California Dreamin' Part 2

We were all exhausted after leaving Legoland. Some of us napped on
the way home and some others talked non-stop until she finally passed
out.

Chase & Reed missed their cousins so much that they couldn't wait to
see them again, so we dropped them off at their house. They were
quite excited about that! I heard that they stayed up until 2:00am,
pacific time! I don't know how we're ever going to get readjusted to
eastern time before school starts.

We had another full day planned for Friday. Blake, Taylor and I were
still tired from the Legoland trip so we decided to be lounge lizzards
and stay home. Actually, if we had done 2 amusement parks for 2 days
in a row, Blake & Taylor would have been emotional wrecks! They
needed a rest. Diane, Chad, Lauren, Kelsey (Justin's girlfriend),
Chase, Reed and Paul went to Knott's Berry Farm. It sounded like they
had a great time there! They got to ride a few roller coasters and
other "big kid" rides. They also had the famous fried chicken lunch
but didn't bring home any leftovers! Huh, what's up with that?

After Knott's Berry Farm, Kelsey invited us all over to her house for
a little night swim. Paul came home to pick us up to take us to her
house. We had a nice time. I thought the pool was a little chilly so I
"relaxed" in the hot tub (you never really relax when you have 4
kids). The kids loved it! I don't know how Chase & Reed could stand to
keep going between the hot tub and the pool. I don't even like to
open the shower door until I've dried off because I get too cold!
Once Blake & Taylor discovered the hot tub, they stayed in it. They
weren't as adventurous as Chase & Reed. I was glad Kelsey invited us
over. She was a great hostess!

Saturday we hung out at home (Paul's parents home). They hosted a
cookout for us so some friends and other family could visit us without
us having to try to go to everyone else's houses. It was nice to
visit with everyone! We always enjoy catching up with extended family
and friends. After dinner we played a game of Catch Phrase. It was
boys against girls. Let me just say, we women kicked butt!

Sunday Paul, Chase, Reed, Chad, Justin & Kelsey went to an Angels
baseball game. They played the Seattle Mariners. The Angels lost.
Paul didn't take my camera so I wont have any pictures of that to
scrapbook. The little ones and I stayed home again. They played, ate
and watched Spongebob. I cleaned the motorhome.

Monday I had to get out of the house alone before I lost my mind! My
Mother-in-law dropped me off at the Mall on the her way to
volunteering at the hospital. It was so nice to be alone. I wandered
around the craft store for a couple of hours and I didn't even buy any
scrapbooking supplies! I know, I couldn't believe it either!!!

After my little retail therapy session, I walked over to the grocery
store to get supplies for the motorhome. I needed one shopping cart
for stuff that I bought at the craft store and another to get
groceries. Actually, I didn't have that much stuff from the craft
store it was just big. I bought a storage box and fleece for blankets
in the motorhome.

Paul and Blake picked me up at the grocery store. I bought stuff to
make dinner to surprise my mother-in-law since she worked at te
hospital all day. I made Asian Pork Ribs, Rice Pilaf and Blue Cheese
Cole Slaw. It was good but the ribs were a little tough. Mom was quite
surprised by dinner and really appreciative of it:o)

While I was cooking dinner, Paul took Chase & Reed to ride their bikes
on the bike path at the beach. Again, I don't have pictures of that
either. They had fun and even took a little dip in the ocean.

After dinner, Diane and kids came over to pack some of their stuff in
the motorhome. Justin's girlfriend, Kelsey, made little goodies bags
of candy for all the kids. That was so sweet, literally &
figuritively! They were very excited about that! Mom also loaded us
up with some snacks & goodies:o) We won't go hungry, that's for sure!

We finished up packing up all our stuff too and headed to bed early.
We wanted to be ready for our adventure to head back home with 10
people in a motorhome that sleeps 6!

California Dreamin' Part 1

We made it to CA about 5:30 Monday evening. I drove the car instead of
Paul towing it behind the motorhome. We had to go through some pretty
high temps and some pretty big hills. Paul didn't want to stress the
engine on the motorhome that much. Reed, Blake & I were much cooler
in the car than the others were in the motorhome anyway!

My sister-in-law, Diane, and her family met us over at Paul's parents
house and we ordered some pizza for dinner. We spent the evening
unloading and the camper and visiting. It was nice to see everyone
again!

Tuesday we mostly hung out at my in-law's home. Paul changed oil on
the motorhome and a few other things and I did load, after load, after
load of laundry. How exciting! The kids finally got to play on the
computer and with Grandpa. Diane and family came over again so the
kids got to play with their cousins again. They look forward to that
so much!

Wednesday we headed toward Legoland. We didn't take the motorhome
this time. We made a couple of stops along the way to visit some
friends.

Our first stop was to visit Virginia, our friend Rob's mom. We had a
nice lunch with her at her house but our kids were not very well
behaved at all! I hope she was as understanding as she seemed! She's
a very nice lady and we enjoyed visiting with her.

Our second visit was with the Rickerls, the parents of Paul's friend,
Mark, that he's known for decades (hehe)! They are very nice people!
They ALWAYS send the kids and us homemade cards for birthdays and
pretty much all holidays! The kids love getting those in the mail!
The kids were much better behaved during this visit. We told them
that if they weren't that we would skip Legoland and go back to
Grandma & Grandpa's! Of course, the Rickerls spoiled them with
cookies, ice cream and snacks for the road. We had a great visit with
them too!

After all our visiting we headed to Carlsbad, where Legoland is, and
checked into our hotel. The kids immediately changed into their
swimsuits and we headed down to the pool. They really needed to burn
off some energy after sitting in the car for about 3 hours and
visiting with grown-ups! They swam until Paul got back with some
dinner. The kids had Mcdonalds and Taco Bell and we had PF Changs.
Mmmm, was it good! We got to bed early so we'd be ready for a full
day at Legoland.

We got to Legoland about 10:30am and stayed until 7:00pm. We were
exhausted! The kids had a great time! Most of the rides, I would say,
are geared for kids under 10. Chase & Reed would have liked to see
some bigger roller coasters and stuff but they still liked it. Blake &
Taylor had a really good time. They could ride some rides by
themselves and most rides with an adult.

I think everyones favorite was Miniland USA. They have Lego models
built of some major us cities and many other things too. I think the
coolest were the New York skyline and Las Vegas. Even Blake & Taylor
liked the models because some were interactive. They could push
buttons and trains would move, dogs would bark, cows would moo and a
helicopter would spin it's blades. I had a hard time dragging Blake
away from those!

The food at the park was completely outrageous! It was $7.75 for a
hot dog, chips and drink. I didn't remember it being that expensive
when we were there 3 years ago. We made 2 hot dogs stretch enough for
the whole family and then had a nice dinner at Marie Calenders
afterward. We don't mind paying a little extra for the convenience
but that was ridiculous!

The park really is set up nice. They have lots of shade around and a
few little playground type of areas for the kids to play. It was busy
but the lines weren't too long. Some of the smaller rides had no
waiting! They even have a small water play area for those who don't
want to go into the new water park. The water park just opened this
month so it was quite busy. We skipped that part. We made it to a
part of the park that we missed last time. We must have been too
tired to make it through the whole park when we visited 3 years ago.
It was better this year in the sense that Blake & Tayloe were more
mobile and taller! It was more fun for all of us!

Way behind!

I know I'm a little behind with the blog, but stuck with me I'll
eventually catch up:o)

Brandy

California or Bust!

We left Great Falls about 12:30pm, Thursday. The drive through Montana
was very pretty. There was some beautiful scenery along the Missouri
River! The river looked high. I guess MT has had some significant
snow and rain fall this year. I've never seen MT look so green before!

Our first overnight stop was in Pocatello, ID. The campground wasn't
anything to write home about but they did have a couple of airplane
things on the playground. Blake loved those!

What little we saw of the city of Pocatello, I thought was very
pretty! I told Paul that if he ever gets relocated to Alaska that
we'll meet him part-way and live in Pocatello. He can commute from
there. I'm guessing that their winters are similar to Montana's and
I'm not sure I'd be up for that after having been away for 22 years.
Although, it would finally give me a chance to use my long coat and
fur hat that I got while in Kazakhstan!

Our second overnight stop was in Beaver, UT. Again, the campground
wasn't anything to write home about, but it did have a pool and that's
all that mattered to the kids! Oh, it also had some kind of airplane
teeter-totter thing that peeked Blake's interest. All the kids could
play on it at once! I think we should get one for home.

Saturday we made it to Las Vegas. Man, was it HOT there!!! 105 -
108! I dont think that its a coincidence that Sin City is hotter than
hell! That's certainly one place that I don't want to be anywhwere
remotely close to for the second coming of Jesus.

We stayed 2 nights at the Circus Circus KOA. It was just a big parking
lot with hook-ups, but Reed thought it was the best campground that
we've ever been to! That boy cracks me up. He liked that is was so
smooth for riding his bike.

First thing we did (after wal-mart of course) was go see the Gold &
Silver Pawn Shop that's in the TV show "Pawn Stars." The boys
couldn't wait to see it. None of the guys that are on TV were there
but they sure had a lot of other employees. The boys wanted to pawn/
sell their sister but we couldn't strike a deal. So, we got some
souveniers instead. The shop looks much bigger on TV than it does in
person. They say they get about 2000 customers a day!

Our next stop was at M&M's World. It was okay. Paul and the boys were
bummed that it was pretty much a 4 floor gift shop. Of course we
bought some M&M's and a dispenser. A slot machine one. Reed picked
it out. How did we get by all this time without that? My favorite
M&M dispenser is still the airplane one. They had tons of those! I
should have bought another one because I know it's just a matter of
time until Blake loves ours to pieces!

Driving down the strip was fun, but I wouldn't want to do it
everyday. We drove through Vegas on New Year's Eve, 1998. It has
chanced so much since then! It just keeps getting bigger, gaudier and
more crowded!

After experiencing the strip, we went downtown. We wanted the kids to
see the "Fremont Experience." It's a huge canopy over a few blocks,
covered with lights. Every hour they do a light show to music. The
night we were there they played some Queen music and showed some
pictures of them and other things. Blake did not like it! He was
pretty scared of it. The rest of us thought it was cool! Paul & I
have seen it before and I do have to say, as we age it gets harder to
keep looking up all that time!

We finally made our way to the Golden Gate casino. We'd been looking
forward to the .99 cent shrimp cocktail. Only now they are $1.99!
They serve small shrimp in cocktail sauce, in a sundae glass. The
kids didn't like it so that meant there was more for Paul & me:o)

The next day, Sunday, we hung out at Circus Circus all day. The kids
had a great time playing games! Chase and Reed won a few cheesy
stuffed animals that are guaranteed to lose tiny styrofoam beads
everywhere. If they last until we get them home the boys can use them
for target practice with their BB Gun.

Paul took Blake & Taylor back to the motorhome for a much needed nap
while I took Chase & Reed to ride some rides in the Adventure Dome at
Circus Circus. They enjoyed that except Reed was about 1/2 inch too
short to ride the "good" rides that Chase got to ride. He was kind of
bummed but he still had fun. When they rode a couple of small kiddie
rides I tried to get them to act like it was the best ride that
they've ever been on. They didn't want to appear to be that dorky!

After dinner Paul took Chase & Reed to see the Blue Man Group. They
really enjoyed it! Blake, Taylor and I hung out at the pool and then
watched Toy Story a couple (or 3) times while trying to stay cool.
The motorhome had a hard time trying to stay cool in the hot temps. It
was in the high 80's inside!

Monday morning we headed for Los Angeles. We were glad to be getting
away from the horrid heat!

Brandy

Great Falls Visit

We arrived in Great Falls at about 4:30pm. Just in time for the rain
to begin. The drive getting there was quite windy. I'm glad I wasn't
driving! It was hard enough being a passenger. I had to take a nap!

Once we got settled into camp, my Mom came to show us the way to my
sister's house. We stopped at the store to pick up some steaks to
grill for dinner. Dawn made the sides and grilled the steaks for us.
It was all good! We visited with her and the kids for a while, and
Jess too once he got home. Their son/my nephew, Michael, was glad to
have a couple of new boys to play with! Yoshiko was very sweet and
helpful.

Grammie had a couple of gifts wating for Blake & Taylor when we got
there. Dawn had found a wooden airplane at the farmers market and
Grammie painted it yellow to make it look like a Piper Cub. We're
pretty sure Blake loved it because he didn't put it down but he kept
talking about a blue "guy" (aka airplane). I told my Mom and sister
that they needed to buy some more airplanes and paint them every color
under the rainbow. They loved that idea! I hope Blake doesn't have
to wait too long;o)

It rained all day Tuesday. We took the kids and my niece, Yoshiko, to
see Toy Story 3. It was a good movie. I liked it but I was very sad
at the end when Andy gave his toys away to a nice little girl. If they
make a 4th one I hope Andy gets them back when he's married and has
kids! Blake liked the movie until the part where it looks like the
toys are gonners. He started crying! Then he started crying again at
the very end. He was so sad that he just sat in my lap and cried on
my shoulder. It was sweet!

Tuesday night Dawn hosted a barbeque for us. My sister, Spring, and
her kids came and also my brother and his wife, Dusty & Leslie. Their
kids were at Leslie's mom's so I didn't get to meet them. They just
had a baby 4 days earlier so Leslie welcomed a full nights sleep.
Anyway, we had a good time visiting and the kids had a great time
playing together!

Blake had quite the good time all by himself. He pooped in his pants
while playing outside and took them off. We don't know how long he
played outside half naked. We didn't know it until he came inside.
Grammie cleaned him up and luckily we had some spare clothes for him.
He went back outside to play. The next thing we know, he was running
through the sprinkler! And it was COLD outside, low 60's! He
followed the hose the the spicket and turned it on himself. His lips
were blue and he was shivering but he wanted to keep playing in the
water. He wasn't too happy when we made him come in. Blake is the
reason why Paul removed all the knobs from our outdoor faucets. He's
left the water running overnight a couple of times and we didn't know
it!

Wednesday we didn't do much. We hung around the campground because my
Spring and Leslie were supposed to come over with the kids. They
weren't able to make it though. I ended up doing laundry and cleaning
the camper. Paul and the kids played at the pool and water playground.
The water was ice cold but that didn't stop Blake. Chase, Reed &
Taylor didn't last quite as long as Blake did.

That evening we met Dawn, Jess, kids and Jess's parents at Howard's
Pizza for dinner. Jess's parents, Keri & Ron, brought us a nice
little gift! They gave us a loaf of cinnamon roll braided bread, huge
chocolate chip cookies and some toe curling brownies! It was from the
Great Harvest Bread Company and it was all made with Montana wheat.
It was GOOD! My favorite was the brownies. They did curl my toes
too! Keri & Ron are very nice people and we really appreciated their
thoughtfulness!

After dinner we went to feed the ducks at Gibson Park. Something my
Mom and I used to do when I was a little girl. The kids loved it! We
fed the ducks, even the ugly ones and the intrusive seagulls, 3 loaves
of bread. We were having such a good time that Blake didn't want to
leave. Amazingly, nobody got pooped on! Paul was ready to place bets
on who'd get it first, lol!

After the feeding the ducks, we went to visit my Aunt Debbie, Uncle
Ken and Great Aunt Bobi. It was nice to see them again! Aunt Bobi is
doing good considering she has cancer and there's nothing more they
can do for her. She still has a sense of humor! Debbie & Ken are
remodeling their house and it looks great! I love the tile floor in
the kitchen and the paint colors in the living room. They are also
doing well. They are taking good care of Aunt Bobi!

Thursday morning my friend Brenda and her Mom made a special trip to
come see us before we left. I'm so glad they did. It was really nice
to see them again. Brenda and I were very good friends in high school
and I hung out at her house a lot. Her Mom and Dad were always very
good to me. Still to this day, they always send me birthday and
Christmas cards every year. Brenda looks great! I swear that girl
does not age! She's always had a peaches and cream complexion and it
has served her well. It was fun catching up on each others lives and
seeing them again.

I used to come to MT frequently, but then I had kids and it's just not
that easy anymore. I have missed everyone and I hope that I can get
out here more often than every 5 years or so! Also, don't forget, you
are ALWAYS welcome at our house in KY!!!

Billings Visit

We had a great visit with our friends Nick, Lori, Brianna and Katie.
We arrived in Billings Friday afternoon. Taylor took to Katie right
away. And, although the boys weren't too sure about hanging out with
girls all weekend, they had a good time too. Even Blake was pretty
accepting of the Blake family! Lori and I have been friends since
kindergarten!!!

Friday we just pretty much settled in. Oh, we did run to the mall to
get the boys some new sneakers. Lori made a very tasty dinner of
spaghetti, meatballs and sausage. It was delicious!

Saturday we played, visited and Paul went shopping... Hey, that's
supposed to be my job! Our friend Nick owns a men's clothing store so
Paul usually finds something he "needs" when we visit. Too bad for
Nick that we don't visit more often!

After Paul's little shopping spree (heehee) we went to visit my
Grandpa at the nursing home. I hadn't seen him since the last time I
was in MT, 5 years ago. He looked great! So much healthier than the
last time I saw him. He's eating well and going for walks. I think
he enjoyed the kids being there too. I'll bet that nursing home hasn't
seen that much action since... well, ever! It's a good thing his
little motored chair wasn't charged because Reed kept trying to take
it down the hall. He finally settled for pushing the walker across
the room and sitting on the little seat attached to it. Blake &
Taylor had more fun playing with the room divivder curtains. They'd
open, close, crawl under, run in circles around them, play peek-a-boo,
just about everything you could do with a curtain, they did. I think
Grandpa might have even been a little jealous that he doesn't have
that much fun with those curtains. I'm sure Grandpa needed a nap
after our visit. Heck, I needed one!

Lori made us another awesome dinner Sat night. It was called "Company
Pot Roast" by the lady that does Barefoot Contessa, on the Food
Network. It was so moist & tender and delicious! It makes my mouth
water just thinking about it!

After dinner we let the kids light off some fireworks. We thought it
would be better to do it the night before since we'd be busy with the
cookout on the 4th. It's so funny to watch the differences between
boys & girls. Chase & Reed liked standing over the top of, or running
through, the smoke bombs. The girls really didn't see the point in
that since it would make your clothes stinky. I think that's what the
boys liked best! They ALL liked to light the fireworks with pretty
much the same enthusiasm. The bigger, the better! Blake didn't care
much for the fireworks so he watched the movie "Cars" for probably the
50th time.

Sunday, Lori & I ran to the grocery and also got a couple of photos
developed that we took with Grandpa. Paul & I took them to Grandpa
while Lori watched the kids for us. It was nice to visit with him
without all the noise! But, I am glad that he finally got to meet all
our kids the day before. He appreciated the pictures. We even put
them in frames for him. I sure do miss him... and my Grandma. She's
been gone almost 9 years.

Later that evening Nick & Lori hosted a cookout for us and Nick's
family. The food was great! My favorite part though was Lori's
homemade ice cream. Yummo!!! We had decided not to go anywhere to
watch fireworks because the kids were wiped out & very crabby from the
late nights we've been keepin'. Then all the sudden their neighbors
showed up with a box of fireworks for the kids! Needless to say, (but
I will anyway) the kids were ecstatic! The neighbors had seen how
much fun the kids had the night before and wanted to add more fun to
the 4th. Of course they were the heroes of the night! We all had a
great time watching the fireworks! It was extremely nice of them to
do that. My kids will probably remember that for a long time.

Monday morning as we were packing up the motorhome, Blake decided to
sit in the car so he wouldn't get left behind. I kept telling him that
we weren't driving the car this time. He didn't care. He didn't get
out until we made him. I guess he was tired of riding in the
motorhome cuz he did not want to get back in it!

Luckily the ride to Great Falls is only about 4 hours.

Forsyth Visit

We got to Forsyth about 1:30 or so on Thursday. We drove around town
and showed the kids various palces from my childhood and where I lived
with my grandparents. There was a new house in that spot so I didn't
recognize it at first.

Forsyth has gotten much smaller since I was there in 1985. At it's
prime the population was about 4,000. Now it's less than 2,000! There
used to be a small airforce base there but it left several years ago.
Forsyth continues to be a small farm and railroad community.

We weren't very impressed wth our campground at first but it was
level, had full hook-ups and shade. From that standpoint, it was the
best one we've been too! As far as the kids were concerned though, it
lacked the essentials, like a pool and mini golf;o)

We hosted a family cookout and my nieces, nephews, sisiter/brother-in-
law and uncle came over. We had a good time. I finally figured out
that the last time I was there was when my niece, Karriann, was born.
That's been almost 15 years ago! Way too long!!! The twins, Kami &
Randy, will be 13 in just a few days. Happy Birthday guys! What a
good lookin' group of kids! I enjoyed visiting with them. It kind of
makes me sad that we don't live closer. They grow up so fast! My kids
were a little shy around their cousins but I know if we were able to
see them more often that they break out of their shells.

I was so glad that my Uncle Dale came too. His wife, Aunt Yolly,
passed away last year and it's been pretty hard on him. It was nice
to see him again.

My friend, Sally, came to visit too! I hadn't seen her since we were
freshman in high school. We had a good visit catching up and the kids
flooded her with pictures. I spent a lot of time at Sally's house
when I was a kid. Her family was always very accepting of me. We had
some great times together. I'm so glad that we got reconnected!

Friday morning we visited Sally at the courthouse. She gave me & the
boys a little tour and even took us up in the dome! The boys thought
that was cool.

After our visit it at the courthouse we went to the sheriff's office
to say hi to an old family friend, Alan. He gave me and the boys the
grand tour! The detention officer even fingerprinted them! They
thought that was way cool! I took pictures of them in jail, a padded
cell, getting fingerprinted and with our friend. Before we left they
gave the boys a handful of goodies, coloring books, pens, frisbies,
junior deputy pins and temporary tattoos. I think this fun experience
made their desire to be cops even stronger. I'm not too sure about
Reed though. He said he'd rather be behind bars than in front of them
so he doesn't have to do homework and clean his room! That boy is
always trying to get out of work, of any kind!!!

Before we left we ate lunch at the popular Dairy Queen. That place has
been there forever! We finally made our way out of Dodge around 1:30
and headed for Billings.

Still in WY

Today we drove from Cheyenne to Sheridan, WY. It was about 330 miles.
We've learned that 300 miles a day is as much as the kids can
tolerate. Anymore than that and they start getting stir crazy. They
need to get out and run, swim, play, ride bikes, whatever gets them
moving.

We arrived here at about 3:30. We were able to get in a short swim
before it started raining. The rain lasted just long enough to make
the mosqitos come out in full force!

We hung out at the campground tonight. The boys played mini golf and I
finally decorated the their vacation journals. Blake & Taylor watched
Spongebob and played with my paper scraps.

Blake did go outside and "talk" to our neighbor for a little bit. I
could see the look on the man's face that clearly said "I have no idea
what you are saying or even what language you are speaking!" So I
stuck my head out the window and explained that Blake has a speech
delay and he's trying to talk about a yellow airplane, his favorite
subject. The man is from Switzerland so he really had no clue what
Blake was trying to say! I thought there was something different
about him when I saw him wearing capris. Generally speaking, American
striaght men don't wear capris. I'm pretty sure they were his because
his wife/girlfriend looked too small to wear them. At least he is "man
enough to wear girly pants;)" (that was for you Linda & Paul!)

Tomorrow we will be in Forsyth, MT. We'll get to see my brother and
sister-in-law, nieces and nephew, my Uncle Dale and an old middle/high
school friend. I can't wait!

Wyoming

> We made it to Cheyenne, WY today. We would have like to have gone
> further but it took us longer to get down the mountain in CO than we
> thought it would. There was construction going on that caused
> delays and then Chase and our friend, Emma, got altitude sickness.
> We were at the Alpine Visitors Center, almost 12,000 feet high, when
> it hit Chase. He felt terrible! He was emotional, lightheaded,
> nauseated and had a bloody nose. He looked terrible too! We decided
> to say a quick goodbye to our friends and head down the mountain so
> Chase could get to feeling better. By the time we got to Estes Park
> (about 7,500 feet high) he was perking up. Shortly after that he
> was much better.

The drive down Trail Ridge Road is beautiful and intimidating. It's
the highest continuous highway in the U.S. I can't get over the fact
that they don't have guard rails on the edge of the cliffs. There is
NOTHING to keep you from tumbling down a 12,000 foot mountain! Some
of those twists & turns are quite tight! I guess eventually you'd hit
trees and that would probably stop you. But, there are no trees at
12,000 feet high! The trees don't appear until closer to 10,500 feet
high! Scary!!! Again, glad I got to drive seperately and wasn't in
the motorhome.

>
>
>

Monday

We started out the day with a fantastic breakfast of bacon & eggs made
by Ty!

We took a short drive to the town of Grand Lake. Just past there is a
short hiking trail called "Adam's Falls." It was very pretty! There
were some little water falls and beautiful scenery. The hike was so
short & easy even the kids could do it without any problems. In fact,
they were constantly a few steps ahead of us!

We went back to Grand Lake and stopped at a little gift shop thinking
maybe they would have a yellow airplane for Blake. They did. But, it
wasn't a J-3 Piper Cub so he wasn't interested. He just wants to talk/
whine about the yellow airplane at home. I think what he's doing is
called "stimming." It's self-stimulation that some autistic children
do to show excitement (good or bad) or to calm themselves. I think
he's trying to calm himself because we are so far out of his routine
and so far away from everything that is familiar to him back home. Or,
he could be expressing some excitement/anger that he's too
uncomfortable with being this far away from home. Anyway, it's not
easy to deal with and sometimes it sucks the life out of me. Mostly
because I don't know what to do about it.

After the gift shop meltdown we had a nice lunch on the lake shore in
town. The kids played in the ice cold water for a little bit and then
enjoyed some ice cream. These seemed to calm Blake down for a while.

After lunch, Ty & Linda took us to Monarch Lake. It was gorgeous! We
walked a little trail to the part where you see the kids' pictures
below. We would have liked to have gone further and stayed longer but
the mosquitos were THICK! We still enjoyed it and didn't let them
ruin the afternoon.

After that busy day we headed back to camp. The big kids rode bikes,
while the little ones and I colored. Ty & Linda made some delicious
chicken burritos for dinner. They were so good! It kind of reminded
me of Q'Dobas but better. Luckily they gave us the left overs for when
we hit the road again. Thanks guys!!!

After dinner we watched the movie "RV." It's funny and worth a rental
if you'd been wanting to see it. We had to show it to them because it
takes place in Colorado.

After all that we sat around the campfire and made s'mores and
visited. It was a good day full of beautiful scenery and great friends!

Tommorrow we start heading towards MT. We plan to get there
Wednesday. I'm hoping for a somewhat peaceful drive !

Brandy

Sunday, June 27

Sigh. The beauty of the mountains! It's so pretty and peaceful up
here. The drive was beautiful! We saw chipmunks, elk, moose and some
other animals that I couldn't identify.

The pass that we drove on could be a little scary at times. Paul
drove the mortorhome and I drove the car. He didn't want to tow it up
the mountain because of the elevation and narrow road. Anyway, I'm
kind of glad that I wasn't in the motorhome. I would have been able
to see the drop offs at the sides of the road too well! Afterall, we
were driving up the side of a mountain. At one point the elevation was
around 12,000 feet! It was really pretty. It's kind of strange to be
driving along and be even with the tops of the trees!

The campground is pretty but I guess it used to be a lot prettier with
more trees. CO has had some kind of beetle that has killed TONS of
trees. They have cut all the dead trees down for fear of them falling
on people and hurting or killing them.

We are very close to the lake. It's very calm. Hence the name
"Stillwater." Paul walked the kids down to the lake after dinner so
they could wade through it. It was quite cold but they enjoyed it!
Blake especially loves the water. Ever since we went to Mrytle Beach
last fall, he thinks ANY body of water is a beach! Now he's always
asking to go to the beach.

It's supposed to get down into the 40's or 50's tonight here in the
mountains. Luckily the motorhome does have a heater! I already feel
like I need an extra blanket!

Brandy

Friday, June 25

Today was a pretty good day! Blake is feeling more comfortable and
relaxed about being here.

We really didn't do much today. We cleaned the camper, ran errands
and went to the pool. Everyone is just enjoying each others company.
We're having a good time!

Sunday we are going camping I'm the mountains!

Brandy

Thursday, June 24

We're in Denver, Colorado! Paul got up early and left the campground
in Kansas, at about 7am, while we were all still sleeping. We arrived
in Denver at about 2pm.

Luckily, our good friends, Ty & Linda were more than happy to welcome
us a day early! The kids are having a great time playing (except
Blake) and we always enjoy visiting with each other! Blake wouldn't
get out of the camper until Paul carried him out then he whined about
wanting to go home. He's so far away from everything that he's used to
that he's having a very difficult time.

Before we even got settled, Linda & I took the kids to the
neighborhood pool so the they could release some energy. Even Blake
welcomed that. We all had a good time until... Blake pooped in the
pool! Luckily he was in the baby pool but still, it was bad. I know
this will be TMI, but I'm gonna say it anyway because this blog is as
much, or more, for me as for everyone else:) He hadn't pooped since
we left home. You can imagine how big of a pile 3 days worth of poop
was! Well, it was even bigger before it started disintegrating in the
water. As soon as I noticed the brown cloud surrounding Blake, I
immediately pulled him & Taylor out and bee-lined it for the bathroom.
Luckily they had a shower in there! I won't sicken you with the
details of cleaning him up, it wasn't pretty! While I was cleaning up
Blake I asked Taylor a couple of times if she needed to use the potty.
She said no. Then as we're finally heading out of the horribly, foul-
smelling bathroom, Taylor announces the she needs to go pee. I put all
our stuff back down and help her in the bathroom. As I was pulling her
swimsuit bottom down, I noticed that she too pooped her pants!!!
Aaaahhhh!!!!! I'm pretty she didn't do it in the pool. I think she
stood there and did it while I was cleaning Blake up. I guess she
needed some attention. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper!
Again I won't sicken you with the details of the clean up. This also
was not pretty.

We headed back to Ty & Linda's house to disinfect Blake & Taylor and
to get Chase & Reed ready for the Rockies game. Paul & the boys were
all ready to head out the door for the baseball game and Reed decided
that he'd rather stay and play with Emma & Ian.

Paul was going to buy tickets when he got to the stadium but a very
nice gentleman GAVE him 2 tickets and wouldn't take any money for
them! They had a great time at the game. The Rockies played the Red
Sox. The game went into extra innings and lasted 5 hours! The Red
Sox ended up winning:( But I don't remember what the score was.
Chase had a great time and looked very happy when they got back.

While they were at the game, Emma babysat and Linda & I took Blake &
Taylor to the store to try to find a yellow airplane for Blake. I was
hoping to ease his pain of being away from home and out of his
routine. Of course we didn't find a Piper Cub airplane. I search high
& low everywhere I go and on the Internet for a toy one but have yet
to find one. Blake's also been into Toy Story lately so I thought one
of those toys would be a nice "runner-up." Well, he found a Buzz
Lightyear toy, alright. It was $130 at Target!!! I was NOT going to
spend that much on a toy! I tried to distract and redirect him but it
wasn't going well. For a while I was concerned that I was going to
have to carry him out of the store kicking & screaming (an ongoing
theme for us this year). Finally I was able to talk him into going to
another store to look for toys (without causing a scene). Longer
story short, he found something but it didn't ease his whining/my pain
like the first Toy Story DVD did. I bought it again because he
accidently broke the one we have at home and we haven't been able to
watch it.

All was finally well. Blake watched Toy Story until he fell asleep and
the kids played until they dropped. Chase & Paul made it back from
the game around midnight. And I finally got some relief from Blake's
whining going home and a yellow guy airplane. He'll probably settle in
here when we're ready to go camping Sunday. At least he's used to the
motorhome and feels safe & secure there.

Brandy

Salina, KS

We're in Salina, Kansas. We drove about 7 hours today. Rolled in
about 6:30pm. We immediately went for a swim and Paul went out for
some pizza:)

The drive was a long one. After several hours of listening to Blake
whine and failing to find anything to make him happy, I am drained! I
put together a little toy box for him and I went through half of it
trying to calm him down. I didn't want to reveal everything in the
box so the newness doesn't wear off too soon. Finally, I remembered
that I packed the airplane DVD that I made for him a while back. I hit
the jackpot!!! Well, for about an hour and a half anyway. He watched
it until he fell asleep. I also got his picture schedule organized so
I'll try to use that tomorrow. I'm not sure though how to explain the
length of the drive to him.

Chase & Reed rented a couple of little pedal carts and are taking
Blake & Taylor for a ride around the campground as I type. Looks like
fun! Paul & I are getting eaten alive by the mosquitos! The weather
has cooled to a comfy temp and there's no humidity:)

Tomorrow we may try to get to Denver so that Paul, Chase & Reed can
watch the Rockies play the Red Sox.

Tuesday, June 22

On our first morning away, the kids slept longer than we did! The
peace & quiet was short lived but still enjoyable!

We took a tram to the Arch, bought tickets for a later ride then
walked over to the baseball stadium to check that out. Paul found out
that they were doing tours so we planned for him, Chase & Reed to come
back for one. We decided to stay an extra day in St. Louis so that
the boys could go to the baseball stadium.

Blake was having a hard time. He's pretty rigid with his routine and
really can't handle much change. For 3 hours we listed to him whine
"yellow guy airplane" over & over & over again. He didn't really calm
down until we got into the pod for the ride up to the top of the Arch.
He loved it! I wish you could have seen the smile on his face! He
also liked being at the top looking out the windows. He didn't want to
leave!

We all really liked going to the top of the Arch. It was pretty cool!
The ride in the pod wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be.
It's quite small and no window, but as long as you forget that it's
taking you up 630 feet in the air, it's fun!

The boys enjoyed the tour of Busch stadium. They learned a lot about
when & how it was built. It's only about 4 years old. It was built
right next to the old one and part of it is on the old field. They
also learned quite a bit about the anal retentiveness (is that a
word?) of the grounds keeping. They cut the grass everyday. They use
lasers aligned by a GPS to keep the lines in the grass perfectly
straight. They also chill the water to 41 degrees to water the
grass! Oh, and they mowed the shape of the Arch into the outfield.
That gives whole new meaning to the words "yard art!"

The rest of our day/night was spent just hanging out at camp trying to
stay cool! The temp was supposed to reach 100 and it probably did!
Our a/c had a hard time keeping up with the heat.

Wednesday we will head to Kansas.

Monday, June 21

We left our house at 4:45pm. Blake was asleep by 4:47. Lol, we weren't even off our street yet! Two hours later, we were leaving LaGrange, 18 miles away! We had to run a couple of errands before we hit the road. I thought "at this rate, I'm going to have to homeschool our children because there is no way we're going to get back in time for the start of school!" Not really something I'm interested in doing! Academically, I don't think I'm smarter than a 5th grader. Many other areas, yes. Academics, no!

We had hoped to make it as far as St. Louis, and we did. The drive went by rather quickly. At least for me, anyway. I was so tired from being up til 3am that I just wanted to crash. So, I did! It wasn't a good quality nap, but at least it was a nap. I think I had to listen to the movie "Cars" or maybe it was "Spongebob." Hmmm... I can't remember. Anyway, the kids were talking to me too and I'm pretty sure I was talking back. I sure hope that I didn't promise them anything in my sleep!

We rolled into St. Louis around 11:00pm. We camped in an RV park next to a casino. We could see the Arch from our camp site. That was cool! The kids were pretty excited about it too. Reed even remembered talking about it in school. I like it when that happens because it puts a personal experience with what they learned in a classroom.

For some unknown, illogical reason we decided few months ago, that we should take a cross-country road trip, in the motorhome, with 4 kids. I am sure there will be numerous times (on a daily basis) that we will ask ourselves, "what were we thinking." Well, we purposely didn't think too much about it ,or we wouldn't have done it. Kind of like when we didn't think about how much work 4 kids was going to be.

As we embark on this adventure, we kindly ask for your prayers. If you've spent any time with our family, you know how much those prayers will be needed!