22 hours down, 10 to go!

Me and the kids made it to North Platte, NE tonight!  We had a good day. A little bit of weather, GPS malfunctions and traffic to deal with, but the kids are still doing great. They haven't fought or complained. I'm not sure how that is possible when they fight all the time at home.  I am doing fine too, except for all the darned bridges we keep going over. When we went over an especially long one, Tamsyn said, "Mom, you doing ok?" I squealed and said, "Just let me know when I can open my eyes!" Teehee. Ander said, "What!?" and Tamsyn said, "Mom, your eyes aren't closed, are they?!" I had a little laugh over that. North Platte had crazy weather tonight too. I was seriously concerned about tornados. We lucked out, but got marble sized hail, lightening and crazy wind. 

So, just one more big day of driving. Lohn, do you think you could fly out to Utah and drive home with me????? I miss you. Another slobbery kiss coming your way over the internet waves. :)

12 hours down and 20 more to go!

Am I crazy?  I decided to make the trek across the country with my four kids and no husband. About 4 hours into the trip, I was regretting my decision and ready to turn around. Butt was numb, I was feeling sleepy and missing my husband something fierce. The kids were rockstars though. Seriously- There are no kids on the planet that are better travelers than mine. We did 12 hours of driving today. Ten tomorrow, and ten the next before we arrive.

 Sylas was pretending to navigate. As we passed the "mountains" in West Virginia, Sylas said, "Mom, I found mountains! They are made out of trees!" Indeed, they are. Trees, trees, and more trees. 

Louisville Kentucky has a lot of bridges. Tamsyn got a picture of this bridge a bit late. But it is a very LONG bridge. And big. I really didn't like it. (I have a phobia of bridges. I just know they are going to collapse when I am on them)

I was delighted to see the trees disappear and get replaced by corn. It means I am getting closer! Next thing I am looking forward to- desolate Wyoming!

We unwound for the evening in the hotel swimming pool. 

As I type, the boys are fighting for the best spot of floor to sleep on. Turns out, the hotel floor is cooler than the bed. I am happy though, because it means I get a bed to myself, which means better sleep!

Also I am sending a virtual goodnight kiss to my husband online. I miss you, honey. Lots and lots and lots and lots.

Gunnar is 7!

One great thing about belonging to a pool, is we get to reserve the pavilion any time we want for free. This makes for a great birthday party! We invited 3 of his buddies.

Lohn started out the party with a back flip. Wish my camera wouldn't have that dumb delay!

Ander did a flip. So did Tamsyn, but I missed that picture.

Haha, these next four pictures makes it look like my camera is one of those cool ones that take 5 pictures per second, but this is actually 4 different dives.

This picture made me smile. His shorts hem is perfectly straight, promise. 

 This was probably the most low key birthday party I have ever done. And there were no screaming kids in my house and I didn't have to come up with any games. Bonus!

After the party, we came home to open up our presents to Gunnar. 

 Dad lit up one of his cupcakes from his party as we sang to him.

A bug vacuum from Sylas.

A water gun from Tamsyn

Big bag of Legos from Ander

Church shoes. We didn't know who to make these from, and he really needed them, so we wrote on the present that they were from Gunnar. I don't think he was too excited.

Super small micromachineish cars from Dad. 

And Jelly bellies from me.

 "I have to share?"

And a Bean Bag from Grandma McKee. 

So grateful for my Gunnar bug!

Snail snot, wallpaper and a stubborn mower...

I keep finding a gooey trail of what looks like really slimy snot on my back porch. It was very mysterious and baffling until a few days ago I found the source. 

 Ander was my hero of the day and threw him over the edge of the porch. It almost made him throw up to touch it. (Sidenote: Sylas's new word for throw-up is Hot Gurglers. Very descriptive, don't you think?)

Last Saturday as I walked through my entryway, I paused to look at my pink floral wallpaper, and took a small non- connected corner and RIPPPED it off.  It was so satisfying, I decided to share the joy of it with the kids. Turns out, they found it to be satisfying too. We pulled off wallpaper for 4 hours and they NEVER complained. They were in destruction-heaven.

 My entry way post operation Good-Bye-Pink-Floral. Soon to be painted.

I didn't even ask the kids to start in on the dining room. As soon as we finished with the entry way, they all ran to the dining room to start on it.

We found these little gems under the paper. Ick.

I'm thinking light blue on the bottom, white chair rail and white on top?

While we picked and pulled to our hearts content, Lohn tried to fix up our old lawnmower from 4 years ago. That lawn mower gave me fits back then (seriously, I PRAYED over that thing just to get it to start) and you can only imagine what 4 years of non use would do to it. Well, my wonderful handsome husband figured out the issue and got it to run.

 Sorta. This is him growling in frustration because it keeps quitting. 

But he did it! However, it barely finished the yard and I foresee a new lawn mower in our near future. But isn't my husband the smartest guy EVER?! Seriously, there isn't anything he can't figure out.