More Oswego Fun!!!

Seriously, this was the BEST TRIP EVER  We went to the park, did some shopping, Six Flags, hanging out, eating out, visiting, watching 3-D movies, playing drums, working out, spending time with family, and watching lightning bugs!!! It did not matter what we were doing, we were laughing and having a great time. I think the only complaint that any of us might have....... the time went by WAY TOO FAST!!!!

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And that our friends...... is one reason this summer will go down as one of the best!!!

Six Flags over Chicago

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Six Flags in Chicago was so much fun. Adam and Jaimie took the day off of work to take us. We loved every minute of it!!! We did get a little nervous when the Superman ride was broken before we got on...... but the people behind us were more nervous when it was broken again after we got off. I don't think there is any way to describe that ride. They strap you in completely, even your ankles and then you are lifted to appear as though you are flying. I think that I screamed the entire ride. Still not sure if I liked it or not. Maybe I will have to go back and do it again. The kids loved the day!!! That my friends is what we call SWEET SUCCESS!!!!

What is the first thing YOU do when you get to Chicago?

After being delayed on the train 4 additional hours, the kids were beginning to think  they might have to jump off the train to see Uncle Adam and Aunt Jaimie.  They were willing to walk the rest of the way If it meant getting there faster AND being able to eat something other than my "yuck" snacks. (Naturally, that is there word and not mine. )  The closer we got the more excited they became.  As we were waiting for the train to come "to a complete stop", so we could disembark..... people started putting two and two together and realized that I was not traveling with some sort of team. But, instead, I was traveling with my six kids.  I honestly think this was one of the first times that we were able to last that many hours without people trying to figure out how it was I had so many kids the same age.  :) 

Of course, for me the best part of getting off the train, was leaving the Pepsi products and finding a good, cold Diet Coke. The kids naturally thought it was hilarious one of the first things I noticed  and took a picture of was a coke vending machine!!!  I decided then and there that I needed to make sure I found a way to carry diet coke on the train ride back!!!

We are already loving the "green".  In Palmdale right now it seems as though the only thing we will ever see is the dead brown.  But here ,it is amazing.  So green and gorgeous!!! While we were waiting for Adam and Jaimie to arrive ,the kids raced around the park and teased me again about more pictures.  I think that a ton of pictures is the only way to go.  We will see who wins out on this debate.  (I think it will be me!!!)

We were starving after getting off the train and so we decided the first thing you must do is find and eat "Chicago" style pizza.  I really was worried that the kids would not want the nice thick crust so for them the same old boring.  But NOT me.  I must admit one of the best things about having other adults around is that you do get the chance to share different kinds of pizza.  I am so over plain, old, boring cheese or pepperoni pizza!!!

And yes.....  I LOVED the pizza!!!  Add my Diet Coke with lemon, and great company, ........... you get my first little piece of HEAVEN on this trip!!!!!

What do you do on a train for a day and a half?

One of the first things you do after you get a little shut eye on the train....... EAT, of course!! We decided to go and find the dining car!!!  Now, I must say when you are walking between cars on the train it is a little weird at first.  For some strange reason.... I always believed that a train would be a smooth ride because it is going along some tracks.

 I am here to inform you, that is not necessarily true.  :)  There is acutally quite a bit of rocking back and forth.  A note of caution to everyone......... hold onto the backs of the chairs as you walk.....or you may just end up in a strangers lap.  :0 

The food was really very good on the train.  Not a huge selection and it was expensive. However, it was super fun to be able to sit at the tables and look out the big windows. Of course, you must also humor mom with some more picture taking opportunities.

It was so very amazing to be able to see the fun things that we saw on the trip.  Jayson told me that this hotel looked like a castle hidden away in the forest. ( I just love sitting and listening to them and watching the excitement on their little faces as their imaginations are hard at work!) It was very interesting for me to be a passenger rather than the driver.  I was able to sit back, look out the windows and enjoy taking in all of the sights. It is amazing how much more fun a trip can be when you are not worried about potty breaks, getting gas, hotels along the way etc.... 

Besides having our own seats in coach, there is a viewing car that you can go and sit in.     It ,too, is a lot of fun.  Instead of sitting faced forward you get to sit side by side and really enjoy the scenery.  We saw rivers, mountains, lots of GREEN (which is very rare in Sunny So. Cal), deer, prairie dogs, horses,cows, and even a group of "mooners".  Now that is a sight and thankfully one I don't see everyday. 

The kids were so funny.  They would sit and look out the windows, go down to the snack cart and entertain the guy that worked there, play some DS/IPAD games, nap, and even crochet.  Bryan made me this amazing water bottle holder. ( I may have him market them to make some extra cash.  :)  ) We decided to take a walk down to the snack car and this man was counting the kids as we walked by.  He then asked them why they all had matching shirts.... surely, they must be some sort of a sports team traveling together.  The kids giggled and said, "No, mom just wants to be able to see us all."  I could see he was a little shocked.  I merely smiled nicely, and told him ," this way they can run but they cannot hide. "  Sometimes it is easier to come up with something funny to say instead of having to explain why all my children appear to be the same age. :)  

Today my wish for everyone..... take some time to slow down and look out the windows around you.... you have no idea what amazing things you are missing if you don't. 

Salt Lake City, Utah to Naperville, Illinois

How do you get from Salt Lake City to Naperville Illinois with six kids and a van that seems to spend more time broken than fixed?  You take a train of course!! 1:30 am we leave Grandma and Grandpa's house and head to the station.  Kids are all tuckered out from helping move boxes for three days, but for me it was better than Christmas morning.  I was so excited!!!  I have never ridden a train.... well besides the Disneyland train and a Polar Express train.  It was seriously exciting.

As we were sitting in the train station waiting, waiting, waiting for the train,(it actually was not that much for real but the kids sure thought it was) the kids actually thought they might die.  They kept telling me that they had never, ever, ever , in their entire lives been so tired in their entire lives.  Funny thing..... when I tried to get them to settle down and go to sleep earlier in the night they kept fiddling around.  :)  It was one of those glorious , "I told you ..... you should be quiet and go to sleep because the time was going to come fast that we had to get up."

Once we starting boarding the train, the kids FINALLY started to get as excited as me.  There were not very many people on the train, so we found some good seats and immediately took over a lot of space.   We got our luggage put away and started to settle in. It was not long before the train left the station. Which is when the adventure "really" began.  We looked out of the windows and wondered where we would be when the sun came up.

The kids were starting to get very, very sleepy. They were also starting to get sick of me taking pictures.  Hunter told me I was allowed 2 pictures a day and that was ALL!!!  Hmmmm... I don't think that is going to work for me.  Who put him in charge anyway? :)  I LOVE pictures!!

It did not take long before the little ones were out for the count!!!  Having worked so hard before getting on the train really worked well for me.  :)  I must say there is something very peaceful and serene about sleeping little ones and the quiet hum of the train as it moves along the track. Sleep well my friends, this may be a LONG journey.  

Moving Grandma and Grandpa Part 2

 What do you do when the moving company is coming to the house to move out furniture at Add to it, no access to bowls, milk, silverware, or cereal.  Well ...... of course ,you end up at the closest McDonald's for breakfast.  And guess what, we also got the chance to run around in the play thing, and play basketball. It was a super fun way to take a break and have some breakfast so that when we got back to the house we were once again ready to go back to work at full speed ahead. 

Basketball at the McDonald's, who knew you could play?  I actually had no idea.   To make this adventure more interesting there was also a boil warning on all the  water in Clinton the day we arrived so a lot of the restaurants were closed or not serving soda's because of the possible contamination of ecoli in the water.  We had been drinking bottled water at Mom's.  I am telling you this trip just keeps getting weirder and weirder as it goes on.  But truly and adventure. :) 

Jayson found a leaf and wanted to make me something.  This is the flower he made out of a leaf.  I thought it was really cool and super creative.  I am lucky to have such amazing kids. 

Another U-haul, another day.  I think mom and dad had no idea how much stuff they really had at their house that needed to be moved.  This was the third truck that we had to load and then unload.  But with all of us working together the load became light.

Helping mom and dad move was almost a bittersweet thing for me.  Although, I never spent time living in this house as a little kid growing up, there was a lot that happened in this house that makes it near and dear to my heart.  This is the house that my Grandmother ,(Great- Mom as she was called by the Grandkids) lived for a long time.  Bruce and Mary were able to live here for awhile with their Noah.  Elizabeth and her girls lived in the house after we lost Dan to suicide.  Then she was able to live there again with the twins while Mark was deployed. I was able to live here with Tanner and Hunter when I was pregnant with the quads until I was hospitalized.  This was the house I would come to each summer with the kids and we would hang out, camp, play with cousins, visit with loved ones and for me with the craziness and uncertainty of life this yard was a safe haven for me.  It represented peace, unconditional love and fun.  I am truly going to miss it.  I know I was surprised at how emotional it  all made me.  

So after another hard day at work and getting the truck loaded and the new house full of nothing more than boxes, Jayson, Nathan and I decided to sleep over in the house for one more night.  This allowed the dogs to stay there too.  I found it a little sad but also a nice thing.  It was fun to "camp" on the floor and remember the fun, sad and memorable times that we had spent there.  
I will never forget the night before Dad "died".  I walked into this very room, we made a joke and I told him that I loved him.  Next day he was gone and I had not idea if I would ever see him in this life again.  We were blessed to have more time.  So again, memories. And LOVE, that is what this house and yard were full of..... LOVE.   What a special thing that so many things have impacted us.  Mom and Dad have always opened their hearts and home to all and anyone to help us.  We are a lucky group of kids and grandkids.  I know that in the new house we will make new memories and that the same LOVE will be there.......... however, it is always hard to close a door. And this my friends was the glorious end of  Day # 2 of the big move.

Here is the "stuff" that we managed to fit into the garage.  Honestly, I am not sure how we did it.  But it is there and even though it might be a bit of a mess we found space for it all.

It is amazing what a little teamwork can do.  I was once again proud and impressed with the kids and their handwork.  They may have moaned a little but nothing too drastic. 

Last but not least ,this is the final picture of the garage.  I think even mom and dad were surprised that we were able to find a place for it all.  And in a bit of an organized way.  There are aisles for them to walk down and we were able to label the sides with different symbols so that they would be able to figure out where things needed to be.  It was a long day we started bright and early at 8:00 and did not finish until about 7:00 that night.  But that is Day # 3.  And impressively we were still moving at this point. :) Yea, another day down with a job well done.  Rest Well my weary friends!!!

Seriously, AGAIN?!?!?!?!

Oh YES indeed!!! It is true. How in the world would we ever have enough stuff to put on the blog if this kindof stuff did not happen? I mean seriously, you cannot make this stuff up.

Wednesday morning we get up and have breakfast. We decide we should hit the road because we are a day late due to van issues. Grandma and Grandpa need our help....off we go. Or so we think..... Van starts beautifully. We drive across the street to a gas station to get some gas, and of course a Diet Coke. I turn the van off and as the kids try to get out of the doors...... they will not open. Hmmmm... that seems a little odd but we get gas. Try to start and NOTHING!!! What the heck it was running 5 minutes ago and now nothing?!?!?!?!?

I ask a nice man to help us jump start the van. Now if the van started right away that would make this story really boring!!! So.... yup you guessed it, that does not to work either. We are looking at the battery and trying to figure out what in the heck is going on. I tighten the cables .... why?!?!?  Well because...... funny thing they are loose again.

Might that be what the tow guy said the first time we were in a pickle. I do believe so. I also believe that is the message I gave the Honda people. Let me think... think.... think, oh yes, the Honda people told me that they were completely fine but if I wanted "peace of mind" they could change them for me for $300.00 and two days later (they would have to order them). But they did not NEED to be done that they were functioning perfectly normal. GRRRRR ..... so finally after getting them as tight as I can we get the van started.

The kids were okay with the delay as there were a bunch of old cars parked close by that they went and checked out.  I think they all picked the "one " they hope to drive when they turn 16.  I guess they had better start working now!!!



By this point that Diet Coke is not longer just something I want it is a MUST!!!  We go back across the street to McDonald's and get not one but two and to my dismay.... as I am bringing it through the window..... I spill half of it where.... in my lap, of course. At this point I am laughing because there is nothing else to do!!!!! (and my precious children are laughing as well)  I am so glad they can see the humor in my suffering.  :)

So off we go. We hit some storms but nothing too bad. The smell of rain is amazing.!!!  We sure do miss that smell in Palmdale!!! We have the iTunes playlist up and we are singing at the top of our lungs and dancing... well dancing the best you can when driving in a packed mini van.

We are having a good time!!We realize we are going to need gas if we are going to make it the rest of the way. The first place we stop the power is out and all the gas stations are closing.  We have a new problem arising though, because by this point the water that the kids drank and the 1 1/2 Diet Cokes that I drank are making us realize we MUST stop soon. 

We drive to the next town and get lucky. However, I did not think this through very well.  It would be pretty unwise to turn the van off , since starting it up again never seemed to go well for us. Here we are......my bladder full , the kids bladders full, and a van we need to leave running.  We know that we cannot leave the van running without anyone in it, but I cannot leave a van full of kids with the keys in it......:0.  Again, we lucked out!!!  Thank heavens for bathrooms that are not in the gas station but rather, out back !!! All we had to do was rotate though. Leave the van running and locked with a few people in it at a time. I don't think I have ever emptied my bladder so quickly.

Finally we arrive at Mom and Dad's house. Stop the van and yes....... doors will not open again. Dead as a dead can be!!! (as a side note... maybe I should have left it running and unlocked at the gas station. ) Heaven help us!!!! For anyone who is interested.... I do not think I will ever buy a Honda van AGAIN!!!! Not my favorite, that is for sure!!!

But bring the moving on! I am so proud of my kiddos. They got right in and started packing, loading and unloading the moving truck right away. You would have thought they had spent two days sitting in a van or something. So much energy. :)

And that my friends, that is what we call a successful day one of helping Grandma and Grandpa move!!!  Rest well, I know we will!!!