Nevada and California Pictures

I've spent so much time this week working on lesson plans for the upcoming school year that I forgot to finish putting pictures on the blog. Thursday, June 14 we left Kingman, AZ and drove to Mammoth Lakes, CA where we spent the night.

 First stop: Hoover Dam. Here is the new bridge completed in 2010 that bypasses the actual dam. After crossing it we got off the freeway and drove down to the dam and old road.

 Views of the dam with the new bridge in the background. Before the bridge was built the road went right on top of the arc of the dam. That's how I remembered it from when I went when I was little.

 The kids in front of the dam.

 The kids on the bridge walkway.

 The view of the dam from the walkway.

 Second stop: Las Vegas. First we drove down the strip to see the fancy hotels while we waited for Little Ceasars to open. Kylie had it all planned out and we couldn't change. :) We bought a hot 'n ready pizza and took it to the Las Vegas Temple grounds for lunch. It was so beautiful and peaceful.

 Alexis took these pictures.

 When we got to our hotel in Mammoth Lakes they said to bring in all of our food because they have frequent bear attacks on cars in the parking garage. Normally I just brought in one overnight suitcase with our pjs and toiletries and one suitcase with the next day's clothes for everyone. It was definitely a chore for us to bring in all the food but it got us to clean out our car and organize.

Most hotels we got a suite with 2 queens and a sleeper sofa. Kylie and I slept in one bed, Madalyn and Lexi in the other and Spencer, Thomas and Kaitlyn slept in the sleeper sofa. The baby slept in her travel bed. This night was so near Yosemite that all the suites were either full or way too expensive. So we just got a normal, cheap hotel room and had to put kids on the floor. Three kids were in the bed on the right and three were on the floor. I loved having all my kids in my room with me. We bonded so much and this night we were a little sad that it was our last night in a hotel. We'd had so much fun driving and couldn't believe our trip was almost over. At the same time of course, they were excited to reach our destination: California!

 Friday we left our hotel before 7 am and spent the day at Yosemite National Park. We hiked Lower Yosemite Falls where we were asked by a dozen foreigners (mostly from Korea and China), "You all one family?" It was obvious since we were wearing coordinating clothes but they couldn't believe I had 7 kids. Many said we were lucky or blessed because they only had 1 or 2. I felt sorry for them and I was grateful to live in a country where we can have as many kids as we want. I love my big family.

 The kids playing on the logs and rocks on our hike. They had a great time together and it was very relaxing as we went at our own pace and were not in any hurry. I love Yosemite! I tried to soak it all in and enjoy the moment. I camped there many summers growing up and miss it so much.

 After our hike we rode the shuttle around the valley and saw the sites.

 After spending the morning in the valley we ate sandwiches in the car and drove up to Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. I had done a recent report on these so we were really excited to see them. Unfortunately Kaitlyn was a bit on the cranky side--wanting to be carried and nobody wanted to carry her, but otherwise it was a good hike. This picture above is of the kids standing next to a fallen tree's roots.

 The kids inside a giant sequoia.

 The kids hiking back down. I loved watching them skip down the path and again felt a bit sad that the trip was almost done. I absolutely loved having the kids to myself without any distractions from normal life: friends, activities, errands, callings, etc. The kids were at perfect ages too. They loved travelling and playing in the car and seeing the sites. I'm afraid of having teenagers who will miss their friends or have attitudes. I'm so glad we did it this year. I felt a love and bond for them that I've never felt before.

Spencer offered to carry Makenna so that I could carry Kaitlyn.

 I did this with my cousins one year when I was little so my children wanted to try it. We found a tree that the 6 kids reached around perfectly.

 We arrived at my parent's house (aka my childhood home) at 6:45pm. It was a wonderful trip! I have so many wonderful memories that I'll cherish forever. I'm so glad we did it despite all the doubts and fears I had. None of them came true anyway: car breaking down, baby screaming, or being robbed. Instead I discovered that travelling is my favorite activity with my children. As the only adult I got to decide when to go to bed and get up, what to eat (besides the times the kids took turns choosing), where to stop, and things like that. The kids are at such agreeable ages with no talking back and they they thought everything we did was cool. I loved the sweet spirit we had in our car and hotel rooms. I can't wait until we drive home and I can't wait to plan another trip. It was so fun!

New Mexico and Arizona Pictures

The drive from Florida to Texas didn't include any site-seeing since each day was a long drive and we've seen it so many times when we made the drive when we lived in Texas. We spent the weekend there and on Monday we drove to Carlsbad, New Mexico. There the site-seeing began.

Ocotillo plant.

Our first stop was at the Living Desert State Park where we took a 1.5 mile hike in 102 degree weather to see and learn about this and many other desert plants and animals. Despite the heat, it was a very fun hike and I enjoyed learning about a place that is so different from North Carolina. I thought the ocotillo was pretty cool and we saw it all over New Mexico. 

That night we went to the night bat fight program at Carlsbad Caverns. Here the children patiently wait for it to begin.

The cave where the bats emerge at dusk. When they first come out they fly clockwise around the opening and then finally fly off into the sky. They always came out in groups and the groups would circulate and they fly away. This lasted about 30 minutes.

Before they got messed up Kylie had everyone's pajamas laid out on the bed so that when we got home from seeing the bats we could quickly hop to bed. She was my right arm in helping organize and being efficient on this trip. The two of us had a great time working together because we're so alike in planning, organzing, scheduling, and keeping on schedule.

The kids took pictures of themselves with the Friend at various landmarks to be like "Flat Stanley."

Here Madalyn holds it at Carlsbad where we took the cave tour the next morning.

The caves were a refreshing 55 degrees while it was 109 outside! We've been to some small ones in North Carolina, but these were huge!

Spencer took most of these cave pictures. This one shows an old explorers' ladder. I can't imagine how they explored this huge cavern back then with only lanterns.

After the caves we drove 3 1/2 hours over some pretty mountains where the temperature dropped to 72. We didn't get out to enjoy it, but kept going to White Sands where it was back to 100 degrees.

We played for a short time and as we were getting in the car someone gave us a sled so I had to let them play some more. The kids enjoyed it, but not as much as I did as a kid. Probably because it was too hot.

After White Sands we drove up to Albuquerque. The highlight of this boring drive was spotting dust devils, which Madalyn tried to take a picture of here. The kids counted

The girls sleeping on an air mattress at a friend's house in Albuquerque. The friends were so gracious and generous feeding all these kids, providing blankets and pillows, and even letting me do laundry there. They had a sweet spirit in their home and we didn't want to leave, but there was no time to stay and play. The next morning we left at 7:30 for Arizona.

First stop: Me and my 7 young'uns at the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. We ate our sandwiches, saw the visitor center, and drove around the park. I bought a National Parks pass for $80 otherwise it would have cost us $50 for a van of 8 to drive through the painted desert and petrified forest, which didn't even make it on the kids' fun list.

Second stop: Grand Canyon.

We only spent a short time here, seeing

a geology museum, taking pictures, and of course using the restrooms/filling water bottles. We drew attention by Kaitlyn's fits.

We also drew some gasps with each of our kids wanting a picture like this one. Makenna is so heavy that only Kylie's picture turned out realistic. (The other kids can't hold her out like that.) Don't worry, there wasn't really a cliff right there.

Florida to Texas Pictures

 

 Makenna on her 4 month birthday sitting on the bed of our very first hotel night.

That day was an awesome travelling day. We were all so excited to begin the real part of the trip. You would have thought it was Christmas. Although it was just driving, I wish we could do it again, it was so much fun and everyone was so happy. We drove from Orlando, FL to Biloxi, MS.

 Swimming in the hotel pool. Due to wet swimming suits stinking in the hot car the next day, this was the only time we swam on the trip.

Thomas

 Kylie, Madalyn, Spencer, and Alexis

 The next day we drove from Biloxi to Dallas where we stayed with Nathan's cousin and his sweet family. Saturday I took the kids around Dallas to show them where Nathan went to medical school for 7 years, the hospitals they were born in, our old house, library, etc.

Here they sit in front of the Dallas Temple.

 Makenna in her travel bed at the hotel in Abilene, TX. She was a great sleeper and traveller.

 One of the kids took a bunch of pictures of the windmills in West Texas. They were impressed.

Pre-Trip Trip Pictures

When we prepared our packets (Itinerary, fascinating facts, state info, word searches, etc.) we mostly focused on the trip leaving Florida and driving to California. Since we've driven to Florida many times we didn't really count it as part of our trip. Instead we called it "pre-trip." So the day we drove down there the packet page was called "Pre-Trip Day 1" and I'm labeling these pictures our pre-trip pictures.

 The car is packed and we're taking off. Here we're waving to Nathan who will be a bachelor for 8 long weeks. He's so supportive of us taking this trip. I didn't want to be gone so long but his family's reunion was June 2 and mine is July 9 so I wanted to drive straight to California from Florida instead of coming home and taking off again. This gives us 4 weeks in California before turning around and driving home, but since we haven't been in 6 years and it'll be awhile before we go again, I figured that's ok.

 Nathan ran with the car to the corner to wave good-bye. I'll surely miss my sweetheart. I hope he's taken care of while I'm gone and not too lonely.

 The kids playing their instruments and reciting a poem (Spencer) during the family reunion celebrating Nathan's grandparents 60th wedding anniversary.

 It wouldn't be a reunion without potato sack races!

 Playing in the pools at Grandma's house (Nathan's parents)

Kylie and Madalyn wanting a silly picture of them sticking out both ends of a slide at a park near Grandma's.

It was very relaxing having a few days at Grandma's before our big trip. The kids played nicely (it's hard to fight at Grandma's where there is always such a sweet spirit and everyone there is nice to each other) and we ate delicious home cooking. As for me, I got a lot of school work done. I loved browsing school books to make lesson plans and decide which year I want to teach which subject. It got me excited for the upcoming school year.

We Made It!!

We made it to California and had a blast along the way!! I never would have thought driving 4,200 miles with 7 kids under 12 would be so fun. We definitely love travelling. The kids were great and rarely fought or complained. We played games, listened to a lot of music and books on an ipod a friend generously lent me, talked, and did our packets. The packets consisted of a sheet for each day of the trip with itinerary info, a map of where we would travel that day, fascinating facts of the state or places we were seeing, and extras like a word search of that state/place. We had spent the last 6 weeks of school researching the states and sites we would be visiting and making these packets. They were well worth all the effort as the kids learned a lot and were really interested and excited to see the sites in person.
I'll be putting pictures on shortly but I wanted to post that we made it just fine and had a great time. It was way more fun than I thought and I'd do it again anytime. In fact, I can't wait to drive back to North Carolina. In the meantime, though, I'll enjoy being here in my childhood home which I haven't seen in 6 years. Although my parents come to visit us once a year, we haven't been to their house so Kylie and Madalyn are the only ones who remember it. We got here last night and they're all having fun. 

We're Off!

California, here we come!
Last Friday we said our tearful good-byes to Nathan who will be left home alone for 2 months and we drove from North Carolina to Florida. Since Nathan's family lives there we have made the trip many times and we stopped at the same rest stop we always do plus a gas station. The trip went as perfect as could be except getting poured on so that I had to slow to 5mph on the freeway and fear that I was going to get hit.We prayed really hard and the rain let up then went from pourin to sprinkling several times before we finally got out of it. Then we hit a tiny bit of traffic right at 5:00 as we entered Jacksonville. We arrived at Nathan's aunt's house at 5:15 in great spirits. Travelling with 7 kids under 12 might not be so bad!
We had a great weekend celebrating his grandparent's 60th anniversary and staying with Nathan's family. We played games,talked, went to the park, and hung out.
Today we left Florida on our way to California. It will take 9 days to get there. Today wasn't as good as our drive last week but we made it to Mississippi. The older girls are a huge help in keeping our spirits up when things go wrong. We had an argument in the back seat, fussy little girls, lots of rain and traffic, and just tired kids. We left this morning at 7:23 and arrived at 5:15, except that it was really 4:15 here. We're going to adjust our time tomorrow though since we don't need the extra hour tonight. We didn't have any site-seeing today which is why we got in so early, so we swam in the hotel pool. After getting everyone in their suits (minus a child who left his at Grandma's) we trekked down to the pool. After everyone got in Kaitlyn pooped in her swimsuit. Now what do I do? I can't leave children unattended. Do I take them all back inside? Do I send Kylie to clean her up? Kylie volunteered so I let her. She brought her down in a dress, which Kaitlyn got back in the pool with. (First it was just playing on the steps but it ended up getting wet.) Then she pooped in her underwear. It had been 1 1/2 hours so we all went in anyway. I wasn't sure what to do with all the dirty and wet clothes/swimsuits, being without a washing machine for the next week and feeling generally overwhelmed by everything and the demands of the kids. Nathan's mom called and gave me encouragement, helping me feel much better. We got out some snacks (having eaten a very early Taco Bell dinner), which cheered us up, read scriptures, and I finally got all the kids tucked in. I'm going to bed too now. I'm not sure when I'll update next. It might not be till Father's Day when we arrive in CA. I know this is a little choppy but I'm tired and just wanted to get a little bit done tonight. Thanks for your prayers!

My Craziest Idea Ever! ...But I'm doing it in two weeks!

Guess what? I'm taking the children on a trip. A long trip. All by myself. We'll be gone almost two months. I've decided to drive them down to Florida to see Nathan's family and then to California to see mine. Then of course we have to drive home to North Carolina.
First, how the idea came about, then how we'll implement it.
1.) Sometime last year Spencer and I loved to talk about what we'd do if we ever made a cross country trip. We did this at bedtime and it seemed like a secret between us. Each night we talked about the route we'd go and what we would see. I've always loved road trips but I never thought we'd actually do it.
Then last Christmas my siblings planned a surprise party for my parents 40th anniversary and 60th birthdays. I wished I could go to it but it's been 6 years since I've been home and I've gotten used to being left out of things and not being able to afford the trip. The party was scheduled for Friday night and on Tuesday Nathan said, "You know, if we left right now and drove 46 hours straight through we could make it in time for the party." He really wanted to go and surprise them. We did that 9 years ago. We lived in Dallas and didn't have any Thanksgiving plans (or an oven to cook a turkey in) and Nathan said the same thing: "If we left right now and drove 30 hours straight through we could make it there by Thanksgiving morning." We had prayed, felt good about it, packed, and left. Kylie was 2 and Madalyn was 8 months old. We drove it straight through leaving at 1am on Wednesday and getting there at 7 am Thanksgiving morning. He loved surprising them. This time, though, I didn't feel good about it. With me being due in 6 weeks I knew I'd need to stop and walk around (not to mention use the bathroom). The other kids would need more breaks than when we only had 2 kids. Besides, I told him, if we ever made the drive I would want to stop and see things and not drive there and back as fast as we could. We would only be able to stay two days before having to turn around and come back. So the idea was abandoned. Or so I thought. It did stick in my mind and resurfaced occasionally. I thought we could do it next summer when the baby would be 1 1/2 and we could study US geography all year and then make the trip.
One day a couple of weeks ago the thought kept coming back and I kept pushing it away. Finally I entertained it and felt really good about it. I quickly planned out how it would work out and everything felt right. I told it to Nathan and he said, "Then you'd better go this year." So we're going!

2.) Here's the itinerary: Friday, June 1. Drive to Florida. Nathan will be driving his car down with us. Since Makenna was born we don't have enough seats in our van for him so he can't come with us. (Six kids in the back and Kylie in the front seat now.) Saturday is his grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. Nathan will drive home Monday or Tuesday. We will stay until Thursday. Thursday and Friday we'll drive to Dallas, where we'll stay the weekend. Monday we'll be on the road again and go to Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Albuquerque, Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and Yosemite over the next 5 days. We'll get to my house just in time for Father's Day.
We'll stay there for 3 weeks and then go camping with all of my family for a week. We'll leave straight from the camping trip to begin our journey home. First stop is cousins on Nathan's side in Utah. It will be the first time many of my kids have seen Utah. Then we'll spend 8 days making our way home seeing Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, Little House on the Prarie, Nauvoo, St.Louis, and Nashville. The last two will be merely places to sleep more than a site-seeing stop. If all goes as planned we should arrive home on July 25, just in time to spend a few weeks watching the summer Olympics.

If last summer was the boringest summer ever, this one should make up for it. :) Every Spring I start looking at tickets and decide they are too expensive and say we'll go next year. The next spring the same thing happens. Thus it's been 6 years. Every year the tickets go up and we have another child to pay for so we just haven't done it. Only Kylie and Madalyn remember Mama and Papa's home (the home I grew up in) and my siblings. From Spencer on down they don't even know their aunts and uncles. That's 5 kids who haven't seen them or remember them. Every summer and Christmas and plenty of times in between my whole family gets together without us. It's time we went.
We are super excited. I love planning things like this so I am in my element. I have charts galore dictating who does a report on which state and national park to who will pick the restaurant (which have already been picked thanks to "Taco Bells in Mobile, AL" feature on Google maps. I don't know how people planned trips without the Internet.) We have our motels booked, travel bingo cards printed out, Friend magazines downloaded to CD (I'm not mp3 savvy yet), and Madalyn has even calculated exactly how many pieces of bread we'll need for sandwiches along the way. I'm getting started on stocking meals for Nathan in the freezer and plan to do the yard work the day before we leave. We still have lots to do, but it's coming along. Time has never flown faster. I can't believe how much there is to do. Every hour I'm adding more to my to-do list. At least it's given us something exciting to do this spring. The only bad thing about this whole trip is leaving poor Nathan behind. I'll miss Father's Day, Fourth of July, and our anniversary. He's such a good sport about it and is wholly supportive. I love him so much.
Well, it's back to work for me. It's our last day of school and we're cleaning out notebooks and having a party. Then I need to get busy on trip things. By the way, the trip is mostly finalized but if we're passing through your town and you'd like to host a bunch of weary travellers, let me know. I might be able to work you in and you might be able to help us save on hotels. (I am trying to keep it cheaper than flying, which is harder than I thought.) Also, if you have some great travelling tips (especially for Kaitlyn and Makenna), fun game ideas, or tips about the places we're stopping, I'd love to hear them. One question comes to mind right away: We have about 1 hour to see the Grand Canyon. What should we see? Should we drive along E Rim Drive? Take a shuttle tour? See the visitor center? It's been a long time since I've been there so I can't remember. Thanks!