"are you CRAZY?"
So, the last one, two, several... MANY months have been so hectic, so stressful, so sleep-less, so chaotic, etc... that I haven't written or had time to think or anything more than just react to the situation at hand.
And after a month of waiting to get the internet installed (that was a major lesson in patience, I never realized how dependent we are - at least John had his iphone!) at our new home in WA, we are finally back in business!
So, we started moving from Illinois on Sept. 8 and began the big road-trip. It took us 6 days. We were given many condolences and warnings and "ohmigosh are you CRAZY!!" comments when we told people we were driving out with a toddler and a baby. So, after all the comments, my optimism started to shatter a bit and I got into the mode of PREPARING for how to entertain the kids after spending all day in a minivan.
They did REALLY good, not just good, GREAT! We broke the trip down into 6 hour driving increments per day which really turned into 7-8 hours in the car. But, we planned stops every couple of hours and got out of the car to play ball, or stop at an indoor play area, or stop at a merry go-round and park. The kids got a chance to run around and get tired and eat before we got back in the car again. Not once did they complain about getting back in the car. No tantrums, no melt downs, no tears. But, we did make sure that either John or I was sitting between the kids playing with them, or handing out new games and toys the whole time. All in all, it was a positive experience and one we would do again. Although, hopefully we are done moving across the country or moving period because if I have to pack one more box or sort through the piles of accumlated *stuff* one more time (knock on wood), I think I will find a nice coffin and say bid everyone a fond farewell!
Here is Connor chewing on a stick during one of our rest stops. :) The poor kid got his first two teeth while we were driving out. So, one day he was batteling fevers and major tooth pain. His first two teeth finally popped through and John named them "Montana" because that's where we were at the time. Now he's partial to any type of cord he can find or any odd, dirty, piece of anything on the floor.
I think if Hayden just just live on a Merry-go-Round 24/7 she would think she was in heaven. I am the one who usually goes on it with her because John gets SOOOOOOO sick. We hit a cool merry go round in Missoula, MT and the ride went so fast my quads were burning because I had to grip so hard just to stay on the dang thing and not get whipped off into the bushes!
The best part of the trip was stoppping at Mt. Rushmore, it was so beautiful and the mountains around were gorgeous! It was really the first mountains we hit driving out west, all the scenery previous was flat and terribly sad, dead, cornfields. Miles and miles of dead or dying corn fields. So, we were thrilled to be back into mountains!
It ended up being a great drive and the kids made it until about 1 hour away from Moses Lake before all of our entertaining tactics had worn thin and they were just READY TO BE THERE, as we all were. But, that's not bad!! My kids impress me every time.
So, we started moving from Illinois on Sept. 8 and began the big road-trip. It took us 6 days. We were given many condolences and warnings and "ohmigosh are you CRAZY!!" comments when we told people we were driving out with a toddler and a baby. So, after all the comments, my optimism started to shatter a bit and I got into the mode of PREPARING for how to entertain the kids after spending all day in a minivan.
They did REALLY good, not just good, GREAT! We broke the trip down into 6 hour driving increments per day which really turned into 7-8 hours in the car. But, we planned stops every couple of hours and got out of the car to play ball, or stop at an indoor play area, or stop at a merry go-round and park. The kids got a chance to run around and get tired and eat before we got back in the car again. Not once did they complain about getting back in the car. No tantrums, no melt downs, no tears. But, we did make sure that either John or I was sitting between the kids playing with them, or handing out new games and toys the whole time. All in all, it was a positive experience and one we would do again. Although, hopefully we are done moving across the country or moving period because if I have to pack one more box or sort through the piles of accumlated *stuff* one more time (knock on wood), I think I will find a nice coffin and say bid everyone a fond farewell!
Here is Connor chewing on a stick during one of our rest stops. :) The poor kid got his first two teeth while we were driving out. So, one day he was batteling fevers and major tooth pain. His first two teeth finally popped through and John named them "Montana" because that's where we were at the time. Now he's partial to any type of cord he can find or any odd, dirty, piece of anything on the floor.
One of the other cool things we experienced while at Mt. Rushmore was going to the Stratobowl. One of John's ancestors was Orville Anderson and he was a ballonist and also in the US Air Force. He launched a balloon from the Stratobowl (at this very site) back in the 1930's. His balloon went 70,000 feet high. Insane!!! It is called the Stratobowl because it is essentially a ring of high mountains and Orville could set up his balloon without worrying about damaging high winds. John met the guy who owns this land online and he invited us to come to a hot air balloon launch early the morning we were in South Dakota. It was an awesome experience and so beautiful!
The woman with John was just a little girl when Orville launched his balloon here. Her family has owned with property for many generations and she was so lovely to us. She remembers Orville as being "the quiet one". it was so neat to meet someone who had met him. She walked us to the launching site and then showed us her house that had all sorts of ballooning history. It was so neat.
Comments