Day 1

Well, we made it here safe and sound. The last 2 hours of the trip where the very worse. D said it was because the past day we had no expectations. We were just driving until we couldn’t drive anymore.

We’ve been just hanging out and relaxing. Sarah and Don have a pool in their backyard so the boys have been hanging out there and D and I have been spoiling…er…helping with baby Connor.

Not really sure what the plan today is. We might back to down to the beach. It’s about 20 miles from here. Tomorrow we will load up and head to Myrtle after lunch.

Trip

Overall the car ride was wonderful.  My men were quiet, D and I were relaxed.  I was super surprised how smoothly things went.  We did get slightly lost a few times, due to a challenged map reader.    We also discovered that T is one of those people who gets upset stomach on long trips.  Not real sure if it was the trip itself, or eating fast food his system wasn’t used to.  He was much better though after he got here, relaxed and ate some of Uncle Don’s famous spaghetti.

Hopefully the trip home goes as smoothly as the trip up there.

Tried to get  every state sign, but missed Oklahoma…because it was dark…and Mississppi…because I was texting.  ;-)    We were most impressed with Tenessee…Nashville was amazing.  Hope  we can go back there someday and explore.  The kids loved the bridges and were in aww with the Mississippi river.

When we went through Arkansas, I couldn’t believe all the trees.   As we continued through the states, the forests were so thick  I think you could get lost stepping inside.  By the time we got to SC I was REALLY starting to get sick of the trees, because that is all we saw for 16 hours.  

 Fog Saturday morning as we started out of Alabama.  It was so thick it looked like you could just grab it.

So Far So Good

We stopped in Hamilton, AL for the night.  We made some good progress today, and only got lost a handful of times.  My husband has known since we met that I am "map challenged" and now he knows exactly how bad my disorder really is.  hehe

We should be in Summerville in about 8 hours depending on T's bladder and my map reading!! I have some cool pics to share later.

Goodbye To A Farm Friend

Sunday evening showed some wicked weather here in Kansas.  We had a storm blow through town that left trees uprooted and roofs ripped from buildings.  After the storm we headed out to the farm to check in on the new baby calf.  While out there, we found this:

This tree was blown over, landing on the 100 year old farm house that my brother and his wife are remodeling. Luckily they had not really gotten going on it.  The windows were all knocked out as well as a bit of roof damage.
This tree was huge.  Today while I was out taking pictures, I got a bit sad seeing that old tree laying there, getting ready to be turned to firewood.

Imagine all the new life that tree has seen, from the many generations of chirping baby birds in its branches, little squirrels racing around to the little squalling newborn bundles being taken carefully from the car into the house.  It saw my dad and his brothers and sisters growing up, and perhaps even my grandfather, and his siblings.  It used to have a swing on it, and I used to love swinging waaaayyyy up high while the adults sat around in the evenings and talked till dark. (Someone was swinging on that swing when it finally gave out, but I can't remember who it was? Shawn, maybe?)   If that tree could talk, I know it would never have told the "cousin secrets" that were whispered while we sat underneath in it's cool shade.  It was a great climbing tree, with branches that reached way out, but not too high up.    It watched many games of basketball and many "old guys" hobbling back underneath it's shade after those games. 

It will be weird not seeing it out there anymore.  I wish we could see and hear all the stories that tree could tell.

I sure am going to miss it!

It's A BOY!!

Sunday morning when we did our daily baby check on Rosie, this is what we found!!    Isn't he just adorable??  (The boys were commenting on how white he is compared to Kirby.  J says "He must use Tide with Bleach.")  =-)   He must have been born during the thunderstorm this morning as he was pretty wet, but got right up, pooped, and ran off with his mama.  The boys love watching that "new baby drunk walk" they do when they are still figuring out how those legs work.

We were all very excited as this is our very first born calf for our little cow herd!! 
J has been calling him "Burger" but D thinks he needs a cooler name.   
And strangly, as we had been checking on Rosie multiple times for the past month, my brother E said all along, "I think it will be on the 13th. Don't know why, but that is what I think."  Sure enough.  Good thing we didn't have money on that bet.   Hmm...wonder if E wants to go to the new casino in Dodge....?

Excitement and Anxiety

Things I have learned about my family and I during vacation planning:

I CAN take a vacation and the world around me will not crumble.
I've never thought I could because of daycare.  I felt like I was letting everyone down by not being here.  One of my former class instructors told me recently that instead of feeling guilty for taking time off that I should think of it as a "recharge" and  that I would be a refreshed provider afterward.  None of my parents have yelled at me...yet.   I have had issues, though, worrying about my families and where everyone would find care, if the kids would get along ok,  --things like that.  It feels a bit like the first day  I watch them get on the bus for preschool/kindergarten.  They may not be my kids, but I still love them and worry about them.  I love my families too, and do not want them inconvenienced either.  I am in need of a "recharge" though.

D and I have learned a lot more about our spending habits and saving money through planning this adventure.  We CAN save more money than we originally thought we could, (especially when it is for something FUN) and I hope to continue putting more money in savings even when we are not planning a trip. ;-)

My kids can not phantom a world outside of flat Kansas and I am anxious to see their reactions to the big wide world.  T can't figure out how/why the ocean can be so salty, since obviously our lake is NOT, and why it would burn your eyes.  J can't WAIT to see the ocean for the first time.  He's also big into bird watching at the moment, and is hoping to see all kinds of birds you don't see here.

I am scared to leave my house.  There is my confession for the day.  No, I don't mean SCARED as in  agoraphobia scared.   I am just worried and anxious. About everything. About someone breaking in, about my flowers, about the garden, about the bunnies, about our poor dog who will be boarded at the vet and I am sure will think he chewed on one too many books and that we left him forever...  My mom patiently reassures me if will all be ok and taken care of, but I haven't left my house for more than overnight since I gave birth to T 10 years ago. (How sad is THAT??)

So there are my thoughts and worries for the day....M, do you think I need medication? ;-)

Rabbit Wrestling

Today we got some "bunny chores" out of the way.  We have a show next weekend so nail trims and tattooing were needing done.   I always clip the nails, while D hold the bunny for me.  As you can see from the picture below, I get the better end of the deal.  All I have is bunny fur on my shirt.  D's shirt will be going into the trash later, and he will be applying triple antibiotic ointment on his chest.  This shirt had no holes this morning when it went on!

J had 2 Havanas, 4 Cals, and Uno that needed tattooing.  D did the first 2, and then handed the tattoo clamp to J.  He did SUPER and only had one "uh oh" where he clamped on the outer part of the ear instead of the inside.  He just moved it down the ear, and made sure no ink got in the "oppsie" tattoo. I was happy to see HIM tattooing as we think he's old enough to do this stuff for his projects.  His mother on the other hand has to leave the room when they are tattooing.  The bunnies cry and scream for a second when the clamp "punches" them and it makes me so sad.

First pic is of J getting ready to "clamp" the bun.  This punches the letters/numbers in the ear, and then you go back and apply the ink into the holes. (We use a toothbrush.)

It is NEVER boring at my house!!

BTW--if anyone out there is interested, we have a super sweet Jr Doe Black Holland Lop J is selling for $10.  She's show quality and will be a beautiful bunny.