Travelin' the High Road

This is going to be a rather photo intense blog, so I'll break it up into two or three different posts. This first one will be about the traveling. The next one will be about Great Grams and the final one will be about Grandma Sue. Hope you all enjoy!

For those of you who didn't know...and those who knew...here are a few highlights from our trip to Illinois! We all had such a blast and we loved seeing the family. The kids did really well in the van and they didn’t even watch a ton of movies like we first thought they’d have to! They did get a little whiny by the end of the day (but even Mom and Dad were ready to get done driving by the time we were to the hotel).

We stayed the first night in North Platte, Nebraska at a Holiday Inn Express. May we recommend the KidSuite to anyone with small children. They have a separate bedroom with a bunkbed, small table, two kid chairs, and a t.v. for the kids. Mom and Dad get a king sized bed in another room. Very nice! Shawn was a little disappointed to find out (as we were leaving) that the kids' room also came with a PlayStation II. He wanted to play a few video games with John John Man.

A few tips for those of you thinking of taking I-80 across the country: Wyoming does not have very many rest stops. The ones they do have very little grass but little prairie dogs will help you eat your snack. The kids enjoyed feeding them! Little America is a great place to stop and refresh yourself while traveling through Wyoming. It has a small playground and picnic tables to use...even if you don't purchase anything from the store.

Nebraska rest stops are wonderful! They have structures for the kids to climb on, through or in. They are so helpful for cooped up children and adults. Iowa rest stops aren’t as great for play areas but most have Wi-Fi and are clean, big, and informative...and shady for those looking for a picnic lunch.

We stopped every two hours or so to let everyone get out and stretch. Thank goodness for that! The little kids needed about 30 minutes to get out and stretch before they even considered it a good idea to get back in the van. Driving time to Illinois was about 20 hours...for those who wanted to know.

Get ANGRY.....that's it..

Yesterday I'm upstairs and suddenly hear the quick little feet of John blasting up the stairs. He turns the corner into my room, toy knife and cell phone in hand, and panting..instructs me that the bad guys are coming to kill us. "What bad guys?" I ask. "The Soldiers...the soldiers are coming to kill us." he replies.

At this point I'm thinking we've watched a few to many x-men cartoons, however I decide to play along.

"Maybe you should call the President and ask him to....bail us out." - yeah it made Linda laugh.

John...

"No, let's call him and tell him to get angry so he turns into The Rock Obama!"



Yeah.. I Love My Boy!

Going Once, Going Twice...

Well it appears that we are being sold out of house and home.  Linda found this online.  I'm not sure why (yes I know why, but I like to act naieve), but Linda tends to surf the internet looking for homes.  In her search today she found this picture of our house attached to one of the units in our townhome community.  

This had both of us laughing and made our day.  I guess we have the house the best represents our neighborhood. Which reminds me.  If you're looking for a nice home in the Provo, UT area and want to live closer to the "better model than the model home home"  check out  http://utahrealestate.com/843688 .

Jac-Jac Attack!

With our twenty week ultrasound, we get complimentary pictures of our newest member of the family. Isn't that so nice of the doctors? You can hardly tell what's in the pictures sometimes, but they can tell. I think that's supposed to be a profile in the first picture, but who knows?

Jac-Jac was being very "difficult" during the procedure and the technician happily provided a disco dance for him by jiggling him around where she wanted him to be. When the doctor arrived to "confirm" the good news of a healthy baby, he got much better pictures.

We have decided that our little guy is going to be very flexible, just perfect for martial arts...and all the wrestling he'll have to do to keep up with his big brother. Jac-Jac enjoyed keeping one leg up near his chin, cheek, or tucked under his bottom. It made determining if he was really a boy rather difficult.

But once he decided we weren't going to let up until we got a show, he was all for it! So, if you couldn't tell by the pointer...we're having a boy!

We went from a little guy at 14 weeks to a one pounder at 22 weeks. And we've decided his profile looks a bit like John's and Bekah's. More pictures to come in about 20 more weeks!

"I Spy" Bags & Other Travel Gear

I've gotten a little "project" oriented these past few weeks.  We're gearing up for a trip in May to see the Illinois side of the family.  I've been researching ways to keep the kids entertained during the long drive (yes, I said DRIVE!) to and from Illinois.  So far, I'm hoping that some of my ideas will not go to waste.  Twenty hours driving one way just watching movies could get to be a bore.

Anyway, I've created lap trays out of old cookie sheets for the kids to play with magnets on.  The trays were coated with white board paint (so when they're older, we can all get high from sniffing dry erase markers).  No, really, the white surface means we can have a smooth area for coloring pages or laminated race tracks.   Kelsey's really excited to use her magnetic paper doll set! 

 

My second project was a set of "I Spy" bags (pocket-sized).  It took forever to find a pattern for these 5.5" square bags.  They only have 24-25 toys in each but it was fun making them.  John was really excited to help fill the bags with the beads.  Kelsey's excited to find the stuff inside.  And Bekah hasn't gotten up from her nap to see the bags.  Ah well.  Email me if you want the directions for making these things.  They sell on the market for $20 and I made three for less than that!

We'll see if they work in the doctor's office today and that should say whether or not the kids are interested.  At least we've got a few months to hide away the travel stuff so they can all be excited about the "new" stuff when I get it out for the trip!  And I have one less stress to think about.  I've done my part.

The Many Faces of Our Silly Kids

I didn't think John's face making skills were so popular until I walked into a higher end department store and saw a mannequin with the same face that John makes when he greets people. So, you tell me, doesn't this look the same?

Anyway, while we're on a roll with "face-making" skills, let's check out the other kids' skills! Bekah's pictures were actually taken on John's birthday when we celebrated with cupcakes and chocolate icing. Mmmmm...doesn't she look lovely?

Kelsey didn't want to be left out of the picture when I asked John to make faces for me. So...here are the two who copy each other.

So if my kids ever come up to you and make one of these faces, it really means they like you. Crazy, huh?

Happy Birthday, John John Man!

We celebrated John's birthday over a two day period...starting on his birthday and ending with his party on Friday night. He had so much fun! Thank you to everyone who sent cards, presents, or just showed up for the festivities. He was so happy he could share his day with you!

John wanted to have an airplane birthday cake. I tried looking for things to make it more of a themed birthday party, but all the party stores only had fighter jets not commercial airplanes. So...we settled on an airplane cake with "awfuls" (translation: waffles) for dinner. John chose it all.

Shawn did a great job taking pictures of the present opening session...but the camera didn't cooperate. Most of the pictures were blurry. Shawn was NOT a little happy! But we did manage to capture John's reaction when he opened the Cowboy set. He gave a two fisted, two armed, "YESSSS!!!!"

He was so grateful for all the cards and other presents too! I don't think he had a favorite. He loves them all! Thank you! Can you believe our boy is 4!? Can you believe we all survived this long? Just kidding. He's a good boy and we love him. Happy Birthday, John.