Adventures in Utah

Wow. We are having a blast visiting with our family. If pictures really are worth a thousand words, this will probably be my longest blog post ever. So I'll keep the actual words to a minimum and let the pics do the talking.

Here's a sampling of what we're doing for fun:

playgrounds

grandparents

the zoo

seeing if we can stuff our heads into a pillow

at the same time as our cousins

visiting the Grand America Hotel

and enjoying afternoon tea

(caffeine free, of course.)

spelunking

enjoying the grounds of the

Salt Lake Temple

getting my birthday present from Andrew--

An Anthony Sweat original painting,

"The Andrea Nebula"

based on this photograph from the Hubble

Telescope of the Swan Nebula
LOVE IT!!!

watching Hannah Montana at Movies 8 in Provo.

That brought back some memories.

eating at Cafe Rio!

Visiting the Bean Museum on BYU campus

where Whitney saw a butterfly made out of butterflies!

walking around our old stomping grounds at BYU

enjoying the sunsets where we can actually see the horizon


getting our first flat tire ever from some sheet

metal that was dropped on the freeway

SOOOO thankful Andrew was with me and

got us all fixed up.

going up the canyon

swimming at a sandy beached lake

snuggling

playing, laughing, and hanging out with cousins

Touring the Oquirrh Mountain Temple

during the open house.

Phew. The kids just crash at night and in retrospect I can see why. We've been running them ragged! And I wouldn't change a thing. Just a couple more days with my parents in Roosevelt and then we're off on our return voyage.

Brandon has had an extra special trip, but it deserves a post of its own. Look forward to that soon. (Hopefully.)

Destination reached

We made it to Utah. Hooray! We are THRILLED to be here and to have a couple of weeks to chill with our families before heading back out. We've traveled 3066 miles so far and are having a great time. I love watching the scenery change as we drive across states. I love taking my kids places that they've never been. And I especially love visiting with so many friends and relatives. It is the best!

Here are some of the highlights from the trip out.

Whitney's favorites:

1. Visiting the Dallas World Aquarium

Everyone loved the otters.

And we ALL love Grandma Cuca, who joined
us about halfway through our trip. She rocks!

Watch out for that shark!

2. Visiting two science museums along the way.
(We are getting the most out of our membership
to the Natural Science Center back home!)

We stopped at the Clay Center in Charleston, WV.

Whit thought this bubble wall was AWESOME.

We also visited Science Museum Oklahoma.


She got to try out a segway.
Pretty good, huh?

3. Trying to go "fishing" at a little lake in Georgetown, Colorado.

We took a very different route this time than we did on our last cross-country road trip. This lake was one of the only stops that we made both times.

Whit found a stick and held it in the water.
You know, she was fishing.
(Grandpa Gerber--I think she needs some lessons.)

Brandon's favorites:

1. The two museums

He built a free-standing arch at the Clay Center.
And also enjoyed making little movies and
choreographing fountains using "the force."

He had a blast at the GIANT tree house in SM Oklahoma.
It had a TWO STORY twisty slide.

He and Whit got along pretty well throughout the trip.
Yay!

2. Getting Bionicles.

Both his Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Alex

AND his Aunt Irene and Uncle Bill got him Bioncles.
He has been in heaven. He LOVES building those things.
They are currently gracing Grandma and Grandpa's mantle.

3. Breaking fish guts at Georgetown lake. (What a boy!)

Leave it up to B to find guts in the lake and use
sticks to pull them out and examine them.
I think he'll enjoy anatomy lab in college.

My favorites:

1. Playing Chickenfoot and Dominoes at night in both Texas and Wichita.

I even won a game. Woo hoo!

2. Taking in the scenery during the drive from Colorado to Utah. Seriously breathtaking.

The pictures don't do it justice.

If you ever have a chance to take this drive,
DO IT! Sooooo beautiful.

We had been driving through plains for so long,
then all of a sudden the majestic Rockies.

And then into the desert.
(I'm still a desert girl at heart.)

We even caught a glimpse of a rainbow.
(A rarity in NC.)

3. Singing really loud to the song "Ghostbusters" in the car.

Every road trip I make a new CD of downloaded songs and while the whole CD isn't as fun as some of the others we've had, this song is a BIG hit with us.

Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters!

Other random moments

A bird landing right on Marianne's head at the
aquarium. Cracked me up. Freaked her out.

Looking at Caroline THROUGH one of the tanks.
Hi, baby...and Uncle Bill!

Stopping at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

We packed a lunch and ate under the shade of
the only tree that survived the blast.

Stopped at a random elementary school
in Kansas for lunch and to play.

It was HOT, but we had fun.

When we were driving through Kentucky, we passed a truck with the official state seal that said "Abandoned land mine detection." I was so fascinated. I had no idea that land mines were a problem in Kentucky. I was talking to Andrew about it and he had me doubting myself--I must've read the truck wrong. I googled it and found that they have a Division of Abandoned Mine Lands and a Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement. I guess land mines aren't a problem, but they apparently have lots of abandoned coal mines there. Simple mistake, right?

We're enjoying the break from the car now, but I'm excited to make more memories along the way as we travel home.

Out of the mouths of babes--June

I'm having issues getting pics from my camera onto this computer away from home, so I only have the ones I had already uploaded before we left on our venture. Anyway, here are the quips from June.

6/1--Whit was snacking on almonds and excitedly said, "Mom, you HAVE to come look at this!" I came over to the table to find this:

"I made a constellation out of almonds!"
She was VERY proud of herself.

6/1--B's class at school has been working on a science unit about butterflies. The students made observations and wrote notes in their journals. B's cracked me up, especially on 5/15:
"5-15-09 It's a butterfly! there's 10-15 of 'em. surprisingly, they are peacefully eating their poop."

6/2--Whit saw something on a kids show about "going green" and was talking about it when the show was over.
I asked her, "So what does it mean to go green?"
W: Your skin starts turning green!
Apparently the show didn't have the impact it was going for.

6/16--B's random thought of the day, "I wonder what it's like to be a sound wave."
Don't we all?

6/16--W's deep thoughts from the back seat: "What does 'simple' mean?"
After I explain a couple of definitions, she goes on.
"I don't know what a lot of hard words mean. I only know what Architeuthis means."
Oh, everyone knows what that means! (Scientific name for giant squid.) This girl is going to be a hoot for her kindergarten teacher.

6/18--Another deep thought from Whit: "When you put stuff between two pieces of bread, why do they call it a sandwich? I mean, the bread is the same color as sand. But why would they call it a witch? That's for Halloween!"

6/19--While out enjoying nature, Whit said, "A bug almost flew in my eye and I almost died!"
Drew: "You wouldn't DIE, sweetie."
W: "If it flew in my eye, I would!"
I guess her phobia is very similar to mine that a bug will climb in my ear and lay eggs.

6/20--We had some fun babysitters over for the kids tonight. When we got home, they told us that they set up a little obstacle course in the backyard for the kids. Brandon loved it, but Whit didn't want to do it. She told them, "I have weak ankles." Come on, girl. Get movin'!

6/21--Whit is really into telling jokes during dinner. Here's an example:
W: What did the house say to the patio?
We all came up with clever responses, but were wrong.
The correct answer, according to W: Where are you going with that umbrella?
B: I don't get it.
W: It was a getless joke.

2534 Miles Down

Quick update.

So we've made it to Colorado so far. The kids have been AWESOME in the car. Brandon and Whit are such wonderful travelers. Caroline has had her screechy moments and times when she's fighting her naps, but has done better than I expected.

We've stayed in Louisville, KY; Wichita, KS; Weatherford, TX; back to Wichita; and now in Castle Rock, CO.

It has been a blast. We've stopped at two science museums, an aquarium, and the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The best part is all the friends and relatives we've seen.

I heart road trips.

Pictures to come later.

Off to Utah this morning!