BAAAAACK IT UP!
I left out a critical element of our trip. Due to severe emotional trauma from staring at that long stretch of road for too many hours in a row, I didn't get my camera out for a single minute to chronicle our visit in New Mexico at Jon and Cara's house!
Let me start by saying I love going to their house. Like us Jon and Cara are out in Timbuktu with no family less than a day's drive to speak of. Unlike us, they have a real house where they are able to keep lots of people, if need be. So when someone comes to town, they pull out all the stops. Cara plans the food from breakfast to the late night snacks she'll be whipping up. I'm pretty sure sleeping arrangements are a cooperative effort between the two of them. The first time we stayed, Jon set up a tent with cots in the backyard for all the kids to sleep in. It was a thrill for my whole crew.
On the last morning at my moms, I got up early and started the laborious task of packing. My mom and dad live in a three story, six bedroom house. The third story used to be a creepy old attic, but in the last couple of years my dad has been working on renovations up there, adding a bedroom suite and a bathroom. All that to say that when I started gathering up our belongings, I started in the attic because some of the kids slept and stored their bags up there. As I worked my way through each bedroom, peeked into every closet, every drawer, through the main floor, behind and under furniture and finally made it to the basement, I was exhausted. I told my sister I'd be ready and loaded up by one, but I didn't make it. In the meantime, the sick kids were all feeling better, and Tre, the only one that didn't get it, started throwing up. Of course he did. As long as it was him and not me, we were good. I had to drive.
At no point during the morning did it occur to me that I'd need to mapquest a route for our trip. I'm not sure who sent me a message, Dale or Sarah, reminding me to do that very thing. It wasn't until Sarah was on her way home that I actually sat down to do it. My mom, being seasoned in her position, had the foresight to send along their Tommy GPS with us. While I was racing from the truck to the van, she and Jonjenek were entering our destinations. All we had to do was obey the voice. If she said take the next right, we had to take it. It was a LIFESAVER!! Once again, thank you, Mom!
Except for Deisha falling out of an open door on the truck face-first, we managed to get through the day without any major catastrophes and with most of our belongings packed. We loaded the truck and hit the road by three o'clock. My plan was to drive as far as I could without stopping and hopefully get to New Mexico for the night. Surprisingly, I felt really good and didn't ever get sleepy. We got knocked on the door at around three o'clock and Cara showed us all to our beds. The kids all piled up in the living room and Sarah and I each had a bed to ourselves.
The whole day was kind of a blur for me. I was completely exhausted and ready to be home, but I wanted to make the most of the time we had with our last bit of family before heading back to Siberia. The kids were gales of giggles throughout the day. They raved about Cara's "fluffy" pancakes all morning. **When we got home I tried to make mine puff up and they were good hot off the pan, but once they cooled they were like a ton of bricks. We need to collaborate on that...* My brother got home around four that afternoon; that's when the dance party started. It was hilarious. I did get the video camera out for that, but you'll have to come over to see it. I don't know how to put videos from a DVD onto the computer. He has about a million music channels. The kids were cracking me up as he went through each genre of music, how they changed. When the rock/metal stations came on, they took turns jumping up on the table to play air guitar. There was a long line waiting anxiously at the edge of the stage for the next turn. Even the little bitty girls were dancing. So fun!!
In the morning after repacking the car we met Jon for burgers at Fuddruckers. There were tables right next to the video games, so the kids scarfed down their food and spent the rest of the time hunting and begging for quarters. It was the perfect ending to a perfect visit. Thank you Jon and Cara, you are lovely hosts!!!
Let me start by saying I love going to their house. Like us Jon and Cara are out in Timbuktu with no family less than a day's drive to speak of. Unlike us, they have a real house where they are able to keep lots of people, if need be. So when someone comes to town, they pull out all the stops. Cara plans the food from breakfast to the late night snacks she'll be whipping up. I'm pretty sure sleeping arrangements are a cooperative effort between the two of them. The first time we stayed, Jon set up a tent with cots in the backyard for all the kids to sleep in. It was a thrill for my whole crew.
On the last morning at my moms, I got up early and started the laborious task of packing. My mom and dad live in a three story, six bedroom house. The third story used to be a creepy old attic, but in the last couple of years my dad has been working on renovations up there, adding a bedroom suite and a bathroom. All that to say that when I started gathering up our belongings, I started in the attic because some of the kids slept and stored their bags up there. As I worked my way through each bedroom, peeked into every closet, every drawer, through the main floor, behind and under furniture and finally made it to the basement, I was exhausted. I told my sister I'd be ready and loaded up by one, but I didn't make it. In the meantime, the sick kids were all feeling better, and Tre, the only one that didn't get it, started throwing up. Of course he did. As long as it was him and not me, we were good. I had to drive.
At no point during the morning did it occur to me that I'd need to mapquest a route for our trip. I'm not sure who sent me a message, Dale or Sarah, reminding me to do that very thing. It wasn't until Sarah was on her way home that I actually sat down to do it. My mom, being seasoned in her position, had the foresight to send along their Tommy GPS with us. While I was racing from the truck to the van, she and Jonjenek were entering our destinations. All we had to do was obey the voice. If she said take the next right, we had to take it. It was a LIFESAVER!! Once again, thank you, Mom!
Except for Deisha falling out of an open door on the truck face-first, we managed to get through the day without any major catastrophes and with most of our belongings packed. We loaded the truck and hit the road by three o'clock. My plan was to drive as far as I could without stopping and hopefully get to New Mexico for the night. Surprisingly, I felt really good and didn't ever get sleepy. We got knocked on the door at around three o'clock and Cara showed us all to our beds. The kids all piled up in the living room and Sarah and I each had a bed to ourselves.
The whole day was kind of a blur for me. I was completely exhausted and ready to be home, but I wanted to make the most of the time we had with our last bit of family before heading back to Siberia. The kids were gales of giggles throughout the day. They raved about Cara's "fluffy" pancakes all morning. **When we got home I tried to make mine puff up and they were good hot off the pan, but once they cooled they were like a ton of bricks. We need to collaborate on that...* My brother got home around four that afternoon; that's when the dance party started. It was hilarious. I did get the video camera out for that, but you'll have to come over to see it. I don't know how to put videos from a DVD onto the computer. He has about a million music channels. The kids were cracking me up as he went through each genre of music, how they changed. When the rock/metal stations came on, they took turns jumping up on the table to play air guitar. There was a long line waiting anxiously at the edge of the stage for the next turn. Even the little bitty girls were dancing. So fun!!
In the morning after repacking the car we met Jon for burgers at Fuddruckers. There were tables right next to the video games, so the kids scarfed down their food and spent the rest of the time hunting and begging for quarters. It was the perfect ending to a perfect visit. Thank you Jon and Cara, you are lovely hosts!!!
I agree, Jon and Cara always take such great care of their guests!! It was such a great time driving! I love it! I miss you guys, drive back!!!!
ReplyDeleteHow sweet! Thank you for all the kind words! We had such a fun time we didn't want it to end!!! We will make pancakes when we get to your house!!!!! :) You are right we did agree on the sleeping arrangements. We are planners you know...hahaha Love you guys! Love you too, Sarah! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks guys! We had such a fun time. We will make pancakes when we get to your house!! hehe Yippee!!!!! We love you guys! Thanks Sarah, we love you too!
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