The Great Trek to the Midland: Day Three

Day three: Peoria, IL to St. Paul, Minnesota! It’s been terribly frustrating these last three days to explain to the girls that we are indeed going to Minnesota, but that it will take a LONG time. When we hit the road in Baltimore I think it took all of 30 minutes before they asked if we were in MN yet. And then when we tried to explain the concept of staying in a hotel, not one but two nights, and in different cities- it wasn't exactly processing in their 4 year old brains. Or maybe they were just messing with us, which is quite possible. 

Today however, we were able to say that yes, when we are done driving we will be in MINNESOTA! The DVD player has been nice but we have only really used it once a day. I loaded their bags with new books (from the library, hopefully they stay in our possession, maybe that wasn't the best idea), and filled surprise bags with a few new goodies. The surprise bag they just got today, on day three. They have been really good, considering that they are, well, four. This is not to say that there haven’t been meltdowns; most the time involving a princess notebook  that fell on the floor, not being able to get something out of a purse, or a ponytail that isn't as secure as it was at the beginning of the day. Although, I can’t blame all the melt downs on my kids. My impatience hasn't always been a secret. I can only take so much of the continual asking why we are not in MN yet, even after I swear I explained it very clearly…at least 10 times. Or if I am hungry and there just seems to be NO viable options anywhere; all I can see are silos, corn, and billboards for things that are 70 miles away. Dave hasn't always been the happy pilot either, especially when someone is tailing us too close, the music isn't working correctly, or he just can’t find his sunglasses. But what can we expect on a three-day 20 hour road trip? I think by and large we did just fine. Oh, and I spent several hours catching up on this blog. Bonus.

So Minnesota, here we are for 3.5 glorious weeks! Please stop raining!!

The Great Trek to the Midland; Day Two

Day two we are headed from Ohio to Peoria, IL. Our car GPS and or phone GPS are completely different and telling us not only different directions but significantly different travel times. Seeing that our car GPS is out of date we should have gone by our phones! Everything in hindsight…. We stopped at the National Air Force museum in Dayton, OH which was quite the sight. Our old GPS tried to bring us there directly through the Air Force base (which naturally did not work, we were turned around at the checkpoint). We didn't have a lot of time to spend there but there were a LOT of planes housed in that place! We saw the plane that Dave’s Dad flew, a B-47- it was massive. They had planes from several different eras: the Cold war, World War II, and the early years (early 1900s). They had jets and bombs and you could even slide into the pilot seat of a few different models. We could have easily spent an entire day there, but we had to hit the road. We stayed in Morton, IL just outside of Peoria night two. We gorged on delicious Italian food in our room and quickly gave into our food comas and fell asleep.

B47 that Dave's Dad flew during the Cold War

Here we go again! The Great Trek to the Midland: Day One

This time it only took 5 hours to get out of the house. We always think we are ahead of the game but

 something always takes longer than we expect. Or we have forgotten to do something, it never made the list etc. The packing of the cooler always has to be saved until the day of, and while one wouldn't think that would be stressful, I can make it stressful! What do we bring? Will that Ziploc bag keep moisture out? Do we have to access that cheese while driving? What about the grapes? Maybe, and yes. Do we need the beer cold for when we get to the hotel? And should I bring some salad dressing for the salad I think I’m going to make that night? Yes and yes. Do we have enough ice? How many ice packs should I bring and how can I orient said packs to make sure they distribute the coolness to the items that need it the most? These are important questions; after all, we will be in the car for 8 hours. And then another 8 hours. And then one more span of 8 hours.

So the cooler is one thing. But then we need to make sure the dishes are clean, the car is packed, the chargers corralled, the mail is stopped, and the garden is tended to one more time. These are just a few of the last minute joys that end up taking, well, 5 hours.

We finally start driving.

This was the first time the girls got to test out the DVD system in the car, and to no surprise, it was a success. I have to say the wireless headphones are a blessing. Smooth sailing day one. We sleep in Zanesville, OH that night. There was a pool, we played, then ate, then hit the hay.

We did it. We bought a minivan.

Well, 6 short months after we paid off our Chevy Equinox, we traded it in and bought a Toyota Sienna, yes

a minivan. Despite the fact that we bought used, had a trade in, a chunk of cash, and a good interest rate (half of what we had with the Chevy), we still ended up with the same monthly payment that we paid for 5 years. Now we get to go through it again. And to top it all off we are now minivan owners. We are guzzling more gas, we are the family on the highway with the glare of Curious George from the DVD player shining through the window, the unpredictable speed shifts and a pile of bikes in the rear. We are they typical family, 2.5 kids and a dog, the typical family that inevitably buys a minivan despite what they thought were their better senses. However, we now have leather seats that clean nicely, 12 or more cup holders scattered about the cabin, numerous pockets, two glove compartments, and automatic side and rear doors. We have the DVD system mounted mid-cabin, hookups for video games, connections for phones and music, and even real outlets for real plugs. And we have space! So much space. For all our STUFF. In addition, our little Penny dog doesn't have to sit on the floor in the front by our feet when we are travelling. She actually has her own domain. So yeah, we bought a minivan, but we also bought into the family thing, and they work pretty nicely together I must say.

April Celebrations II: Easter

Lucy and the dying of the egg

Easter seemed late this year, towards the end of April. We went to the church at the girls' preschool which is fun since they are very kid oriented, and the pastor knows the girls quite well. We had to make an “emergency” pit stop for the bathroom on the way home. The closest thing that was open was a Dunkin Donuts (lucky us). So of course we had to buy something if we were barging in to use the facilities. We ended up staying in there a while talking with an older woman with some pretty cool red hair. She was very interested in our little red-heads.

When we got home the Easter bunny had come and left baskets under the girls’ loft beds along with the infamous trail of hidden eggs. They were scattered all over the first floor and in our mini back yard. Being the stingy mom I am (or in nicer terms, attempt at healthy-influence mom)- I placed a whopping ONE jelly bean or malted milk egg in each plastic vestibule. And then of course all the candy they found went into a special zippered bag for slow consumption over many weeks. I don’t think my own mother was so strict… I do however remember hiding candy in my bedroom closet fortress on the third shelf where only a child could climb to. It was often forgotten about. I recall coming home from college once and finding a pile of jelly beans next to a plastic pumpkin filled with Halloween rejects (like the black and orange taffy), that for some reason never made it to a trash can.

I also made Easter dinner. Since we usually are in Baltimore for this holiday, I am the cook. I spend an unnecessary amount of time perusing magazines and old cookbooks for what I am going to attempt. This was my third time or so making a ham. I am glad most of them are precooked! This year it was ham with a raspberry jalapeno glaze, mashed potatoes (with a hint of sweetness due to the white chocolate) and asparagus (with a lemon hollandaise sauce). For our post dinner treat we created handmade crepes with strawberries, ricotta, and honey. Sorry, no blog-worthy pictures available for this one!

April Celebrations I: My Annual Celebration

I am obviously still trying to catch up with my posts… My birthday this year was the first one that the girls understood what was going on. It was neat to see them so excited that it was my birthday; and it seemed genuine, not just ecstasy over their own ingestion of cake. There was a slight disruption during gift opening time though when Lucy barged right into almost tearing the first one open (note to my mom: the princess wrapping paper probably didn't help).

When my sister or I had a birthday, my mom would often get the other one of us a small gift to decrease the chances of a sibling meltdown. While naturally I will not have to worry about this on L & S’s birthday, the thought did cross my mind to get them something small on my day. I changed my mind. And it worked just fine. It might be different if there was another sibling in the mix however, especially if she had to watch both her sisters open gifts on the same day.

I started the day walking the girls down to the coffee shop so I could get my birthday drink and goodies. We met Dave down by the harbor around lunch. We did, one of my faves, Indian takeout, and then all had a hand in the creation of my birthday cake. It was a coconut white cake, which had a ‘fancy’ frosting that took about 25 minutes to whip. It was worth it!

Thanks Fam for a great day!