Just Make Stuff

Do you know?

This time next week we'll be up here...so Sean and I are burning the midnight oil trying to figure out the ferry situation. I thought it might be a good idea to ask if anyone has any advice. 

We would like to get to Victoria...and we will have our car. What is the easiest port to get out of?

We had thought we'd try Seattle to Victoria, but we can also do Vancouver BC to Victoria or really anything else to Victoria we just need to know what that would be.

And while I'm asking for advice...any tips, ideas or suggestions for being up in the Seattle/Vancouver BC areas would be wonderful since this will be uncharted territory for us.

Nice hotels...cute areas...really good food??? Please fill me in.

Thanks for taking your time to help point us in the right direction.

There was...

There were some homemade sunshine cupcakes to surprise Mac on his last day of summer school.

 

There was the croquet set I found (and had to have) at an estate sale in our neighborhood when we were on our way to deliver those sunshine cupcakes.

 

 There was the almost 14 year old blowing out his candle as his classmates sang happy birthday.

 

There was Renegade (I'll share what I got tomorrow)

 

There was cucumber mint lemonade (and a cheesecake brownie). 

 

There were self-portraits.

 

There was an amazing burger and Woodchuck on tap. Not that I would usually ever get excited over anything on tap...but my sister introduced us to it way back on a trip in Michigan and it's been a favorite (and hard to find) ever since.

 

There was Sean circling the streets of Venice as I ran in here like a happy maniac.

 

There were Sunday morning crafts.

 

There was also Sunday morning cleaning up after taking out a monster bush on the side of our house.

There was a good weekend..

I have been teased all weekend...

Sean participated in the Pendleton Mud Run again this year.  He finishing time was pretty much exact to last year...although his number bib thing came off in the last mud pit so it was not official entry...which he was less than thrilled about (especially since he would have placed 6th in his age group).

So after I pestered him for post mud run documentation photos he showered and changed while I updated his mom via text message...the conversation went like this...

Nora: "I'm waiting for him to change and enjoying the physique parade...but if you tell him I said that I'll deny it. :)"

Ellie: "Tell him what...wink, wink"

Nora: "Seriously I think you need to fly out for this next year...it's quite something"

Ellie: "I would love to"

About this time Sean walks out to me and asks what his mom and I are talking about. I cannot wipe the sheepish grin off my face that lets him know I am up to no good. It's like he administers truth serum every night when I'm sleeping making it virtually impossible to ever hide anything from him.

Therefore I cannot help but fess up to the "physique parade" comment...and I have only been teased about it 104 times in the last 35 hours.

So if you ever hear Sean referring to the "physique parade" you know the story...however he has embellished it saying I was slack-jawed and moon-eyed taking in the sight of his fellow competitors. He has even offered me tips on how to discreetly check someone out.

I'm off to bed now...surely my dose of truth serum is waiting somewhere. 

The May finale...

Sean and I are usually more than happy to stay at home, but every once in awhile I get an idea of where we need to go (for instance the picnic a couple of weeks ago).

When I heard that Love, Loss ad What I Wore was playing in Los Angeles I knew it was time to get out of the house.  It ended up being my perfect graduation celebration with Sean. We split a quick lunch before the play's matinée on Sunday afternoon. The play was beyond wonderful...hysterical and poignant and astoundingly engaging considering it was simply monologues. And I sat mesmerized by the fact that I was mere yards from Rita Wilson up on stage.  

Afterward we went to one of my favorite restaurants, Lawry's. Any place that's defining feature is a rolling cart of beef is a piece heaven to me. At one point during the dinner I may or may not have tears of joy in my eyes.

It was pretty much a dream day...a fantastic end to what has been an amazing month.

The plan...

Earlier this week I thought it'd be fun to plan on heading down to the beach tonight to enjoy the later sunset...Sean and I did this on the Daylight Savings day a couple of years ago and it was a nice way to soften the blow of losing an hour.

So tonight we grabbed a blanket, picked up some sandwiches, wrapped scarfs around our necks (since Mac and I are wimps on a breezy 60 something degree evening) and were on our way...

 

 

 

 

Amazing how one hour on the beach can be so relaxing.

This one day...

Today was the day that we planned to do something, anything, remotely Spring Break-y. I was pretty indecisive this morning trying to figure out what to do, but by early this afternoon we were on our way to Balboa.

To ride this and eat these (because I had seen them here)...

 

 

 

 

Just a couple of hours of family fun.

And before you even begin to think, "Oh they're such a happy little family"

 

Here's the photo Sean caught as I whipped my head around to admonish Mac for trying to push me over and instead let him just about fall onto the sidewalk to teach him a lesson.

So yes a happy family, sometimes ready to strangle each other, but overall pretty happy. :)

The last of it...

Sean's outside trying to power-wash half the country's bug population off our front bumper and I am working on our behemoth Costco photo order.

We arrived home yesterday just in time to unload the car, pick up the dogs, and bake some treats (these and these) before heading out to teach my class...I'm pretty sure I didn't really teach though, instead I was overjoyed to see everyone create their own wonderful pages just as I had hoped for...just get some fun supplies, hopefully be a little inspired, and go for it. :)

 

The piles of paper, stamps and snacks on the tables were one of my favorite parts...it reminded me of how excited I am to be home and get a chance to make my own "mess".

But before that here are the last of the roadtrip photos from our drive and visit in Salt Lake City and then onto Vegas...

 

So now it's all home sweet home...plenty to talk about this week as we get settled back and I get ready to start school next week...

If only...

tomorrow was a weekday...as an avid Today show watcher since age 13 I finally have my dream come true of a TV in the bathroom but no show tomorrow so CNN will have to do while I take a shower in the morning.
I booked a fancy schmancy technologically advanced room with a view of the strip at the Flamingo as a grand finale to the big roadtrip...and it was totally worth it to see Mac excitedly shriek and jump around the room as he discovered the TV in the mirror of the hot pink bathroom and the buttons for the automated curtains.
Ironically the technological room makes you pay extra for the internet so I'm blogging from my phone and sharing photos from the last couple of days will have to wait.
Can't wait to get home now...my bed, my shower (even though it doesn't have a cool mirror TV) our dogs and most importantly the chance to teach tomorrow night...can't wait to jump back into making stuff with everyone. :)

Moving on...

Mount Rushmore during the day was great...Mac did everything required to earn his junior ranger like hugging a tree and asking the park rangers various questions...we had lunch and then headed into Wyoming...

People have warned me that all the driving would be boring and so far it hasn't been at all...I have loved looking out the window and taking it all in whether it was populated or not...until we hit Wyoming today...

It brought a new meaning to the word "nothing" for a couple of hundred miles...that we drove about 2 miles over the speed limit the entire time because about a half an hour into the state this happened...

I maintain that Officer Starkey (I'm not kidding) saw our California license plate and decided to get us. :)  In all seriousness we were panicked when he pulled Sean over for going 78 in a 65...I imagine he was able to see that Sean has an impeccable record (ruined yesterday by being pulled over for the very first time in his life) and thankfully let us go with a warning (and the crappy picture I snuck while we were holding our breath waiting for the verdict).

Today we make our way into Utah and stay the night in Salt Lake...I'm excited to see Temple Square and Mac is excited to stop by the high school where High School Musical was filmed...and maybe we'll go 3 miles over the speed limit. :) 

Waiting around...

I have a little while to hang out in bed this morning since Sean is taking the car for the oil change it told us it needed yesterday...amazing considering he got the oil changed the day before we left...in the last two weeks we will have driven more than my car usually drives in half a year...it's four years old and we'll finally hit 50,000 miles sometime in the next couple of days.

So more from yesterday...if you want me to be my usual cynical self I would tell you honestly that the Mt. Rushmore lighting show was like a 40 minute infomercial for the United States...I am all for being patriotic, but the ranger very dramatically took us through the trials and triumphs of our country complete with breaking into song.  Then we had to watch a 20 minute Discovery Channel show...it was interesting, but it all was just a little too much...until they lit the mountain that was something to see.

We saw billboards endlessly for hundreds of miles for a place called Wall Drug so we had to stop...it was a block long of cheesy, touristy goodness...Mac put on the t-shirt we got for his Dad...it really matched the hat and red terrycloth wristbands he was sporting yesterday

A peek into our hotel room yesterday...me checking e-mail and Mac putting together memorabilia in the binder we brought along for him to make into a scrapbook...you got to hang on to empty cereal boxes right?

And finally Mount Rushmore...we got there just as the sun had gone down behind the mountain...

Today we'll go back and check out the museum and Mac wants to earn the Junior Ranger badge and then we drive out to Cheyenne, Wyoming for the night...

We'll see you boys in the morning...

that's what I jokingly said as we walked out of Mount Rushmore tonight...we'll be back tomorrow for daylight photography attempts...

What's better than that?

We just had lunch in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at our new favorite restaurant...a cobb salad, a few candy sticks for the road, and two adorable children's plate sets for Thanksgiving.
Now I am happily in the passenger's seat after driving my morning shift trying to take advantage of cell phone reception in town before we head back out on the wide open road...Mount Rushmore or bust :)

Catching Up...

We're settled in for the night in a great little hotel after some fun shopping and a delicious dinner (I think I could just about move to Omaha to eat beef like I ate tonight)...oh and we took some desserts back to the room to eat while watching tonight's Olympic coverage...it all has made having to leave our family this morning seem a little less depressing.

So I have too many photos to share from back to the Missouri Botanical Gardens On Friday through our weekend and then from today in Madison County...

In addition to lots of quality time together and stuffing our faces (um, cheese curds? Yum. Oh and these are the very best thing to eat while watching the Olympics) we went out to the Amana Colonies and hit the local fun center...

Then we attempted a little family photo-ing...

And all three of us loved their gigantic Boxer named Tybalt who was the sweetest guy ever (and this is coming from someone who usually doesn't like big dogs at all)...

And finally the bridge...we just went to see one... the one that was in the story...probably a nerdy thing to do but it was so cool...

Oh and one last thing...I'd better cook a lot when I get home because I have more than plenty of spices...

After our longest drive of the trip tomorrow I will will get the chance to see this in person...I am too excited about it...

Westward Bound...

It's weird to drive west for the first time in eight days....excited for the second half of the trip though...especially today where I have planned exciting stops like seeing the Bridges of Madison County and a Penzey's Spice Store...two things I totally wanted to visit on our trip...

What people from California do...

to have fun while staying in Iowa

We run around in the front yard in a rain storm and then try to pay homage to "Singing in the Rain".

And this one is definitely Christmas card material...

We are having such a good, relaxing time here with family...it feels great to be in a home after a week of hotel rooms...we're back to it again tomorrow though...next stop Omaha...

I want to go home...

and plant something (not that I really plant...I'm usually just the plant buyer)...the botanical gardens are way too inspiring..I'm just sitting on a bench in the shade while Mac and Sean climb around in the children's garden...

It's getting late here in the central time zone...

and I'm tired so I won't waste too much time typing instead I'll share some of my favorite photos from the last couple of days...yesterday we went to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art where I was mesmerized by glass...then we had a great dinner with my dad and his family...we left his house this morning and made the long drive (499 miles) to St. Louis so that I could be mesmerized by the arch...it was one of the things I was dying to see on this trip and it was totally worth it...

 

Tomorrow morning we're going to see the botanical gardens and then we drive to Cedar Rapids to stay at my brother-in-law's house through the weekend...

One more reason I love him...

Nine years ago yesterday we were married and poor Sean has been putting up with my high standards ever since...for instance he is willing to not only clean the windows with the gas station stick thingy he will go back to the really dirty spots with the windex and paper towels I insisted we bring along...I'm a lucky girl with a bug-free windshield (well it was this morning...not so much now that we're just over a hundred miles outside of St. Louis)

Greatest State in the Union...

That's what I always tease my dad about when he brags about Oklahoma...we're here and just really enjoyed a trip to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art...don't think I'll get a chance to share photos tonight while we're at my Dad's so I'll be back tomorrow on our way to St. Louis...

Mourn with me...

If you have curly hair I'm sure you can relate to my plight this morning. So most of the time my hair looks like a bad perm, kind of krinkly and frizzy, but every once in awhile the stars align and somehow magically my hair falls into smooth, ringlet type curls and I manage to feel better about myself all day long because it's one of those rare good hair days.
That happened this morning...my hair couldn't be better...but now I have to go out into the world and it just so happens the world has to be hot and humid Texas and Oklahoma...I will surely look like crap by the end of the day and just in time to meet my dad and his family for dinner at the nice restaurant he wants to take us to...oh well at least I looked good at breakfast. :)

Texas...

Today was fairly uneventful we spent the morning digging through antique stores in Albuquerque and then hit the road towards Amarillo...making sure we hit a truck-stop to get a few postcards and a magnet for Mac's collection...for some reason I'm finding charm in the whole truck-stop/travel center stuff...when we got to Amarillo (and our first taste of 100 degree heat plus humidity) we hit Cracker Barrel for dinner and the hotel pool...tomorrow we're headed to my dad's house in Oklahoma City...

Had to get a shot of Sean loading up our purchases before we headed out of town

Still loving all this big open space & bright blue sky stuff

Truck-stop lunch

Wanted a shot of a 40 sign since we've been on it for three days now

Got to get a photo of a lone tree

And a gorgeous sunset as we were pulling back into the hotel after dinner.

Best ten dollars we spent today...

was our admission to the Petrified Forest...but the pasta I ordered at dinner was a close second...it was just gorgeous today...more puffy clouds and bright blue sky...cheesy truck stops and another thunderstorm...we all are really enjoying this roadtrip stuff...

You're looking at a brand new junior park ranger...he was sworn in today...

 

Oh and I saw that the Oasis class is not up quite yet but it will be soon...they have far more important things to post about like all new CHA stuff being delivered...you know that way I can shop from the blog photos and call in my order from the middle of New Mexico. :)

Tomorrow we're onto Amarillo, Texas...

A first...

I'm pretty sure I've never really been to a National Park before and wasn't planning on it today until we just decided to check out the Petrified Forest which was astounding...we were there for over an hour and a half taking it all in...and Mac was sworn in as a junior ranger so he's proudly wearing his badge while he watches High School Musical as we finish off the drive for today.

53 degrees...

Oh my goodness today was great...I drove the first couple hundred miles and Sean drove the last which gave me time to enjoy the big fluffy clouds...they're kind of a rarity in Southern California so it was just so amazing to see them floating through a bright blue sky...

We made a few pit-stops...one in Kingman where Mac picked out an Arizona magnet...

Then we hit thunderstorms which was just the coolest thing to see lighting out over the desert and heavy rain...we went from 110 degrees in Needles, CA to 57 degrees just outside Flagstaff...amazing to drop 53 degrees in less than two hours.

I guess a big entertainment factor on this trip will be weather since we usually see next to none.

Flagstaff is just a simple night...we walked to dinner and swam in the pool.

I will update from the road I'm sure, but if you want check back here tomorrow afternoon because I set up a post before I left to share something I'm really excited about.

Off to Albuquerque in the morning!

Our first state...

We just crossed over into Arizona...earlier Mac has asked if we've reached Atlanta yet...then he woke up from napping and asked if we were in Texas...I guess he's not getting the whole roadtrip thing quite yet...

4443 miles...

Off we go...with plenty of cell phone blogging along the way since what else am I going to do on looong car rides?

The return...

of Fun Fridays...an idea I started last summer...since Sean and Mac have Fridays off we try to plan some kind of fun outing.

So today for our Summer 2008 inaugural Fun Friday we headed down towards San Diego to have lunch here since we saw it on TV here (always love that show) and then we went here...which helps that huge fish photo make a lot more sense, huh?

Here's some more photos of our fun...

 

Sean was very proud of his pose in the shark...

and when Mac and I got in apparently we were too boring...

so we tried to do a better a job...much more shark attack appropriate, right? :)

Now that Fun Friday is over Studious Saturday & Sunday must commence so that I am ready for my last week of summer school...

Even if gas is $5 a gallon...

and we go with a conservative estimate that our mini-van averages 20 miles to the gallon it should take us about $1000 to do a road-trip out to Iowa to see Sean's brother and his family...we were already thinking of doing a trip this summer and had discussed driving up the coast all the way to Vancouver, BC or flying to New York, but after our trip to Oregon we decided to capitalize on the opportunity to see Kyle, Steph and Bella since our visits are too few and far between...and it just is an appealing idea to drive right through the heart of the country...different states the three of us have never seen...it just seems like the quintessential Americana thing to do. 

So we made a trip to AAA last Friday for a glorious pile of books and maps so we can start to plan...

I'm thinking we're going to hit Las Vegas for just a couple of hours so Mac can see it...then into Utah and I think all the way to Salt Lake City and over to Cheyenne, WY (or through Utah and Colorado stopping around Denver--haven't decided yet) then through to Omaha, NB and then into Cedar Rapids for a weekend...but I do have a crazy pipe dream of going all the way north to see Mt. Rushmore...we'll see...

On the way home we want to take a different route...through St. Louis and then down to Oklahoma City (since we can stay with my Dad for a night) and then through Albuquerque, NM and Flagstaff, AZ and then back home...about 10 days or so...how fun does that sound?

So I'll be trying to plan...figuring out good places to stay and eat and see and shop...so if you have any suggestions about any of the surrounding areas I would appreciate it sooo much...please, please, please comment or e-mail with anything you're willing to share....thanks. :)