Day 5, Albuquerque, NM

We got into Amarillo very late last night so I am posting this morning about yesterday.
Things I learned yesterday:
1. Be flexible when traveling, dont try to go by a strict schedule
2. Adrienne has the smallest bladder on the planet... I am talking every 10 minutes that child has to go to the bathroom
3. If you are going to save money, save money by being a member of your local zoo. We got half off of the Albuquerque zoo because we are members of the Idaho Falls zoo
4. Mexican seafood is the best food on earth.
5. Riding a camel is a little scary. They like to pee, scratch their heads, and other things while you are on them with little to no regard to you.
6. Nothing is more frustrating than these words :"I held most of it!". Make frequent stops... very frequently.

The Road Trip, Day 4 The Grand Canyon

Day four of our vacation was spent at the Grand Canyon. It was amazing. I was amazed at the glory of this natural landmark. It was a great time to discuss erosion with the children along with geology. We only spent a few hours there. You could spend a week there but, with our schedule, three hours was perfect and the small ones were ready to go. We then went out to eat at this hole in the wall. It was great! Paige ate her grilled cheese sandwich under the table and I did not feel bad at all. The food was great and we could all just relax. Overall, a very enjoyable day.

The Road Trip, Day 3 - Cedar City cont. and driving to Arizona

Today was wildly successful. It started pretty early with Kayla and I going to a discussion about the play from last night. Kayla even contributed to the conversation without me wanting the earth to devour us... showing some real growth on Kayla's ability to comment in public. In the afternoon, we visited the Shakespeare Festival again and saw "The Secret Garden", which is one of my most favorite musicals. It was terrific and there was even babysitting provided for the two younger children. I was proud of myself for leaving little Lizzie with them and not passing out or throwing up from the stress! The musical was outstanding. The leads were amazing and the man that played Archibald Craven was right up there with Mandy Patinkin (Mandy played the lead role in the original broadway cast).
After the play we jumped in the car for a 6 hour drive to the Grand Canyon. On the way we stopped and looked at wonderful rock formations in Northern Arizona. The kids got to run around and explore while the adults took a much needed driving break.
We made it to our hotel at 10:30 local time, a couple hours earlier than expected. Tomorrow we get to see the Grand Canyon.
This is what I wanted this trip to be like. We are exploring the country state by state and seeing first hand the differences in landscape and climate. The children are getting great at recognizing license plates and are excited about the new things we are seeing. Even Kayla, who complained about the trip when we were planing it, is enjoying herself. Yeah!!

The Road Trip, Day 2 - Cedar City, Utah

Today was very lovely. We drove to Cedar City and the drive was great. The children were, for the most part, behaved. PJ only ate one crayon and tore apart about 17. I am grateful that this time of year crayons are only $.25.
My parenting gem that I learned today is that if I get into the mind set that I would like my children to be well behaved and quiet so that I can do my own thing (come on parents, we all do that) I just end up annoyed. But, if I give my children the attention they desire and take the time to color and play games, I can then have my time. Today, I got to sit next to Adrienne for a while and we played games and colored together. It was great and the ride went much smoother than yesterday when I was just telling the children to "quiet down".
Tonight, Kayla and I went to the Shakespeare festival and saw A Comedy of Errors. It was so enjoyable. I made dresses for the occasion. Kayla looked so great. My dress turned out to be about 300 years too modern. I looked more like Elizabeth Bennet than Lady MacBeth. I am more partial to Jane Austen anyways. Kayla would like me to mention the yummy tarts that we had while we were there and the masquerade masks that we bought. They were fun.

The Road Trip, Day 1

Since about January, Jesse and I have been planing a huge road trip. Huge is an understatement. We are going on a 16 day exploration of 15 states. This year in homeschool we have been studying the states and we thought this would be a perfect way to make our education more tangible and real. I know, 4 kids in one suburban with 2 adults and a 14 year old... are you nuts?! Maybe. 15 minutes into the trip, we were hearing "Are we there yet?" from the back. 5,000 miles may go slower than we though. But, I am confident that we are going to have a blast. Let me share with you some of my preparation. I apologize for not uploading pics, my camera is in the car.

1. The print outs - about a googol of worksheets about the states, bingo cards, activities
2. The brilliant cookie sheets with magnets - instead of expensive lap desks, the kids each have a small metal cookie sheet. We made magnets out of plastic jewels so they can mark their bingo cards without bingo markers flying at every turn. The lip of the cookie sheet keeps their crayons from falling to the floor. (It doesnt, however, prevent them from throwing crayons)
3. The bin of fun - Everyday there is a new bag of things to do. Games to play, coloring books, audio books, movies, etc. A few toys and such were strategically separated and put into bags with the day marked on them. Longer driving days have more exciting things.
4. The duffel bags - Instead of each person having their own bag, I packed two days worth of everybody's clothes into one duffel bag. We then have a brightly colored suitcase that has all of our toiletries. When we go to our hotel rooms every night, only one duffel bag and one suitcase is needed instead of 8 bags and 4 backpacks. For 16 days, I packed 4 duffel bags with a plan to do laundry at Jesse's brother's house half way through the trip.
5. Coupons - Their are great websites where you can get $25 gift certificates to restaurants for $10. Sometimes, you can even get them for less. It is awesome.
6. The accordion file folder - I have my print outs, bingo cards, coupons, hotel info, and other important things organized into a accordion file folder. I am also keeping all of our receipts as well to keep track of our spending.

At this point you may be saying, "You may actually be over prepared for this trip". Alas, I have a small list of things that I forgot. Some how, my three year old made it to Salt Lake with us without a single pair of shoes. (Fail!) She got into the car barefoot and will apparently stay that way until we buy her some shoes. I also forgot toothbrushes for Jesse and myself. I am sure there are more things that we will discover soon. So far, so good though. We all seem to be happy and pleasant and I hope it stays that way. I will try to update daily for all those who care. Happy Trails!

Stories from the Farm

So, in recent years, I have grown to love farm work. I admired people with chickens and still am in awe over people that can actually ride a horse. For the past year and half, I have been going and helping a charming elderly couple with their goats. Their names are Dorothy and Clinton (the elderly couple, not the goats. The goats' names are Cocoa, Blacky, Brownie, Oreo, Nubie, Toby, Frosty, and Melissa). Going and milking goats in the morning and helping pitch hay and water chickens have brought me more joy than I could have ever imagined.
One of the most rewarding things is the stories I hear from Dorothy and Clinton. I usually leave with tears of joy in my eyes from laughing or come home in stunned silence. Clinton tell me stories of "the war" and Dorothy tells me stories of her 8 children and raising goats and cows. I have heard things about how Clinton has cousins that had a child together even though they were brother and sister. I have heard about delivering babies and never dilating more than a 3 and sub-water that was so strong it actually lifted a house.
One of the first stories she told me I would like to share with you now. While walking the milk bucket back to the house, Dorothy says to me, "You know I had a son that drowned". She tells me the story of this tiny boy falling into an irrigation ditch and rushing him to the hospital but, they knew it was too late. The small child was in a terrible state and the doctor said that if he lived, he would be vegetable. He spend days in an oxygen tent while Dorothy and Clinton watched over him. Things did not look good. At this point in the story Dorothy turns and points to a trailer house on the property and says, "So that was Bryce, he just lives over there".
"What?!" I said "He lived?"
"Well, sure, its my son, Bryce", she states
"Is he okay?" I asked shocked.
"Well, sure", she says again, wondering why I have walked past my car and up to her back door with her.
She went on to say that it was a miracle and it is because of the "Lawrd".

And so the stories began.