Because the moon is red...
Full Moon with a Full Lunar Eclipse today. Too bad we couldn't see it. If we lived in Oregon though, it would've been perfect.
I woke up at 0530, as promised, to check the moon situation. Light clouds and a moon that is setting too far to the west to see past the trees. I even walked all the way to the far end of the block, in my pajamas, to make sure I couldn't see the moon. Ask Bailey - she was there - she'll vouch for me. So, I decided against waking up the children, putting them in the car, and driving all over town to possibly see part of an eclipse in the half an hour we would have remaining before the sun came up.
Another full eclipse is expected on Feb. 21, 2008. I hope the elements cooperate so we can see it!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Pink Girl
I often manipulate, I mean guide, my children by giving them choices. As in... choose what I want you to do/have or else choose nothing. For example, you may have carrots for snack or nothing for snack. Choices are important, after all. That way they feel in control even though they aren't.
Unfortunately, Felisa has been paying attention. She has discovered the pattern. She wanted to wear pink today (which happens almost everyday!). As happens more than I like (I am the Queen of Matchy-Matchy after all), she chooses tops and bottoms that don't quite go together. Her pinks just weren't jiving so I offered to help. How about this nice pink shirt with a flower on it... goes great with these pink flower shorts! A match made in heaven! But no. Felisa says I want to be just plain. Okay then... how about these pretty (mostly pink) striped shorts to go with that plain pink shirt? Nope. The choice was plain pink or nothing. Which is pretty much almost exactly what she said to me. Alrighty then... I think I'm in control but really I'm not. Obviously.
In other news...
My children seem to have bladders of steel. A few other children we know will have to go potty almost immediately after drinking. Not my kids. Oh no. They can go practically all day without a potty break. Unless of course we are headed up a mountain pass with no shoulders or other stopping places available... then it's an emergency! I would say that falls into the Murphy's Law subset of Steel Bladders. Corey is here this morning and has had to go potty twice in the past half an hour. Not just any potty but dancing all around the bathroom, HURRY I GOTTA GO, potty. I asked him how many gallons of juice he drank this morning. He said Cranberry Juice. Still don't know how much (probably only one cup!) but I don't think he qualifies for the Bladders of Steel Club.
It's time to do the laundry... How do I know?
Sign #1: After Ron left for work this morning I discovered the basket of clean laundry dumped out on the bed. Which means his underwear drawer is empty. On the plus side, there is clean underwear available... just not where it belongs.
Sign #2: When I went to take a shower I realized my towel is still downstairs in the dryer. Along with all the kitchen towels and washclothes. But that's okay - I didn't do the dishes last night anyway so I hadn't missed them yet.
Sign #3: The dirty baskets are full. Instantaneously since Ryan had been building a stockpile of dirty laundry in his room. Putting his clean clothes away is usually how I discover Mt. Laundry (he's supposed to be putting them in the central laundry baskets daily but that doesn't always happen...). I haven't folded any laundry in, well, in a while, so I haven't been to that side of his room (the view of Mt Laundry is conveniently blocked by the bed so no one will see it unless you go all the way in). Now that the mountain has been relocated to my bathroom, it is most definitely time to do the laundry.
Maybe I'll even fold it and put it away this time. Maybe.
The Tale of the Town of BeetleBug... done. The Tale of the Town of Pumpernickel is coming up next. This is where Ryan's transformatron robots live. I'm not sure of all the details (my eyes tend to glaze over mid-story) but it involves tricking people into looking for the enemy in false locations. Mt. Everest... Eiffel Tower... I don't know. You'll have to check with Ryan to get the whole story.
Okay kids are hungry... time for a break.
One hour later... snack has been prepared and devoured. Corey has had another potty break. :) The dishes are done. The Play Triangle (similar to a love triangle but slightly different) of Ryan-Bella-Kana has been moderated. Dinner is started in the crockpot... taco night! Turns out we're out of coffee... found the empty bag on the counter amidst the dishes. Guess I'll have to go to the store after all. I need lettuce for the tacos. (I planted a fall crop of lettuce yesterday but I'm pretty sure it's not ready to pick yet!) I was going to text Shani and ask her to bring some (along with lunch for her) when she comes back from work so I wouldn't have to go immediately to the store but now that we need coffee also I'll have to go to the store anyway. Now the question is when will I go. I have to stop by the library today or tomorrow to return videos. We have uniform pickup for Bella tonight (conveniently located next to the laundry). I also need to get a 2008 calendar now that our schedules for the year are starting to come in. Looking back over the last few years' calendars it looks like Bella's turn to pick and next year will be Felisa. Which means we should go to the mall sometime this week. And while we're there I'll get the rest of Bailey's thank you gift for Grandma D. We could go to the library and the mall tonight after uniforms. Tomorrow morning the TV repairmen are coming back - alleluia - to install the repaired mother board. Which means we will have to spend the rest of the day watching TV in the TV room since we've been without it for over 3 weeks now. (Not without TV entirely of course - that would most certainly be torture - just TV in the main watching room.) No time for errands tomorrow.
And still more exciting news in the life of me... I think the yeastie beasties are back in full strength. I've had a feeling for awhile now that they are still hanging around but have been trying to ignore them. After some internet research on recurring canker sores as a symptom of candida (I've lost count I've had so many in the last couple months) I think it's time to go to battle. I've set the first day of school as my sugar-free start date. It's not going to be easy but I really wouldn't mind being happy and healthy again. And hopefully skinny and cute but that's partially another issue.
And now I'm off to... well, off to do something anyway! Never a dull moment!
Unfortunately, Felisa has been paying attention. She has discovered the pattern. She wanted to wear pink today (which happens almost everyday!). As happens more than I like (I am the Queen of Matchy-Matchy after all), she chooses tops and bottoms that don't quite go together. Her pinks just weren't jiving so I offered to help. How about this nice pink shirt with a flower on it... goes great with these pink flower shorts! A match made in heaven! But no. Felisa says I want to be just plain. Okay then... how about these pretty (mostly pink) striped shorts to go with that plain pink shirt? Nope. The choice was plain pink or nothing. Which is pretty much almost exactly what she said to me. Alrighty then... I think I'm in control but really I'm not. Obviously.
In other news...
My children seem to have bladders of steel. A few other children we know will have to go potty almost immediately after drinking. Not my kids. Oh no. They can go practically all day without a potty break. Unless of course we are headed up a mountain pass with no shoulders or other stopping places available... then it's an emergency! I would say that falls into the Murphy's Law subset of Steel Bladders. Corey is here this morning and has had to go potty twice in the past half an hour. Not just any potty but dancing all around the bathroom, HURRY I GOTTA GO, potty. I asked him how many gallons of juice he drank this morning. He said Cranberry Juice. Still don't know how much (probably only one cup!) but I don't think he qualifies for the Bladders of Steel Club.
It's time to do the laundry... How do I know?
Sign #1: After Ron left for work this morning I discovered the basket of clean laundry dumped out on the bed. Which means his underwear drawer is empty. On the plus side, there is clean underwear available... just not where it belongs.
Sign #2: When I went to take a shower I realized my towel is still downstairs in the dryer. Along with all the kitchen towels and washclothes. But that's okay - I didn't do the dishes last night anyway so I hadn't missed them yet.
Sign #3: The dirty baskets are full. Instantaneously since Ryan had been building a stockpile of dirty laundry in his room. Putting his clean clothes away is usually how I discover Mt. Laundry (he's supposed to be putting them in the central laundry baskets daily but that doesn't always happen...). I haven't folded any laundry in, well, in a while, so I haven't been to that side of his room (the view of Mt Laundry is conveniently blocked by the bed so no one will see it unless you go all the way in). Now that the mountain has been relocated to my bathroom, it is most definitely time to do the laundry.
Maybe I'll even fold it and put it away this time. Maybe.
The Tale of the Town of BeetleBug... done. The Tale of the Town of Pumpernickel is coming up next. This is where Ryan's transformatron robots live. I'm not sure of all the details (my eyes tend to glaze over mid-story) but it involves tricking people into looking for the enemy in false locations. Mt. Everest... Eiffel Tower... I don't know. You'll have to check with Ryan to get the whole story.
Okay kids are hungry... time for a break.
One hour later... snack has been prepared and devoured. Corey has had another potty break. :) The dishes are done. The Play Triangle (similar to a love triangle but slightly different) of Ryan-Bella-Kana has been moderated. Dinner is started in the crockpot... taco night! Turns out we're out of coffee... found the empty bag on the counter amidst the dishes. Guess I'll have to go to the store after all. I need lettuce for the tacos. (I planted a fall crop of lettuce yesterday but I'm pretty sure it's not ready to pick yet!) I was going to text Shani and ask her to bring some (along with lunch for her) when she comes back from work so I wouldn't have to go immediately to the store but now that we need coffee also I'll have to go to the store anyway. Now the question is when will I go. I have to stop by the library today or tomorrow to return videos. We have uniform pickup for Bella tonight (conveniently located next to the laundry). I also need to get a 2008 calendar now that our schedules for the year are starting to come in. Looking back over the last few years' calendars it looks like Bella's turn to pick and next year will be Felisa. Which means we should go to the mall sometime this week. And while we're there I'll get the rest of Bailey's thank you gift for Grandma D. We could go to the library and the mall tonight after uniforms. Tomorrow morning the TV repairmen are coming back - alleluia - to install the repaired mother board. Which means we will have to spend the rest of the day watching TV in the TV room since we've been without it for over 3 weeks now. (Not without TV entirely of course - that would most certainly be torture - just TV in the main watching room.) No time for errands tomorrow.
And still more exciting news in the life of me... I think the yeastie beasties are back in full strength. I've had a feeling for awhile now that they are still hanging around but have been trying to ignore them. After some internet research on recurring canker sores as a symptom of candida (I've lost count I've had so many in the last couple months) I think it's time to go to battle. I've set the first day of school as my sugar-free start date. It's not going to be easy but I really wouldn't mind being happy and healthy again. And hopefully skinny and cute but that's partially another issue.
And now I'm off to... well, off to do something anyway! Never a dull moment!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
And the winner is...
Ron!
That's right folks. Ron is the winner of the "Get your lazy butt out of bed first" Race. The prize? The chance to do whatever you want without any children accompanying you, all in the least-hot part of the day. I would say the coolest part of the day but cool does not exist in August. Not even at 6:30 in the morning.
Which means... Ron is out on his bike. Should be home soon. Which means I need to get my lazy butt upstairs to give the kids breakfast then get dressed so I can dash out as soon as he returns. I've got important things to do after all... farmers market, dry cleaners, whole foods... whoo hoo! Look out world, here I come!
That's right folks. Ron is the winner of the "Get your lazy butt out of bed first" Race. The prize? The chance to do whatever you want without any children accompanying you, all in the least-hot part of the day. I would say the coolest part of the day but cool does not exist in August. Not even at 6:30 in the morning.
Which means... Ron is out on his bike. Should be home soon. Which means I need to get my lazy butt upstairs to give the kids breakfast then get dressed so I can dash out as soon as he returns. I've got important things to do after all... farmers market, dry cleaners, whole foods... whoo hoo! Look out world, here I come!
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Card Playing Advice
A little advice from Felisa for those of you card sharks out there...
"You have to shovel! Don't forget to shovel!"
See, all this time you thought you were supposed to shuffle the cards. Turns out we were wrong.
"You have to shovel! Don't forget to shovel!"
See, all this time you thought you were supposed to shuffle the cards. Turns out we were wrong.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Squished Penny Museum No More
I am so sad! I was just visiting a local blog that I hadn't been to in awhile. The blog where I first heard about the squished penny museum. Apparently the museum has been closed. I never got to visit. I'm so sad! I remember loving the squished penny machines as a child and I have been introducing them to the kids. They now faithfully point out every machine we see on our travels and when there are multiple designs to choose from, they lobby in favor of their choice. I had been hoping to arrange a visit to the museum this fall. But now I won't be able to.
Guess it's true... you snooze, you lose!
Guess it's true... you snooze, you lose!
Shania Twain Therapy
...it'll cure what ails you, ladies!
So the pity party is over folks... time to move on... go make someone else depressed why don't you!
I'm a new woman now... thanks to Shania Twain. Okay maybe that's exaggerating a little. I laid on the couch for awhile yesterday afternoon, enjoying the pity party. Our evening plans were cancelled so Ron and I were discussing alternatives. I told him the house was a mess and I was fat. He was nice enough to pretend that he didn't know what I was talking about. Then he suggested getting up off the couch as a plan that may yield better results than my current plan (staying on the couch until I die). I resisted for awhile but eventually I ran out of excuses. I had taken Bailey for a 20 minute walk but hadn't done any real exercise. So I changed my clothes, borrowed Ryan's CD player (because he has 3 and I don't have any!), stuck in a Shania Twain CD and off I went, into the 90 degree heat to burn off a little frustration.
I haven't run with music in a long time. I liked it. I think maybe I should do it more often. It really distracts from the pain and agony of running so I can get a little farther down the road before I wimp out and walk. The down side to my running with music is that I was using a CD player. Talk about feeling old-fashioned and conspicuous! No one runs with anything other than an Ipod these days. I told Ron I need an MP3 player (which I have been thinking about for awhile but yesterday sealed the deal for me!) so I can run with music.
So what did Shania sing to me that helped? Well the first song was Up! As in, it can only get better from here. A good positive message to get me started. Then there was one about "not just a pretty face", women are powerful. And finally, one about getting in touch with your inner "Juanita". Works for me!
So, did I run far or fast? No. But I ran. And I sweated. And I listened to a little brainwashing music about how strong I am. And I sent Ron out for Chinese food for dinner. And I finished off the evening watching one of my new favorite shows, Psych, and eating cheesecake leftover from our night out Thursday.
Now a new day has dawned. Bailey woke me up at 0645 to be let out. I almost went back to bed but the sun was up and I was awake so I made coffee and have been enjoying a little quiet time surfing the net. I'm still fat and my house is still a mess but I'm ready to face it head on again. I may not win but I'm not ready yet to give up the fight.
So the pity party is over folks... time to move on... go make someone else depressed why don't you!
I'm a new woman now... thanks to Shania Twain. Okay maybe that's exaggerating a little. I laid on the couch for awhile yesterday afternoon, enjoying the pity party. Our evening plans were cancelled so Ron and I were discussing alternatives. I told him the house was a mess and I was fat. He was nice enough to pretend that he didn't know what I was talking about. Then he suggested getting up off the couch as a plan that may yield better results than my current plan (staying on the couch until I die). I resisted for awhile but eventually I ran out of excuses. I had taken Bailey for a 20 minute walk but hadn't done any real exercise. So I changed my clothes, borrowed Ryan's CD player (because he has 3 and I don't have any!), stuck in a Shania Twain CD and off I went, into the 90 degree heat to burn off a little frustration.
I haven't run with music in a long time. I liked it. I think maybe I should do it more often. It really distracts from the pain and agony of running so I can get a little farther down the road before I wimp out and walk. The down side to my running with music is that I was using a CD player. Talk about feeling old-fashioned and conspicuous! No one runs with anything other than an Ipod these days. I told Ron I need an MP3 player (which I have been thinking about for awhile but yesterday sealed the deal for me!) so I can run with music.
So what did Shania sing to me that helped? Well the first song was Up! As in, it can only get better from here. A good positive message to get me started. Then there was one about "not just a pretty face", women are powerful. And finally, one about getting in touch with your inner "Juanita". Works for me!
So, did I run far or fast? No. But I ran. And I sweated. And I listened to a little brainwashing music about how strong I am. And I sent Ron out for Chinese food for dinner. And I finished off the evening watching one of my new favorite shows, Psych, and eating cheesecake leftover from our night out Thursday.
Now a new day has dawned. Bailey woke me up at 0645 to be let out. I almost went back to bed but the sun was up and I was awake so I made coffee and have been enjoying a little quiet time surfing the net. I'm still fat and my house is still a mess but I'm ready to face it head on again. I may not win but I'm not ready yet to give up the fight.
Friday, August 03, 2007
I Need A Plan, Stan
A trend seems to be developing... when I return from our annual big trip, I am slapped in the face by the fact that I have gained even more weight. Oh and I live in a pigsty. I made my bed (well, I haven't actually but you know what I mean!) and I don't want to lie in it.
Add this to the mini New Year's Resolution phenomenon that I seem to experience at the beginning of the new school year... This year I will do better. This year I will be organized. This year I won't be too lazy to do anything. This year...
And yet, here we are. I have gained all the weight I lost after last year's vacation gain plus one pound. I still live in a pigsty. And I'm still lazy and hardly organized.
I am overwhelmed. I know not where to start. What I really want to do is curl up in a little ball in the corner and bury my head in the sand.
I suspect that getting back to my exercise routine and losing a few pounds will improve my outlook and my energy levels. I have gained enough that I can no longer get by with my clothes. I have to actually dig out the fat clothes. Which I hate. Seeing any difference at all will take a few weeks or months to notice though and in the meantime I can't stand this messy house but I have no energy or desire to get my fat butt up to deal with the mess.
I also have a history of unfinished projects. I am easily distracted. I am often interrupted. Most likely something else will come up that is more of an emergency and whatever I was working on will fall to the wayside and just become more of the mess.
An endless vicious cycle. Mess. Depression. More Mess. More Depression.
Which came first? The energy to improve the outlook or the improved outlook that generates energy?
Add this to the mini New Year's Resolution phenomenon that I seem to experience at the beginning of the new school year... This year I will do better. This year I will be organized. This year I won't be too lazy to do anything. This year...
And yet, here we are. I have gained all the weight I lost after last year's vacation gain plus one pound. I still live in a pigsty. And I'm still lazy and hardly organized.
I am overwhelmed. I know not where to start. What I really want to do is curl up in a little ball in the corner and bury my head in the sand.
I suspect that getting back to my exercise routine and losing a few pounds will improve my outlook and my energy levels. I have gained enough that I can no longer get by with my clothes. I have to actually dig out the fat clothes. Which I hate. Seeing any difference at all will take a few weeks or months to notice though and in the meantime I can't stand this messy house but I have no energy or desire to get my fat butt up to deal with the mess.
I also have a history of unfinished projects. I am easily distracted. I am often interrupted. Most likely something else will come up that is more of an emergency and whatever I was working on will fall to the wayside and just become more of the mess.
An endless vicious cycle. Mess. Depression. More Mess. More Depression.
Which came first? The energy to improve the outlook or the improved outlook that generates energy?
The Rest of the Story
Here it is... the rest of our vacation story...
Big Trip 2... Day 28... July 26, 2007... Thursday
0615 Up and time to start packing while downloading pictures from my camera to Ron’s computer.
0743 Leave hotel.
0756 Walmart done. Picked up 2 CD players and 3 bottles of water. Total $45.
0805 Stop at McD’s for breakfast. Get gas. $2.95/gallon. Weather: 62 degrees.
0817 Arrive at Dad’s apartment.
0842 Leaving Dad’s place, heading eastward and homeward bound.
0954 Lots of lightning near Limon.
1111 KANSAS and time change which makes it 12:11 p.m.
1:32 p.m. Stop in Colby for gas and lunch at Sonic. Felisa fell asleep right before we arrived and she won’t wake up. I order something for her to eat later. Ryan spilled his drink in the car while I was in the bathroom. It is 92 degrees in Colby. Once we get back on the road, it is movie time. Now showing… Night at the Museum
3:22 p.m. Stop in Phillipsburg to Felisa can go potty. Next movie Magic School Bus
6:11 p.m. Leaving Marysville where we stopped to play on a very cool wooden playground.
6:23 p.m. “I can’t hear because I have my sunglasses on.” Felisa says. Stop for gas in Marysville - $2.89/gallon. Temperature is a steamy 92 degrees. Back to the humidity already. Yuck!
6:30 p.m. Stop at Hardees on the other side of Marysville – everyone is hungry. Finally getting back on the open road.
7:25 p.m. Taking an inventory of the crops we see as we drive.
7:50 p.m. Movie time yet again. Now showing Chicken Little
8:10 p.m. Crossing the Missouri River and into MISSOURI.
9:00 p.m. Stop at hotel in Cameron, MO. This hotel has a pool with a slide. Yea, fun!
Big Trip 2... Day 29... July 27, 2007... Friday
0807 Leave hotel after breakfast.
1100 – 12:30 p.m. As promised, we stop at Mark Twain’s Cave. Last year we walked around Hannibal and saw the buildings (Tom Sawyer’s house, Becky Thatcher’s house, the white-washed fence…) and I promised when we came back through Hannibal again, we would see the cave. So, here we are…
Favorite Parts of the Cave:
Ryan – Stories from the book that the guide shared with us on the tour
Bella – Yogi Bear (rock formation)
Felisa – Horses in the gift shop
Grandpa F – the cool darkness
Sheila – the stories
After the tour we cross the Mississippi River into ILLINOIS!
1:00 p.m. Stop for lunch at Fazoli’s. Bella ate about a million garlic breadsticks. How that girl lives on bread and water alone I will never know.
3:00 p.m. Arrive at Great-Grandma’s house
5:30 p.m. Dinner. Beef and Noodles!!! YUM YUM YUM!!!
8:00 p.m. Walk around the block. We let the kids go check out the railroad tracks and so we end up at the park. How did that happen?!
9:30 p.m. The kids are in bed and I get to watch Psych
Big Trip 2... Day 30... July 28, 2007... Saturday
0715 Wake up.
Uncle Ron stops by with Teegan. Donna swings by as well. Teegan had fun coloring and playing with the kids.
12:00 p.m. Lunch. Grandma’s chicken salad – YUM!
1:45 p.m. Walmart
3:00 p.m. Stop at Dairy Queen with Grandpa. I’m not sure we’re going to be hungry in time for dinner though. Those were some very big sundaes! Grandpa and Grandma F used to bring Shannon and I here for ice cream cones when we visited in the summer.
After we get back, Felisa and Grandpa played cards. Felisa is becoming quite the card shark. She was playing a combination of Go Fish and Old Maid. At one point Dad asked her why he had more cards than she did and she told him “Because you’re going to lose!” Okay then – as long as we all understand the game plan!
6:20 p.m. Dinner of leftovers
7:30 p.m. Walk to the park. Play on the merry go round and the see saws. Dad and I even got on the see saw to play!
Back home… Get ready for bed… Do a little pre-packing. Refill the snack box (it’s almost empty!!!).
Big Trip 2... Day 31... July 29, 2007... Sunday
1030 All packed, loaded, photographed, and ready to hit the road.
1045 Stop at the Bushnell Highway Café for breakfast with Great Grandma. After breakfast, we say good-bye to Grandma. She heads back home and we try to navigate our way through the cornfields towards Peoria.
1:00 p.m. Drop Grandpa F off at the Peoria Airport so he can fly back home to Colorado. We are officially on our own now as we head for home…
2:00 p.m. Talk to Allie for awhile as I drive. She’s coming to Vienna this week so we’ll get to see her. Yea!
2:40 p.m. Stop for Felisa – she lost her book.
3:00 p.m. Stop at McD’s for a play/potty/coffee break. I check my map and realize that once again we will miss the Christopher Columbus boat in Columbus since it is closed on Sunday and Monday. Grrr!!! How many times do I have to drive through Columbus before I get to see that ship!?!? Oh well – on to Plan C.
4:03 p.m. INDIANA!
4:38 p.m. Felisa and Ryan are asleep. Bella watches Minty Christmas with the headphones so I can listen to Toby Keith. He is one of my new long-term favorite Country singers.
4:59 p.m. Time change? I guess we already passed it because the cell phone says it is 5:59 p.m.
6:41 p.m. I am noticing LOTS more traffic since we have gotten back on the interstate today. No more lonely empty cornfield highways.
7:15 p.m. To drive all the way through or not to drive all the way through? Is there anything worth seeing between here and home? Could we actually make it all the way back home tonight or is it too far?
7:22 p.m. OHIO!
7:30 p.m. Talk to Shani.
9:20 p.m. Check in at the hotel on the eastern side of Columbus. Take the kids swimming. The guy at the desk said he’d keep the pool open for an extra hour so the kids could burn off a little energy.
10:30 p.m. I’m hungry. And a random snack from the car just isn’t going to cut it. So… load up the kids in their jammies and go out searching for a Taco Bell. We’re going to have a little “Fourth Meal” action tonight. And… the moon looks full. Could this be a full-moon adventure??? Perhaps…
11:30 p.m. Watching Shark Week on Discovery Channel. Our favorite sharks:
Bella – Angel shark
Ryan – Great White Shark and the Prehistoric Shark
Felisa – the baby sharks
And as long as we’re on the subject of favorites…
Best Part of This Vacation:
Felisa – Seth’s Birthday party
Bella – Going to the pool
Ryan – the whole trip (which I would not accept as an answer so he narrowed it down to the museums)
Favorite Part of Vacation in General:
Ryan – doing lots of things
Bella – seeing people
Felisa – coloring (really her answer is “no comment”)
What Do We Miss From Home While We Are Gone?
Felisa – My friend Cameron/My ponies
Bella – Grandma Duffield/my other pink poodle
Ryan – Friends/my teacher/alone time
Big Trip 2... Day 32... July 31, 2007... Monday
0545 Wake up. Shower and watch the news
0630 Wake up the kids
0700 Breakfast at the hotel – lots of business men around this morning. No other families.
0735 Stop for gas. $2.52/gallon which is the best price from the whole trip. Temperature 72 degrees. I fixed the broken door… the gas cap was open a little which is why the side door wouldn’t open last night. Duh!
0815 Zanesville. Stop to find stuff. Stuff that the kids have dropped onto the floor of the car. I’m getting a little cranky and am ready to be home again.
830 Gearing up my brain to not be on vacation anymore… starting to think about all the things I have to do at home.
0835 See a prairie dog in the median
0838 Girls are asleep
0842 Pass a minivan with 2 tricycles on top
0923 WEST VIRGINIA!
0924 I think we need a mountain house in WV to go with the beach house in NJ
0934 PENNSYLVANIA!
0949 Washingon, PA – we almost got lost! Almost ended up on the wrong highway. Oops!
1003 Ryan found a map of VA and WV so he can follow along as we drive.
1015 Feeling a bit of eco-guilt. I have begun to feel very consumptive by the end of the trip. Maybe next year I can try to address some areas in the pre-trip planning. I think it’s mostly the increased use of disposable items.
1021 WEST VIRGINIA (again)!
1038 Passing Cheat Lake and Fairchance Road. I love those names!
1040 Ron called to see where we are.
1058 MARYLAND!
1155 Leaving the Cumberland exit. We had stopped at Arby’s for lunch and potty break.
1:01 p.m. WEST VIRGINIA (again?!?!?)
1:22 p.m. VIRGINIA! Woo hoo! Finally!
1:57 p.m. The gas light is on. Uh oh!
2:13 p.m. Stop in Marshall, VA for gas.
2:50 p.m. Home sweet home. Total miles for this year: 6,750!
Big Trip 2... Day 28... July 26, 2007... Thursday
0615 Up and time to start packing while downloading pictures from my camera to Ron’s computer.
0743 Leave hotel.
0756 Walmart done. Picked up 2 CD players and 3 bottles of water. Total $45.
0805 Stop at McD’s for breakfast. Get gas. $2.95/gallon. Weather: 62 degrees.
0817 Arrive at Dad’s apartment.
0842 Leaving Dad’s place, heading eastward and homeward bound.
0954 Lots of lightning near Limon.
1111 KANSAS and time change which makes it 12:11 p.m.
1:32 p.m. Stop in Colby for gas and lunch at Sonic. Felisa fell asleep right before we arrived and she won’t wake up. I order something for her to eat later. Ryan spilled his drink in the car while I was in the bathroom. It is 92 degrees in Colby. Once we get back on the road, it is movie time. Now showing… Night at the Museum
3:22 p.m. Stop in Phillipsburg to Felisa can go potty. Next movie Magic School Bus
6:11 p.m. Leaving Marysville where we stopped to play on a very cool wooden playground.
6:23 p.m. “I can’t hear because I have my sunglasses on.” Felisa says. Stop for gas in Marysville - $2.89/gallon. Temperature is a steamy 92 degrees. Back to the humidity already. Yuck!
6:30 p.m. Stop at Hardees on the other side of Marysville – everyone is hungry. Finally getting back on the open road.
7:25 p.m. Taking an inventory of the crops we see as we drive.
7:50 p.m. Movie time yet again. Now showing Chicken Little
8:10 p.m. Crossing the Missouri River and into MISSOURI.
9:00 p.m. Stop at hotel in Cameron, MO. This hotel has a pool with a slide. Yea, fun!
Big Trip 2... Day 29... July 27, 2007... Friday
0807 Leave hotel after breakfast.
1100 – 12:30 p.m. As promised, we stop at Mark Twain’s Cave. Last year we walked around Hannibal and saw the buildings (Tom Sawyer’s house, Becky Thatcher’s house, the white-washed fence…) and I promised when we came back through Hannibal again, we would see the cave. So, here we are…
Favorite Parts of the Cave:
Ryan – Stories from the book that the guide shared with us on the tour
Bella – Yogi Bear (rock formation)
Felisa – Horses in the gift shop
Grandpa F – the cool darkness
Sheila – the stories
After the tour we cross the Mississippi River into ILLINOIS!
1:00 p.m. Stop for lunch at Fazoli’s. Bella ate about a million garlic breadsticks. How that girl lives on bread and water alone I will never know.
3:00 p.m. Arrive at Great-Grandma’s house
5:30 p.m. Dinner. Beef and Noodles!!! YUM YUM YUM!!!
8:00 p.m. Walk around the block. We let the kids go check out the railroad tracks and so we end up at the park. How did that happen?!
9:30 p.m. The kids are in bed and I get to watch Psych
Big Trip 2... Day 30... July 28, 2007... Saturday
0715 Wake up.
Uncle Ron stops by with Teegan. Donna swings by as well. Teegan had fun coloring and playing with the kids.
12:00 p.m. Lunch. Grandma’s chicken salad – YUM!
1:45 p.m. Walmart
3:00 p.m. Stop at Dairy Queen with Grandpa. I’m not sure we’re going to be hungry in time for dinner though. Those were some very big sundaes! Grandpa and Grandma F used to bring Shannon and I here for ice cream cones when we visited in the summer.
After we get back, Felisa and Grandpa played cards. Felisa is becoming quite the card shark. She was playing a combination of Go Fish and Old Maid. At one point Dad asked her why he had more cards than she did and she told him “Because you’re going to lose!” Okay then – as long as we all understand the game plan!
6:20 p.m. Dinner of leftovers
7:30 p.m. Walk to the park. Play on the merry go round and the see saws. Dad and I even got on the see saw to play!
Back home… Get ready for bed… Do a little pre-packing. Refill the snack box (it’s almost empty!!!).
Big Trip 2... Day 31... July 29, 2007... Sunday
1030 All packed, loaded, photographed, and ready to hit the road.
1045 Stop at the Bushnell Highway Café for breakfast with Great Grandma. After breakfast, we say good-bye to Grandma. She heads back home and we try to navigate our way through the cornfields towards Peoria.
1:00 p.m. Drop Grandpa F off at the Peoria Airport so he can fly back home to Colorado. We are officially on our own now as we head for home…
2:00 p.m. Talk to Allie for awhile as I drive. She’s coming to Vienna this week so we’ll get to see her. Yea!
2:40 p.m. Stop for Felisa – she lost her book.
3:00 p.m. Stop at McD’s for a play/potty/coffee break. I check my map and realize that once again we will miss the Christopher Columbus boat in Columbus since it is closed on Sunday and Monday. Grrr!!! How many times do I have to drive through Columbus before I get to see that ship!?!? Oh well – on to Plan C.
4:03 p.m. INDIANA!
4:38 p.m. Felisa and Ryan are asleep. Bella watches Minty Christmas with the headphones so I can listen to Toby Keith. He is one of my new long-term favorite Country singers.
4:59 p.m. Time change? I guess we already passed it because the cell phone says it is 5:59 p.m.
6:41 p.m. I am noticing LOTS more traffic since we have gotten back on the interstate today. No more lonely empty cornfield highways.
7:15 p.m. To drive all the way through or not to drive all the way through? Is there anything worth seeing between here and home? Could we actually make it all the way back home tonight or is it too far?
7:22 p.m. OHIO!
7:30 p.m. Talk to Shani.
9:20 p.m. Check in at the hotel on the eastern side of Columbus. Take the kids swimming. The guy at the desk said he’d keep the pool open for an extra hour so the kids could burn off a little energy.
10:30 p.m. I’m hungry. And a random snack from the car just isn’t going to cut it. So… load up the kids in their jammies and go out searching for a Taco Bell. We’re going to have a little “Fourth Meal” action tonight. And… the moon looks full. Could this be a full-moon adventure??? Perhaps…
11:30 p.m. Watching Shark Week on Discovery Channel. Our favorite sharks:
Bella – Angel shark
Ryan – Great White Shark and the Prehistoric Shark
Felisa – the baby sharks
And as long as we’re on the subject of favorites…
Best Part of This Vacation:
Felisa – Seth’s Birthday party
Bella – Going to the pool
Ryan – the whole trip (which I would not accept as an answer so he narrowed it down to the museums)
Favorite Part of Vacation in General:
Ryan – doing lots of things
Bella – seeing people
Felisa – coloring (really her answer is “no comment”)
What Do We Miss From Home While We Are Gone?
Felisa – My friend Cameron/My ponies
Bella – Grandma Duffield/my other pink poodle
Ryan – Friends/my teacher/alone time
Big Trip 2... Day 32... July 31, 2007... Monday
0545 Wake up. Shower and watch the news
0630 Wake up the kids
0700 Breakfast at the hotel – lots of business men around this morning. No other families.
0735 Stop for gas. $2.52/gallon which is the best price from the whole trip. Temperature 72 degrees. I fixed the broken door… the gas cap was open a little which is why the side door wouldn’t open last night. Duh!
0815 Zanesville. Stop to find stuff. Stuff that the kids have dropped onto the floor of the car. I’m getting a little cranky and am ready to be home again.
830 Gearing up my brain to not be on vacation anymore… starting to think about all the things I have to do at home.
0835 See a prairie dog in the median
0838 Girls are asleep
0842 Pass a minivan with 2 tricycles on top
0923 WEST VIRGINIA!
0924 I think we need a mountain house in WV to go with the beach house in NJ
0934 PENNSYLVANIA!
0949 Washingon, PA – we almost got lost! Almost ended up on the wrong highway. Oops!
1003 Ryan found a map of VA and WV so he can follow along as we drive.
1015 Feeling a bit of eco-guilt. I have begun to feel very consumptive by the end of the trip. Maybe next year I can try to address some areas in the pre-trip planning. I think it’s mostly the increased use of disposable items.
1021 WEST VIRGINIA (again)!
1038 Passing Cheat Lake and Fairchance Road. I love those names!
1040 Ron called to see where we are.
1058 MARYLAND!
1155 Leaving the Cumberland exit. We had stopped at Arby’s for lunch and potty break.
1:01 p.m. WEST VIRGINIA (again?!?!?)
1:22 p.m. VIRGINIA! Woo hoo! Finally!
1:57 p.m. The gas light is on. Uh oh!
2:13 p.m. Stop in Marshall, VA for gas.
2:50 p.m. Home sweet home. Total miles for this year: 6,750!
Thursday, August 02, 2007
We're home!
In case you thought we had dropped off the face of the planet, I just wanted you to know we are home now. We had a busy final day in CO then we left to drive back which meant 4 days without internet access. And now that we're back, it's the usual song and dance of too-much-to-do-and-not-enough-hours-in-the-day...
I'm going to work on updating the final days of our trip amidst all the laundry... cooking... bathroom cleaning... never-gonna-finish unpacking... so stand by!
I'm going to work on updating the final days of our trip amidst all the laundry... cooking... bathroom cleaning... never-gonna-finish unpacking... so stand by!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Casa Bonita, here we come!
Big Trip 2... Day 27... July 25, 2007... Wednesday
Started the day with breakfast at Chik-Fil-A. We ate then the kids played in the play area for awhile. Then I decided to go find an outdoor playground. I knew where there was probably a school (since I had gotten a speeding ticket in that area when I was in college and late for work at Burger King and my ticket cost extra because I was in a school zone). So, we found the school. Took the kids to play while I rested in the shade reading Ryan’s book – Scholastic Early Reader Classics, War of the Worlds. I have never read the original book but I did see the movie with Tom Cruise. The kids weren’t too interested in playing so we left soon after arriving. We went back to the hotel where we discovered Felisa (or was it Bella? I can’t remember anymore.) had left her cup at the playground. I typed a little for the blog then we went to the pool. When Ron came back from class we got ready to go to Denver. On the way out of town we went back to the school (at which point Ron found out about my speeding ticket story) and found the missing cup. Whew!
1200 Leave for Denver.
3:00 p.m. Arrive at Casa Bonita (the Pink Palace) for mediocre Mexican food, yummy sopapillas (I almost had to bribe the waiter to get him to bring me more baskets of sopapillas – what happened to the all-you-can-eat-sopapillas?!?), and great entertainment. Ron took the kids through Black Bart’s cave while I stayed at the table eating sopapillas. (Hmmm… wonder why I gain 10 pounds on vacation every summer!) Felisa and Bella were very scared and Ryan was scared just a little bit.
Our favorite parts of Casa Bonita:
Felisa – the princess in the water
Bella – Everything
Ryan – all the shows and the jungle
Ron – taking Felisa through the cave
Sheila – Black Bart’s cave (and the sopapillas!)
After lunch at Casa Bonita we drove over to Louisville to visit Dar and her family. We enjoyed Papa Murphy’s Pizza for dinner and Dar had the kids help her make cupcakes for dessert. Scott was able to join us also. The kids played well and we enjoyed a great evening with friends. Before we left Ron rearranged the car for the trip home. Then he drove an hour and a half back to Colorado Springs while the kids and I slept.
Started the day with breakfast at Chik-Fil-A. We ate then the kids played in the play area for awhile. Then I decided to go find an outdoor playground. I knew where there was probably a school (since I had gotten a speeding ticket in that area when I was in college and late for work at Burger King and my ticket cost extra because I was in a school zone). So, we found the school. Took the kids to play while I rested in the shade reading Ryan’s book – Scholastic Early Reader Classics, War of the Worlds. I have never read the original book but I did see the movie with Tom Cruise. The kids weren’t too interested in playing so we left soon after arriving. We went back to the hotel where we discovered Felisa (or was it Bella? I can’t remember anymore.) had left her cup at the playground. I typed a little for the blog then we went to the pool. When Ron came back from class we got ready to go to Denver. On the way out of town we went back to the school (at which point Ron found out about my speeding ticket story) and found the missing cup. Whew!
1200 Leave for Denver.
3:00 p.m. Arrive at Casa Bonita (the Pink Palace) for mediocre Mexican food, yummy sopapillas (I almost had to bribe the waiter to get him to bring me more baskets of sopapillas – what happened to the all-you-can-eat-sopapillas?!?), and great entertainment. Ron took the kids through Black Bart’s cave while I stayed at the table eating sopapillas. (Hmmm… wonder why I gain 10 pounds on vacation every summer!) Felisa and Bella were very scared and Ryan was scared just a little bit.
Our favorite parts of Casa Bonita:
Felisa – the princess in the water
Bella – Everything
Ryan – all the shows and the jungle
Ron – taking Felisa through the cave
Sheila – Black Bart’s cave (and the sopapillas!)
After lunch at Casa Bonita we drove over to Louisville to visit Dar and her family. We enjoyed Papa Murphy’s Pizza for dinner and Dar had the kids help her make cupcakes for dessert. Scott was able to join us also. The kids played well and we enjoyed a great evening with friends. Before we left Ron rearranged the car for the trip home. Then he drove an hour and a half back to Colorado Springs while the kids and I slept.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Good morning sunshine!
Big Trip 2... Day 26... July 24, 2007... Tuesday
The question of the day... did he miss us or does he feel guilty for not coming down for Seth's birthday? :)
Ron got up early for work. At 7ish he left and told me the dryer would be done at 0735. Which means he already did the laundry (he was trying to do it last night but someone else was ahead of him and not watching the time/moving their clothes from washer to dryer in a timely fashion. I joked that he just wanted me to do the laundry not him.). After I got tired of listening to the guest above us walking back and forth across their room 500 million times, I got up. I discovered on the desk a Starbucks mocha and an entire ginormous pumpkin scone. For me! Wow... I don't even know what to say.
Turns out I needed that scone for energy. My morning workout compliments of the Hilton...
Go downstairs and to the opposite end of the hotel to get the dry laundry. Turns out the laundry is not all the way dry and I didn't bring any money for the dryer. So I continue my exploration to yet another far corner of the hotel to see the pool. Then back all the way to the original far corner of the hotel and upstairs (the elevator is too slow so we've been using the stairs) to get money for the dryer. But I only have 3 quarters. So I go downstairs and out to the car to see if I have another one. When I get to the car I realize I forgot the car keys. So. Back upstairs to get the keys and back downstairs to the car. In which there exists not a single quarter. This time, though, I was planning ahead. I already have my dollar so I don't have to go upstairs before I trek to the lobby for change. Get the quarters and walk all the way to the ends of the earth, I mean hotel hallway, and re-start the dryer. Now, back upstairs and down the long hallway to my room. Phew. I'm tired. Good thing I decided to take my shower after I did the laundry!
1000 Went over the mining museum. Ron said he stopped in the other day while out on a bike ride and today they are having demos of the steam shovel. We arrived just in time. A lot of what was said went over the kids' heads (the girls for sure and maybe Ryan too) but it was still pretty cool to see the big shovel operating. We also got to see the trammer running as well as the different steam engines inside. We panned for gold, unsuccessfully once more, and tried on miners suits. Over all a pretty good visit.
Our favorite parts...
Ryan: single-jack handrock mining activity and the miner's suit
Bella: miner's suit/panning for gold
Felisa: her new rock
Sheila: steam shovel demo
12:10 p.m. Sonic for lunch then back to the hotel room.
After lunch we went to Mardel, a christian/teacher store. Big. Nice. Lots of selection.
Back to the hotel room. I tried to watch Back to the Future III while the kids played noisily around me. After the movie we went to the pool.
Ron came home and joined us for swimming. The kids had lots of fun jumping between us and from the side. Bella and Felisa demonstrated their newly acquired skill of putting their face in the water. Ryan swam freestyle the entire length of the pool without stopping and without putting his feet down on the bottom. Our constant swimming is starting to pay off. Hopefully we'll get a couple swimming playdates in next month and I'll have to try to be better about keeping them in swimming lessons over the winter. It's just expensive and a total pain to take them to the pool for 3 separate classes each session.
Grandpa F met us for dinner at Ted's Montana Grill where much delicious bison was consumed as well as the biggest pecan crusted trout I have ever seen (oh and mac-n-cheese for Miss Picky). After dinner a wild game of chess. I didn't think it would take Ryan and Ron so long to beat the girls and I. After all, I have basically no idea how to play and the girls aren't much better. After the game, we stopped in at Claire's. I guess they went there with Melissa a couple weeks ago so now Bella is in love with the Princess store. Great. Everyone got $5 to spend (Felisa did a last minute bait-n-switch and spent $6.50 but oh well - I was tired of waiting for them to pick something! They even had hot wheels for Ryan.)
We walked back to the hotel but Ron made us stop at the ice cream shop first. I had mentioned it but changed my mind. He made us go anyway. Under duress :) , we went inside. The girls got vanilla with sprinkles. Ryan got neon blue cotton candy with jelly beans and I got cheesecake with graham cracker crumbs. Yummy. Of course we had to eat it drill seargent style... the four of us sat on the bench eating while Ron paced up and down the line barking out commands... You're dripping! Use a napkin! Eat faster! Hold it up straight - it's dripping! Eat faster! Yummmmmm... I definitely recommend drill seargent ice cream!
Finally, back to the room and bedtime!
The question of the day... did he miss us or does he feel guilty for not coming down for Seth's birthday? :)
Ron got up early for work. At 7ish he left and told me the dryer would be done at 0735. Which means he already did the laundry (he was trying to do it last night but someone else was ahead of him and not watching the time/moving their clothes from washer to dryer in a timely fashion. I joked that he just wanted me to do the laundry not him.). After I got tired of listening to the guest above us walking back and forth across their room 500 million times, I got up. I discovered on the desk a Starbucks mocha and an entire ginormous pumpkin scone. For me! Wow... I don't even know what to say.
Turns out I needed that scone for energy. My morning workout compliments of the Hilton...
Go downstairs and to the opposite end of the hotel to get the dry laundry. Turns out the laundry is not all the way dry and I didn't bring any money for the dryer. So I continue my exploration to yet another far corner of the hotel to see the pool. Then back all the way to the original far corner of the hotel and upstairs (the elevator is too slow so we've been using the stairs) to get money for the dryer. But I only have 3 quarters. So I go downstairs and out to the car to see if I have another one. When I get to the car I realize I forgot the car keys. So. Back upstairs to get the keys and back downstairs to the car. In which there exists not a single quarter. This time, though, I was planning ahead. I already have my dollar so I don't have to go upstairs before I trek to the lobby for change. Get the quarters and walk all the way to the ends of the earth, I mean hotel hallway, and re-start the dryer. Now, back upstairs and down the long hallway to my room. Phew. I'm tired. Good thing I decided to take my shower after I did the laundry!
1000 Went over the mining museum. Ron said he stopped in the other day while out on a bike ride and today they are having demos of the steam shovel. We arrived just in time. A lot of what was said went over the kids' heads (the girls for sure and maybe Ryan too) but it was still pretty cool to see the big shovel operating. We also got to see the trammer running as well as the different steam engines inside. We panned for gold, unsuccessfully once more, and tried on miners suits. Over all a pretty good visit.
Our favorite parts...
Ryan: single-jack handrock mining activity and the miner's suit
Bella: miner's suit/panning for gold
Felisa: her new rock
Sheila: steam shovel demo
12:10 p.m. Sonic for lunch then back to the hotel room.
After lunch we went to Mardel, a christian/teacher store. Big. Nice. Lots of selection.
Back to the hotel room. I tried to watch Back to the Future III while the kids played noisily around me. After the movie we went to the pool.
Ron came home and joined us for swimming. The kids had lots of fun jumping between us and from the side. Bella and Felisa demonstrated their newly acquired skill of putting their face in the water. Ryan swam freestyle the entire length of the pool without stopping and without putting his feet down on the bottom. Our constant swimming is starting to pay off. Hopefully we'll get a couple swimming playdates in next month and I'll have to try to be better about keeping them in swimming lessons over the winter. It's just expensive and a total pain to take them to the pool for 3 separate classes each session.
Grandpa F met us for dinner at Ted's Montana Grill where much delicious bison was consumed as well as the biggest pecan crusted trout I have ever seen (oh and mac-n-cheese for Miss Picky). After dinner a wild game of chess. I didn't think it would take Ryan and Ron so long to beat the girls and I. After all, I have basically no idea how to play and the girls aren't much better. After the game, we stopped in at Claire's. I guess they went there with Melissa a couple weeks ago so now Bella is in love with the Princess store. Great. Everyone got $5 to spend (Felisa did a last minute bait-n-switch and spent $6.50 but oh well - I was tired of waiting for them to pick something! They even had hot wheels for Ryan.)
We walked back to the hotel but Ron made us stop at the ice cream shop first. I had mentioned it but changed my mind. He made us go anyway. Under duress :) , we went inside. The girls got vanilla with sprinkles. Ryan got neon blue cotton candy with jelly beans and I got cheesecake with graham cracker crumbs. Yummy. Of course we had to eat it drill seargent style... the four of us sat on the bench eating while Ron paced up and down the line barking out commands... You're dripping! Use a napkin! Eat faster! Hold it up straight - it's dripping! Eat faster! Yummmmmm... I definitely recommend drill seargent ice cream!
Finally, back to the room and bedtime!
Monday, July 23, 2007
North to CO, Take 2
Big Trip 2... Day 25... July 23, 2007... Monday
Spend the morning eating my last NM breakfast burrito (thanks Grandpa!) and loading the car. As usual we have managed to accumulate lots more stuff than we started out with. Luckily it all fits. Elena brought Philip and Seth over for us to watch while she took Thomas back to the doctor for a quick TB test check. When she got back it was time for everyone to say goodbye.
1000 At the gas station... current tempurature is 80 degrees... total miles driven so far is 4300. Wowsers!
1012 Starbucks drive thru. We haven't even left town yet and they are already arguing over CD players.
1036 Past the casino and onto I-25 N.
1135 Amazingly I am able to find Scott's parents' house but unfortunately they are not home. Oh well. Better luck next time (and maybe a little advanced planning on my part would help!)
1158 Cop blows past me and stops the guy that just passed me. Good thing I'm not speeding.
12:00 p.m. The leapsters have reappeared. I'm surprised they still have a charge left. I don't think the kids have played with them since TN.
12:25 Las Vegas for lunch.
12:55 p.m. McD's food on board and movie set up. This stop took entirely too long.
2:01 p.m. Was that an ostrich?!
2:36 p.m. Colorado!!! (again!)
Things I like...
wide open spaces
old buildings
seeing history
4:30 p.m. Arrive at Travis' - finally. Today's drive seemed long. We had a yummy dinner and the kids had fun playing with Emma and her toys. Didn't get much meaningful adult conversation, thanks to the 5 kids in the house, but it was a nice visit all the same.
8:15 p.m. Headed to the hotel. Listening to School House Rock.
8:45 p.m. We made it! Home sweet home... for a couple days anyway!
Spend the morning eating my last NM breakfast burrito (thanks Grandpa!) and loading the car. As usual we have managed to accumulate lots more stuff than we started out with. Luckily it all fits. Elena brought Philip and Seth over for us to watch while she took Thomas back to the doctor for a quick TB test check. When she got back it was time for everyone to say goodbye.
1000 At the gas station... current tempurature is 80 degrees... total miles driven so far is 4300. Wowsers!
1012 Starbucks drive thru. We haven't even left town yet and they are already arguing over CD players.
1036 Past the casino and onto I-25 N.
1135 Amazingly I am able to find Scott's parents' house but unfortunately they are not home. Oh well. Better luck next time (and maybe a little advanced planning on my part would help!)
1158 Cop blows past me and stops the guy that just passed me. Good thing I'm not speeding.
12:00 p.m. The leapsters have reappeared. I'm surprised they still have a charge left. I don't think the kids have played with them since TN.
12:25 Las Vegas for lunch.
12:55 p.m. McD's food on board and movie set up. This stop took entirely too long.
2:01 p.m. Was that an ostrich?!
2:36 p.m. Colorado!!! (again!)
Things I like...
wide open spaces
old buildings
seeing history
4:30 p.m. Arrive at Travis' - finally. Today's drive seemed long. We had a yummy dinner and the kids had fun playing with Emma and her toys. Didn't get much meaningful adult conversation, thanks to the 5 kids in the house, but it was a nice visit all the same.
8:15 p.m. Headed to the hotel. Listening to School House Rock.
8:45 p.m. We made it! Home sweet home... for a couple days anyway!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
The Day After
Big Trip 2... Day 24... July 22, 2007... Sunday
Wake up at 0830... everyone is tired from yesterday's festivities. Coffee and pancakes for breakfast. Feeling lazy so decide to go to late church. Shower and get into my church clothes. Clean out the car a little so there is room for Grandpa and Grandma to ride with us.
After church everyone is starving so we come home and heat up leftovers from the birthday feast. Elena brings Thomas over for lunch on their way to Target. Thomas decides he'd rather go to the Dinosaur Museum with Ryan. Didn't we already go to the dinosaur museum? Why, yes we did. But Ryan decided that he should go again since he missed his favorite part, the planetarium. And Grandpa of course says yes. Mean Mommy says he should just live without the planetarium and go next time we visit. Grandpa wins. So the boys head off. Turns out the planetarium was closed so they watch the IMAX movie about Greece then go to Explora. Meanwhile, Elena and I go to Target. We bought the diapers on our list and a few other things as well because, well, it's Target. Elena drops me off to hang out with the girls while she goes home to unload and collect her other boys.
Dinner here... more BBQ and rice. And Elena said that whoever finishes their broccoli gets birthday cake for dessert. Yummy!
The kids are all tired. There is more arguing and crying than usual. Even Seth is an unhappy guy - very out of character for him. I made Philip sad when I told him we were packing to leave tomorrow.
8:00 p.m. The McL's head home for bed. I get my kids changed and ready. Most of them are asleep by 9.
Wake up at 0830... everyone is tired from yesterday's festivities. Coffee and pancakes for breakfast. Feeling lazy so decide to go to late church. Shower and get into my church clothes. Clean out the car a little so there is room for Grandpa and Grandma to ride with us.
After church everyone is starving so we come home and heat up leftovers from the birthday feast. Elena brings Thomas over for lunch on their way to Target. Thomas decides he'd rather go to the Dinosaur Museum with Ryan. Didn't we already go to the dinosaur museum? Why, yes we did. But Ryan decided that he should go again since he missed his favorite part, the planetarium. And Grandpa of course says yes. Mean Mommy says he should just live without the planetarium and go next time we visit. Grandpa wins. So the boys head off. Turns out the planetarium was closed so they watch the IMAX movie about Greece then go to Explora. Meanwhile, Elena and I go to Target. We bought the diapers on our list and a few other things as well because, well, it's Target. Elena drops me off to hang out with the girls while she goes home to unload and collect her other boys.
Dinner here... more BBQ and rice. And Elena said that whoever finishes their broccoli gets birthday cake for dessert. Yummy!
The kids are all tired. There is more arguing and crying than usual. Even Seth is an unhappy guy - very out of character for him. I made Philip sad when I told him we were packing to leave tomorrow.
8:00 p.m. The McL's head home for bed. I get my kids changed and ready. Most of them are asleep by 9.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Happy Birthday Seth
Big Trip 2... Day 23... July 21, 2007... Saturday
...in which 3 pool-deprived children turn into wrinkly, shivering prunes while causing their mother's toes to split... (but more on this later)
Wake up with a full house (from the sleepover the night before). Manage to get my coffee and post to the blog before the older 3 take over the computer for an hour of fun with Google Earth. They went to the Grand Canyon, Egypt, here, and our house in VA. Plus a lot of other places too. It's one of Thomas' favorite activities and my kids are willing travel-mates.
Elena came around 10:30 and the women-folk headed out to hunt and gather at Costco. I did not find the great green chiles that I found last year but I did get a new flavor of potato chips - Buffalo Bleu. Does anyone think I can get them home without turning them into crumbs or having them self-combust in a hot car? I also had a nice conversation with the sausage sample guy about how VA just doesn't offer such great flavors of Aidell's sausage. He had green chile and habanero as well as roasted red pepper and corn chicken sausages. In a big package no less (the standard 4 sausage package just isn't enough to feed my family of 5 you know!). We finished it off with a mocha freeze from the food counter then headed up to finish up the party preps.
Grandma and Elena did a lot of prepping while I sort of watched the other kids. I even got to hold Seth for about an hour right before the party. The kids asked at least 50 times if it was time to change for swimming yet. Finally, we headed over around 2:30. We got in about 20 minutes of swimming before the thunder arrived (who invited the thunder I want to know!). Spent an hour or so shivering and snacking in the clubhouse and telling the kids every 10 seconds that even though the rain has stopped, that doesn't mean the lightning and thunder won't still kill you. Finally at 4ish we got to go swim again. Grandma and Grandpa showed up with more food so we ate then swam. The girls got cold so I went back home to get dry clothes for them. And when I got back, they wanted to swim some more. So we swam. Then it was time for cake. We ate the super-yummy birthday cake that Elena made then ... can anyone guess what we did next? That's right. We swam. And swam and swam and swam. All the other kids were out of the pool, changed and ready to go and my pool-deprived children were STILL SWIMMING! Which means I was still swimming since I am the official floatie for Felisa. Finally we got everyone and all of the toys out. Finished cleaning the clubhouse. I walked back with 5, passed out snacks, and started a load of towels and bathing suits. By this time it is 8:00. Which means we were at the pool for 5 hours. Yikes! The good news is that it was cloudy so I didn't have to stress about sunburns. The bad news is it was cloudy so we shivered a bit. Lots of fun was had though either way!
Cousins headed home. Bella fell asleep immediately. Ryan was not too far behind. And Felisa sat in the kitchen eating more blueberries and chanting "I'm not tired. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not." She was definitely the only one! I finally convinced her to go to bed with me where I discovered that my 4th toe on each foot (next to the pinkie toe - does that make it the ring toe?!?) was split underneath. Ouch! Guess the kids marinated me for too long in the pool today!
And that's it. One successful 1st birthday pool party for my sweet nephew. He won't remember a thing but we'll show him pictures and tell him all about it.
...in which 3 pool-deprived children turn into wrinkly, shivering prunes while causing their mother's toes to split... (but more on this later)
Wake up with a full house (from the sleepover the night before). Manage to get my coffee and post to the blog before the older 3 take over the computer for an hour of fun with Google Earth. They went to the Grand Canyon, Egypt, here, and our house in VA. Plus a lot of other places too. It's one of Thomas' favorite activities and my kids are willing travel-mates.
Elena came around 10:30 and the women-folk headed out to hunt and gather at Costco. I did not find the great green chiles that I found last year but I did get a new flavor of potato chips - Buffalo Bleu. Does anyone think I can get them home without turning them into crumbs or having them self-combust in a hot car? I also had a nice conversation with the sausage sample guy about how VA just doesn't offer such great flavors of Aidell's sausage. He had green chile and habanero as well as roasted red pepper and corn chicken sausages. In a big package no less (the standard 4 sausage package just isn't enough to feed my family of 5 you know!). We finished it off with a mocha freeze from the food counter then headed up to finish up the party preps.
Grandma and Elena did a lot of prepping while I sort of watched the other kids. I even got to hold Seth for about an hour right before the party. The kids asked at least 50 times if it was time to change for swimming yet. Finally, we headed over around 2:30. We got in about 20 minutes of swimming before the thunder arrived (who invited the thunder I want to know!). Spent an hour or so shivering and snacking in the clubhouse and telling the kids every 10 seconds that even though the rain has stopped, that doesn't mean the lightning and thunder won't still kill you. Finally at 4ish we got to go swim again. Grandma and Grandpa showed up with more food so we ate then swam. The girls got cold so I went back home to get dry clothes for them. And when I got back, they wanted to swim some more. So we swam. Then it was time for cake. We ate the super-yummy birthday cake that Elena made then ... can anyone guess what we did next? That's right. We swam. And swam and swam and swam. All the other kids were out of the pool, changed and ready to go and my pool-deprived children were STILL SWIMMING! Which means I was still swimming since I am the official floatie for Felisa. Finally we got everyone and all of the toys out. Finished cleaning the clubhouse. I walked back with 5, passed out snacks, and started a load of towels and bathing suits. By this time it is 8:00. Which means we were at the pool for 5 hours. Yikes! The good news is that it was cloudy so I didn't have to stress about sunburns. The bad news is it was cloudy so we shivered a bit. Lots of fun was had though either way!
Cousins headed home. Bella fell asleep immediately. Ryan was not too far behind. And Felisa sat in the kitchen eating more blueberries and chanting "I'm not tired. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not." She was definitely the only one! I finally convinced her to go to bed with me where I discovered that my 4th toe on each foot (next to the pinkie toe - does that make it the ring toe?!?) was split underneath. Ouch! Guess the kids marinated me for too long in the pool today!
And that's it. One successful 1st birthday pool party for my sweet nephew. He won't remember a thing but we'll show him pictures and tell him all about it.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Friday Fun with Grandpa
Big Trip 2... Day 22... July 20, 2007... Friday
Usual wake up and coffee time... got the kids ready and headed out for the museums with Grandpa. We went to Explora, the children's museum first. They didn't have the life-size lincoln logs out that Ryan wanted to play with again but the kids had fun doing everything else. I didn't particularly enjoy it but at least there was a second adult to help keep track of everyone.
Our favorite parts of the children's museum...
Ryan: the marble maze
Bella: the fountain
Felisa: the light one (I have no idea what she's talking about.)
Grandpa R: the electricity and battery activities
Sheila: the fountain
And since one museum clearly wasn't enough, we went to the dinosaur museum across the street next. That one was more fun for me, especially since I had never been before. The kids go everytime we visit, I think, but I usually escape to go shopping instead.
Our favorite parts of the dinosaur musuem...
Felisa: the horses (was it the horses on the wall or the horses Grandpa bought for the girls?!)
Bella: the cave
Ryan: well, we didn't do his favorite thing (the planetarium) so he had to choose another... the redwood trunk with the annual rings
Grandpa R: the dinosaur that made whining sounds
Sheila: the seismosaur's loooooooong tail
Last stop on our field trip was lunch. We went back to the winery/bistro place that I stopped at on Monday. Lunch was delicious. Felisa had to go to the bathroom four times during lunch. That girl ALWAYS has to go to the bathroom in the middle of a meal which drives me absolutely crazy!!! We would've only had to go twice today but her poops were stuck. Joy, joy. Guess we need to drink even more water than we already are here in the desert. And just once I'd like to go to a restaurant and eat my entire meal before having to escort someone to the bathroom.
Back home... Elena brought the boys over then went back home to finish decorating Seth's birthday cake. She finished in record time once all her "helpers" were otherwise occupied. Felisa and Philip managed to stay drive for about the first hour or so but Grandpa soon gave them hose privileges and all the kids were soaking wet. I was able to escape for a yummy dinner at Gardunos with Elena and Jared.
After dinner we hung out for awhile, eating Rice Krispie treats and planning the menu for tomorrow's party. Then Seth went home and the other two boys spent the night. I disappeared into my room to help Felisa fall asleep then just stayed here, out of the way, watching TV.
Usual wake up and coffee time... got the kids ready and headed out for the museums with Grandpa. We went to Explora, the children's museum first. They didn't have the life-size lincoln logs out that Ryan wanted to play with again but the kids had fun doing everything else. I didn't particularly enjoy it but at least there was a second adult to help keep track of everyone.
Our favorite parts of the children's museum...
Ryan: the marble maze
Bella: the fountain
Felisa: the light one (I have no idea what she's talking about.)
Grandpa R: the electricity and battery activities
Sheila: the fountain
And since one museum clearly wasn't enough, we went to the dinosaur museum across the street next. That one was more fun for me, especially since I had never been before. The kids go everytime we visit, I think, but I usually escape to go shopping instead.
Our favorite parts of the dinosaur musuem...
Felisa: the horses (was it the horses on the wall or the horses Grandpa bought for the girls?!)
Bella: the cave
Ryan: well, we didn't do his favorite thing (the planetarium) so he had to choose another... the redwood trunk with the annual rings
Grandpa R: the dinosaur that made whining sounds
Sheila: the seismosaur's loooooooong tail
Last stop on our field trip was lunch. We went back to the winery/bistro place that I stopped at on Monday. Lunch was delicious. Felisa had to go to the bathroom four times during lunch. That girl ALWAYS has to go to the bathroom in the middle of a meal which drives me absolutely crazy!!! We would've only had to go twice today but her poops were stuck. Joy, joy. Guess we need to drink even more water than we already are here in the desert. And just once I'd like to go to a restaurant and eat my entire meal before having to escort someone to the bathroom.
Back home... Elena brought the boys over then went back home to finish decorating Seth's birthday cake. She finished in record time once all her "helpers" were otherwise occupied. Felisa and Philip managed to stay drive for about the first hour or so but Grandpa soon gave them hose privileges and all the kids were soaking wet. I was able to escape for a yummy dinner at Gardunos with Elena and Jared.
After dinner we hung out for awhile, eating Rice Krispie treats and planning the menu for tomorrow's party. Then Seth went home and the other two boys spent the night. I disappeared into my room to help Felisa fall asleep then just stayed here, out of the way, watching TV.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Swimming with a duck
Big Trip 2... Day 21... July 19, 2007... Thursday
0820 Wake up. Grandpa made french toast for breakfast. The kids and I decided that Grandpa could move in with us and cook us breakfast every day at home.
Bella says she want a french poodle party for her birthday. Pink poodles and Eiffel Towers... got it. She'd better not change her mind since I bought an Eiffel Tower statue at Hobby Lobby this morning! After Hobby Lobby I went to Learning is Fun, a new teacher store in Albuquerque. I must have been a teacher in a former life since I love to shop at teacher stores. They're right up there with office supply stores. What can I say... I'm weird.
Across the street from the teacher store was Schlotsky's - score! I had a BBQ chicken pizza to round out my annual Schlotsky's dining experience then stopped at the grocery store on the way home. I decided spaghetti would make a good easy dinner to feed everyone but I forgot to buy the italian sausage. Oh well.
Elena brought the boys over for the afternoon. Thomas had to go to the doctor for his Kindergarten check-up so the others stayed with us. The kids played nicely together for the most part. They completely rearranged all the pillows and mattresses in the bedroom and Double Trouble found the water (of course!). Grandpa got a picture of Felisa and Philip sitting in the fountain basin, up to their chests in water. What is it with those two and water?!!?
Elena and Thomas came back. More hanging out. Everyone wanted to swim but a storm was brewing so we decided to wait until after dinner. Elena and I made spaghetti, garlic bread bagels, and broccoli for dinner. Jared came over then Elena took Philip with them to run errands. Grandpa stayed home on nap duty for Seth. I took the remaining four kids to the pool. We had the place all to ourselves except for the duck who flew in and swam with us. He swam little then checked the pool deck for bugs to eat then swam a little more. I asked the kids why the duck was swimming in the pool instead of the duck pond outside the fence. Ryan said "I think he was kicked out of the pond club." Finally everyone was shivering so we got out, dried off, and came home. Hot shower and bath for everyone then popsicles for dessert. The cousins went home for bed. My kids decided on Pink Panther for movie time then fell asleep almost immediately. I watched TV until about 10 then went to sleep as well.
Another fun day with the cousins...
0820 Wake up. Grandpa made french toast for breakfast. The kids and I decided that Grandpa could move in with us and cook us breakfast every day at home.
Bella says she want a french poodle party for her birthday. Pink poodles and Eiffel Towers... got it. She'd better not change her mind since I bought an Eiffel Tower statue at Hobby Lobby this morning! After Hobby Lobby I went to Learning is Fun, a new teacher store in Albuquerque. I must have been a teacher in a former life since I love to shop at teacher stores. They're right up there with office supply stores. What can I say... I'm weird.
Across the street from the teacher store was Schlotsky's - score! I had a BBQ chicken pizza to round out my annual Schlotsky's dining experience then stopped at the grocery store on the way home. I decided spaghetti would make a good easy dinner to feed everyone but I forgot to buy the italian sausage. Oh well.
Elena brought the boys over for the afternoon. Thomas had to go to the doctor for his Kindergarten check-up so the others stayed with us. The kids played nicely together for the most part. They completely rearranged all the pillows and mattresses in the bedroom and Double Trouble found the water (of course!). Grandpa got a picture of Felisa and Philip sitting in the fountain basin, up to their chests in water. What is it with those two and water?!!?
Elena and Thomas came back. More hanging out. Everyone wanted to swim but a storm was brewing so we decided to wait until after dinner. Elena and I made spaghetti, garlic bread bagels, and broccoli for dinner. Jared came over then Elena took Philip with them to run errands. Grandpa stayed home on nap duty for Seth. I took the remaining four kids to the pool. We had the place all to ourselves except for the duck who flew in and swam with us. He swam little then checked the pool deck for bugs to eat then swam a little more. I asked the kids why the duck was swimming in the pool instead of the duck pond outside the fence. Ryan said "I think he was kicked out of the pond club." Finally everyone was shivering so we got out, dried off, and came home. Hot shower and bath for everyone then popsicles for dessert. The cousins went home for bed. My kids decided on Pink Panther for movie time then fell asleep almost immediately. I watched TV until about 10 then went to sleep as well.
Another fun day with the cousins...
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Rats and Cousins
Big Trip 2... Day 20... July 18, 2007... Wednesday
0730 Wake up. Drink coffee with Grandpa R. We had a nice conversation about butchering chickens and alternative energy. (He's on my side and doesn't think I'm a crazy green freak like Ron does so there.) He also said he wants us to build a casita (guest house) so he can come stay with us when we move west.
0915 Grandpa goes to his meeting
12:00 p.m. Grandpa is home. Everyone eats leftover pizza then I drop Ryan, Bella, and Grandpa off to see Ratatouille and take Felisa shopping. We bought goggles, sunscreen, and tweezers at Target. I went to the Starbucks Drive-Thru because I can. We stopped at Hastings and bought some used movies then went to the thrift shop next door. I was looking for board games but they didn't have any. Felisa decided she wanted another dog so we also had to get one for Bella. Felisa said she missed Bella which further confirms my suspicion that she will be lonely this fall when Ryan and Bella are in school all day every day.
2:30 p.m. Movie is over. Pick everyone up and head home. It's hot again today and I'm feeling it more since I have been in and out of the car a few times this afternoon.
3:00 p.m. Elena and the boys come over. There is much rejoicing! All the kids are playing nicely since they haven't seen each other in over a week. Seth is still a little sick so he stays in "isolation" with the grown-ups. Felisa and Philip managed to get into the water and get all wet. Those two are Double Trouble, especially when there is water nearby!
8:30 p.m. Everyone is full of ice cream so the cousins go home for bed and I get my kids all settled into pajamas and in front of their new movie, Flushed Away.
I have no idea how late I was up watching TV... shouldn't have had that Starbucks yesterday afternoon... but oh well. That's what vacation is for, right?
0730 Wake up. Drink coffee with Grandpa R. We had a nice conversation about butchering chickens and alternative energy. (He's on my side and doesn't think I'm a crazy green freak like Ron does so there.) He also said he wants us to build a casita (guest house) so he can come stay with us when we move west.
0915 Grandpa goes to his meeting
12:00 p.m. Grandpa is home. Everyone eats leftover pizza then I drop Ryan, Bella, and Grandpa off to see Ratatouille and take Felisa shopping. We bought goggles, sunscreen, and tweezers at Target. I went to the Starbucks Drive-Thru because I can. We stopped at Hastings and bought some used movies then went to the thrift shop next door. I was looking for board games but they didn't have any. Felisa decided she wanted another dog so we also had to get one for Bella. Felisa said she missed Bella which further confirms my suspicion that she will be lonely this fall when Ryan and Bella are in school all day every day.
2:30 p.m. Movie is over. Pick everyone up and head home. It's hot again today and I'm feeling it more since I have been in and out of the car a few times this afternoon.
3:00 p.m. Elena and the boys come over. There is much rejoicing! All the kids are playing nicely since they haven't seen each other in over a week. Seth is still a little sick so he stays in "isolation" with the grown-ups. Felisa and Philip managed to get into the water and get all wet. Those two are Double Trouble, especially when there is water nearby!
8:30 p.m. Everyone is full of ice cream so the cousins go home for bed and I get my kids all settled into pajamas and in front of their new movie, Flushed Away.
I have no idea how late I was up watching TV... shouldn't have had that Starbucks yesterday afternoon... but oh well. That's what vacation is for, right?
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Wanted: Billy the Kid
Big Trip 2... Day 19... July 17, 2007... Tuesday
0830 Glory be... a sleep-in late morning!
Spend the morning on fun activities such as coffee and breakfast, making a file folder game, playing cards, and listening to Felisa cry about everything. Oh and attempting to remove a splinter from the bottom of Felisa's foot. I only got about half of it. I'm going to leave the other half alone and see if it will come out on it's own. If not, I'll invest in some tweezers.
Leftover Papa Murphy's pizza for lunch.
12:36 p.m. Leave the house, headed for the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History.
12:55 p.m. Arrive at the museum.
2:18 p.m. We have completed our tour of the museum. It is 95 degrees today, very hot and most definitely sunny and so the walk through the sculpture garden was basically me torturing the children. I liked the sculptures. They were too busy complaining to notice any. We have two surveys from the musuem today...
From the Billy the Kid exhibit... do you think Billy is a hero or an outlaw?
Bella: hero
Ryan: Outlaw
Felisa: Hero
Sheila: I don't know... I was too busy coralling the girls to read most of the material presented so I can't decide. Although I have to say that before we went, I was unaware of the hero/outlaw controversy.
From the rest of the museum, our favorite parts...
Bella: the paintings
Ryan: making magnetic shape pictures/trying to grind corn (which is very hard by the way)
Felisa: no comment
Sheila: the wooden bike sculpture and the wooden dashboard sculpture. The 3 bicycles sculpture was amazing!
2:30 p.m. Stop at a winery/bistro up the street to buy more sweet wine for myself. I can't find what I like in the stores at home and who knows when our next wine-tasting day will be so it's time to buy myself some sweeeeeeet wine! I do feel a little awkward though when I come to these wineries with my three young children. What are people thinking?! I know what I'm thinking... I need a drink! :)
2:50 p.m. home again, home again, jiggity jig
Start reading a book... around 4 the kids decide it is time to go to the pool. Thunder comes quickly so it's a short swim today. Back to the house to change clothes and wait for Grandpa R to arrive so we can go to dinner. Yummy dinner at Chili's that we will be eating for a few days' worth of leftovers. Seth is still sick so Grandpa goes to babysit while Elena gets out of the house alone. Her destination... oh so exotic... the grocery store! I'm glad Jared will be back tomorrow to give her a break. And I hope Seth is feeling better soon so we can see the boys again. We spend the evening watching reality tv (on the lot and the singing bee) and playing cards (old maid and go fish). Then the girls fall asleep watching Fantasia. I leave Ryan and Grandpa to their own devices while I go to bed also.
11:30 p.m. Finish my book. Yawn!
0830 Glory be... a sleep-in late morning!
Spend the morning on fun activities such as coffee and breakfast, making a file folder game, playing cards, and listening to Felisa cry about everything. Oh and attempting to remove a splinter from the bottom of Felisa's foot. I only got about half of it. I'm going to leave the other half alone and see if it will come out on it's own. If not, I'll invest in some tweezers.
Leftover Papa Murphy's pizza for lunch.
12:36 p.m. Leave the house, headed for the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History.
12:55 p.m. Arrive at the museum.
2:18 p.m. We have completed our tour of the museum. It is 95 degrees today, very hot and most definitely sunny and so the walk through the sculpture garden was basically me torturing the children. I liked the sculptures. They were too busy complaining to notice any. We have two surveys from the musuem today...
From the Billy the Kid exhibit... do you think Billy is a hero or an outlaw?
Bella: hero
Ryan: Outlaw
Felisa: Hero
Sheila: I don't know... I was too busy coralling the girls to read most of the material presented so I can't decide. Although I have to say that before we went, I was unaware of the hero/outlaw controversy.
From the rest of the museum, our favorite parts...
Bella: the paintings
Ryan: making magnetic shape pictures/trying to grind corn (which is very hard by the way)
Felisa: no comment
Sheila: the wooden bike sculpture and the wooden dashboard sculpture. The 3 bicycles sculpture was amazing!
2:30 p.m. Stop at a winery/bistro up the street to buy more sweet wine for myself. I can't find what I like in the stores at home and who knows when our next wine-tasting day will be so it's time to buy myself some sweeeeeeet wine! I do feel a little awkward though when I come to these wineries with my three young children. What are people thinking?! I know what I'm thinking... I need a drink! :)
2:50 p.m. home again, home again, jiggity jig
Start reading a book... around 4 the kids decide it is time to go to the pool. Thunder comes quickly so it's a short swim today. Back to the house to change clothes and wait for Grandpa R to arrive so we can go to dinner. Yummy dinner at Chili's that we will be eating for a few days' worth of leftovers. Seth is still sick so Grandpa goes to babysit while Elena gets out of the house alone. Her destination... oh so exotic... the grocery store! I'm glad Jared will be back tomorrow to give her a break. And I hope Seth is feeling better soon so we can see the boys again. We spend the evening watching reality tv (on the lot and the singing bee) and playing cards (old maid and go fish). Then the girls fall asleep watching Fantasia. I leave Ryan and Grandpa to their own devices while I go to bed also.
11:30 p.m. Finish my book. Yawn!
Monday, July 16, 2007
Swimming in the rain
We're swimming in the rain... just swimming in the rain...
Big Trip 2... Day 18... July 16, 2007... Monday
Felisa woke me up around 7:30 this morning. I made coffee and gave the kids donuts that Grandma and Grandpa R had left for us. At about 9:00 I decided we needed to go to Target. So we did. Target and the bookstore (where I found some cute souveneirs for the kids back home) and of course Sonic on the way back. We hung around the house for awhile then we decided to go swimming. I forgot the pool key - again! - so we had to walk all the way back to the house to get it. Once we had the key, it started to rain. There was only a single raincloud with clear sunny skies all around and no lightning or thunder so we went to the pool anyway. It sprinkled on us off and on while we were there and stayed sunny as well. So we were... swimming in the rain!
Dinner was Papa Murphy's pizza... yummmmmmmmm!!! Then more hang around the house time and then bed...
Big Trip 2... Day 18... July 16, 2007... Monday
Felisa woke me up around 7:30 this morning. I made coffee and gave the kids donuts that Grandma and Grandpa R had left for us. At about 9:00 I decided we needed to go to Target. So we did. Target and the bookstore (where I found some cute souveneirs for the kids back home) and of course Sonic on the way back. We hung around the house for awhile then we decided to go swimming. I forgot the pool key - again! - so we had to walk all the way back to the house to get it. Once we had the key, it started to rain. There was only a single raincloud with clear sunny skies all around and no lightning or thunder so we went to the pool anyway. It sprinkled on us off and on while we were there and stayed sunny as well. So we were... swimming in the rain!
Dinner was Papa Murphy's pizza... yummmmmmmmm!!! Then more hang around the house time and then bed...
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Going In Reverse
Big Trip 2... Day 17... July 15, 2007... Sunday
0730 Wake up
1015 Off to church with the van all packed and loaded.
12:00 p.m. Drive by Grandma and Grandpa F’s old house and take pictures.
12:25 Stop at the hotel so Ron can pick up his car.
12:29 p.m. Schlotsky’s for lunch
1:09 p.m. Leaving town, headed south back to New Mexico.
1:34 p.m. A car just crossed the median. Oh $*%*!
3:17 p.m. Felisa says she has to go potty. Of course she does. We just passed Trinidad and are headed up Raton Pass with no where to stop.
3:22 p.m. Oh no, Oh no! Hurry! Go Fast!
3:27 p.m. Clearly we aren’t going to make it over the pass into Raton before we stop so… pull over on the next available shoulder (there aren’t many going up the pass) so Felisa can pee on the side of the road as the traffic whizzes by. I sure hope we don’t get run over.
3:30 p.m. Raton Pass, entering New Mexico.
3:43 p.m. There are Colorado Springs commercials playing on the PBS radio station.
6:28 p.m. Hit a tumbleweed.
6:38 p.m. Full rainbow arching over Albuquerque.
6:49 p.m. Arrive at Grandma and Grandpa R’s house.
0730 Wake up
1015 Off to church with the van all packed and loaded.
12:00 p.m. Drive by Grandma and Grandpa F’s old house and take pictures.
12:25 Stop at the hotel so Ron can pick up his car.
12:29 p.m. Schlotsky’s for lunch
1:09 p.m. Leaving town, headed south back to New Mexico.
1:34 p.m. A car just crossed the median. Oh $*%*!
3:17 p.m. Felisa says she has to go potty. Of course she does. We just passed Trinidad and are headed up Raton Pass with no where to stop.
3:22 p.m. Oh no, Oh no! Hurry! Go Fast!
3:27 p.m. Clearly we aren’t going to make it over the pass into Raton before we stop so… pull over on the next available shoulder (there aren’t many going up the pass) so Felisa can pee on the side of the road as the traffic whizzes by. I sure hope we don’t get run over.
3:30 p.m. Raton Pass, entering New Mexico.
3:43 p.m. There are Colorado Springs commercials playing on the PBS radio station.
6:28 p.m. Hit a tumbleweed.
6:38 p.m. Full rainbow arching over Albuquerque.
6:49 p.m. Arrive at Grandma and Grandpa R’s house.
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