Summer Pictures That Make Me Laugh

I have been cracking up over some of these pictures and I just had to share....

This is a chalkboard cow, and Emory is drawing parts to make it anatomically correct, I think.

Which one of you wanted to ride the go-carts?

"I think it will break left to right..."

"Leave me alone, I'm sleeping you little punk!"

Did anyone have have fun on this vacation?

"I don't look like a pirate, I look like Paul Revere."
(Click to enlarge to check out Miles' middle finger)

Are we there yet?

Froggy needed a break on our hike.

That Very Special Day...

When I asked Emory what her favorite day on our vacation was, she refers to "that very special day". She and I enjoyed a very lovely hike up Bible Point, followed by a patch she earned for the hike. Then a trip to the museum, of course, and then a horseback ride. And that was all accomplished before nap time! That night she got to play with her cousins and then paint rocks with Carrie. We missed Miles and Clif a lot, but it is amazing how quickly just the two of us could move! Emory has had a great time out here in Colorado, and she wants to stay. It is hard to argue with her....

Views from 12,000 feet

Tonight we drove up Trailridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was 52 degrees at the top. We were treated to quite a wildlife show, as you can see in the pictures.

My Dad and I got to go fly fishing today with a guide. This was a gift for my birthday from Clif. We had a great time, and I am sad to say there are no pictures of the fish I caught. He slipped out of my hands as the guide got out his camera. I don't have the art of fly fishing down yet, but I would like to get more practice.

Miles has had a fever for two days and now is over it, but her had shared it with his sister. I expect now that Emory will be sick for the next few days. Tomorrow Clif and Miles will leave to travel to New York for the family reunion.

Denver Children's Museum

We are on another road trip, this time to Colorado. We had a great time today at the Denver Children's Museum. The kids had fun dressing up as a bunny and a mouse. Tonight we had a great evening with Ernie, Sandy, Anne and Jon. Tomorrow we will head up to Estes Park for the week.

HOME!!

We pulled in tonight about 5 pm after another 8 hour drive. It is good to be home.

Miles is in the process of getting potty trained. That is great, but I forgot that he would add one more component to the travel drink/pee cycle. I am used to rationing Emory's drinks, but I always just let Miles drink as much as he wants, because he had always gone in his diaper. Well, today, he decided to be a big boy and he needed to stop and use the bathroom several times throughout the day. Of course, I fear public restrooms, so Miles learned how to go like a real man today- on the side of the road.

I have discovered that I think Emory is being raised in the wrong era of Smith girls. When we were younger, a family vacation was always a history lesson. We stopped at graveyards, battlegrounds, and museums throughout the country. Needless to say, the Smith girls were not very appreciative of the history lessons. Emory begs us to stop at places where she "can learn". Each time we go through a new state, she wants to stop in the visitors center so she can learn. We stopped at one place in Beckley, West Virginia, and she made me ask someone where the museum was. Today at Union Station in St. Louis, she was only interested in reading the historical markers in the shopping area. I think Annie and Papa need to take Emory on their next cross country adventure. She has her own air mattress!

Paradise over

We have gone from paradise to the opposite of paradise. Whatever that is. Tonight we stay at the Baymont Inn in West Virginia. Quite different from the Marriott at Marco Island. We were so spoiled in Florida, that I am having a hard time returning to normal life. We traded the cute convertible in Florida for the family car with the cat top carrier. We traded our ocean front dinners for Subway for lunch. We traded listening to our own music on our iPods to listening to "The Farmer and the Dell" and other children's songs on the cars CD player. And we traded the beautiful emerald green ocean for some nasty hotel pool that I wouldn't even get in.

So, we will finish our trip tomorrow and return to normal life. It is good to be back with the kids again. And we are forever grateful for all those who made our get away possible. Lulu, Nannie, Pop-pop were our kid sitters, and Annie and Mikki were our dog sitters. THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Paradise found.

I know, I know, you haven't heard from me in a while. No, we did not get eaten by alligators or escape the US by raft to Cuba. We stayed in a lovely resort in Marco Island that wanted to charge 12.95 a day for internet service. So, I decided to wait until we leave the resort to blog.

It was a wonderfully relaxing vacation. You know you are relaxed when you can't decide whether you want to go for a walk on the beach, go lay by the pool, or go work out. Those were the kinds of decisions we had to make. Italian or Mexican? Ice cream or Key lime pie? I didn't even know what to do with myself!

Vacations like this should be rare. We appreciated every minute of it because we have not had peace and rest like this in 9 years since our honeymoon. We are about to get on the airplane to fly back to North Carolina to see the kids. We are very ready to see them!