Road Trip - Part 2

Going on a road trip like this is not something I would typically do. Usually if I go on a trip, I have everything planned out - where we're going, where we're staying, etc. And I have never been on a trip where we stayed in a different place every night. When I started talking about it, the kids thought it sounded like a fun. As it started getting closer, I started wondering if I wasn't completely looney for planning it (or not planning it, depending on how you look at it). But by then, it was too late to turn back.

So,we are now on day 6 of our road trip and having a great time. The kids are travelling better than I expected - even the 15 month old and 8 month old. Of course, the DVD player in the van helps with the travelling. But we turn it off when we hit the National Parks and other scenic areas. They enjoy that also. Elijah notices everything even while the video is playing. He is often heard exclaiming things like, "Look at that mountain." or "Look at those cows!" Anything that catches his eye really.

The first day was just a travel day. I got Jim ready to fly to Israel and then we hit the road. We drove to St. George Utah. The next day we drove through Zion National Park, which was pretty. Then we drove through Bryce Canyon National Park. That was spectacular. We loved it. The kids are dying to hike there. Since we were two moms and 8 kids, including 2 babies, we didn't do very strenuous hikes. Footpaths only, really. But I told them we would have to come back with Daddy and camp and go for a hike. That night we slept in Provo, UT.

The next day we drove through Idaho, which we found pretty boring until we got to the Montana border. It was at the border that we pulled over so the kids could play in the snow. We were parked right between the Montana and Idaho signs, so we weren't sure which state we were in. The kids thought that was awesome. Then we pulled into West Yellowstone for the night.

The next day we drove through Yellowstone. Incredible! We basically saw from the west entrance, through the geyser basin, to Old Faithful. We were all amazed at the sights - landscape and wildlife. Words can't even express it. You have to see it for yourself. That night we travelled to Cody, WY. a little tiny town. We found the best place to stay. It was at the Western 6 Gun Motel. They have a lodge that has four queen beds and a couch. Tons of room. The kids could run around. No chain hotel here. The staff was the best and the lodgings were great. Everyone wished we could stay a couple of days here.

But the next day we headed for South Dakota. We drove across Wyoming. I'll tell you, that was one boring drive. It's as bad as the drive up the middle of California. The middle of Wyoming is same old, same old, boring. And there are no people around. All the freeway exits lead to dirt roads. Definitely not my kind of place. The big horn mountains are beautiful, though. We stopped at a waterfall and checked it out. We pulled over to the side of the road while we had lunch and the kids played in the snow. And then we drove on to Rapid City. We were told we had to go to Mt Rushmore at night, so that's what we did. We went straight there and got there a little before it closed. Then we went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

Now we are on day 6 and we'll see what adventures await us.

Road Trip - Part 1

I haven't blogged recently and Rebekah tells me that I should be blogging.  After all, we have a lot going on lately.  The kids and I are on a whirlwind road trip while my hubby is enjoying a trip to Israel.  We left Sunday afternoon, and since then we have been through California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.  We have seen Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park (my personal favorite) and Yellowstone (beautiful!).  We have gone 1200+ miles since we left and the kids are doing great.  I'm not going to upload pictures right now because it takes too long, but if  you go to Rebekah's blog, you'll see some pictures there.  Hopefully I'll have a chance to post pictures soon.

The kids have been such great travellers.  They are really enjoying all the sights and activities.  This trip has been an incredible blessing.  Hopefully we can share some of these places with Jim later.  I see camping in our future.

Silk Worms

We finally decided to raise silkworms as a science project.  This is a typical homeschool project.  The only difficulty is in finding mulberry leaves to feed them because that is all they will eat. That problem was solved when a new friend mentioned that she had a mulberry tree.    

We got the silkworm eggs somewhere around the beginning of April.  When they arrived, they were about the size of the period at the end of this sentence.  They took a while to hatch and then I was afraid I killed them because I didn't have leaves in the when they hatched.  But I put in some leaves and apparently the timing was OK, because they lived. 

They started eating the leaves - very little at first.  They didn't even eat all the way through them.  The leaves looked lace after they ate them.  It was really cool.  Then they started eating more and more.  Now they are incredibly voracious.  They eat hands full of leaves each day.  And, they are incredibly ugly.  Yuck!  I don't know how much longer we have to wait for them to spin their silk cocoon, but I hope it's soon.

Arianah loves to hold any small animal.  Silkworms included.

E's Birthday

We celebrated Elijah's birthday last Saturday.  It was also family dinner night (our monthly family get-together) and a chance to meet my nephew's new girlfriend.  It was a great evening.

Elijah wanted a Spider Man cake, which my wonderful mother gladly made for him.  

He loves this gift.  He plays with it all the time rearranging the figures and telling stories.

Arianah enjoys someone's leftovers. 

Uncle Daniel partied too hard and needed a nap (after cooking us a delicious dinner).

Gardens

We have some watermelon plants sprouting in our melon patch.  Today, we also planted some sugar baby watermelons and some cantaloupes.  I have several things growing in the garden beds, but they are only about half filled. I planted a tray of little, tiny peat moss pots a couple of weeks ago, but I got NOTHING out of them this time.  The first time I tried, I got about 5 seedlings (out of 50).  So, I don't seem to be having much luck with the seedlings. The kids  planted carrots straight into a garden bed and got nothing.  I planted cucumbers in the garden beds and they are growing.  We'll see what happens to the broccoli I planted in the beds.  Live and learn.  I think I'm doing OK so far for my first garden.

New Oven!

I am so excited!  I have a new oven.  Well, it's actually used - off craigslist.  But it's new to me and it actually works.  And that's what matters.  

I think the oven that was in our kitchen when we moved in was original to the house.  (The house was built in 1964.)  It was so tiny that my cookie sheet had to hang on the oven rack guides instead of actually sitting on the rack.  It didn't heat well at all.  The knobs were so worn out I couldn't read the markings.  One day it took 3.5 hours to cook a chicken.  Another day it would burn my bread, even while I used an oven thermometer.  The bottom oven wouldn't heat past 250 degrees.  Another problem was that our cupboard space to install a new oven is very limited.  Many ovens are just too big for the space. 

But hubby has taken care of that.  He cut the cupboard space as large as it will go and put the oven in for me.  I am so thrilled that I had to share - even though the cupboard area isn't fixed up yet.  

I turned it on immediately.  It heated up quickly and to the right temperature according to the oven thermometer.  It sure will make baking more pleasant.

Painted Canvas

OK, so apparently Elijah wasn't content with just using paper as his canvas.  He had to move to something more beautiful.  We heard Arianah outside laughing and crying at the same time.  When I went to check on her, this is what I found.