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Daily Life Mommy Diaries Most Popular Posts

We bought an Airstream

“There it is!! I see it!” An 820 mile road trip and a previous week filled with anxiety for the unknown ended as we pulled parallel to the campground and spotted a red truck pulling a shiny, silver, Airstream through the guard station and back into the campsites. Movies, books, and toys forgotten, the kids craned their necks to look out the window and keep the Airstream in view. I’m pretty sure I was bouncing up and down in the front seat with excitement.

We bought an Airstream. I still can’t believe we did it. We’re crazy. The good kind of crazy though. I think. You know the moment you stop dreaming, planning, scheming, and hoping, and suddenly start DOING. That was this trip. Around the end of August we drove to through West Virginia and Kentucky to finally reach Carlyle Illinois where the owner, Dennis, had graciously reserved us a campsite.  He is one of the most kind, helpful people I have ever met – he helped us learn how to plug it in to shore power, connect all the hoses, level it, and put out the awning (total newbies here). He was genuinely excited for us to begin this journey of ours and has kept in contact via email to check up on us and see how we are doing. We are so grateful to him, his knowledge, and his love of Airstreams and the Airstream community. For those that are wondering why the shiny, silver, twinkie-looking travel trailers are so great? Part of the reason is people like him.

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Mommy Diaries

Andrew Turns 6!

He is a mystery to me. Maybe because he’s a boy. Maybe because he’s not a dirt loving, play with trucks kind of boy. He’s social, and sweet, and went through a phase where his favorite color was pink (its orange now thankfully). Even though sometimes I don’t understand him, I’m so grateful that he is in our family. His current loves are playing with Wii, the tablet, the computer or whatever electronic device he can get his hands on, Legos, swimming, Hawkeye from the Avengers… and did I mention electronic devices? Is that a boy thing? It baffles me.

For our birthdays we have a tradition of the birthday child picking their favorite breakfast, I decorate the kitchen while they are sleeping, and they get to open presents before they eat. Wow. We don’t make them wait for anything do we? I figure that way they get to play with their toys all day though instead of having to wait.It keeps them entertained. See how sneaky I am? Andrew also picked playing at a nearby splashpad (free because he wanted an expensive Lego set, we had a chat about that) and and we watched Hotel Transylvania and ate ice cream cake. Done, and done.

Happy Birthday Andrew! I love you!

He also got two different United States puzzles from both sets of grandparents. He loves both equally and I’ve loved watching my kids develop a fascination for US Geography. I’m not sure where one came from, but the other is a Leap Frog United States Interactive Map that entertains all the kids for hours. But of course, you have to have the Tag Reader, or even better yet, the new Leap Reader (can you tell I want one??).

LeapFrog LeapReader Interactive United States Map Puzzle

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Missouri National Parks

St. Louis Missouri and the Gateway Arch

“Look mom! We can go to the top!”

“No, you can’t. I’m sure you can’t.”

This was supposed to be a quick stop. We had spent the afternoon at the St. Louis Science Center and were just stopping by the Gateway Arch on our way back to Carlyle, Illinois when a quick stop turned into an extended stay. Here’s where my clueless self comes to light. I had no idea that the Gateway Arch is actually part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. Also included are the Museum of Westward Expansion, and the Old Courthouse.  Turns out Jefferson was quite the man. He played a huge roll in the Louisiana Purchase and the westward expansion of the United States. The Gateway Arch is a perfect symbol representing the spirit of the western pioneers and was appropriately named after him.

As it was, my kids only had time to convince me to ride to the top (once again, no idea you could) for the stunning view over St. Louis, Missouri. They totally played the “Washington-Monument-is-closed-so-we-can’t-go-to-the-top-of-that-but-can-we-PLEASE-go-to-the-top-of-this-one” card. I feel for it hook, line, and sinker and loved every minute. The Gateway Arch is actually taller than the Washington Monument anyway, so props to that.

I actually feel pretty dumb – usually I do a little more research on places we are going but this one took me completely by surprise. It was the most spontaneous, fun thing I think I’ve done with the kids yet and the excitement was evident all over their faces. Except for Cara who got extremely anxious and climbed into my lap the second we stepped into the small, circular elevator car. She won’t admit it though. Her memory of the event involves zero scaredy-catness.

Oh- and props to the awesome Ranger that entertained Cara with Candy Crush when she had a panic attack/tantrum about waiting 15 minutes for the next elevator (and I use that term loosely) down.

When we visited: August 2013

Ages of Children: 7,6,3

 

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Most Popular Posts National Parks Washington DC

Don’t stop traveling – our first trip into Washington DC

Lincoln Memorial

When we finally got to Virginia I felt like I deserved a few days off. I wanted to lounge around, stay in my pajamas and really just not do a whole lot. So, we did. And we got bored. REALLY bored. The kids were fighting, I was not happy, and we all kind of just moped around (with the exception of Sam who was busy trying to make up for 3 weeks of only working half time). Monday I decided that was enough and we needed to go SEE something to prove we really made it to the other side of the country. We packed a picnic dinner and headed in to the National Mall to be tourists.

I’ll admit that parking in downtown DC stresses me out. There really is no good way to do it – and to take our whole family in on the metro is cost prohibitive. Kind of a no-win. After some googling around I found out that if you park on Ohio Street it is free, and fairly close to the Lincoln Memorial,  but good luck actually finding a spot. We got lucky.

Lincoln was such a great man and president. I’m sure my kids did not even begin to comprehend the important of this memorial, but it was inspiring for Sam and I. Mostly they ran around and got their wiggles out. Having young kids is one thing that makes this trip harder. I really doubt they will remember much about the things we see here. I came when I was 15 and barely remember. But, that’s why we come back right? To remember.

Lincoln Memorial

One thing I also learned is that the National Mall is run by the National Park Service. Totally makes sense (because who else would be better?) but it just didn’t occur to me. When I think of National Parks, I think green grass and trees, or red rock formations. They also have a really cool smart phone app with a map and lots of awesome information about each memorial, and you can also have your kids participate in the Junior Ranger Program and earn a badge. We didn’t get one this trip, but next time we are up there we’re going to grab it and get started.

We had our little picnic dinner along the reflecting pond. One of my observations is that there were runners EVERYWHERE. No joke. Maybe because we went in an evening after work, or maybe because the weather was absolutely gorgeous (ie not humid) but wow. Everyone was out for exercise.

This is the WWII Memorial. It was gorgeous. I felt it helped me get a sense of the vastness of the war and how it really did engulf the whole world. They have the battles in the Atlantic and Pacific on either end of the fountain with the countries involved in each front of the war. Mostly my kids just wanted to practice their balancing skills, but that was totally fine with me.

After almost 3 weeks of traveling it was great to finally get here and really FEEL like we were here. You know? And we weren’t in a hurry. We didn’t have to see everything in one day – we’ll be here for months after all. And our conclusion is that we have to stop traveling slowly. We went from 3 weeks of fast pace and always moving to nothing overnight.  It was a crazy change of pace – one that we didn’t like. So, we’ll do better next time. 

To see the full gallery, visit our travel photos here.

 

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Most Popular Posts Musings of Sam

Only Ten Years

Milestones in life have a way of causing reflection, and today is worthy of a look back. 10 years ago today, Jess and I were married in the Mount Timpanogos Temple in Utah. We have some funny dating stories, but I want to start my story there.

After just 4 months of marriage, we packed our stuff into storage and headed to Invercargill, New Zealand as part of a study abroad program. Our first Christmas was so tight that our gift to each other were simple: Jess gave me a paperback Louis L’amour book, and I gave her a love journal.

After we returned four months later, I jumped back into school. We both finished our undergraduate degrees, had our first daughter, and I began my masters program. By the time I graduated, we had added a son to our family, upgraded to a minivan, and bought a house.

I was self employed, doing long-term contract programming, all the way through school. Working for a startup for a few years was a great learning experience, and then I jumped back into being self employed. The flexibility of my work allowed some adventures in the summer of 2012. That experience led me to where I’m currently sitting: in a house in Northern Virginia, enjoying a long-term house swap.

As I consider our journey together, I cannot help but recognize our growth. Through it all, we’ve grown in patience, confidence, faith, and desire for family strength and adventure.

The success in our marriage isn’t due to lack of difficulty and conflict, but our commitment to work through our challenges together. While I have no idea what challenges and opportunities the next 10 years will bring, I’m sure that our success will depend on the same things as the last 10 years: our ability to love, communicate, work, sweat, cry, hope, and pray together. If the next 10 years are anything like the last 10 years together, it’s going to be quite the ride.

The traditional gift for a 10th Wedding Anniversary is something made of Tin or Aluminum, materials chosen to represent durability and flexibility.

That’s pretty funny to us, because we are currently looking for an Airstream trailer to support the next adventure for our family.