July 4-5 with Kira and David

Independence Day was great! David made us German pancakes with lemon and powdered sugar...Mmm.  Then we were off to the parade route which, I kid you not, was like 4-5 houses down form them! In this town, their parade is basically some princesses, politicians, and honored military and community emergency personnel, the later in short supply this year as they were off fighting the fires. Then the crazy begins and it's basically a huge water fight with people spraying, squirting, and splashing from parade vehicles and observers alike! I thought that was great! And my underwear were dry after a game of extreme corn hole because, you know, it's a dry heat. I say extreme because we tried it with a few challenges like with people trying to block you or turning around and throwing it backwards.We're a pretty competitive family.

Later that day, Kira and David took me to an old cemetery with a beautiful view of the resivour
and because they know I love dead people and documenting and they tolerated me doing that for longer than I thought they would which is why I love them too.

We played board games is which I lost Scrabble badly to Kira and the kids did puzzles with David. We finished up the night with ribs and a viewing of Maleficent.

July 5
After another wonderful nights sleep in the trailer (not sarcasm), Aunt Kira treated the kids and I to a day at Royal Gorge, while sadly, David had to work. They have built things up well since their fire several years back and we were happy to ride the newer less heart-pounding gondola across the gorge. We saw mountain sheep roaming through, including babies. We took pictures, watched the cheesey 15 minute film, and played before walking across the suspension bridge.

Rafts traveling below

After we left the Royal Gorge we were treated to yummy burgers and perused a great rock shop, in which Aunt Kira convinced Sophie to not spend more than half of her trip money on a rock but get something of lesser value so she could also buy thing elsewhere. Isn't that amazing logic?! Thank goodness for aunts because the same logic coming from her own mother falls on deaf ears.

On the way back home we took Skyline Drive which is one way, narrow, and really high, as the name suggests. The gem up there, beside the view, was dinosaur footprints that had become exposed.

Casper lovies

July 2-3

July 2, We started our family trip, drove all day and never left Texas. We made a stop outside of Vernon, Texas at Tolbert Cemetery in which I documented over 50 headstones for Billiongraves amid many flapping crickets or grasshoppers, while the kids ate lunch. We got out to photograph  the sign of a small town with the same name as one of Rhys' best friends who is moving away this summer. In the late afternoon we went to Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo where the kids scavenged for spray bottles with paint left in them and made their additions to the art. It was real windy so Rhys ended up with what looked like a sun burnt forehead and red tinted bangs from his red spray paint. Luckily it came off his glasses lenses. We ended the day with swimming at the hotel pool.

July 3
We started the day at the Seismore RV Museum which spotlights restored vehicles that you can step inside and see how people have camped throughout the years. The kids were amazed how small some of the toilets were and I must agree they seem they may have been quite challenging to use. It was also fun to see the dated patterns on the curtains, upholstery, and floors.

Then we traveled into New Mexico's Capulin Volcano and this is wear I noticed it takes me longer than Google Maps says it will take me and this theme was true throughout the trip so we planned accordingly. The ranger station at the bottom of the volcano warned us that annoying gnat-like insects were plentiful at the top of the volcano and attracted to white--which is what we are and what I wore.

At this point I would also like to say that every ranger station/tourist stop must have a video that is 11-16 minutes in length with poor, old visual output, often with lame but still educational narration.  We love these. We usually make them our first priority so we know what we are actually seeing next.

At the top, the bugs did not disappoint as they were the only thing my kids could talk about for over half of the hike around the rim. It was great to see the old markings on the bare desert floor below of lava flows. We met some locals that pointed out landmarks while we were literally swarmed by these bugs. The climb was very steep at times but paved which was a good introduction to working our bodies with less oxygen at 8000 feet. Once all the all the way around we went down into the vent, said yep there is a bunch of volcanic rocks here, and then tried catching little periwinkle colored butterflies on our way back up to the car. This is wear we found the bugs feasting on the dead bugs that had splattered onto our car during our trip. Fascinating and gross.

in the vent

catching butterflies

Outside of Trinidad, CO we stopped to see the old coke ovens in...wait for it...Cokedale! We learned a bit about coal and coke ovens on Google because we were not familiar with the process. We took a little drive through the old mining town in which many still live and spotted 5 wild turkeys on the road between an old church and some sheds. 

We spotted smoke and fires afar off as we made our way into Pueblo West to stay with Kira and David. Do you know how I know they love me? They had their new trailer all ready for me so I could sleep like a baby without my kids being able to bother me and I did. The kids took the couch.

Summer Trip #2

We have been planning and saving for a good long time and this trip has morphed into an amazing adventure. The kids and I left Jul 2 and were gone a month and two days. Neal, my hard working man who made the biggest part of this possible, was able to join us mid trip and planned our road trip home in a round-about way.

We posted daily via Facebook and everyone said that this is the trip our kids would always remember as THE trip. I don't remember things well so I took tons of pictures.  Also as proof in case they do forget.  My mother always said, don't you remember our trip to _____ when we saw/did ____? The answer is almost always "No" because I was often quite young, like under 5. I have memories of the smell of rotten eggs and the sight of a pool of rainbow colors and an auditory memory of mom saying "You can't touch the water, it'll burn you." This is my complete bank of memories of Yellowstone National Park.  That is why I want to go again because I hear it's spectacular.  But that is a trip for another time. Just pointing out that I made sure my kids were old enough to remember this trip and documented it like crazy.

We watched HGTV every night we could at the hotels because our family loves it and we don't get it at home.

Sophie sleeps when the car is moving. This is also the reason she lost the "My Train" game. This is a game from when I was a kid. Whoever spots a MOVING train first calls out "my train" and that is one for them. The accumulate over the trip. Neal and I won with 11 each, Rhys 10 and Sophie at 8 or 9. This is because the girl sleeps. This also shows the amazing man Neal is because he started halfway through the trip with us and caught up fast.

Rhys was a great co-pilot! He used the binder I made and looked at our GPS to track where we were, where we'd been, and had a good understanding of what to expect.  The answer to the question, "How much farther?" was consistently answered by, "Check the binder." But they seldom asked at all.

I loved teaching them about history-the places we went, our personal family and pioneer history (which we read to them on pioneer and church history days), and visiting the museums. We'd talk about what we saw and then questions would pop up or they would seek clarification.

Rhys seldom talks about Legos when there is so much more to do and see. But Legos are still awesome.

I love my family. My husband and kids who I get to share these memories with. My parents, sister, her kids, my cousins, and in-laws. I love them. I love them for who they are and all they do to love us and for opening their homes to us.

I was afraid I would crack and eat my young because I had never been the sole parent and in charge of everything that happens for weeks at a time. Before I left, I even asked Neal for a blessing to help me. There were a few times I snapped at them but I didn't "snap" and we were able to work things through. I feel like as a family we did really well having a good time, practicing patience, talking feelings through, and making memories. It was a real blessing to have this time and opportunity.

I can't wait to see more of my country in the future.

We are blessed.

Summer Sounds Concerts

We were happy to get a few concerts in the park this summer. Finale is always Allen USA and a great fireworks display, followed by everyone being tired during church the next morning.  Neal helped work the CERT booth this year.

Prepartion and Perspiration

We've been getting up and out of the house all June to get the miles in so we will be better prepared for our upcoming hikes we have planned during our trip. Once thing we can't do here is increase our elevation so hoping our lungs don't burst in when we get up higher.

Sophie is 11!

Sophie chose a party rather than the buy out for her birthday this year as she is a social butterfly. We tossed around a few different ideas but when it came time, she chose to take some friends to see Incredibles 2 followed by pizza at CiCi's! Neal was working that day so we finished the night with ice cream to honor our new 11-year-old.

For the Love of Legos

2,995 pieces and 1 1/2 weeks later--just look at that smile!

Father's Day

For Father's Day we surprised Opa by seeing him off for his 2-day Father's Day motorcycle ride with the Freedom Riders. Got to meet a few of his riding friends too. He was in a small accident the first day and got some road rash but continued his ride thanks to Advil, I'm sure.  Glad he returned home in one piece and with a good story to tell.

I used those fresh blueberries to bake Alton Brown's blueberry muffins for Neal's Father's Day.  They turned out really good which is a big improvement over the last time Neal tried making them with a oven that was near dead but we didn't know it yet.

Neal celebrated Father's Day by eating said muffins, attending church where he did not teach the kids but joined the men for a short lesson and treats, and napped a good part of the afternoon away, also known as "watching golf" in our house. We ended with his favorite: key lime pie. He is a terrific father and husband--anyone would say so, but most importantly, his kids and wife say so.

Blueberries

We joined our friends the Hancocks and Florciks for blueberry picking this year. We invited Oma to join us. We tried a new farm that was closer, Blase in Rockwall, but still prefer the one we went to last year. Still a good time, of course. We picked quite a bit fewer berries this year which was the right thing to do as we weren't planning on making jam. Poor Sophie was overcome by the heat becoming weak and pale so I piggy backed her to the stand while Neal ran and got more water from the car. After drinking and being cooled by a frozen berry pop, she became herself again.

great photo bomb by Anjuli