The Great Trip of 2009, Phase 4

Phase 4 - Driving Home

August 1 - 8.

We drove from Bakersfield, CA to Provo, UT on August 2nd. Because of last-minute circumstances, we ended up staying with Grandma Thacker. We called her to ask if that was okay THAT DAY. She graciously said yes.

We spent a day in Utah just catching our breath. Taking naps. Retrieving the stuffed animal Miciah had left at Lisa's house. Eating Thai food with Collin for dinner (and Collin was delicious). And finally trying out Red Mango's frozen yogurt (yummy, but too expensive).

On Tuesday we drove to Denver. We went through the mountains on I-70, which is always amazingly beautiful. Makes you want to move to Veil, CO. We stopped at a rest area near Denver and learned that there's a mountain called The Mount of the Holy Cross. It looks like this:

This picture was taken in 1873. It was made even more famous by a factually-inaccurate painting done by Thomas Moran. People apparently still make religious pilgrimages to the mountain.

Denver is where my Uncle Nolan lives. They let us stay the night there. The kids were happy that some of their second cousins were there (my cousin's kids). There was a boy Elijah's age, and Elijah was thrilled! He said, "Normally I meet 6-year-olds and they're girls!" The curse of having an older sister instead of an older brother.

In Denver my father joined us. He flew to meet us after dropping off Dylan with her mom and dad in Seattle. So the drive to St. Louis was do-able. Going from 2 drivers to 3 makes a BIG difference.

Also, my father made a big difference with the kids. My children were pretty tired of listening to me, and my father's voice of authority was just what we all needed. Elijah responded especially well to my father's authority. Which was good. Elijah had ceased to listen to me days before, and I had ceased to care. Not a good combination.

Dad also took over bedtime duties so that I wouldn't go insane. THANK YOU, DAD.

During the drive to St. Louis my dad said, "I think we should consider going home on Saturday instead of Monday." I responded that we were staying for my mother, and my mother said, "I thought we were staying for you." Right then we determined that we would be returning home on Saturday, 2 days early. I decided to surprise Rob, but it was hard not to tell him, cause I was so excited! Excited to see him, but more excited to have the kids (especially Elijah) return to normal. They were in need of seeing their daddy.

St. Louis

We stayed at Kim's house in Defiance, MO. It's just on the edge of civilization, and a wonderful change from suburbia; Kim lives on a 200-acre farm. It was awesome to look in every direction and say, "I don't see ANYone." The kids appreciated having the space to run around and just be kids. After being in the car for many long, long days, the space was amazing.

I had to take some pictures of the space we stayed at. Kim has stables, horses, an arena, and a few barns. The house pre-dates the Civil War, and it's gorgeous. Kim also has a tire swing and a pool, both kid favorites.

Riding Horses

On Thursday the kids got to ride horses! Kim let them groom the horse. Then lead the horse. Then ride the horse.

This is Kim showing Elijah that if he leaned down and looked forward, he could see what the horse sees:

Teancom loved it especially. This is fuzzy because I zoomed in so you could see his smile (normally zooming in wouldn't make it this fuzzy, but the lighting in the arena was impossible and uncooperative): This is the fit he threw because he had to get off the horse:

Our horse's name was Tige (pronounced like Tiger without the 'r'), and he's 30 years old. Kim says that's equivalent to a 118-year-old man with a walker. But he was super gentle and loves children. Kim says that he won't step on a child because he hates to hear children scream. My mom and I thought that was pretty funny.

... Later on Thursday the kids went swimming, and I lifeguarded. Meaning, I stood around watching them. And it's good that I was there, cause Teancom decided to jump into the pool without any floaties on--he was trying to hop onto a floating toy. I was on the phone when it happened, and I had to hang up on my friend. There was no time to say, "Excuse me, I need to go rescue Teancom so he doesn't drown." ... Fortunately he was right at the edge, and I just reached in and pulled him out.

I also got to see Jamie, Rob's cousin and one of my soulmates. She's in St. Louis so her hubby can go to school. It was fun to meet up with them. I brought Elijah and they thought he was hilarious (and Elijah ate it up).

The Zoo

We went to the zoo on Friday, but I didn't take any pictures, which is just as well.

The St. Louis Zoo is a really nice zoo made that much nicer because it's free. We spent a few hours there and the kids loved it. The coolest part for me was actually hearing the elephant trumpet. Pretty cool! Just like in the movies, only better.

The Get Together

On Friday night a bunch of my parents' friends got together at Kim's house. It was fun to see old friends, though most of them were my old friends' parents. Just as well. Now that I'm an "adult", and these people are my "peers", I think it's great. But one of my BFFs was there: Laura. We've been friends since we were 5 years old or something like that. I don't know how she's put up with me all these years, cause I specifically remember not being nice to her. But we're both adults now and we both have 3 kids, and our kids like each other, so it's fun to get together!

This is Elijah and Elizabeth, Laura's oldest:
They were (obviously) super cute together.

And this was my Kindergarten teacher:She also is a member of our church, and a family friend. She's delightful and every time I see her I fall into her arms and tell her that I still adore her.

We also made a special stop by my brother's grave. The kids were enormously respectful, though they didn't quite understand why they shouldn't be able to step on the plaques or take the flowers from the vases. Teancom in particular didn't get it, but he's only 3. ... I've been to Ruben's grave before, a few years back, but it was really nice to go with my parents.

On Saturday morning we drove home, making sure to pass by downtown St. Louis so the kids could see the Arch. The kids liked it, but I think we adults liked it even better.

I'm going to make Arriving Home it's own post, with updates on what's happened since then.