Kids say the silliest things

Being with four kids for twenty days/three weeks (June 6th through June 26th) there were moments they made me want to scream or laugh.  Sometimes I wanted to do so at the same time and sometimes it was very hard to keep a straight face when disciplining them or taking them seriously.  Some of the more ridiculous moments included:

• The many, many times we had to tell them to stay dressed.  There was the moment as we were exiting the van that I had to shout at Marinda (four), "Where's your shirt?" or the time that Brie shouted at Meghan (seven), "Where are your pants?"  Mason is only one so it was a challenge to keep on pants AND a diaper.  Luckily Micayla at eleven did not have this problem.

• Then there was the obsession with toots and poop.  Micayla seemed to think that her friend invented the "Beans, Beans the Magical Fruit" song.  We gently (read laugh until we cried) explained that song was sung by us at her age.  You try keeping a straight face when a four year old is using her cuss word as, "oh poop."  For example, "We're not going to the pool?  Oh poop!"  Or try to calmly tell a van full of kids that "we do not make up songs about farts, poop, and burps.  That is not appropriate."  because as any mature adult knows in reality poop, farts, and burps are hysterical!

• If I hear another Frozen song or Lego Movie I might stab my ears until they bleed is a phrase I uttered.  They are not cute singing those songs after the 500th try.

• A short conversation with Meghan:  

Meghan: I have nothing to play with
Me: Use your imagination
Meghan: I use my imagination to play with lizards, seashells, and a stuffed animal.

I am still not sure if these objects were in her head or physical objects.

• When we were camping and the other girls were complaining about dirt and Marinda shouted, "That's not dirt...that's  nature!"

• Also when camping:  imagine a quiet tent with no one talking and Meghan says, " You know who has a small head?  A mouse!"  Say what Meghan!?!

• Or in Flagstaff when Meghan said the wind was blowing her brains out.

• Then there was Brie and I laughing at something I can't remember now and Micayla said, "When I grow up I am going to be mature unlike you guys."  I could have told her laughing does not make you immature, but I responded with "There's no hope for that because we're your adult role models.

Hopefully this put a smile on your face and gave you some idea of the crazy/fun time a van full of kids can be.

Kansas

Sunday, June 22nd- Wednesday, June 24th
Here's my confession of the day.  Wait, this is harder than I thought to type out.  It was unexpected and caught me totally by surprise.  OK, I think I am ready...deep breath
I FELL IN LOVE WITH FORT SCOTT, KANSAS.
I had no idea and I did not expect this to happen, but it did happen.  I liked Kansas.  I get it Dorothy.  I get why you just wanted to go home.  It was green, there was water, and history I did not expect in the state.

 This was the front yard of the house we stayed in.

 The sunset was quite pretty (but Arizona still has the best sunsets)

 We did some sparklers because no trip is complete without a little fire.

 So this was a former military base from the Civil War.  My history knowledge did not extend to knowing that Kansas was part of that war.

 These were the punishments that you could endure

 if you broke a rule.  One of the rules was that you couldn't shoot your wife.  A solid rule for any solider in my opinion.

 If you were punished you were put in a cell like this, so of course I had to put the girls in the corner in there.

 A partial view of the Fort Scott "village" so to speak.  There were more buildings, but I couldn't fit them all in.

 A cute picture of the girls, but Mason was taking a nap in his stroller.

 This was the Captain's house.  He was obviously wealthy with a library, fruit, crystal glasses, etc.  The recruits were not allowed near it and had to stay by their barracks.  They even had to take a separate path to the well below.

 They wanted to do a silly picture too.

 The well was inspired by the Greeks.  Makes sense when you think about the columns.

 Union states in blue, border states in tan, Confederate states in grey, undeveloped in white.  Apparently Kansas was torn on whether they should be pro or against slavery and that's where the term, "Bleeding Kansas" comes from.  I love learning new things!

 A nice memorial for soldiers from the 20th and 21st century.

And a plaque to remember the Civil War.

NM to KS

Sunday, June 22nd 
This was an eleven and a half hour drive that we made in thirteen hours with two gas stops, one rest stop, one unscheduled diaper change, one stop at AutoZone, and one lunch break.  We traveled from Roswell, NM at 6am through Texas and Oklahoma before getting to Fort Scott, Kansas right at dark.
We spent the majority of the time driving through Oklahoma.  Here are some things I noticed/learned:

• Every town in Oklahoma is super friendly and wants you to visit it.  Before every town there is a sign telling what the town is known for.  Some of these things included: a "unique" downtown, an original stone grotto wall, and Garth Brooks hometown.
• There are some very big crosses in the state.  We saw two that were three times taller than the church building.
• That every AutoZone in every state is friendly when your check engine light goes on.  Thank you for reassuring us that we could get home safely.
• Also, there is a 1-800 number for Jesus on a billboard asking, "Do you know Jesus?"
• When I stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Pops I wanted to take a photo in front of the GIANT bottle of soda on the front lawn.  Then we got all of the kids loaded in the car and buckled before we remembered that we wanted to take that picture.  I learned that I did not have the energy at this point to unload/reload everyone for one picture. 
• I also learned after spending about eight hours in Oklahoma I don't have any desire to go back anytime soon.  No offense to OK, but it was a very long drive through the state.

Carlsbad Caverns

Saturday, June 21st 
While in Roswell we decided to drive two hours to the caverns.  I am telling this to anyone with kids to know before you go:  There are no strollers allowed in the caverns.  The kids will need a backpack or to be carried the whole time.   It was still a great experience, but we would have planned for it a little differently. 

 I was holding Meghan's hand when I took this picture, so please excuse the thumb.  The vegetation was very similar to Southern AZ with the bushes and cactus. 

 Top of the cave entrance

 Yes, it's dark in there.

Roswell, NM

Thursday, June 19th-Sunday, June 23rd 
We spent three nights in Roswell, NM.  I have to say that the town loves their aliens.  I did not have any encounters with real aliens, but plenty of encounters with the fake variety.  No abductions here!

 Instead of an unofficial stop?

 Hope there's no alien in the chicken!

 Even the McDonald's is shaped like something from outer space.  Yes, that's my foot on the dashboard again...guess it's a trend.

 Comic books for aliens

 They like to play poker. One of them was cheating and had a card up his sleeve!

 The record shop had an alien band.

 This had medical supplies.

 They even come in pink.  The eleven year old refused to be a part of this picture, but Marinda was happy to hold her (?) hand.

 I think this is my favorite.  They disembark a spaceship at a hotel and decide to ride a wagon?  Some are small enough to fit underneath the spaceship while others are bigger than the space ship.  It made me go, "hmmm."

 Yes, we had to go to the Museum. 

 A reenactment of an alien visit in the museum

 We thought about leaving the kids for the UFO...kidding of course

Every museum needs an alien autopsy room.

And to top it all off all of the streetlights on Main Street are aliens too.

AZ to NM

Snapped a few pictures on the way from Flagstaff, AZ to Roswell, NM on Thursday, June 19th. 

 Hard to see how pretty this is when it is taken from a moving vehicle at 80 mph (Don't worry...I wasn't driving when I took these), but crossing the border from AZ to NM looked like this.

 You can see the reflection of my foot in this one.  My foot was sitting on the dashboard.  It kind of looks like I am about to smash the mountain.

I think Thoreau was in Concord, MA...Walden Pond anyone?  I don't know why but the thought of Walden Pond  set in NM sent me into fits of giggles.  Too many weeks on the road or English nerd?  Probably both!

Flagstaff again

June 16th-June 19th
Got to spend three nights in Flagstaff as we journeyed from southern California to New Mexico on the road trip.  It was great to see the family again, but also a little harder to leave this time since I know it'll be awhile until I am up in Flagstaff again.  Claira, my niece, was so excited when we drove up that she ran up to me with a huge smile on her face when I got out of the car.  There are not many things better than the excitement of a two year old so excited to see you she can't stand it.  On the other hand there is not much sadder than a two year old crying when you leave her.  I am blessed to have a family who loves me and is excited to see me.
Just a few pictures:

 Driving from LA to Flag is not the most exciting drive in the world.  We pushed through this part of the driving in seven and a half hours with one bathroom break and ice cream for lunch.  The kids did phenomenal.  Thank goodness for Dairy Queen, DVD players in the car, and ring pops.  Not our finest moment as adults, but it got us through the drive as quickly as possible and in relative peace.

 It's great to see the kids play together.

Mom and I took a trip to the new casino in Flagstaff and played some slots and roulette.  We didn't come away big winners, but we did have fun.

Van Nuys/ Los Angeles area

June 10th-June 16th 
We got in on the evening of Tuesday, the 10th and left the morning of Tuesday,  June 16th for a total of six nights.  We really didn't do anything major which was fine because it was fun just for the kids to spend time with cousins (some they had never even met).  We didn't even make it to the beach.
I did get a much needed break by watching The Fault in Our Stars and a manicure/pedicure.  Not a lot of pictures were taken but here's a few:

 Griffith Park in LA

Finally got to eat those lollipops from the taffy factory.