Cross Country Trip Part 1: From Vernal to Apex

After a nice restful week, it was time to start getting ready for the big trip. Despite preparing on and off for the past year, I still worried a lot about if I'd planned well enough. We had a small game night on Friday and a regular, restful Sunday before the frenzy of Monday. Somehow, I made it through the day without crying, but I came close a few times. James and I did a lunch date at home and had some time to relax once all the packing was done. He even took the kids with him to run errands so I could have a little peace. That made all the difference. Too bad neither of us slept well by the end of the day.

Tuesday, we got up at 5 and left exactly at 6, as planned, reaching Manhattan, KS, at 10:40 local time. It was a really long day with several short stops at random places, plus a longer one at the mall in Denver for lunch. It was great to stretch our legs and settle Kenny's stomach. Poor guy threw up at the mall despite his anti-nausea medication. The drive between my house and Denver is brutal, honestly, if you're someone who gets carsick. It goes all the way up to 11,158 feet and then back down again afterward. I really appreciated the nice, flat roads in Kansas, even if they are "boring". The kids were surprisingly happy for most of the time. I felt that the last 2 hours were torturously long, but just as I felt the most discouraged, I saw the twinkle of fireflies for several miles in a row. I feel that it was a tender mercy to help me be happy and keep going. Everyone went to bed easily.

Wednesday, I woke up earlier than I wanted, but I worked on this blog and enjoyed the peace and quiet while I got ready for the day. We drove from Manhattan, KS, to Kansas City, MO, and checked out Lego Land. The kids had a great time, of course, and I'll admit that the rides were pretty fun. It's not a huge place, so we were able to see and do everything within 3 hours. After that, we walked around Crown Center and got some delicious food at Burnt Ends BBQ. We also walked to see the WWI memorial down the street. It got pretty hot and we were all tired, but we made it to our next stop St. Louis in a decent amount of time. Since we had 2 non-adjoining rooms in St. Louis, we separated boys and girls. It was a little lonely and Katie yells in her sleep, so I didn't get enough sleep for the 3rd day in a row. The hotel also smelled kind of like weed/tobacco mixed in the halls.

Thursday, we went to the St. Louis zoo. The kids whined almost the whole time, but we saw about 80% of the animals anyway. It's a pretty amazing zoo for being free. We were going to see the Gateway Arch, but kids were asleep by then, so we got as close as we could and drove on. The drive from St. Louis to Nashville was a little miserable. It was supposed to take 4.5 hours but took more like 6 thanks to several slowdowns. I had a feeling that our car would need oil, and it did, but I started crying when I couldn't find the oil jug at first in the mess in the back of the car. The lack of sleep really caught up to me in that moment. The car is fine, just old, so it needs oil once in a while. We stopped in a cute little town called Metropolis in Illinois. It has a giant Superman statue and museum, so we took some pictures there. 

After finally getting to Nashville, we went to see the Parthenon. It's an exact replica of the one in Greece, and it's amazing! The kids ran around the park for a while, and James even got some drone shots. I was really blown away at what a cool building it is. We walked over to a little pizza place (Bellagio) and ate outside. It was so delicious. Then, we finally went back to the hotel and got everyone to bed. This time, we had a big room with a couch bed. James and I watched some TV on the laptop to calm down after a long, stressful day. It's amazing what a funny show can do for morale.

Friday, I woke up early, but not as early, so I worked on the blog some more while everyone else was asleep. We got ready and went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, and it was delicious! The driving was exhausting for the rest of the day, and we had to stop what felt like a million times. We made one longer stop at Smoky Mountain Knife Works, which was really cool. We finally arrived in Apex at 9:35!!!

Today's been nice. I even felt grateful to be doing laundry because it meant not being in the car! I've seen my parents, Colbey, Mara and her kids (Emma and Kaya), Carmel, and Nash. We should be seeing Christian, Myles, and Skyla later on. The kids have had time to clean out the car, watch some TV, and play board games. Though no one is caught up on sleep yet, it's been really nice to eat meals together and not be rushing off to the next thing.

It's going to be a great week!

A Restful Week

Since we got back from Rexburg, it's been nice to have a "normal" summer week. There wasn't as much laundry as I thought, which was really nice! 

We did a last DnD session with Chelsea, who's now moved to SL. It's a bummer to lose people, but hopefully our group can continue. It's been hard to set up with people's crazy summer schedules. We are still enjoying Quests of Yore as well and will squeeze in 2-3 quests this week.

James is still working on teaching the older 3 kids to swim. Kenny is doing well with riding his bike, and I no longer have to help him. I told him I'd remind him to practice before we go to NC. Katie is doing better about reading, too. Though she hasn't read every day, it's been about every other, which is much better than she was doing during the end of the school year.

Oh yeah, our car did need new brakes. I don't know how Grease Monkey didn't figure that out, but we had our tire place in Vernal do it. It wasn't very expensive, either, and I feel completely confident that we will have no car troubles now.

As of today, I've bought/reserved all the tickets we need for our trip and even bought all the food we'll need (I think). All we need to do it pack up and leave! When I write next, we will be in NC! (It will likely be Saturday since we'll be on the road till Friday night late.)

Rexburg, the 4th, Anniversary Trip

Well, things changed a bit on Friday morning when James went to start up the car and it made a horrible grinding noise. I was really upset about that because we just spent a TON of money getting the car fixed up to go cross country. I also felt that it was important to take it on a test trip, so to speak. Well, it failed its stress test and needed a new starter. Thankfully, my in-laws have a guy about a mile away who got it fixed and back to us on Friday. Whew. I'm fairly certain that it will make it across the country now, but I've stressed so much about that trip that I'm not sure I ever want to do it again, and we haven't even left yet.

We had a very busy time in Rexburg. We met at Big Jud's for lunch on Friday with all 4 grandparents. We then went to the Renaissance Fair, which was really cool, and to Sam and Jesse's for a medieval dinner. After putting the kids to bed, we played a game of Cranium Turbo, which was great. (Nobody has the cards memorized for this one!)

Saturday, we woke up early to go to Firth for Anna and Grandpa Lee's concert in the park. There was also a delicious pancake breakfast. We left to get a micro SD card at Best Buy for James's drone and then took a short break at Grandma's house. We then went to another concert (for Joseph R.) in another park (in Rexburg). Our timing was perfect, and the kids got to ride a mechanical bull. We skipped the parade this time since it was more than 2 hours long.

After a few short hours at home, during which I had to make a potato salad, we went to the Lees' house for dinner. It was delicious and fun. We put the two little kids to bed and went to watch the fireworks in Rexburg, not Idaho Falls like we maybe thought. The show was actually pretty good. I think it was a great decision to skip the big ones. We were home and in bed by 11, and all the kids got enough sleep. Katie was still asleep at almost 9, which is very important for everyone's happiness.

Sunday was a bit more relaxing. I slept in a little and then got everyone ready for church. We all gathered to hear the story of how Rex and Melodie met and then went to church at noon with naps afterward. James and I were in charge of dinner, so we made our Sunday tradition of breakfast for dinner with grits, eggs, and bacon for everyone. There were no leftovers!

Monday, we were supposed to go to Victor, but we ended up staying home for multiple reasons. I got caught up on some things and even got some reading done. We took the kids to Emily and Rodolfo's house to play on the slip and slide.

Tuesday after lunch, James and I left for our anniversary trip. We had a great time at the Museum of Idaho (inside out animals exhibit), getting gelato at Manwaring Cheese, a nice dinner at Jaker's, a little shopping, walking along the Snake River and flying the drone, relaxing in the hot tub, and watching some TV before sleeping. The next morning, we had a leisurely breakfast and left for the mall. The car starting making a weird noise (grinding when braking, a different sound than the starter that just got replaced), but a quick inspection at Grease Monkey revealed nothing wrong with the brakes. We met up with Sam, Jesse, and Anna for lunch at an Indian place, which was delicious. After a little more shopping and a visit to the art museum, we headed back to Rexburg to go to D.I. and get ice cream at G's Dairy. By this point, I felt really anxious about our stupid car, so it really put a damper on my mood for the rest of the day.

We made it home safely by 4:30 yesterday, so today's been a catchup day. It hasn't been too bad, except that our next trip is monstrously long, coming up really soon, and our car is still making a grinding noise. I felt okay about driving the car home yesterday (well, James was driving), but the grinding never did go away. When I drove the car to get groceries today, I knew that we'd probably need to take it in to the shop. I hate that I don't know what's wrong with it. We have to wait till Monday to take it in. This trip has been SO stressful to plan (lodging, food, etc.) for months now. I wish I could fast forward to August when it's over and just enjoy looking at the pictures. Until then, I'm going to spend as much time as possible reading, relaxing, and trying to keep everyone clean, happy, and entertained. That's hard enough to do at home, much less in a cramped car for 60+ hours and across the country.

Party, Games, Dentist, Swimming and Biking, Chores, Heads Visit

We went to a ward party on Friday. It actually worked out well that Lewis had been sick that morning. James stayed home with him and was able to join in for DnD with his cousins. Not a lot of people were at the party, but we still had a good time. The kids helped me make a delicious cake: white cake with peach and raspberry curd and whipped cream on top. Who knew that fruit curds were so delicious? (Thanks, GBBO!)

We played a round of DnD with a couple of friends Saturday night. Samantha set it up like a murder mystery, and it was so much fun! We've also been playing Quests of Yore with Joseph and Kenny. It's a game based on the one in Onward and is like an intro to DnD with some different rules. I'm the "quest master", which is pretty fun.

I took Lewis to the dentist today to get 3 cavities filled, and he did great! As a bonus, I finished my book while I was waiting.

We've been working on teaching the older 3 kids to swim. We went together to the Rec Center on Thursday, then James took the older ones Friday and Monday. Hopefully, the older 3 will be decently good swimmers by the end of summer. The pandemic ruined our plan to teach them last year.

Joseph learned to ride a bide a few years ago when he was 8, and Katie learned last summer at the age of 6. Kenny, on the other hand, hasn't wanted to, but he's 9 now, so it's time. I've worked with him over the past week for probably at least 5 hours. He's pretty wobbly and has gotten a few scrapes, but he's well on his way to being able to ride for fun and without any more coaching. We just need to work on his steering. The other kids pretty much hopped on and rode off into the sunset, but that hasn't been the case for Kenny. I wonder if being older makes him overthink it too much. I'm not sure, but I think I'll work with Lewis much sooner, like when he's 5. :)

James and I came up with a chore chart for the older 3 kids. I can't believe what a difference it's made! I still have plenty to do, but I don't feel so overwhelmed with all the housework from all the extra people at home. I wish I'd made it a lot sooner.

After a busy morning on Tuesday, the Heads arrived around dinner time and brought pizza. We hung out during the evening while James and the older boys did mutual.

Wednesday, I played Quests of Yore with the boys while James went shopping with his mom and the littles. It was nice to catch up on some things too. I cooked dinner on the grill and we all went swimming at the rec center afterward. It was pretty much the perfect summer day.

We left Thursday to drive to Rexburg and split kids among different cars. It made the ride a bit easier, but not any shorter. Everyone went to bed late, but we were safe and happy.