Denver Countdown: 0

I am writing now from Topeka, Kansas.

This is the farthest west I have ever been.  It was the farthest west once we got past Indianapolis, in fact.

Today we were in the car for 14 hours.

Longest car trip of my life too.


This morning we woke up in Columbus, Ohio, loaded the van, grabbed some granola with Great Grandma B, said our goodbyes, and got on the road - albeit a little later than planned - but we still got on the road.

It was a tough day.

The kids were amazing.

We've got one of those vans with the DVD player and yeah - it's been a godsend.  I thought I would hate it and it would make me angry that the kids were watching so much TV/movies - but it was a good thing - they were happy and I was happy and Jonah got caught up on Star Wars IV, V, and VI and we watched Space Buddies three times + Pixar's Cars and I think a Dora the Explorer movie.  Pretty intense TV watching.  Jonah is done with movies - he eventually tuned out and started reading and playing with other stuff.  That was a cool thing to see.  Maeryn had the headphones on and off all day, now watching the DVD, now playing with a book or her lovey or her toes.

We got to stop once at Burger King and while we got food the kids played on the playplace and we all got full bellies (for the most part - not a big fan of fast food but while you're traveling these things do happen).  We switched seats and drivers several times.  We didn't stop as much as I would have liked.  I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the arch in St. Louis and that we didn't stop at one of the thirty or so RV places we saw along the way and that all our stops were kind of rushed to get back on the road, but I understand. This is a trip about Denver - not the things on the way, and I need to get over my compulsion to see everything.  I will get to do it someday.

(I forgot to mention that we DID stop at a pretty neat gift shop place with Native American stuff on a bathroom break...)

The day was hard because it was long, mostly.  I was in a lot of pain most of the day in my neck and back and I was never really sure what was coming next.  I like for everyone to be happy, so if I get grouchy or snap about something, I feel pretty guilty about it.  My jaw has also been incredibly tense all day.  I'm angry about dealing with the pain now.  Not sad or disappointed.  Just angry.  I want it to go away.

There was one snafu today.  The hotel where we're staying was supposed to have two rooms for us, but they only had one, so Michael's parents are staying elsewhere.  No late night car rides for Maeryn...  so far so good - we gave her a bath and she's lying down next to Jonah in the other queen sized bed.  Somehow we got the handicapped accessible room.  It's a pretty sweet deal - it's HUGE!

I'm a little sorry that Michael's mom and dad ended up having to stay elsewhere.  I feel badly that they're having to do that, but I think it's for the best for everyone in the long run - and I hope that they feel the same.

I, for one, am mostly happy that I get to sit in bed in my underwear and update my blogs.

I'm  stoked for tomorrow for several reasons.

It is my seventh anniversary with Michael  :-)  and we are going out to breakfast together while his parents watch the kids.  We're walking over to the nearby Cracker Barrell - just the two of us.  We've also just got an eight hour day in the van ahead of us before we make it to Denver.  Everybody keeps telling me I need to "see the 'real' mountains" - as a girl who grew up in the Appalachians, I'm curious to see just what they mean.

Denver Countdown: 1

(writing a day late)

Yesterday I did not have computer access, so I'm writing two entries today.

To be honest, yesterday and today absolutely seem like the same day.



We've been in the car now for a total of 28 hours.

Yesterday we drove from Downingtown, PA to Columbus, OH.  The day before we drove from our home in Maryland to Downingtown, PA.  We got a little lost on the way, so it took five hours instead of 3.5 hours.  We also ended up paying a $5 toll that we weren't expected to go over a bridge we also weren't expecting.

In Downingtown we ended up having to go from rental van place (signing our names on the dotted line so we could drive the white Dodge Caravan that has been our home during the day for two days now) and also to the body shop for a little accident Michael's mom had a few days before our arrival. 

We ended up getting off later than expected en route to Columbus, but we made in anyway, safe and sound after few mishaps.

Oh - and I forgot to mention that our children did not go to sleep that first night in Downingtown until 2 AM.  Okay - Jonah went to bed around 1.  Maeryn - no dice - no sleeping til 2 or 2:30.  Michael finally ended up driving her around in the car, and she crashed in minutes.

Columbus was no different.

We stayed there so we could visit Michael's great grandmother on his father's side.  It was fun to see her and Michael's cousin, Linda. We got take out from Bob Evans for a super late dinner (we fed the kids at Sheetz before hand - so they just scarfed steamed broccoli from Bob Evans for a snack) and then stayed in really lovely guest rooms at the retirement home where Great Grandma B lives.

I gave the kids a duel shower, which was an adventure to say the least, and then made myself a cup of decaf tea and tried to chill with the littles while Michael grabbed the luggage - then we tried for some bedtime action.

Maeryn wasn't going to sleep again.  Jonah crashed immediately - put himself to bed, looked at a book for awhile, then slept peacefully and soundly til morning.

Maeryn stayed up til about 11, then we went for a drive.  No playing around this time.  Sleep is good.

She slept like a rock for the rest of the night in a make-shift bed on the floor.  Jonah slept in a roll away.  Michael and I slept on the floor also because my back and neck were killing me from all the driving.

Ignite the Night 2010

Yesterday we went to Ignite the Night with the fam.

Michael played at the 2 PM spot, but since it was during nap time and we had a cranky five year old who was post-sleepover, we decided it best not to go to see Daddy play, but to head over after dinner to check out the scene and hear some music.

It's a really great event, and can only get better, since this is just the third year it's been held.

It's a free Christian music festival - ten hours of music, vendors, blow up things for kids to run through and jump on, face painting, the works. 

I would highly recommend it to anyone - it's good enough to drive quite a distance to experience, I honestly feel.  I'm hoping that next year our church will take a more active role in participation.  Our brood had tons of fun in water spray area, in the blow up train, and getting our faces painted (Maeryn did not get her face painted, she got a green balloon; Jonah chose to have his arm painted).  Good times were had by all.

Below are our "tough" faces.

Beach Adventure with the Little.

In case you were wondering - the Little is my daughter, Maeryn, and yesterday I decided that it was simply too nice to stay inside and work through the laundry pile, read books, and watch Elmo.  It was time for another Mother-Daughter Adventure.

So we headed out to the public beach.  This particular beach is a park, and it is free to go there, unlike many of the other parks including beaches in the area.  There is no fee, and it includes hiking trails and beautiful scenery, complete with a view of the "scary bridge" (those of  you who live in the area know EXACTLY what I'm talking about here).

It was a REALLY nice time.

I was worried since Maeryn is in tantrum stage right about now.  Tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants.  Tantrums when she can't do what she wants.  Tantrums when things don't go as originally planned.  Tantrums about bathing, about eating, about putting away her toys, about letting someone help her, about sitting in her carseat, about sitting in the cart at the grocery store, about well...pretty much everything.

I prepared her before we even got out of the car:

"Maeryn, we are going to the beach."

"Yes."

"You are to stay out of the water.  If you go in the water, we will be going home."

"Okay."

So...I took a deep breath, knowing that the past few times we've gone to the beach she has NOT listened to me and has come home soaking wet and largely upset that she can't wade in over her head and bob along in the waves while I frantically try to rescue my under-two non-swimmer from drowning.

Off we went.

It ended up so beautifully.  I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

The park was empty, save a few pick-up trucks (which is always alarming to me - I expect predators to jump unexpectedly out of the reeds and attack me) that seemed to contain no one.  We did have a little scare when three dogs bounded out of the woods and into the water without an owner, but a little woman came following after a few minutes later, so all was well, and the dogs were huge, but friendly.

We walked all along the beach, tossing pebbles into the water, writing letters in the sand, and checking out the driftwood.  We hiked a little in the woods and made a trampoline from a fallen log and took in the landscape: the dock, the water, the bridge, the pretty purple flowers... We came across some tires that had washed onto the beach.  There were about twenty of them.  I found it interesting that we proudly proclaim to have tires that will hold up to any weather - and yet the river had utterly destroyed them. 

They were still SOMEWHAT recognizable as tires, but were covered in barnacles, deflated, and decaying.

Further proof that if humanity ever left this place nature would put things right again.