Road Trip 2013

We just accomplished a 17 day, 4,490 mile, 16 state road trip.  This was our route:

Our first stop was outside of Madison, WI, where David (a colleague/friend from our Madison days), Lolly, Henry, Charlie, and Jack were nice enough to let us spend the night after a long day in the car, and then shared a nice breakfast and some fiddle and piano tunes before it was time for us to hit the road again.  They also helped us come up with an idea for our group pictures at each road trip destination: line up tallest to shortest and set the camera up on an auto-timer.  Partly because we were trying to smile while the mosquitoes closed in on us, I also decided on a "one take" rule.  

July 6, Oregon, WI: The Merrell-Van Sickle Crew

Next stop was the Cottage.  We had a great week with perfect weather, lots of boating and swimming, and great fun with cousins.  Grandpa and Grandma and Aunt Shannon and Uncle Jacob were there for the beginning of the week, and then Nana came up for the second half of the week.  (Her brother Jim dropped her off, so he made it into the group shot below.)  While everyone was there, we held a second wedding for Shannon and Jacob since the kids weren't at the main event (in Bend, OR in May).  

July 8, Three Lakes, WI: The Dickinsons

From Wisconsin we drove across Michigan's Upper Peninsula, down through Michigan and Ohio and rolled in late at night to my stepsister Emily's house in Pittsburgh.  We slept in the next morning and then spent the day at the pool, where Mazie and Athena had a great time swimming and playing with Maggie, Brady, and Alison.  In the evening we had a great cook out with Emily's husband Brian's family and co-workers.  Of course, we made all of them line up for another group shot.  (This one wins the prize for most challenging camera placement... it was propped up on top of our van, and I just barely made it up the hill and into the shot.  Note the kids looking over to see if I made it.)

 July 13, Pittsburgh, PA: The Lowes (and friends)

After Pittsburgh, we were headed to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Along the way, we stopped in Richmond for lunch with Tiffany (another friend from our Madison days) and her fiance Mark.  They introduced us to a very yummy vegetarian restaurant, and Tiffany was sweet enough to show up with a basket of tropical-themed picnic bowls and cups that kept the kids entertained.

July 14, Richmond, VA: Tiffany Green and Mark Robinson

And then we were at the beach!  We had another wonderful week with more great (if hot and humid) weather, and most importantly, our wonderful (and ever growing) group of friends from our Durham days: the Lupiens (now in Maine), the Collinses (in Boston), and the Gray-Ekblad crew (in Guelph, Ontario).  The house we rented had lots of space for all of us, and the kids enjoyed the beach, the pool, and each other.  Note the big difference between this group and the cottage crew:  Mazie went from second shortest in the height lineup (and third youngest) to the oldest & tallest kid!  Not surprisingly, we didn't quite manage to keep this young group completely in line...

July 18, Southern Shores, NC: Durham Friends Reunion

We were having so much fun at the beach that we decided to stay an extra day and cram the originally-planned 3-day return trip into 2 days.  We did manage to squeeze in a (too) short visit with the Smiths, also part of our Durham clan, who weren't able to join us at the beach this year (but we look forward to seeing them next year at the Cottage!).  Mazie and Lauren put on a little singing and dancing performance for us, so that was pretty cute.

July 20, Durham, NC: The Smiths

After leaving the Smiths we put in a long day on the road and then stopped for a 1:30 am - 6 am nap at a motel in St Louis.  From there we drove about 3 hrs to Kyle and Jodi's (childhood/high school friends from Boulder) house outside of Kansas City.  Once again the visit was too short, but it was great to see the Woltman's new house and to finally meet 3 year old Annabelle, who did a great job of sharing her toys and playing with Mazie and Athena.

July 21, Overland Park, KS: The Woltmans

From there it was a short 9 hr drive back to our home sweet home.  The kiddos actually did great on the entire ride... there were rough patches here and there, but surprisingly few given the 70+ hours we ended up spending in the car!  Grateful for a fun adventure filled with so many great people... and also grateful to be home for the next few weeks....

Mazie James is 5 (and then some)

Mazie turned five on May 23.  We had a celebration at her school, and then she played her last soccer game of the season and we had a little party at the field afterwards with pizza and cake.

The next day, Caleb and I flew to Oregon for Shannon's wedding.  Mazie and Athena stayed home and had a pretty fun weekend... Nanny and Papa came to help out since Ahya had to make a trip to Montreal to celebrate Uncle Logan's college graduation!  Mazie had "dates" with Ahya (breakfast, pedicure, and Build-a-Bear) and Nanny and Papa (lunch, root beer floats, and getting a fish for her new fish tank).  Despite coming down with a little cold & cough, the girls mostly did great and we were grateful for a fun grown-up getaway.  (Shannon's wedding was beautiful...)

When we got back Mazie, as a five year old, got to have her first Nana-hosted tea party.  On the way there, I asked what it was like being five, and she said it was good but also hard because she was a lot more "responsible" and had to do a lot more things.  Well said, kiddo.

Since then we've been quite busy... took a trip to Boise for Caleb to coach not one but two of his soccer teams that both won their respective state-wide President's Cup and were playing in the regional tournament.  (Both teams played well but did not advance to nationals.)  Here we on our way to the airport... the girls and I flew up and met Caleb, who drove up with his teams.  We all drove back in one of the team vans.

Got back in town just in time to welcome Alli, Bryon, Miles, and Hazel to Louisville -- they moved here from Durham and are now our neighbors!  Crazy!

Next up was a camping trip to a gorgeous spot in the Flat Tops area of Colorado with Ty and Sara.  We ate well of course (dutch oven pizzas), played some extreme croquet, and celebrated Ty's 29th birthday on June 23.

This past weekend we held the First Annual AlliKat Pub Crawl -- a tour of Louisville to introduce Bryon and Alli to their new home and community.  Great fun.

Next up: a 17 day road trip covering 16 states.  Wisconsin cottage to North Carolina beach house and back, with several fun stops along the way.

But back to my Mazie... at five, she is lovely, bright (as always), and kind.  She finished preschool in early June and is very excited to be heading to kindergarten in the fall.  She can read and write a growing list of words and, as she is eager to demonstrate, can count to 108.  (Not sure why that's the stopping point.)  I adore her curiosity and growing problem solving skills.  This morning I asked her to write a thank you note (belatedly) for one of her birthday presents and she dove right in: she told me what she wanted to say and I wrote it on a piece of paper, and then she copied it onto her card.  With no lines to keep the letters straight on the card, the words got a bit jumbled and she got frustrated and decided she needed to start over, but by then she was getting tired of writing.  I told her to just try and finish it up, and then I went upstairs to change Athena's diaper.  When I came back down, she was still sitting with the blank card and I expected more complaining, but she said, "Mommy, I was thinking about it and since I'm getting a little tired of writing, I thought we could take turns:  I'll write a letter, and then you write a letter."  So we wrote out the whole note that way.  I loved her maturity and creativity in that moment... she was committed to getting the note done, so she came up with a plan.

Here are some recent photos of our amazing Mazie.  I love you, little darling.