matt weighs in

I’ve had a week to reflect on what I think turned out to be a great parenting accomplishment – two fathers on a road trip with five kids, ages 2-6. I don’t think I’m narcissistic, as those of you who know me might attest to (if you won’t, then humor me for a few minutes here), but it really did turn out well.

I’m not as good at lists as Laura is, but here are 10 things I learned from our van-cation to Wiley Park in Aberdeen, South Dakota for a family reunion:

1. Kids can and will entertain themselves in close quarters for up to, but not over, 25 minutes before someone starts poking another or hitting them with an inanimate object.

2. Be prepared to stop 30 minutes after starting a road trip, so 1-2 can go to the bathroom, even though the question was asked three times before getting in the car if anyone had to go to the bathroom.

3. Juice boxes. Lots of juice boxes. And string cheese. And a few movies.

4. Be in the car within a one-hour window of their usual naptime. Awesome. (We nailed this one on the way home. 130 minutes of conversation between brothers.)

5. Putting up the tent is not the #1 priority upon arrival at the campground. Bug spray is #1. Layer it on. 10 days later and Siena has finally stopped scratching. We had no mosquitoes in Minnesota when we left. They were swarming in Aberdeen.

6. Kids can usually sleep through anything – Friday night thunderstorm from 10pm-2:30am. Not a peep from my kids until Siena woke up to scratch her dozens of bug bites. This learning is not the case if your tent leaks. Don’t ask Scott about this night.

7. Throw #6 out the window, too, if you try to get five kids to try to nap in the same space that isn’t a moving van.

8. High school nieces make great baby sitters, even if I didn’t officially ask them to babysit. The kids just kinda gravitate toward them, and the fun lasts for at least an hour.

9. Wiley Park is a very good family destination for a weekend. Camp sites, a lake with a beach, go-karts and bumber boats, 18-hole miniature golf course, volleyball and basketball courts and the kids’ favorite, Storybook Land, complete with a yellow-brick road throughout, a 100-foot tall beanstalk with Jack climbing up, little houses for many other stories kids love (3 Little Pigs, Munchkins, Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, etc). It also has a train to ride all around the park, which lets you see everything. All-in-all, a great place to keep a family busy for a weekend.

10. Laura probably hated missing the kids, but not as much as loving the peace-and-quiet 3.5 days without kids brings to the house. Laura was very happy to see them (and me, I think), but I could tell she really enjoyed the “time off,” and deservedly so.

It was a successful trip, too, because of the reunion. About 65 people on my mom’s side of the family came from all over the country to be together – all descended from my mom’s paternal grandparents. Lots of laughs, great stories from when they were younger and some tears for those who have passed away. This is the first reunion I remember on the Baldwin side, but I’m pretty sure that plans are in motion for the next one “not too far away,” in the words of my mom’s +/-90 year old aunt.

I’m pretty disappointed with the sound in our latest podcast, in which we discuss our recent spring road trips. You can hear it by clicking play in the player on the right. I thought we had a good plan for content, but as you will hear (or already heard), there are definitely differences in the sound at different points. We started and stopped a handful of times, mostly due to the fan on our computer coming on to cool it down, but there were a couple other distractions as well, which I won’t get into here.

I think we were able to edit it together pretty well, to minimize any noise when it occurred, besides the fan, but it’s not perfect. Anyway, we hope you at least enjoyed what we had to say and picked up a few tips and pointers along the way. Thanks to a heads up from my friend Dealin’ Dave, we have a reasonably priced microphone on the way, which should minimize most problems in the future…your ears can thank us later.

In the podcast, we point out that we went to Marquette, MI, where we visited our friends Sean and Heather, who recently had a baby boy. They are always gracious hosts in their home, where we can sit, have a beer and play with or watch our kids terrorize the puppies. Sean had recently brewed an I.P.A., which tasted very nice and had great color. Laura appreciated it, as she has gotten into more hoppy beers in the last year.

Marquette, and the Upper Peninsula, is a great place to visit. There is so much to do outdoors: hike, bike, walk along the lake, walk around town, snow shoe, snow-machine around, golf and more. We haven’t been up there much when it is spring or summer, as my vacation with the guys occurs in the dead of winter. I look forward to more visits when I can do more outdoors stuff, if I choose to take advantage of it.

Last thing, if you’re ever there, make sure to visit The Vierling. It’s a great little brew pub right downtown near the lake. They make many of their own beers and have passable food. But go for the beer. I again had a pint of their Blueberry Wheat (with blueberries in the bottom) and sampled (10 oz.) their Chocolate Wheat, both very nice. I think Laura had a pale ale, which tasted smooth, as well. We’ll make sure to make it there on each visit.

I first read this story on Friday morning and thought there has to be more to it. Kids don’t just get suspended for buying souvenir swords on a trip. A quick Google search Friday night after putting Elliot to bed led me to this discussion going on at www.topix.com, including comments by kids from Eagan and Apple Valley claiming to have been on the trip.

I assume that since it was a school-sponsored trip, the administration felt all rules for school grounds expanded wherever the students’ traveled in Europe. They had swords in their possession, which could be weapons, therefore the administration ruled they had to be suspended.

I’m not sure I can agree with this, since I will also assume that they were allowed some free time to explore on their own. Also, the swords were apparently in taped-up boxes ready to be shipped home. Other students had to have snitched on them, but if the boxes were taped, how did officials determine what was inside? Was there also an invasion of privacy here?

The kids and parents had to sign some kind of waiver to go on the trip. I would be very interested in reading this waiver, as it did specify policy on alcohol and weapons. I think the schools are really going out of their way to enforce their zero-tolerance policy in this situation. How is it showing favoritism, as some would argue, to these students if the administration would have ruled that what they did was ok?

I just cannot wrap my head around seeing that this decision was right, and your comments to help me understand are welcome. The swords were in a frggin’ box, for cryin’ out loud.

My dad was a superintendent of schools for our district for about 25 years, so it will be interesting to get an insider’s point of view on this. What are your thoughts? I guess the redeeming part of this story, if there is one, is that the kids get to continue their studies at home, so the senior should still be able to attend college in the fall.