Family overload

I hate holidays sometimes. Not in a Grinch sorta way. I just hate being pulled all over creation to see family. It's especially when you know that they all want to see your kids, not you. I guess that's one of the down falls about being a parent. Add the fact that my kids are cute as heck, and you get a situation where I'm all but ignored. I don't mind that, I just feel like a taxi driver at times. Friday we kicked the weekend off by going to the Crew Staduim to see fire works. It's actually a good set up: you pay $10 per car and you get to go to the stadium to watch the Red White and Boom show down town. It's a pretty good view. Then, the stadium has their own display. The only down side it you can't take drinks in and it's $6 per beer. Add the fact that Noah spilled my second beer, and you've got an expensive drink on your hand (or on the table in this case). All in all, it didn't suck. They have a play ground and other things for the kids to play on to pass the time before the show. Saturday, after work, we went to Jessica's dad's for dinner. Her grandpa was in town, so it was a big to do. The food was great, but there wasn't much in the way of entertainment. I was tired and a little anti-social feeling (due to being tired). So, I watched poker on TV. Sunday morning we were all off on our way to Monclova (near Toledo if you didn't know) to visit with Jessica's grandma. The upside to this trip is that my parents live up there too, so the time gets split between Jessica's grandma and my parents. We get up there in time for lunch. Jessica's mom and brother were there too. It was hot, I was uncomfortable, tired, and as a result, grumpy. At least Jessica's brother and mom were there, so it wasn't a completely dull visit. Not that I don't like her grandma, but she tends to tell the same stories over and over. Around 5:00, we left to go to my brother's place in Metamora, near the Michigan border. How do I know this? Because, due to some crappy directions, I wound up IN Michigan instead of Metamora. "Turn left on Central avenue." Well, I would have, if ther was a sign at central avenue!! There wasn't, so, Michigan. Thankfully, Jessica knows her way around county roads, so we eventually found the place. Metamore is WAAAAYYYY out in the country. My brother's place is really nice though. It has a pool and deck out back. The problem is it's out in the middle of a corn field, so sand always blows into the pool. I didn't swim, but Noah did and we found out that Gabriel freaks out when he falls in the pool. Now, before you go and think what a horrible dad I am to let my three year old run around a pool, he had a life vest on and Brad (my brother) was in the water right next to him. If there was any way what-so-ever that he could have been hurt, I would not have let him anywhere near the water. The real death trap was the deck. It looks awesome, but for some reason, the color it is painted I think, people kept falling doen the steps. Brad's father in law was there and he almost took a header, I almost took a header, Gabriel fell twice, and Claire (Brad's three year old niece through marriage) fell too. Luckily, no one was hurt. Anyway, we had a pretty good time up there. Today, the plan was to hang out at my parents and then get home to good ol' C-bus after lunch, which was great because Gabriel freaked out during the night and I had to sleep with him. No such luck. Jessica's grandma calls us and asks up to stop by again. Apparently, she 'forgot' to give us some things for the kids. We all know that she didn't "forget", don't we? She just didn't tell us so that we would have to go back to her place. Did I mention that it was 90 degrees out and she doesn't have air? I am a city boy now. I likes my A/C. No matter. Back we go. Back to hear the same stories again. Well, I guess that's the price you have to pay for family. Either you go wherever they want you to go, or you become the bad guy. If you become the bad guy, you just have to go back again to try to become the good guy again. It's a cruel cycle.