"If You Chance to Meet a Frown"

Yesterday, #4 had a few moments being grumpy. Standing on a chair, #3 Girl leaned over next to him and started singing, "If you chance to meet a frown, change it for a smile." It worked!

Driving Cross Country

We found out on Wednesday that sometime on Thursday, Friday or Saturday we would be able to head to Mountain time to visit family. We were delighted that it would work out to have a few weeks vacation even though Dad has to fly back for a week smack in the middle of our vacation. Our packing was pretty simple since summer needs are simple with shorts and sandals instead of pants, coats and boots. These bags show most of what we brought to use... some clothes.

Once we packed the things we would need while on vacation we had to pack the things that it would take to get us to Mountain time and The Coast happily. That was where the real packing came in to play. We used our 'shoe bins' to hold all the different categories of entertainment. Ranging from Little People to Legos to Preschool activities to games and food and don't forget the cookie sheets and bubbles.

Dad was the main driver...

and the TomTom did the navigating

Which left me to entertain and feed the children. Luckily the kids did a bit of what #45 Boy is doing. But, all at random times. It was sure easier to drive and entertain when they were sleeping. I was glad that #5 Boy did as much sleeping as he did and that I could pump to feed him some of the times.

#4 Boy Napping covered with love...his rhino, choo-choo blanket and pillow case

#3 Girl and #2 Boy thought it would be a great idea to dump their water bottles onto the cookie sheets. I insisted, "You spill it, you drink it!" What a great thing for a mother to insist. I did provide straws to make it a little easier.

Now you might be wondering why I had cookie sheets on my drive. Thanks to the internet I found that they are great for many reasons (none of which stated that dumping water on them was a good idea). Here #4 Boy is playing with magnets. Wonderful! The whole thing could be pushed off his lap and nothing spilled. It can be used to hold paper still, do crafts on, play games, and eat food. It made life easier.

We also had lots of fun searching for silos. I pointed them out to the kids early on and reminded them that they were called silos... or at least I tried to remind them. They were called by a variety of things after that including, "Mom, remember those sky things, that are all tall that LIVE near barns?" #2 Boy also called them "Sit." #1 Girl called them "Sigh." Probably my favorite was #3 Girl's comment, "Look there is another....(pause)....TA-DA!"

Another fun thing I found online to do in the car.. aluminum foil! It was wonderful. We pulled off sheet after sheet of foil and the kids created things. We made ducks, hats, balls (lots and lots of balls... #2 Boy started and then #1 Girl wanted to make some for all her cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents), flying things (#2 Boy), and maracas.

#2 Boy with one of his balls

#1 Girl trying to round her foil out to make a maraca.

Another great suggestion online was to blow bubbles. However, I was doing all the blowing, so there are no pictures of this joyous event. It even got #4 Boy happy when he was grumpy.

There were even choo-choo trains out the windows for #4 Boy to watch

#4 Boy loved discovering that he could reach and hang from the handle bar. He would throw his head back and laugh and laugh.

Along the route we saw tons and tons of windmills

We also saw parts of windmills... this is just one of the blades we also saw part of the main section

By the end the kids were watching a movie with headphones and each of them wanted to wear a sleeping mask... #4 Boy wanted one too asking for a 'hat.'

#4 Boy took a nap just after dinner with messy hands and face.

We did stop for a few hours on Friday night at a hotel...but not for long!

And that is how we made the 2,089 mile or 34 hour drive time in 42 hours total.

Preparing for the 4th

My preparation work for the 4th of July is a bit different than most. We have had the tradition of making pajama bottoms for this grand holiday. This year I decided I'd better start a little earlier than what I usually do (which is usually the last two days before the 4th). I bought the usual cheap 4th of July shirts early. Then Dad and I went in June to get material for the pajamas and decided that instead of pants this year we would make pajama shorts. The week after #5 Boy was born my mom came to help out. During this time we decided to get the shorts made. I was able to finish off all of them except Dad's and #5 Boy's shorts.

#5 Boy's shorts...aren't they adorable!

While buying the material I realized that our shirts wouldn't really match and so Dad and I decided that we would buy white shirts and paint them with red and blue stars. We were able to find fabric paint and shirts...but we had to make-shift our own star stamps. We bought foam stars and foam marshmallows which we stuck to the back of the stars. The kids all loved decorating their own shirts.

#3 Girl decorating her shirt

#1 Girl and #2 Boy working on their shirts

#4 Boy laughing with excitement about doing his shirt

We did the 4 older kid's shirts for Family Home Evening but waited to do the others for a night after the kids had gone to bed. These are the kids shirts.

I was a bit disappointed this year... our ward didn't do their usual 4th of July breakfast (since they are doing a big get together on the 24th for our ward's 30th anniversary) and the 4th was also on a Sunday. On the 3rd I did some usual sewing since I still needed to finish up Dad and #5 Boy's pajamas. Later in the day I decided to use all the extra material to make skirts and ties for the little ones. This picture shows #5 Boy's tie on an elastic but I ended up just sewing it onto a onesie...almost to the last stitch and my sewing machine died!

The kids loved their ties and skirts!