By the numbers...

3639 - the amount of miles our family of seven covered in the Suburban this Spring break

699 - the amount that the gas stations were able to collect from our expedition

124 - average price for a family of seven to fit into a hotel room (including a pool and breakfast) after talking the lady at the desk into bending their rules of how many in a room

?? - the amount saved by the generosity of family members and the grace of our God by providing most meals, housing, some gas, and a vehicle that saw NO breakdowns!

We are truly grateful for all God has given us!

Our First Geocache

I don't even know if I can spell it right.

My older sister's family introduced us to the experience.

I learned how to program my gps. We had some kids decode the secret code. The 13 of us set out on what I thought would be a grand adventure!

Little did I know what we would get into. I had my comfy clogs on ready for a quick trip to our buried treasure. All our kids had interesting shoe choices in fact (most of the others were wet from lake play earlier). Stephen's Tevas were a challenge for him as well.

So we took off into the wilderness near our house...only 1.25 miles in fact. We drove until we had .7 miles left and could drive no further. After 200 feet Sonya realized this was not for her bad leg. Another 300 yds or so my mom headed back. We hiked through mud and snow...sometimes so deep that I suddenly sank to my knees, and wound our way through the woods. We crossed a beautiful brook. We saw a fantastic river down below. If it weren't for clogs full of snow (and digging them out to keep walking) it may have been a paradise.

At about .4 miles into the trip we realized that neither gps had set our starting point (from the car) and that going back may be a bit tricky - but we had our occasional snow tracks to piece together. At about .2 miles left it appeared that the prize may be down a steep bank, with 5 ft snow drifts, on the side of that beautiful river. At 135 ft left, standing at the bed of the river, we realized it was on the other shore.

Well let me tell you...I didn't go that far to not find the thing. Sooo, I crossed the river (water up to my knees) and searched a cave to find the plastic cup full of goodies!

What a thrill!

But then there was the trip back...up several steep banks, nearly losing our way, having to pull the kids in because they were making new tracks in the snow, and carrying when we could the smaller children that seemed to have frozen feet and tired spirits.

All in all, it was a great time! And yet we had to fight the negative. I think we'll go again - with less snow!

Hope you enjoy the pics

FREEDOM

It feels great to be out and seeing the West again!

We are in Munds Park, AZ, just south of Flagstaff, and are loving nearly every minute of it. We have met my parents, who are out here after working in CA for the winter, my sister from Phoenix, and my Sister's family from Portland. It is nice to all be together!

The two day, 23 hours from St. Louis to AZ was better than could be expected. We had never been all together in the car for more than an 8 hour trip. I think we even had a couple of 4 hour stretches with no potty requests! And what a difference the Suburban is from the Previa of 5 years ago!

The sky is blue, the mountains are beautiful, and the house is fantastic (hopefully you can see that)! We are hoping to enjoy the Grand Canyon today (if we don't spend the whole time keeping kids away from the edge).

-Dave

accomplishment

I think the pictures speak for themselves. Grandparents, enjoy your darling girl becoming independent~

oops

So I was chatting with my good friend on the phone tonight when two little bitty, sleepy, chattering girls appeared at the top of the stairs. It was only 8:45 or so, but they had obviously already been asleep. But they sure were chattering.
I hung up the phone.
By the time I sifted through the stuttering & muttering, I realized Ana had a bad dream & her calling for me had awoken Maci, who had found a little hairclip in her bed (unrelated to the dream, I suppose). So I took them potty, with all due respect for Dave, who still has the job of clomping up the stairs in the middle of the night to take little girls potty.
Here's where the story gets good (I know; you were waiting too).
Ana had a dream that spiders were eating people. Actually her bad dreams have a theme. Lions Eating People. Big Dogs Eating People. You get the idea.
But incidentally (coincidentally??) I have been reading Charlotte's Web to the girls at lunch time. Their first chapter book. I know. Adorable. Even though their noses wrinkle when they hear complex descriptions & phrases:

"I didn't mean to be objectionable"

and

"One of his friends had got free and was no longer penned up or tied fast"
(seriously--WHAT is "tied fast"?? How can you be "tied fast")

just for example.

Today we read Chapter 5, entitled "Charlotte". If you recall the story, when Wilbur meets Charlotte he is none too sure about her. She takes a fly, wraps it in silk, poisons it, & drinks its blood. She even says "I love blood!" The chapter ends with Wilbur wondering what kind of friend Charlotte will be, "even though she is pretty and, of course, clever".

The poor darlings. Perhaps I should have waited just a bit longer....

family adventure

by Sonya

I am a part of an email list for Kids Off the Couch, which sends out descriptions of a kid-friendly flick & a fun adventure that promotes learning related to the movie. I mostly read through them & smile, knowing they would be fun but not actually doing them (please don't ask why I remain on the list).
Anyway, they sucked me in last week with their description of the movie Balto & a tutorial on how to follow the Iditarod via the 'Net. We requested the movie from the library, & I have done a bit of research figuring out which mushers our family would enjoy following. We will hopefully look at the map tonight & then each subsequent night (or most nights anyway) & maybe even plot the location of our favorite mushers on paper, just for extra fun. There is an interactive map, video coverage & even a blog written by a dog (well...you know...).
We are looking forward to enjoying the fun.
Join us if you want, or just look back at the archives for an adventure that looks like fun for your family.