GT 2010 - Down Time

May 26 – June 10, 2010

Now I should say, I’m writing this June 23rd…this is one of those posts that just didn’t get done on the trip…mostly because there really WASN’T that much down time. But as I look over the pictures, I see that there were some pretty great moments in the down time…

First things first, earlier this year Camera King and S.P. became proud foster parents of 6 laying hens…that’s right, CHICKENS. Let’s see if I can remember their names, (lucky for me this isn’t a live chat, I can ALWAYS ask the girls) Wendy, Fiona, Tootsie, Snow White, um…hmmmm…and two more….Belle and…Jasmine (thank goodness for little girls).

Those poor chickens were chased, and picked up and put down and chased some more. At every cluck and bawk the hen house was checked for another egg. Now, it is true that the chickens definitely put up quite a raucous clucking alarm when any egg has been layed…but I mean EVERY noise sent, especially the middlest girls, scrambling. Oh, and scratch…the chickens only got offered “a little” scratch everyday…but a little meant a few handfuls by each girl (6 wanted to feed them) several times a day…It was quite a life for a chicken…

Check out that last picture with Bear...she kept carrying them that way...with their legs sticking out behind them. We, adults, sang "SUPER CHICKEN" several times...and it gives me joy even now...Bear looks so happy and unaware that she's stuck it's feet out so weird...





Then there was the fencing with Light Sabers. Sorry, I realize that that’s an odd sentence…but while, if they’d been swords I could have said, “there was the sword play”…they were Light Sabers…you can’t say “Light Saber play”…and “Light Saber fighting” just sounds geeky…suffice to say…they had Light Sabers and at least two of them knew what to do with them. (No chickens were harmed in the shooting of these pictures.)



There were several games of crack the whip…



And variations on ring around the rosey…





And at least one performance that the camera missed. I guess down time should probably be renamed unstructured time. Everybody knows that some of the most fun moments are those unstructured moments when you get the chance to just be…and chase chickens, if you want…

For myself, I cooked a little and read a little and took pictures of clouds. The clouds I could see from the back yard were just beautiful every.single.afternoon. S.P. says that it’s kind of a feature of Colorado…very cool…



See ya around…

Topo loves Beanie...

Sometime during the GT 2010



But she doesn't love me...



Good thing she's cute...

See ya around...

GT 2010 - Mmmmmmmm...Beauty...

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Bubba got here yesterday to shouts of joy!

This morning was our first "outing" and sadly there was a slight issue. Not all of our new girly trip 2010 shirts fit. Our biggest girls got adult small this year instead of the 14/16 they'd been getting. No real reason, we just figured that adult small would fit. NOPE! Adult small pre-supposes curves that are not apparent in 10 and 11 year olds. And not the curves you would think. Adult small t-shirts from Hobby Lobby have a tapered waist the likes of which I haven't seen a true woman posses since that teeny tiny lady from White Christmas...the one that looks like she hasn't got any room for her organs...you know the one I mean? Anyway, so they wore their green 2009 t-shirts, comfy and happy in the box like structure.

We could not convince our boys to wear anything of the sort, no matter how we cajoled them with offers of writing "The ALMOST Girly Trip" or "The Not Really Very Girly Trip"... they would not be moved to wear EITHER a pink or green shirt...not even a complementary pink or green...but we let them come anyway.

Where did we go, you ask???

Estes Park! And then on to Rocky Mountain National Park, where we purchased a seven day pass in the hope that we'll get a chance to come again...

In Estes Park we stopped for a little while at this hotel. Sadly I can't remember the name of it...Standish...Standiver? Something like that. S.P. says that it is the inspiration for the Steven King book "The Shining" and looking at it I can understand that. Although S.P. says that this particular hotel is in use all year round...so potentially creepy as it may be...it's not!



It gave us our first "Girly Trip 2010" picture opportunity...and guess what...with boys there, BOTH S.P. and I got to be in the picture...although, I look like I'm looking for the camera...d'oh...you can't have it all...

Okay...name run down for you newbies...front row left, to right, Beanie, Tibbie, Monkey Face, Coco, Bear, Gabby, back row, left to right, Me (Stack), Grandma, S.P. and Topo...



We tootled about a bit...


And then....



WOW...Once again, this Seattle-born-in-the-shadow-of-Mt.-Ranier-girl fell in love with the landscape...This was Sprague Lake...and we scampered all the way around it.

Some scenery...


Some wildlife...


Oh look, here's Camera King and that baby...how'd he get IN a picture...I thought we had him chained to his camera...you can be assured his freedom was soon mended...





We also saw some REAL wild life...we saw big horn sheep and elk...I'm not sure what happened to the picture of the big horn sheep...but here are some elk...they were standing basically in the middle of town...


which is where 'cropping' and 'angle of shot' comes in...




And what did we do when we got back to the house??? Duel with Light Sabers, of course...


AH, the freedom and eccentricity of Girly Trips...there's nothin better...

See ya around...

Wake up-a little Suzy...

Well, hmmmm...today went really great. Our new summer schedule of swim team and lighter school done early so we can play in the afternoon came off perfectly...we were DONE with everything we actually NEEDED to do by about 2...

3 wonderful, free hours...what to do...what to do?

Well, we decided to do a few errands...and then we were gonna build a planter box...sadly, I couldn't find the screws...so the girls decided to play.

This seemed fabulous...except, USUALLY, we have quiet time...at which point Monkey-Face falls asleep.

Things went swimmingly until 5:30 when she decided that "offended" was her lot. Round about 6 pm she'd had as much 'fun' as she could take...and then she passed out. COLD.

As it was nigh on dinner time it was time to wake her...

Grandma tried...


to no avail...

Beanie tried and managed to get her upright...


but it was soon apparent that Monkey Face was only using her for her comfortable shoulders...

Bubba tried...but the first picture didn't work out...
Then he tried again...


and then a sudden stirring...and some twinkly eyes...


And then a pinch on the ear for his trouble...


But she still didn't come to dinner...she lazed about and is now eating a cheese stick...hope she actually sleeps tonight.

What have we learned? Regardless of summer fun, quiet time will remain sacred for awhile yet. Ssshhhhh...don't tell my kids, but I'm so glad to have the excuse.

See ya around...

GT 2010 - Game On...

May 29, 2010
8:19 am Colorado time (9:19 am REAL time)

Well, we made it after all.

We, Texas girls, left about 9 on Thursday, May 27 and got here yesterday, Friday, May 28th. The Colorado girls, stayed in Colorado due to a scheduling difficulty, so we Texans came all the way, with nary a 'girly trip' event to be seen.

The entire trip was uneventful...there was no barfing...no fighting...no car trouble...we never ran out of water or food...there was not a single 'accident' of the potty variety. The brakes were and are a little shakey...Bubba will be here tomorrow to figure that part out for us...but other than that our biggest 'worry' was my need for a cat nap at 3pm REAL time. While a bother, it wasn't terribly exciting.

I have to say...the postponement was the VERY best thing that could have happened. It turned out that had we actually left on Monday there were MANY items that could have gone wrong.

For instance...there was a big ole jack-knifed truck, multi-car collision that took hours to clear on the main route of the Colorado girlies...then there was the tornado warning in Colorado...then there was the big rain storm at Cowtown...and the LOOMING rain storm that would have arrived and mudded Cowtown the afternoon that we were supposed to visit...and the nasty high wind warning all across Kansas...which is VERY exciting in a highish profile vehicle. In the end, we found, once again, that God did indeed, know what He was doing. Of course, we wish it hadn't meant Monkey Face barfing...but it really was NOT that big a deal and a PERFECT closed door.

I personally LOVE obvious closed doors. Makes it much easier to know what to do next.



Well, that picture doesn't really fit...but it made me happy and we DID take it in Colorado...

More to come...
See ya around...

GT 2010 - Postponed

May 24th 7 am...

Okay...so Monkey Face ended up throwing up twice more...once at 2:30 am...I'm tired.

We've decided, for the moment to reschedule departure time to 7am, Thursday, May 27th. I'm bummed. Not that I want to take a barfing, feverish child on the road AT ALL. But we are all packed. I have ZERO plans made for school this week. The girls were looking forward to VACATION!

Still, on the other hand...we've all been exposed again...and the REALITY of this exposure could bite me two days from now, in a hotel in Kansas or out in the middle of I-70 with little access to clean facilities. I'm not sure I've ever shared with you, dear reader, the ultimate JOY of having someone throwing up IN the car as you speed farther and farther from safe haven. Let me just say this...always carry towels and wipes and an old quilt...AND...if possible...AVOID IT.

So we sit. Nothing to do. Waiting to get sick.

---

7pm

We ended up watching movies and lounging on the couch. It was relaxing and a little guilt making...but it's not like the house is NOT stocked. We have so much stuff in the fridge at this point, I really don't need to cook anything.

I've kind of decided to enter into 'vacation mode', and squelch the guilt of not having a plan. Ask me in a couple days, how it's workin...

See ya around...

GT 2010 - Canceled??

May 23, 2010 6PM - Scheduled Departure Time? May 24, 2010 7AM

Monkey Face BARFED!!! ARRRGGGGHHHHH!

See ya around...

Girly Trip 2010 - The Prequel...

May 21, 2010

Since hearing about the person who posted on facebook that he/she was going on vacation and came home to find the house robbed, I've been a little leery of posting all of our comings and goings as they are happening. It turned out, based on security camera footage, that the perpetrator was someone that he/she had known 20 years prior who had tracked down his/her house when they were certain it was empty. Not that I believe any of my friends/associates/family members are criminals...but I figure 'discretion is the better part of valor' or something like that...

So I will be posting these when I get back or when Dave gets back...he's meeting us along the way...note the dates in the text of the blog...I think I'm also gonna post them one at a time...that way, I can write while we travel but I'll be ahead enough to edit just a little, daily...that seems better. Besides then you'll get to feel the excitement AS it unfolds...albeit a few days late...I'm all about you, dear reader.

Okay...so we're going on another Girly Trip!!! It seems a little anti-climactic being that we JUST went on a GT in August...but that one was LATE because Miss Bean was in the Hospital during our normal GT time...and then we JUST saw our friends in February when they came to watch the girls so Bubba and I could go to my Dad's funeral...and here we are again...GOING!

The thing is, THIS is the traditional time to be going...and it's been loosely planned for 8 or 9 months...AND Bubba is coming WITH us this year. He never gets to go...AND we're going to check out Colorado Springs...very exciting...never been there before. AND Grandma is coming with us!

So...needless to say...WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!

We are planning on leaving May 24th...

See you around...

P.S. You see the ease I told you that? The exact date...the exact place...I'm digging the freedom of just not worrying about it...

Daddy's last trip...

Came across these the other day. Actually found them on my desk. I'm not sure how they came to be there, if they were unearthed in some of the re-organizing or if someone sent them to mom and she left them out for me to see...but look...

I believe that these are the last pictures of taken of my Dad...



What WAS he doing, you ask?

Well, he and my mom had just driven from Arizona to California to celebrate the retirement of my dear great Unka from the ministry...you can see he and his wife, Auntie in the foreground. It was, evidently QUITE a party.

During the party there must've been interesting parts that reminded mom of something she wanted to remind Daddy of...and it made them smile...



And there must've been some sweet moments...sentimental moments...that brought a tear to his eye. I can tell that Dad's eyes are 'leaking' in this one...(mom's, too.)



There was certainly something to make him laugh right out loud. I wish that this picture had him in better focus, but I don't really think he was the main target of the shot...still when I see it, it makes me smile...cuz I can hear him laughing...I pray I never forget that sound.



Thank you to whoever took these pictures...and thank you to Auntie and Unka for letting me post them. I wish I could have been there, but barring that, I love looking at how much fun my Daddy was having...how alive he was...just 3 days before he died. I pray that I also get to live live live right up until I go home to Jesus, just like my Dad.

See ya around...