Texas Adventures Part 1: Riverwalking

Fast forward a few days and 18 hours worth of road trip and we are in Texas!  While the main attraction was my nephew's first birthday party, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to experience the Riverwalk and Alamo.  Did I mention that, in Texas, my mom, the twins and I joined up with Lucas, Nana, Poppy and Little Grandma at Lala and Uncle G's house?  They aren't pictured here, but this was a big family adventure!

I told Ryan we were going on an adventure and he immediately asked, "Will there be an elevator or escalator?" ...um...I don't think so..."Oh...well it will be okay, I guess."  Thank goodness the Riverwalk is actually right by the mall (where we parked) and we got to ride an elevator and escalator to get down to the water!  He deemed the adventure an instant success!

The twins were instantly enthralled with the bridge, and the water, and the boats!  I was terrified by how they constantly wanted to stick their heads through the bars...

We had Little Grandma with us, so instead of walking the whole Riverwalk, we did a boat tour!

After the boat tour we ate at one of the restaurants along the water, and then we headed over to (quickly) see the Alamo.  I know my children will probably not remember it, but I couldn't pass up the chance to get a picture of all of us at the Alamo to show they were there once!

We are not in the picture below, but I needed a picture with the classic roof line.

We also hit up a t-shirt shop for some souvenirs - a perfect end to a touristy adventure! 

Nebraska Adventures Part 4: The Zoo!

For a while, my parents have wanted to take the kids to the zoo where they took me when I was little.  This trip was the perfect chance!  

An unexpected bonus: the zoo membership Nana and Poppy got the twins for their birthday got us all in free!  So, we splurged on tickets for the horses and the train.

Riding the horses was a big deal because they went without me!  They looked so big on those horses.

Allie's horse was named Tinkerbelle.  She was so thrilled!

                                       

We saw some cool animals

 Being flamingos

 The noisy gibbon

Papa bought some food and let them feed the llamas and the goats.

Ryan and Allie checked out what it would be like if they hatched from an egg.

We spent some time hamming it up at the photo boards

We ate some lunch (you might think that is boring, but I ordered the kids chocolate milk...it was one of Ryan's favorite things at the zoo!)

When we were all finished, we went to the depot to wait for the train.

Waving at the train going by (it goes around twice)

The kids were so excited when we got on the train!

And I got the picture I wanted.  See, somewhere there is a picture of me, when I was about the twins' age, riding on the train with my parents and grandparents (I looked for it, but apparently I don't have a copy here...)!  It was so much fun to get a similar photo for my kids!

Nebraska Adventures Part 3: Simple Fun

There were 2 things we took on our trip that the twins were dying to wear as soon as possible.  The first were their new TaeKwon Do uniforms.

 We got them 2 days before we left, and I quickly sewed on their patches to make them look ultra-official.

 They couldn't wait to show off their uniforms and some of their moves.  Unfortunately, that wore off by Texas and Lala (who gave them the birthday money that purchased the uniforms) didn't get to see them :(

The other was their brand new swimsuits.  We had no plans to swim before getting to Texas, but mom and I set up the sprinkler (with the help of a phone call to my dad...seriously how many people does it take to get a sprinkler going?  One.  My dad.).

Because I missed my dad's instructions to turn the nozzles up, the water didn't hit them above knee-level.  So they sat down.

Hooray for simple fun!

Nebraska Adventures Part 2: Papa's Work

Something that is part of every trip to Nebraska is a trip to the town where I grew up.  Not only do I have a lot of family there that I want to see, but it is also where my dad works (and the twins love seeing Papa's Work).  Now, I intended to get pictures with my cousins (especially the cousins who graduated), and my aunt...but somehow it didn't happen.  I did get a picture of the twins with my grandparents (Nebraska Grandpa and Grandma as they are affectionately called).  My favorite thing was that, on the way over, Ryan told me all about the things he couldn't wait to see at their house - remembering in incredible detail the toys, the house, and the grandparents.It shouldn't shock me - they have memories of steel - but it still makes me happy when they remember people I love :)

The last thing we did was visit Papa's work - the first time in the new building!

They got to help Uncle Matt work the parts counter

and visit the shop and lofted storage area with Papa

A bird's eye view of the shop

They got to sit in and pretend to drive a bunch of the vehicles ("constructions" as Allie called them - since they look similar).

some references for the size of some of the vehicles into which they climbed:

They weren't able to get into some of the sprayers (because they were being either fixed or torn apart), but Papa and Uncle Matt helped them peek inside.

And, to top it all off, Papa and Uncle Matt took them for a ride on the golf cart.

I told my dad that, if we lived closer, I would totally bring the moms' group to his work.  The chance to climb into big vehicles is always super cool!

Nebraska Adventures Part 1: Mother's Day

We were able to be a part of many wonderful events in Nebraska - my twin cousins' graduation and both my brother's and my mother's birthdays.  But I didn't get any pictures of those.  Not a single one.  FAIL.  So I will attempt to chronicle the events I DID get pictures of...the first being Mother's Day.

Have I mentioned I'm not a fan?  I think it all started during the years of really wanting (and trying) to be a mother.  In fact, one year it was the Monday after Mother's Day that I was scheduled to do the blood test to find out if the latest IVF was successful.  I spent the whole day wondering, "Am I?" only to be very disappointed the next day.  Ultimately, it set me up for too many expectations of how wonderful Mother's Day would be.  My first Mother's Day the twins slept less, the night before, than they have any other night in their lives thus far...and then pooped on me.  My second Mother's Day they both got a stomach bug and I spent the entire day cleaning up vomit and doing laundry.  My third Mother's Day I cancelled.  Did I mention that, because Mother's Day is on a Sunday, it is never the day of pampering I was promised (even without sleep deprivation, poo, and vomit)?  See, Sunday for a Pastor's wife is the busiest day of the week.  He leaves earlier in the morning than any other day (no sleeping in or breakfast in bed), you are solely responsible for getting yourself and your children dressed and out the door for church (extra pressure on Mother's Day when you feel pressured to look the perfect Mother/children), keeping everyone quiet during the service (no nursery on Mother's Day because all the workers want to enjoy church with their mothers), and getting everyone back home for lunch and down for naps (after which, once the house is silent and calm once again, your husband comes home).  And when I realized that, even if the streak of extreme Mother's Days didn't continue, I would eventually feel bitter that I didn't get the pampering I was promised because of the church (something I certainly did NOT want to feel), I cancelled it.  I don't feel bitter on any other Sunday of the year, so I told Lucas that, as far as I was concerned, it wasn't Mother's Day.  We would take a family trip to the zoo later in the week (and we did, and it was wonderful!).  

My husband is amazing, and does things all the time to let me know how much he appreciates me.  Every day my children give me hugs and kisses and tokens of affection (flowers picked from outside for example) and tell me I'm the best mommy, and they love me, and I'm their best friend, and so on.  I enjoy those so much more than this one day every year set aside with so much pressure.

This year, though, I got to be with my mom.  Perfection.

My mom is amazing.  Outwardly she is short and silly and soft-hearted.  She loves chocolate and chick-flicks and more chocolate.  But she loves being a mom more than anything, and it shows.  I think she did an amazing job with my brothers and I.  Even though, when I was younger,  I said a million times that I would never parent my children the way she parented me (you know, not letting me have my own phone and phone number, or making me call when I got somewhere, or making me do chores - the really terrible things when you are young), I want to be just like her now.  And I want my children to turn out just as well.  Seriously, my bothers and I are amazing people.  Humble too.  The point is, now that I'm a mom, I have total respect for my mom and all of the things she did for us as kids.  I see now how much of the person I am today is from how much of an amazing mom I had...and have.  Getting to spend the day with her was wonderful.

Too bad I didn't get a picture of it...

Road Trip

When the twins were tiny babies I followed a twin blog where the mom chronicled the many daily adventures she went on with her twins (2 1/2 at the time) - educational, exploring their community, and all over the country.  I remember that she blogged about her long road trip (2 month, I believe) with her 2 1/2 year old twins.  Her husband (who worked) would meet up with them whenever he could, but for the most part she and the kiddos went on a grand adventure, through several states, seeing everything they could see.  It sounded a little crazy, but it also sounded like a lot of fun...

So it didn't sound crazy to me to take a road trip from Michigan to Nebraska (on the way to Texas) with the twins...alone.  It was doable.  It would be an adventure!  Granted, there are 2 things that I have going for me that I would suggest might make this less intimidating to me: 1) I LIKE road trips.  I really enjoy them.  Not everyone does.  2) We have taken a LOT of long road trips with the twins.  Like this, or this, and this, or this, or...well...you get the picture.  Long drives are nothing new, and the kids - unless sick - travel really well.  Even then, the night before I started to get really nervous.

I shouldn't have.  It went great!  We stopped in Iowa, so the first day was about 7 hours of driving time (it took us about 9 hours to get there) and the second day was about 6 hours of driving time (it took us almost 9 again).  I did have a few tricks up my sleeve.  The first was our "Road Trip Rules," which I told the twins was a must for every road trip.  The rules?  1) We all go to the bathroom every time we stop.  No exceptions.  2) Mommy can't reach things while driving so hold onto your stuff!  If you drop it, no freak outs.  We will get it at our next stop.  3) We don't do things that bother other people in the van.  If they don't like it, it stops, no questions, no exceptions.  Quite frankly, simply saying "Road Trip Rules!" stopped a lot of potential freak outs.  The second was a giant bag full of smaller bags - each packed with a snack, a special treat, and entertaining items for the road (books, toys, crayons and paper, etc.)  At each stop I gave them a new bag...and since we stopped a lot this meant a lot of fresh entertainment.  In fact, did I mention they didn't watch a single movie?  I brought along the laptop and their dvd's, but since I couldn't monitor it unless the van was stopped I was hesitant to even put any on.  Thankfully, I didn't have to!
With some of their special surprises:

The first day was a breeze!  It was delightful.  There wasn't a single tantrum or freak out.  The twins were so excited about everything.  It was wonderful.  We were lucky that every time someone needed a potty break we had an amazing stop right there (like a rest area with a playground)!  We also made a point to stop at state welcome centers.  Partly because I've discovered the bathrooms tend to be cleaner, partly because they have all kinds of brochures and I knew the twins would enjoy picking some up.  On this trip we discovered that many of these welcome centers have coloring books they will give to little kids!  The twins have been enjoying coloring in their Iowa and Nebraska books :)
Our Iowa coloring books!

We stayed the night in Iowa, which was wonderful.  I love sneaking in visits (no matter how short) with people I don't get to see often.  The twins got to play with my aunt and uncle, and my cousin's kids, while I got to enjoy catching up with people I love.  So wonderful.
Playing with Aunt Jan

The second day was a little more rough.  Partly because - due to the different time zone - they were a little short on sleep (Allie told me she was "So, so tired.").  Partly because we left Bumble (remember him?  Ryan's favorite stuffed animal/best friend/bedtime necessity), and didn't realize until we were already an hour down the road...  So there was a good hour of driving where Ryan cried over and over, "I just want my Bumble!" and I cried as I drove on - further from Bumble - because I felt so terrible.  Then I decided to stop for lunch (I packed lunches the day before) at a McDonalds with a playplace.  These have been inconsistent for us in the past - some are really designed more for early elementary aged kids than preschoolers - but I took a gamble.  Long story short, both kids got stuck in the very top (at different times) requiring me to climb up twice, the food wasn't yummy, and Ryan flushed the toilet when it was Allie's turn and she had a complete (overtired) meltdown that required me to hold her for a while in the parking lot until she calmed down.  I started to panic a little about losing time and needing to get on the road, and then I thought, "This trip is for them.  If she needs me to hold her until she calms down, I will."  So I did.  The stop ended up being an hour and a half long...but that was ok.  Oh, and did I mention that every time the twins needed to go potty we were in a desolate area with no facilities.  Thank goodness for the travel potties we keep in the van.  We used them 3 times because there was no other option!  The final time stealer?  Construction in Nebraska.  The last 2 hours took much longer because we were slowed down and sometimes stopped.  But we made it!  And the twins thought the trip was a great adventure!  And even the rough second day wasn't actually that rough.  In fact, I didn't feel stressed at all when we got there.  Just relieved to have reached our destination :)

All of the rest of the road trip I had help lined up, so this is the end of the adventures of just us three.  I'm thankful I didn't chicken out.  It was a wonderful time of talking with the kids, experiencing new things with them, hearing what they were excited to see, and teaching them about these things.  They might not remember our great road trip, but I always will - fondly.