Road Trip 2013

This summer we are going to attempt a 2 week long road trip.
Stops to be included are Amarillo, TX, Kansas City, Champaign, Il, Lansing, MI, Chicago, Madison, WI and Valentine, NE.
I know, all the midwestern hot spots.
I can't tell yet if this is going to be a good idea. It could end up the hottest, most infuriating, longest trip ever. Or it could end up a pleasant romp through my childhood haunts smattered with beautiful reunions with long lost relatives and highschool friends.
This summer is the litmus test.
We have 3 other trips planned for the next 3 summers. This summer being the least interesting of destinations. Next summer the South, 2015 the West and Northwest, and 2016, the big one, the Northeast.
This is the time to take these trips while the kids are still somewhat small. They can sleep and Ipod and if I can make them, look out the window and see their beautiful country. It's all foreign to my desert forest raised children.
I would totally like to write more today, but it's 95 degrees in Flagstaff and if I don't get some ice cream into my system I will overheat.

My May European Vacation

So I promised photos  a while ago and I'm a slacker, so it's taken a month to get to it. The photos have been downloaded and uploaded and sorted and dated and are finally ready for a more formal venue.

I won't go into all the details of the trip now, but it was good... and bad. 

It was rushed, jam-packed, exhausting, and stressful. It was beautiful, educational, thought provoking, and eye opening.

England was beautiful. Although the sun is actually shining in some of these photos, the sunshine was short-lived. It was cold.

Paris was a weather nightmare, raining and cold the whole time we were there. I didn't get many photos on my phone of outdoor things. We used the good camera inside all the museums, but you'll get the idea.

Overall we've decided we need to go back. England needs a good three weeks for us to see everything and Paris probably needs the same just for the city. What we came back with is a list of things we need to go back and see.

These are a few of my best photos.

This is a small street right next to Wells Cathedral. I felt like I was at Disneyland, except it was real. It totally blew my mind. The city was so full of architectural treasures.

Carl and I at Stonehenge at 8:00 in the morning. We had reservations to be able to go in among the stones. It was amazing.

Glastonbury Tor. The history here was palpable. The hike up was thru beautiful English farms and there were sheep and cows grazing along the way. The wind at the top was ruthless though.

Me at the Muse de Orsay by myself. Carl was deathly ill this day with a lymph node infection and I had to conquer some sites myself.

The rainy view of the Eiffel Tower. We walked all the way there and then took the trip all the way up to the top. Amazingly it is not as scary a trip as the one up the tower in Vegas.  This one is much larger and felt a million times more stable.

Till next time.

I'm back and I'm 38!

Today is my 38th birthday.
Yes I feel older, but not on the inside. I still feel like I'm 23, but much wiser.

We are back from Europe.
School is out.
I am home for the summer.

I will post photos and updates.

I am currently deliberating going back to work next year or taking some time off to write and take care of our businesses and have more time for the kids and the house.
It's a tough decision and of course there are money concerns. I don't make a lot of money working for the school district, but what I do make helps pay for extras like gymnastics and vacations.

Can I find a way to make $200/week on my own?
Do I really want to quit a job I love?
Will I still know all the cool books if I'm not working with kids everyday?

I don't know is the only answer I've come up with so far.