Matt had his first high school football game today. The freshman scrimmaged the JV team. Matt caught 2 passes! Wohoo! I was even offered a job-water boy!
Way to go Matt!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
8-25-08 End of summer fling
Sigh. Summer is over.Tradition has it, that on the last day of summer vacation, Lindsay, Matt & their friends, Michelle Claassen & Edward Griley, along with Karen & last year for the first time, Madeline, head down to Santa Maria. We got out to lunch at Weinerschnitzel, go to Boomers, go to the mall for cookies & last year we also added in dinner at In & Out.
This year is different. The older kids are all in high school & the boys have football practice. No chili dogs, no chocolate chip cookies, no inflatable guitars, or huge pink sunglasses or tiaras, no hole-in-one. Instead, we went out as a family to dinner at CPK in SLO. It was nice to have Michael along too! (He usually has to stay home & work-someone has to pay for us to play!)
Maybe this is a new tradition? We'll see about next year...
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
1st day of school
Remember the Staples commercial from a few years ago? Parents were joyously dancing through the aisles to the strains of "It's the most wonderful time of the year"! That was us at home today! LOL
It was really nice to be able to drop the older kids off at the same school-first time in like 6 years!
Hopefully, it will be a good year for both kids. It's hard to believe that Lindsay is a senior & Matt is a freshman.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Day 11 Hendersen, NV - Morro Bay, CA 8-17-08
The last leg of the trip. Tonight we will be home in our beds.
Our goal today was to be on the road by 10 & we were pretty close to it. We did have a few delays trying to leave the hotel. While Michael was loading the car, Matt & I were down getting some juice & breakfast items & Lindsay had Maddie in the room with her as she was trying to get ready to go. We were all back in the room drinking our juice & eating the breakfast items, when there was a knock on the door. It was maintenance. They said they had a flashing light from our room. I guess Maddie pushed a button on the phone when she was playing with it. Oops. Well, that was taken care of.
Michael had another trip down to the car & when he came back up, he commented that there was a police car out front & an officer standing by the front door. Wonder what’s going on? We’re soon to find out. Another knock on the door & we’re greeted by 2 of Hendersen’s finest police officers! I guess the emergency button on the phone had been pushed & the line had been left open, so the police have to follow up on every call. Oh my goodness! Maddie must have pushed that button too! We apologized about it & they were very understanding about it. Quick, let’s leave before anyone else shows up!
After stopping for Krispy Kreme donuts & gas, we are finally on the way. It is about 11 & we have just over 400 miles to go until we are home. This will probably feel like the longest stretch-you know, the closer you get to home, the longer it seems to take to get there!
We are almost at the end of our eating out at different places then we have at home. (Lindsay can’t wait to have BK again!) We went to Del Taco today in Barstow. As we were leaving there, Lindsay yells “mom!” & I look back & Maddie has blood all over her face & hands. So we pull over real quick in the parking lot & we get her cleaned up. She had a bloody nose. Her first one that I can remember. We get about 10 mins down the road & she starts gushing again. Really gushing. We had to pull over on the side of the road to try to get it to stop, clean her up & get going. I switched seats with Lindsay so I could sit by her for any more. I think we had a few more, but not quite as bad. She wasn’t real fond of me trying to hold a tissue on her nose, or having blood on her arms or hands. Will have to definitely change her shirt if we get her out anywhere! Thank goodness she fell asleep, so we didn’t have to worry for awhile, at least. But it only lasted about an hour. She had nose bleeds off & on the whole way home. She was quite the sight when we got home.
We stopped for our last meal at In & Out in Atascadero. We went through the drive thru so we wouldn’t have to get Maddie out of the car. She seemed to be doing pretty well-especially if you kept the dvd’s going! She is liking the Elmo goes potty DVD! (Sorry Rachelle, it’s not Barney! Lol)
She was so excited when we got home. It was about 7:15. She wanted to play in her sand table, so we let her as we unloaded the car. Then it was bath time. The cats seemed to be happy that we are home too. Pepper seems to be limping, so we’ll have to keep our eye on him.
Now it’s time to get back to the real world! The kids have school registration & pictures tomorrow in the morning & Matt starts football practice tomorrow afternoon. Got to get the laundry done so they have clean clothes for the pictures.
It was so wonderful to get this opportunity that we had to go visit some very special friends in Nebraska. To see some of the country & appreciate God’s handiwork. A question for God though, why does he bring special friends into our lives that live so far away? Already Matt is trying to figure out when we’ll see them again.
I will try to get pictures up as I get the pages done. Thanks for following us on our adventures to Nebraska! We had a wonderful time. Thanks SO MUCH to Mark, Rachelle, O’Cessa, Ethan, Cole, Ellie, & the 4 kitties for a great time. For giving up beds, for sharing rooms, showing us how things are on a farm, driving, fishing & shooting lessons & the gift of friends. We love you all & miss you.
Our goal today was to be on the road by 10 & we were pretty close to it. We did have a few delays trying to leave the hotel. While Michael was loading the car, Matt & I were down getting some juice & breakfast items & Lindsay had Maddie in the room with her as she was trying to get ready to go. We were all back in the room drinking our juice & eating the breakfast items, when there was a knock on the door. It was maintenance. They said they had a flashing light from our room. I guess Maddie pushed a button on the phone when she was playing with it. Oops. Well, that was taken care of.
Michael had another trip down to the car & when he came back up, he commented that there was a police car out front & an officer standing by the front door. Wonder what’s going on? We’re soon to find out. Another knock on the door & we’re greeted by 2 of Hendersen’s finest police officers! I guess the emergency button on the phone had been pushed & the line had been left open, so the police have to follow up on every call. Oh my goodness! Maddie must have pushed that button too! We apologized about it & they were very understanding about it. Quick, let’s leave before anyone else shows up!
After stopping for Krispy Kreme donuts & gas, we are finally on the way. It is about 11 & we have just over 400 miles to go until we are home. This will probably feel like the longest stretch-you know, the closer you get to home, the longer it seems to take to get there!
We are almost at the end of our eating out at different places then we have at home. (Lindsay can’t wait to have BK again!) We went to Del Taco today in Barstow. As we were leaving there, Lindsay yells “mom!” & I look back & Maddie has blood all over her face & hands. So we pull over real quick in the parking lot & we get her cleaned up. She had a bloody nose. Her first one that I can remember. We get about 10 mins down the road & she starts gushing again. Really gushing. We had to pull over on the side of the road to try to get it to stop, clean her up & get going. I switched seats with Lindsay so I could sit by her for any more. I think we had a few more, but not quite as bad. She wasn’t real fond of me trying to hold a tissue on her nose, or having blood on her arms or hands. Will have to definitely change her shirt if we get her out anywhere! Thank goodness she fell asleep, so we didn’t have to worry for awhile, at least. But it only lasted about an hour. She had nose bleeds off & on the whole way home. She was quite the sight when we got home.
We stopped for our last meal at In & Out in Atascadero. We went through the drive thru so we wouldn’t have to get Maddie out of the car. She seemed to be doing pretty well-especially if you kept the dvd’s going! She is liking the Elmo goes potty DVD! (Sorry Rachelle, it’s not Barney! Lol)
She was so excited when we got home. It was about 7:15. She wanted to play in her sand table, so we let her as we unloaded the car. Then it was bath time. The cats seemed to be happy that we are home too. Pepper seems to be limping, so we’ll have to keep our eye on him.
Now it’s time to get back to the real world! The kids have school registration & pictures tomorrow in the morning & Matt starts football practice tomorrow afternoon. Got to get the laundry done so they have clean clothes for the pictures.
It was so wonderful to get this opportunity that we had to go visit some very special friends in Nebraska. To see some of the country & appreciate God’s handiwork. A question for God though, why does he bring special friends into our lives that live so far away? Already Matt is trying to figure out when we’ll see them again.
I will try to get pictures up as I get the pages done. Thanks for following us on our adventures to Nebraska! We had a wonderful time. Thanks SO MUCH to Mark, Rachelle, O’Cessa, Ethan, Cole, Ellie, & the 4 kitties for a great time. For giving up beds, for sharing rooms, showing us how things are on a farm, driving, fishing & shooting lessons & the gift of friends. We love you all & miss you.
Day 10 Grand Junction, Co - Hendersen, NV 8-16-08
Up & on the road by about 10:20! Have over 500 miles to go today. Happy half birthday to Lindsay today! Too bad she doesn’t feel better so we can celebrate it! Guess we’ll have to do it later when we get back home. Sorry honey!
Maddie is enjoying watching her new DVDs. She even took a nap before lunch. Since she was sleeping so well, we decided to go further before we stopped for lunch & a bathroom break. But we finally had to stop in Richfield, UT (last stop for about an hour) at Arby’s for lunch. It was good. Had to wake Maddie up, but she woke up in the greatest mood!
After driving for awhile longer, Maddie was starting to get a little restless so we stopped in St. George, UT & found a really nice park to play. You could see lots of lightening & the dark clouds & even a few sprinkles. After we left St George, we heard on the radio that there was a weather alert for severe thunderstorms & the potential for quarter sized hail & wind up to 60 mph in the mountains of NV. We were about 30 miles outside of Mesquite, NV when we hit the weather. I don’t think we had any hail but just hard rain-lots of lightening too.
We arrived at out hotel sometime around 6:30ish & got checked in & unpacked. Then back in the car to drive around some. Ate dinner at Red Robin & then off to see the lights of Sin City (aka Las Vegas). It is neat to see all the lights, but so much other stuff that you don’t want to see, or your kids to see! We took lots of pictures of the buildings & even got to see the water show in front of the Bellagio as we drove by. This bored Maddie-she fell asleep. Poor little thing. We have her schedule so completely messed up. It took awhile once we were back in our hotel room for her to go back to sleep. Good night!
Maddie is enjoying watching her new DVDs. She even took a nap before lunch. Since she was sleeping so well, we decided to go further before we stopped for lunch & a bathroom break. But we finally had to stop in Richfield, UT (last stop for about an hour) at Arby’s for lunch. It was good. Had to wake Maddie up, but she woke up in the greatest mood!
After driving for awhile longer, Maddie was starting to get a little restless so we stopped in St. George, UT & found a really nice park to play. You could see lots of lightening & the dark clouds & even a few sprinkles. After we left St George, we heard on the radio that there was a weather alert for severe thunderstorms & the potential for quarter sized hail & wind up to 60 mph in the mountains of NV. We were about 30 miles outside of Mesquite, NV when we hit the weather. I don’t think we had any hail but just hard rain-lots of lightening too.
We arrived at out hotel sometime around 6:30ish & got checked in & unpacked. Then back in the car to drive around some. Ate dinner at Red Robin & then off to see the lights of Sin City (aka Las Vegas). It is neat to see all the lights, but so much other stuff that you don’t want to see, or your kids to see! We took lots of pictures of the buildings & even got to see the water show in front of the Bellagio as we drove by. This bored Maddie-she fell asleep. Poor little thing. We have her schedule so completely messed up. It took awhile once we were back in our hotel room for her to go back to sleep. Good night!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Day 9 Engelwood-Grand Junction, CO 8-15-08
Today we woke up to a drizzly morning. Looks like it has been raining all night. Lindsay is feeling even worse, but we have to get going. Poor thing. I feel bad for her, no fun to travel when you’re not feeling well. She has her bucket by her side in the car. We made it on the road by 11!
It has been raining all the way from when we left the hotel, until we got into the Rockies, then it started hailing & snowing! Egads! We are in our shorts & flip flops. At one point our thermometer said it was 35 degrees outside! This is blowing my mind-snow in August! It is a little unnerving with the weather, especially for Michael driving & slipping a little-after yesterday’s adventure into the mud! We don’t have Mark to come rescue us with his tractor! We actually came to a stand still & crept along. It took us about an hour & a half to go about 10 miles. They had a sign up saying there was going to be a detour at a tunnel we were coming up to but as we crept our way up there, it was open again by the time we got there. It looked like there had possibly been an accident.
We stopped in Frisco, CO for lunch at A&W. The root beer was so yummy. Maddie even liked it. On the sign outside of the restaurant they had John 3:16 up for all the world to see! Inside they had Bibles around on their shelves & fliers up about Bible studies.
We arrived in Grand Junction, CO about 6:30. This is one of our favorite hotels that we have stayed in-it’s a 2 room suite! The kids each have their own bed & we have our own room. We unpacked the car, settled into the room, tucked Lindsay in bed & then the rest of us went to Mesa Mall. We shopped at Target & stocked up on some new videos & then hit the mall. They had a food court, so we all could pick what we wanted. Michael & Matt had Chinese food & I had Japanese & Maddie had both!
We went down to the pool, but the water was so cold, that we got in the spa. It was perfect. Maddie loved it! She threw a fit when we got out-she wanted to stay sooo bad! Maddie hit full meltdown about 30 mins later. She was just so tired (no nap). No one could make her happy. She finally wore herself out & fell asleep on the floor. Ahhhh, quiet. A little computer & TV time & off to sleep.
It has been raining all the way from when we left the hotel, until we got into the Rockies, then it started hailing & snowing! Egads! We are in our shorts & flip flops. At one point our thermometer said it was 35 degrees outside! This is blowing my mind-snow in August! It is a little unnerving with the weather, especially for Michael driving & slipping a little-after yesterday’s adventure into the mud! We don’t have Mark to come rescue us with his tractor! We actually came to a stand still & crept along. It took us about an hour & a half to go about 10 miles. They had a sign up saying there was going to be a detour at a tunnel we were coming up to but as we crept our way up there, it was open again by the time we got there. It looked like there had possibly been an accident.
We stopped in Frisco, CO for lunch at A&W. The root beer was so yummy. Maddie even liked it. On the sign outside of the restaurant they had John 3:16 up for all the world to see! Inside they had Bibles around on their shelves & fliers up about Bible studies.
We arrived in Grand Junction, CO about 6:30. This is one of our favorite hotels that we have stayed in-it’s a 2 room suite! The kids each have their own bed & we have our own room. We unpacked the car, settled into the room, tucked Lindsay in bed & then the rest of us went to Mesa Mall. We shopped at Target & stocked up on some new videos & then hit the mall. They had a food court, so we all could pick what we wanted. Michael & Matt had Chinese food & I had Japanese & Maddie had both!
We went down to the pool, but the water was so cold, that we got in the spa. It was perfect. Maddie loved it! She threw a fit when we got out-she wanted to stay sooo bad! Maddie hit full meltdown about 30 mins later. She was just so tired (no nap). No one could make her happy. She finally wore herself out & fell asleep on the floor. Ahhhh, quiet. A little computer & TV time & off to sleep.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Day 8 Diller, NE 8-14-08
Not wanting to go, but knowing we had a long drive, we wanted to leave by about 10. Not bad, we were on the road by about 5 mins after 10. We had our GP(M)S directing us & it had us going a different way then we had come. I think it was going to take us through Kansas-alright, we’ll see another state! J Within minutes of leaving the Weers, we followed the GPS down a muddy road, (it had rained last night), where we quickly lost traction & started sliding & down into a small ditch. Michael put it into reverse, but the tires just spun. Great-another adventure! J Thank goodness for on star-as we have no cell service there! We called Mark & their phone was busy, so we started trying other numbers we had for them. One of the boys had checked caller ID & saw our number so they called us back. Mark & the boys come over in their truck & realize they need something bigger to get us out. So they call for the big tractor! In just a matter of minutes, we hear the rumble of the big John Deere tractor coming to the rescue! Ethan & Cole were over the moon-they were sorry this happened to us, but they LOVE helping people out like this. They hooked the tractor up to us & pulled us out & down the road until we were back onto a gravel road, where we still slid around a little! We followed the tractor back home so Michael could scrub the thick gooey mud off his flip-flops. While we were there Mark & Ethan washed all the mud off the Tahoe too! Talk about full-service friends!!! Thank you guys so much for all you did for us! So, we’re on the road, again!
Now it’s about 11:30 when we are leaving. We are going back the way we came originally! Quickly becoming a Runza fan, (Ok, so I had one & loved it! Is that so bad? We don’t have Runza’s at home!), I asked Michael to stop & get us one, if we passed any. Being the great guy that he is, he did! He didn’t have to, as I was asleep & never would have known that we had passed one!
So, you think our adventures for the day are over? Far from it We are probably about 2 hours into our drive, Matt & myself are asleep, & Lindsay & Maddie are watching Ni-Hao Kai Lan, when we start pulling over. We look behind us to see those famous red lights! Yep! Michael was getting pulled over. L We were coming out of a work zone (where it is 55mph), when the trooper pulled us over. He said his buddy had radioed him saying he had clocked us going 66 in a 55 zone! So he got a ticket. First one in over 20 years! Poor guy-what a day it has been.
Our next mini-adventure-Madeline melts down! She had been asleep for a little over an hour & woke up pretty grumpy. We pulled over at the nearest exit & got her out. She was crying really hard & wanted to be held but pushing away at the same time. She didn’t want to walk or even “drive” the car. It took about 20-30 mins to calm her down. We think she may have had a gas bubble. But then she was fine. Thank goodness.
We could see out in the distance the dark clouds & lots of lightening. Neat to watch it. We stopped at Sterling, CO for dinner at Pizza Hut, just as the rain started coming down. It rained pretty hard too. It had let up some by the time we were done with dinner & back on the road.
We got to our hotel in Englewood, CO about 9:15. It had been an 11 hour car ride. Lindsay was feeling pretty yucky. She just crawled right into bed. After bath time & a little tv, it was bedtime for all of us!
Now it’s about 11:30 when we are leaving. We are going back the way we came originally! Quickly becoming a Runza fan, (Ok, so I had one & loved it! Is that so bad? We don’t have Runza’s at home!), I asked Michael to stop & get us one, if we passed any. Being the great guy that he is, he did! He didn’t have to, as I was asleep & never would have known that we had passed one!
So, you think our adventures for the day are over? Far from it We are probably about 2 hours into our drive, Matt & myself are asleep, & Lindsay & Maddie are watching Ni-Hao Kai Lan, when we start pulling over. We look behind us to see those famous red lights! Yep! Michael was getting pulled over. L We were coming out of a work zone (where it is 55mph), when the trooper pulled us over. He said his buddy had radioed him saying he had clocked us going 66 in a 55 zone! So he got a ticket. First one in over 20 years! Poor guy-what a day it has been.
Our next mini-adventure-Madeline melts down! She had been asleep for a little over an hour & woke up pretty grumpy. We pulled over at the nearest exit & got her out. She was crying really hard & wanted to be held but pushing away at the same time. She didn’t want to walk or even “drive” the car. It took about 20-30 mins to calm her down. We think she may have had a gas bubble. But then she was fine. Thank goodness.
We could see out in the distance the dark clouds & lots of lightening. Neat to watch it. We stopped at Sterling, CO for dinner at Pizza Hut, just as the rain started coming down. It rained pretty hard too. It had let up some by the time we were done with dinner & back on the road.
We got to our hotel in Englewood, CO about 9:15. It had been an 11 hour car ride. Lindsay was feeling pretty yucky. She just crawled right into bed. After bath time & a little tv, it was bedtime for all of us!
Day 7 Diller, NE 8-13-08
Driving lessons for Michael today! Mark taught him how to drive the big tractor. They programmed the GPS & went for a spin. Then Ethan took me for spin too. He put it on GPS & it could drive itself!!! That blew my mind! It can keep it within 1 inch of maintaining a straight line. It also can go pretty fast. This trip gave us a new appreciation for the work of a farmer-it is a very tough job-physically & mentally! And the farmer’s wife! Wow! Constant cooking & laundry. Speaking of which, she made a wonderful lunch of bbq hamburgers, hot dogs & sausages.
After loading up the fishing vessel, the 3 boys took off to go fishing in the creek for several hours. The rest of us went for a driving tour of Diller & Beatrice. We even stopped & met Rachelle’s Mom who seemed to enjoy taking the little girls on a ride in a shopping cart through her seniors residential living area. Lindsay went with them to make sure the girls stayed in the cart!
We had a Runza, which is very similar to a beerock. Very yummy. (Mom, ready to make some again?) Stopped at a DQ & got some blizzards & an ice cream cake for my birthday, & then headed back home. Got back about the same time as the boys. They had caught a few little fish.
Again, we are eating. This time filet mignon, cheesy potatoes & other yummy foods! We have been fed the best food!!!
Something else the guys learned how to do-shot a gun! They shot a 22 riffle, a slightly larger 22 riffle & then 2 high powered riffles. Those were loud! But they all seemed to have fun doing it!
The Weers’ had saved some of their fireworks from the 4th of July, so we had a 13th of August celebration! Maddie wasn’t afraid of them this time. Lindsay did sparklers-I think for the first time in her life. We had lots of firecrackers, fountains & we even got to see some lightening bugs!!!! That was cool. We moved the rest of the party back into the house where we took lots of pictures & had birthday cake! Mmmmm.
Sad to say, but our time with the Weers was winding down!
After loading up the fishing vessel, the 3 boys took off to go fishing in the creek for several hours. The rest of us went for a driving tour of Diller & Beatrice. We even stopped & met Rachelle’s Mom who seemed to enjoy taking the little girls on a ride in a shopping cart through her seniors residential living area. Lindsay went with them to make sure the girls stayed in the cart!
We had a Runza, which is very similar to a beerock. Very yummy. (Mom, ready to make some again?) Stopped at a DQ & got some blizzards & an ice cream cake for my birthday, & then headed back home. Got back about the same time as the boys. They had caught a few little fish.
Again, we are eating. This time filet mignon, cheesy potatoes & other yummy foods! We have been fed the best food!!!
Something else the guys learned how to do-shot a gun! They shot a 22 riffle, a slightly larger 22 riffle & then 2 high powered riffles. Those were loud! But they all seemed to have fun doing it!
The Weers’ had saved some of their fireworks from the 4th of July, so we had a 13th of August celebration! Maddie wasn’t afraid of them this time. Lindsay did sparklers-I think for the first time in her life. We had lots of firecrackers, fountains & we even got to see some lightening bugs!!!! That was cool. We moved the rest of the party back into the house where we took lots of pictures & had birthday cake! Mmmmm.
Sad to say, but our time with the Weers was winding down!
Day 6 Omaha, NE 8-12-08
We got up earlier today-heading to Omaha to go to the Zoo. We had 11 of us ready to go by about 8:45. (Anessa took the day off of work to join us-thanks Ocessa!) We had a girl’s car & a boy’s car. Omaha is about 2 hours away to the north. (Diller is in the South East of Nebraska.) The zoo was very pretty & big. We didn’t quite make it to all the exhibits before closing time. I think my favorite exhibit were the penguins! It was feeding time & they were swimming back & forth-so it was quite the show! We even got Maddie a little stuffed penguin.
We stopped in Lincoln at Valentino’s for dinner. It is a buffet-type restaurant. So many good choices to choose from. Of course we all came out too stuffed! They even had clowns going around making balloon animals for the kids. The older girls got their princess crowns, the boys got a sword, bow & arrow & an octopus/space alien & Ellie got a puppy & Maddie got a love bug. She wasn’t too thrilled about it at first, but Mark played with it on his hand & she warmed up to it.
Then we were on the road again, heading back to Beatrice to Walmart. Maddie & Ellie kept us laughing with their singing of Elmo’s Song. Maddie would sing it almost at the top of her lungs. We were laughing so hard. (yes, I cried I was laughing so hard) Note to myself-maybe not a wise idea to let Maddie have cotton candy & m&ms for dessert! She was wired! We made a brief stop at Walmart & met a few friends of Mark & Rachelle & then headed for home. Got the girls bathed & attempted to get Maddie to bed. It took quite awhile-she was still on her sugar high!
We stopped in Lincoln at Valentino’s for dinner. It is a buffet-type restaurant. So many good choices to choose from. Of course we all came out too stuffed! They even had clowns going around making balloon animals for the kids. The older girls got their princess crowns, the boys got a sword, bow & arrow & an octopus/space alien & Ellie got a puppy & Maddie got a love bug. She wasn’t too thrilled about it at first, but Mark played with it on his hand & she warmed up to it.
Then we were on the road again, heading back to Beatrice to Walmart. Maddie & Ellie kept us laughing with their singing of Elmo’s Song. Maddie would sing it almost at the top of her lungs. We were laughing so hard. (yes, I cried I was laughing so hard) Note to myself-maybe not a wise idea to let Maddie have cotton candy & m&ms for dessert! She was wired! We made a brief stop at Walmart & met a few friends of Mark & Rachelle & then headed for home. Got the girls bathed & attempted to get Maddie to bed. It took quite awhile-she was still on her sugar high!
Day 5 Diller, NE 8-11-08
After a good nights sleep, we got up, chatted some more & had a very yummy meal of bbq hamburgers & hot dogs, we had a tour of the farm & all the different pieces of equipment. I know we all enjoyed the rides on the gator & the tractor, but I’m not sure who enjoyed it more, us or Ethan & Cole?! Even Maddie liked the ride on the gator. (Yes, Nai-Nai, she had her seat belt on! J) The Weers’ farm wheat, corn, soy beans & sunflowers. Speaking from the tour that I received from Ethan, he is incredibly knowledgeable about their farming operation. He was so patient with me & all my questions. Thanks Chicken Legs! There are tons of grasshoppers & locusts. We also met all 4 of their orange & white kitties. Lindsay & I are ready to take them all home with us. If it wasn’t so far & having to deal with a litter box in the car & hotels, we would have taken 1 or 2 of them home.
Driving lessons today too! Ethan taught Lindsay & Matt how to drive the gator! Then they got out their 91 Honda & took Lindsay driving-dad went too. She did really well. Later they took Matt out driving too. He had a bigger audience-in the car were Matt, Michael, Lindsay, Ethan & Cole! Rachelle & I stayed in the house with the little girls-to keep them safe! Haha They weren’t gone too long before Lindsay & Ethan bailed on that car ride! But Michael said he did pretty well for a first time driving!
We again had another yummy meal-chicken & rice! (Yes, Rachelle, we need to have that recipe please!) Another pleasant evening spent giving baths to the girls, going for a walk and talking late into the evening.
Driving lessons today too! Ethan taught Lindsay & Matt how to drive the gator! Then they got out their 91 Honda & took Lindsay driving-dad went too. She did really well. Later they took Matt out driving too. He had a bigger audience-in the car were Matt, Michael, Lindsay, Ethan & Cole! Rachelle & I stayed in the house with the little girls-to keep them safe! Haha They weren’t gone too long before Lindsay & Ethan bailed on that car ride! But Michael said he did pretty well for a first time driving!
We again had another yummy meal-chicken & rice! (Yes, Rachelle, we need to have that recipe please!) Another pleasant evening spent giving baths to the girls, going for a walk and talking late into the evening.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Day 4 Diller, NE 8-10-08 (part 2)
Hi! Sorry to have left you hanging with our vacation tales! We had lots of fun & did things that we don’t normally do and I didn’t want to take any time while we there to post, so we will try to fill you in now.
So, let’s start on Sunday evening (8-10). We arrived in Diller, Nebraska about 9 pm to a great welcoming party from Mark & Rachelle, Anessa & Curtis (her boyfriend), Ethan, Cole, Ellie & the farm dogs-Max, Daisy & Albert. (We met the kitties the next day!) After meeting everyone & getting the Tahoe unpacked, we were served some yummy brownies that Rachelle had made & home made ice cream that Curtis & Cole had made! We also had a tour of their house-wow! It’s huge & very pretty. Lots of space. Thanks to Anessa who gave up her room for us & then Cole gave up his room for Matt & Ethan had Cole in with him. Thanks for doing that for us! I hope we didn’t inconvenience you too much. We stayed up & talked for a while & then it was time to hit the hay! We were pooped!
So, let’s start on Sunday evening (8-10). We arrived in Diller, Nebraska about 9 pm to a great welcoming party from Mark & Rachelle, Anessa & Curtis (her boyfriend), Ethan, Cole, Ellie & the farm dogs-Max, Daisy & Albert. (We met the kitties the next day!) After meeting everyone & getting the Tahoe unpacked, we were served some yummy brownies that Rachelle had made & home made ice cream that Curtis & Cole had made! We also had a tour of their house-wow! It’s huge & very pretty. Lots of space. Thanks to Anessa who gave up her room for us & then Cole gave up his room for Matt & Ethan had Cole in with him. Thanks for doing that for us! I hope we didn’t inconvenience you too much. We stayed up & talked for a while & then it was time to hit the hay! We were pooped!
Day 4 Diller, NE 8-10-08
We finally woke up early enough to have the hotel breakfast. After we ate it, we wished we had slept through it instead! J Translation: not worth getting up for! We are all kind of tired today, except for Michael. Matt is feeling a tad under the weather-cold symptoms. (both he & Maddie have it). But we were on the road close to 10 after checking out of the hotel & getting gas.
Today’s trip is about 538 or so-another long day. But we’re making it to “Diller-world” (Family Vacation movie). The Weers are our light at the end of the tunnel today.
We stopped for a drive-thru lunch at Dairy Queen in Ft. Morgan, CO. We wanted to keep moving & figured it would be faster to feed Maddie in the car. Time of stop: about 10 mins. Back on the road again!
Approx 2:45 central time we passed into Nebraska! Our ETA for Diller is about 8:45 (& that is if we went straight with no stops!)
Today’s trip is about 538 or so-another long day. But we’re making it to “Diller-world” (Family Vacation movie). The Weers are our light at the end of the tunnel today.
We stopped for a drive-thru lunch at Dairy Queen in Ft. Morgan, CO. We wanted to keep moving & figured it would be faster to feed Maddie in the car. Time of stop: about 10 mins. Back on the road again!
Approx 2:45 central time we passed into Nebraska! Our ETA for Diller is about 8:45 (& that is if we went straight with no stops!)
pictures Day 3 Engelwood CO 8-9-08
I am reposting this blog, because I finally have the pictures done to go with it! I hope you enjoy.
This morning started a little too early for all of us! The alarm went off at 10:15! Yucky! I got up to take my shower & noticed that Matt was still asleep-he who wanted to get up at 10 to go work out & go for a swim! J We were on our way by about 12:45. Today’s meal of a "place we don’t have at home", was Sonic. We were finally on the road by about 1:30. Our ETA for Engelwood, CO (which is just outside of Denver) is about 6:30. Yeah! Short drive, about 265 miles! Piece of cake! This drive has been pretty, following along the Colorado River. (It’s day, so we can actually see something!) It was beautiful to see God’s handiwork. We all enjoyed the scenery, except for Maddie. She slept for about 3 hours-the whole time we were going through the mountains! Good for her. She also missed seeing some snow.
We have had quite the range in temperatures today too, from low 50’s to the low 90’s. We also had a pretty good rain shower on the way. Maybe cleaned the car a little.
We made it to Engelwood, CO (just outside of Denver) about 6:30 tonight. After getting unpacked, going out to dinner at Macaroni Grill (& being serenaded by Tammy, this woman with a magnificent voice, for my birthday) we came back to the hotel & went swimming. Maddie is a water bug. She will have to have swim lessons next year. She loved it.
It is after 11 & time to get ready for bed. We have a long drive tomorrow & then we will be in Diller! I can’t wait. We are all getting so excited!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Day 2: Grand Junction, CO 8-8-08
We started getting up around 10 & were out of the hotel by about 12:30. True to our trips, we always like to try to eat at places that we don’t have at home. (Ok, so we blew it last night by eating at Carls Jr.-kind of. It’s in SLO, not MB, so technically it wasn’t home! Cut me some slack here, ok? Haha) We
found a Tommy’s world famous hamburgers. It was pretty yummy! J
Then we had to have Krispy Kreme donuts. Double yummy! We also got gas for $3.89 a gallon! Wow!!! We did actually find it for $3.69, but we didn’t need it then.
As a family we decided that we wanted to go see Hoover Dam. It was only 15 miles away & who knows when we would be back this way during the day again (other then our trip home). We got some beautiful pictures there-it looks like they are building a new bridge that will be soooo tall. There was a lot of traffic & people, so we decided to just drive & not take a tour. But we did make it into Arizona, briefly! We even got some rain & it was 102 degrees!
It was time to find a park to let Maddie run. There was a great looking park that we saw off the main road. Once we got over to it, we weren’t sure if we should get out or not-there were about 30-40 wild mountain sheep grazing on the grass! There was another open grassy area, so we let Maddie out to run around. We kept her in the middle of all of us, just in case. Michael was the brave one & took her towards the playground. What a great park it was. It had the rubbery padding on the ground, so the sheep didn’t go on it. After about 30 minutes of running & playing, it was time to hit the road. It was well after 4 by now & we haven’t even started on our trip! We have over 500 miles to go before our next hotel in Grand Junction, Colorado. Our estimated time of arrival is now 1:00am & that is without any stops.
By 6:00 Maddie still has not fallen asleep. She has done so well. What an amazing girl! Thank you God! Thank you too, for Lindsay & Matt helping out so much with her.
We stopped for dinner in Mesquite, NV around 6:30-7 at a place called Buffalo. From there we hit the long dusty trail to get to Grand Junction, Colorado. Maddie fell asleep around 9:30 or so & slept until about 1:45. What a great nap she had. She woke up in a pretty good mood, but still wanted Mom back by her. So we did the seat switch-a-roo again. We watched several videos together. We were all getting pretty tired by this point & we still had a few hours to go. Poor Michael with all that driving. I wonder what that part of the world looked like! We did see lots of signs to watch for deer & elk!
We arrived at our Holiday Inn Express about 4:15 mountain time. What a neat room we had-it was a suite, with our room separate from the kids. Both Lindsay & Matt got to have their own beds! They were so jazzed-they didn’t have to share with us. After 10 mins of trying to figure out how to set up the crib the hotel provided for us, we finally figured it out! We ARE smarter then the crib! Wohoo! Again, Maddie was afraid of going to sleep in the crib, so I brought her to bed with us. We had THE biggest bed! It was awesome! When Maddie finally fell asleep she was laying perpendicular between us! It did take her a while to unwind! I think I was finally able to put her to bed about 5:30, but then I was wide awake! Thought about going to have breakfast that started at 6! LOL Didn’t. Time to get some shut eye before we start out again. Shorter trip from Grand Junction to Denver! Thank goodness! Until then…
found a Tommy’s world famous hamburgers. It was pretty yummy! J
Then we had to have Krispy Kreme donuts. Double yummy! We also got gas for $3.89 a gallon! Wow!!! We did actually find it for $3.69, but we didn’t need it then.
As a family we decided that we wanted to go see Hoover Dam. It was only 15 miles away & who knows when we would be back this way during the day again (other then our trip home). We got some beautiful pictures there-it looks like they are building a new bridge that will be soooo tall. There was a lot of traffic & people, so we decided to just drive & not take a tour. But we did make it into Arizona, briefly! We even got some rain & it was 102 degrees!
It was time to find a park to let Maddie run. There was a great looking park that we saw off the main road. Once we got over to it, we weren’t sure if we should get out or not-there were about 30-40 wild mountain sheep grazing on the grass! There was another open grassy area, so we let Maddie out to run around. We kept her in the middle of all of us, just in case. Michael was the brave one & took her towards the playground. What a great park it was. It had the rubbery padding on the ground, so the sheep didn’t go on it. After about 30 minutes of running & playing, it was time to hit the road. It was well after 4 by now & we haven’t even started on our trip! We have over 500 miles to go before our next hotel in Grand Junction, Colorado. Our estimated time of arrival is now 1:00am & that is without any stops.
By 6:00 Maddie still has not fallen asleep. She has done so well. What an amazing girl! Thank you God! Thank you too, for Lindsay & Matt helping out so much with her.
We stopped for dinner in Mesquite, NV around 6:30-7 at a place called Buffalo. From there we hit the long dusty trail to get to Grand Junction, Colorado. Maddie fell asleep around 9:30 or so & slept until about 1:45. What a great nap she had. She woke up in a pretty good mood, but still wanted Mom back by her. So we did the seat switch-a-roo again. We watched several videos together. We were all getting pretty tired by this point & we still had a few hours to go. Poor Michael with all that driving. I wonder what that part of the world looked like! We did see lots of signs to watch for deer & elk!
We arrived at our Holiday Inn Express about 4:15 mountain time. What a neat room we had-it was a suite, with our room separate from the kids. Both Lindsay & Matt got to have their own beds! They were so jazzed-they didn’t have to share with us. After 10 mins of trying to figure out how to set up the crib the hotel provided for us, we finally figured it out! We ARE smarter then the crib! Wohoo! Again, Maddie was afraid of going to sleep in the crib, so I brought her to bed with us. We had THE biggest bed! It was awesome! When Maddie finally fell asleep she was laying perpendicular between us! It did take her a while to unwind! I think I was finally able to put her to bed about 5:30, but then I was wide awake! Thought about going to have breakfast that started at 6! LOL Didn’t. Time to get some shut eye before we start out again. Shorter trip from Grand Junction to Denver! Thank goodness! Until then…
Day 1: Henderson, Nevada 8-7-08
We left today for our longest driving family vacation that we have ever taken. A little over 1600 miles, one way! We are planning on it taking us 4 days. We should roll into the thriving metropolis of Diller, Nebraska sometime on Sunday evening. We are going to visit some special friends of ours (The Weer’s) that we met in China when we received our girls. They came out to see us in March & now we are taking the family truckster to Diller.
We got a little later start then we had wanted-even though Lindsay was done with her final by 10, she could not leave school early without being docked some serious points. She got home from school a little after 1 & we were on the road by 2:30.
Just outside of Morro Bay, on 41 between MB & Atascadero, we started plugging in all the different electrical devices-ok, the GPS, Lindsay’s phone charger & my laptop. The necessary things in life! J But one of our power inverters was not working. It was brand new. So we stopped in Atascadero at Kragen auto parts to buy a new inverter. We left home at 2:30 & stopped at 2:52! LOL Michael found a new one got in the car & plugged it in-it didn’t work. Now both the cigarette lighter & the aux power weren’t working. We figured it must be a fuse. We found the fuse box & after changing several fuses, we got the cigarette lighter fixed & could plug the GPS into there. That was the crucial one! We’ll just work on battery power with my computer & keep reading the owners manual to see if we can find a different one. So by 3:45 we were on the road again! We do have another aux power outlet in the back by Matt & I’m able to plug my laptop into that one. So life is great again! Haha
I think we made it to Bakersfield for dinner. Then our next stop was Barstow for a little bathroom break & change into jammies about 9:30 or so. Our ETA at that point was about 12:15 am. Then about 11 or so we hit a major traffic jam. I couldn’t tell you how many miles long it was. We could see red tail lights for as far as the eye could see. Not a good sign at all. They were working on the road. I think it took us over an hour and a half to go a short distance.
Madeline finally conked out sometime after 11. She was such a good trooper. She really just wanted to be held. So after some heart-wrenching cries, I climbed into the backseat & sat next to her & held her as best I could with her in her car seat & my seatbelt buckled. She slept for about an hour & then woke up again crying for Mommy. So I climbed back into the seat next to her. She had been sneezing a lot & a little runny nose, maybe allergies?
We finally got to the hotel, I guess about 2:15 am. I think by 3 we were all getting to bed. Maddie didn’t want to have anything to do with the crib in the room, so I brought her to bed with Lindsay & me & she fell asleep on me in about 20 mins. So put her to bed about 3:30.
Sleep well everyone!
We got a little later start then we had wanted-even though Lindsay was done with her final by 10, she could not leave school early without being docked some serious points. She got home from school a little after 1 & we were on the road by 2:30.
Just outside of Morro Bay, on 41 between MB & Atascadero, we started plugging in all the different electrical devices-ok, the GPS, Lindsay’s phone charger & my laptop. The necessary things in life! J But one of our power inverters was not working. It was brand new. So we stopped in Atascadero at Kragen auto parts to buy a new inverter. We left home at 2:30 & stopped at 2:52! LOL Michael found a new one got in the car & plugged it in-it didn’t work. Now both the cigarette lighter & the aux power weren’t working. We figured it must be a fuse. We found the fuse box & after changing several fuses, we got the cigarette lighter fixed & could plug the GPS into there. That was the crucial one! We’ll just work on battery power with my computer & keep reading the owners manual to see if we can find a different one. So by 3:45 we were on the road again! We do have another aux power outlet in the back by Matt & I’m able to plug my laptop into that one. So life is great again! Haha
I think we made it to Bakersfield for dinner. Then our next stop was Barstow for a little bathroom break & change into jammies about 9:30 or so. Our ETA at that point was about 12:15 am. Then about 11 or so we hit a major traffic jam. I couldn’t tell you how many miles long it was. We could see red tail lights for as far as the eye could see. Not a good sign at all. They were working on the road. I think it took us over an hour and a half to go a short distance.
Madeline finally conked out sometime after 11. She was such a good trooper. She really just wanted to be held. So after some heart-wrenching cries, I climbed into the backseat & sat next to her & held her as best I could with her in her car seat & my seatbelt buckled. She slept for about an hour & then woke up again crying for Mommy. So I climbed back into the seat next to her. She had been sneezing a lot & a little runny nose, maybe allergies?
We finally got to the hotel, I guess about 2:15 am. I think by 3 we were all getting to bed. Maddie didn’t want to have anything to do with the crib in the room, so I brought her to bed with Lindsay & me & she fell asleep on me in about 20 mins. So put her to bed about 3:30.
Sleep well everyone!
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