Here are some pics from our trip to Michigan. Lots of family shots and some from our day trip to Double JJ water park. Lots of fun! We may have to do it again next year ;) Enjoy!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Michigan 12/11 Pics
Here are some pics from our trip to Michigan. Lots of family shots and some from our day trip to Double JJ water park. Lots of fun! We may have to do it again next year ;) Enjoy!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
The Trip Home...
I've decided to take a few minutes and relive the trip home from MI last week. It's not something I'm excited about doing because it was our worse trip yet. And unlike our 2nd worse trip (our first drive out to CT), this one was horrible due to things we could not control. Before I jump into the "trip tale", I'll say that it was nice to see family, as always. We enjoyed visiting, playing games, Jared and I got to catch a movie, we took the kids to a water park, and sat back to watch the kids have fun with their cousins whom they rarely see. Unfortunately, Jared felt like crap the just about the whole trip - having some sort of issue with his stomach lining, and we were all waiting with bated breath to see if we would get sick, as some of the family had, or get bit by Oscar. Jen and Craig's dog has taken a turn for the worse, and has become unpredictable when it comes to aggression, so they had to give him away. It will be strange not having him around anymore, even though truth be told I'm certainly not much of a dog person...or animal person for that matter.
Anyway, on to the trip...
Nothing like starting the day at 5AM, knowing it won't end until 10PM... or so we hoped... And what a thrilling way to imagine your 32nd birthday - poor Jared. Spending 17 hrs in the car with the kids isn't really the best birthday gift. However, we did enjoy some Little Debbie cakes on the road and sang Happy Birthday. Since it was Jared's birthday, you would have thought I'd have jumped right in and started driving, but somehow that didn't happen, and he got stuck driving the first part of the trip, which was one of the worst! Slow traveling until south of Grand Rapids. All in all, it took us about 5 hrs to get out of MI - that put us an hr behind already, and it was only 10AM :( Ohio wasn't too bad, though we did get some white-out conditions here and there. Nothing too bad. Pennsylvania - oh Pennsylvania.... now THAT is a whole different ball game.... If I don't set foot in PN for years it will be too soon (and I know for a fact we'll be there in 6 months, so what's the point of that statement...) Although we figured roads would get better and snow would cease, we had lots of slow moving traffic, bad visibility on and off and then there were the stand-stills. Our first one lasted about 1 1/2hrs. By the insane number of emergency vehicles it was clear that there had been a bad accident (new reports we checked out later revealed an 18-20 car pile-up!! Amazingly no one was killed!) We sat patiently for awhile, wondering how long it would last. Nora had to go to the bathroom, so we got the little potty out and she went. I dumped it on the side of the road. After some time had passed, Aliza informs us that, "something sneaked out into her panties". I asked if it was pee and she said "no". Oh bother. I walked around the van, climbed in and stripped on her pants and underwear, then proceeded to put her on the little potty (thank-you Jesus I brought that!!!). It was rancid and didn't take long to stink up the car. The only clothes available were the dirty ones from the day before, so that's what she got to wear. By now my pregnant bladder is feeling very full and I'm guessing the opportunity for a real toilet would not be presenting itself any time soon. So, joy of joys, I tell the kids to look out the window while I proceed to gracefully attempt to go to the bathroom in the little potty too. It was not a pretty picture, nor did it smell good since I had yet to dump out Aliza's runny deposit. Just so you know, squatting over a tiny potty doesn't work, you basically have to be on your knees. Oh, it was dreadful. And then I had to get up. I felt like I was in a movie with Clark Griswold... After getting myself together, I emerged from the van to dump the disgusting contents of the little potty over the guard rail on the side of the road. nasty. That's all I can say. nasty. I cleaned the toilet with some wipes and finally sat back down in my seat. Before long we see an older lady walking along the side of the road (don't look over the guard rail, I'm thinking!!). She begins walking into the woods in her heals, only to stop much too soon to be in any kind of cover. I guess she didn't care at that point. We chuckled and noticed the ladies in the car next to us were getting a kick out of it too. I'm glad they couldn't see me in our car... A little over an hr passed and finally someone started coming car to car to tell us to turn around and make our way to the other side of the highway and take a detour. It could be 2-3 hrs before the accident was cleared (later we found out it took 8hrs!!) So finally we were back on the road - frustrated, but moving. We stopped for dinner hoping the stops were now behind us. We were wrong. The next stop was for 1/2 hr, no snow on the road, no snow coming down, no idea why it was happening. We were very frustrated by this point. Again, we finally got moving again, only to get stopped yet again (still in Penn!!). Luckily this time it was only for 10 minutes, but the fact that we were stopped once more on the highway put us over the edge. Jared told me next Christmas I could fly home and he'd stay home with the kids. It was not a pretty scene. When we FINALLY left Penn, our GPS told us we would not get home until after 1:30AM. All said and done, we spent 9 hrs in Pennsylvania. Ridiculous! The kids were sleeping by then, but of course Nora had to do her thing and wake up every 1/2 hr or so and cry. I was in the passenger seat, so it was up to me to console her and try to get her back to sleep. That got old fast! We ended up getting home at 1:40AM, 20 HOURS AFTER WE LEFT!! Worse trip ever. And now it is recorded to remember forever :) Aren't you glad you only had to suffer reading about it!!
Oh, and before I go, it must be said that the long trip did bring about something wonderful - its when Jared came up with the name of our next baby - Zane Thomas. It means God is gracious. Through that trip, and in the lives of our healthy children, God has truly been gracious!!
I'll get some pics posted later this week from our trip.
Anyway, on to the trip...
Nothing like starting the day at 5AM, knowing it won't end until 10PM... or so we hoped... And what a thrilling way to imagine your 32nd birthday - poor Jared. Spending 17 hrs in the car with the kids isn't really the best birthday gift. However, we did enjoy some Little Debbie cakes on the road and sang Happy Birthday. Since it was Jared's birthday, you would have thought I'd have jumped right in and started driving, but somehow that didn't happen, and he got stuck driving the first part of the trip, which was one of the worst! Slow traveling until south of Grand Rapids. All in all, it took us about 5 hrs to get out of MI - that put us an hr behind already, and it was only 10AM :( Ohio wasn't too bad, though we did get some white-out conditions here and there. Nothing too bad. Pennsylvania - oh Pennsylvania.... now THAT is a whole different ball game.... If I don't set foot in PN for years it will be too soon (and I know for a fact we'll be there in 6 months, so what's the point of that statement...) Although we figured roads would get better and snow would cease, we had lots of slow moving traffic, bad visibility on and off and then there were the stand-stills. Our first one lasted about 1 1/2hrs. By the insane number of emergency vehicles it was clear that there had been a bad accident (new reports we checked out later revealed an 18-20 car pile-up!! Amazingly no one was killed!) We sat patiently for awhile, wondering how long it would last. Nora had to go to the bathroom, so we got the little potty out and she went. I dumped it on the side of the road. After some time had passed, Aliza informs us that, "something sneaked out into her panties". I asked if it was pee and she said "no". Oh bother. I walked around the van, climbed in and stripped on her pants and underwear, then proceeded to put her on the little potty (thank-you Jesus I brought that!!!). It was rancid and didn't take long to stink up the car. The only clothes available were the dirty ones from the day before, so that's what she got to wear. By now my pregnant bladder is feeling very full and I'm guessing the opportunity for a real toilet would not be presenting itself any time soon. So, joy of joys, I tell the kids to look out the window while I proceed to gracefully attempt to go to the bathroom in the little potty too. It was not a pretty picture, nor did it smell good since I had yet to dump out Aliza's runny deposit. Just so you know, squatting over a tiny potty doesn't work, you basically have to be on your knees. Oh, it was dreadful. And then I had to get up. I felt like I was in a movie with Clark Griswold... After getting myself together, I emerged from the van to dump the disgusting contents of the little potty over the guard rail on the side of the road. nasty. That's all I can say. nasty. I cleaned the toilet with some wipes and finally sat back down in my seat. Before long we see an older lady walking along the side of the road (don't look over the guard rail, I'm thinking!!). She begins walking into the woods in her heals, only to stop much too soon to be in any kind of cover. I guess she didn't care at that point. We chuckled and noticed the ladies in the car next to us were getting a kick out of it too. I'm glad they couldn't see me in our car... A little over an hr passed and finally someone started coming car to car to tell us to turn around and make our way to the other side of the highway and take a detour. It could be 2-3 hrs before the accident was cleared (later we found out it took 8hrs!!) So finally we were back on the road - frustrated, but moving. We stopped for dinner hoping the stops were now behind us. We were wrong. The next stop was for 1/2 hr, no snow on the road, no snow coming down, no idea why it was happening. We were very frustrated by this point. Again, we finally got moving again, only to get stopped yet again (still in Penn!!). Luckily this time it was only for 10 minutes, but the fact that we were stopped once more on the highway put us over the edge. Jared told me next Christmas I could fly home and he'd stay home with the kids. It was not a pretty scene. When we FINALLY left Penn, our GPS told us we would not get home until after 1:30AM. All said and done, we spent 9 hrs in Pennsylvania. Ridiculous! The kids were sleeping by then, but of course Nora had to do her thing and wake up every 1/2 hr or so and cry. I was in the passenger seat, so it was up to me to console her and try to get her back to sleep. That got old fast! We ended up getting home at 1:40AM, 20 HOURS AFTER WE LEFT!! Worse trip ever. And now it is recorded to remember forever :) Aren't you glad you only had to suffer reading about it!!
Oh, and before I go, it must be said that the long trip did bring about something wonderful - its when Jared came up with the name of our next baby - Zane Thomas. It means God is gracious. Through that trip, and in the lives of our healthy children, God has truly been gracious!!
I'll get some pics posted later this week from our trip.
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