Vacation here we come…slowly

So we left the Christmas Day partying a little early to come home and pack for our trip and we were even in bed with the van loaded sometime around 11:00.  That’s not so bad.  And we even got up way earlier than I get up and showered and finished gathering stuff when we found out that 1/2 the freeway from here to Missouri had been shut down from snow. 

So now what do we do?  We go downstairs and watch Star Wars! None of my kids have seen any of them, but when Jessie was little she would say, “Star War’s is my favorite movie,”and we would add, “that I’ve never seen.”  I didn’t actually join in the fun, I picked up the house from the previous day and kept my eye on the road updates.  And by noon enough of the roads were open that I was willing to take my chance at getting through.

Now for a few highlights:

Ken and the big kids went sledding down the hill behind my parents house. Only my kids didn’t stay outside nearly as long as I remember being out there as a kid. We read lots of books.  Abbie got some really cute small chapter books for Christmas – Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa.  We celebrated my dad’s birthday with a huge Chinese buffet put on by my sisters.  For anyone who knows me it wouldn’t have been my choice, but I did try one of everything they made and except for the fact that it was Chinese it was delicious.  He also had a garden full of cupcakes for dessert. The only snag was the candles wouldn’t actually quit relighting and so Mark and Conrad were recruited to help him out.Some of us played Twister…And St. Petersburg was played many times.  I think Becca managed to play three times in one day! Mark and Jessie got to go ice skating for the first time.  Jessie didn’t want to let go of Becca at first, but by the end she was having a blast.  While they were skating we took the other kids to a crayola playland.  We also found a cool gingerbread house display with a train and the ski lift that worked.  And, man was it cold out there!! We had a delicious dinner at my sister’s house that I hadn’t been over to see yet.Mark and Grandpa made his pinewood derby car and put together a model car. Abbie decided she loved Twister…. We had an end of the year BBQ. The girls got all fixed up for the stake New Year’s dance and helped with food and decorating…and Spencer had to be in their picture.Our “memorable” experience for this trip was discovering that Spencer is hugely allergic to my sister’s cat.  He had a bad reaction last trip but it was combined with a cold and so we weren’t really sure what was wrong.  Anyway, Ken spent a long time of the phone with our pediatrician trying to get some medicine called in so that he could actually breathe.  Poor little guy (and poor Ken too).  But by the end of the trip he was a pro at using an inhaler.  Ahhh….the things we get to learn.