Act II, Scene 2: northbound

SATURDAY -
Decisions:
1. We decided to head north this weekend, to an area called Bay of Islands.
2. It decided to rain all day.
3. Kristen and I decided we wanted to stop at Sheep World, a tourist place just outside Auckland where you can watch them shear sheep, etc. Curt and Carlin weren't nearly as enamoured with chubby sheep as Kristen and I were, but they agreed to come along anyway. Besides the sheep shearing demonstration, we got to pet the sheep, feed them pellets and feed milk bottles to the lambs. They guy giving the show was admittedly corny, but we (Kristen and I) loved it anyway. The place also had talented sheep dogs who demonstrated their skill. In addition, they had goats, donkeys, rabbits, ducks, alpacas and even deer. While living in Bellingham, we used to see deer in our yard once or twice a year, but we were never able to pet them. Here, Carlin finally got to feel its velvety head.  The only bad part about our visit to Sheep World was that it decided to rain the whole time (see #2 above).  

We got back in the car to drive for a few hours, then decided to stop at the famous toilets in Kawakawa. Yes, they have the most famous toilets in the world (so they say). It was designed by Hundertwasser, an Austrian artist who lived in New Zealand for his last 30 years, and he designed these public toilets for his tiny little town. It's colourfully spectacular, with a grass roof, ceramic mosaic tiles, cobblestone flooring and a (live) tree. Kawakawa's toilets were a perfect potty stop.

We arrived in Paihia in the Bay of Islands a few hours later and spent some time wandering through the town, looking at souvenir shops and hoping to find a wool sweater for Carlin (we'd bought Nolan a wool sweater while he was here, so Carlin wanted one too). Ate traditional Kiwi fish & chips for dinner and played Scrabble in the hotel room. I can't remember for sure, but I'd guess that Curt won.

SUNDAY - Curt made French toast for breakfast before Carlin and Kristen went on their dolphin cruise. We'd been swimming with the dolphins with Nolan & Erica but if you recall, I had been seasick on the dolphin boat and therefore not very keen for a repeat performance. We sent them on the boat without us. They got to see dolphins playing and romping, but regrettably they weren't allowed to swim with them because there were baby dolphins present, and conservation laws prohibit people being in the water with the babies. Still, it was an exciting experience for them. Meanwhile, Curt and I went to see Haruru Falls, read the paper, and I took a L-O-N-G nap, getting sunburned in the process.

We packed up and left Paihia, heading back to Auckland. After a few hours' drive, we stopped at a deserted beach for a brief pit stop but ended up staying 3 hours! It was so vast and blue and pristine and perfect that we decided to change into our togs (swimsuits). I ran down the beach, went in the ocean and got knocked down by the waves a few times, feeling about ten years old. Carlin laughed at me. Curt walked along the sand, collecting shells to embellish his elaborate sand castle masterpiece. Except for a bit more sunburn, it was truly idyllic - peaceful, sunny and golden. Aaahh. The only strange thing that marred our enjoyment a tiny bit was an old man riding a quad bike up and down the beach ... naked. We couldn't really figure out if he was patrolling the beach, or if he just like riding around naked. A strange incident, in an otherwise great weekend.

On Monday, Curt and I regrettably had to go back to work, and Carlin & Kristen excitedly headed to a bach (vacation home) on the Coromandel peninsula, generously loaned by our neighbours.  They would get a few well-deserved days to themselves (they were on their honeymoon, after all). 

Act I, Scene 3: Grand Canyon

It was time for a road trip.
We were off to the Grand Canyon with Austin+Jonna, Nolan+Erica, and Boone. (Carlin+Kristen were away on their honeymoon) I said a teary goodbye to my mom and 2 brothers. At least I would be seeing my mom in January in NZ for 6 weeks!

Seven adults and 7 adults' luggage was a lot to cram into the rental mini-van. If only somebody hadn't bought so much chocolate chips and other American purchases while they were here. I tried to call Jolynn's house to see if we could leave some suitcases with her for a few days, but it turned out that the number I was dialing was Carlin's! Oops. I hung up as soon as I heard his voice message. I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to call the groom at 9 a.m. on the day after the wedding. The boys got enormous comedy mileage out of my blunder, making jokes that I can't repeat in this blog.

We're off. Saguaro cactus everywhere. Nolan was feeling carsick within the first hour. We stopped and changed places. Was he really sick or was it a ruse to get the front seat? Hmmm. Throughout the trip, there was incessant competition for who sat where. It was just like when they were littler and they'd shout "shotgun" to claim the front seat. Actually, we had assigned seats in our family van (with name tags) because I got fed up with them fighting over the seats every time we went somewhere. Some things never change.

We stopped again in Flagstaff for lunch. Nolan mocked Erica during the entire trip because her pronunciation of Flagstaff sounded more like "FLAYG-staff." She poked him frequently in retaliation. Luckily, she's good-natured about his ribbing. This was our first family vacation that included girlfriends, but Erica and Jonna have been a part of the family for so many years now, that it seemed natural. Those poor girls - I wouldn't blame them if they didn't want to be associated with our family ever again after being subjected to multiple discussions about poop. The boys seemed to bring it up in every conversation during the 5 hour drive. Who raised these kids?

Arrived at Grand Canyon. WOW. Took many photos. Walked along the rim and hiked down a little bit. Took many pictures. Here's one of Boone looking over the edge. Don't lean too far! Watched the sunset. Took many pictures. Bought many souvenirs. Went to a pizza place for dinner, then back to the lodge to play cards. I lost many times, but always seemed to have a pair of fours. Why? Carlin called during an airport layover on their way to the honeymoon resort in Fiji. He sounded a little sad that he was missing a big card game on a big family vacation. I tried to convince him that no, we're not really having any fun. Alas, the hoopla from the beer-drinking brothers in the background exposed the truth.

The next morning, Nolan accused Austin of plugging up the toilet in Nolan's room. Austin denied it, saying he saw it go down successfully. Why was he using Nolan's toilet anyway? (probably because he didn't want to stink up his own room) Will this never end?

Explored the Grand Canyon some more. Took more pictures. Drove to Flaygstaff for lunch provisions, then on to Walnut Canyon, to see some Indian cliff dwellings, holes in a sheer cliff wall. How did the Sinagua Indians get from their houses/caves down to the creek for water? And how did they get up the cliff to their crops above? It was all pretty cool, but going up 204 steps back to the top of the canyon (at this altitude) was tiring. I wouldn't last a week in this tribe.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we drove to Meteor Crater next. It's a big crater in the middle of the desert, and it's been used in a few movies. We thought it might be kinda cool to see it, but upon arrival, we discovered that they charge $15/person (guess who would have to pay). So we turned around and left. We're just not interested in paying $105 to see a hole in the ground.

Our next destination was Sedona, an artsy town that claims to have vortexes of positive energy. I guess it's quite a mecca for the New Age, crystal-worshipping type of people. One of our favorite pastimes was to argue about the correct way to pluralize vortex: shouldn't it be vortices? But the Sedona information all said vortexes. The most vocal advocate for the proper plural (vortices) was the same boy who used to insist that, since the plural of octopus was octopi, the plural of bus was bi. MmmHmm. Being the English teacher in the car, I'd like to think that my opinion would be the last word on the subject, and my verdict was: isn't there anything else to talk about?

Besides arguing about grammar rules, Curt and I liked the galleries and artsy shops, and we finally found a bomb! As I've explained before, we have a collection of black pottery that we call our bomb collection due to the shape and color. We like to buy a bomb on every trip, and had been in America for 10 days so far without any success ... until we got to Sedona. Once we'd found a bomb, our trip seemed complete, so we went next door to a chocolate shop to celebrate. Hooray!

That evening, we went to a Mexican restaurant for one last family dinner. The food was excellent and the portions were HUGE! Curt and I ordered a Margarita to share, but I drank most of it. I only drink once or twice a year, so it was really out of character for me. The boys, however, drink a lot more than me. After dinner, we went back to our condo for another card game and more drinking. Eventually, they ran out of beer. Curt and I refused to drive them across the street to buy more, and they were too lazy to walk so they had to do without. Poor boys. Curt and I went to bed at 10:30 but the card game was still going on for quite a while. See, they CAN have fun without beer.

The next morning, Curt made tates, eggies, and snausage for breakfast, a family tradition. But before we left, there had to be one final climactic plunger episode: Boone plugged the upstairs toilet, and was plunging vigorously. Jonna came running out of the downstairs bathroom, screaming that there was water pouring from above. (The upstairs bathroom was located directly above the downstairs bathroom.) Hmmm. Did Boone's plunging rupture a pipe? Poor Jonna was (justifiably) not amused that water was dripping onto her toothbrush, hairbrush, shampoo, etc. Eww. We checked out of the hotel, reported the "leak" and hit the road.

On our way out of town, we were determined to experience some of the alleged positive energy Sedona promoted. So we followed a map to a vortex and climbed to the top of the hill as indicated. There was a curious collection of stones part way up, as if someone had constructed a mini altar to Fred Flintstone. At the top, there was an exquisite view of the Red Rocks surrounding Sedona... and a few people meditating in the lotus position... and a sign asking everyone to respect the integrity of the site ... but no positive energy that I could feel. No doubt my cynicism was preventing me from experiencing the full power of the vortex. What a crock.

After a few more hours on the road and a picnic lunch, it was time to deliver our charges to the Mesa airport. Not surprisingly, I cried. Not surprisingly, Curt consoled me by saying " As much as I love them, they really are a pain in the ass." Which made me laugh.

Curt and I had one more day to spend in Phoenix before our flight to NZ, so we decided to go see a few more Frank Lloyd Wright buildings: we admired the Biltmore Hotel and lingered there for hours, marveling once again at his genius for design motifs and his attention to detail, then we stopped at ASU campus to see his round auditorium which was also magnificient.

Finally, we re-packed our suitcases (too many chocolate chips in one bag made it overweight), caught a plane and spent the next 18 hours in various stages of discomfort or boredom.

It was a great trip. Obviously the best part was being able to see the boys and my mom and my brothers. Plus the wedding festivities were special. Curt and I had exactly the right amount of time together just the two of us vs. being surrounded by relatives. As a bonus, we had two weeks off work to spend in sunny weather with a lot of time at the pool. It doesn't get much better than that. The only downside is that we had to go back to work Monday morning.

Act I, Scene 2: Phoenix

Wedding Day minus 5: Flew from Las Vegas to Phoenix.
• First, stopped one more time at Mrs. Fields Cookies in the Las Vegas Airport. MmmMmm.
• My mom booked condos for the week for all of us. It would be fun to have the whole fam damily staying at the same place, even if it would get a little crowded. At that moment, we were just happy to have laundry facilities, kitchen, and a pool! Had to try out the pool right away.
• First night – went to (future daughter-in-law) Kristen’s parents’ house for dinner. Excellent opportunity to meet her folks before the rest of the clan started arriving. Yummy enchiladas for dinner. Kristen and her mom were up to their eyeballs with wedding preparations. In this instance, I am exceedingly thankful I only had sons.
• Carlin played piano for a while at their house – I hadn’t realized how much I missed having him around to pound out a few songs. I even played a duet with him ... and got perhaps half of my notes right. Kristen’s mom, Jolynn, said he looked so happy playing with me. I beamed.
• Back at the condo, I stayed up late talking with my mom, who I hadn’t seen in 10 months. She’s doing fine (of course) since my dad’s death, but I still miss her. At least I'll see her lots when she arrives in January to stay with us for 6 weeks!

Wedding Day minus 4:
• Went shopping at large warehouse retailer to stock up on American things that we can’t get in NZ, or are too expensive in NZ. At the top of my list are Nestles chocolate chips. Chocolate chips in NZ just don’t taste the same (not semi-sweet enough?), so whenever we’re in the US, we buy large quantities to take back with us. We eat them by the handful, sprinkled on ice cream, and in Toll House cookies. Today, we buy 5 industrial-sized bags, a total of 22.5 pounds. It will last us a few months. (The customs man later questioned my suitcase loaded with 10kg of an obscure substance. I pleaded chocoholic.)
• Took my mom, Carlin, and Kristen to Taliesin West, the architecture school complex built by Frank Lloyd Wright, who lived in Phoenix for many years and designed many of the buildings around town. Carlin remembers going to Falling Water, Wright’s famous house cantilevering over a creek in the woods in Pennsylvania. We’ve also been to Wright’s home and studio in Chicago, but Carlin must have been too young to remember it. Our poor kids – with an engineer for a father and an art history teacher for a mother – have been forced to see architecture and art all over the world. They may not have been too happy about it at the time, but they appreciate it now. I think.
• That evening, we made one of Carlin’s favorite meals at the condo, fettuccini alfredo. Then we decided to have the happy couple open our wedding presents to them. My mom had made them two quilted wall hangings: one was a white-on-white silk wedding pattern of a never-ending chain. The other was black and red for their new kitchen. I'd made them a photo album of Carlin’s first 24 years so Kristen could see what he looked like as a cute little kid, and so she would know a bit more what it was like growing up in our family. We all had a good time reminiscing and looking through the pictures. I love Memory Lane.
• Later, we had to drive all the way out to the Mesa airport to pick up Austin+Jonna, Nolan+Erica, and Boone. I was so excited to see the rest of my boys that I was skipping around the airport. I wasted no time getting started hugging them and patting their scruffy cheeks. And talking a mile a minute.
• For added entertainment, we used the GPS system my mom got with her rental car to guide us to the airport and back. I named the GPS voice Jeanette because she sounded like a Jeanette to me. Whenever we missed a turn, she’d say, “Recalculating,” with contempt and tell us to make a U-turn. Jeanette wasn’t always helpful because she sent us the wrong way at times, but we laughed and imitated her voice.

Wedding Day minus 3:
• Boone plugged up the toilet in the condo first thing this morning and needed a plunger. Austin needed the plunger again 30 minutes later after he plugged it up, too. Good grief. I am reminded of when we had 4 teenage boys in the house, and plunging was a daily occurrence. Why are they all such big poopers?
• Boone and I went to a mall this morning and got haircuts (he was shaggy!). I've been wearing my hair in a "bob" for at least 10 years and it's become stylish again, thanks to Victoria Beckham. Lots of students at my school have recently been getting their hair cut in bobs. Curiously, when I mentioned Victoria Beckham to Boone, he looked puzzled and inquired, "Who's that? Oh, I know - you mean Posh Spice?" Like him, I barely knew who Victoria Beckham was when I lived in America, and wouldn't have recognized David Beckham's face on a billboard. But living in New Zealand, there are strong ties to England and to English "football" (soccer) teams. A day doesn't go by without a Beckham in the news. The British (and Kiwi) obsession with athlete's wives is curious to me because in America nobody cares who's married to Peyton Manning (football) or Alex Rodriguez (baseball). Anyway, the stylist made my hair look like Victoria Beckham's, but only for a few hours. I was never able to replicate it, so I went back to looking like me by the next day. While at the mall however, I managed to find a Mrs. Fields Cookies store near the haircut place. Score.
• Then we took all the boys to pick up their tuxes. They looked quite handsome all dressed up. But there was lots of complaining: one’s jacket was totally too big and needed to be exchanged; one’s tux had a different threadcount than the others (who cares?); and one’s alterations weren’t done at the same time as the others’. Sheesh.
• Time to go back to the condo and jump in the pool.
• That evening, we all went to Kristen’s parents’ house again for a BBQ including ALL her relatives. We met Kristen’s grandma, 3 aunts, 3 uncles, unknown quantity of cousins, and 5 bridesmaids. Curt happily took over the barbecuing, and avoided as much social interaction as he could. Boone was hoping to charm a bridesmaid, but didn't have any success.
• Back at the condo, we stayed up late laughing and playing cards. I lost many times, but always had a pair of fours. Not good.

Wedding Day minus 2:
• Ditched everyone to go shopping all alone for jeans and shorts. Having family around is heavenly, but it was equally heavenly to escape the close quarters and obtain a bit of solitude. Plus we needed groceries. Also went to the post office to mail postcards to my work colleagues and my students. I’ll probably be back to work before the postcards get there. Oh well.
• When I returned to the condo at 3:00, the men were all at the pool drinking tequila as a prelude to the bachelor party t that night. Brother.
• Tonight while the young people were all at the bachelor or bachelorette parties (in NZ, they'd call it a hen party), Curt and my mom and I stayed home for a nice quiet evening. I opened one of the bags of chocolate chips and made 65 Black Bottom Cupcakes (Carlin’s favorite) to be the Groom’s Cake. I’ve never heard of the "Groom's Cake" tradition before. But it was a good excuse to a) eat handfuls of chocolate chips; b) lick the spoon, the beaters, and the bowl; and c) eat multiple cupcakes. Did 2 loads of dishes and 2 loads of towels. Unrelenting shortage of towels around here due to 7 people swimming, showers, etc.

Wedding Day minus 1: Rehearsal
• The male members of the family watched a football game on TV while the females went to the pool. My younger brother Ross had arrived from Hawaii and wanted to watch his alma mater, Air Force play Notre Dame. (I think they won)
• Piled everyone into 2 cars to go to the rehearsal at 3:30. Jeanette guided us there. I got weepy during the rehearsal, as the reality of "losing" my little boy hit me. : ( There's a ceremonial "giving away the bride", but no equivalent to giving away the groom. What's up with that? Overall, the groom's mother is supposed to be pretty invisible. Kristen's grandma informed me of a funny saying last night: that the mother of the groom's job is to wear beige and keep quiet. Sadly, I'm not very good at either of those things.
• Piled back into the cars to head to the rehearsal dinner. In the car, Boone announced that he needed to poop. Big poop. He hoped there would be a plunger at the house we're going to. The rest of the boys added their suggestions for plunger substitutes: chop sticks, plastic knife, even bare hands. These guys are all twenty-something, but I swear they act like they're six years old with their obsessive bathroom humor.
• Rehearsal dinner was a Santa Maria style BBQ in someone's back yard. Not sure what makes it Santa Maria style. LOTS of people there (55?), mostly Kristen's relatives. I wrote the check. My mantra: wear beige and keep quiet.
• Carlin presented gifts to his groomsmen: beer mugs engraved with their nicknames: Worsty (Austin), Best Bud (Nolan), and Big Blinga (Boone). These will be put to good use, I'm sure.
• Dinner was over by 8:30 so we all went back to the condo for a pool party, including the groomsmen. My older brother Scott, wife Diana, and their two daughters arrived that night too, after driving for 3 days from Bellingham. Gwen (10) is on the local swim team and she raced Curt (53) one length of the pool and won. Poor Curt. Boone and Sasha (9) played in the pool, but mostly we sat around the hot tub and had a mini-family reunion that night. Good times.

Wedding Day:
• The 3 boys had to go for a photo shoot at the restaurant where the reception would be held later that night, a really cool location with fountains and archways and bridges and lights. Carlin had chosen all 3 of his brothers to be his Best Men, plus he had 3 other groomsmen. Before the wedding, the photographer took lots of artsy photos of the wedding party. Everyone looked spiffy. My boys clean up nice.
• Tried to get semi-spiffy myself, and we all went to the church for the wedding. Curt looked enviably spiffy in his tux. Nolan escorted me down the aisle, then Jolynn and I lit the unity candles. I didn't trip over my dress. This is good. Then there was a slideshow comprised of pictures of Carlin as a little boy, Kristen as a little girl, and finally pictures of them together. The slideshow was the moment when I started crying. This is bad. But totally expected. I had a wad of tissues stashed in Curt's pocket.
• The wedding was beautiful, of course.
• Then we posed for family pictures - the Davidsons were represented by 14 of us; Kristen had about 75 people from her side of the family. Quality over quantity?
• Next it was off to the reception. All 3 of the Best Men/brothers gave little speeches about Carlin, but the microphone kept flicking on and off, so people could only hear every other word like this: "I'd like xxx that Carlin xxxx really xxxx and I xxxx he and xxxx ..." Meanwhile, Austin & Nolan had smuggled in some vodka and tequila. (the reception was supposed to be dry) They had an especially good time. Poor Boone never did charm any of the bridesmaids. At the end, we all farewelled the bride and groom and blew bubbles as they got into their limo after the reception.
• Then we headed back to the condo for one last pool party, and to say goodbye to my 2 brothers who would be leaving the next morning. It was good of them to come all the way to Phoenix for the wedding/family reunion.