Vacation 2010 Day 2

Day 2 of vacation took us through Kansas. Joe & I had been on this stretch of highway several times before and everyone always talks about how boring it is, but we really like it. It is cattle land. Cows are as far as you can see and the kids loved it. Midday we arrived at my sister's home. It had been a year since we'd seen her and the kids and we couldn't remember how long it had been since both husband's were there. So, of course, we had to do a picture.The cousins had a great time catching up with each other...especially these two. Nathan and Luke are exactly one month apart in age.

Home sweet home

So after 4,574 miles ridden in our van we are now home. I tried to write on my blog as we progressed on the trip and had them post when we returned. I was successful in that for the first few days and then the Internet was spotty at best. But I will try to get each day's memories and pictures posted within the next couple of weeks. It's more for our record then anything else so feel free to skip a few posts. We really, really had a good time. One of the best vacations I've been on and that is saying quite a bit considering I'd seen all the lower 48 states by the time I graduated college (maybe before that). The weather was perfect, except for WY and that wasn't that big of a deal because we were in the car and a museum that day. We had only one kid throw up which is also pretty good considering how car sick I would get. And the timing of that was perfect (I know. That sounds weird, but trust me he could have thrown up at worst times.) The kids are already plotting where they would like to go next year. Sara is hoping for Hershey, PA, but dad really wants to go back to WY and also see Montana. On our journey we saw all the states license plates except for New Hampshire and Delaware...yes, even Hawaii. Actually we saw about 12 Hawaii cars in Salt Lake City. (I think I should have taken a picture because no one believes us.) So now we are trying to adjust back to normal life which may take awhile. For example, it is 9:15pm and my children are still up. If you know our family, you know this is not typical. But they are also sleeping in until around 8ish in the morning...again, not normal. I'll have to adjust that, at least on Wednesday since that is when they have to be at the orthodontist. I'm currently surrounded by laundry and bills to pay and sitting here looking at pictures and dreaming of the grand canyon. So I don't think my brain will be totally on track until at least Thursday or Friday. Joe returns to work tomorrow and we are all going to miss Daddy very much. Okay, so here's a taste of what's to come on future posts about vacation:

Vacation 2010 Day 1

All packed and ready to go. We headed out on our two week vacation on Sunday, May 30th. We set the trip odometer to see how many miles we put on the van and started our first game of travel bingo.

The first day was strictly a travel day. Our only real notable stop was Imo's pizza. This was a special request of Joe. St. Louis pizza is one of Joe's favorites so we had to stop.

Our first night was rather cozy, but we got a really good deal. I don't think they enjoyed the hotel experience as much as they thought they would since they had to share beds with their siblings, but isn't that what vacation is all about? Lots of togetherness!

The gang's all here

Ah, look at the love. I didn't even have to prompt them into that pose. Yes, Nathan has joined us once again. And in the picture you can see something else that has happened at our house this week. One of our trees got removed...and for FREE! We had a huge evergreen that was eating up our yard. Fortunately it was also right by the power lines so the electric company came through this week and removed it for us.

So Joe watched the Sandlot with the kids a few weeks ago and since then they have been loving playing baseball. Everyday we've been having batting practice. This is what Ashley wore for batting practice yesterday. I couldn't pitch to her with out laughing. "Miss Grace" (remember the bowling ball incident and the broken hand from the stairs?) can't really swing very well. It is more like a ballet move. I honestly thought she looked more like a flapper girl who was out to play croquet yesterday. She was having so much fun...especially after she found out that I though she was hysterical. One of those time that I wish I had it on video...

Summer has begun

So school's out...here's what we've been up to....

• Went to the movies. We don't do this often so it was a special end of the school year treat.
• We started our summer book clubs. We've actually already finished the one at Borders and picked up our free book. I see lots of visits to the library this summer. I can't seem to keep enough books in the house for the girls.
• The sprinkler made its first appearance. It was so great to soak up some vitamin D yesterday.
• It is kind of list mania in our house as we are getting ready for vacation. I actually considered making a list of my lists, but I think that would probably be crossing the line into insanity.
• Late bedtimes. We are starting to settle into our summer routine of getting to stay up later. The first few days of that are kind of trying on all of us because it takes a little while to actually start sleeping in .
• Hanging out at the ENT--John & I were there forever on Monday afternoon. Fortunately I really like the doctor (same one Ashley had) and they were very apologetic. We got his surgery scheduled...July 7th is the day.
• Nathan comes home today. We (well, those of us here...not sure what Nate's feeling is) are all completely pumped that he is coming home. I'm enjoying my last quiet morning for awhile.

Bittersweet goodbyes

Tuesday we said goodbye to our teachers from the last nine months. School was over on Monday, but stopped in to pick up the official report cards on Tuesday. The kids are always a little nervous to see if they will get to move on to the next grade. (If you know my kids, you know that this is never really an issue so it is always really funny to me that they get nervous.) This was one of the best school years that we as a family have experienced. Each of the kids "clicked" with their teachers. This was a big deal especially for Sara and John since these were transitional years for them...John starting school and Sara starting at a new school.Ashley and Mr. Capel (the dog sticking out of his shirt pocket was Ashley's departing gift for him); according to Ashley, he is the best teacher in the galaxy

John and his "favorite teacher", Mrs. Goines

Sara and her all-time favorite teacher...I think this will be a year that Sara remembers when she is my age. She and Mrs. Ward really bonded this year.

our recent visit

My house is so quiet this morning I'm starting to think that I'm missing someone. Oh wait, I am! Nathan isn't here. We did a quick visit to Grandpa and Grandma Horn's yesterday and Nathan got to stay. He begs to stay every time we go and this time we were able to make it work. He's been feeling a little left out lately with all the end of school activities the other kids have been participating in, so this is a good reward for his patience. We got in a little fishing yesterday, met baby Michaela (so cute and such a sweet baby! I couldn't get enough of her!!), hung out with the other cousins and really enjoyed having all the Horn's together. It is a rare event so we cherish it. We will get one more chance to do it in July before the He family heads back home. Here's some pics of the day:

Ashley and her cousin Lydia were inseparable most of the day.

What are they putting in those these days?

Nathan just came out of his room and asked me if he could wear his tennis shoes today. Then he proceeded to explain why he wanted to wear them.

"Because they make me go faster and they fill my bike up with fuel so it can go super fast."

I need to look more closely at what kind of tennis shoes I'm buying this boy.

BTW, what four year old uses the word "fuel". The other day he called the cartoon bad guy a "villain". Maybe he's reading the dictionary when I'm not looking.

The final week

We are in the final week of school here and so much work is getting done. Yeah right! The third graders are moving to a different school next year so Sara informed me last Friday that they were done with school work for the year because this week they were going to pack. Well, surely, I thought, they will just pack for a little each day. Nope, yesterday they packed, watched a movie (if they wanted), did "artwork", I think they went to music class, and pretty much partied all day. Friday she gets to go see Shrek 4 because she did all her homework this year. She even gets popcorn and pop..she opted for the lemonade though because she is not a pop drinker. (Do you think they'll let me into the 3rd grade next year? Sounds kind of fun...) I should add into this that Sara's class did work really, really hard this year and it is nice to see them having some down time the last few days. I think of all the classes John's kindergarten class is doing the most work this week. But if I had 20 5 & 6 year olds in my class I would stay pretty structured as well. The highlight for his week is walking to the library on Wednesday and he is going to get his very own library card. I'm excited for him. Any bets on how long it will take before we lose it? I need to find a place that we always put our cards so that our preparation for library trips are more fun. Ashley is super pumped about field day on Friday. She's in the 2nd grade and they are the oldest at her school, so I'm thinking she thinks they (or one of the second grade classes) are shoo ins for winning the tug of war. Either that or she's just excited that she gets to throw water balloons at the teachers. For the teacher's sake, let's hope it is warmer Friday then it was last year. We technically finish school next Monday. It is a half a day which has totally thrown the kids for a loop. I've gotten questions like..."Why do we have to go Monday? Why is it only a half day?" We are definitely looking forward to Tuesday when late nights and hopeful corresponding late mornings can begin!

I'll know to ask the next time...

So it was a busy day yesterday...laundry, bike ride with the kids, cleaning (it had been two weeks since I'd cleaned...it was Mother's Day last week! Lots of people at the house today so it had to be cleaned), trip to Walmart, more laundry, more cleaning and I was fairly fried by the end of the day. So when the smell of wonderful coffee wafted into the living room while Joe was tucking the kids into bed, I grabbed a cup and settled in for some relaxation. It was mighty tasty so I went for cup number two. About 9pm, which is very close to the time that I normally head to bed, I began feeling quite awake. Turns out my husband made full strength coffee at 7pm instead of decaf. We were able to clean up our DVR by watching some of the stuff that we'd recorded. I think Joe secretly planned it. He's always convinced we are going to run out of hours on our DVR. Anyway, I've paid for it today for my midnight bedtime and you can be sure I will ask the next time I decide to enjoy a cup of java. Now if I can just stay awake until the kids go to bed.