Day 271: Preparing the House

Tomorrow we'll be leaving for Michigan, which means tonight we clean the house!  Eric took his car to get an oil change and air in his tires today, then cleaned out his car during work.  Tomorrow morning Eric is getting his brakes checked at going to the car wash to clean up his baby.  Tonight we made sure the house and litter box are clean - dishes, vacuuming, and general clean up.  As well as getting all of the laundry cleaned, folded, hung up, and put away, and packing our clothes for the trip.

This time tomorrow we'll be passing through St. Louis!  Yea!

Oh yea, and today is St. Patrick's Day!  My students and I watched the Lawrence parade on our "Cable in the Classroom" program on my computer.

Day 217: Mexico!

Our Kansas City hotel had an awesome breakfast spread this morning.  Fresh juices, delicious oatmeal, fruit pastries and English muffins, fresh fruit, cereal, and tea.  Our hearts all stopped for a few minutes because Grandpa fell on the wet tile and we were worried he hurt himself.  But then he was up and running again.  We had a close call because the hotel shuttled us to the airport on a 7 am trip and a 7:30 trip.  Paul, Deb, Eric and I were scheduled for the second shuttle and Deb thought Krista and Randy were riding with us, so we were getting nervous when they weren't in the lobby at 7:25.  I called Mom and found out they were already at the airport, phew!

At the airport, I was really nervous about going through security.  But it ended up going very smoothly, except for a grouchy scanner lady.  The flight was uneventful - we watched Let's Go To Prison on the plane, and then started to watch some House.  Getting off the plane and going through customs was easy, getting a taxi van was not.  We ended cramming our party of 13 + the driver + all of our luggage and carry on bags into one van.  It was a tight ride.

Then, within 10 minutes of standing in the water... I dropped my camera in ankle deep water.  This is precisely the reason why I bought an Olympus Tough camera - shockproof, waterproof, and freezeproof.  Then we took a walk on the beach with Paul & Deb - Eric found a sand dollar and then we all found tons of them!  I started off the drinking with a Mai Tai and Eric had a Mojito.  We went to the snack bar as soon as they opened and had hot dogs, burgers, fries, and wings.

We're got our tickets and are ready to go!

Mom & Alan at the airport 

Paul & Deb at the airport (I missed pictures of Grandma, Grandpa, Greg, Kelli, Ally, Krista, and Randy - oops!) 

Good riddance KC! 

We stuffed 14 people, 13 suitcases, and multiple carry on bags into one van! 

Helllllo Mexico!  It welcomed us straight away with a Mojito and a Mai Tai 

What can I say?  I bought a Tough camera for a reason - it keeps working after I drop it in the ocean! 

Did you know an elevator ride could be this exciting? 

Finding sand dollars was easy business! 

Our first sunset of the week!

Day 190: A Visit to Warsaw

I was planning on skipping church this morning because I was tired of driving around and didn't want to drive the 40 minutes to and from church.  But then I remembered that I had signed up as Andrew's designated babysitter on Sunday's.  I found out that Mom and Alan were going down to Warsaw to see Grampa Ed and Grandma Judy, so Andrew and I decided to join them!

Andrew had a good time playing with some new and different toys, and all of the grown ups got to talk for most of the day.  The highlight was obviously going to ...Warsaw's Mexican Restaurant...  I also got to take Lego Harry Potter back to Walmart (I got 2 for Christmas) and traded it out for Just Dance 2.  Unfortunately, Eric had to miss the fun because of work.  *sings* "It's not unusual..."

Andrew and I napping on the drive down to Warsaw.

Nana feeding Andrew lunch - he's such a big boy and can just sit in a chair!

Great Grandma Judy put the stacker rings on his arms.

We enjoyed a nice massage in the chair.

And this is what happens when you try to take your own hat off!

Day 121: Sleep, We Need It

Eric and I got home around 1:30am and we were asleep as soon as our bodies hit the bed.  Brian and Jen watched our cats while we were out of town, and the kitties were glad to see us back!  Unfortunately, I had to wake up at 6:30 to shower and head to work...boo!  Eric and I both have late classes on Monday nights as well.  So I got home around 8 and he got home closer to 10.  I had an advising session after my class and discovered that I should only have 3 classes left before I get my functional special education endorsement - and I'll have that finished in the summer of 2011.  I won't be able to finish my Master's project until the summer or later, so I won't be getting my degree until next year.  But, with as much work as it is, I don't really mind putting it off a bit longer.

P.S.  Happy Birthday to Cash Man!

On an unrelated note, Eric discovered Facebook Slingo last week!  Now it's just about all we do!  Darn Devil!!!

Day 120: No Place Like Home

Naturally, Oz jokes have to crop up on occasion!  We woke up to Nathan making sausage, eggs, and pancakes - yum!  Then Eric got some relaxing and reading done while I Skyped in to my confirmation class at St. Thomas.  Ashley was kind enough to bring her laptop to church with her and we video chatted so I didn't have to miss class!  All of us took another walk to get some more pictures with the leaves.

Then Eric and I packed up and rolled out!  We made really good time on the way home and continued to listen to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  I had to finish some homework in the car, and was just tired in general - Eric ended up driving a total of 8 hours and I only drove 3 hours.  Have a loving husband I have, to let me sleep so much in the car!

Molly showed that she can make shaped pancakes too...The dark one in the middle is a crescent moon!

 

Me on Skype with the St. Thomas adult confirmation class.

I am SUPER excited that Molly gave me a baby sling!  I can't wait to use it with Andrew!

Declan was having fun, but was a little spacey due to a cold.

Dec and his mommy.

What a great fall picture of the Murray's!

Molly and Nate have an abundance of leaves for the kids to play in!  We nearly lost Dec!

Cash, the explorer! 

He's 2!  What a big boy!

Molly and I!

Yay!  Leaves!

I decided to hold Cash's ball for him!

Aren't they cute?  

Mom and Dad giving kisses to their boy!

Eric playing with his Wolverine claw...

No, no!  Don't hurt me!

 Nobody was paying attention to Cash and he says "This is my party hat!"  This was really funny, because he didn't have hats at his party, so we don't know where he heard about them!

All four of us enjoying our last hours together...on four separate computers.

A really great sunset in Illinois.

Day 118: Bulldozer Cake, Babies, & Booze!

Have I mentioned that Eric and I love Michigan?  Today Molly and I did a lot of work on the bulldozer cake, Eric played some Wii games and golfed with Nathan.  In the evening we had Salmon Cakes and pasta salad for dinner, mmmm!  Then we took the kids on a walk and had some fun in the leaves - Michigan's trees are already red, yellow, and orange.

We played some card games and had an interesting mix of drinks - Boulevard wheat and Amber Bock, blueberry vodka with orange juice, cranberry juice, and sprite, as well as tequila with orange juice, grenadine, and sprite.

Eric and Sydney, he just can't get away from cats.

I made the wheels and wheel covers for the bulldozer cake - donuts, half an Oreo, and some icing.

Molly adding details to the cake, and my awesome cake board.

Cash is almost 2!  He is so big and fun!

 Declan loves shopping for liquor!

Molly taught Cash how to slurp noodles.

Dec is such a happy boy.

Eric found a wolverine claw among the leaves.

The boys are so thrilled with playing in the leaves!

 Cash really really enjoyed playing in the leaves.

His favorite thing to do was throw leaves on Declan.

How fun!

Cash throwing leaves on me.

Eric chasing Cash!

 Molly and me, yay!

This is the same picture that Eric and I always take, but it looks good!

Eric, Molly, and Cash climbing up the stairs!

I was playing "I'm going to get you!" with Cash.  I held Declan down low and chased Cash, then turned around and he chased us.

 

Declan really wanted Eric's beer!

Molly and Cash were dancing, I got a great video of Cashy dancing for us!

Our variety of drinks.

The obligatory baby playing cards picture.

We played Cranium and the middle two blobs are my version of Thanksgiving Dinner - a cooked turkey and plate with stuff on it.  The top was Eric's version, which I am NOT making fun of!  He made a live turkey, which Molly or Nathan said looked like a dinosaur.

Declan was very interested in Eric.