Other Summer fun

Our vacation wasn't the only fun we had this summer. Here are a few of the highlights.

Swimming lessons. Adam, Lizzy and Ben took lessons this summer. They all did great. Anna and Jake hung out with me on the side watching the other kids (thus the picture of Anna sticking out her tongue; don't you just love her freckles?) We also enjoyed a few evening trips to the pool with Greg. The pool we have is great with waterslides and a lazy river. The kids always love a trip to the pool.

I convinced Greg to take the day off for his birthday this year. We spent the day at Adventureland. It was a lot of fun. It is a smaller amusement park but the lines were practically non-exisitant and all the kids could go on so many rides. It was a great day, with a funnel cake serving as Greg's cake that day (I actually made him one a few days later, but the funnel cake was on his actual birthday).

We also had box seats at an Iowa Cubs game thanks to John Deere. We all enjoyed that way more than we thought we would. We did feel rather out of place in the box seats, but it was still awesome. Too bad the game went on into th 14th inning. We left after about the 11th or 12th and caught the rest of the game on the radio.

The Omaha Zoo was a fun trip too. We are not very smart though and went the same weekend as the NCAA world series for baseball so traffic and parking was insane (the zoo is right next to Rosenblatt stadium), hotels were overpriced and the heat was oppressive. Oh well, we bought a season pass and will be going back.

Another fun event was the National Balloon Classic in Indianola, IA. We have never been to see any hot air balloon stuff so it was great fun for all of us. If you live in Iowa this is a must do one summer. It is really cheap to get in too. It was a lot of fun.

The Iowa State Fair kept us busy one day. Again thanks to John Deere for footing the bill and even giving us meal tickets and ride tickets. I don't think we would have gone if they hadn't paid for all of us. We are glad we got to go, but I don't think this is going to be a yearly tradition. We would much rather go to Adventureland:) for the money. But, everyone must see a butter sculpture at least once in their life right? That is not be outdone by the snake house that had some really cool (but creepy snakes). Greg insisted we pay to have our family picture taken with a 13 foot burmese python. I said I would do it as long as he held the head. How's that for a memory?! Another crazy thing was feeding the camel at the petting zoo. Can you say slimy and GROSS?!

How was your summer? I hope it was as filled with fun as ours was. Here's to a fun fall!

Vacation Days 8, 9, and 10

Day 8 is easy. We just drove from Palmyra, New York to Port Clinton, OH. We stayed in Port Clinton in preparation for our last hurrah, Day 9.

ALL of Day 9 was spent at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Ohio. I do mean all day. We arrived at the park even before it opened and were there until the Park closed at 10 PM. We spent a lot of the day split in two different groups, with the makeup of the groups changing throughout the day. Adam was tall enough to go on all the rides, Lizzy and Anna could go on most of the rides, then Ben could go on a few less, and Jacob even fewer, but Jake was tall enough to go on most anything for little guys.

Both Adam and Lizzy are roller coaster hounds and that is how they wanted to spend all of their time. Adam may have only been on one ride that wasn't a roller coaster and it was a water ride to cool off a little. (It was crazy hot so I totally understand that!) Cedar Point has more roller coasters than any other park in the world. That was a big draw for the kids.

Favorites at Cedar Point:

Anna and Lizzy: The Millenium Force; From the Cedar point website:

It's a coaster so big and tall, we had to coin a new name for this type of steel scream machine - the Giga Coaster.

Millennium Force is the park's star attraction, standing 310 feet above the Earth. It broke 10 world records when it opened in 2000 and continues to deliver ultimate thrills to those who challenge it.

Dive to the ground at an 80-degree angle and reach speeds of 93 mph during your two-minute journey.

If you want to see a video of this ride go here and click on the video tab

http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/millennium_force/index.cfm

That first hill is so steep and so high you feel like you might fall out!

Adam and Greg: Their favorite was this amazing, like no other, roller coaster called the Top Thrill Dragster. Earlier in the day they waited in line almost 2 hours only to have it break down when they were the next in line to get on. They closed down the ride and devastated Adam. We tried again as it was quickly approaching closing. They got on at 9:57 or something insane like that. Adam said it was totally worth it and it is his favorite of any coasters he has ever been on. Greg loved this one too, but says the superman ride at Six Flags in Chicago where you are like strapped in like you are laying on your belly and "fly" under the track is close with this one for his all time favorite.

The Dragster stands at a whopping 420 feet tall and goes from 0 to 120 MPH in less than 4 seconds. The actual ride only lasts about 17 seconds. It was amazing. You can watch a video here: http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/top_thrill_dragster/index.cfm

This ride is all about speed. It is just crazy! You should try it some time (even though I didn't :))

Ben: Ben enjoyed going on some of the younger rides. He and Liz are almost exactly the same height but he does not share her thirst for adventure and thrills. He enjoyed the Iron Dragon, a much smaller, more tame roller coaster. His favorite though was the Scrambler. We went on that several times. Since Greg does not tolerate spinning rides well, every time one of the kids went on this ride I went with them. It has several different arms with a car attached at the end of each arm and it spins around and you get squished against the people you are with. Let me rephrase that, I got squished! Jake was tall enough that he could come on it as long as he had an adult with him so the three of us rode this ride several times. The girls also really liked this ride.

Tammy: I loved spending time with all the different kids during the day. Our family is really at this great stage right now. There was something that made everyone really enjoy the day. I didn't see a lot of Greg as we were usually split, but that's OK. If I had to pick a favorite ride it would probably be the Raptor, a roller coaster that rides under the track and your feet hang down. I love those. The Millenium Force was a bit intense for me. I know, I am not the girl I once was.

Jacob: Jake was pretty much happy with any ride, but he loves the Frog Hopper rides that just go up and down. He was delightful to spend time with and the kids rides you didn't even have to wait so he was able to go on ride after ride. He even loved the two kid coasters and would always be the littlest guy on there. He is going to be a thrill seeker like Adam and Lizzy.

Here are some of the very few pics we took at Cedar Point:

One last thing that is cool about Cedar Point is that it is on a peninsula that juts out into Lake Erie. On many of the rides that are high you can see the Lake and the Beaches. The kids and I even saw some people Parasailing when we went on the Ferris Wheel. It really is an awesome place. We totally loved it. The kids are still talking about when we can go back. You should go there too!

Day 10 was the long drive back home. We were all exhausted from the day before so in some ways we were happy to sit in the car and do nothing, but we were all happy when we got home. We hope you had as wonderful a vacation as we did. I can't wait for next summer!

P.S. If you haven't watched the video of Jacob bowling on Day 7 you must go back and watch it. It is so fun.

Vacation Day 7-- The Hill Cumorah, the Grandin Building, and the Pageant

The weather had been so hot we decided to get up early again the next morning to hike the short distance up the Hill Cumorah before we roasted. The Hill Cumorah is where an ancient prophet (Moroni) from the Americas buried an ancient record which had been written on golden plates. This record would later be given to Joseph Smith, which the Lord helped him translate into the Book of Mormon, which stands as another witness and testament of Jesus Christ, along with the Bible.

It was a lovely, short hike through the woods and up a hill. What was so enjoyable about this was that the cast for the Hill Cumorah Pagaent, a pagaent all about the Book of Mormon, were practicing that morning. Although we were not allowed to go past a certain point down the other side of the hill, from the top we could see quite well and were very close to some of the actors. I was once again moved by the sacrifices people make to contribute to the building up of the kingdom. These actors are all volunteers who give 3 weeks of their summer to learn the show and perform it for a week. They are families of all shapes and sizes, including little children. This is what they are doing for their summer vacation. Why you ask? It is because they believe in it. They love the Book of Mormon. They want to share it with others so they give of their time and talents. Seeing them there in their normal clothes practicing already that morning was just so moving to me. What a lesson for the children and teenagers in the show; some things are worth sacrificing a lot for. I think I enjoyed this moment on the hill even more than the pagaent itself.

Next we went on to the Grandin building where the Book of Mormon was first published. This was one of our favorite places. Surprisingly we were the only ones in our group on the tour. The Sister Missionary quickly learned all of the kids names and would ask them questions by name. she also geared her remarks toward how the Book of Mormon helps families. She was awesome! She helped us feel the Spirit and once again our hearts swelled with gratitude that we have this book, that we can find answers in this book to life's toughest questions, that we can come to know Jesus Christ better by reading this book, that we can strengthen our families through reading this book. So many miracles happened for it to be published. The Lord wanted this book published!

Then, once again we found ourselves looking for something to do. This time we decided to go bowling. Oh man, it was so fun! I think Anna was the only one who had ever been bowling (she had chosen to do that on of here dates with us) so it was a new experience for the kids. Fortunately for all of us they had gutter blockers so none of us could get a gutter ball. It was so funny to watch the kids different approaches. Jacob was the most enjoyable to watch because he was so little. Adam would put the ball in his hands, then he would just run right up and throw it down the lane. I told Greg he is going to be the kind of kid who just takes life by the horns.

There is nothing like watching a spunky two year old bowl to make you smile. It was so much fun!

Finally we are to the event which caused us to plan this trip at this particular time, The Hill Cumorah Pagaent. I am the only one in the family who had seen the pagaent before so everyone was really anticipating it. We were sad when it had started raining in the afternoon, but it did clear up and even cooled things down a bit (even if it was muddy) by the time the pagaent started. It was also our good fortune to get front row seats. Earlier that morning when we were at the hill we noticed some people had already started saving seats so we thought it was worth a try, so we took our swimming towels out of the car and draped across 7 seats in the front row. They were still there when we arrived so front row seats we had!

We arrived an hour or so before the show started, so the kids had some time to run around and meet some of the actors. They especially liked chatting with the "bad guys". Here's one with the kids and "King Noah".

But they also would talk to some of the good guys - Moroni and Joseph Smith

And, gratefully, they would even talk to each other. Our "twins" Lizzy & Ben. (They are almost exactly the same height now and people often think they're twins).

The show was impressive - especially the special effects. The stage is enormous and complete with large waterfalls, ancient temples, fire, lightning storms (with very realistic lightning and rain), earthquakes, and so on. Many of the significant stories from the Book of Mormon are retold in the pageant through a cast of several hundred actors. The story moves pretty fast - we wondered if it would be confusing for someone if they weren't familiar with the Book of Mormon -but since the stories were familiar to us we were able to follow the action fairly well. The kids really enjoyed it a lot. It was a fun evening and we're grateful to the many people that worked to put that on for us. We did miss the intimacy of the Nauvoo Pagaent. The Hill Cumorah pagaent was much more fast paced and doesn't follow one or two characters throughout (which helps you feel attached to them). It is definitely a big and bold and flashy, which was surprising to me. Things had changed a lot since I had last seen it. We are glad we went though.

House before and after

Well our house is done. It has been done almost two weeks now. We love it. We really liked the company who did it. It makes our house seem more modern. What do you think?

Here is the Before:

And the After:

Vacation Day 6-- Sacred Grove and Smith Farm

You can probably see all the sites in Palmyra in just a day, but we chose to spread it out over a few days so the kids wouldn't get tired of sitting and listening and trying to be reverent. The problem we didn't realize is that there is not much else to do there in Palmyra :)

One of the places that we most wanted to be special to the kids was the Sacred Grove. We came during the time of the Hill Cumorah Pagaent so we knew there were tons of people in the area wanting to do all of the same things we wanted to do, so we decided to get up early and go to the Sacred Grove before tours even started anywhere. We hoped it would be quiet and peaceful, and it was. I think we saw only 3 or 4 other people there. This wonderful place is where Joseph Smith humbly came to pray, hoping to receive an answer to his question, which church he should attend. There was a lot of religious fervor at the time and everybody believed and interpreted things so differently. This fourteen year old boy really, truly wanted to know what to do. He wanted to do what was right. After pondering James 1:5 he decided he must ask God what we should do. It was in this quiet wooded area near his home that he went to pray. The heavens were opened and God the Father and His beloved Son, Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph. They told him to join none of the churches, none of them were the church that Jesus had established on the earth.

This is a story we have told to our children. It is a story that both Greg and I believe literally happened. You can feel the reverence of this place even though it has been nearly 200 years. I was amazed at how peaceful and reverent the kids were. We were there over an hour and enjoyed feeling knit together as we thought about and talked about the things that had happened here. I will be forever grateful for that earnest prayer offered by a young boy.

We were also able to visit the two Smith homes as well. I was once again reminded of all that was required of these earliest of Saints. They sacrificed so much. What they established then is such a blessing to me and my family now. It makes me want to more fully devote my life to the Lord and His work here on the earth.

After a lovely morning we had to step back into our normal life a little bit. I had to do laundry! I hadn't been to a laundromat since the beginning of our marriage. Liz and Jake stayed with me (what was I thinking?!) at their insistence. Greg took the others on a walk to a nearby cemetary where Alvin Smith, Joseph's brother, was buried.

We still had plenty of time to spare so we found a movie theater and all went to see Toy Story 3. It was nice to be in an air conditioned building doing something we don't do too often. It ended up being a really nice day (except for the laundry). How blessed we are to live in this day and age when we know so much about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and know that Christ's church is once again on the earth.

I know that this is a terrible picture (remember this is Greg's phone since our camera was giving us fits), but it is all we have.

This is Adam. Greg is going for some kind of effect here.

Ben at the Sacred Grove.

This is between the two Smith homes. Can't you tell how reverent they were :) They were great, actually, but here they are having a little fun. I don't know if you can tell how sweaty and hot they are and it was only 9 or 10 in the morning.

Vacation Day 5--- Church and the Whitmer Farm

NO, I will not give up. I will make it through our vacation. I struggle with brevity so these posts take a while to write.

The first thing we did on day 5 of our vacation was wake up and get ready for church. Our church is unique in that we are all connected. We were able to easily look up on the lds.org website the location of the nearest church building and what time their meetings started. We knew what we could expect: a meeting the same as we would attend in Iowa. It is always such an amazing thing to attend another ward (or congregation) in our church. It is a reminder of how amazing the organization of the church is and how connected we really are. We are learning the same things out of the same manuals. The people there and where ever you come from are all trying to change and make their lives more in line with the teachings of the Lord. There is an automatic kinship you feel just from knowing they too love the Savior and want to follow his teachings. The kids even feel somewhat comfortable because they know what to expect. It is nice to slow down a little from the vacation pace as well.

Next we drove the short distance to Palymyra, NY. This tiny New York town has great significance for members of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We believe that it was in this small town in the year 1820 an unassuming 14 year old boy seeking anwsers went into the woods to pray. Our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ appeared to this young boy. This was the beginning of the restoration of Christ's church on the earth once again. For us it is a sacred place.

We first stopped at the Hill Cumorah Visitor's center where you can get an overview of some the significant events that happened in the area. It also has several interactive exhibits. We enjoyed visiting with a Sister missionary who was from Samoa. Greg and I visited Samoa for 2 weeks when we were newlyweds. We were visiting my grandparents who were serving a mission there. It is one of those experiences and places that are near and dear to our hearts.

Next we took the family to the Peter Whitmer farm in Fayette, NY (actually I don't think it is actually in Fayette anymore, but it was in 1830). This was the place where the church was officially organized in April of 1830. It is a beautiful rural setting with a unique chapel that is used by a ward there. My favorite part was the tiny home that the Whitmers so graciously allowed to be used for church meetings. I felt so grateful to live in this day and age where the church has grown to millions of members. I felt grateful for the sacrifice and devotion that was shown by those early members. They gave so much of their time, talents and resources to build the kingdom. It was such a peaceful place. I think we all felt the specialness of the place and felt so grateful to be there together. How grateful we are for our membership in the Church of Jesus Christ in these Latter-days!

Here are the kids at the Whitmer farm. We were having camera troubles so there aren't as many pictures here on out and most of what we have were taken with Greg's iphone.

What a lovely Sunday this was.

Help us paint our house!

Calling all painters! We're getting ready to paint the outside of our house and need some help!

Here's what our house looks like now:



Here are a few options for the future:

A)


B)


C)


D)


E)


What's your vote? Use the poll in the sidebar.

If you'd like to suggest your own color scheme, we'd love it! It's easy to do.
Go to https://www.sherwin-williams.com/visualizer/
Login as gregandtammy@gmail.com with password birdnest1.
Under "My Uploaded Exteriors" you'll find our house ... just drag 'n drop colors. Email us any that you like.

Thanks! We'll get back to our vacation reports next post.

Vacation Day 4-- Niagra Falls-- The American Side

Whew! What a crazy week this has been. I haven't had a minute to post. I am up to one of our favorite parts of our vacation. It was the second part of Day 4. We LOVED the American side of Niagra Falls. The Canadian side was more the "stand back and look at the view" side of the falls. The American side lets you get up close and personal with the falls. They have overlooks right at the top of the falls and look down. It gave us a new perspective on the falls. You got to feel the power in a whole new way.

Our favorite part of this side was the "Cave of the Winds". It is not really a cave. It is a series of walkways that lead up to about 20 feet next to the falls. You stand in a long line (again) and then you take an elevator down to begin your walk. As you climb up you get closer and closer to the Bridal Veil Falls. The climax is the "Hurricane Deck". It is loud and wet and you feel like if you don't watch your step you could slip and tumble down the stairs, maybe even over the rail. It was pretty awesome. The poncho they give you seemed pointless. We all wanted to experience the Hurricane Deck in its fullness so we all got soaked anyway. Jake was the only one who wasn't too sure about it. He and I only did it once. Then we stood down a deck and Greg took the kids back up a few more times. They loved it! It was sooo much fun. I wasn't too sure about bringing Jake, and he was definitely the youngest child we saw down there, but he did great. Greg carried him most of the time so he was safe. It was great to experience this as a family. It was something that was enjoyable and fun for ALL of us, which is something that can be tricky when you have a 2 year old and an 11 year old, not to mention 2 grownups and a mix of boys and girls! I would say this is a must see at Niagra Falls. It was our favorite thing we did there and one of our favorite things of our whole trip.

We topped the day off with ice cream cones, dinner and a movie at our hotel. We were all beat by the end of the day, but what a day!

Here we are at the bottom of the falls, just getting ready to start walking up. A nice lady took our picture. Notice the matching yellow ponchos. We also got matching Niagra Falls sandals, all included in your entry fee.

A view looking up from below. The falls on the right is the Bridal Veil Falls. The Falls on the left are the American Falls.

This is about as close as I dared get the camera to the Hurricane Deck. Even taking that picture was difficult. Sorry, no one from my family is in the picture, but you get the idea of the overwhelmingness of the falls (and this is the smallest falls of the three).

Coming down from the Hurricane Deck. Interesting fact: Every year they dismantle the decks and walkways because the nasty winter weather would destroy them. They rebuild them every spring.

Here is the after picture. Notice the hair plastered to the head. Pictures really don't do it justice. We were soaked. As we were walking up and others were walking down, they would just look at us and laugh and say, "The Ponchos didn't work, eh?"

Here are our snazzy Niagra Falls matching sandals. They didn't have a size small enough for Jake. I guess they don't get too many 2 years old at this attraction. Can you tell who's foot is who's?

Remember if you go to Niagra Falls, do the Cave of the Winds! You won't be sorry (unless of course you are a total stick in the mud and would just like to look at it from a far, not get wet, and not feel the real power of the falls). Go! Do it!

Vacation Day 4-- Niagra Falls-- The Candian side

Day four of our vacation was devoted to Niagra Falls. We got up and got going. It was a Saturday and we knew it would be busy. We crossed over into Canada first thing. It was much easier than the last time we went to Canada (ask me about it sometime) even though it required passports for Greg and I, as well as birth certificates for the kids. Once you find a place to park you have to walk and walk and walk. The Canadian side of the falls is just crazy. There are so many people there! People from all over the world. It is also a really commercial area. It is not a peaceful communion with nature by any means. Fortunately though, even with the all the distractions, the falls are still amazing! You can just feel and see the POWER. You can even HEAR the power. Awesome.

Niagra Falls wouldn't take you long if all you wanted to do is take a look at it and snap a picture, but we were there to do more than that. Our next stop was the Maid of the Mist. After paying and waiting in line for a long time you get on a boat with hundreds of other people. Everyone is decked out in their snazzy blue, plastic, rain ponchos. The boat takes you as close to the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls as it can. The closer you get it gets louder and wetter (although not too wet). You can also feel the boat fighting the falls for position. The falls just won't let you get too close. But you are still close enough to see how you would be tossed and churned in that water, how the falls are strong and powerful and majestic. If you take the time to think about it you are in AWE at this amazing creation. You can see the different characteristics in the Lord's creations, and this one just exudes power. In others you will find peace or beauty or serenity or uniqueness. In the Falls you feel power.

On the boat we were standing with an Italian couple. They were very kind and asked Greg about our family and commented on how wonderful it was that we had 5 children and said at their age (with their children grown and gone) you realize that is what life is all about. I appreciated their kindness so much because we often get negative comments about the size of our family, but we realize that is what life is all about. We will have lots of wonderful grandchildren to love and visit. Our golden years will be full of doing things that matter. (Sorry for this little tangent, but it was something that I was very grateful for).

Here I am with all the kids just after boarding the boat.

Very close to the falls. We are getting wet now.

Adam looking thrilled to be so close to such an amazing site!

After our trip on Maid of the Mist we headed up the street away from the falls to play a little Glow in the Dark Mini Golf. Now folks you would not believe this street we walked up. Talk about a tourist trap. Adam thought it was kid heaven, I thought it was more like a kid Las Vegas. Gaudy, and way over the top. Not this mom's favorite place. Fortunately the kids know how cheap we are so they knew we would only be doing this ONE activity on this street of their little dreams. Adam loves mini golf so this was for him. It is hard to get good pictures, but here are our attempts at them.

I will save the trip to the American side of the falls for another day. Ahh, I love vacation. I even love reliving vacation!

Vacation Day 3--Kirtland, OH

On Day 3 of our vacation we spent time visiting some places that were important in the history of our church. Our faith is something that is at the center of our lives and it is inspiring for us to remember the early saints who sacrificed so much for what they believed.

This is from the lds.org website: Come visit Historic Kirtland, a small settlement in northern Ohio, where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered shortly after the Church was founded. Between 1831 and 1838 Joseph Smith and early members of the Church established Church headquarters in Kirtland, built a temple, and laid a foundation of strength for the future.

The first place we visited was the Kirtland Temple. The temple is not owned by our Church anymore, but by the Community of Christ church, a church that broke off ours at the time of Joseph Smith's death. It has been 10 years since Greg and I (and Adam) have visited this area. Our experience this time was excellent compared to the past. We appreciated the respectful attitude that our guide had for our church and for the temple. It is much simpler than the temples we have now, but it is amazing to think they built it all themselves so long ago when the church was just beginning. I truly appreciate the sacrifices made to forward the Lord's work in that time. The dedication of that temple lasted a whopping 7 hours! I asked our guide if children were in attendance and he said yes. Unbelievable. It was interesting to be reminded of the details surrounding this building and its dedication.

One of the things that struck me the most while we were in Kirtland, and that I find unique about our church, is its emphasis on education. There in Kirtland on the top floor of the temple they held a school for anyone who needed some educating. They also started a school of the prophets where they learned Hebrew and other things. The need for educating ourselves is still something that we are taught by our leaders today. There is even a fund set up to help educate members in poorer countries where it is difficult to obtain an education. It is a privilege and responsibility to "Seek learning, even by study and also by faith" (D&C 88:118).

We also visited other restored buildings in Kirtland that are run by our Church. This was a rough time for Jacob so I spent a lot of time with him, but I was reminded how much the leaders of the church learned about the organization of the church and how many revelations that become a part of our scripture, The Doctrine and Covenants, that were received in this Kirtland era. We were also able to go out to the Isaac Morley farm. This was a very reverant place. There was a soft rain that was coming down while we were there, and really some of our reverence was felt because several large youth groups were there and they were so quiet and peaceful, it helped our children to act that way too. Over and over Joseph and Emma were helped and cared for, just as they did the same thing for others. How generous they all were! It seems it is sometimes harder for us in this day and age to feel safe and good about welcoming people into our home or tending to someone else's grieving or sick family. We do it, but it is not quite the experience it once was.

After seeing the Kirtland sites we drove the few hours to the Niagra Falls area.

Here are some pictures of the Finches at the Kirtland Temple.

Not exactly reverant faces and attitudes, huh?

Vacation, Day 2--Spontaneous Fun

You are going to be tired of my travel log by the time I get through our trip, but I am mostly writing for me and not for you!

We had a lazy morning in Chicago, knowing we wouldn't be going anywhere fast during morning rush hour (yeah, I can definitely knock Chicago off my list of cities I hope to live in). We did finally hit the road about 9:30 and traffic wasn't too bad. I think we only had to completely stop once. We then spent several hours on the road. We arrived in Kirtland, OH about dinner time (but it didn't feel like dinner time to us because of the time change). We didn't want to see any of the Church sites we had come to see, so Greg had the brilliant idea to go to the beach. We were close to the shores of Lake Erie. He asked the clerk at our hotel about it and she printed up directions for us. Being from the midwest our kids have only been to one beach when we visited my brother Todd while he was at Yale in Connecticut 6 years ago. I doubt they even remember it.

We thought we would take a leisurely stroll along the beach in our barefeet. The kids had different plans. First of all it was way too hot to walk along the beach in your barefeet unless you were in the water. At the water's edge, though, the beach was too rocky. This was no Florida beach. We all took our shoes off and stood in the waves. You can see what is coming. It wasn't long until first Ben and then the others were "accidentally" getting wetter and wetter and falling down in the water. Ah well, that is what vacation is for right?! The water was shallow enough the kids could go out a little ways and still touch comfortably. Jake stayed with us right by the shore, but he loved every minute of it. In fact I was surprised at how much they all loved it. They loved playing in the waves. They found an old log that they played on for a while. Greg and I didn't go all the way in ever in our clothes. We stood in the waves or sat on the shore. I even laid down for a bit. It was lovely listening to the consistent, constant sound of the waves and the happy sounds of families enjoying being together. It was very restful for me. I also played in the sand for a while. It was one of those happy accidents, going to the beach unplanned with no swimsuits. I think the kids enjoyed it more than the waterpark the day before. Sometimes spontaneity is more fun than the variety of fun that is planned.

Just getting their feet wet.

A Little Deeper

Just a Little Deeper

AHHH!! Now this is swimming at the beach.

Vacation--Day 1--Water Park

Some of my favorite memories from growing up are from vacations we took as a family. I guess we did a lot of vacations after my parents were divorced because we would spend some of the summer with my dad and some with my mom, going on vacation with each of them. We got to see a lot of different things, go a lot of places and make wonderful memories. Greg also has fond memories of his semiannual treks to Las Vegas to see his grandparents. Now as parents we really want our kids to have some experiences that they will remember fondly.

This year for vacation we headed east. We wound our way to Palmyra, NY and back. I always find I have more time to think and reflect on vacation. They really are relaxing and renewing.

The first day we got up early(ish), stopped at Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast and drove to the Chicago suburbs, where there is a fun waterpark that we went to, Rainbow Falls. We had packed the car the day before so we were able to get there with plenty of time to swim. It is so great that the kids are getting taller. All of the kids, except Jake, were able to go on all of the waterslides. Adam of course , with no hesitation, headed straight for the waterslides all by himself. The other kids eased into it by doing doing some regular swimming and the lazy river. Greg used his amazing persuasive powers to get the other kids to try something they had never tried (I think Lizzy was raring to go and put in her two cents on why Ben and Anna should give it a try). He got the kids started on the slides by going down with them on a double or triple tube, but after a while they were all doing it on their own. It is great for a parent to be able to see their child try something new and feel confident and successful. I was especially proud of Anna because she is so cautious and careful about trying new things.

I enjoyed spending a lot of one on one time with Jacob. He loved going down this little slide in the little kid area over and over and over. How can you not love the enthusiasm and joy that exudes from a 2 year old? I also got to help Liz with her front crawl for a while. It helped me remember how much I love to teach just about anything. It is wonderful to know you are helping and changing someone just by sharing what you know. I also loved going down some of the slides with Ben and Anna.

I think Greg enjoys being a kid again. He and Adam were the only ones to brave the funnel slide where you drop in at the top of this big funnel and go around and around and then drop through the bottom. It was fun for us to watch them. I have found that as I have aged and had children I am content to watch and enjoy the fun others are having. I don’t have as much need for the adrenaline rush you get from doing crazy rides or slides. I am happy letting the others get to do those things while I stay with Jake. It is hard to believe he is the only one that really needs me a lot anymore. ( I know they all need me, just in more independent ways.) It was a great first day. Unfortunately it all came to a quick end when someone at the pool threwup in the pool where the slides come out. No more slides. I am just glad it wasn’t one of my children! No pictures from the first day. Most swimming places don't let you take cameras in anymore. I hope you are all enjoying your vacations too.

Wild, wacky, Waukee

Well we have been here in Waukee almost two months now. I have thought a lot about posting, but haven't really wanted to. I thought if someone else did the thinking for me it would be a lot easier, so I am enlisting the kids help. Here are some of their thoughts on the move and living in Waukee, IA.

Anna: I like living by a park because then we can go there anytime (mother's note: we lived across from a park where we used to live, but the road between us and the park served as some mental barrier between us. it's nice the house backs right up to one here, one foot in the yard, one foot in the park). I miss the wildlife we used to see in our old backyard. We used to see wild turkeys and deer on the way to school everyday, and black squirrels everywhere( Mother's note: yes, black. I had never seen them before living in Iowa either). I miss the Mississippi river. It was a good view. I have made a lot of friends here, and one good friend, Jessica. The school is way different than our old school and the teachers are usually strict, except for the boy teachers. Our house is really big and I like that Lizzy and I have our own bathroom.

Lizzy: I like how me and Anna have such a great view out our window. I like that we get to walk to school because we live so close. I also like how there is a trail behind our house and a park. I like how our house has a little space under the basement stairs with carpet because me and Ben like to have clubs there. We had a dance club today. I miss the Mississippi River because I miss seeing that alot because it was so beautiful. I miss the wildlife and our friends. I don't like how noisy it can be because we have baseball fields behind our house. It seems like the school is like one year behind because they teach you about penguins in second grade instead of first. I like how most of the teachers are nice at school, except for Anna's. She has the meanest teacher in the school. I really like church because there are bigger classes and there are more kids with birthdays close to mine. I really like gymnastics here too because they have something called Parent's Week where we get to do a routine for our parents.

Ben: I don't really like soccer that much here because they don't do that many games (Mother's note: For young kids here they mostly run skills clinics. It isn't until about 4th grade that they have tryouts for all of these different soccer academies. Different than what we are used to). I like that the baseball games are so close behind our house. I hope we get to go watch some with Papa. I miss the Garners and the Jensens and all our other friends. I miss the McGraths too. I miss my old preschool too. This preschool is good though. I miss the old basement at our other house. I miss our old church because I miss my class.

Adam: I like it here in Waukee. Although I miss our old neighborhood, (the McGraths mostly), here is really good too. There are multiple kids that go to my school that live right across the park behind our house. I really like the school here, even better than pleasant view. In church, there are boys in my class that are actually turning 11 this year, and I have made friends with kids in 11yr. old scouts. We went on our first campout last Friday, and it was really fun. I miss Bettendorf, but Waukee is even better!!!

Sincerely, adam the beast (Mother's note: Adam the beast typed this all by himself. He is also the one who was most opposed to us moving.)

Made it

We finally found a little window to escape yesterday. The flight was about 3 hours longer than normal because we had to fly way up and around the problem areas, but I did finally reach home around midnight last night. Tired today, but happy to be home!

Stuck - day 2

Groundhog day. I feel like I've lived this before. Same as yesterday, checkin, do security thing, get ready to board plane, minutes before ... delayed. I fully expect after our 2 hour delay that they will cancel the flight again. At least today we're in a real gate not stuck on that hallway!

Stuck!

Remind me to not fly American Airlines to Frankfurt again. I've been in Germany this week for work and flying home today. I should be on an airplane right now, not writing a blog. Unfortunately, I'm writing a blog post.

Everything was normal this morning as I arrived at the airport ... got checked in and went to find my gate. The gate was in the most inconvenient spot - just past the passport control (can't go backwards) just before the main terminal security checkpoint (can't go forwards - our gate had separate security check). Since we were in this odd gate assignment not in the main terminal, everyone on my flight was trapped in this little hallway. There were a few chairs, but not nearly enough for everyone. Luckily there was a small bathroom and a hot dog stand.

That's when we heard the flight was delayed by a few hours. The volcano was causing flights into Europe to have to take a longer route and causing late arrivals. Other than being trapped in that little hallway for a few extra hours, I figured things could be worse. An hour or so later, things got worse. An AA worker came into the little hallway and said, "Is anyone here waiting for the Chicago flight?" Of course! We all were! "I'm sorry, but your flight has been cancelled." She then went on to explain that they were closing the airport due to the ash cloud. People, of course, were not very happy.

After another two hours waiting in the line to get rescheduled for tomorrow, I made my way to a hotel for the night. After getting settled in, I started reading more about what was going on. That's when I discovered the airport was never closed, the AA flight was the only one that was cancelled. I have no idea why ... the plane was there and all other flights were finding their way, just not mine. Ughhh...

So here I am ... wish me luck tomorrow. Forecast's show the cloud moving more inland, so it may be an interesting (and very long) week coming up. Happy Mother's Day Tammy!

Lock Down

Well, we are starting to wonder where we have moved to (not really, it is a great area). Today the kids, who have been walking to school, came home and were all talking at once saying something really weird had happened at school today. It is strange for all of them want to talk to me right after school. When I got them to speak one at a time, this is what I got,

Adam--"Mom, today we had a lock down."

Me--"You mean you had a lock down drill."

A---"NO, some guy came into the school with a beebee gun and a baseball bat. It was a real lock down!"

Me--"Are you sure? How do you know?"

Adam--"After it was all over they came and told us all what had happened. It was the same guy who broke into the school last week (yes that is true too. keep in mind this school and all its surrounding neighborhoods are nice. this sort of thing just doesn't happen here)."

Me--"You're kidding!"

Liz--"NO, the police came and everything."

Me--"Were you guys scared?"

Adam--"NO, I just thought it was a drill, but then the police showed up."

Liz--"Yes. I thought it was real."

Anna--"At first I was, but then we thought it was a drill."

Me--What did you guys have to do?

Adam--"We had to all lay on the floor in the corner and they locked the door. We weren't supposed to talk, but some people were whispering. We had a sub today. After lunch our teacher told us the real story. The police came and took him away."

Anna--"We had to all huddle in the corner. We heard the guy yelling at the principal when we were walking down the hall."

Liz--"We all huddled in the corner behind the cabinet. Mrs. Wiese read to us."

Me--"Wow guys that freaks me out. I am not sure I want you to walk to school anymore."

Adam--"Well they got him and took him away. "

Anyway, that isn't the full conversation, but the gist of it. It does strike fear in this mother's heart. This really is a great community with great schools. I can't believe they actually had to use what they learned in their drills. Kudos to our principal for engaging the man as soon as he walked into the building through the front door. Turns out it really was a beebee gun and it wasn't loaded, but how could she know that.

Breaking the silence

A year! Has it really been a year since we have posted?!! What a year it has been. The biggest change in our lives has come from a change in location. After nearly 12 years in Bettendorf we have moved on to the big city, sort of. We are now living in a suburb of Des Moines. John Deere has an office here that focuses mostly on technology, so it is a great place for Greg. I don't think either of us anticipated what a big change it would mean for all of us. Greg was hired in October (I think) and started going back and forth between Bettendorf and Des Moines for months. He would spend usually 3-5 days a week in Des Moines and the other days at home. Weekends he was busy bishoping and trying to get our home ready to sell. We decided to wait until January to put the house on the market so we had some months to get everything ready. After significant blessings and very little sleep we sold the house in just 3 and a half weeks. We closed on both houses during spring break and are now here in our new home. That's where we are at in a nutshell.

Really things are going pretty well. The kids have transitioned beautifully. I think they were just glad to have a home they could actually live in again (as opposed to trying to keep our old home immaculate for showings) and be back to a routine, and of course they brought along their best friends, their brothers and sisters. I have even found a great preschool for Ben so he is not so bored. He also had his first soccer practice this week. I am working on finding piano teachers still and other activities. Getting the house together has kept me busy, but it is hard not REALLY knowing anybody yet. I miss my dear friend Leah terribly and even though we talk on the phone I wish I could just go and hang out at her house where I (and my children) felt so comfortable. I expect it will be a very long time (if ever) that I have another friend like that. It seems harder to make friends too because I don't just have little kids anymore. I also have come to desire meaningful, deeper relationships, not just casual ones. Those take a lot of time and energy to build. I am sure they will come, but they will take time.

Greg has been busy with work and figuring out his place here. He is also loving and hating not being the bishop of our ward anymore. I think he is much more relaxed than he has been in years, but he also doesn't know what to do with himself sometimes. He wants to be doing something, helping someone, planning something. I think he has also missed some of the inspiration and blessings that come when you are the bishop. He just feels different. We have loved having him home more and have enjoyed sitting with him in church with him for the first time in 9 years!! Adam was just 2 years old, and Anna was a brand new baby when he was first called into the bishopric as a counselor (it was later that he was called to be the bishop). His Sundays are a whole lot different now. Really a lot of his life is different now.

Well, this post is a start. I feel rusty at blogging. I am not sure how long it will take me to get back into the swing of things, but I definitely feel like my life has slowed down a lot. Is anyone still out there who even checks our blog anymore. Encourage me!!

Because I know anybody who looks at our blog really just wants to see the kids, here are some pictures from the not too distant past:

I was trying a new method I had read about to curl the girls' hair. Here they are the night before the big reveal. It didn't go so well and we ended up with tears instead of smiles. Jake always has to try to get in on things.

With Iowa's football season this past year, Adam has now become an Iowa fan. Don't worry he is still a die hard BYU cougar fan above all other teams. He has been worried he wouldn't fit in here because we are so close to Iowa State now. His worries were needless, there are plenty of hawkeye fans in the central part of the state too!
I don't know why I like this picture so much, but I do. This is the kids gathered around the laptop to watch something on Netflix online. Since Anna is in control she much have earned this reward. I just love how they all find a spot and sit together.
Yes, we did get our 5 year old and ipod for Christmas. Don't worry I got it used off ebay for a good price. This kid LOVES music. And he can sing! He is always telling me that is his talent. He also just started piano (with me) and is doing very well. Now if I can get him some rhythm he will be all set!

Enjoy! Encourage. Encourage. Encourage.