Adventures of the pregnant homeless lady...getting settled.

Aaaah! We are having a great vacation. No major issues thus far, we are truly blessed. The kids have been great and our hosts have been awesome! As much as we loved SC it is really, really nice to be in VA. My parents live in Dumfries VA--in the DC area. We will be here for over 3 weeks which makes this the most stable leg of our trip. The best part of this adventure is that my parents have a huge house so we don't feel like we are imposing and we all get our own space. Tyler and Katherine have their own bedrooms upstairs and feel really big to be sleeping two whole floors away from their parents. Dan and I are in the basement with Kyle and Aaron but we have plenty of room so it's great. We are keeping Aaron in the bedroom with us just because he can get out of his crib and we don't want him wandering around the playroom. Kyle has his own bed out there and loves it because it is right by the kitchenette and he thinks he can wake up and get a snack in the middle of the night...silly boy. It's just nice to have some space so we can all have a little alone time. We love each other, but really the van doesn't give us a lot of privacy. Basically what I'm most excited about is that Dan and I are leaving tomorrow morning for Philadelphia without the kids. We really have no purpose for going there except that we've never been and my parents offered to watch the kids. I probably won't blog for a few days...I'm just going to enjoy a much needed weekend alone with my hubby and will post pics when we return. Thanks for all the well wishers...we miss everyone...I hope you are having a great summer!

South Carolina, Dixon's house June 2010

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Adventures of the pregnant homeless lady...end of phase one.

Okey dokey. We are winding up our time here in SC. It's been great, with just a few minor issues. Dan had a rough go of it for a bit...the Lakers lost Sunday night and then he spent the entire day Monday in bed (or in the restroom). NASTY stomach bug. The good news is he has not gained any weight this vacation :-) He woke up today feeling much better and nobody else has shown signs of sickness. I just REALLY hope that if it's going to hit anyone else it holds off until we reach Mom and Dad's house...tomorrow is a travel day, please, please, please no tummy trouble until Thursday!



Enough of the bad stuff...we have had a FABULOUS time here! Margo and I took the kiddos (minus Ali) to the 'waterfront park' yesterday and had tons of fun--it was nice and shaded. We also managed to be on the news, we were interviewed in the parking lot for a story about people's perception of SC politians...they were excited to have an out-of-towner. I guess I'm basically famous now. We ended the day with a fun pizza and pool party at the neighborhood pool...minus Dan. He stayed home and had a 'Powerade and go to bed early party'. Ours looked like more fun.



This morning the Dixons got their brand new playset in the backyard. The installers were here around 6:30 a.m., a bit early but at least it was ready to go by 8:30. Nothing like a little playground time before breakfast :-) It just happened to be an amazingly hot day here...Houston hot...not good. So we decided that a little trip to the Charleston Children's Museum was in order. Margo and I took the kiddos (minus Ali again, poor girl) while the Dad's got some work done. It was really fun (and air conditioned). We treated ourselves to some ice cream afterwards to make it basically the best outing ever. Margo and I snuck off this afternoon for some much needed pampering, we got pedicures and I'm thinking I need to make that a regular thing this trip...along with the chiropractor and massage therapist...I have no housing costs so I can spend it elsewhere, right? It's early evening right now and the Daddy's took Tyler and Kyle to the local minor league baseball park for a game (GO RIVER DAWGS) while Margo and I kept the girls and Aaron at home for a pedicure and movie night (no, I won't paint Aaron's toes...I learned my lesson with Tyler).



I'm hoping for a good night's rest, an early start on the day, and a pleasant drive tomorrow. We'll let you know how it goes...next stop Grandma and Grandpa Jarvis' house!!!

Having fun in SC!

So far so good. We made it safely to South Carolina and are having a great time with the Dixons. Friday was a really great travel day, we made horrible time but everyone was really, really happy in the car so it was all good. I think sleeping on real beds Thursday night made all the difference...when Aaron woke up Friday morning he ran around the hotel yelling "I had a really great sleep, I had a really great sleep!" I think we all felt the same, thank you Marriott Towne and Place Suites, we had a really great sleep!

It was a bit of a slower drive that day, some back roads and two lane highways but that gave our kids a fun look at the deep south. Let me just say that there was a serious lack of restrooms along the route but there was a lot of culture! At one point somewhere in Georgia we passed miles and miles of peach orchards and then a sign that said "homemade peach ice cream". Who cares that it was 10:45 in the morning, we had to stop. HOLY GEORGIA PEACH! Warm, fresh homemade peach cobbler topped with homemade peach ice cream, oh man. It was worth the stop for sure. We decided to be semi-responsible and share one since it was before lunch but it was soooooo good, sharing was tough.

We are having a fabulous time with the Dixons. We got here a little later on Friday than we had hoped so dinner and bedtime were late...not a lot of sleeping going on but we had some seriously good mexican food, yum.

The nieces are a lot of fun, yeah cousin time! Ali is cute as can be and Sophia makes us laugh. I'm not sure Dan loves the outfits she picks out for Aaron but he sure does. Last night she convinced him to wear a pair of her pj's and today she has him in some kind of pink tulle dress up princess thing, and he is loving her princess truck and playing dolls. It sure makes Dad proud...those brothers and boy cousins will sort things out when we leave I'm sure!

Saturday was AWESOME. We went to the beach and Uncle Kevin gave Tyler a surfing lesson...he was up on the board within about an hour. He made it look so easy I was tempted to try, and then I realized I'm not that coordinated even when I'm not pregnant and surfing requires you lay on your belly so I just cheered and built sand castles instead. Both Katherine and Kyle learned to use the boogie board, everyone was a natural (I guess Dan's SoCal blood is dominant in the waves). Lots of fun, a bit too long in the sun but they all went to bed easily, happy day!

So far today is looking good as well. We had a nice morning at church and are having a relaxing inside day today. Some board games and crafts, maybe some more fun in the sun tomorrow. Dan and Tyler are really hoping the Lakers show up tonight, that would make for a perfect weekend :-) When all is said and done I'll load all the SC pictures but I put up a few to get you started. Have a great day!

Adventures of the pregnant homeless lady...we're on our way!

DAY ONE:

We got up and moving early, early, early (3:30 a.m.) by the time we got the kids loaded in their seats, returned the air mattresses (HUGE thanks to the Dunn family), and made a last minute stop at Wal-Mart (don't ask, it was all Dan) we were en route about 4:30. The kids did GREAT. All four went back to sleep for a little while and were very pleasant all day. Well, most of the day. We managed to make the 10 hour drive in 11 hours, not bad considering we had a few stops here and there.

Speaking of stops, GENIUS idea by us to buy the cargo carrier for the top of the car. This allowed us enough extra room to bring some sporting goods...at lunch time we found a rest area and after our little picnic the big boys played baseball while Katherine rode her scooter and Aaron played on Tyler's skateboard. They got out their wiggles and all found their happy and/or nap faces for the last few hours of the drive. Genius.

We had many successes today. We drove through 4 states and crossed off 26 license plates including Hawaii (in Alabama?!?...weird, but we'll take it). We managed to keep screen time to 3 hours or less for each kiddo, not bad at all. Only one major meltdown--by Aaron, just before nap time--and a great evening at the hotel. We got here at 3:30 so we had time to swim and play before dinner. Everyone was sleeping by 9:30 so hopefully tomorrow will be just as good.

Okay, I do have to admit it wasn't all roses...Aaron did vomit...ugh. He slept the last 3 hours of the drive (excellent) and woke up just as we pulled into the hotel parking lot. Dan got out of the car to check us in, Aaron looks up, smiles, and says 'Hi Mommy!' then proceeds to give me 'that look' (come on Moms, you know it). I tried so hard to get him out of his carseat in time but barely missed it. He threw up but most of it was on his clothes and I was able to clean the carseat easily--and at least it was in the hotel parking lot and not somewhere along the road. The hotel has a laundry room so I threw a load in and all is well. He threw up a few times in the room but has plenty of energy, no fever, and managed to keep down dinner so I think it was more of a 'travel tummy' than real illness. At least that's what I'm telling myself. PLEASE don't let this be 'that vacation'...you know what I mean, every family has at least one 'everyone got the stomach flu in the car' story. We will have enough adventure this summer, we don't need that story.

Okay, that's it for today. I am so ready to sleep on an actual bed...I'd already be asleep but Dan keeps yelling at the TV...the Lakers need to find a way to win tonight--I need a happy driver tomorrow! Welcome summer to everyone!

It's not creepy...we're camping!

Okay so I'm really ready to go. We got the storage unit loaded on Saturday (very smooth moving day...they were done by 11:00), and now we're hanging out in a furniture free house. For the first few hours it was cool. Then it was creepy. Then it was 'boring'. Then we decided that the adventure had officially begun and we are camping.

If we are camping then it is not at all creepy or boring to be in an empty house. It is plush. We are still sleeping on air mattresses and sitting on camping chairs BUT we have a fridge, a TV, AC, indoor plumbing, and no (okay, less) bugs. Loving it. The boys are enjoying the freedom to run around the house, and I let them play ball in here. There is nothing to break so why not? Katherine loves practicing her cartwheels and building hideouts in empty closets. We are really appreciating the play dates with friends but the time we are stuck at home is not bad. We're having a great campout...come on over, but bring your own chair.

Countdown!

One week until departure...actually by this time of day we will be well on our way. Dan has decided we are leaving Thursday June 10--but at some insane hour like 3:oo a.m. His idea is to travel significantly while the children sleep so we can get to our first hotel (Montgomery, AL) early in the day. I hope his master plan works and they all go back to sleep when we transfer them into the car, we'll see!

Things are progressing well. Dan and Tyler moved a significant amount of stuff into the storage unit on Monday and I'm almost done packing up the rest of the house. I'm to that annoying part, you know...all the stuff that you think is important enough to save but you're not sure why or where it goes. I need to really sort it and make some decisions but I'll probably stare at it for another day or two and then toss it all in a box really fast Saturday morning when the moving crew comes. It will sit in a box for a couple of years and I'll finally open it just in time to move again, haha! Seriously, I had energy early in the week but I lost all of it and need to find some for these finishing touches...or maybe the packing fairies will come while I nap...

I have had a wonderful victory, Dan is letting me keep the refridgerator at the house until Wednesday. I 'politely' pointed out the difficulty of feeding a family of 6 for a week out of a cooler and he saw my point of view. And it really went that smoothly...

I also had a terrible defeat. Aaron is officially killing me. I purposely kept him in the crib so we could just take the port-a-crib with us and he would sleep well on vacation. Monday I put him in the port-a-crib in another room while I packed the boys' room. Five minutes later I hear a door open and little legs coming down the hall. WHAT?!?!? I asked him to show me how he got out...approximately 3 seconds after I put him in the bed he just popped his little legs over and was out. AAAAH! He is very well confined in the actual crib but I guess the port-a-crib is small enough to make a big difference. My master plan has been foiled. I am seriously concerned about sleep on this vacation. I also stalled on the potty training issue...he has just recently shown real interest in the deal. I figured it would be easier to keep him in diapers until August. He has started taking off his diaper on his own. Kill. ing. me. I would be overjoyed to have him in a big boy bed and wearing underwear...but trying to make the transitions while driving all over the country are daunting. Why couldn't he have done this either 2 months ago or in 2 months. Oh well, I guess it will add to the adventure!

No progress on a place to live...we still can't decide what to do...maybe we'll find a place we like on vacation somewhere and just stop. Just kidding.

Kind of.

Okay, that's enough for now. I need to get out of this really comfie chair and get moving for the day. Today is the last full day of school for the kids so I need to find energy and get this house in tip top shape before they are home...if I pack everything they won't be able to make a mess, right?

Have a happy day!