Anniversary update

We decided to go with Lincoln's anniversary plans for next weekend. My friend Rachel knew of both of our plans and said that mine were more anniversary oriented (recreating parts of our first date and favorite activities over the last 10 years) but I decided that I like the idea of being surprised with a trip. That has never happened to me before and I'm loving it.

Five months after we started dating I planned a surprise trip for us to London. Lincoln didn't know where we were going until we played "20 Questions" on the way to the airport. I have also planned a number of semi-surprise trips. Oftentimes he would know that we were going on a trip but wouldn't know where until closer to the date or I would tell him where we were going but not what activities we had planned. In all instances I've planned everything from start to finish before telling him our plans. I think he enjoys having everything all planned out for him. It's like being married to a travel agent. He just goes to the airport when I tell him and always has the time of his life.

All of those trips have been wildly successful so I'm excited to see what Lincoln has up his sleeve. So far, however, he has a lot to learn about surprise trips. He has already given up a number of hints although I still have NO idea where we're going. I am the master of the surprise trip...just ask Tracy...but for once I am happy to be the one in the dark.

Fast Cars and Faster Women

Geez, we leave Hannah alone with Grandma and Grandpa for a few days and look what happens:

A guide to Catholic church for Hannah

One of the fun new activities Hannah will get to partake in while she's traveling with Grandma and Grandpa is church!!! I will admit I am a very lapsed Catholic and Hannah never goes to church except when we're visiting Grandma and Grandpa. Even then Lincoln usually rescues her and Jake by taking them somewhere to play under the guise of not interrupting the other churchgoers. Needless to say that isn't an option for the next few weeks but luckily Mom said Hannah did really good during church last weekend.

This morning as I was listening to my iPod I came across the soundtrack from The Altar Boyz. It's an absolutely hilarious - yet totally respectful - religious comedy that Hannah and I both enjoy. I thought now that she has recently attended church she'd appreciate this song all that much more.

All of you Catholics out there will also get a kick out of it. I'm sure Steph will get a good laugh too having attended Catholic Mass with me a time or two down in Arkansas.

Click here to listen. Enjoy!

Grandpa is going to go broke AND get no credit for it

Me: Are you having fun still?

Hannah: Yep.

Me: Are you still spending all of Grandpa's money?

(Hannah giggles)

Hannah: No. Grandma's money!!!

Me: Oh yeah?

Hannah: Yeah, because she got it out of her wallet.

Such a dilemma

A week from Saturday is the 10-year anniversary of when Lincoln and I started dating. Since we still feel like we're dating we celebrate it every year in at least some small way. Ten years, of course, has to be celebrated with something big.

This morning Lincoln mentioned to me that he has planned a romantic, overnight surprise getaway for me for our anniversary. I felt obligated to tell him that I too have planned a romantic, overnight surprise for him. Hmmm....what to do, what to do.

Neither of us are willing to reveal our plans to the other so we've brought in a 3rd party mediator. Rachel is aware of both of our plans and has weighed in. Once I discuss her response with Lincoln we'll have to decide how to proceed.

What problems to have in a marriage......whose romantic getaway should we go with? We can only be so lucky.

I think this is harder on Jake than anyone else

Poor Jakey. He's really having trouble tonight with how much he misses Hannah.

Our trip by the numbers

Total miles traveled: 3,420.8

Longest day (hours)*: 13 hours and 20 minutes on July 25th from Madison, WI to Clearfield, PA

Most miles in a day*: 689.2 on July 25th.

*2nd runner up for this was 12 hours and 45 minutes to go 562.1 miles on 7/17. We drove only 30 minutes less than our longest day but went 127.1 fewer miles thanks to Chicago traffic and the Great Potato Wedge Debacle of 2009.

Lowest gas price: $2.29 in Elma, IA

Highest gas price: $2.75 in Fishkill, NY

Average gas price: $2.48

Average MPG: I didn't actually go back and calculate this because I'm too lazy to dig out all the receipts and match them to my mileage log but the two times I did do it we were getting 21 mpg on the highway so we'll go with that as an answer.

Number of days: 11

Number of vomiting incidences: 2

Number of meals at Mabe's Pizza: 4

Number of meals at Arby's: 3

Number of meals at McDonald's: 1

Number of pitchers of beer: Ummm.....I lost track.

MILEAGE BY THE DAY:

Day 1: 583.3 miles - Upton, MA to Youngstown, OH
Day 2: 562.1 miles - Youngstown, OH to Madison, WI
Day 3: hanging around Madison
Day 4: 142.5 - Madison, WI to Decorah, IA
Day 5: hanging around Decorah
Day 6: 134.1 miles (hanging around Decorah plus we went to Elma, IA and back.)
Day 7: 274.7 miles - Decorah, IA to Aitkin, MN
Day 8: hanging around the lake
Day 9: 431.3 miles - Aitkin, MN to Decorah, IA to Ridgeway, IA to Madison, WI
Day 10: 689.2 miles - Madison, WI to Clearfield, PA
Day 11: 444.0 miles - Clearfield, PA to Upton, MA

Dear Seattle- Please give us back our summer. Love, Boston

My sister just sent me the 5-day forecast for Seattle. What the hell? That's the type of forecast you usually see here in Boston and we haven't even hit 90 degrees yet this year!!! In a city where less than 5% of people probably have central a/c in their houses this doesn't bode well. I wonder how Hannah will handle it. She's had central a/c ever since she was born.

Poor Dad

My dad raised three daughters and I'm sure it wasn't cheap. I know that as the youngest, and my sisters will the say the most spoiled, I probably cost them the most money over the years. And now they've voluntarily signed up to have my daughter to themselves, exclusively, for three weeks. I'm not sure if they (particularly Dad) was aware of how much that would cost them.

I'm pretty sure that every day Hannah has been with them so far she has told me about some purchase or another. I know she has gotten at least one new doll, a new hat, and a snorkel mask so far. Yesterday afternoon I got a call from Mom about a backpack that she and Hannah were looking at in the mall. While I was talking to her Dad sent me an email from work that pleaded for me to "SEND MONEY!" I got a kick out of that so shortly after I hung up with Mom I called Dad to tease him about it. Dad said that before Hannah and Mom left for the mall he gave Hannah a note that said "Don't spend any money! Signed, the Boss".

Me: Did she laugh at you?

Dad: Yes.

Me: That's my girl.

Mille Lacs - a photo essay (Subtitled: My 1,000th post!!!)

Assembling Jake's new fishing pole:

I can't count how many times I've sat in that very same spot where Jake and Hannah are fishing in these photos:


Picking blueberries. Grandma B will be so proud:


My family on the dock where I spent so many hours of my childhood. I love seeing them there:

Playing at Roger's house on Round Lake:

Feeding the ducks at Roger's:

Learning how to knit from Aunt Lin:

The big fish in Garrison, MN. I can't tell you how many pictures I have of me in front of this fish:

Jake at the lake:

Hannah at the lake:

Tubing - A photo essay

The next generation of Lentz tubers (Sorry Lincoln but when she's in Decorah she's a Lentz....not a Snow):

Hannah in her tube:

Hannah and Auntie Rachie:

Stylin' on the river:

Hannah, Grandpa Dan, and Daddy on the river - three generations of tubers:

Hannah and Daddy....passing down tradition:

My little river girl:

Cleaning up lunch....a true tuber always has an (empty) beer bottle or two in hand:

Decorah, IA - a photo essay

Hannah playing in the Co-Op (formerly Fairway) parking lot:

Eating ice cream with Water Street of Decorah in the background:

What a mess!:

Jake at the Chick Hatchery:

Hannah at the Chick Hatchery:

Riding the train at Nordic Fest:

Hannah and Lincoln at the Whippy Dip:

Madison, WI - A photo essay

Lincoln playing frisbee:

Jake cheating at getting across the monkey bars:

Hannah swinging on the bar:

Hannah and Uncle Kevin:

Jake running through the park playing Star Wars:

Hannah on the swing:

Hannah riding her bike:

On the road - a photo essay

Hannah working in her workbook:

Jake riding his bike through a puddle at the Bad Luck Rest Stop:

Hannah getting ready to hit the road again:


Hannah's unique sleeping set-up:

Passing the time with a nap:


Jake chilling on his first day without Hannah:


My boys at lunch:

Photo essays coming soon

I have lots of photo essays to put up from our trip and I hope to start getting them up this evening.

I guess I have some reading to do

I had eleven....yes, eleven....magazines waiting for me in the mail upon our return. I've got some reading to do before they start arriving again this weekend.

I actually had a total of 13 magazines waiting for me but two of them were ones I don't read so they get handed off to Tracy. And I don't subscribe to all of those above but I do read all of them. For some reason someone in Magazine Land thinks our house is a doctor's office and they send me free magazines all the time. It's great.

On top of the 11 magazines I also received a book that I ordered awhile back and Amazon shipped to me while we were gone!

An eye-opening experience

I have always been a firm believer that if you're going to have a child you should have at least two. Typically, in my opinion, only children generally grow up to be spoiled plus they have no close sibling relationships (obviously) and when their parents are driving them crazy (or God forbid, deceased) they have no one to commiserate with.

A few weeks ago the sister of one of my dearest, closest, bestest friends gave birth to her second child. The sister's husband also has a blog and she occasionally guest posts on there. During her pregnancy both her and her husband expressed concerns about the fact that their little family of three would now become four and how that would affect their relationship with their daughter. It sort of boggled my mind that they thought that way because it never crossed my mind with Hannah. Lincoln and I knew we wanted more than one child. Heck, originally we said "no more than four" but later decided two was a really, really good number. I thought about having two kids in the terms of Hannah having a younger sibling and the new baby...ultimately Jake....having a big sister. I thought about how they would interact and how they would play together. How if it was two girls they could grow up to be best friends (and occasionally worst enemies as any girl with a sister will tell you). How if it was a boy Hannah would grow up to think he was a pest and how he would grow up to have crushes on Hannah's friends. Or his friends would grow up to have crushes on her. As the youngest of three kids I never thought about how the parental relationship with the elder child would change. I mean, after all, wasn't the greatest thing that ever happened to my parents and older sisters my arrival in this world?

A little over 48 hours ago we handed off Hannah to my parents for three weeks. In the weeks leading up to this adventure I thought about how much I would miss her and how it would affect her. Would she enjoy it? Would she be homesick? I remember Rachel and me clinging to each other under a tree at Camp Tahigwa and wailing at the thought of being away from home for a week. And that was only a short drive away from my house. Hannah will be hours away....BY AIRPLANE!!! What if she is miserable? She has no one to cling to under the tree and no way to get home.

But I digress.....

I thought about this trip in the many ways it would affect Hannah and how it would affect me. I miss her terribly but I know this is a great experience for her and that she is going to really enjoy it. I also worried about how it would affect Jake. I told myself it would make him more independent but I also worried about how much harder it would be to deal with him without having Hannah to keep him busy. She's a great big sister and a great helper when we need someone to watch him while Lincoln and I are busy. I'll admit a small part of me selfishly wanted to keep her here because it would make things easier on us.

But I never expected this.

I never expected how much more I could love and appreciate Jake. I've loved and adored Jake since the minute he came out of me looking like a grumpy old man. But to a degree he has always been Lincoln's. Hannah is my little girl and Jake is a Daddy's boy. When he was younger he used to tell me to leave the room whenever I walked in because he didn't want me to interrupt his Daddy time. Daddy is the one he wants when he has to go to the bathroom. Daddy is the one he wants to play Star Wars with. Daddy is the one he wants to read him a book at night. And I've been okay with that because I have Hannah. She's my little girl. She's my snuggler and my best friend. She draws me pictures and wants to know how my day was. She wants to be like me and is always asking when our next "girl day" is going to happen. When we go to restaurants Lincoln and Jake sit on one side of the booth and Hannah and I sit on the other side. In hotels Lincoln and Jake share a bed and Hannah and I share one. Since 1:14 a.m. on August 18, 2001 she is me and I am her.

But as much as I miss her I really am enjoying seeing Jake in a new light. I never thought about this before but Lincoln and I have never experienced a four and a half year old without a baby in tow. Once Jake was born, when Hannah was almost three and a half, our attention was split in two. And he's a riot now. I've always appreciated the humor he has brought into our lives but these last few days he has been that much more. More everything. More caring and funny and sweet and considerate and just plain more Jake. I love it.

Saturday night when we stayed in the hotel and Jake slept with Lincoln and I slept alone I missed Hannah terribly. When we stopped for meals and I had the entire side of the booth to myself I missed Hannah terribly. But I also sat there in awe as I watched Jake just be Jake without any distractions or comparisons to his older sister or having to divide my attention. It was incredible.

Don't get me wrong...I can't wait for Hannah to come home. I am counting the days and the next three weeks are going to be terribly hard on me but I don't think they'll be as hard as originally anticipated. I love getting calls from Mom about all the things that Hannah is doing while she is with them and how well she's behaving and how much she's proving to be a wonderful, caring, responsible, and social little girl but I'm also going to enjoy the next three weeks by taking the time to experience what we've never had before....Jake. Just Jake. And all the wonder he brings with him.

Welcome Home

Lavendar bath salts. Champagne. Candles. Jacuzzi tub.

It's good to be home again.

He's a smart one

Me: You know what I think will be very interesting over the next three weeks?

Link: What?

Me: We've never had just a 4 1/2 year old before. When Hannah was 4 1/2 we had a baby to deal with as well.

Link: That's very true.

Jake: That was me.

Me: Yes, it was.

Jake: Do you know how I knowed that?

Me: How?

Jake (pointing at his head): Brain like a super computer.

Home again

We made it home! It's good to be home. I promise to post lots of pictures soon. Right now we're just trying to settle back in and get everything together before going back to work tomorrow morning.

Homeward bound

We're on the road again and this time we're heading for home. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed tonight. It was such a great feeling to boot up the GPS this morning and hit "Where to?" and then "Go home".

Last night we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Clearfield, PA. It was a very nice hotel. The pool was very busy and very crowded but we were able to get down there and work off a little energy. Jake was all fired up after 13 hours in the car but we let him stay up until about 11 p.m. We were down in the pool until about 10:40 or so and then came back up to the room for showers. At 6:00 a.m. we woke him up....which he was not too happy about....and took him down for breakfast. Getting a good breakfast in him seems to be the key to keeping him from getting car sick. Once we got on the road (just before 7:00 a.m.) he fell asleep again and slept until about 9:15 when we stopped for a potty break.

This morning I drove for the first few hours while Jakey slept and Lincoln watched a movie. We were driving through the Appalachian Mountains which is incredibly scenic. It was a very pleasant...and very peaceful....morning drive for me.

Right now we're getting ready to stop in Fishkill, NY for lunch. You would think that someone over the years would have thought to change the name of that place. What an unattractive name.

Pressing on

Our original plan was to stop in Youngstown, OH tonight on the way back to Massachusetts. It's a nice middle point for the trip...11 hours one day and 12 hours the next....but we decided to press on a little farther into Pennsylvania this evening. I made a hotel reservation in Clearfield which is about two hours past Youngstown. It should shorten our day a little tomorrow and hopefully get us home around 4 or 5 p.m. instead of 6 or 7 p.m. My goal is to get home early enough tomorrow evening to unload the car, unwind a little, and maybe even get some laundry done before the work week begins.

Jake is doing great in the car despite Hannah's absence. He is quietly playing with his rods and balls (i.e. Magnetix) right now and earlier he took a nap and watched a movie. He has been a real trouper and I couldn't be prouder of him. Of course that may change before we get to Clearfield as it will have been a 13 hour day of driving if we don't stop anymore between here and there.

Every now and then Jake asks "Where's Hannah?" or "Why did Hannah get to stay behind?" but when we explain that it is because she's old enough to do so he takes it pretty well. I'm curious to see how many days it takes for him to quit asking. When he's not asking that he just randomly throws out a "I miss Hannah." every now and then.

The ride today has been pretty smooth. We had about 5 minutes of rain just before Cleveland, OH while I was driving but other than that it has been dry the whole way. We started out with bright sun this morning and it has gotten progressively cloudier as the day has gone on but nothing like the dark clouds and lightening that we had last night. As usual Lincoln has done most of the driving but I did a stint between Toledo and Cleveland while he took a nap. He probably wishes he hadn't done that since it allowed my mind time to wander and when he woke up I told him I thought we should continue driving a few extra hours.

I have to say, it's very nice having the laptop and mobile Internet access with us in the car. Once we decided we'd drive on into Pennsylvania tonight Lincoln took over driving so that I could find a hotel for us. I was able to pull up "hotels on I-80 in Pennsylvania" and get a list of all hotels available at each exit. Then I was able to check availability and price before cross-checking their reviews on TripAdvisor. So much better than how we used to travel with a AAA hotel book when I was a kid.

So tonight it's onto PA and tomorrow into MA. It will be good to be home. We've had a great trip but I'm excited to sleep in my own bed tomorrow night. I'm sure Lincoln is too.

Advantages to Hannah's absence

We all miss Hannah who is off with Grandma and Grandpa for three weeks but I must say I'm enjoying the extra space in the car and the ability to put my seat back when I want to take a nap.

Lesson learned

Jake threw up again this morning. We spent the night at Rachel and Kevin's in Madison last night and got up and on the road by 6:15 a.m. We figured we'd drive awhile and then stop for breakfast somewhere before Chicago. Jake threw up right as we were pulling into the Denny's parking lot. Luckily this time he threw up before breakfast so there wasn't much in his stomach. Every other day he has been fine and each of those mornings we made sure to feed the kids before getting on the road so obviously that is our problem. I've never gotten car sick before but the few times that I felt like I might it has always been while riding in a car on an empty stomach. I guess from now on we'll have to figure breakfast into our plans before hitting the road for a long car ride.

And in conclusion...

Our trip is finally over. Well, over except for the two long days of driving ahead of us. The vacation part is over.

Last night we had a wonderful dinner with Lin. Lincoln and the kids went out to play Frisbee in the yard while Lin and I sat with a bottle of wine in front of the fireplace in the library and talked for a few hours. We had so much fun up at the lake and I really wish we had more time to spend up there but we'll just have to schedule another trip back there sometime soon.

This morning we got up and got on the road about 8 a.m. We were headed back to Decorah to experience a little bit of Nordic Fest which we haven't been back for in a couple of years. Three years to be exact. The whole second part of our trip down from Mille Lacs to Decorah was spent following behind a massive summer storm. Cresco, IA was hit with some of the worst weather and there were lots of trees down, a boat that blew into the street, and a number of silos taken down. According to my parents who drove through Cresco later in the afternoon on their way to Ridgeway the corn was pretty much flattened as well. Not pretty.

Luckily we managed to avoid the storm altogether although we could see if off in the distance while we were driving. The clouds were very black and lightening was constantly going off in the distance. Right before we got to Decorah the skies opened up and it was pouring rain but luckily we didn't get any of the high winds or hail that had been predicted. When we finally reached Decorah it had stopped raining and cleared up slightly which was good because otherwise we would have skipped stopping in Decorah this afternoon and would have headed right out to Ridgeway.

Once in Decorah we stopped at the Chick Hatchery for the kids to play with the baby chicks. I love going in and playing with the little chicks....they are so dang cute and soft. Afterwards we walked down the street a ways and the kids rode on Pokey Pete, a little train that runs during Nordic Fest that I rode on when I was a kid. I did some shopping and decided to fill up the hole left behind by Hannah with all sorts of stuff we probably don't need but that I really liked. Every time I came out of a store Lincoln would have to go back to put the stuff in the car because it was either too bulky, too heavy, or too awkward to carry. When I came out of one store with empty hands his chin literally dropped to the curb. After a quick, and very messy, stop at the Whippy Dip we headed out to Bob and Lorraine's for dinner. Bob and Lorraine are actually my Dad's aunt and uncle and are my godparents. They live about 15 minutes out of town and I love going to visit them.

Aunt Lorraine is what I call a "typical old-school Iowa farm wife". They don't actually live on a farm but I'm pretty sure she was probably raised on one. If you stop by her house unannounced she'll have a full spread of ham, potato salad, corn, and God knows what else on the table within minutes. When she's given notice you should really see what she can do. Tonight we had a lovely dinner with them that included us, my parents, Uncle John and Aunt Sandy, their son Greg, and their son Rod and his wife Lori and their daughter Leigh. It wasn't the entire family on their side but it was great seeing those that were able to make it. While dinner was being prepped the skies opened up again and it poured rain but it didn't last too long. After dinner the sun came out and I finished up getting all of Hannah's stuff together and transferred over to Mom and Dad. Hannah is now in their care for the next three weeks. She'll spend another week with them in Iowa before heading back to Seattle for two weeks and then back to Boston on August 15th. I'm holding up pretty well but Jake has already expressed how much he misses her. It should be an interesting three weeks.

Right now we're headed over to Madison to crash at Rachel's for the night before beginning the long journey home to Massachusetts. It has been a crazy drive through a very eerie twilight. Off to our right, and occasionally in front of us, we see dark skies and bursts of lightening flashes. Behind us and over our left shoulders you can see a beautiful sunset. The combination of the two make for a very interesting sky over us right now. Luckily we're still avoiding the major storms moving through the area and it should stay south of Madison for the night so I think we'll be okay.

As I wrap up this posting on the latest part of our journey I'll leave you with this little tidbit from Jakey:

Jake: How come Hannah gets to stay?

Me: Because she's eight.

Jake: She's not eight. She's seven.

He got me there. She technically won't be eight until August 18th. Damn this kid is getting too smart for his own good.

Trip down memory lane

Today has been a very interesting day. It is so strange to see my kids doing all the things that I used to do as a kid. They fished off the end of the dock here at the house. We went down into Garrison and shopped for souvenirs at the Curio Shop and then we headed over to Roger's house to play in the water and attempt a little more fishing. Lincoln actually caught a bass fish with Jake's fishing pole but it got away. It was a pretty decent size too. I have a picture of that I'll have to post when we get home.

We definitely should have scheduled more time up here at the lake but we'll just have to make sure to come back here again soon. This place is a little bit of heaven and a whole lot of childhood memories.

Day 1,578 of our trip

In some ways it seems like we have been on vacation for a really long time. We left last Thursday on our drive to the Midwest and here it is a week later and we still won't be home for a couple more days. The trip has been very successful so far. The kids have been fantastic and for the most part the weather has been nice. Some days have been cloudy or chilly but at least we haven't really had much rain except when we were driving.

Yesterday morning we packed up the car again and headed out of Decorah to go up to the lake. My Aunt Lin and Uncle Jim have a house on Lake Mille Lacs and we're up here for a few days to visit. When I was a little girl Jim let Grandma and Grandpa live up here so to me this always used to be Grandma and Grandpa's house. There was a small house that they lived in and a trailer that Jim used when he came up to fish. The long term plan for this property was always for their retirement. Over the last year and a half or so they've built their dream house up here and let me tell you....the place is GORGEOUS! There is a library with twelve foot ceilings with bookshelves all the way up. They have one of those sliding ladders that go around the room so that you can reach the books on the higher shelves. There is also a beautiful fireplace, two soft chairs to sit in, and a view of the lake. The kitchen is state of the art, of course, (my uncle is a fantastic cook) and there is even a setting on his custom made stove that allows you to put a chocolate chip cookie on a paper plate on top of the burner and it will not burn the plate but will melt the chocolate chips in the cookie. I'm going to have to try that out later after we go to the store. The rest of the house is equally gorgeous and there are views of the lake from most of the rooms. There is a bathtub in the master suite that I'm not quite sure Jake could touch the bottom in....it's that big.

Being up here, despite the old house and trailer being gone, brings back a lot of memories. I loved visiting Grandma and Grandpa here. They have a horseshoe driveway that I spent hours and hours and hours riding Grandma's bike on when I was a little girl. Yesterday I watched my kids riding their bikes on the same driveway. I also spent hours down on the dock fishing and playing and we did the same thing with the kids yesterday. When I was a little girl Grandpa would send me down to the end of the dock with a long stick, some string, and a fish hook at the end. Needless to say I never caught anything. Jake and Hannah got to fish off the end of the dock yesterday but they definitely had an upgraded pole. Lincoln bought them a simple rod and reel down in Garrison yesterday and the kids loved it. Of course he should have probably bought two since now they fight over who gets to go fishing. Jake was determined he was going to catch us a fish for breakfast but thank God he didn't. I hate fish and I actually think it stems back to my childhood visits here watching Grandpa and Uncle Jim cleaning fish out on a table in the backyard.

The drive up yesterday was fairly uneventful. The kids did good although you can tell they're starting to get restless every time we buckle in for another long haul. It makes me a little worried for our return trip to Massachusetts with Jake.

Even though it seems like we've been on vacation for a long time it also seems like the time has gone by too fast. Today is my last full day with Hannah before we hand her off to Grandma Dena and Grandpa Dan for three weeks. I'm doing my best not to make a scene in front of her because I want her to continue to look at this as an adventure and not a sad situation.

Luckily the sun is coming out and it looks like we're going to have a nice day today. I'm sure the kids will want to spend some time on the lake fishing but we're also going to head into Garrison today to do some souvenir shopping and maybe head over to Brainerd, MN to visit Paul Bunyan Land. We'll also have to take some pictures with the infamous big fish in Garrison. I'll make sure to post those later. Tomorrow we head back down to Decorah for one day of Nordic Fest and dinner at my Uncle Bob's and Aunt Lorraine's house before handing off Hannah and heading back to Madison for the night.

As for right now it's time to get the kids dressed. Hannah is headed out back with Aunt Lin to pick blueberries from the garden and Jake wants to go fishing again with Daddy. What a life.

Tubing and other fun stuff

Yesterday Hannah went on her first tubing trip down the Upper Iowa River. Every year Lincoln, Rachel and I always go tubing. Sometimes other people join us and sometimes we go by ourselves. This year Dad and Hannah joined us. Hannah was very excited as this was the first year that she was old enough. Unfortunately it was a less then optimal year. The river was very low and we ended up scraping our butts a lot and actually had to walk certain parts of the river. Then once we got past the College Ave. bridge the water came to a virtual stand still. We ended up having to paddle most of the way through the stretch from College Ave. to just past the high school. Unfortunately that is also when the sun went behind the clouds and it started to get very chilly. I think Hannah enjoyed the first part of the trip - and I have great pictures to prove it - but she lost her love of the river towards the end. I asked her if she wanted to go next year and her answer was "I'll have to think about it".

After our four and a half hour tubing trip (which usually takes us about three hours) we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up. Mom had been babysitting Jake all day and they had a great day touring all the local parks and even went to the public swimming pool. After we all showered Mom and Dad took the kids back to the park and out to dinner while Lincoln and I went out for a "grown-up" dinner at La Rana with Rachel. After that Lincoln and I went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince at the local theater. I swear, the smell of that place hasn't changed one bit since I moved away in 1988 (in a good way).

This morning Lincoln and the kids went down to the hotel pool while I took a nice long hot bath. I took Jake for a hair cut at 11 a.m. but it wasn't at the usual place that we go to while in Decorah. I couldn't get him into the usual place so I randomly chose another place that I remember having existed here in Decorah since my childhood but was a little panicked for Jake when we walked in and the place was full of old ladies getting their hair set for the week. Luckily the lady who cut his hair - the youngest one working there - did a great job with his hair and he looks wicked cute.

After Jake's haircut Lincoln and the kids and I met up with Grandma and Grandpa at Mabe's for lunch. I believe that is the fourth meal we've had there since Sunday. Right after that we headed out to pick up some flowers and do the "graveyard tour". Whenever we're in Decorah I always buy flowers for Gretchen's grave. Gretchen was the old lady that lived next door to us in Decorah and she was totally like a grandmother to me and Rachel. We loved visiting her and she always had crackers for us. Graham crackers for Rachel and Saltines for me. This year, unfortunately, I've had to add Grandma Lentz and Uncle Linus to the graveyard circuit. We drove out to Elma and I put flowers on both of their graves before driving out to Linus's accident site to show Lincoln. Whenever I visit Gretchen I'm sad but I don't cry. She has been dead for 12 years and we moved away 21 years ago. With Linus and Grandma, however, I was bawling like a baby. It was so sad. After driving out to the accident site we went over to my Uncle John's and Aunt Sandy's for a quick visit before heading back to Decorah.

Once back in Decorah I headed over to the spa for some steam therapy and a hot stone massage. It was pure heaven. I got a 15 minute steam treatment, an 85 minute hot stone massage and purchased three things of bath salts for less than I would pay out in Boston for just the massage. It was a nice break for me and it felt great after the tubing trip yesterday not to mention all the time we've spent in the car the past few days.

Once I was done at the spa we headed over to the Urgent Care Center at the hospital. No one was seriously ill or hurt but it was the only way to get Jake in to see the doctor. He started out with some scaly skin on his elbows last week which has turned into a itchy, nasty rash all the way up and down both arms. We got a prescription ointment for him before heading out to dinner and then back to the hotel room to pack up. Mom and Dad are coming up to play cards tonight so that the grown-ups can have some time to visit without the kids. We're staying in a suite at the hotel which has a separate room for the kids so once we put them down to bed we can stay up in the main room and hang out.

I promise to have pictures of our trip up eventually but unfortunately I've had trouble loading them on the blog using Lincoln's computer. Tomorrow morning we head up to Lin and Jim's at Lake Mille Lacs in Minnesota which will be another 5 hours in the car. Hannah told me the other day that if she has to get in the car again she's going "to blow up" but they did okay on the 45-minutes to and from Elma today so hopefully she's past the explosion stage.

What a compliment

Jake: Hannah, you look half cute and half grown.

Busted!

Tonight we were talking about our cats Nonay and Molly with some friends of ours in Decorah. I was explaining that we got Nonay from a lady whose indoor cat had gotten out one night and had a little tryst with a neighboring cat and that Molly was a feral cat when we got her.

Hannah: I thought the Easter Bunny brought me Nonay?

(Shit!)

Me: Um....yes. You're right. The Easter Bunny brought him but he had to get him from somewhere. He doesn't have a kitten making factory you know.

Home Again

We are finally in Decorah. After a couple great days in Madison with Rachel and Kevin we headed over to Decorah to meet up with my parents in Decorah. No matter how long I've been away from Decorah it always feels like coming home.

Last night we had a blast with Rachel and Kevin playing cards and hanging out. Rachel is headed over to Decorah today as well and tomorrow we're all going to go tubing. This will be Hannah's first year on the river and I'm not quite sure how she's going to do but I think she'll do fine. It could be interesting. Jake will be hanging out with Grandma Dena while we're on the river.

That's about it for now. This afternoon we got moved into our hotel room. This is the longest stretch that we'll be in one location - three nights - so I unpacked everything and got us reorganized. It's nice to have everything unpacked for a few days.

I'm not sure what our plans are for the afternoon and evening but I'm sure we'll figure something out. Sometimes it's just nice to relax. Maybe we'll take a few beers down to the pool and sit in the hot tub. That sounds great right about now.

Having fun in Madison

Last night we had a great dinner with Rachel and Kevin and just hung out around their house. The kids went to bed kind of late but after being in the car all day they needed to get out some of their energy. The kids slept upstairs together and Hannah was put in charge of Jake, a duty she took very seriously.

The four grown-ups stayed up late drinking wine and beer and just having a nice long chat and a lot of laughs. We were up a lot later than we should have been but Hannah came through for us in the morning and she got up with Jake bright and early. After everyone got up we had a great breakfast of scrambled eggs and some delicious cinnamon rolls that they got from a bakery down the street.

After breakfast we all showered and headed over to a local mall. Rachel and I got pedicures while Lincoln and Kevin took the kids to the toy store to get something as a reward for how wonderful they were in the car. We met up again afterwards and headed to a small Farmers Market. One of the stands had "hours old" cheese curds and they were absolutely delicious. Very squeaky.

We left the Farmers Market and after a quick stop back at the house to drop off some stuff we went to a place called The Old Fashioned in Madison near the Capitol building. Unfortunately there was a long wait for a table but the kids did really good and we had an enjoyable meal once we were seated. Our original plan had been to head for the New Glarus brewery afterwards for a quick tour and some ice cream at a nearby place but we ended up running out of time. Instead we headed back to the house where Jake took a nap (I took a short one too) and then we loaded back up into the car and headed out to see Monsters vs. Aliens at the local dollar theater. The weather here today has been cloudy, cool, and only in the mid-60s. Not terribly pleasant for the middle of July but at least it isn't raining.

Now we're headed down to the park just down the street for the kids to ride their bikes and play on the playground for awhile. I think the plan is to do take-out and play a few board games after dinner. Tomorrow all of us, minus Kevin, will head over to Decorah. Less than 12 hours until we'll be eating Mabe's pizza and planning our tubing trip. I can't wait!

Like Mother Like Son

Jake: What are cheese curds?

Me: Little bits of cheese heaven.

Jake: Mmmmm.......cheese.

Mileage totals

Day one: 583.3 miles / 11 hours 45 minutes

Day two: 560.2 miles / 12 hours 45 minutes

A big kid

Link: Hannah, how about taking turns with the DS?

Hannah: Okay.

Jake: Nah....I don't want to play.

Link: I meant taking turns with me.

We're here!!!

We finally made it to Rachel and Kevin's house in Madison, WI. Our 11 hour day turned into a 12 hour and 45 minute day. We hit some really bad traffic going around Chicago. Add a lot of crappy weather and it made for a less than fun ride but the kids did fantastic. Lincoln got the crankiest out of all of us towards the end but with the exception of my 90 minutes of driving earlier in the day he had done all the driving up until that point. He deserved to be cranky. We stopped just outside of Chicago to get gas and switch drivers before I did the last 90 minutes of our drive for the safety of everyone on the road. And when I'm the safer driver that's saying something.

I think that had we been able to avoid the traffic around Chicago and the 90 minutes of sitting in the Great Potato Wedge Debacle it would have actually been closer to a ten or ten and a half hour drive instead of eleven.

We got to Rachel and Kevin's house at 8:00 p.m. Central Time and they had some cold beers, a nice bottle of wine, and a fantastic dinner waiting for us. Now Hannah and Rachel are dancing in the living room while Kevin and Jake are playing with "rods and balls" (i.e. Magnetix). Lincoln and I are sitting on the couch drinking and watching the four of them. We have happily passed off parenting duties to Rachel and Kevin for the next 12 hours.

The day that never ends

This was supposed to be our "easier" day of driving. It was only supposed to last 11 hours instead of 12 and we were even able to leave later than originally planned because of the time change. Instead it has become the day that never ends. After we left Elkhart, IN we got stuck in the great Potato Wedge Debacle of 2009 where it took us one and a half hours to go 14.8 miles. Then, despite our great intentions of going around Chicago instead of through it, we've been hanging out in suburbia enjoying rush hour. We're creeping along one exit at a time. Right now I want to get out and run to the back seat to kiss my kids. They are doing great. They both took long naps and now they're hanging out in the back seat eating snacks. We ate lunch at 11 a.m. and planned to have dinner at Auntie Rachie's but the later it gets I'm thinking we may have to abort that plan and at least feed the kids before we get there...even if that means going through a fast food drive-thru. There has been the occasional "Are we there yet?" but over all they're being real troopers. I couldn't ask for better kids right now unless they were kids with magical powers that could make cars fly. That would be pretty cool.

On the plus side I've gotten to enjoy such delightful city billboards such as this one for do-it-yourself paternity test:

"Paternity Questions? The answer is as close as the nearest drugstore."

Thwarted by potato wedges

A semi truck carrying refrigerated potato wedges apparently rolled over early this morning in South Bend, IN. Both lanes of traffic were supposed to reopen at 3 p.m. according to the local Fox News affiliate. It's 3:20 now and we're finally starting to move a little. We were just sitting in one spot for about 15 minutes. At least one trucker must have turned off his engine while we were waiting because I just heard him fire up the engine when we finally started moving. Hopefully we'll get around this soon and be on our way. This is obviously going to throw us off schedule for tonight but since our outdoor BBQ that Rachel had planned is already cancelled thanks to the pouring rain in Madison right now I guess it doesn't really matter although the kids are getting quite anxious with our 2 mph speed. We may start turning on each other soon. It could get ugly.

Jacob saves the day and then himself. Mommy loses the keys.

Welcome to the Bad Luck Rest Stop.

We just stopped at a Travel Plaza outside of Elkhart, IN and it was quite the adventure. After going in and having everyone take a potty break we filled up the car with gas. It was time to get back in the car but when I said that to the kids they looked at me with pleading in their eyes and a "oh no...not the car again" cry from Hannah. We decided to drive around behind the travel plaza and let the kids ride their bikes for awhile. Once we got the kids on the bikes and their helmets on I decided to call Rachel and give her an update on our progress. That is when the fun began.

Rachel picked up the phone just in time to hear me scream "SHIT!" I had just shut the driver's side door with the keys still on the seat. I must have hit the auto lock when I was getting stuff out of the car and I had managed to lock our keys in the car. Luckily Lincoln pointed out that the tailgate was open from when we were getting the helmets out of the back of the car. Jake was the only one small enough to climb over all the stuff in the back of the car but he managed to sneak his way in. Unfortunately he doesn't know how to unlock the door because it always unlocks automatically when the car is put into park (geez....kids these days don't do anything for themselves!) so it was pretty comical with Lincoln and me trying to yell through the closed windows to explain how to open the locks.

After that fiasco was over I was standing in the open passenger side door looking at the road atlas on the front seat and telling Rachel what route we were planning on taking around Chicago in order to avoid rush hour traffic. I looked up to see Jake laying on the ground underneath his bike after an apparent spill. He was about 75 feet in front of the car and I went running to him trying to keep my flip flops from flying off (or worse yet tripping me and making me fall too) as I raced over to him. Poor Rachel got to hear me yell "Oh God! I'm coming Jakey!" before my phone dropped out since I had my bluetooth headset on and had raced away from my phone which was still in the back of the car. Before I even got to Jake he had pulled himself out from under his bike, patted himself on the head and said "I had my helmet on!" He managed not to scrap his knees and elbows so everything was a-okay and he was back on his bike in no time.

Once crisis number two had passed Rachel and I wrapped up our second phone conversation with her probably wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into inviting us to come visit them this weekend. We loaded up the kids and put the bikes back onto the car and then it was time to hit the road.....just in time to discover crisis number three.

Lincoln went to empty the trash bin from the back seat and Jake asked me if he could roll down his window. I said I couldn't start the car because Daddy had the keys. When Link came back to the car Jake asked him to turn the car on and Link said he couldn't because Mommy had the keys. Uh oh. Not good. We ripped the car apart looking for the keys. We looked under the seats....and under the car itself.....in the cooler, in the laundry basket, next to and underneath both car seats, and every where else we could possibly look. In situations like this you know that the keys are always going to turn up in the most random spot possible and of course they did this time. The atlas was up on the dashboard and I had slid it from side to side making sure the keys weren't on the dashboard but it wasn't until I picked the atlas up and one of the keys was dangling out of it that we discovered where the keys were.

Once we left the Bad Luck Rest Stop we thought our troubles would be over but instead we ended up in dead stop on the interstate. We haven't yet figured out what the problem is but for a full five minutes we didn't move at all. Now we're crawling along at 5 miles an hour. At this rate we'll get to Madison around the time we need to leave for Decorah on Sunday.

Weather update

It's pouring rain right now as we drive through Ohio. Hopefully we'll get through this quickly. Had one close call already when a semi-truck decided he wanted our lane while we were in it. Luckily all is well but it woke up Jake. Good news is he fell right back to sleep about 5 minutes later.

On the road again

We're back on the road for Day Two of our trip to the Midwest. Last night the four of us played in the hotel pool until it closed at 10:00 p.m. We were all in bed by 10:30 and despite Jake's three naps yesterday we were all out pretty quickly. This morning we got up at 7:00 a.m. and Lincoln took the kids down to the pool for a quick 20 minute swim session while I took a shower. Then it was back to the room for showers and we were out the door. My goal was to be on the road by 8:00 a.m. and we pulled out of the parking lot at 8:13 a.m. Not too shabby. I'm estimating about 11 hours today but that might change depending on how Chicago works out for us. Right now we're scheduled to hit Chicago right around rush hour on a Friday night. I'm thinking we'll skirt around the city instead even though it's a slightly longer route but hopefully it won't be stand still traffic like I suspect the main routes in and out of Chicago would be at that time of day.

Last night we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Youngstown. I have to say, it was a nice little hotel. The pool was nice and wasn't too cold so you could easily get in and enjoy it. They had a few pool toys available for the guests as well and we all had fun playing with a beach ball that the hotel provided. The only thing it didn't have was a hot tub which would have been nice but over all it was a great area for burning off some energy. The best part of the hotel though was the breakfast this morning. They had your standard free breakfast down in the lobby but we didn't really have time to grab anything. I figured once we loaded the car we'd run back in and grab a few items for the road but I knew that would take a lot of time because Jake would have been walking back and forth for 20 minutes telling us he wanted everything and actually eating nothing. Instead, when we checked out they had bags on the counter that said "On the Run Breakfast Bag". It was for the hotel guests that didn't have time to eat before hitting the road. GENIUS!!! Each bag had an apple, muffin, raisins, Special K bar, and water. We grabbed two of those and took them in the car with us. It was perfect.

Today we're crossing Ohio, Indiana, a corner of Illinois and then up into Wisconsin to stop at Rachel and Kevin's in Madison for a few days. Sunday we'll head over to Decorah for a few days. Right now Hannah is playing on the DS and Jake is taking what is hopefully the first of many naps again today. Lincoln did all of the driving yesterday but he says he may have to take a work call or two today so I might actually have to do some driving today. I actually don't mind driving but he prefers to do all of it instead of having to be the one in the passenger seat dealing with entertainment and snack duties although really the kids did a great job on their own yesterday.

For all your organization freaks

For some reason Lincoln's computer is giving me a hard time uploading photos to the blog but I wanted to put up this video so that everyone can have a little chuckle over my organizational skills. Let me tell you though, yesterday went very smoothly thanks to my organizing the car the way I did. I'll try again later to get some photos up. For now this will have to do.

Parent #3

Sometimes Hannah feels she needs to keep us in check as parents. Lately Jake has been dealing with some scaly skin on his elbows so I bought some special OTC lotion to put on them in hopes of clearing up the problem.

Hannah: Have you thought about taking Jake to a doctor for his elbows?

Me: Yes. But we're going to try this first.

Hannah: You really might want to think about taking him to the doctor.

Link: Thank you Parent #3.

Day One

So we finished Day One of our drive to the Midwest. The kids did phenomenally well. After our trip to Niagara Falls this past April I was a little worried....particularly about Jake. This is a totally random comparison but today reminded me of when he was in the hospital for jaundice when he was a newborn. Approximately a day or so after we brought him home from the hospital he was admitted to the pediatric ward to spend 36 hours under the bili-lights. For those of you unfamiliar with that scenario you essentially put your child in a tanning bed with some soft cloth "goggles" over his or her eyes and let them absorb the light. I was worried because the light is bad for the baby's eyes and they're very hard to keep on because, well, THEY'RE ON BABIES! But Jake did a fantastic job. Once you put the goggles on him and put him in the incubator he would lay perfectly still until it was time to nurse. Then I would take him out and he would move around a lot while he nursed and then the second you put him back in he would fall asleep again. He was fantastic. That's sort of how today went. He napped THREE times today. And he played with the Nintendo DS for a total of 30 seconds and only watched one movie (which he didn't even finish) while we drove for 12 hours. It was amazing. HE was amazing. He really came through for us and I can only hope he does as well tomorrow and on the way home next week.

After we left the rest area where we stopped for lunch we had a little less than four hours left of driving. It should have been less but about half of Pennsylvania is under construction and we were down to one lane with a whole bunch of semi-trucks. Hannah fell asleep right after lunch and finally I got Jake interested in watching a movie. He was actually doing pretty good playing by himself but I was afraid he would get antsy so I set up a Star Wars movie on the DVD player. We had a brief moment of panic after lunch, while he was watching his movie, when he said he was going to throw up again but after a few dry heaves over the bucket he conked out for his third nap of the day. He stayed asleep until we stopped for gas 20 miles from our destination.

The hotel that we're staying in is very nice. It's a newly renovated Hampton Inn. We went out to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant and now Lincoln is down at the pool trying to wear the kids out before bed time. As soon as I finish this post I'll head down to join them.

Tomorrow morning we'll hit the road around 8 a.m. We only have an 11-hour drive tomorrow to get to Madison but with the time change we gain an hour. The only thing that might slow us up is if we hit Chicago during rush hour. Hopefully the kids will do as well tomorrow as they did today.

Right on schedule

I estimated that today's route would take us about 12 hours. We left at 6:22 a.m. and arrived at our hotel at 6:03 p.m. Am I good or what?

On the road....still

So far our road trip is going great despite Jake's bout of car sickness earlier. We just completed a long stretch between Danbury, CT and Danville, PA and the kids have just been hanging out. Jake took a long nap but even when he was awake he was playing quietly for the most part. Every now and then he gets a little bit antsy and we have to institute the "no crossing the cooler" rule so that he leaves his sister alone. There is a snack cooler between the two of them that has become the dividing line. That line is Hannah's savior.

Speaking of the cooler, Hannah has been a great little hostess. She's in charge of dispensing drinks and snacks and has been doing a wonderful job. Other than that she has mostly been playing on the DS and working in one of her school workbooks. I even got a watch a movie on one of the DVD players up here while Jake took his nap and Hannah played DS. Jake was still awake when I started the movie but I put Hannah in charge of fielding any of his questions and helping him with his stuff so that Link could focus on driving. She has been a great help.

We just wrapped up lunch at a nice rest stop in Danville, PA. It had a big grass area and about a dozen picnic tables. Link took the bikes off the bike rack and the kids got to ride around and get some of their energy out while I put sandwiches together and then we had a nice meal and a potty break before hitting the road again. Nothing too exciting happened at the rest stop although we did get to see a family of 5 get out of small sedan and start doing yoga in the grassy area. It was pretty funny. It appeared to be a mom and dad with a teenage daughter, a girl around 10 or so and then a younger kid probably around Jake's age. After their little yoga and stretching session they climbed back into their little car and drove off.

I was going to try and put some pictures and video up but I think I may wait until we get to the hotel tonight. It's hard to do what I need to do with the laptop balancing on my lap and the sun reflecting off the screen. As mentioned before we're staying in Youngstown, OH tonight which is just over the Ohio border. Right now we're a little over 1/4 of the way across PA and we have about 3 hours of driving left. The hotel looks like it has a fairly nice pool so we'll take the kids there tonight and let them play in there for awhile and wear themselves out before bed. Tomorrow will be another get out of bed and roll into the car day. Hopefully Rachel and Kevin aren't expecting us to look terribly presentable tomorrow evening.

Rachel asked me yesterday what kind of beer they should have on hand for us and I said that after two 12-hour days on the road with the kids it just needed to be cold and plentiful.

The entire weather spectrum

So far, in the four hours since we left Upton, we've driven through sun, fog, sun, clouds, sun, and dark clouds. We haven't had any rain yet but I'm sure it will only be a matter of time. We're planning to picnic at a rest area for lunch so that we can let the kids ride their bikes for awhile so hopefully the rain will hold off until after lunch.

An unscheduled stop (Rachel - don't read this post)

We just left Danbury, CT where we stopped for breakfast. Unfortunately Jake's came right back up. Luckily we learned our lesson the last time we drove across the country and this time we were prepared for every possible scenario. Two years ago Jake threw up unexpectedly on I-90 and we had a serious clean-up situation where we even had to take the padding off his car seat. Luckily I had plenty of Wet Ones and paper towels packed on that trip so it was messy but not too bad. At least we didn't have to wait until we got to a gas station in order to do clean up.

Years ago, during another road trip when Hannah had the flu, my Aunt Lin gave us a small hard trash bucket that used to be in Grandpa Benson's van. Lincoln usually has it in his truck but we remembered to pack it in my car for the trip. Luckily Jake grabbed the bucket when he got sick and with the exception of a little miss during one of his gags we didn't have too much of a mess. We were able to pull over on the side of the road, empty the bucket and get everything cleaned up. And this time I not only had paper towels and Wet Ones but I had Clorox wipes and air freshener for the car. I also had a ziploc bag for bagging up the stinky paper towels and the next time we stop at a gas station we'll dump it.

We're back on the road now. Jake is feeling much better and is slowly sipping on a bottle of water. Hopefully that will be our only incident with vomit over the next week and a half. My children have both been known to get car sick but neither of them are consistently car, air or boat sick so we never know when it's going to happen. Surprise! Too bad those aren't the kinds of surprises that I like.

On the road

This morning we left for our drive to Iowa. Yes, we're driving to Iowa. It's going to be a long few days but I think we're up to the challenge. And to be honest, we're only going to Madison, WI before we stop for a few nights. Today we're driving as far as Youngstown, OH and then tomorrow night we'll be at Rachel's house in Madison. We're staying with Rachel and Kevin in Madison until Sunday when we head over to Decorah to meet up with Mom and Dad. After a few days in Decorah we'll pack up on Wednesday morning and head up to my aunt and uncle's house on Lake Mille Lacs in Minnesota. We're spending two nights there before we head back down to Decorah on Friday morning to hand off Hannah for her three week trip with Grandma and Grandpa. Friday evening we'll head back over to Madison for the night before starting the long trip home again next weekend. The four longest days (two out and two back) will be about 12 hours each.

Last night we got the car packed up (more on that in another post) and cleaned the house. My friend Tracy will be housesitting for us while we're gone so not only did we have to get packed last night but we had to clean the bathrooms, vacuum the house, and change the sheets. When we were packing up the car last night we let Jake play in the front seat and he entertained himself rolling the windows up and down and opening the sunroof. Of course that meant the key had to be in the ignition and of course we forgot to turn it off last night so when we came out at 5:15 a.m. this morning we discovered the passenger side window down, the sunroof open, the keys in the ignition, and, of course, a dead battery. That threw a little bit of a kink in our schedule for this morning but we ended up leaving at 6:22 a.m. instead of our scheduled 6:00 a.m. and I can certainly live with that.

The car is fully loaded with toys, games, a DS Nintendo, two DVD players and plenty of books. Hopefully that should keep all of us entertained as we drive halfway across the country over the next two days. Hannah is happily watching a movie right now and Jake started out with the DS but said "I'm bored with this" before we even got to the end of our street. I also asked him if he wanted to take a pillow in the car and he thought about it very seriously for a few seconds and then said "Nahhh.....I don't think I'm going to sleep." He truly has no concept of how long we're going to be in the car. The other nice thing we have with us is Lincoln's laptop. Right now we're cruising down I-84 through Connecticut and I have the laptop booted up in my lap with a Verizon Wireless card plugged into the side. Of course what this means for everyone who reads this blog is that you'll be getting LOTS of updates over the next few days as we head westward. After breakfast today I'll try to load some pictures and video that I took earlier this morning.

Maybe we really should cut Jakey's hair

Jake: I don't wanna brush my hair!!! Brushing hair is for girls and babies!

Trial Run

Last night Hannah slept over at her friend's house one last time before she leaves for a month. The good news is Jake handled it fairly well. The bad news is I didn't. How am I going to last for THREE WEEKS!!!?

Bedtime love

Jake (to Lincoln): How come every night I have to kiss my mother?

Link: Because it's the right thing to do.

Me: Or because YOU LOVE HER!

Orchids

Yesterday someone at work gave me an incredibly beautiful orchid. Two of them actually. My plan was to take one to my mother-in-law as a gift and the other one home and turn it over to Jake in an attempt to keep it alive but then Lincoln reminded me that we're about to be gone for 10 days. Orchids are incredibly hard to keep alive as it is and I have a completely black thumb so I figured we'd enjoy it for the next few days and then mourn its passing upon our return from Iowa. Lincoln had other plans though. After dropping the kids and the 2nd orchid plant off at his mother's this morning he sent me the following email:

My mom said she would babysit your orchid until we get back, then you can kill it in person.

Now that's love. Thank you honey.

Pool / S'mores.....a great day

Here are some more pictures from our weekend. This was Sunday afternoon into evening.

By the way, the pair of pants that Hannah is wearing in this last picture is a pair of pajama pants from a few years ago. They still fit around the waist but they've gone from too long in the leg to adorable capris.