I’ll explain to you the reason for that headline in a bit, but for now…
WE’RE ON VACATION! Yes… for the first time since 2009 I took an entire week off work, loaded up the girls and got out of town. No,we didn’t head out to the beach or Disney as those trips are not in the budget..
Instead, we packed up the trunk of the Jetta and came out here to tropical Hanover, Pennsylvania to spend some time with Diane and her girls.
Normally, trips here are merely a weekend jaunt so time off work is kept to a minimum, but since we’ve got the time we made it a whole week!
Let me go back to the part where I said “packed up the trunk”. See, when I come out here by myself, it’s my one bag and myself. When my three girls come, they bring a total of five bags of clothes, pillows and blankets, and all their own shower stuff; this includes no less than 10 bottles of shampoos, conditioners, body washes & face wash. It’s insane!
Anyway, we departed Brunswick Monday morning. The drive is 362 miles and takes around 6 hours; including a couple quick stops (my personal record is 5 hours 15 minutes; no stops, because I’m awesome). My girls travel extremely well, by the way. There is minimal bickering and, overall, we have a great time on these mid-range trips.
I normally just take the Ohio turnpike to the Pennsylvania turnpike all the way out here but decided this time we’ll take a partial scenic route and get off the PA turnpike about 100 miles early. Delana was a bit pissed because we only got to go through one of the four tunnels that are on the normal route.
What happens when you avoid three tunnels? MAYHEM… that’s what. Now, instead of driving through the mountains, I had the pleasure of driving over and around them. And when I say pleasure, I mean it! I love driving up and down steep grades and around treacherous blind curves. The only problem is the idiots on the road.
Before you get off the turnpike at the Route 30 exit there are signs warning about the hills and curves. AFTER you exit the turnpike there are signs that say, “If you take Route 30 east, you have a 30% chance of not making it up a hill or, worse, dying going down the other side.” Real truck drivers are aware of this and avoid the area if they can. But not Leo here (I’m assuming his name is Leo based on the license plate on the car):
It’s difficult to see from here, but this dude had a piece of shit motor home pulling this car. After three hills he could barely make it up (we were as slow as 5 mph at times), he finally pulled off to the shoulder to let myself and the nine cars behind me pass.
After that it was smooth sailing, through Gettysburg, into Hanover. Elapsed time for the drive: 6 hours on the nose.
So Monday evening we all just chilled out, ate some pizza & salad and crashed to get ready for Tuesday’s festivities.
Tuesday was entirely about the kids. The main reason we planned this trip for this week was so Alexis could go to the Vans Warped Tour in Columbia, MD… which is about an hour away. We all got up early, got ready, piled all the kids in two vehicles and dropped off Alexis, Becky, Chris, Dakota, Damon, Nikki and Shane under the watchful eye of Jordan at the mall across the street from the freak fest.
I almost forgot to mention… this entire day was put together by the ringleader… Diane. Through a friend, Diane was able to secure eight VIP passes for the kids. These passes allowed them back stage access to any band they wanted.
Freaks like these… Motionless in White…
Watch it… the freak in this one is in the background, Chris Motionless. That’s Alexis up front!
This was Alexis’ first concert… and she had a back stage pass. She also got in the mosh pit and crowd surfed; had an absolute blast. We went back to Columbia after the show and escorted them back, safely, to Hanover.
I can’t thank Jordan enough for looking out for Alexis, and the rest of the kids, all day. She kept them safe and organized throughout the event. For Jordan to pull that off, like a boss, MUCH RESPECT!
And this leads me to the reason for the above title…
Next morning, I start getting text messages from Alexis’ mother, clearly happy that her daughter had a great time at her first concert. Alexis’ mom’s texts are sic’d because, well…
Alexis’ mom: Hey talked to alexis today, heard she was in the pit yesterday at the concert…did u stay there with them?
In dealing with Alexis’ mom, I have to use the least amount of words possible to convey my point, otherwise she finds other angles from which to bully me.
Me: No.
Here we go….
Alexis’ mom: Ok, do u think that was a good decision to make, letting our 15, year old daughter go to a concert with out an adult? I was under the impression that you were going too.
The aforementioned Jordan is an adult. She is responsible, intelligent, caring and very trustworthy. Also, the plan to go to this concert was put together a couple months ago. I told Alexis’ mom that Alexis would be in Jordan’s care when she goes. There was never any implication that I would go to that freak show! I respond, again, with minimal words.
Me: She was with an adult.
Alexis’ mom: Not an adult I knew…it is what it is can’t change it.
I’m getting a bit aggravated here. Just because you don’t know someone makes them untrustworthy; or not an adult? So I had to use more words (remember, this opens up more angles to be bullied from)
Me: She was with an adult I know and trust. Don’t try to make her feel bad because she went. She had a great time.
I’m pretty much done at this point as I’ve said all that is necessary to convey my thoughts.
Alexis’ mom: I have not said anything to her about this, I know she had fun, talked to her this morning…
Again, I’m done talking about this and I know you talked to Alexis this morning because that’s what your first text started with….BUT…(remember…I used more words so can expect more bullying). HERE GOES angle number two!
Alexis’ mom: Oh and remember the whole not letting the kids come home early because Chris was there, same thing.
OH SNAP! Same thing? You just compared a well planned day in which seven kids and Jordan were escorted by us down to Columbia, MD for a concert in which Jordan supervised…then escorted back by us safely to Hanover to:
Me dropping off our 15, 11 and 5 year old daughters off at your place while some 40 year old dude you’d been seeing for maybe two weeks was still there from the night before??
NOT THE SAME!
More to come from this PA trip… Stay tuned!
Hug your children and love them every day…
For Shiggles 