into the wild, blue yonder

Tomorrow morning I am off, once again, to my beloved mountains. All this flatness is giving me hives lately. 

While I am there I get to see this one

 make good use of the dress I made her. And, all my siblings their spouses and their babies will all be in the same city for the first time in years and years. Can't wait. So, think of me and send me your good wishes tomorrow while I drive, and drive, and drive. By the time I get home I will have daffodils and hyacinths and tulips about which to enthuse. Until then, toodles.

i know we did it last year...

...but we liked it a lot, so we're doing it again. Going to see that mouse in Florida, I mean. So no posting for a week or so because I will be busy hobnobbing with princesses. Have a great week.

off we go

St. George or Bust!

Keep those toes crossed.

the wisconsin list

(Our mom and baby group-our big ones were friends from birth and now they have multiplied)

1. Broken car DVD players make for a longer trip, but not an impossible one
2. You can get lost in a place you used to know your way around.
3. Places that are super cold in the winter are amazingly lovely in the summer.
4. Bedtime is very important.
5. I have many gracious friends who rearranged their lives to see us, I hadn't realized how much we missed them.
6. The mother I am was greatly influenced by the women that were in my life five years ago. I hope they are still in my life in fifty.
7. Real friends will forgive you for not calling in two years and might even send you home with rhubarb preserves.
8. Madison has so many great restaurants. So many. You lucky, spoiled people.
9. It's o.k. to forget camera because your friends will take pictures and email them to you. (thanks, girls!)
10. Tommy didn't really want to leave all his new (old) friends, I was a little sad too.
11. We were really happy in Madison, but it isn't home anymore. I do so love coming home.

on driving we will go-again

Tomorrow I am taking my little ones of to visit all the friends we left behind in Madison.The boys are out of school and summer stuff doesn't start for weeks and I was feeling all travel-y. Plus Madison is amazing this time of year. Hooray! Can't wait to see you all. Don't know if I will get around to blogging or not. That way, you will be surprised.

geography as taught by disneyworld

(The Mount Everest ride at Disneyworld and the standard by which all mountains are judged)

"Are we in the Himalayas?" asks Tommy as we drive through yet another mountain pass that is almost completely snowed in. Almost, but not quite. I was supposed to be driving on I-70. The mountains on 70 aren't that exciting but there was a rock slide so instead we went over Pikes' Peak (which Tommy was sure was Mount Everest). It was the first of five, count them five mountain passes in which it was snowing heavily. It could have been six but one was so snowy that they simply closed it. There were two detours taking us a total of about 250 miles out of our way. It took 22 and a half hours. It was really pretty country, even or perhaps especially covered in snow but my car was full of precious people. And my hands got sore from gripping the steering wheel and my eyes are all squinty from glaring into blizzards. We did however, arrive safely and my little monkeys couldn't be more thrilled to be with Grammy and Grandpa and favorite cousins. Already, it was worth it. But I am sort of thinking about just selling my car and flying home.

is it a skill i can develop by tomorrow?

Tomorrow morning we are of on our little cross-country jaunt. If you happen to be in Grand Junction tomorrow evening (hopefully) feel free to stop by whatever hotel we happen to stop at and we'll all go out for dinner or something. Bah. I wish I was Samantha (of Bewitched) and could get the four of us (I am counting my raging sinus infection as a person because it is just that intrusive) to our final destination instantly with an adorable twitch of my nose. It's going to be fine, it's going to be fine, it's going to be fine...........See you all on Wednesday. Hopefully from sunny St. George.

'cause there's just too much to tell

Make a Smilebox slideshow

nervous nellie

I was never a nervous flyer. I was usually well into my book long before take-off and noticed nothing else until someone brought me a drink. If I bothered to pay attention at all I found the whole thing, I found it exhilarating and amazing what modern man had accomplished. When I have flown with my children as babies they were all that I could pay any attention to, after all flying with an infant is plenty busy all by itself. This time was a  little different. The boys are a little older and they sit a little more nicely. I had a little more time to think about all that we were risking with all my dear ones in the same flying tube. (I realize driving is way more dangerous but familiarity has made me callous about it.) You know that part at the end of Say Anything when they are on the plane and he tells her that most plane crashes take place in the first 20 minutes and that if they make to the part where they turn off the seat-belt sign then they are pretty safe. They sit there just staring at the sign waiting for the light to turn off. The movie ends with the ding. I felt the same way. I kept waiting for that light to turn off before I could quite breathe easily. On all four flights. Silly.

(vacation pictures tomorrow)

off we go

We are leaving in the morning to visit a mouse in Florida. My housesitter is not much of a blogger so I am out for a week or so. I will return with a greatly improved attitude and lots of photos. Have a great week!