in love with it.I’d marry Jack and Benny’s corned beef hash if it were legal.When are we gonna make that a federal law, huh?Way more important than gay marriage in my book.
We also got a Buckeye pancake, which has peanut butter and chocolate chips in it, and a coconut pancake to share.Yeah, cuz, ya know.There was no way that oval platter overflowing with food would be enough for us.It is at this point that I thanked the Baby Jesus for giving me a sister.A sister who loves and adores the Jack and Benny’s as much as I do.
Menu
Buckeye Pancake
Coconut Pancake
The Jack's Dad
After our kick a** breakfast, we headed over to Target in Easton to pick up some flip flops and a tank top for Jen.Can you believe this girl has NO flip flops?!?!?We had been discussing this on the back porch the day before when she innocently said, “I love all of your flip flops.Don’t the things hurt between your toes though?”And I was all, “Uh, no!Not at all.”And she said, “Oh, I never wear them because when I was little they used to make the skin between my toes blister.”And I was all dumbfounded and said, “Dude!Flip flops have come a long way since 1983!WTF?You need to get on board the flip flop bus ASAP.Your life will never be the same.They are God’s gift to shoe wear. Cheap, comfy, slip on and off at a moment’s notice.What’s not to like?And Target is flip flop nirvana.You need to give flip flops another chance.”And then she said the most mind-boggling statement of all, “Oh, Target has good flip- flops?”Like WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?What planet have you been on, girl?So I decided then and there that it was time for an intervention.And that is how we ended up at Target where I insisted that she get two pairs, a black and a brown, so that she could wear them with anything.Each of them even had a wedge heel.That’s a total bonus cuz for her that’s like a wearable step ladder. She may not have to ask for help reaching things on tall shelves during the summer ever again.And we picked up some liquid bandage just in case there was a “between toe” issue.
On the way out we stopped for Starbucks iced coffees (YUM!) with double shots of expresso (ZING!).That was just the ticket we needed for more shopping.Jen had pointed out a Trader Joe’s on the way to Target, and I wanted to stop and check it out.I have been hearing about Trader Joe’s forever, and I really wish we had one in Lafayette.It’s like an affordable, smaller Whole Foods.But I must not have said out loud that I wanted to stop there because when I was asked Jen, “Where do I turn?”She said, “Oh, we’ll just take this street all the way back to Gahanna.”And I got all hysterical and screamed at her, “We’re going to Trader Joe’s, guh!” And she said, “Oh, we are?You didn’t say anything.I’m sorry.Turn here.”And then I had to apologize for getting all panicked and psycho over the fact that she inadvertently suggested we not stop at a place that sells food and cheap wine. Yeah. There is something wrong with me.
But here’s where it gets bad.The girl literally lives seven minutes from Trader Joe’s, and she had never even been in there.Dude.I think that might be a venial sin.So I extolled the virtues of Trader Joe’s and once inside, she was rightfully impressed.For some reason, she thought it was like Whole Paycheck, which it totally is like that but very, very affordable.The poorer man’s Whole Foods.We picked up some Greek yogurt I had heard about and wanted to try, two tubs of cookies for the boys (my suggestion, of course), and some Two Buck Chuck.Awesome!
After our fantastic quality time together, we decided on the way home that we would make Saturday Morning Sister Time a tradition from now on.Loves it!And we totally shook on it, so she can NEVER back out.I am evil.But in a good way.
Back at the house, Tim had picked up Bydee at the hotel and Tim’s parents came by to drop off the boys and Schmidt’s Bahama Mamas for us to take back to Lafayette.I LOVE Tim’s parents!Also, David, his brother, who was actually the one who got them for us for free because he has an inside hook-up.It so pays to have connections.
A bit later, Tim’s friend Odee and his girlfriend Sam came over, and we headed down to ComFest.This was a lot of fun, but it was super crowded and with the boys with us, it made it hard to partake of the music and drinking which, let’s face it, is what I expect when I go to a festival.Helloooo, Louisiana here!Anyway, we ended up separating into guys and girls.We girls took the boys to play on the playground and jump in the space walk thingy.We stayed about 2 ½ hours and then decided we were whipped.We texted the boys that we were leaving and got the heck out of there.
We stopped of at CVS on the way home so I could play “Crazy Spoiling Auntie” and buy the boys Transformer toys and candy.Then we picked up some fresh sweet corn at Smith’s Market and went home where I busted open that Two Buck Chuck faster then you can say, “This b***h needs a drank!”Ahhhhhh, all bettah!
We spent the rest of the night playing with the boys and visiting.We had phenomenal ribs and corn for supper.Seriously?Those ribs?F**king fantastic!
We had the traditional bye-bye fest that night.Quinn cried.Oh my Lord, my heart was broken.But before we left for the hotel, Jen asked if we would please come by before we headed back to Lafayette in the morning.That didn’t take much arm-twisting, naturally, and was agreed upon immediately.
For you, that means you get a Day 7 blog.See?Evil.But in a good way.The end.
Whoops!Pics!Gotcha again!
Colin and his Hawaiian Shaved Ice at ComFest
Quinn checkin' out ComFest on his pack mule, a.k.a. Uncle Bydee
So Day 5 started off with a fairly early wake up call, so I could make sure that Alex got on the airport shuttle from the HI Express.And let me just pause here to give a shout out to the Holiday Inn Express in Gahanna.We’ve stayed there three years in a row now and absolutely love it. It’s very clean, the staff is super nice, the maid service is first rate, and the breakfast is AWESOME!Those cinnamon rolls are the bomb diggity, and I’m not even that much of a fan of the cinnamon roll in general.And I don’t know what they use as an air freshener there, but you know those Febreeze commercials where the people like fall on the rugs and curtains and bury their faces in them?That’s what I wanted to do every time I stepped off onto the 4th floor this trip. Love ya, HI Express Gahanna!
Okay, moving on.Alex and I woke up a about 8:30 and got him ready for departure.We went downstairs and enjoyed our delicious free breakfast.I insisted that he leave for the airport no later than 10:30 AM for his noon flight. I wanted to be sure that he had plenty of time to make his flight.Blame my high anxiety levels.That’s what I do.Cuz it’s TRUE!
Once Alex was seen off safely, I gathered up my laptop and went down to the pool to catch up on my blog and picture uploads.Even though it’s an indoor pool, it was still incredibly relaxing.Jen called me at what I thought was 11 o’clock to see if I wanted to go with her to pick up the boys at 12:30.I said yes, but then realized I was in the wrong time zone on my laptop and was still in my swimsuit.I didn’t think unsuspecting babysitters needed to be exposed to that, so I remained at the hotel and got ready at a leisurely pace while waiting for Byron to return from Louisville. When he got back, right on time at 1:00 PM as instructed by Mrs. Anxiety here (Good job, Bydee!), we headed over to Jen’s place. On the way there, Bydee unwittingly opened the door to the perfect chance to gross him out when he asked what we had done while he was in Louisville. I responded, "Oh, we took the boys swimming and then we ordered Chinese food for supper at Jen and Tim's, and then Alex and I came back to the hotel... (pause for effect, turn to Byron and yell at the side of his face) and then we f**ked like rabbits!" Purrrfect timing since he screamed "AHHH! EWWWW! Do not want! TMI! Gross!" Ahahhahahahaha! Nothing is as fun as harrassing Bydee. NOTHING!
We had plans to head over to Cincinatti to see my new favorite comic Mike Birbiglia, a.k.a. "Birbigs".We hung out for awhile and played with the boys then around 3:30 PM, we headed over to Hilliard to drop the boys off at Tim’s parents for an overnight.Quinn, after almost a week of weird schedules and missed naps, had a minor meltdown because he wanted Bydee to ride with them to Hilliard.(What am I? Chopped liver?) But Byron was feeling the effects of a night of Maker’s Mark in Louisville, so he stayed behind to take a nap and recover.Once we were in the car, the boys fell asleep almost immediately.The drop off at Tim’s parents was fine, and I got to see Jen and Tim’s niece Valerie, daughter of Tim’s brother David and his wife Britt, who is just the cutest little chunky monkey babay.
We picked up Tim from work on the way back, and the boys had a few beers and relaxed before we headed over to Cincy at about 6:30 pm for the eight o’clock show.On the way, we stopped off for a restroom break for the guys and tried to get them some beer, but we happened to stop in a dry county.Curses!For them. I didn’t give a s**t since I couldn’t drink. Yeah, I don't really do compassion when I can't partake in the drinking.
We probably should have left a bit earlier for the show, especially since none of us know Cincy at all.But, thanks to my precious the iPhone, we made it there.We were a bit late, arriving at 8:30, but Mike had just gotten on stage.The comedy club, Go Bananas, was really nice. Jen and Bydee had never been to a comedy club before so they were both shocked at how intimate the setting was.We were seated maybe 20 feet away from Mike.
Before we left for Columbus, I had forced Byron to watch YouTube videos of Mike Birbiglia and he thought he was hilarious, but neither Tim nor Jen had ever seen any of Mike’s videos.I was a bit worried that they wouldn’t like him, but I think Mike has two new fans.They loved him!I, of course, laughed so hard I cried.It was awesome!
After the show, they announced that Mike would be out front and there was merchandise, including CDs, available for purchase.Jen and I went into the bathroom after the show, and when we finally got to the merch table, there was no Mike and there were no CDs on the table, so we went outside to meet up with Tim and Bydee.They decided to go into the bar next door to get a drink for the road, and I decided to go back into the comedy club to actually ask about the CDs.When I went in, I asked the guy at the table about the CDs.Some guy over to the left piped up, “I don’t know what happened. They didn’t show up.Here, you can have this keychain or something.”I looked over and HOLY S**TBALLS!!!!! It was Mike!I talked to him for a minute and told him I’d come all the way from Louisiana for his show (which was close enough to the truth), and he let me take a pic with him.
Me with Birbigs!
He always makes what he calls his “picture face” in photos, which I think is hysterical.Anyway, he was super nice as I gushed all over him and he told me he hoped to see me at another show sometime.Which I def plan to make happen!When I came running out of the club, I was all “BA-DAM!Look at this, b***hes!I got a pic with Mike!”And everyone was duly excited and thrilled for me.
In the bar, Bydee and Tim had asked for their drinks to go and, of course, the bartender was all, “What?Uh, we don’t do that.”Bydee spied some plastic cups on the bar and just poured the drinks into them.You can take the boy out of Louisiana, but you can’t take away his to-go cup.
The trip back seemed much quicker than the trip down.I guess the Mike Birbiglia anticipation on the way there had something to do with it.Anyway, we made it back to C-bus, and I had convinced Jen on the trip back to get up early and go to Jack and Benny’s with me at 7:30 AM.Bydee and Tim were having no part of that since they were both going to be nursing hangovers.My evil plan to spend some quality sister time with Jen came to fruition with frightening ease!
Everyone tucked into some late night leftovers, but I limited myself to a handful of Doritos because I wanted to be plenty hungry for Jack and Benny’s in the AM.Food obsessed pig here!
Eventually, Bydee and I headed back to the hotel where Byron’s self-imposed ban was over because the all night freight train known as Zandy was back in Louisiana.We both fell into a deep and blissful sleep.Him to sleep out his alcohol consumption and me to prep myself for the AM gluttony at my fav C-bus breakfast joint.
And you've been spared because I didn't really take any pics on Day 5. You can thank me later. The end.
So I'm going to keep this post short and sweet. There's a reason for this. I am behind on these d**n things, and I just spent an hour writing, editing, and adding pics to the last one. I'm over it. Why? Because I AM LAZY! Duh! You know this, people!
Here's the rundown: 1. Pick boys up early from daycare. Tim, Bydee, and Alex head to downtown Columbus to eat lunch at North Market and pick up a jug o' beer at the Elevator Brewery. 2. Me, Jen, and boys go back to hotel and swim for 2.5 hours. After 2.5 hours, Quinn is not ready to leave and announces that he could live in the pool and swim for ONE HUNDRED hours, NANNY KAAAAAAAAATE!!!! 3. ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!!!!! (The men meet us there.) 4. Home. Exhausted. Whoops! Grocery store and Farmer's Market for supper necessities. 5. iPhone, camera, piggyback rides, basketball, and blue horsey. Bedtime for boys at 8 PM goes over like a lead balloon. Sample quote: "But Nanny Kate, I just wanna go back to the hotel pool wif you. I don't wanna go doh-doh." (FYI: Doh-Doh is sleep.) 6. Blue cheese stuffed burgers and roasted corn! Oh my! Yummmmmmmmmm! 7. Hotel for me and Alex. Byron decides to stay at Tim and Jen's so he can, you know, sleep rather than listen to a freight train in the bed next to him all night as he did the previous evening.
So Day Two started off at 6:30 AM with a text from Alex letting me know he had missed his flight. At first I thought he was just being Alex and messin’ around with me, and I was all, “Ha! Ha! You’re funnay!” and he was all, “Uh, dude. I’m serious.” I immediately called him to find out what was going on. He had apparently gotten to the airport 45 minutes before his flight, thinking this was plenty of time to get on his flight in the rinky-dink Lafayette airport, but there was a huge church group departing for some convention, and he couldn’t get through security quickly enough to make his flight. Ugh. So instead of arriving at 10:35 AM, he would arrive at 5:40 PM. Ugh.
After our chat, Mrs. Anxiety here, could not go back to sleep. So at 6:30 AM I set about taking care of all my techie stuff. I got a lot done. Emails, pictures, blogs, tweets, etc. At 10:15, I called Alex to make sure he was awake and ready to head to the airport. His flight was leaving at 11:50. He was in line to get a haircut. Are you serious?!?!? But Zandy “I Fly by the Seat of My Pants” Mottram did actually make it to the airport and onto his flight. WHEW!
After I had been assured that he was on the plane, Bydee and I headed over to Jen and Tim’s and we decided to go to Creekside Diner for lunch. It was absolutely delicious. You may have seen my live blog of my Reuben sandwich, but I think we’d all like to see it again, right? Right!
Mmmmmmmm, teh heavenly sandwich!
Lunch with Bydee
Lunch with Tim
Lunch with Jen
After lunch we went back to the house, and Jen and I sat around visiting. Tim and Bydee took naps. Jen told a story that revealed my indoctrination of the nephews into iPhone obsession is almost complete.
At daycare, Miss Diane, the boys’ sitter, had misplaced some money and she asked Quinn if he had seen it. He said no. She teasingly asked him, “Well, Quinn, how am I supposed to find my money?” This is when Colin piped up with “There’s an app for that!” Ahahahahahahahaha! That is AWESOME!
Tim and I headed to the airport to pick up Alex at 5:15 PM. It was a smooth, quick trip there and back. Tim and Jen live 10 minutes from the airport. Very convenient.
Back at the house, Jen had picked up the boys from daycare, and they were waiting for camera and iPhone.
We all went outside to hang out and play, and Colin decided that Alex’s name was Uncle Felix. No matter how many times we tried to correct him, he would repeat Uncle Alex to us and then turn around and call him Uncle Felix. Alex got a huge kick out of this. And Alex being, he had to turn it into something sordid yet hilarious and said to me, “Babe, it’s cool. That’s my porn name.” Oh, Zandy! And later, “You can call me Felix in bed tonight.” Oh, Zandy!
The rest of the night was spent just hanging out, playing with the chirrens, and then GORGING on grilled snow crab and beer brats.
Frisbee!
Cell phone!
Piggyback ride!
Tinker Toys!
Basketball!
Rooftop sitting!
Transformers!
About that snow crab and those brats- OH MY LORD! DEE-LISH-OUS! For reallsy.
Tim with his culinary masterpiece! Grilled crab!
Beer Brats
I thought I might start to grow an exoskeleton if I ate anymore crab, so I put down the nut crackers, and we headed back to the hotel for a deep sleep filled with dreams of Thurminators (Oh, it’s coming! Hold your horses!). For me at least. I had tried to warn Bydee about Alex’s “snoring” a.k.a. “Rafter shaking, OH DEAR GOD!, what is that?!?!? An earthmover?!?!? snoring.” My defense against this is Tylenol PM and ear plugs. Worked like a charm, as usual. Bydee did not want to take the Tylenol PM. Something about he didn’t think it was necessary to drug himself in order to get a good night’s sleep. Oh, Bydee! Must you always learn the hard way?
Stay tuned for Day 3! And Thurminator Thursday!
P.S. You can check out the full set of pics from Columbus on my Flickr. You can thank me later.
So Day One began at 9:00 PM on Sunday.That’s when we backed out of the driveway of Chez Hovel de Kable and took off for Columbus.People, it has been a long, long time since I did the drive through the night thing.And, people, you know something? I am way too old for that s**t.
I drove the first leg of the trip from Lafayette to Nashville.With Baby Bro asleep in the passenger seat, it was a long, long drive through the state of Mississippi.The “Dueling Banjos” theme ran through my head several times as we hurtled through hillbilly country.At about 3:00 in the morning, I thought I was losing it.My eyes started getting that gritty feeling, and they were all, “Duuuuuuuude, this is not working for me.”I was never so happy to see a sunrise.
After switch off, I tried to get some Z’s.But I don’t sleep well in cars, so when I awoke I had been asleep all of an hour.I just gave up and kept Bydee company the rest of the way.He got the shi**y weather and traffic jam part of the journey.Ha!Sucks to be you!
We pulled into Jen and Tim’s at about 1:30 PM.The boys were still at daycare so we shot the breeze for a bit then at 3 PM, we came back to the hotel, had a snack, and took a two hour nap.I don’t think Bydee wanted to get up from that nap, but I was all, “You get you’re a** out of that bed, mister!You can sleep when you’re dead!I’ve got nephews to eat up with hugs and kisses.”And he was all, “This is gonna be a long friggin’ week. *sigh*”
Back at Jen and Tim’s the boys came flying out of the house to greet us.Is there anything so delicious as adorable nephews who are simply apoplectic with glee over your arrival?I think not.
We played for a bit, then I pulled out my camera, and I’ll just put it this way.Nothing changed from last year. It was all, “May I see your camera?” every five minutes after that. Here’s some of their handiwork:
Blue Horsey- Up close and personal!
Uncle Bydee- Up close and personal
Blue Horsey- Distant and impersonal
But I hadn’t brought my video camera, so I had to throw my new iPhone into the mix so they could trade off periodically and I wouldn’t have to hear, “Is it MY turn?!?!?” every thirty seconds.This turned out to be a genius move since when Colin, who’s three, gave it back to me, he’d managed to move all the icons around.Something I hadn’t been able to figure out how to do over the course of three days, he figured out in about five minutes. So I asked how he did it, and he was all smug about it and sighed and said, “Let me show you, Nanny Kate.”Outsmarted by a three-year-old.Well, not the first time and won’t be that last, I’m sure.
Tim’s friend Paul came over with his girlfriend Heather, and we all sat around visiting and, of course, there were horsey rides, basketball, Frisbee, and Monsters, Inc., as well.But I think the highlight of the night was when I went to the bathroom, and Colin was all, “I have to pee and poop; I’ll come with you.”And so it was that we ended up taking turns sitting on the edge of the tub, watching each other do our respective businesses, while planning our adventures.A short recap:
Colin:Nanny Kate, I want you to come back to my house tomorrow.(*grunt* plop!)
Me:Oh, I am!I’ll be here tomorrow and a lot more days.
Colin:Yeah.And, Nanny Kate, tomorrow can we ride on your back again? (*grunt* plop!)
Me: Yep.And play Frisbee.
Colin:And hide and seek?(*grunt* plop!)
Yeah, like that.It was all I could do not to burst out laughing at the absurdity of it.Then, when it was all said and done and I had helped with the wiping and the re-dressing and the washing of hands.He looked at me and said, “Nanny Kate, I love you.You are so beautiful.”And I devoured him whole.
The rest of the evening was filled up with lots of playing and laughter and visiting.And of course, supper!(My favorite part of the day!Right after breakfast and lunch!)We had this deliciousness:
MMMMMMMMM! Papa Murphy's stuffed crust pizza!
I’m not the only one who thinks this is heaven on a plate.Check it:
Shortly after supper, it was time for the boys to go to bed, and Byron and I were beat so we headed back to the hotel where we both managed (barely) to brush our teeth before collapsing.And I dreamed of Thurminators.Hmmm, what’s a Thurminator, you ask?Oh, you’ll see.You’ll see!And when you do, you’ll be sooooooo jealous of me.Or disgusted with me.One or the other.Stay tuned!!!
What that?No, I didn’t decide to spare you the pics!HA!Fooled ya!Shpladow!
Classic Quinn: "Let me just explain this to you, Nanny Kate"
Colin and Blue Horsey
Quinn playing basketball
Colin: "Can't talk! Figuring out this iPhone thing!"
Quinn doing his "I'm AH-dorble! You are powerless to resist me!" face
and Colin doing his "I'm AH-dorble! You are powerless to resist me!" face.
My Colin! Oy, look at dat face!
My Quinn! Could he be any cuter?
My boys! I wanna steal them. For reallsy.
My cutie patootie nephews!
They loooooove their Uncle Bydee.
Quinn with his Nanny Kate Transformer
Colin in the garden
Concentration Quinn Face
Probably my fav Colin pic of the trip. That is Colin in a nutshell!
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