Yes, again. Since I had to look back at my blog posts to see when the last time this happened and for med dosages, I thought it would be a good time to update the blog. Eh. We do still have some meds on hand from the last episode a few years ago, but we're contemplating what to do when they run out. Our vet is (surprise!) out of town for the weekend. The Man just got in touch with someone at the hospital who agreed to give him the needed meds, so he is off to get those.
So, update on us: New dog was added to our family the end of June. Weird story since I wasn't even looking to add another responsibility to our full-to-overflowing plates, but I clicked on a link late on a Friday afternoon, and then surfed, and somehow ended up on Petfinder.com. I punched in our zip just for kicks and a dog showed up that I knew needed a home. Any home. Not ours, because, of course, we didn't need another dog. I sent out a plea on facebook for someone to go get the dog. The Man thought it looked like a good dog and told me it was up to me if we got it.
First thing the following Monday morning I called the pound to get more information on the dog. Tuesday afternoon the kids and I went up there just to look. I took the Dog along, too, just in case I wanted to see how they got along. I still wasn't thrilled about getting another pet, but this puppy needed a home.
The lady at the pound said he was a stray that had been there 2 months! She said everyone that came to see him said he was too big, but he was a sweetheart that needed a home. He was a bit bigger than I'd anticipated. I was agreeable to taking him for a trial and the lady said she would waive the adoption fee since she wanted him to get out of the pound.
Since we got him for "free," it didn't hurt quite so bad to stop on our way home to buy a crate, dog dish, leash, collar, and harness. I told myself that even if we didn't end up keeping him, the Dog's 15 year old crate needed to be replaced anyway, so it would be too much of a waste.
The Man laughed at me when we got home. He seemed to recall me telling him in the not so distant past that I didn't want a big dog. OK, so this dog is pretty big. He tipped the scales at nearly 90 pounds. But he is a sweetheart...that runs like a horse...and should have been named something like "Houdini." Instead we named him Painter. No special reason other than it was a name that nobody especially hated, and when he wags his tail (often) he looks like a black dog that dipped his tail in some white paint and spattered it around. J also mentioned something about the amount of drool that comes out of his mouth, but that's kind of gross.
The vet has no clue as to what breed of dog he is. He was advertised as McNab x Hound, but the vet, we, and everyone else agrees that he doesn't have hound in him. The vet said he definitely isn't Chihuahua (hee-hee). The vet guessed that maybe he was McNab x Pyrenees. Possible, but he has short hair. The vet guessed he is probably between 2-3 years old.
I was hoping that he and the Dog would be pals. The Dog is nearly 8 years old, and with all of his poisonings, I don't want to think about his lifespan. The Dog tolerates Painter, but he was quite offended that we didn't ask his opinion before we brought him home. The Dog stayed under the van moping for the first two days after we brought Painter home.
So, a little over a week after we brought Painter home, we left on a 3-week trip. I know...getting a new dog right before a long trip was NOT one of my smarter moments. I marveled at my own stupidity. He did have an excellent dog-sitter while we were gone, and I know he was better off than being caged (or worse!) while we were gone. I don't know how much longer the pound would have kept him!
Our 3-week trip involved leaving home at 7 pm on a Thursday night, driving straight through to arrive in Walla Walla for an 8 am appointment at the college, visiting friends and the Whitman Mission, taking M & J to summer camp, visiting The Man's aunt and uncle, camping in Idaho, back to pick up M & J, camping under the stars in Montana, Little Big Horn, Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, Wall Drug, Andrews University in Michigan (and visits with Grandma & Grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends), Indiana (another Grandma, Grandpa, aunt, uncles, cousins, and friends), more family in Kentucky, college visit in Tennessee and then we were ready to go home! We left Tennessee on Wednesday morning and drove straight through to the Grand Canyon. We arrived there about 3 pm on Thursday, left at 5, slept about 2 hours at some dinky rest stop between Las Vegas and Reno, and arrived home about 2 pm on Friday. Whew. That last paragraph deserves several blog posts of its own, but considering my blogging habits lately, that will have to do!
Life is too crazy right now to even sort out more blog posts.
I took this video of S yesterday. I dare you to watch it and not smile.
M is home. He had a very uneventful trip home. Yay! We just got home from picking him up at the airport and getting groceries. We stepped out of the van and S exclaimed, "It feels like Indiana!" Yes, it had rained while we were gone and it was very hot, humid, and muggy when we got home. Now that I have my official photographer and my cell phone/camera back, I may be able to post some new pictures soon!
M left this morning for camp. This is his very first time away from home without either parent for more than a sleepover at a friend's house.
I was so happy to finally see that M's flight had left the airport that The Man took him to early this morning! They left just after 6 am to get to the airport in plenty of time for his 9:20 am flight. The flight was delayed just over 5 hours! 
M called from Portland and said that the delay was caused by a malfunction of one of the "triple redundant" parts. It took that long to repair the part and return it to triple redundancy. As long as he made it there safely, I'm not going to complain!
He called again from Portland right before he went to get something to eat for supper. I told him to call again before his next flight took off. He didn't, but since the cell phone was turned off and my online source said the flight actually took off, I just needed to assume that he made it on the flight!
He did make it safely to Spokane. He said he forgot to call until the flight attendant said to turn off the cell phones. Tomorrow he hopes to receive his checked piece of luggage. I hope he's thankful his mother had him pack a change of clothes and his toiletries in his carry-on luggage (at least the other campers can be thankful if he's not)!
I am thankful...
That I insisted on him taking my cell phone with him.
That he was (very) capable of getting his connecting flight changed and notifying the camp staff.
And yes, I was very thankful that we/he had to deal with that before. Even though I was fretting this morning and afternoon thinking about my son dealing with it all on his own, I think our previous experiences helped prepare him for this adventure. Ha. I don't think it really bothered him. Even though I let him know that we had free minutes on our cell plan today and he could call and talk to us any or all of the time he was stuck there at the airport, he didn't call to chat. Of course, I really didn't give him a chance to call us since I called him as soon as I noticed each flight status change online.
I'm sure he will have a great week at camp. If you click on the camp link above, that page will allow you to listen to the nightly programs.
Cell phones, flight trackers, live streaming of meetings...and blogs to share the story. What did we do before technology?
We're busily getting ready for The Man, M and J to leave for a church mission project in Chile. This is the first time the boys will have used their passports for international travel, and they sure are excited. M bought a camera yesterday so they will bring back lots of pictures.
Out of all the exciting things they could be excited about, the conversation yesterday was all about the seasons. It will be winter when they leave here. They will arrive in Chile (in the southern hemisphere) in the summer. A few days later it will become fall, and then when they fly back here it will be spring. They will experience all four seasons in a span of 2 weeks. It doesn't take much to excite homeschoolers!
Hello! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We went to New York for Christmas. We are home now.
Here is the long saga:
On the afternoon of December 22, while I was busy with last-minute packing, S came and told me that Sacagawea had just gotten sick all over the couch. Packing ceased while I simultaneously took the slipcover off the couch and threw it into the washing machine, put Sacagawea in the tub for a scrubbing and hair-washing, and gave orders for everyone to take a dose of charcoal.
After The Man came home from work, we loaded up the van and set out for the airport 4 hours away. We even packed a bucket for Sacagawea to use in case she needed it. She did.
Our flight wasn't until 6 a.m. Tuesday morning, but with unpredictable weather, we wanted to get over the local mountain passes while they were still passable without chains. We arrived at a rest area just north of the airport about 1 a.m. After a few hours of fitful sleep at the rest area, we went to the airport. S got out of the van and threw up. After careful questioning it was determined that he was the only one that didn't get a dose of charcoal. Fortunately, there was no more throwing up after that.
We were kept on the ground for awhile due to extreme weather conditions in Chicago. We had nearly a 2-hour scheduled layover there so I wasn't concerned. G enjoyed his first flight.
When we arrived at Chicago O'Hare we discovered that our flight to New York was one of the hundreds that had been canceled. Canceled...as in, it's not happening. Deep breath. Ok, I'd done this before. We could handle it.
I approached a lady at a counter and asked her to point me in the direction of where to go. She did and we all set off to stand in a looooong line. A few minutes later the same lady came by and took me out of line to a kiosk where she entered our information to get us waitlisted for the next flight. I went back to where The Man and children were in line. Soon another lady came and told me that I was welcome to sit on bench behind the information booth with some of the children while The Man was in line. That was wonderful.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much that could be worked out for us, so we made our way to the terminal and gate of the next flight, and the next, and the next, and the next. By 1 a.m. the next morning we had actual tickets for Christmas morning and we were on the waitlist for the 6 a.m. flight Christmas Eve.
The most frustrating thing about our experience was not knowing until right before the doors closed after boarding whether or not we could get on the plane. We literally had to be ready with coats on and carry-on luggage ready by the door for each and every flight. It was tiring for all of us except G. G didn't get put down the entire time we were at the airport. We had tried to gate-check his carseat, but the agent said we couldn't. It was checked all the way to New York.
M used his "free time" well. While waiting for the 11 p.m. flight, which didn't leave until after midnight, he got out his violin. J was enlisted to hold the hymn book, and M played Christmas carols for the fellow passengers that were waiting.
Considering it was after 10 p.m. at night, I was impressed that other passengers appreciated his playing to the tune of $28.84 tossed into his violin case. J was excited that M gave him $5 for holding the book.
After the flight left after midnight, the terminal quieted down. I took G to the bathroom for a bath. The kids stretched out on the seats to sleep and The Man and I took turns staying awake.
About 4 a.m. we roused the children and made our way to the terminal of the 6 a.m. flight. At that point I had the brilliant idea of getting a cart on which to put all of carry-on luggage. It was the best $1 we spent at the airport.
We didn't make that flight, although we were offered 4 seats. Nor did we get on the next flight. When we arrived at the gate for the 2:30 p.m. flight (24 hours after we were supposed to leave), the agent pulled us aside and told us there would be some folks that wouldn't make the flight due to misconnects. Chances were good that we would all make it on the next flight, but we should be willing to split up if only 4 seats were available. Ugh. There were only 4 confirmed seats available, but there were also 2 other seats availble at the end of boarding, so we all left O'Hare together. Sort of.
After we were in the air, it occured to me that I knew The Man was on board, I knew Sacagawea and G were on board, and I was pretty certain I saw the other boys go down the jetway, but I had no idea where the other boys were sitting. Between sleep deprivation and the last-second boarding, I can easily see how those "Child Left at Airport" headlines occur. The Man later assured me that he knew we were all on board before we left the gate. Whew.
We finally made it to New York! However, all of those "Don't you dare ask us about your luggage because it is already at your final destination" (I'm paraphrasing) recorded annoucements that were played over and over and over and over and over again at O'Hare were not true! So, after waiting around for the bag lady (heh) to go borrow some car seats from another airline because all of theirs were nasty (her words) and giving the address where our luggage could be delivered the next day, we were out of the airport.
I missed supper because I fell asleep on the couch while feeding G. The rest of the week was wonderful, but kind of a blur. I didn't feel like I was caught up on my sleep until we were ready to go home.
The kids loved meeting some of their cousins for the first time and had lots of fun playing. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, but you can find some here. Sacagawea especially enjoyed playing with Play-do. Grandma gave them some tin pie plates and they made many pied pies.
Sacagawea was also introduced to the American Girl catalog. The girls brought me a sheet of paper with a bunch of numbers carefully printed on it. "These are the item numbers of what Sacagawea wants. And those numbers are the ones you have to dial to order."
Yesterday we got up early and were back at the airport along with a goodie bags full of food so we wouldn't have to pay exorbinate airport prices and tissues for our headcolds (THANK YOU!). Uneventful. Wonderful!
When we got to our gate in Chicago the agents were begging people to take a later flight in exchange for free tickets. I was told that they had overbooked the flight by 34 seats! They were offering first class tickets on a later flight. No thanks. We weren't the least bit interested. Any other time and it might have been tempting, but we all wanted to get out of O'Hare as quickly as possible.
The next flight was ok, except the altitude changes coupled with my cold did a number on my ears. I wasn't able to hear properly again until we were driving up in the mountains near home.
We made it home just after 7 p.m. last night. I still have a cold. Most of the luggage has been unpacked and I need to go fold some laundry.
We hope you all have a wonderful New Year! Given our year of flights, we aren't planning on traveling through Chicago O'Hare next year!
Yes! We are back! We had a wonderful time and I've spent the last 2 weeks recuperating and trying to catch up on things around the house. So sorry if I left y'all hanging.
Short story: We made it there and back all safe, sound, and feeling totally blessed.
Long, long, long story: Read on...
Our van was returned to us in working condition, so the kids and I used it for the four-hour journey to the airport. Coincidentally, Grandma was leaving that afternoon from the same airport so we got to eat lunch with her before our flights.
The flight to Chicago was interesting since we had to fly up through Canada and approach Chicago from the east due to storms. Our anticipated 3-hour layover in Chicago was shortened to just 1 hour. By the time we made it to Chicago it was just after 10 pm in Chicago. After we found our gate we ate supper and waited for our flight.
The flight was late in leaving, but at least it went. An earlier flight to our destination was completely canceled, so there were a lot of stranded passengers trying to get on our flight.
While we did experience some wet weather while at camp meeting in Indiana, we weren't in an area that experienced the horrible flooding. Lots of lightning and thunder, but we managed to stay relatively dry.
Between my parents, siblings, nieces, and us, there were 3 adults and 9 kids. The kids especially enjoyed their meetings with their aunt, uncles, and cousins. I think every day at least one of the kids brought a permission slip for a special afternoon activity such as swimming, miniature golf, or rock climbing. M's group spent one afternoon doing community service activities. M was assigned to weed flower beds at a care facility. The kid that was working with M commented on how fast M was weeding. I told M that he ought to be fast...he's a professional now! At the end of the week J and some of the other kids in his class were presented with Bibles. J also got a pocket-sized hymnal. I'll have to ask him again why they got them (I know he told me, but I've forgotten!).
Here is a list of the adult meetings. This was the first time the kids have been big enough to attend meetings without me. I actually got to go to the adult meetings, which were very good also.
Pictures? We were having too much fun for pictures? Do you believe that? No? OK. There were times I thought about going to get the camera to take a picture, but that would have involved 1) getting up from a comfortable chair, 2) walking to get the camera, 3) taking the picture, and 4) putting the camera away. I wasn't totally lazy the whole time. I did do a lot of walking to and from the meetings, but the times I was sitting in a comfortable chair, inertia won out most of the time.
Too soon the week was over and it was time to go home. The kids were anxious to get home, especially since it was Father's Day and it had been a whole week since they had seen The Man.
We got up about 5 am Indiana time to go to the airport. We were dropped off in plenty of time for our 8:30 flight. Once again, we ate at the gate while waiting for our flight. We boarded the flight right on schedule. The plane pulled away from the gate and we waited...and waited...and waited. Chicago was closed! Nearly two hours later, when the weather in Chicago cleared, our plane took off for the 1-hour flight.
As soon as we landed I turned on my cell phone and got the news that our flight back to Sacramento was delayed by 20 minutes. That was good news since it was supposed to have left just as we were landing. We got off the plane and ran to the gate. No plane. It was gone. Without us.
We joined the line of several dozen other people in our predicament and I called the airline. They were sorry, but the other two flights to Sacramento that day were already full. The nice employee suggested I just wait in line and work out something with the agent in Chicago.
The kids were hungry, but I thought getting home was a bit more important at that point. I doled out the granola bars I had in my carry-on and we waited...and waited...and waited. Two and a half hours later we made it to the front of the line. Whenever a child mentioned not wanting to wait in line any longer, I told him or her we could leave the line and go get more food, but we would then have to re-join the line later. I then allowed them to go and see how long the line had become since we had first joined. O'Hare was a mess that day!
After working with us 30 minutes, the agent was able to find a flight for all of us to San Francisco, where we would spend the night, and then a flight on to Sacramento on Monday morning. "I'm not supposed to do this because it is weather related, but here are some meal vouchers for you. Your kids have been so good!" Yay! I felt so blessed by such a small token. I'm not sure if she felt more sorry for the kids or me, the pregnant lady with four kids, but either way, we were extremely grateful for her thoughtfulness.
The kids were good, considering the circumstances. I must say that they handled the situation better than a lot of the adults in line. The agent told us take the "scenic" route to our new terminal and see the sites along the way since we had plenty of time before our flight. O'Hare does have plenty for the kids (big and little) to do.
A dinosaur (The camera was already with me and I wasn't sitting in a comfortable chair)...
The type of airplane flown by Butch O'Hare...
An airport just for kids (sorry, bad lighting and my battery was going). Sacagawea throwing handling the baggage...
S pedaling the copter...
Along the way to the new terminal we stopped and found some food. While waiting for the order a couple stopped to let me know that they had been behind us in the airline customer service line and they were impressed with my children and their behavior during the long wait. Awwww. Sometimes a mom needs to hear that, especially when fuses are short during such an ordeal.
Our flight to San Francisco was on a different airline. I found the seating much more comfortable. The boys were stopped by the flight attendant as we boarded to take a peek into the cockpit. I went on back to our seats and got Sacagawea settled into her seat and our carry-on luggage stowed. I made my way back up to the front of the airplane and took the boys' carry-on luggage back to their seats a few rows in front of Sacagawea's and mine.
The flight attendant escorted the boys back to their seats and told me what fine young men I had. How many times a day can a mama be told that without it going to her head? She then asked for my email address so she could send a photo of the boys in the cockpit that she had taken with her iphone. So, The Man did get to see the boys on Father's Day, if only through an email.
The flight was blissfully non-eventful, so Sacagawea and I were able to get a few hours of sleep. I went up to check on the boys before landing and found that J and S were also getting some sleep. I was glad, since I wasn't planning on venturing outside of the San Francisco airport that night.
A different flight attendant stopped and complimented me again on the kids. She said they were the best kids they had seen all day. I'm sure it didn't hurt her opinion that 3/4 of them slept most of the flight. I thought it was a good time to ask her if that was the last flight for the plane for the evening (it was) and I let her know that we would be spending some time in SFO before our next flight as I held up one of the airline's little pillows. "Oh, absolutely! Take a pillow and blanket for everyone!" Yay!
I was glad I'd "asked" permission. I stowed the blankets in one of our carry-on bags and told the kids to carry their pillows off the plane. One of the other flight attendants raised her eyebrows as we were de-planing and whispered to the attendant next to her. "It's OK! I TOLD them they could take them," I heard the other reply.
As soon as we arrived in San Francisco I found the terminal of our original airline, which we would be flying with to Sacramento, to obtain seat assignments for our morning flight. It was nearly 10 pm, but I found a gate where people were boarding a plane and an agent was present. I told him I wanted to get some seat assignments for our morning flight.
After getting the assignments the gentleman looked us over. "You're not planning on spending the night here, are you?" I shrugged my shoulders, too tired to say or do much else. "No, you have young children. I'm not supposed to do this since the delay was weather related, but you need a hotel." He soon produced a hotel voucher and $75 worth of meal vouchers for the 5 of us. Wow.
We followed his directions to leave the airport and wait for the shuttle to take us to our hotel. Soon a van stopped with our hotel's name on the side. We stepped aboard as I showed the driver our voucher with the hotel's address on it. "No, this is for a different hotel. Their shuttle should be along later." We got off the shuttle and waited some more. Finally I called the hotel's number printed on the voucher and was told that they didn't send shuttles to the airport!
I went back inside to the airline's main ticket counter and explained the situation. After a bit of back and forth amongst themselves, the employees who were there (and anxious to close up on schedule at 10:30) produced a replacement voucher for a different hotel. We went back out to the sidewalk until the van that we had originally tried to get on stopped again. This time the driver told us it was one of his hotels and we were on our way. "How did you get a new voucher?" he asked. "I've never known of an airline changing a hotel like that before."
We were checked in at the hotel by 11 pm and I requested a 4:30 wake-up call so we could be on the first shuttle back to the airport by 5 am. We used the airline blankets to make up a bed for S on the floor, while M and J got one of the beds, and Sacagawea and I shared the other. M's alarm went off at 4:20 am. I got up to take a shower and told him what to do when the wake-up call came at 4:30. M got a shower also and we were out the door by 4:55. We were soon back at the airport, through more security lines, and then we found a place to get some breakfast food. I wasn't sure how I could possibly spend $75 worth of food vouchers. Obviously I'd never bought breakfast at the San Francisco airport. For our breakfast I chose:
5 bagel, egg and cheese sandwiches
5 cups of cereal
3 small cartons of milk
5 yogurts
The total came to over $51. Since they couldn't give change on the vouchers, I added 5 juice boxes to bring the total to $60.02. That is more than half what I usually spend at the grocery store each week! I didn't use the last voucher since everyone was full with just that food.
After eating and calling The Man, we walked down the stairs, across the tarmac, and boarded a small prop plane. An hour later we were in Sacramento. After retrieving ALL our luggage from the baggage claim office (it seems that our luggage had a more diverse route than we did!) we drove HOME! *******
The Man didn't spend all week at home without us. He had spent most of the time on a Wilderness Medical Society continuing education class/expedition. He did some rafting, mountain climbing, etc. while learning about emergency medical stuff. He had a good time also. Unfortunately one of the hoses in his pickup truck busted and he spent several hours fixing that before he was able to come home. I'm so glad he was driving it and not me since he knew how to fix it!
create your own personalized map of the USAI've visited 29 states (56%). I'm not sure New York and New Jersey really count, since JFK is all I've seen of New York. My time in NJ was spent on a tarmac while waiting for the NY weather to clear. The same for Minnesota...all I've seen of it is the airport. It looks like a Northern States tour and an East Coast excursion are in order. Of course, we need to visit Alaska and Hawaii also. Where have you been?
I haven't blogged lately because whenever I think of it, I ask myself, "Should I blog or feed the kids?" or "Should I blog or pay the bills?" or "Should I blog or take a shower?" Fortunately for those around me, blogging is near the bottom of my priorities. I do have a bit of time right now while the kids are assembling a K'Nex roller coaster we found last week at the Goodwill for $10 so I think I should give an update on our trip last month while I can still remember the details! Warning: This turned into a long post!
Our flight didn't leave from Sacramento until the afternoon, so we were able to get up at a reasonable hour and drive down to the airport. We made it to the airport in plenty of time for our flight. While checking in with the airline famous for its cheap fares and unassigned seating, I noticed our boarding cards said we were in the 3rd boarding group. All the previous times we have flown as a family we've pre-boarded due to having young children with us. Since Sacagawea celebrated her 5th birthday since the last time we flew the friendly skies, I asked about the current policy.
"Families flying with children 4 and under get to pre-board." Seeing my dejected look, the employee asked Sacagawea's age. I told her she was five. "Oh, I didn't tell you to do this, but when you get to the boarding gate, just tell them she is four so you can pre-board." Then, turning to Sacagawea, she said, "Honey, you are four today. Okay?"
"No, I'm five!" stated Sacagawea. That's my girl. I restated Sacagawea's correct age and off we went to our gate to stand in line with the rest of the folks assigned to group C. While I do appreciate her willingness to "help" us, I wasn't impressed with her trying to get my daughter (and me) to tell a lie.
When we boarded the plane, the only seats we could find together were at the back...Sacagawea and I sat together, The Man and S sat across the aisle, and M & J sat right behind them in the back row. Inconvenient? Yes, but certainly not worthy of besmirching my character. Wait! What's the big deal? It has since been pointed out to me that many who call themselves Christians wouldn't think twice about telling this little lie. It certainly wouldn't have hurt anybody. Right? Wrong. Nobody at the airline would have cared. The other passengers probably wouldn't have noticed. But I would know. And Sacagawea would know. I'm not going to teach my daughter it is okay to lie, especially just for the sake of convenience. I'm convinced that the problems with many of today's children/future-adults is that their parents don't realize the things they are teaching through their actions. It is the small, everyday actions that build the foundation for the children's future. Okay, off my soapbox.
That flight was just a quick one to Vegas where we entered a very warm airport. Vegas was experiencing a power outage so we stood around in the darkened airport waiting for our connecting flight. There really isn't much to do in Vegas airport when the power is out...except gamble. I did find it sadly humorous that the only things still functioning were the slot machines. They didn't have all the bells and whistles, but there were still people there feeding them money.
We had better seating arrangements for the next flight and arrived safely in Indy sometime after midnight. After a few hours of sleep we set off to the north to visit some family and friends.
We stayed with R's (they don't mind using their names on the net, but for the sake of uniformity...) family and had supper with L and F also. The kids were thrilled to meet new cousins and J was especially glad to finally see Lake Michigan. The next day we went over to L's family's farm to meet T, the cattle and chickens. The kids were glad there was an electric fence between them and the cattle.
After picking some super-duper yummy vegetables from the garden (I took pictures, everyone else picked), we went over to check out vegetable packing and the box maker. The field, pickers, washing, sorting, packing, and into the cooler ready for pick-up. Wow! What a field trip! Too bad we were on vacation ;)
Here is the Man getting a tutorial on the intricacies of boxes. 
We went back over to R's for a lunch with N and then went back down to Indiana for Grandma & Grandpa's 40th anniversary celebration.
It was sorta-kinda a surprise. Well, it would have been...if I hadn't told Mom she needed to take an extra day off work...and if a certain brother hadn't kept asking when V & M were coming. Oh well...at least they didn't know when we were coming. A quick call before we got there and Uncle D (shown below demonstrating for his impressionable nephews the fine art of "popping a wheelie") made sure the basement door was unlocked. The kids exited the vehicle and sneaked in through the basement. Grandma wasn't home. The kids went upstairs to hide and thoroughly enjoyed surprising her a bit later. Thanks for playing along.
M trying out the stilts. Are these the same ones I learned on when I was a youngster?
After more fun times with cousins, aunts and uncles, soon it was time to go back home. But first...we stopped off at Conner Prairie.
It was "1836" when M and S got to play the piano. Here is S playing "Jesus Loves Me" on the antique piano.
And J got to pump some water.
We crossed on over the time travel bridge to 1886 to see a Quaker meeting house and go to school.
Then we went back to the airport and into our designated "B" line. This time the lovely airline employee at the gate came over and took away our boarding passes. After a few official stamps and signatures we were told to wait in the "A" line. It would have been an uneventful flight to Vegas except The Man answered another "Are there any medical personnel on board?" call. While waiting in the "C" line at the Vegas airport the airline employee at the gate came over and told us to pre-board. We didn't argue. It's not nice to argue.
I've been informed the roller coaster is complete...except for the batteries. SIX C BATTERIES! I'll have to see if The Man can pick some up at the dollar store after he gets off work in the ER in the morning.
I really will try to be more regular with my updates here, but we did start school last week...Should I teach math or blog?
Hello...lo...lo...Anybody here...here...here? It seems kind of empty, doesn't it? I think I'm too busy to keep up with the blog, but, well, here we go again!
Let's see...since I last posted, we made a trip back east, came home just in time to see our birdies leave the nest, M was baptized , we left on a pack trip to the mountains, we came home, and now we are in the midst of taking care of the church booth at the county fair. I'll update on all that when I'm not sleep-deprived...although updates in my current state would be very interesting.
Final barn swallow pictures:
We arrived home at 5 a.m., a week after we left home. They grew up! We only saw two on the nest at a time, but I did see two others flying around as there were two on the nest, so I think all four survived! Yay!
At first I thought these were the adults since they are so different than the little birds that were there when we left. The Man pointed out the little white markings beside their beaks. Those are juveniles!
Two days later they were gone. This is all we have to remember them by now...
Almost all...I already cleaned off the front step. I DID take a picture of the front step before I cleaned it. Something to remember the birds by...and a reminder of what to expect if we allow them to rebuild there next summer. Document, document, document.
We're back! The birds didn't miss us, but they sure did grow while we were gone.
We finally got going about 9:30 a.m. on the 5th. It took us a bit longer than usual to get up the mountain out of our little valley, but once over the hill and on the interstate the truck pulled the 5th wheel trailer pretty well. One thing we enjoy about our little valley is that everyone is so friendly. While driving, it is customary to wave at every vehicle you meet, whether you know the person driving the other vehicle or not. It is just the friendly thing to do.
Of course, we usually don't wave at every vehicle when we leave the valley. People would just think we're weird if we did that. Therefore, a few hours after we started our trip, we were a bit surprised when we met some very friendly, waving people on the interstate. They waved as they passed us...then the folks in the next vehicle waved...and pointed. They were friendly and helpful. Wow!
We slowed down and pulled off at the next exit. Sure enough, one of the tires on the trailer was no longer functioning as it should. We drove over to a nearby parking lot and The Man got out to change the tire. One nice thing about having a blog is that when things like that happen, instead of getting upset about a delay, I'm almost giddy with excitement. "Where's the camera?"
I got M involved also with the video camera. 
Pretty soon the spare was on and we got back on the interstate. 
The Man wasn't impressed with our spare so we got off at the very next exit and asked for directions to Les Schwab. They were more than helpful with getting us set up with four new tires (we bought the 5th wheel a few years ago and we really had no idea how old the tires were). The Man thought about asking them how long it would take to repair the old one (ha-ha) but decided just to replace them all.
While the boys waited in the store, Sacagawea and I wandered next door to do a bit of shopping. 
I've been in Goodwill stores before, and I've been in outlet stores before, but this is the first time I encountered a Goodwill Outlet. The first thing I saw inside the door was a table with books. Fifty cents each or three for a dollar. The first book I saw was one that I remembered my sister-in-law saying that she wanted. The binding needs a bit of TLC, but other than that I thought it was a pretty good bargain. I found 2 other books and Sacagawea picked out a small sewing box and a seat cushion. We handed over $2 and went back to the tire store. 
All the kids (including the big one) enjoyed playing with the "toy" there. They created all sorts of vehicles. It helped pass the time until our trailer was finished. We got back on the road and had a very uneventful trip to the camp meeting, where we finally arrived about 8:30.
A good time was had by all and we were back on the road by 11 a.m. Sunday morning. We went home by a different route to visit some friends who were visiting the area they are moving to soon. The kids enjoyed swimming in their hotel pool for a bit before we continued on our journey home. For supper, we stopped for some Chinese food. That's pretty fancy traveling food for us, but it was a special occasion. It was our 17th wedding anniversary. We were back home by 9:00 last night. Ahhhh.
OK, new pictures of the baby birds...
Aren't they sweet?
By this afternoon they were putting their heads over the edge of the nest.
I think this one is "Junior." Here is a picture of mom and dad. 
They are pretty perturbed with us.
This chicken keeps getting out of the orchard. Sacagawea loves catching her and returning her to the orchard. They do it several times a day. We suspected she was laying eggs somewhere special. Today The Man found 8 in his shop. Apparently she uses the doggie door on the shop door to go in and lay her eggs!
Hey! Just a quick post to let you know that I haven't abandoned the blog, we've just been busy. Really, we have!
Not long after my last post we left for some meetings at our conference church camp. The theme of this year's pastors' meetings was health. The Man was asked to speak to the group on the challenge of gospel-medical ministry. He not only spoke on some of the challenges he has in combining the two (such as having his patients ask him for refills on their meds as they are shaking his hand after the sermon) but he challenged each minister to have a medical ministry either by joining forces with those already in the medical community or by using some of the many resources that have become available. He also challenged them to practice what they preach in regard to health. There were other wonderful speakers there and we came home with a big stack of books and lots of information.
In addition to the meetings, there was time for some fun and recreation. The younger three and I got to ride on the mini-railroad. The Man and boys were able to take some turns on the climbing wall. Here is M on his way up...
We drove the pickup down there so that on the way home we could do some much-needed shopping. We stopped at a Sears Appliance Outlet store and bought a washing machine. It has a cute little scratch on the front so we saved some $. It is not as heavy-duty as the one we bought 9 years ago at another outlet store, but since that one was intermittenly leaking water on the laundry room floor, I consider this one much nicer!
If anyone wants a nice, used, leaks-occasionally washing machine...come and get it! I advertised on free-cycle, but there weren't any takers. It is still sitting on my front porch. I'll even help you load up the gas dryer that's in the barn. It worked great until we moved it up here and discovered there isn't gas service. Washer on the porch? Dryer in the barn? I'll say it: Yes, we are red-necks.
We did get the two non-functional, been sitting in the yard for six months and one year pickups to the mechanics last week. Neither has called us back. We're not sure if that's good news or not. We are planning on selling at least one of them. So, if anyone wants a nice, used...
Now to answer a few questions from my faithful readers:
"So did you get your chicken tractor re-situated and the saw dust out of your living room? :)"
No and sort of.
"Why is it called a chicken tractor, out of curiosity?"
I'm tired, and all I can think of are sarcastic replies such as our little hens riding on our old John Deere...let me see...my best guess is that most real ones have wheels on them so they can be rolled from one place to another. We've been too cheap-cheep (Go ahead, groan. You know you want to.) to buy wheels so we just drag, carry, or place on the wagon. They are also a good way to work the soil in garden areas because the chickens eradicate pests & weeds, till the soil, and leave a great layer of manure.
One spring we moved a tractor around beside our well house. The next year we had several 4 x 8 ft. patches of wonderful green grass amidst all the weeds.
We haven't had a chance to move the tractor yet, and there really isn't a big rush now. The chickens seem to be doing fine, and they started laying eggs again. When the weather is nicer we'll probably be more inclined to finish the process. We would like to be able to let them loose in the orchard again, but this creature and friend are still hanging around. This was taken right after we got home from church today.
We're back! Actually we've been back since last Wednesday night, but I'm just now getting around to updating things here. It was quite a busy week. While unloading the van curbside at the airport we discovered that M's carry-on bag was not in the van. I was sure that I packed the bags and placed them by the door for The Man to carry to the van the night before. The Man was sure that he carried all the bags by the door to van. Fortunately it only contained "stuff to do on the plane" things, so he was able to share with the others. From now on I think he will take care of his own bags.
M was a good sport about it and helped me lug all the bags through the line while The Man went to park the van. We filled out all the little paper luggage tags for our checked and carry-on baggage. We had one left over.
It had been three years since the boys had flown (2 for A), so they spent most of the flight becoming reacquainted with the aircraft. While The Man tried to nap, S studied the plane evacuation procedures. He is now able to explain, in great detail, that in the unlikely event that our plane goes down on water we are not to use the back exits. And, you'll be happy to hear, there ARE flotation devices under the seats. S checked.
They had a wonderful time at Grandma & Grandpa's. While there, we were able to spend a few days at a Restoration International family camp, spend time with cousins, aunts & uncles, and visit a children's science museum. That's J and A exploring the 2-story grapevine. 
Soon it was time to pack up again and return home. S and A followed the flight attendant's instructions and "flapped their wings" to make the plane go faster. She said they were the only two on the plane that followed through. It was because of them that the plane was only 30 minutes late due to headwinds. Really. An airline employee said so, so it must be true. S was so proud.
We didn't get home until 11:30 that night (that's 2:30 a.m. in the time zone we had left). By 11:35 everyone was in bed and sound asleep.
The next day I set out in search of the missing carry-on baggage. I found it packed, in my walk-in closet. It must have walked in there.
***
Q: What do you call a deer head in a paper sack?
A: Carrion (Carry-on) luggage.
***
The dog missed us while we were gone. At least he sure was excited to see us all when we returned. The critter sitter said he was rather ill the day after we left. I didn't get all the details, but I did use my carpet cleaner when we returned. Maybe it had something to do with the deer head he found and consumed the day before we left. Could be.
A's dolls are all loaded up and ready to go. I wish I could say the same for the rest of us.
All the laundry was finished yesterday and the science experiments from the refrigerator were given to the chickens. Most of the kids' clothes have been packed. I still need to go to town today and get some food for our journey and make a list for our house/critter-sitter. We're leaving the house at 3:30 in the morning (yawn) to drive to an airport 4 hours away. Eight or nine hours later we (hopefully!) will be at our destination to relax for a week with Grandma & Grandpa. Then we get to do the journey in reverse.
The children are doing all of their own laundry. A needs a bit of help, of course, but the kids' new chore chart was a smashing success last week. They each have a different day to do their own laundry—washing, drying, folding, and putting away. I feel so free!
We took our school pictures on Tuesday. The air has been so bad due to fires, so I hadn't wanted to spend much time outside. Tuesday we finally got outside and spent 1 1/2 hours taking 217 shots of the kids. Only about 20 were worthy of being uploaded. Email me if you would like to see the album.
