Vacation Wrap-up

For those who were concerned after reading the previous posts, yes, we did make it back, no, we did not leave any children in NJ, and yes, we had tons of fun.

Highlights of the trip:

1. Again staying at Uncle Case and Aunt Henny's home....first class accomodations!

2. Hanging out with the NJ cousins I grew up with (and having their kids entertain ours!)

3. Seeing an old family friend, Mrs. Joseph, and watching Peter and Esther catch their first fish in her pond!

4. Attending the 50th anniversary of Sussex Christian School, where I attended through 7th grade.

5. Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa K on vacation.

Interesting facts learned on the trip:

1. Esther is as stubborn as her Daddy. No matter how hard cousin Rich tried to get a hug from her, he wasn't going to get it. "Boys are yucky!" (she did however pose for a picture with him on the scooter.)

2. Peter can go 4 nights in a row going to bed after 10:00.

3. Peter can lose his cool pretty quickly after 4 nights in a row of going to bed after 10:00.

4. When you are in the hotel, it's 10:05, and Peter is standing at the hotel room window pointing out all the trucks on I-80......it's too funny not to laugh.

5. Though one would think that if you drive home through the night and your children will sleep the whole way, it is entirely possible to be wrong. It is possible to see your children watching DVD's in the back seat from 11:00 PM - 3:00 AM.

6. 5 cups of coffee and a Mountain Dew will keep you up the whole way from New Jersey to Michigan. It also results in 4 potty stops for Daddy.

7. Miriam is the most easy going baby I've ever met.

(slide your mouse over the pictures to read the captions)

Are We There Yet?? Part III

Some hotel math:

1 King Size Bed + 1 Pull Out Couch + 1 Air Mattress + 1 Pack and Play should = Everyone in their own bed except Mommy and Daddy.

The reality?

First, Mommy, Daddy, Peter in the big bed, Esther on the pull out, air mattress is empty.

Screaming happens at some point from the region of the pull out, Daddy joins Esther on pull out....feet hanging over the edge. Peter was somehow hogging the whole king bed anyway.

At some other point Peter decides to go on the air mattress.

At 6:15 when EVERYONE is up, the king bed is empty, the couch has Daddy and Esther, and the airbed has Mommy and Peter. Miriam was the only one who got her own bed all night long.

I'm sure G&G enjoyed their night two doors down the hall.

Are We There Yet?? Part II

6:15 AM Depart for NJ

6:42 AM Miriam begins whimpering

6:44 AM Whimpering turns into screaming

6:46 AM Screaming turns into full scale siren like sound (cars were pulling out of our way because they thought we were an emergency vehicle).

7:30 AM Miriam has fallen asleep, well, or maybe passed out from lack of oxygen due to screaming. Either way, it's quiet....we aren't picky at this point.

8:15 AM The first "I need to go potty" sound is heard. We have made it as far as the rest area in Howell. All in all, much better than I had expected.

8:28 AM The potty stop has allowed Grandma and Grandpa K to catch up (and, amazingly, Grandpa's bladder must be the same size as Esther's, because he was very happy for the stop). Esther elects to ditch Mom and Dad and ride with G&G.

8:30 AM Back on the road. Daddy has already learned to let go of the "when we stop, we get gas, food, and go potty!" mantra. Apparently, it isn't going to happen this trip.

8:42 AM The siren known as Miriam has returned.

8:57 AM The siren has fallen asleep or passed out again....either way.....it's quiet. Peter is still happily watching a DVD. Doesn't even appear to notice that his older sister is no longer riding in the back seat with him.

9:52 AM Breakfast stop at Bob Evans just north of Toledo. Hmmmmm.......used to make it that far in less than 3 hours. Daddy still trying to remember not to "time" the trip.

9:53 AM Peter notices Esther is back.

10:30 AM Everyone is fed an pottied, back on the road. Esther ditches Mommy and Daddy again, apparently she has alot she needs to say to G&G.

10:31 AM Peter is watching a DVD (theme for the trip)....looks at Esther's empty seat....doesn't seem concerned, rather, seems content.

10:32 AM Mommy is entertaining Miriam.

11:02 AM Miriam screams

11:03 AM - 12:48 PM: Driving.....no major concerns.

12:49 PM - 1:20 PM Potty stop. We do also actually get gas on this stop, so Daddy is somewhat satisfied.

1:20 PM - 3:01 PM Esther still not riding with Mommy and Daddy....Peter still doesn't care, he's on to his 52nd DVD of the trip....eyes starting to look a little glazed. At some point, everyone except for Daddy falls asleep. I tried to take a picture of them while driving......not recommend at 80mph on Route 80.

3:02 PM - 3:15PM Potty stop, late lunch. Peter sleeps through entire stop. Esther decides to rejoin Mommy and Daddy. Daddy notices the "estimated time of arrival" on the GPS keeps getting later and later.

3:39 PM Esther has to go potty....seems pretty serious about it. Stop....again.

4:15 PM Arrive at Holiday Inn Express in Clearfield, PA. All Kuperuses are accounted for.

Spend rest of the night swimming in the pool.....Mommy and Daddy now praying children will fall asleep.

Are We There Yet?? Part I

Tomorrow morning we leave for NJ. We expect to hear the above question many times over the next couple of days....stay tuned for a full report.

Swimming Update

Esther made such huge gains in her swimming class during the 5 week session that we decided to sign her up for another 5 weeks. She went from being completely terrified the first week to jumping in without holding the teacher's hand at week 5. Tonight (week 7) she was floating on her back almost completely on her own and bobbing under the water while letting go of the side wall of the pool. It has been so fun to see how proud she is of her accomplishments and how much fun she's actually having in the water!

Sideways Sleeper

We didn't think Peter needed a railing on his big boy bed since the mattress is on the floor, but maybe he does. Casey went to check on him before going to bed and found him like this...

He must have been tired because he didn't even flinch when I took this picture with the flash!

Grandpa's Helper

Usually it's all fun and games when the kids visit Grandpa and Grandma, but not this day! They got put to work (and had fun doing it)!

Meijer Gardens

Today Grandma K. came with us to Meijer Gardens. She hadn't been to the children's area before, so the kids had a lot of fun showing her all the fun stuff there is to do there. We enjoyed spending the morning with her!

Irony

This morning Peter woke up on the wrong side of the bed. He's just been irritable and unable to tell me what's really wrong. He's spent a good amount of time crying, whining and pouting. A little while ago we went to get dressed and out of all the options in his drawer, he chose this shirt:

Even Esther found the irony in this. She saw what he was wearing and said, "He picked his Mr. Happy shirt and he's not even happy!"

Fortunately this shirt usually fits his personality to a tee. I guess he's just having a bad day!

Cherry Picking

This weekend Karen took Esther on a special aunt/niece outing to go cherry picking with some friends. Here is her blog post about it:

"Yesterday I went cherry picking with Aunt Karen and Megan (and some other people too). It was a lot of fun and I had a great time!"