The Beginning...

That's a good place to start, right? I had envisioned updating our trip daily while we were on 'home'cation (my made-up word since it was really a trip back home to see family, not an actual vacation... make sense?), but our days were overloaded. We burned the candle at both ends. A couple of nights, I didn't get to bed until nearly 3am... that's nearly 5am my time! In fact, I'm not sure that I went to bed before midnight at all. So, needless to say, I had zilch-o time to blah'g. And that's just fine. Gives me more to write about now. So, I figure I'll just start from day one, and go from there.

Back to the beginning. If I can remember, anyway!

We left on Friday, June 4th....

Scratch that. Back up.

The night before we left, we got a new-to-us van. Long story short, Robert traded in his beloved car for a different van. So now we have two vans. And we're saving a lot of money no longer paying Robert's "sports car" payment, insurance, and registration.

(I put sports car in quotes because our insurance considered it one, even though it was a 4-door sedan.)

So, we woke up Friday morning, thinking we'll be able to pick up and leave. Nope. Murphy had his way (meaning Murphy's Law). Another long story short, we didn't get on the road until 2pm. Most people would probably just wait to leave the next day. Not us. Whatever it took, we were leaving!

           

Here's a video clip from our trip. It basically shows the best and worst of our family in about 5 minutes. It's hilarious. And yes, Elise is always initially buckled properly in her carseat, but everytime I turned around, her arms were out from the straps. We're working on that. Though, she did keep her arms in for the last hour of the trip home.

* You might want to scroll to the bottom of the page & turn of the music first*

Now, the whole trip wasn't like that. We have been blessed with five very good travelers. In fact, this video really isn't even from the beginning of the trip. This was taken probably at least 8 hours into the second day. We arrived at my parents' home late Saturday night. Remember, we didn't actually get on the road until 2pm on Friday, meaning we made the drive from Iowa to California technically in a day and a half. With five [mostly] young children. And I lived to blah'g about it.

I will spare you most of the scenery pictures. It was so beautiful driving through the mountains and deserts, I took pictures of everything. But after looking at the first couple of pictures, I realize that they all pretty much looked the same. I wish I got a photo of the 'water-faller' that Elise was so excited to find.

The morning of the second day, I wanted to take a picture of all the kids. If you remember from previous posts, Abby is NOT a morning person. At all.

Then, a nice lady who saw me taking photos of our kids offered to take a photo of all of us together. Let me just say, one of the mottos for the trip was, "Get in and get out." And that included the hotel. We just fell asleep, woke up, ate, and took off. It was great. Unfortunately, that left Robert with some major bed-head. And, for the record, he absolutely hates it when I wear those gaucho pants!

And Sierra took a picture of Robert & me...

After our quick photo-op, we stopped for some gas before hitting the road. Thankfully, we weren't even out of the parking lot when the unlatched trunk popped open; scattering our luggage and toiletries all over the ground...

Whenever we stopped for gas, the kids would hop out and take a bathroom break. If they were quick enough, they also got in some running and climbing...

All in all, it was a very nice drive out. There's something so relaxing about having kids buckled up in one spot...

~

And just a quick note about two of my favorite guys in the world...

This past Sunday was a special day. Even though we were stuck in the van all day trying to get home.
June 20th was the day to celebrate fathers this year, and there are a couple dads who deserve a big shout out from me...

My dad. Of course, the first things that come to mind are Diet Choke - I mean Coke, chicken, turkeys, and Barney Fife. But my dad runs deeper than our food & drink wars. And yes, he even runs deeper than the Barney Fife quotes. He has a passion for family & God that is tough to beat.
Dad, I love you & am so blessed to have you to celebrate for Father's Day!!
Your next meal of Coke & chicken is on me.

I'm married to the best daddy for my kids. This Father's Day was a double whammy for Robert. Not only was it a day to celebrate him (though we didn't get much celebrating done in the car, we did wish him a Happy Father's Day), but a day to celebrate 12 years of marriage. That's right - 12 years ago, I married my best friend & future daddy of our kids. He loves us all so much, and it shows. He's a hard worker, loves being with us, taking the kids for hikes, fishing, and hanging with us. He is awesome when it comes to letting me get out for ladies' nights and Bible studies; feeding the kids & getting them to bed so I can get a break.
Robert, I know all the sacrifices you've made to provide & care for us, and I just wanted to tell you that I am so grateful and blessed to have you.
I'll love you always.