The Long Ride Home

Trebo didn't make the cut on this one. These kids endured quite a trip. I can't really believe we made the trek without Dale all the way across the country. Sarah came along for backup. She took all of these pictures.

These windmill farms look really creepy at night, like some kind of sci-fi or alien set-up, because they have red lights on them. Even in the day they look kind of weird and fascinating. We worked hard to get a single good photo of them. This is the best we could come up with. There's only so much you can do in the road travelling at the speed of sound.

Deisha surprised us all and tolerated the trip relatively well in spite of all her bumps and bruises from the previous days. There were quite of a few of them...

Rock formations. Rad.

And the long stretch of highway closing in on both sides seemed a little daunting, but I concentrated on this being another part of our trip, not just a vehicle between trips. I enjoyed it; I love to travel. Sometimes I think I could be happy driving a truck, but I'd get pretty hefty pretty quickly. You can't drive long distances without candy and sodas.

The sky was marvelous. We had a lot of overcast skies between here and there and the gaps were spectacular.

Rocks. So rad.

SWEET Mama! Who is that happy gal?

Sarah was digging the plateaus. It's funny how being in love makes you see EVERYTHING with new eyes.

These photos are actually backwards. I'm too lazy to flip them. Just consider that the lower we are on the page, the closer to Kansas we are. So these were probably taken in southern Kansas or maybe even Oklahoma. She didn't start taking pictures with my camera until later in the trip. If you are interested in seeing the full photo diary of this trip, you can check her out on Facebook. If you don't already know my sister, don't worry. There are more to come right here!

The Final Days

My friend Katy and I haven't seen each other for years and years. I was excited to spend some time with her and her kids, even though it wasn't much time. This picture was a lot better on the little screen on my camera...

Since we rarely get to party together for birthdays, my mom held an un-birthday for him two weeks early. He had a dirt cake, and presents, and fun, and of course pizza.

Here's the spread. It was a joyous occasion.

It's hard to believe this has already been over a month ago. Looking at these pictures makes me feel like we were there earlier this week. I love this place and these two dahhhlings.

PAR-TY! PAR-TY! PAR-TY!

Micah's a pirate, arrrrrrggg!!! Sarah loves this expression. She made him do the face over and over, and he never tired of doing it. So funny!

So long, home. Hope to see you again real soon.

Back to Life at Nana's

The whirlwind settled pretty quickly after we got home from Grandma's. T.R. and Mel left at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning, David and Erin left shortly after that, and then things slowed way down. Jon and Cara were there for a few more days and we were there for a few more weeks, and Sarah was there indefinitely, so we had some time to take it easy.


My kids took lots of baths at my moms. It got pretty hot after the holiday and the pool lost it's luster, for whatever reason. I can't say I blame them for wanting to be inside, nobody caught me out there very often.


I don't know what it is about this tub... I think it's deeper than the average tub. It makes for a really luxurious bubble bath- or shark's cove.


My brother, Jon, managed to pick up some kind of stomach bug on the way home from Great Bend, so he spent a lot of time quarantined. He woke up Sunday morning and felt pretty miserable. By his birthday on Tuesday he was finally feeling better. My mom made a peach cobbler in honor of him and boy was it yummy! Reminded me of my Grandma's from waaaaaay back. Happy Birthday, Dude! I'm glad we were there to mark the year with you.

Unfortunately for the birthday boy, his littlest one, Stephanie, picked up the bug and threw up while she was sitting on his lap that morning. They were scheduled to leave the next day, but decided to just get on the road. It was hard to see them go early. I hated saying the graduated good-byes. It was like a slow march to the inevititable end of this amazing adventure.

Leila was the first one to get it after they left. I had a feeling it would make the rounds, and rounds it did make. She started with a headache and then spiked a fever. Poor thing, I just felt awful for her. She slept for a full day and night and then clung to me the next day. She was super snuggly that whole time. That part was really fun, it was undoing all of that coddling that wasn't fun.

And this is me, the host of this blog, where I sat for a full week while my kids suffered the repercussions of the mysterious Taco Tico bug. (That's where we think Jon got it.) Ok, I didn't really sit here the whole time. I sat here with Lol, and then I sat here in blocks of time while the other kids slept all over the living room floor for three days. It was kind of nice to not have to chase a schedule; we had been running like gangbusters for so long that we were exhausted on top of being sick.

These two... we've got to do something about their being so camera shy! Check out Tre's eyes, I don't think anyone believes me but this photo is close enough to show that his right eye is blue and his left eye is green. Isn't that cool???

There were a lot more pictures like this... thirteen actually. You get my drift.

I love this girl!!! She is a teacher in Texas and I would pay big bucks to have her as an in-home private tutor. As soon as I get some big bucks and a house big enough for you and Grace to move in, I'm calling you! Think about it, okay?

I love being at this table. This is where my mom always sits- unless one of the kids changes the seating arrangement. At some point in every meal we ate here, and we ate a lot of them here, she had a kid on her lap. She's the best Nana EVER!

Red Knight came to have dinner with us and lucked out on pizza day! Woohoo! We had a lot of pizza on this trip, but it was a lot of homemade pizza. We could have eaten it everyday and I wouldn't have minded. One of the kids gave me a survey the other day and asked me what my favorite food was. Guess what I said. I know! I'm an adult with a very broad palate, you'd think I would be a little more creative in choosing favorites, but... ilovepizza. I LOVE PIZZA! What can I say?

The Fourth of July: Part Two

Let me back up for just a minute here. When Cara and I got home from the 5K that we completed LONG BEFORE the lady that was pushing a stroller, the house was still quiet. They were starting to take numbers for the shower, but the kids weren't running yet. I collected my clothes and camped out by the bathroom door so that I would be sure to get some warm water. By the time I got out of the shower, the traffic up and down the stairs was starting to pick up.

Downstairs my mom was finishing up serving breakfast and packing up for the day trip to Great Bend. The kids were brushing teeth and packing bags and slapping on sunscreen. Within ten minutes of my decent down the stairs, the place was hopping. Remember that infamous scene on Home Alone the morning of their trip where people are everywhere and there is rampant chaos? That's what my mom's house was like. I was running in and out of the dining room trying to finish getting myself and the kids ready, and Teresa was sitting at the table giggling to herself. She and jonjenek looked on with empathy as all the mommies started to come unglued. Madness, I tell you. It's just what I dream about for my very own clan when they all come home. I loved every minute of it. That hour of that morning topped the charts on my "favorite parts of the trip" list.

Ok, back to the virtual present. Here's Erin, and my cousin Tina's husband Billy. He cracks me up. I love people that know who they are.

This is how Erica looks all the time, all fancied up with those gleaming white teeth flashing. She's fun, fun, fun. At first glimpse you might be misled by this photograph. These are my cousins. They are brother and sister, holding Deisha and Maren. Aren't they cute? All of them? They look like they could be a little family, and they are, but not the way they look. Erica has one son, Jordan, whom you met earlier. Luke is married to Karli and they have a son named Hayden. Somehow I didn't get a photograph of either of them. Boo on me! You have to understand, I didn't get my camera out until about the last thirty minutes of our all-day adventure. And it's like that, and that's the way it is.

I'm not sure who said we needed a Stewart family photo, but my sister and I jumped on set without hesitation. We don't mind being photographed. No really, we don't! I know. It's hard to believe. We're kind of... how would you describe... shy? Yes. We're shy.

With no one else to block us out of view, we took the opportunity to pose for my parents' Christmas card. Just us. Can't wait to get it in the mail! WOOHOO! That's gonna be grrreat!!!

All kidding aside, if it's up against this one, we might be in for some stiff competition. Blasted David. He's always stealing our thunder!

After everyone lined up, ecstatic to be photographed for another twenty minutes, someone said, "Where's Zane?"

Apparently he didn't make it over before shutters starting flying so my sister initiated a protest. No smiling until Zane got there! Notice the kids in the previous picture. Kennedy is scowling and Jasmine is looking sternly into the distance. Hahahah. They are so funny!

This was the view from our perspective while we waited for Zane. Erica must have been participating in the protest. Love it!!!

Zane jumped in by Micah, we took about thirty more pictures, and I said, "Hey, everybody do something crazy!" Look at Tom. (my dad) He's a wild and crazy guy!

A break from the norm

The thing is, I have these really cool kids. I don't entertain; I really never have. After about fifteen minutes of the noise, I get tired of the TV. Those things combined contribute to their little creative minds. They spend a lot of time dreaming up stuff like this. Micah has always had a really interesting perception of space. I'm not talking about space, the great beyond, I'm talking on paper. If he draws a fly on a leaf, he may zoom in on it on the next page to draw details, in turn making the leaf bigger as the fly gets bigger, get it? He's been doing it for years. It always fascinated me because while I can eyeball two inches and draw six lines equally spaced at that distance, I can't draw a dude with shoulders in proportion to his head. I'm spatially handicapped. It's a gift he has.

He spends hours with his camera, snapping pictures of all kinds of things. He has a battery allowance every week because he burns them up so fast. Initially he was taking pictures of pictures of books or recording segments of Spongebob. Lately he's been making stop-motion videos. You remember the little comic flip-book? You flip through a big stack of pages to watch a person take four steps to the stop sign, right? Cartooning 101. That's what he does, only he uses toys or Legos or clay or paper and a camera. Yesterday he was using a toy dinosaur and to show him walking forward, he drew a background and then moved it backwards instead of moving the dinosaur forward, just rearranged it's legs. Now, I know how they do it on movies and cartoons and you know, because when we were kids someone told us that's how they did it. But I've never told him, he just figures things out. He's pretty stinking amazing. As soon as we figure out how to take all the pictures and make a video from them, I'll load some of his work. I don't mean to brag but he's mine, and he's awesome. How could he not be, though. Have you seen his dad?

The Fourth of July: Part One

Growing up in Kansas had it's perks. One of those perks was being three hours away from Great Bend, Kansas. I love this place. One of my favorite times to visit Great Bend was the Fourth of July. We used to go and spend a few days almost every year. It was sheer bliss, thanks to this pretty lady right here.

Last year there was a host of excitement in Great Bend when it was announced that there would be a huge blowout on the Fourth and everyone was coming. We were the only ones that didn't make it. I was heart-broken, but it made the fact that we (minus Dale; WAAAAHHHH) were able to come this year that much sweeter. It was magical, thanks to this guy and that pretty lady to the left of him.

And now let's start with the introductions. The lady in red is my sweet sweet Grams. She's wonderful to the nth. Then the next picture was Uncle Jeff and Lynette. They are also wonderful and quite lovely party hosts. This sharp dressed man is my Uncle Kevin.

Lol was pretty partied out by this time. Aside from the piles of fireworks in the garage, they had a huge pool, a kiddie pool, and a blow-up water slide. Let's not forget about the tables stacked with food.

Speaking of food, did I mention the cheesecake ice cream that Uncle Jeff makes? Aye caramba. Red Knight, #10, AKA Teresa, came along with us to the party. She was there last year, and I think the year before too. There's kind of a running joke that she and Uncle Kevin are going to eventually hook up. Teresa is one of a kind. You should be so lucky as to meet her someday. You'll want to marry her too.

This is my cousin Annie, Uncle Jeff's daughter, and her boyfriend Greg Jeffers. Now this is where it gets complicated. Her dad's name is Jeff, and my cousin Leah's husband's name is Jeff. You met my Uncle Greg, holding Deisha about a week ago. There was a time we called him Greggers. They're all in the same genre of people for me, so even now, I'm rethinking his name. Is it Greg Jeffers or Jeff Greggors? Oh dear... this is upsetting. Sorry Anne. I don't know if I'll ever get it right. But my kids loved him. They kept talking about how fun he was in the pool. Here's another thing; he looks just like two of my other cousins, Luke, and Michael. I mean they are different, but very similar. You'll see.

Here we have my cousin Tina and my Uncle Bubba, with Megan in the blue, Tina's daughter, and Kayla, my cousin my marriage. Oh I wish you could meet Tina. You see that look on her face? That's how she is. All the time. She always looks just like this when I see her. She's refreshing. I adore her. And her husband Billy is just as fun.

How can they not be? Look at her father! He's a hoot. When I was little he was single and rich. He would send me dresses in the big fancy boxes in the mail. Quite a few years back he was in a jeeping accident and suffered some brain damage. Before the accident, every time I saw him he'd say, "Becca, how many boyfriends ya got now?" I never had boyfriends. It was like scouring my soul with ice cream salt. So when he started to recover, we had to start accepting the fact that he would never be the same. Our old Bubba was different and that was that. You can imagine my surprise when we went to visit the new Bubba in a rehab center and he said, "Well, Becca, how many boyfriends ya got now?" I was never so happy to hear those words!

These fancy ladies are my mom and her sister, Aunt Kim. They look so alike, I love it! Aunt Kim took me to California for the first time when I was 12. She was a single mom with three kids, so she needed extra hands and eyes to travel across the country to Los Angeles in a car. I was thrilled about going, but with hindsight being 20/20, I'm not sure I was the right guy for the job. When Leah started getting car sick in the seat next to me and we were on the freeway in bumper-to-bumper traffic, my Aunt started yelling, "Get something to catch it!" There was nothing else to do but bite the bullet and catch it. I wasn't the girl I am now and I couldn't think clearly. I was 12. I grabbed a Happy Meal box and tried to hold it to her mouth without looking. It went everywhere. I was gagging and crying, Leah was puking, Kim was yelling; it was a fiasco. And then there was the time when I lost one of the kids at Disneyland... Yeah. But we did have a lot of fun.

All the cousins lined up for this picture. We stood here in the heat for a long, long time while we added people and waited for everyone to get their camera. There must be 75 pictures of this floating around facebook. But out of all of them, this is my fave. Check out Alexa. That's how we all felt.

5K on the 4th

Remember Cara? She doesn't like the limelight, which explains why I don't have very many pictures of her. She and I are housewives in separate Siberias. We have a lot in common. A few years back, she joined up with a running class and did her first 5K in New Mexico. I was so impressed that I started looking at my own options for running here in California. Last spring we even started talking about doing a run in Monterrey Bay. It's probably the most beautiful place we've been here, and she has a friend that lives there that would probably participate too. I didn't really think it was going to happen with juggling kids and driving all the way out there, but it was fun to talk about.

After we decided we were definitely coming the Midwest this summer, she called me and said, "I sent you a flyer about a 5K they're having in Emporia on the Fourth of July. Wanna do it?" I was hesitant knowing there would be a lot going on the Fourth, but I really wanted to have the experience with her. Who knew when we'd have this kind of open door again? So I said, "Let's do it!" I started running on the treadmill at the gym and withing a week was able to knock out four miles. Granted, running on a treadmill in a gym at a preset pace doesn't compare to running outside. She sent me a training regimen that was a piece of cake, so I just blew it off. I knew I could run that far if I did it slow enough, what was a the point of sticking to a schedule?

When we got to Richmond, I got my running shoes on and headed out around nine o'clock to attempt a few miles in heat a humidity, something I've NEVER attempted. There is a cemetery across the street from the house that is hilly and measures four laps for a mile; perfect. As I cleared my first lap, I was pretty winded but still had enough stamina to keep going. At the end of my third, I was trying to talk myself into one more running lap and then rewarding myself with one walking. After the fourth lap I was hurrying across the street to the house so that I wouldn't throw up on some poor stranger's flowers. Not a good sign.

I tried a few days later to run again. It was better because it wasn't as hot, but this time I had a bird alerting the community of my presence. Each time I neared their tree, he got his buddies together and dive-bombed me! I couldn't believe it! I armed myself the next time I went out with a newspaper. As soon as the birds would start to drop toward me, I would slap the newspaper in my hand and they'd dart off in different directions. It worked, but it really disrupted my focus. I ran two more times, topping out at 1.5 miles. There was no way I was going to be able to finish a 5K (3.3 mi.). Cara was going to be disappointed but it just wasn't going to happen.

Jon and Cara got to my mom's a few days before the run. I broke the news to her that I wasn't going to be able to finish it. That's when she told me she had matching shirts for us. I had to do it. We joked about how it would be since neither of us had done much running on vacation. I was sure she could do it, but I was very, very nervous about it.

The night before the actual run I was getting everything out so that I wouldn't be scavenging through suitcases in the dark the next day and couldn't find tennis shoes. NO RUNNING SHOES!! I seriously almost cried. Thank goodness my sister had a pair of Shox that were moderately worn in. My feet give me fits from running and walking a lot, so wearing a strange pair of shoes only added to my building anxiety.

I woke up about every half hour and and finally up at five-thirty to shower and stretch out the morning of the run. No one else was up, which was bizarre because the house was packed. All my siblings and their children were there. My parents even did a quick clean-up in the attic remodel and moved the bed in so that they could give up their bedroom.

Dressed in our matching t-shirts without snapping a single picture, we headed out the door to do our first 5K together. There were a few people gathered at the starting location. Some skinny, giggly cross-country runners, some older gentlemen in their prime, and a college kid that was sprinting up and down the parking lot before the race. Just that would've burned up my entire stock of energy before the race! I was getting more and more nervous the longer we stood there.

The organizers handed out maps, talked us through the process, and then we lined up for the start. I was relieved to know that some of our competitors would be walking. It assured me that we wouldn't be the last ones in, as long as we kept jogging.

We started out at a good pace, still able to visit and laugh. About eight minutes in, there was a mailbox with birds and flowers painted on it that I caught a glimpse of a block away. I told myself that if I made it to that mailbox, I could walk for awhile. When we got there, Cara didn't seem to be winded at all, so I didn't say anything, I just kept running.

We could see runners ahead of us and there were people marking the path and telling us where to turn. At one point, I looked down a street that no one turned on and there was a person standing on that next corner. After looking at the map, I decided that all of them had made a mistake and we should keep going instead of turning. She trusted me and the guy didn't tell us otherwise, but then we saw more runners coming down the street toward him. If we stayed on that path, we'd be cutting about six blocks off the path. I'm pretty sure she wanted to hit me when we turned back around and headed the way we were originally going.

The rest of the run was brutal. Every block was difficult. I kept a close eye on the map, which gave me some relief, knowing the end was getting closer and closer. At any moment I could have stopped and probably would have if Cara had stopped, but we just kept going. Knowing that everyone in the house knew about our venture inspired us, probably more than anything else. I just couldn't bare to tell Dale that I didn't do it, either. He was so far away cheering me on. I had to do it.

I'm not a finisher, I think we've covered that. Finishing that race changed me. The sense of elation that I felt as we crossed the line was indescribable. My body was totally depleted, but something inside me was born out of sheer will. It was totally gratifying.

Hip hip hooray!
We finished a 5K!