Yes. It's true. My mother-in-law wrecked the van today. She rolled it backwards down our driveway, scraped it against a dumpster that was in our street and wound up in the neighbors driveway. Now I suppose you're what my reaction to this small fiasco is . . . frustation? No. Anger? Definitely not. Here it is: I just cracked up laughing.
Why did I laugh? Well, it's such a relief to me, being a lifelong ditz, when someone else suffers from moments of fogginess. I'm just happy I'm not alone on my cloud. I mean, I've backed into my mother-in-law's car twice when it was parked in our driveway. I think it was time for her to have a turn. You see, the frustating thing about being aound me is that I am such a ditz. But the good thing about me is I freely forgive others mistakes - because my own are so obviously numerous. It's a gift really. At least I tell myself that when I've locked my keys out of my car. Yeah, this is a gift.
And how could I be mad? The woman was furiously scubbing my house for me when this whole episode occurred.
Anyway, for you sceptics out there in the chilly midwest. You'll be begging for my fluffy scarves soon. And I am planning on finishing several with the store I built when I was in my crochet phase. Knitting a scarf seems much more manageable than working on an entire afgan. I can't even believe I attempted such an intimidating project. It was quite beyond my ability. But knitting . . . knitting has a calming affect on my persona in the midst of this chaos. Row upon row, back and forth . . . tranquilly knitting my scarf as the children throw sharp objects at each other. I can ignore it all as I knit my cozy scarf.
Peacefully and tranquilly,
Travelin' Mom
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
A Day at the beach
18, April, 2006
Tuesday, 6:41 pacific/ 9:41 p.m.
I think this is the earliest I have ever written a block. Heck, it’s still light out, which is a first. It is kinda bugging me though cause if something happens later tonight I can’t tell all ya’ll till tomorrow. You see, my parents have now made a rule that I have to finish writing the post before American Idol and now, to add restrictions on my creativity, my mother just told me that I have only a half hour to blog. Woe is I.
We started to head to the beach mid morning today. It took us forever to find a parking spot, at least a half-hour of searching. We finally found a spot and walked a short way to the beach. The water was freezing. I literally mean freezing. It was 52 degrees but it seemed a lot colder. Way colder. The waves were huge, knocking you over. I went in once, for about 20 minutes. We stayed there all day, building sand castles and seeing who could stay in the icy water the longest.
We arrived back at the RV around 4:00 and my mom went to go pick up my dad. I can’t tell you much more. Not much more has happened.
CUL8R,
Morgan
Tuesday, 6:41 pacific/ 9:41 p.m.
I think this is the earliest I have ever written a block. Heck, it’s still light out, which is a first. It is kinda bugging me though cause if something happens later tonight I can’t tell all ya’ll till tomorrow. You see, my parents have now made a rule that I have to finish writing the post before American Idol and now, to add restrictions on my creativity, my mother just told me that I have only a half hour to blog. Woe is I.
We started to head to the beach mid morning today. It took us forever to find a parking spot, at least a half-hour of searching. We finally found a spot and walked a short way to the beach. The water was freezing. I literally mean freezing. It was 52 degrees but it seemed a lot colder. Way colder. The waves were huge, knocking you over. I went in once, for about 20 minutes. We stayed there all day, building sand castles and seeing who could stay in the icy water the longest.
We arrived back at the RV around 4:00 and my mom went to go pick up my dad. I can’t tell you much more. Not much more has happened.
CUL8R,
Morgan
Monday, April 17, 2006
How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie of a Tootsie Pop?
17, April, 2006
Monday, 8:52 pacific/ 11:52 p.m.
Rachel V., I have no idea how you and your mom found a confirmation dress. It was a pain in the butt. We shopped all day and had no success. We started out at one of the malls and went to several shops. We found little that suited me. I haven’t worn a dress since I was five and I don’t plan to again for several years. We knew immediately that we weren’t going to be able to find a white one, and our church doesn’t require it, so we settled on spring colors. We found a couple dresses and some skirts and I went to try them on. For me, the most difficult part was trying to get the flippin dresses OFF me. They had no zippers and a few times I literally was jumping up and down in the dressing room, with my arms and legs all tangled up. It was quite a sight. Some of them were ok, but not great. We moved to some other stores, and malls, and found squat. We were very stressed out cause we spent our whole day looking for a frilly, flowery dress that I’ll only wear a few times. We went to one mall that had some stores, ok, A LOT of stores, which were super duper expensive. We saw skirts, which you could find at Wal-Mart for $300!
After hours of shopping we finally gave up. But the day wasn’t all a waste. I found some cowgirl boots, which I will be wearing often, and Katty got a swimsuit. My mom picked up my dad and we headed to the beach. We were able to take Muffin and she had a ball. She has been to the ocean before but she always is a little dodgy of the waves at first. I don’t blame her this time. The waves were icy and your feet turned numb after a few seconds in the water. Later she conquered the cold and started to retrieve sticks and whatever out of the water. The RV now smells like a wet dog that has been swimming in dead fish. I hate the wet dog smell. We played there for hours and then headed back in the stinky, sandy, wet car. I was the lucky one who got to sit by Muffin. I beckoned her in the car and she hopped in. She was on my seat. My dad started cracking up. I finally coaxed her onto the floor but by that time my seat was already wet and sandy. Yuck.
We finally arrived back at the RV and ate dinner. We flipped on the TV and saw that Wife Swap was on so we plopped our butts down to eat and watch the show. That’s about all for today. Oh, do you know it takes me 921 licks to get to the tootsie of a Tootsie Pop? Aren’t you so proud of me? I was quite bored.
Miss ya’ll,
Morgan
Monday, 8:52 pacific/ 11:52 p.m.
Rachel V., I have no idea how you and your mom found a confirmation dress. It was a pain in the butt. We shopped all day and had no success. We started out at one of the malls and went to several shops. We found little that suited me. I haven’t worn a dress since I was five and I don’t plan to again for several years. We knew immediately that we weren’t going to be able to find a white one, and our church doesn’t require it, so we settled on spring colors. We found a couple dresses and some skirts and I went to try them on. For me, the most difficult part was trying to get the flippin dresses OFF me. They had no zippers and a few times I literally was jumping up and down in the dressing room, with my arms and legs all tangled up. It was quite a sight. Some of them were ok, but not great. We moved to some other stores, and malls, and found squat. We were very stressed out cause we spent our whole day looking for a frilly, flowery dress that I’ll only wear a few times. We went to one mall that had some stores, ok, A LOT of stores, which were super duper expensive. We saw skirts, which you could find at Wal-Mart for $300!
After hours of shopping we finally gave up. But the day wasn’t all a waste. I found some cowgirl boots, which I will be wearing often, and Katty got a swimsuit. My mom picked up my dad and we headed to the beach. We were able to take Muffin and she had a ball. She has been to the ocean before but she always is a little dodgy of the waves at first. I don’t blame her this time. The waves were icy and your feet turned numb after a few seconds in the water. Later she conquered the cold and started to retrieve sticks and whatever out of the water. The RV now smells like a wet dog that has been swimming in dead fish. I hate the wet dog smell. We played there for hours and then headed back in the stinky, sandy, wet car. I was the lucky one who got to sit by Muffin. I beckoned her in the car and she hopped in. She was on my seat. My dad started cracking up. I finally coaxed her onto the floor but by that time my seat was already wet and sandy. Yuck.
We finally arrived back at the RV and ate dinner. We flipped on the TV and saw that Wife Swap was on so we plopped our butts down to eat and watch the show. That’s about all for today. Oh, do you know it takes me 921 licks to get to the tootsie of a Tootsie Pop? Aren’t you so proud of me? I was quite bored.
Miss ya’ll,
Morgan
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Happy Easter
16, April, 2006
Sunday, 9:00 pacific/12:00 pm/am
HAPPY EASTER PEOPLE!! Hope your bellies are full of chocolate and your are content and happy. Today is the day that I can finally eat junk food. It wasn’t as satisfactory as I hoped. In fact, I feel awfully sick right now.
We woke up fairly early, it was Easter, and we wanted our candy. Tatum, who gave up pretzels for Lent, ran to the kitchen and grabbed the bag. If you know Tatum, she literally lives of pretzels. She ripped the bag open and stuffed a pretzel in her pie hole. The satisfactory look turned into one of absolute disappointment when she said, “There stale, my pretzels are stale!” Nobody eats them ‘cept her so the pretzels were quite old.
We grabbed our baskets and started hunting. It is quite hard to try to find eggs in a cluttered 32’ RV so the eggs were outside too. When Katty saw the eggs outside she yelled “ It’s Eastew! It’s Eastew outside!” We were cracking up. I am known to be a failure at egg hunting in my family. We all have 25 eggs to find and Darby and me only found 24. Last year I only found 24 also. I never found the 25 last year either.
There’s a church in LA called Saddleback Church. Their pastor is Rick Warren, the guy who wrote THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE. He’s an awesome speaker and I was enthralled with the sermon. The guy’s really funny. I barely doodled at all on the bulletin while he was talking. We have been to this church before and it is huge. They have a main sanctuary, which is ginormous, and then they have three separate buildings with different styles of music like praise, rock, and I think traditional. They also have a café where you can see the sermon on a screen. All of the separate buildings have big screens where you can see Warren preaching in the sanctuary. One of the really cool things was in the bulletin; on one of the pictures were Kelly Pickler and Mandesa from American Idol! They apparently came to Saddleback one week while they were here in LA doing the show.
After church we came back to the RV, changed out of our clothes and headed to the beach. We stayed at the beach for about four hours. We saw a dead sea lion there in the tide pools. He apparently got attacked by a shark cause he had teeth marks. Poor guy.
We came back to the campground and cooked out over the fire. Now I gotta go cause my mom wants to blog. I feel really sick from all the candy but I really didn’t eat that much. Oh well, it’s better that way.
Miss ya’ll
Morgan
Sunday, 9:00 pacific/12:00 pm/am
HAPPY EASTER PEOPLE!! Hope your bellies are full of chocolate and your are content and happy. Today is the day that I can finally eat junk food. It wasn’t as satisfactory as I hoped. In fact, I feel awfully sick right now.
We woke up fairly early, it was Easter, and we wanted our candy. Tatum, who gave up pretzels for Lent, ran to the kitchen and grabbed the bag. If you know Tatum, she literally lives of pretzels. She ripped the bag open and stuffed a pretzel in her pie hole. The satisfactory look turned into one of absolute disappointment when she said, “There stale, my pretzels are stale!” Nobody eats them ‘cept her so the pretzels were quite old.
We grabbed our baskets and started hunting. It is quite hard to try to find eggs in a cluttered 32’ RV so the eggs were outside too. When Katty saw the eggs outside she yelled “ It’s Eastew! It’s Eastew outside!” We were cracking up. I am known to be a failure at egg hunting in my family. We all have 25 eggs to find and Darby and me only found 24. Last year I only found 24 also. I never found the 25 last year either.
There’s a church in LA called Saddleback Church. Their pastor is Rick Warren, the guy who wrote THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE. He’s an awesome speaker and I was enthralled with the sermon. The guy’s really funny. I barely doodled at all on the bulletin while he was talking. We have been to this church before and it is huge. They have a main sanctuary, which is ginormous, and then they have three separate buildings with different styles of music like praise, rock, and I think traditional. They also have a café where you can see the sermon on a screen. All of the separate buildings have big screens where you can see Warren preaching in the sanctuary. One of the really cool things was in the bulletin; on one of the pictures were Kelly Pickler and Mandesa from American Idol! They apparently came to Saddleback one week while they were here in LA doing the show.
After church we came back to the RV, changed out of our clothes and headed to the beach. We stayed at the beach for about four hours. We saw a dead sea lion there in the tide pools. He apparently got attacked by a shark cause he had teeth marks. Poor guy.
We came back to the campground and cooked out over the fire. Now I gotta go cause my mom wants to blog. I feel really sick from all the candy but I really didn’t eat that much. Oh well, it’s better that way.
Miss ya’ll
Morgan
Happy Easter
"Religion is a to-do list. Salvation is what has been done for you." Just a thoughtful note from Rick Warren's sermon this morning at Saddleback Chuch. Great sermon . . . Great place to worship on Easter. By the way, Happy Easter from the Ellis clan.
Saddleback Church is just one more reason for me to love California. And I do love California. I love the sunny skies, the ever-blooming flowers, and the gentle ocean breeze. Speaking of the beaches, ah the beaches. California beaches are alive. Tide pools, purple clam shells, crabs, pelicans, sea gulls, sea lions, cliffs that hold sea caves and tunnels . . . unfortunately millions of other people discovered the charms of California long before we did. The demand for land in California has driven the price of real estate far beyond the Ellis family budget. So we'll stick with cheap Indiana clay - no matter how bland the views might be.
So while we're here in sunny California, my mother-in-law has decided to clean our house for us. To any of you that know Donna, this is amusing to you I'm sure. You see, Donna is a neat-freak, to put it mildly. She irons her sweats. She washes her vacuum after use. She even vacuums her attic. Needless to say, my house was just not measuring up to her standards. And frankly, I don't have the time or the gumption. So it'll be interesting to see how neat the place is upon our return. I think we'll need to throw a party to get it back to its usual state.
Talk to you soon,
Travelin' Mom
Saddleback Church is just one more reason for me to love California. And I do love California. I love the sunny skies, the ever-blooming flowers, and the gentle ocean breeze. Speaking of the beaches, ah the beaches. California beaches are alive. Tide pools, purple clam shells, crabs, pelicans, sea gulls, sea lions, cliffs that hold sea caves and tunnels . . . unfortunately millions of other people discovered the charms of California long before we did. The demand for land in California has driven the price of real estate far beyond the Ellis family budget. So we'll stick with cheap Indiana clay - no matter how bland the views might be.
So while we're here in sunny California, my mother-in-law has decided to clean our house for us. To any of you that know Donna, this is amusing to you I'm sure. You see, Donna is a neat-freak, to put it mildly. She irons her sweats. She washes her vacuum after use. She even vacuums her attic. Needless to say, my house was just not measuring up to her standards. And frankly, I don't have the time or the gumption. So it'll be interesting to see how neat the place is upon our return. I think we'll need to throw a party to get it back to its usual state.
Talk to you soon,
Travelin' Mom
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Faintness may occur in Spa...
15, April, 2006
Saturday, 8:47 pacific/11:47p.m.
My parents and Katty slept in forever today. I woke up around 7:45, the sun was shining in my eyes, and my parents woke up around 9:40. Finally, when we got around, we headed to the clubhouse for a scavenger hunt. It went well and we got everything on the list except the Chinese yoyo. Nobody participating could find one. We found a yoyo made in china but they didn't count that. Spoilsports. After the scavenger hunt they had the Ducky Dive. Yea, it sounds stupid but it was quite interesting. They split the kids into age groups-boys against girls- and threw rubber duckies into the pool. Whichever team got the most ducks won. For the older kids (11-14) they threw in money. When I say money I mean money, they threw in gold dollars, quarters, and silver dollars. I made $7.00.
After the Easter events at the campground we got ready to go to a BBQ with some of my dad's friends from work. It was really fun. The guy who was hosting it lives in an apartment with a pool, a couple actually, and they had grills right by the poolside. We ate burgers, one of the best burger I have ever had, and played in the pool. Mr. Tharp, the man who was hosting, challenged me to a race and I accepted. I wanted to do an IM but we finally settled on a 50 Free. Not my favorite stroke. He beat me in that but I demanded a rematch- 50 Fly. I let him catch his breath, and then we were off. My goggles fell of halfway through the first 25 but I continued. Because my eyes were closed I couldn't see where he was. Apparently, he was awfully tired after the first 25 and got out and ran back, pretending to tie with me. He was obviously DQed and I won the first 25. Afterwards, we were all in the Spa and he was talking to my mom. Then he got out and walked over to the chair. I was changing out of my suit at the time but my mom came in and said "Morgan, I think you wore Michael out, he's green and he is about to faint. He can't open his eyes and he's really exhausted". He was fine after a while and we figured out that it wasn't me and was probably the Spa. There were warnings on the sign that said weakness, faintness, and tiredness may occur in the spa.
We came back and watched Lion King 1 1/2 and are going to bed so I have to go. By!
cul8r,
Morgan
Saturday, 8:47 pacific/11:47p.m.
My parents and Katty slept in forever today. I woke up around 7:45, the sun was shining in my eyes, and my parents woke up around 9:40. Finally, when we got around, we headed to the clubhouse for a scavenger hunt. It went well and we got everything on the list except the Chinese yoyo. Nobody participating could find one. We found a yoyo made in china but they didn't count that. Spoilsports. After the scavenger hunt they had the Ducky Dive. Yea, it sounds stupid but it was quite interesting. They split the kids into age groups-boys against girls- and threw rubber duckies into the pool. Whichever team got the most ducks won. For the older kids (11-14) they threw in money. When I say money I mean money, they threw in gold dollars, quarters, and silver dollars. I made $7.00.
After the Easter events at the campground we got ready to go to a BBQ with some of my dad's friends from work. It was really fun. The guy who was hosting it lives in an apartment with a pool, a couple actually, and they had grills right by the poolside. We ate burgers, one of the best burger I have ever had, and played in the pool. Mr. Tharp, the man who was hosting, challenged me to a race and I accepted. I wanted to do an IM but we finally settled on a 50 Free. Not my favorite stroke. He beat me in that but I demanded a rematch- 50 Fly. I let him catch his breath, and then we were off. My goggles fell of halfway through the first 25 but I continued. Because my eyes were closed I couldn't see where he was. Apparently, he was awfully tired after the first 25 and got out and ran back, pretending to tie with me. He was obviously DQed and I won the first 25. Afterwards, we were all in the Spa and he was talking to my mom. Then he got out and walked over to the chair. I was changing out of my suit at the time but my mom came in and said "Morgan, I think you wore Michael out, he's green and he is about to faint. He can't open his eyes and he's really exhausted". He was fine after a while and we figured out that it wasn't me and was probably the Spa. There were warnings on the sign that said weakness, faintness, and tiredness may occur in the spa.
We came back and watched Lion King 1 1/2 and are going to bed so I have to go. By!
cul8r,
Morgan
Rain and Monet
14, April 2006
Friday 9:27 pacific/ 12:27 p.m./a.m
All ya’ll are probably gloating right now, sitting in front of the screen in a tank top, cut-offs, and flip-flops. I’m sitting here in a long sleeve shirt and jeans. It is cold, cloudy, wet, and rainy here. It started to pour wet stuff this morning. We were going to go to the beach but we quickly changed plans. Since it was pouring we decided to go with plan B. The Ellis family almost always has two different ways to spend the day and if the one we chose doesn’t work out, we go with the other one.
Since it was Good Friday, all the Easter events had started at the campground. We went to the campground clubhouse where there were Easter crafts you could buy for a buck. My mom only gave me two dollars so I bought a craft for Katty and Tatum. Darby helped Katty her craft, which was a bunny puppet. It turned out to be a little difficult so Darby took it and my mom, after running back to get more $, bought Katty another craft. Tatum, being who she is, chose one of the hardest projects on the table. My mom instructed me to help her. It was a necklace that had candy beads, which you threaded into the shape of an egg. My form of helping is doing it myself. I took the project out of her hands while she watched. Hey, I’m a firstborn, gimme a break. Seeing that Tatum was bored beyond belief, my mom bought me the same craft and helped Tatum. My necklace turned out better.
Noting that the rain wasn’t going to let up any time soon, we went back to the RV and watched a movie until it was time to pick my dad up from work. We picked him up and headed to the J. Paul Getty Museum. We had too do school on the way. Tatum, who was doing a states and capitals of the USA sheet, which she hates, had fallen asleep in the back seat with the pencil still in her hand. She woke up shortly before we stopped at Burger King for food. Funny how that works.
We have been to the Getty twice before and have never managed to see all the buildings. We saw all sorts of stuff. They had a special section on Degas. We saw originals of Da Vinci, Monet, Van Gough, Rembrandt, and so many others that I can’t remember. They had a special section with Renaissance furniture with beds as big as your bedroom, I’m not kidding. I got in trouble once for getting to close to a Monet picture. It was really cool.
After leaving we were all super hyper walking to the car. I always am after two hours in a museum and an hour in a gift shop. Now, Darby and Tatum are asleep while we are driving back to the campground. It’s still raining.
CUL8r,
Morgan
Friday 9:27 pacific/ 12:27 p.m./a.m
All ya’ll are probably gloating right now, sitting in front of the screen in a tank top, cut-offs, and flip-flops. I’m sitting here in a long sleeve shirt and jeans. It is cold, cloudy, wet, and rainy here. It started to pour wet stuff this morning. We were going to go to the beach but we quickly changed plans. Since it was pouring we decided to go with plan B. The Ellis family almost always has two different ways to spend the day and if the one we chose doesn’t work out, we go with the other one.
Since it was Good Friday, all the Easter events had started at the campground. We went to the campground clubhouse where there were Easter crafts you could buy for a buck. My mom only gave me two dollars so I bought a craft for Katty and Tatum. Darby helped Katty her craft, which was a bunny puppet. It turned out to be a little difficult so Darby took it and my mom, after running back to get more $, bought Katty another craft. Tatum, being who she is, chose one of the hardest projects on the table. My mom instructed me to help her. It was a necklace that had candy beads, which you threaded into the shape of an egg. My form of helping is doing it myself. I took the project out of her hands while she watched. Hey, I’m a firstborn, gimme a break. Seeing that Tatum was bored beyond belief, my mom bought me the same craft and helped Tatum. My necklace turned out better.
Noting that the rain wasn’t going to let up any time soon, we went back to the RV and watched a movie until it was time to pick my dad up from work. We picked him up and headed to the J. Paul Getty Museum. We had too do school on the way. Tatum, who was doing a states and capitals of the USA sheet, which she hates, had fallen asleep in the back seat with the pencil still in her hand. She woke up shortly before we stopped at Burger King for food. Funny how that works.
We have been to the Getty twice before and have never managed to see all the buildings. We saw all sorts of stuff. They had a special section on Degas. We saw originals of Da Vinci, Monet, Van Gough, Rembrandt, and so many others that I can’t remember. They had a special section with Renaissance furniture with beds as big as your bedroom, I’m not kidding. I got in trouble once for getting to close to a Monet picture. It was really cool.
After leaving we were all super hyper walking to the car. I always am after two hours in a museum and an hour in a gift shop. Now, Darby and Tatum are asleep while we are driving back to the campground. It’s still raining.
CUL8r,
Morgan
Friday, April 14, 2006
Shopping & Swimming
13, April, 2006
Thursday, 8:37 pacific/11:37 p.m.
Today we went to one of my favorite stores in the whole world. Wanna know what it is? Wanna, wanna, wanna? If you don’t to bad I’m gonna tell ya anyway. IKEA! Yea, we don’t have one in Fort Wayne, heck, I don’t even think we have one in Indiana. But the store is totally wicked! So, my blog continues…
We woke up, obviously, and headed off to IKEA. If you don’t know, it is a store full of interior design stuff, really cool cheap stuff. We ate breakfast when we arrived, it was only a dollar for eggs, potato thingies, and bacon. It wasn’t great food but it was digestible. We shopped for a couple hours, bought some frozen yogurt, it was a buck also, and headed back to the RV.
After arriving back at the campground, we headed to the pool. It was super duper crowded so I couldn’t do laps. Too bad (Note: this is sarcasm), so I just took a couple dips and read my book. Another drawback of the pool is that it smells and tastes terrible. I swear they put sulfur in it. It’s disgusting, but that doesn’t stop us from making a splash-quite a few splashes actually.
We stayed at the pool for hours and then my mom had to go pick my dad up from work. We stayed in the RV and lazed around. When they got back we ate dinner and they went Easter shopping while we watched a movie. They just got back and I think we are going for a walk. My mom loves walks at night because all the other Rver:s lights are on and she can see in the windows, I agree with her. We’re a nosy bunch of people.
CUL8r,
Morgan
Thursday, 8:37 pacific/11:37 p.m.
Today we went to one of my favorite stores in the whole world. Wanna know what it is? Wanna, wanna, wanna? If you don’t to bad I’m gonna tell ya anyway. IKEA! Yea, we don’t have one in Fort Wayne, heck, I don’t even think we have one in Indiana. But the store is totally wicked! So, my blog continues…
We woke up, obviously, and headed off to IKEA. If you don’t know, it is a store full of interior design stuff, really cool cheap stuff. We ate breakfast when we arrived, it was only a dollar for eggs, potato thingies, and bacon. It wasn’t great food but it was digestible. We shopped for a couple hours, bought some frozen yogurt, it was a buck also, and headed back to the RV.
After arriving back at the campground, we headed to the pool. It was super duper crowded so I couldn’t do laps. Too bad (Note: this is sarcasm), so I just took a couple dips and read my book. Another drawback of the pool is that it smells and tastes terrible. I swear they put sulfur in it. It’s disgusting, but that doesn’t stop us from making a splash-quite a few splashes actually.
We stayed at the pool for hours and then my mom had to go pick my dad up from work. We stayed in the RV and lazed around. When they got back we ate dinner and they went Easter shopping while we watched a movie. They just got back and I think we are going for a walk. My mom loves walks at night because all the other Rver:s lights are on and she can see in the windows, I agree with her. We’re a nosy bunch of people.
CUL8r,
Morgan
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Pancakes and penance
Wednesday
Ok, were finally done with our 30 loads of laundry so today was a bit more relaxing. Everything was fine, and then I woke up.
Everybody wanted pancakes this morning so I offered to make them. Bad idea. I have never cooked on this stove before and it was a disaster. Let’s just leave it at that. After cleaning up the kitchen for an hour, we headed to ‘da pool. It wasn’t as crowded so I got a chance to do laps. I could only find one sheet, but hey, it was over a mile of workouts so gimme a break.
Feeling guilty because I didn’t do my full workout (not really, I was bored and had nothing else to do, guilt had zip to do with it) I leashed Muffin and started running. There’s a sidewalk here and it circles the bay, with a bridge of course. My mom and I figured it was at least a half a mile so I ran it twice. I did ok, but Muffin was panting and about to collapse. The fat lard - I know it sounds cruel, I love her dearly but she IS awfully fat. Muffin about ripped my arm off a few times shooting of the sidewalk and chasing the seagulls. Another time, ok twice, she decided to go the OTHER way around the pole and took me with her.
Getting back to the RV thankfully in one piece, we did our school. We are now cooking out and are about to color Easter eggs . FOUR MORE DAYS AND I CAN EAT JUNK FOOD!!!!!!! Ok, now that I got that out of my system I have to go eat.
Cul8r,
Morgan
Ok, were finally done with our 30 loads of laundry so today was a bit more relaxing. Everything was fine, and then I woke up.
Everybody wanted pancakes this morning so I offered to make them. Bad idea. I have never cooked on this stove before and it was a disaster. Let’s just leave it at that. After cleaning up the kitchen for an hour, we headed to ‘da pool. It wasn’t as crowded so I got a chance to do laps. I could only find one sheet, but hey, it was over a mile of workouts so gimme a break.
Feeling guilty because I didn’t do my full workout (not really, I was bored and had nothing else to do, guilt had zip to do with it) I leashed Muffin and started running. There’s a sidewalk here and it circles the bay, with a bridge of course. My mom and I figured it was at least a half a mile so I ran it twice. I did ok, but Muffin was panting and about to collapse. The fat lard - I know it sounds cruel, I love her dearly but she IS awfully fat. Muffin about ripped my arm off a few times shooting of the sidewalk and chasing the seagulls. Another time, ok twice, she decided to go the OTHER way around the pole and took me with her.
Getting back to the RV thankfully in one piece, we did our school. We are now cooking out and are about to color Easter eggs . FOUR MORE DAYS AND I CAN EAT JUNK FOOD!!!!!!! Ok, now that I got that out of my system I have to go eat.
Cul8r,
Morgan
The case of the shrinking RV
I swear the Ellis RV got smaller this week. Maybe it's that we're in the midst of 37' RVs that are more expensive than our house in Indiana; maybe it's that we've been just hangin' around the campgound; or maybe it's our third week of cramming a family of six into a 32' space; or maybe its all of the above. Whatever the answer, we have experienced a few tight moments the past couple of days.
We all have our quirks. Katty bounds about the camper like it is a trampoline. Darby hums constantly, even when she's eating. Tatum makes a special effort to annoy people when she's bored. Morgan overreacts to everything - a trait she gets from me. And Terry . . . well, we all give Terry plenty of material. It's a zoo on wheels.
And somehow, all of us seem to feel a calling to the RV galley. This measures about 6' x 8', including the refrigerator, stove, cabinets and table. Of course none, of us are trying to work as a team when we're jam packed into this cubby. Some of us our cooking, a couple of us are getting drinks or snacks, some of us are coloring at the table. And we're all either snapping at each other or practicing one of the quirks from the above paragraph.
Anyway, the crews asleep now and I'm going to go take a walk with my husband, or as Katty says, "My smoochie boyfriend."
Travelin' mom
We all have our quirks. Katty bounds about the camper like it is a trampoline. Darby hums constantly, even when she's eating. Tatum makes a special effort to annoy people when she's bored. Morgan overreacts to everything - a trait she gets from me. And Terry . . . well, we all give Terry plenty of material. It's a zoo on wheels.
And somehow, all of us seem to feel a calling to the RV galley. This measures about 6' x 8', including the refrigerator, stove, cabinets and table. Of course none, of us are trying to work as a team when we're jam packed into this cubby. Some of us our cooking, a couple of us are getting drinks or snacks, some of us are coloring at the table. And we're all either snapping at each other or practicing one of the quirks from the above paragraph.
Anyway, the crews asleep now and I'm going to go take a walk with my husband, or as Katty says, "My smoochie boyfriend."
Travelin' mom
Laundry in the Midst of Luxury
Twenty loads . . . sand, rocks, and a plothera of interesting smells. That was the adventure that awaited me yesterday in the laundry room. You know the saying, You play, you pay.
Speaking of paying, we are staying in this really posh campground on the bay in California's Newport Dunes. Which is fine with us since Terry's company is paying for it. And it's fine with Filenet, since it's actually much cheaper than a hotel room. So here we are among all of these luxurious motorhomes and snazzy camping equipment. It's far above the usual state park or Walmart parking lot.
Gotta run,
Travelin' mom
Speaking of paying, we are staying in this really posh campground on the bay in California's Newport Dunes. Which is fine with us since Terry's company is paying for it. And it's fine with Filenet, since it's actually much cheaper than a hotel room. So here we are among all of these luxurious motorhomes and snazzy camping equipment. It's far above the usual state park or Walmart parking lot.
Gotta run,
Travelin' mom
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
DESERT ROAD AND VISIONS OF THE LAUNDRY ROOM
APRIL 10, 2006
Obviously, Terry and I don’t mind a little drive each day. In the last 14 days, we’ve put 4800 miles on the ol’ RV. Sometimes it seems like a chore. But today the drive was one of my favorites. We headed due West, right into the sunset, from Phoenix to California. Mountains on the horizon, tumbleweeds, yellow potentilla flowers and the occasional Saguaro cactus fill the view. It is awesome, as Katty would say.
HAPPY 40TH EILEEN EWING! Just had to throw that in there. You look great and most of your friends are still older than you.
You’d think that since we homeschool and spend so much time with our kids that this trip would not be such a luxury to us. But it is. I’m amazed at how much I learn about each one of them when we are together 24-7 with no phones, no activities, no distractions. Of course, some things I’d rather not know. And some times I wish there were a few more distractions. Sometimes I wish the RV was just a little bigger. And most of the time I wish it had more than one bathroom. No, all of the time I wish it had more than one bathroom. Nevertheless, this trip is a luxury and I feel blessed to take it.
Hey y’all. I have to tell you something. Thanks to Joanne, I am learning to knit. I have about half a scarf done. Of course, knitting a scarf in the middle of the desert seems a little pointless and can garner some odd stares. Now I have an inkling of how Noah felt. Nevertheless, I’m proud of my small accomplishments. Darby does pretty well with it too. What Martha’s.
Well, we’re almost to the campground in California. Tomorrow Terry goes back to work and I hit the laundry. The ocean, the desert, the bat caves, the dunes, and I’ve barely done laundry during the last two weeks. I don’t think I really need to talk anymore on this subject. You moms get the picture. Gross.
OK. Comments. This is the time to offer your questions and comments. I’ll be waiting . . .
Obviously, Terry and I don’t mind a little drive each day. In the last 14 days, we’ve put 4800 miles on the ol’ RV. Sometimes it seems like a chore. But today the drive was one of my favorites. We headed due West, right into the sunset, from Phoenix to California. Mountains on the horizon, tumbleweeds, yellow potentilla flowers and the occasional Saguaro cactus fill the view. It is awesome, as Katty would say.
HAPPY 40TH EILEEN EWING! Just had to throw that in there. You look great and most of your friends are still older than you.
You’d think that since we homeschool and spend so much time with our kids that this trip would not be such a luxury to us. But it is. I’m amazed at how much I learn about each one of them when we are together 24-7 with no phones, no activities, no distractions. Of course, some things I’d rather not know. And some times I wish there were a few more distractions. Sometimes I wish the RV was just a little bigger. And most of the time I wish it had more than one bathroom. No, all of the time I wish it had more than one bathroom. Nevertheless, this trip is a luxury and I feel blessed to take it.
Hey y’all. I have to tell you something. Thanks to Joanne, I am learning to knit. I have about half a scarf done. Of course, knitting a scarf in the middle of the desert seems a little pointless and can garner some odd stares. Now I have an inkling of how Noah felt. Nevertheless, I’m proud of my small accomplishments. Darby does pretty well with it too. What Martha’s.
Well, we’re almost to the campground in California. Tomorrow Terry goes back to work and I hit the laundry. The ocean, the desert, the bat caves, the dunes, and I’ve barely done laundry during the last two weeks. I don’t think I really need to talk anymore on this subject. You moms get the picture. Gross.
OK. Comments. This is the time to offer your questions and comments. I’ll be waiting . . .
California here I come...
10, April, 2006
Monday, 9:48 pacific/ 12:49 p.m./a.m.
We are now in California! I have no idea why they call it the Sunshine state; all I see in the sky is the moon and black darkness. No sun, no light, no nothing.
This morning we woke up in Arizona and headed Saguaro ( pronounced Sa-wah-ro) National Park, which is home to many saguaro cactus’ (you know, the ones with the arms on ‘em), some witch reach the towering height of 50 feet. Of course, no matter how many times you tell a person, especially a member of the Ellis family, not to touch the cactus’ somebody always does. Tatum, obviously not paying attention, ran into a poor cactus in the first five minutes of the hike. We took two short hiking trails, one, which over looked the valley below, and the other, which took us to some ancient Indian Petroglyphs. We hiked there for a couple hours and then hopped back into the RV for a long drive to California.
Nothing else much to say here ‘cept I sent a bunch of postcards today so if you get one anytime soon let me know ‘cause I sent one to Rachie Vogt early last week and she hasn’t gotten her’s yet. Oh and by the way, everybody belt out the Happy Birthday song for Mrs. Ewing. I won’t give away the age but it includes the OVER THE HILL saying. I’m sure you’ve guessed it. So, sing a song for her, out loud or in your noggin, though you might get a few puzzled stares from family members for singing Happy Birthday out of the blue. Unless you do it often, yea you know who you are * cough, cough, Becky*. So wish her another happy trip around the sun. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. EWING!!
Cul8r,
Morgan
Monday, 9:48 pacific/ 12:49 p.m./a.m.
We are now in California! I have no idea why they call it the Sunshine state; all I see in the sky is the moon and black darkness. No sun, no light, no nothing.
This morning we woke up in Arizona and headed Saguaro ( pronounced Sa-wah-ro) National Park, which is home to many saguaro cactus’ (you know, the ones with the arms on ‘em), some witch reach the towering height of 50 feet. Of course, no matter how many times you tell a person, especially a member of the Ellis family, not to touch the cactus’ somebody always does. Tatum, obviously not paying attention, ran into a poor cactus in the first five minutes of the hike. We took two short hiking trails, one, which over looked the valley below, and the other, which took us to some ancient Indian Petroglyphs. We hiked there for a couple hours and then hopped back into the RV for a long drive to California.
Nothing else much to say here ‘cept I sent a bunch of postcards today so if you get one anytime soon let me know ‘cause I sent one to Rachie Vogt early last week and she hasn’t gotten her’s yet. Oh and by the way, everybody belt out the Happy Birthday song for Mrs. Ewing. I won’t give away the age but it includes the OVER THE HILL saying. I’m sure you’ve guessed it. So, sing a song for her, out loud or in your noggin, though you might get a few puzzled stares from family members for singing Happy Birthday out of the blue. Unless you do it often, yea you know who you are * cough, cough, Becky*. So wish her another happy trip around the sun. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. EWING!!
Cul8r,
Morgan
Living in a bubble
9, April, 2006
Sunday, 8:30 pacific/ 11:30 p.m.
It is so flippin’ hot here. This morning, at around 10 o’clock it was 82. Thankfully that’s Fahrenheit, not Celsius. We are now in Arizona, the state that has 300 days of sunshine a year. Seriously, it’s not only sunny; it also feels like you’re in an oven.
This morning, since it was Palm Sunday, we decided to hit the oldest church in Arizona. It was 200 plus some years old. Obviously, Christianity was not as widely spread as it is now days. The seating was very limited and the tiny church was packed. People were standing outside straining their eardrums to hear. We quickly saw that we were going to get nothing out of the sermon or anything else so we took a look around and then left.
After leaving the church we headed to the sight of the Biosphere 2 where in the 1990’s they built a huge 3.5-acre glass building. The building had several different biomes in it including the tropics, desert, savannah, marshes, and the rainforest. It is sealed of from earth by a 500 ton steel liner and is home to over 3,000 species of organisms and has a 25-foot deep ocean. A host of instruments constantly monitor the air, soil, and water. The Biosphere 2 was totally sealed of from any outside air, water, and food, meaning it recycled it’s own oxygen and H2O. Then, after building this amazing structure they locked four women and four men in it for two years. They had to grow their own food and they worked 10 to 12 hours a day maintaining the different biomes. Of course, even though this structure was clever, very clever, they forgot a few things. 1) Thinking that ultraviolet light was bad, the scientist put in glass that shielded it, of course bees need ultraviolet light to live so the bees inside the Biosphere died, making the Biospherians inside pollinate all the plants by had. 2) Microscopic organisms quickly flourished in the Biosphere and ate up all the oxygen the plants were producing, raising the levels of Carbon Dioxide, making the scientists pump emergency oxygen into the Biosphere twice, for the sake of the Biospherians. The only thing I didn’t like about this place was that they didn’t talk enough about the social aspects of the experiment. They didn’t even tell us the Biospherians names. All they told us was that they didn’t get along well and after the two years were up they hated each other’s guts and have never seen each other again.
Am I talking too much? Well to bad, I have nothing else to do so I’m going to keep yapping.
After a couple hours at the Biosphere, we visited what sounded like a cool reconstructed frontier town. It turned out to be a hokey, kids place with a couple neat stores. We watched a reenactment of a showdown, that had some really neat stunts, got ice cream (I had a Margarita snow cone, that was awesome), went to a haunted house that was the wimpiest thing I have ever seen, and Darby, Tatum and Katty went on a train ride. CHOO-CHOO! Sorry, kinda random.
We are now sitting in a church parking lot, about to go to bed cause my mom’s exhausted. She slept till 8:30 this morning, took a nap, and now wants to go to bed at 9:20. She claims it’s the time change but we’ve been out here two weeks, I think she’s just lethargic.
CUL8r,
Morgan
Sunday, 8:30 pacific/ 11:30 p.m.
It is so flippin’ hot here. This morning, at around 10 o’clock it was 82. Thankfully that’s Fahrenheit, not Celsius. We are now in Arizona, the state that has 300 days of sunshine a year. Seriously, it’s not only sunny; it also feels like you’re in an oven.
This morning, since it was Palm Sunday, we decided to hit the oldest church in Arizona. It was 200 plus some years old. Obviously, Christianity was not as widely spread as it is now days. The seating was very limited and the tiny church was packed. People were standing outside straining their eardrums to hear. We quickly saw that we were going to get nothing out of the sermon or anything else so we took a look around and then left.
After leaving the church we headed to the sight of the Biosphere 2 where in the 1990’s they built a huge 3.5-acre glass building. The building had several different biomes in it including the tropics, desert, savannah, marshes, and the rainforest. It is sealed of from earth by a 500 ton steel liner and is home to over 3,000 species of organisms and has a 25-foot deep ocean. A host of instruments constantly monitor the air, soil, and water. The Biosphere 2 was totally sealed of from any outside air, water, and food, meaning it recycled it’s own oxygen and H2O. Then, after building this amazing structure they locked four women and four men in it for two years. They had to grow their own food and they worked 10 to 12 hours a day maintaining the different biomes. Of course, even though this structure was clever, very clever, they forgot a few things. 1) Thinking that ultraviolet light was bad, the scientist put in glass that shielded it, of course bees need ultraviolet light to live so the bees inside the Biosphere died, making the Biospherians inside pollinate all the plants by had. 2) Microscopic organisms quickly flourished in the Biosphere and ate up all the oxygen the plants were producing, raising the levels of Carbon Dioxide, making the scientists pump emergency oxygen into the Biosphere twice, for the sake of the Biospherians. The only thing I didn’t like about this place was that they didn’t talk enough about the social aspects of the experiment. They didn’t even tell us the Biospherians names. All they told us was that they didn’t get along well and after the two years were up they hated each other’s guts and have never seen each other again.
Am I talking too much? Well to bad, I have nothing else to do so I’m going to keep yapping.
After a couple hours at the Biosphere, we visited what sounded like a cool reconstructed frontier town. It turned out to be a hokey, kids place with a couple neat stores. We watched a reenactment of a showdown, that had some really neat stunts, got ice cream (I had a Margarita snow cone, that was awesome), went to a haunted house that was the wimpiest thing I have ever seen, and Darby, Tatum and Katty went on a train ride. CHOO-CHOO! Sorry, kinda random.
We are now sitting in a church parking lot, about to go to bed cause my mom’s exhausted. She slept till 8:30 this morning, took a nap, and now wants to go to bed at 9:20. She claims it’s the time change but we’ve been out here two weeks, I think she’s just lethargic.
CUL8r,
Morgan
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Food, Ghosts, and Scrapes
8, April, 2005
Saturday 9:08/12:09 pm/am
Still sore, but not as bad. This morning after breakfast we climbed to the top of the mountain that was near us. Of course, it was the tallest one on the side of the valley we were in. After climbing up it for an hour we finally got to the top. It was an amazing view. It seemed like you could see the whole world from the top of that mountain. Getting back down was the hardest. THere were lots of loose rocks and one time I knocked over a real ginormous one and it sent a mini avalache down the mountain. Luckily, nobody was in front of me.
When we arrived back at the RV everybody had war wounds. Tatum had a twig that got stuck in her hand, my mom had a couple cuts, and me, being stupid, walked right into a thorn bush, totally tearing up my legs.
After we cleaned up camp we headed to Steins ghost town. It was really neat, especially the gift shop. The people who owned it have had people signed dollar bills and they had over 500 stapled on the wall. That's alot of money!
Finally after the ghost town we headed to WalMart. We desperatly needed food and it was really nice to fill the fridge and the cabinets. It'll last about a day.
We are now at the campground watching DREAMER and we finally have Internet access! It is SO nice to finally read your comments! Thank you!
CUl8R,
Morgan
Saturday 9:08/12:09 pm/am
Still sore, but not as bad. This morning after breakfast we climbed to the top of the mountain that was near us. Of course, it was the tallest one on the side of the valley we were in. After climbing up it for an hour we finally got to the top. It was an amazing view. It seemed like you could see the whole world from the top of that mountain. Getting back down was the hardest. THere were lots of loose rocks and one time I knocked over a real ginormous one and it sent a mini avalache down the mountain. Luckily, nobody was in front of me.
When we arrived back at the RV everybody had war wounds. Tatum had a twig that got stuck in her hand, my mom had a couple cuts, and me, being stupid, walked right into a thorn bush, totally tearing up my legs.
After we cleaned up camp we headed to Steins ghost town. It was really neat, especially the gift shop. The people who owned it have had people signed dollar bills and they had over 500 stapled on the wall. That's alot of money!
Finally after the ghost town we headed to WalMart. We desperatly needed food and it was really nice to fill the fridge and the cabinets. It'll last about a day.
We are now at the campground watching DREAMER and we finally have Internet access! It is SO nice to finally read your comments! Thank you!
CUl8R,
Morgan
In the Desert – The true meaning of dryland
8, April, 2006
Saturday, 1:20 Mountain/ 3:20 p.m.
Ok, I’m really tired, it’s 1:20 in the afternoon and everybody else is asleep. Only my dad, who’s driving, and me are awake. I would be sleeping but all the beds are full. Everybody’s exhausted. Let me tell you why.
I didn’t have time to blog yesterday ‘cause we were so busy. We started out the morning at the White Sands National Monument where we saw the world’s largest 100% gypsum sand dunes. We figured that after two hours at the dunes, everybody would be ready to go. We were wrong.
We spent at least five hours at the dunes, probably more. Katty loved them. She’d run up to the top of one “Awesome!” she would cry. Then, running up to the top of the next one she’d yell “ Wow, ‘dis is weally awesome!” She ran from one dune to the next, occasionally finding some rock hard packed sand, which she would chuck at us.
Some of the dunes were huge, and very steep on one or both of the sides. Some of the side literally dropped straight down. These are the ones we played King of the Hill, rolled down, ran up, did somersaults down, ran up, dived down, ran up, wrestled on, and ran up again. We later found out that you could swim down the dunes (See, even if I don’t have a pool to work out in, I’ll figure somethin’ out:) but it was very difficult.
On one of the dunes, I found a bleached earless lizard. He was about the size of your thumb, blending perfectly with the extremely white sand. Katty was fascinated with him, holding him saying “Let’s call ‘im Fwank (Frank)”. Kinda random. When she was sitting there holding him, and we were all studying him, Katty suddenly dropped him, and he ran up her shorts! Darby, Tatum, and my mother started screaming at the top of their lungs (it took awhile for it to register in my brain exactly what happened so I wasn’t yelling) and running off. Katty, perfectly calm in the midst of chaos, just sat there while I fished Fwank out of her shorts. We then let Fwank Peanutbutter (Katty dubbed the last name upon him shortly after the pant’s incident) go back home.
We played for hours more, and once we got back to the RV my whole legs were sore. It takes a lot of muscle to climb up hundreds of sand dunes.
We arrived half an hour later at Rockhound State park, where we cooked dinner and my mom and I climbed up one of the mountains (in Indiana it’s a mountain, there it was a hill).
So I’m sitting here a day after one of the hardest dryland workout I’ve ever experienced sore to the bone in my legs. I’ll update all ya’ll tonight on what happened today.
Cul8r,
Morgan
Saturday, 1:20 Mountain/ 3:20 p.m.
Ok, I’m really tired, it’s 1:20 in the afternoon and everybody else is asleep. Only my dad, who’s driving, and me are awake. I would be sleeping but all the beds are full. Everybody’s exhausted. Let me tell you why.
I didn’t have time to blog yesterday ‘cause we were so busy. We started out the morning at the White Sands National Monument where we saw the world’s largest 100% gypsum sand dunes. We figured that after two hours at the dunes, everybody would be ready to go. We were wrong.
We spent at least five hours at the dunes, probably more. Katty loved them. She’d run up to the top of one “Awesome!” she would cry. Then, running up to the top of the next one she’d yell “ Wow, ‘dis is weally awesome!” She ran from one dune to the next, occasionally finding some rock hard packed sand, which she would chuck at us.
Some of the dunes were huge, and very steep on one or both of the sides. Some of the side literally dropped straight down. These are the ones we played King of the Hill, rolled down, ran up, did somersaults down, ran up, dived down, ran up, wrestled on, and ran up again. We later found out that you could swim down the dunes (See, even if I don’t have a pool to work out in, I’ll figure somethin’ out:) but it was very difficult.
On one of the dunes, I found a bleached earless lizard. He was about the size of your thumb, blending perfectly with the extremely white sand. Katty was fascinated with him, holding him saying “Let’s call ‘im Fwank (Frank)”. Kinda random. When she was sitting there holding him, and we were all studying him, Katty suddenly dropped him, and he ran up her shorts! Darby, Tatum, and my mother started screaming at the top of their lungs (it took awhile for it to register in my brain exactly what happened so I wasn’t yelling) and running off. Katty, perfectly calm in the midst of chaos, just sat there while I fished Fwank out of her shorts. We then let Fwank Peanutbutter (Katty dubbed the last name upon him shortly after the pant’s incident) go back home.
We played for hours more, and once we got back to the RV my whole legs were sore. It takes a lot of muscle to climb up hundreds of sand dunes.
We arrived half an hour later at Rockhound State park, where we cooked dinner and my mom and I climbed up one of the mountains (in Indiana it’s a mountain, there it was a hill).
So I’m sitting here a day after one of the hardest dryland workout I’ve ever experienced sore to the bone in my legs. I’ll update all ya’ll tonight on what happened today.
Cul8r,
Morgan
Caves and Bats
6, April 2006
Thursday, 8:12 Mountain/10:12 p.m.
Today, like I said last post, was mostly driving. We are now in New Mexico and arrived at Carlsbad National Monument this afternoon, which is home to one of the most beautiful caves in the world. We hiked through the entrance of the cave to the middle, where there are giftshops, restaurants, and restrooms 750 feet below the ground. The hike was about a mile and a half. We then decided to go to the Big Room, which is one of the biggest rooms in a cave that I’ve ever seen. It was approximately 14 football fields long! That hike was about a mile and a quarter. Tatum, who is obsessed with taking pictures, photographed every stalagmite and stalactite in the whole two and ¾ of a mile. Then, about ¾ of the way through, she couldn’t figure out why the battery was dead.
We then took an elevator back up to level ground, and headed to the theater, where you could see down the entrance of the cave. Apparently, every night thousands of bats swarm out of the cave, looking for food. Last night there was around 200,000 but it varies every night. There were other people there, along with the park ranger, waiting for the bats. We waited for around two hours, until, very quietly and swiftly the bats started to fly out of the cave entrance circling upward and flying away to look for some ‘’Skeeters”. They are about the size of your thumb, and with there wings out are about the size of your hands. They were so cute! We watched them swarm for a few minutes and then headed back to the RV.
We are now driving around seeing if we can find a fast food place because our generator (which makes the microwave work) won’t work, and we can’t find the matches to use the stove.
New Mexico is very boring at this particular moment, all day actually. It is a flat, hot, dry desert wasteland and you can see everything within a billion miles. It is very dull and it all looks the same, with a few cows spotted in the dirt here and there.
Cul8r,
Morgan
Thursday, 8:12 Mountain/10:12 p.m.
Today, like I said last post, was mostly driving. We are now in New Mexico and arrived at Carlsbad National Monument this afternoon, which is home to one of the most beautiful caves in the world. We hiked through the entrance of the cave to the middle, where there are giftshops, restaurants, and restrooms 750 feet below the ground. The hike was about a mile and a half. We then decided to go to the Big Room, which is one of the biggest rooms in a cave that I’ve ever seen. It was approximately 14 football fields long! That hike was about a mile and a quarter. Tatum, who is obsessed with taking pictures, photographed every stalagmite and stalactite in the whole two and ¾ of a mile. Then, about ¾ of the way through, she couldn’t figure out why the battery was dead.
We then took an elevator back up to level ground, and headed to the theater, where you could see down the entrance of the cave. Apparently, every night thousands of bats swarm out of the cave, looking for food. Last night there was around 200,000 but it varies every night. There were other people there, along with the park ranger, waiting for the bats. We waited for around two hours, until, very quietly and swiftly the bats started to fly out of the cave entrance circling upward and flying away to look for some ‘’Skeeters”. They are about the size of your thumb, and with there wings out are about the size of your hands. They were so cute! We watched them swarm for a few minutes and then headed back to the RV.
We are now driving around seeing if we can find a fast food place because our generator (which makes the microwave work) won’t work, and we can’t find the matches to use the stove.
New Mexico is very boring at this particular moment, all day actually. It is a flat, hot, dry desert wasteland and you can see everything within a billion miles. It is very dull and it all looks the same, with a few cows spotted in the dirt here and there.
Cul8r,
Morgan
Turtles and Fudge
5, April 2005
Wednesday, 9:37 central/10:37
Ok, I don’t know if all ya’ll got the post I wrote yesterday ‘cause it wasn’t in the file on the computer. If you didn’t, you can live without it.
Anyway, today was tiring. We drove to the town of Gruene and visited the General Store. We heard it was one of the top 40 things to do in Texas so we decided to stop. We fooled around in there for a while and then were ready to go. Meanwhile, some professional photographers were snapping photos around the store, but I don’t know why. They had some fake fudge arranged perfectly on a plate (they spent around an hour arranging it) with a checkered tablecloth underneath. Earlier, the workers at the store were giving out REAL homemade fudge and Darby told Tatum. When we were about to leave, Tatum, seeing the fudge arranged nicely on a plate, grabbed a piece and was about to stuff her face. One of the photographers butted in saying “Honey, that’s not real”. “Oh” replies Tatum covering her face and walking quickly away while my mom was cracking up, along with the photographers. Tatum didn’t even see the huge cameras, light and whatnot. She just saw the plastic fudge. This proves I’m not the only blonde in the family.
After browsing in a couple of other shops we headed to the Guadalupe River. We had bought some inner tubes at Wal-Mart and were going tubing down the river. We have done this a couple times up in southern Utah on a river but never here. It was very different from the other river. The Utah river had much more rapids (which are really fun, but they hurt your butt and you always get stuck on the rocks) and Guadalupe had many calm places where there were tons of turtles. We counted 66 turtles, some the size of your face or even bigger and some the size of a silver dollar, sunning themselves on the tree trunks in the water and on the rocks. That was cool. We tubed for about and hour and a half and then the river totally died. It just stopped moving. Muffin, who came with us, was totally wiped out because she’s so out of shape. The river was very deep in some places so she had to swim the whole time; I’m guessing it was about two miles. She’ll sleep the rest of the day today and all day tomorrow. So we got out and walked about a mile back to the RV.
We were meeting one of my dad’s friends from work and his family for dinner. We went to Rudy’s, which is one of the best restaurants in Texas. They have the best rub for meat, potatoes, sandwiches, and anything else you can think of. We buy it anytime we get a chance. Tatum puts it on everything. We all love it. Rudy’s gives you some freezer paper for your plate, a bag o’ bread and any meat you order so you can make yourself a sandwich. It’s the best.
We are now driving and we are pretty much driving tomorrow too. I have no idea what we are doing after that. I usually don’t.
Cul8r,
Morgan :p
Wednesday, 9:37 central/10:37
Ok, I don’t know if all ya’ll got the post I wrote yesterday ‘cause it wasn’t in the file on the computer. If you didn’t, you can live without it.
Anyway, today was tiring. We drove to the town of Gruene and visited the General Store. We heard it was one of the top 40 things to do in Texas so we decided to stop. We fooled around in there for a while and then were ready to go. Meanwhile, some professional photographers were snapping photos around the store, but I don’t know why. They had some fake fudge arranged perfectly on a plate (they spent around an hour arranging it) with a checkered tablecloth underneath. Earlier, the workers at the store were giving out REAL homemade fudge and Darby told Tatum. When we were about to leave, Tatum, seeing the fudge arranged nicely on a plate, grabbed a piece and was about to stuff her face. One of the photographers butted in saying “Honey, that’s not real”. “Oh” replies Tatum covering her face and walking quickly away while my mom was cracking up, along with the photographers. Tatum didn’t even see the huge cameras, light and whatnot. She just saw the plastic fudge. This proves I’m not the only blonde in the family.
After browsing in a couple of other shops we headed to the Guadalupe River. We had bought some inner tubes at Wal-Mart and were going tubing down the river. We have done this a couple times up in southern Utah on a river but never here. It was very different from the other river. The Utah river had much more rapids (which are really fun, but they hurt your butt and you always get stuck on the rocks) and Guadalupe had many calm places where there were tons of turtles. We counted 66 turtles, some the size of your face or even bigger and some the size of a silver dollar, sunning themselves on the tree trunks in the water and on the rocks. That was cool. We tubed for about and hour and a half and then the river totally died. It just stopped moving. Muffin, who came with us, was totally wiped out because she’s so out of shape. The river was very deep in some places so she had to swim the whole time; I’m guessing it was about two miles. She’ll sleep the rest of the day today and all day tomorrow. So we got out and walked about a mile back to the RV.
We were meeting one of my dad’s friends from work and his family for dinner. We went to Rudy’s, which is one of the best restaurants in Texas. They have the best rub for meat, potatoes, sandwiches, and anything else you can think of. We buy it anytime we get a chance. Tatum puts it on everything. We all love it. Rudy’s gives you some freezer paper for your plate, a bag o’ bread and any meat you order so you can make yourself a sandwich. It’s the best.
We are now driving and we are pretty much driving tomorrow too. I have no idea what we are doing after that. I usually don’t.
Cul8r,
Morgan :p
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Time for an Oil change
Well we've gone about 3000 miles. I just posted all of the entries from 3/29 forward so enjoy reading it all!
San Antonio
4, April, 2006
Tuesday, 8:52 central/9:53 pm
Ok, I have to make this very brief ‘cause my dad is about to post all these blogs. Please read from the oldest blog to the newest one, else you’ll be thoroughly confused.
Today we had a very busy day. We headed of to the Mercado, which is a market filled with souvenirs, crafts, jewelry, and restaurants. We spent our time their the whole morning, browsing but no buying much. Then we headed off to a park, which had the Witte museum. The park was supposed to have Japanese tea gardens but they were under construction and off limits. We went in anyway, none of the workers saw us. The gardens would have been really cool but they drained all the water out of the streams, waterfalls, and ponds. We then headed off to the Witte Museum which had a section on Egyptian Mummies, the Texan Indians, and a lot more that we didn’t get to . There was also a kids section that was very similar to Science Central. We then walked back to the park where we cooked over one of the fire pits there. Now we are in a gas station about to post the blogs. Gotta go.
Cul8r,
Morgan
Tuesday, 8:52 central/9:53 pm
Ok, I have to make this very brief ‘cause my dad is about to post all these blogs. Please read from the oldest blog to the newest one, else you’ll be thoroughly confused.
Today we had a very busy day. We headed of to the Mercado, which is a market filled with souvenirs, crafts, jewelry, and restaurants. We spent our time their the whole morning, browsing but no buying much. Then we headed off to a park, which had the Witte museum. The park was supposed to have Japanese tea gardens but they were under construction and off limits. We went in anyway, none of the workers saw us. The gardens would have been really cool but they drained all the water out of the streams, waterfalls, and ponds. We then headed off to the Witte Museum which had a section on Egyptian Mummies, the Texan Indians, and a lot more that we didn’t get to . There was also a kids section that was very similar to Science Central. We then walked back to the park where we cooked over one of the fire pits there. Now we are in a gas station about to post the blogs. Gotta go.
Cul8r,
Morgan
April 3, 2006
The Johnson Space Center is an awesome educational experience. Ladies, if you ever get the chance to take your kids there. Don’t miss it. We almost did because of the cost – the tires were a blip in the Ellis Budget.
Also, I have to give you one more tip. About six weeks ago, I noticed that each of my kids had their own set of bad habits at the table. You know, talking with a full mouth, slouching at the table, etc. I had been hounding them for months, to no avail. So, I decided to take a different route. Each child had one or two bad habits to overcome. If I caught them at one of these habits while they were eating, they got their food taken away for an hour. This sounds drastic, but it became a family joke at our house. And, it worked. We’re not candidates for a Miss Manners contest by any means, but there has been great improvement. And, I’m not embarrassed to take the crew out in public.
Travelin’ Mom
Also, I have to give you one more tip. About six weeks ago, I noticed that each of my kids had their own set of bad habits at the table. You know, talking with a full mouth, slouching at the table, etc. I had been hounding them for months, to no avail. So, I decided to take a different route. Each child had one or two bad habits to overcome. If I caught them at one of these habits while they were eating, they got their food taken away for an hour. This sounds drastic, but it became a family joke at our house. And, it worked. We’re not candidates for a Miss Manners contest by any means, but there has been great improvement. And, I’m not embarrassed to take the crew out in public.
Travelin’ Mom
Houston We have a Problem
3, April 2006
Monday, 9:29/ 8:29 central
Thankfully, no breakdowns today, but we were a day off course. But have you ever known the Ellis family to ever be on schedule? Didn’t think so.
The Houston space center was really fun. We went to the museum where there were movies, real pieces of equipment, and hands on sections where you could race robots and build them. We learned that there are only certain months set aside for rocket launches, that NASA plans to send people to Mars by 2030, that I only weigh 50 lbs on Neptune, that the astronauts literally live on disgusting looking smooshed plastic wrapped food, and that it is very hard to land a spacecraft! They had a section with computers that you could TRY to land spacecrafts, build rockets, and plan Mars missions. It’s much harder than it sounds.
We just got to the campground and found out that they don’t allow fires! We have no idea how to use the stove, even though we’ve owned the RV for over three years. So, if you don’t hear from us again it probably means that the stove blew up and we’re all dead. Or, it could mean that we don’t have Internet access and can’t post these enthralling blogs.
Cul8r,
Morgan
Monday, 9:29/ 8:29 central
Thankfully, no breakdowns today, but we were a day off course. But have you ever known the Ellis family to ever be on schedule? Didn’t think so.
The Houston space center was really fun. We went to the museum where there were movies, real pieces of equipment, and hands on sections where you could race robots and build them. We learned that there are only certain months set aside for rocket launches, that NASA plans to send people to Mars by 2030, that I only weigh 50 lbs on Neptune, that the astronauts literally live on disgusting looking smooshed plastic wrapped food, and that it is very hard to land a spacecraft! They had a section with computers that you could TRY to land spacecrafts, build rockets, and plan Mars missions. It’s much harder than it sounds.
We just got to the campground and found out that they don’t allow fires! We have no idea how to use the stove, even though we’ve owned the RV for over three years. So, if you don’t hear from us again it probably means that the stove blew up and we’re all dead. Or, it could mean that we don’t have Internet access and can’t post these enthralling blogs.
Cul8r,
Morgan
Repair Day
2, April 2006
Sunday, 9; 53/ 8:53 central
Ok, and update on last night after I wrote the blog. Last night, everybody was asleep while my parents were trying to get to Houston. I was still awake, but with lights out trying to sleep. When I was on the brink of sleep, suddenly we heard a very loud noise, like we ran over something. There was another crash, louder this time, and my mom and I jumped up to find what happened. We took a quick look around the RV, thinking something fell from someplace. The noise sounded like thousands of very heavy pop cans hitting hard ground. Nothing seemed to be out of place, except Katty’s toys, so we sat back down. The noise occurred a few times more until my dad decided to pull over. My dad made a quick round on the outside of the RV, observing that nothing was leaking or catching fire, and almost hopped back in. Then he spotted it. On the left inside tire all the tire tred was stripped off. We finally found a place to stop for the night, hoping that we could get the RV fixed somewhere on a Sunday.
This morning, after calling several repair places, we headed over to IHOP and ate breakfast. It was delicious and during breakfast we finally found a place to fix the RV. Thankful, happy, and stuffed to the brim with food, we headed to the garage to finally get the baby repaired. It was obvious by now that we weren’t gonna make it to the space center any time soon.
It is tradition that the Ellis family, while the RV is getting fixed, to play woofle ball. Woofle ball is another form of watered down baseball with a bat as big as your leg and a kickball. Hey, we had a four-year old playing, give us a break. After playing for and hour or so, it was clear that the motor home wasn’t going to be fixed in a jiffy. Fortunately, there happened to be a movie theater in a mall .4 miles away, so we walked over to see ICE AGE 2. I highly recommend this movie if you happen to be broken down in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday with nothing else to do. The movie was hilarious and when it was done, the motor home was almost done. FINALLY! My father walked back (we were shopping) and picked up the RV and we were off. We should be doing the space center tomorrow.
Cul8r,
Morgan
Sunday, 9; 53/ 8:53 central
Ok, and update on last night after I wrote the blog. Last night, everybody was asleep while my parents were trying to get to Houston. I was still awake, but with lights out trying to sleep. When I was on the brink of sleep, suddenly we heard a very loud noise, like we ran over something. There was another crash, louder this time, and my mom and I jumped up to find what happened. We took a quick look around the RV, thinking something fell from someplace. The noise sounded like thousands of very heavy pop cans hitting hard ground. Nothing seemed to be out of place, except Katty’s toys, so we sat back down. The noise occurred a few times more until my dad decided to pull over. My dad made a quick round on the outside of the RV, observing that nothing was leaking or catching fire, and almost hopped back in. Then he spotted it. On the left inside tire all the tire tred was stripped off. We finally found a place to stop for the night, hoping that we could get the RV fixed somewhere on a Sunday.
This morning, after calling several repair places, we headed over to IHOP and ate breakfast. It was delicious and during breakfast we finally found a place to fix the RV. Thankful, happy, and stuffed to the brim with food, we headed to the garage to finally get the baby repaired. It was obvious by now that we weren’t gonna make it to the space center any time soon.
It is tradition that the Ellis family, while the RV is getting fixed, to play woofle ball. Woofle ball is another form of watered down baseball with a bat as big as your leg and a kickball. Hey, we had a four-year old playing, give us a break. After playing for and hour or so, it was clear that the motor home wasn’t going to be fixed in a jiffy. Fortunately, there happened to be a movie theater in a mall .4 miles away, so we walked over to see ICE AGE 2. I highly recommend this movie if you happen to be broken down in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday with nothing else to do. The movie was hilarious and when it was done, the motor home was almost done. FINALLY! My father walked back (we were shopping) and picked up the RV and we were off. We should be doing the space center tomorrow.
Cul8r,
Morgan
Traveling Mom
April 1, 2006
OK. In a desperate attempt to temper the latest blog from my 14-year-old, I would like to state that I have never brought anyone a case of beer to keep them going when they are already sleep deprived! It was a six-pack. We like adventure, but I like to keep control of myself during it.
OK. In a desperate attempt to temper the latest blog from my 14-year-old, I would like to state that I have never brought anyone a case of beer to keep them going when they are already sleep deprived! It was a six-pack. We like adventure, but I like to keep control of myself during it.
FINALLY! Social!
1, April 2006
Saturday, 8:06 p.m. Indiana time/7:06 central time
HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!! My family didn’t play any good jokes on each other but if you have a good one please tell me, I dearly love to laugh. We stayed at the campground this morning and cooked over the fire for breakfast and played at the pool, they had two. One was in a heated dome and was very hot and noisy and the other was very small, not heated at all and was freezing. We chose the hot one although the other pool was empty. I wonder why?
We had to check out at 11 so we headed to the beach. The waves weren’t as big as yesterday considering only the Medium Hazard flag was up but they were very powerful. It was a very hard to get out to where the muhusive waves were about to break. That’s the best place because you can ride the waves into shore - a very hard workout.
After the beach we visited some friends. They live in Fort Wayne also and are on spring break and happened to be vacationing in Destin, Florida. They arrived today after driving all night so we visited their hotel for a while and brought their parents a case of beer, they needed it after a long night of continuous driving.
We are now driving to Houston, Texas. Tomorrow we will be visiting the “Houston we have a problem” space center. It should be pretty interesting.
CUL8r,
Morgan
Saturday, 8:06 p.m. Indiana time/7:06 central time
HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!! My family didn’t play any good jokes on each other but if you have a good one please tell me, I dearly love to laugh. We stayed at the campground this morning and cooked over the fire for breakfast and played at the pool, they had two. One was in a heated dome and was very hot and noisy and the other was very small, not heated at all and was freezing. We chose the hot one although the other pool was empty. I wonder why?
We had to check out at 11 so we headed to the beach. The waves weren’t as big as yesterday considering only the Medium Hazard flag was up but they were very powerful. It was a very hard to get out to where the muhusive waves were about to break. That’s the best place because you can ride the waves into shore - a very hard workout.
After the beach we visited some friends. They live in Fort Wayne also and are on spring break and happened to be vacationing in Destin, Florida. They arrived today after driving all night so we visited their hotel for a while and brought their parents a case of beer, they needed it after a long night of continuous driving.
We are now driving to Houston, Texas. Tomorrow we will be visiting the “Houston we have a problem” space center. It should be pretty interesting.
CUL8r,
Morgan
HI YA PEOPLE !!!!!!
March 31, 2006
Today we arrived at seaside. We rode bikes around the town and in the neighborhoods .the houses were gorgeous! All of the houses had names. Some of the names were: The tides inn, Marisol, ivy green and good night moon! Later we stopped and got ice cream. Then we went back to the R.V. Then we arrived at our campground and we had some charcoal hamburgers! Well C U soon.
Adios amigos /bye friends
Darby
Today we arrived at seaside. We rode bikes around the town and in the neighborhoods .the houses were gorgeous! All of the houses had names. Some of the names were: The tides inn, Marisol, ivy green and good night moon! Later we stopped and got ice cream. Then we went back to the R.V. Then we arrived at our campground and we had some charcoal hamburgers! Well C U soon.
Adios amigos /bye friends
Darby
Biking at Seaside
31, April, 2006
Friday, 7:38 pm
You’ll be thankful to know that no bird pooped on my head today. We drove all this morning and arrived at Seaside, Florida this afternoon around 2:30. We unhooked the bikes and biked around the town. The waves at the beach were huge because the Extremely Hazardous sign was up. I really wanted to go swimming but it was too late. The beachouses there were huge three to four story houses and most of them had crow’s nests on top. They were painted really funky colors. For example, one house was bright orange with dark purple shutters and peach trim. Sounds ugly but it was very neat because all the houses were weird combination colors. We talked to a lady who was renting one of the “cottages’’ and the one she was staying in was on the market for 1.9 million dollars. Anybody out there want to buy it?
We rode for a while and then stopped for ice cream( I had a lemonade ‘cause I gave up junk food for Lent) and then we went back to the RV and headed to the campground. My family and I tried to play shuffleboard but we didn’t know how so we just made up our own rules. My team lost, of course. Now we are hanging out around the campfire and waiting for the burgers to be done. They better hurry up ‘cause I’m starving, naturally.
Before I go and stuff my face, do any of you people want a postcard? I’ve got plenty of time to write so if you do, why don’t you COMMENT and let me know. I know we have all the swim addresses but we need to know if you want one. If you don’t, you’ll probably end up getting one anyway.
Cul8r,
Morgan
Friday, 7:38 pm
You’ll be thankful to know that no bird pooped on my head today. We drove all this morning and arrived at Seaside, Florida this afternoon around 2:30. We unhooked the bikes and biked around the town. The waves at the beach were huge because the Extremely Hazardous sign was up. I really wanted to go swimming but it was too late. The beachouses there were huge three to four story houses and most of them had crow’s nests on top. They were painted really funky colors. For example, one house was bright orange with dark purple shutters and peach trim. Sounds ugly but it was very neat because all the houses were weird combination colors. We talked to a lady who was renting one of the “cottages’’ and the one she was staying in was on the market for 1.9 million dollars. Anybody out there want to buy it?
We rode for a while and then stopped for ice cream( I had a lemonade ‘cause I gave up junk food for Lent) and then we went back to the RV and headed to the campground. My family and I tried to play shuffleboard but we didn’t know how so we just made up our own rules. My team lost, of course. Now we are hanging out around the campfire and waiting for the burgers to be done. They better hurry up ‘cause I’m starving, naturally.
Before I go and stuff my face, do any of you people want a postcard? I’ve got plenty of time to write so if you do, why don’t you COMMENT and let me know. I know we have all the swim addresses but we need to know if you want one. If you don’t, you’ll probably end up getting one anyway.
Cul8r,
Morgan
The Venetian Pool…….And something else
30, March 2006
Thursday, 9:16 pm
Well, today was, well, different. We checked out of the hotel this morning (I was really sad, they had great food) and we headed to Coral Gables, Florida. My dad had to work today so we went to Coral Gables by ourselves. Luckily, we didn’t get lost to bad. We found the place fairly easily. In Coral Gables, right smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood, there is a Venetian pool carved out of a big chunk of coral. The pool was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The pool was carved in the 1920’s and it had Italian/Mediterranean architecture. When you walked into the pool area the first thing you saw was a huge waterfall. You could go inside it and it was awesome. There were also caves hidden in the rock. There were two entrances too what looked like two different caves but they actually connected and went quite a ways back into the rock. There were small rooms in the caves and a little waterfall too. There was also a third entrance that you could barely notice ‘cause most of it was underwater. There were also other waterfalls sprinkled around the pool and the width of the pool was about a 50(those of you swim people know what I’m talkin’ ‘bout) and the length was even longer. The water in the pool was fresh spring water and was very a very blue (I swear they drain the water and paint the rock blue). It was the coolest place and the only downside was that we can’t go back.
After the pool we had to meet my father and turn in the rental car. While we were walkin’ back to the RV I felt something fall on my head. Tatum has already informed you of this but I will tell you my own side of the story. I ignored it and continued graciously helping my mother. I went into the bathroom to put some things away when I saw IT. I am very proud to inform you that I didn’t overact as I usually do, ok, I didn’t overact THAT much. I quickly hopped in the shower, which was about two centimeters away from me, and thoroughly washed my hair. Luckily, even though we were low on fresh water, I had enough to wash it out. Do you know that when a bird poops it’s poop is clear until it dries and then it turns white? I don’t think you want me to go into that anymore do you? That’s what I thought.
We are on our way to Houston, Texas right now, and we are going to stop at a beach tomorrow on the way to break up the drive. I’ve been meaning to ask ya’ll, when I’m out west, do you think I should buy a cowboy/girl hat or a cowboy/girl boots? I can’t decide.
I want to thank Veronica for being so faithful and commenting all the posts. I’m actually feeling like somebody’s missing me. Veronica, since you’re probably the only one reading this, could you please let Joe know about the blog sight, and anybody else who might not know, and tell everybody else on the swim team to plop down on their butts for two stinkin’ minutes and read and comment? Thank you.
CUL8r,
Morgan
Thursday, 9:16 pm
Well, today was, well, different. We checked out of the hotel this morning (I was really sad, they had great food) and we headed to Coral Gables, Florida. My dad had to work today so we went to Coral Gables by ourselves. Luckily, we didn’t get lost to bad. We found the place fairly easily. In Coral Gables, right smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood, there is a Venetian pool carved out of a big chunk of coral. The pool was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The pool was carved in the 1920’s and it had Italian/Mediterranean architecture. When you walked into the pool area the first thing you saw was a huge waterfall. You could go inside it and it was awesome. There were also caves hidden in the rock. There were two entrances too what looked like two different caves but they actually connected and went quite a ways back into the rock. There were small rooms in the caves and a little waterfall too. There was also a third entrance that you could barely notice ‘cause most of it was underwater. There were also other waterfalls sprinkled around the pool and the width of the pool was about a 50(those of you swim people know what I’m talkin’ ‘bout) and the length was even longer. The water in the pool was fresh spring water and was very a very blue (I swear they drain the water and paint the rock blue). It was the coolest place and the only downside was that we can’t go back.
After the pool we had to meet my father and turn in the rental car. While we were walkin’ back to the RV I felt something fall on my head. Tatum has already informed you of this but I will tell you my own side of the story. I ignored it and continued graciously helping my mother. I went into the bathroom to put some things away when I saw IT. I am very proud to inform you that I didn’t overact as I usually do, ok, I didn’t overact THAT much. I quickly hopped in the shower, which was about two centimeters away from me, and thoroughly washed my hair. Luckily, even though we were low on fresh water, I had enough to wash it out. Do you know that when a bird poops it’s poop is clear until it dries and then it turns white? I don’t think you want me to go into that anymore do you? That’s what I thought.
We are on our way to Houston, Texas right now, and we are going to stop at a beach tomorrow on the way to break up the drive. I’ve been meaning to ask ya’ll, when I’m out west, do you think I should buy a cowboy/girl hat or a cowboy/girl boots? I can’t decide.
I want to thank Veronica for being so faithful and commenting all the posts. I’m actually feeling like somebody’s missing me. Veronica, since you’re probably the only one reading this, could you please let Joe know about the blog sight, and anybody else who might not know, and tell everybody else on the swim team to plop down on their butts for two stinkin’ minutes and read and comment? Thank you.
CUL8r,
Morgan
When you gotta go you gotta go
March 30 2oo6 7:12 pm
A bird pooped on Morgan’s head! She was walking from the car we were renting to the R.V. and something landed on her head! Then she went in to the bathroom to see was what it was and there it was. She screamed a lot. But you probably would too wouldn’t you? Katty says the bird looked at her and it thought she looked cute so it didn’t poop on her head but when it looked at Morgan it thought she looked mean so it pooped on her head. Do you see what I mean when I say she’s annoying?
Bye,
Tatum
A bird pooped on Morgan’s head! She was walking from the car we were renting to the R.V. and something landed on her head! Then she went in to the bathroom to see was what it was and there it was. She screamed a lot. But you probably would too wouldn’t you? Katty says the bird looked at her and it thought she looked cute so it didn’t poop on her head but when it looked at Morgan it thought she looked mean so it pooped on her head. Do you see what I mean when I say she’s annoying?
Bye,
Tatum
Conversation with Katty
March 29, 2006
Wednesday
A typical conversation with Katty (age 4).
7:34 a.m.
Katty: Mommy when are we going to go swimming?
Mommy: In a little bit, after breakfast. Now let’s get ready.
Katty: Mommy?
Mommy: Yes . . .
Katty: I reawwy like swimming. When are we going to go swimming?
Mommy: I know you like to swim, Katty, but we have to wait until after breakfast.
Katty: I just swim back and forth and back and forth. I can hold my breaf too. Mommy, when are we going to go swimming?
Mommy: Katty, when did I tell you we are going to go swimming?
Katty: After breakfast.
Mommy: Then don’t ask me again. We’ll all go swimming after breakfast.
Katty: Mommy?
Mommy: Yes . . .
Katty: I’m hungry.
Travelin’ Mom
Wednesday
A typical conversation with Katty (age 4).
7:34 a.m.
Katty: Mommy when are we going to go swimming?
Mommy: In a little bit, after breakfast. Now let’s get ready.
Katty: Mommy?
Mommy: Yes . . .
Katty: I reawwy like swimming. When are we going to go swimming?
Mommy: I know you like to swim, Katty, but we have to wait until after breakfast.
Katty: I just swim back and forth and back and forth. I can hold my breaf too. Mommy, when are we going to go swimming?
Mommy: Katty, when did I tell you we are going to go swimming?
Katty: After breakfast.
Mommy: Then don’t ask me again. We’ll all go swimming after breakfast.
Katty: Mommy?
Mommy: Yes . . .
Katty: I’m hungry.
Travelin’ Mom
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