Agony

Agony is seeing your wife's smiling face stuck to a map in Rawlins, WY, eight zillion miles from my smiling face in the middle of Illinois and knowing that she's got some tricky driving ahead of her before that gap starts to close.

Andrea has been in Idaho with her parents for the last couple weeks. She started back yesterday morning but only got as far as Rawlins and had to stop because the interstate was closed. We didn't know for sure when or if it would open back up again today because more bad weather was predicted for that stretch through Elk Mountain all the way to Cheyenne, but by about 8:00 this morning the WYDOT web site reported an open eastbound so Andrea tossed the kids in the van and burned rubber. She's on the road again now. I've got my fingers crossed.

A Big Bucket

This afternoon as we were getting in the truck to go somewhere, Anthony said "I wish I had a big bucket of Things That Are Okay To Throw Out The Window."

Me too, Anthony. Me too.

Paxton Turns 4

So, all six of our birthdays are clumped up into the first five months of the year. Paxton's is first. Do you know what the worst part of having your birthday first is? By the time everyone else has had their birthday, you can't remember when your own was and you have to wait so very long until it comes around again. Seriously, Paxton has been anticipating this one since June.

One of his very specific requests for the last couple of months has been for a "race car cake". A red one. Andrea happened to have a car cake mold handy and, as usual, did a great job decorating it. The big day can finally be described in a time frame an almost-four-year-old can understand! Paxton's so excited he can hardly see straight. Anya just wants to get her finger in the icing.

We surprised the Birthday Boy with a ceiling full of balloons when he woke up in the morning. He was predictably delighted.

Andrea generally lets the kids pick out their Birthday Menu. Paxton picked taco pie, fruit salsa with cinnamon chips, smoothies, and brussel sprouts!

Any doubts about how old this little boy is? Anya the Imitator thinks she knows too.

 Time for presents. I wonder if he know his piggy bank isn't full of money yet?

Opening presents in the Pandemonium House is a group effort.

Maybe if you smile long enough your face will stick that way. Happy number four little buddy!

Finger Rock Trail

How to spend a free Saturday in Tucson, Arizona? How about a nice little hike? Sounds good.

There's a trail just north of Tucson that I hiked with a friend from work when we were here in May that has been a source of embarrassment for me because we got lost and didn't get to do much of the actual trail. I figured today would be a chance at redemption.

The Finger Rock Trail starts at the base of the Santa Catalina's on the edge of Tucson and climbs over 3500 feet in 3.4 miles to the top of a stack of rocks overlooking the city and the desert beyond.

Here I am at the trail head, happily oblivious of the challenge ahead.

See the little finger of rock in the gap between the two larger outcroppings? That's Finger Rock. See the stack of rocks to the right of it? That's where the trail ends.

It was a little harder hike than I anticipated, but I made it. How could I not?

It took me 6.5 hours. I'm going to be sore in the morning. If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it.

Here's a link to a few more pictures: Finger Rock Trail 2012

Clowns

Andrea was trying to get the kids to smile nicely for a group picture. They wouldn't cooperate, so she told them to look silly instead. Success. Made me smile :-)

Budding Artist

A while back Kenrick's Art teacher submitted one of his creations to be considered for showing at a children's exhibit at a little gallery in Decatur. His piece was selected to be shown - one of a hundred out of four hundred entries - so this afternoon we went to the presentation of the awards and watched Kenrick pick up his second-place red ribbon!

The gallery, with all the kids and parents waiting anxiously for the ceremony to get started. Kenrick's is the yellow piece standing on the pedestal in the corner.

 The proud artist with his Tropical Fish Triptych.

Mixed Measurement

The other day Anya was on the bed with her stacking dolls, very carefully taking them apart and then fitting them back together. Paxton bounded into the room and hopped up on to the bed, brandishing a little stopwatch that he'd been playing with. "Okay Anya," he declared, "let's time you! How long does it take to put your dolls together?"
She started. He clicked the button.
When she finished, Paxton held the watch high. "Good job, Anya!" he said looking carefully at the numbers, "fourteen pounds!"
Andrea about fell off the bed.
They did it again.
"Two pound-animals!"
Is that better?
"Mommy?" Paxton asked, very seriously, "How do you stop this thing?"

2011 Pandemonium

2011 was definitely a year to remember for the Pandemonium Family. The pictures pretty much say it all, click below to see the story from start to finish.


Thanks again to all who lent us a hand this year in so many different ways; we wouldn't have made it without you. Have a great 2012!

First Snow

We woke this morning to a world transformed by a blanket of the winter's first snow.



It was warm and slushy and melting fast, but the kids got suited up and rolled around in it for a few hours anyway.

Thanksgiving 2011

Our Thanksgiving holiday was quite relaxing. We found ourselves in Idaho for the third time this year - read the previous post backwards - but we were glad to be there and got a chance to spend some time with both branches of the family tree.

We stayed with Sam and Shanna for a few nights and had a pre-Thanksgiving feast at Mom and Dad's on Sunday afternoon. Grandpa made sure Anya got the first stab at the bird.

The crew. Minus Sally and Matt, plus Todd and Jeannie. The feast was superb as usual. After his second helping of grub, Kenrick whispered to me, "Did your mom work as a chef?"

We headed up to Donnelly on Wednesday afternoon and found the vacation house that Steve and JoAnne had reserved, a fine little cabin nestled in the pine trees on the edge of Cascade Lake. Very nice.

View Larger Map

There wasn't a lot of snow, but Grandma and the kids enjoyed building snow castles and sledding down the little hill out back of the house.

We celebrated Steve's 60th birthday while we were there. Happy birthday Grandpa.

Grandma got lots of lap time. She thoroughly enjoyed having all ten grand kids in house and making noise. Her eleventh grand kid was in the house as well, but not yet making noise - Stuart's wife Meggan braved the trip at eight and a half months beautifully pregnant.

Anthony and Tristan spent a lot of time passing back and forth between imaginary worlds.

And Paxton enjoyed having his cousins around to play monster trucks with.

Stuart is still Stuart. Enough said.

JoAnne packed a fabulous menu for our three days at the cabin, and we took full advantage. We slept, ate, visited, played monopoly, watched some football, read, and generally relaxed. Thanks again Grandpa and Grandma for organizing a pleasant, memorable Thanksgiving.

Just in Case You Were Wondering...

... how to drive from Idaho to Illinois in one long run:
10:30 AM - Pile into the van in Donnelly, Idaho, wave goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma and Uncles and Aunts and Cousins and the vacation rental on the lake. (You wouldn't have to start there, exactly, that's just what worked for us)
10:32 AM - Turn around to get Kenrick's camera that he forgot at the house.
10:33 AM - On the road for good this time. Turn south onto Highway 55 over the hill to Cascade and down the canyon towards Boise. We'll stop briefly at Sam and Shanna's to say one last round of goodbyes.
11:45 AM - Breath a sigh of relief as you come over the top of Horseshoe Bend Hill because one of the potentially worst sections of road is behind you.
11:46 AM - "Dad, I have to go to the bathroom really bad!"
"Just hold on Paxton, there's a gas station at the bottom of the hill."
11:48 AM - "Dad, I'm really hungry, I want to go to Jimmy John's."
"There aren't any Jimmy John's in Boise Paxton, we'll get a sandwich somewhere on the way to Uncle Sam's house."
12:00 PM - Stop at the gas station for a potty break. Get a couple of sandwiches at Subway. Tune in to the Boise State Bronco's football game.
12:10 PM - Pass a Jimmy John's on the way to Sam's
12:45 PM - Quick stop at Sam and Shanna's completed, final hugs hugged, wave goodbye and point the van East. Turn up the game. Floor it.
3:15 PM - Stop in Burley for gas.
4:30 PM - Honk as you cross the state line into Utah on I84
5:00 PM - Time for supper. The in-flight menu for this evening is left over turkey with hamburger buns, oranges, bananas, and water.
5:30 PM - Starting to get dark, time for pajamas! Find a truck stop in Ogden for another potty break. Grab some coffee and some chocolate milk for the kids. Pull out the blankets and pillows and set up the laptop. Tonight's feature film is the much-anticipated "Cars 2".
6:15 PM - Remind everyone to blink. Merge onto I80.
6:45 PM - Wyoming. Road is clear. Second potential bad section of road is behind. Don't hold your breath because I80 across the whole state of Wyoming can be slick and miserable and you still have a long way to go.
7:30 PM - Potty break somewhere on the other side of Fort Bridger. Looks like the middle of nowhere. It is the middle of nowhere.
8:30 PM - Gas in Rocks Springs. The cheapest is at the Flying J just off Exit 104. Switch drivers - ten hours straight is enough for now.
10:30 PM - Watch out for Wyoming Trooper Chatfield just past Rawlins. He seems to think that going 3 mph over the speed limit in the middle of a deserted, wide open interstate freeway in the middle of the night is reason enough to pull you over and poke his nose suspiciously into your window.
11:00 PM - Bathroom break at the Elk Mountain Rest Area. Hold on to your hat, the wind always howls through here. No snow, roads are good, starting to breath easier.
2:00 AM - Sidney, Nebraska. Driver and van both running on fumes. Time to stop for gas and to switch seats. Break out the Rev3 and sunflower seeds, you're almost half way home!
3:30 AM - Cross into the Central Time Zone somewhere near the town of Paxton, Nebraska. Lose an hour; now its 4:30 AM. Have some more sunflower seeds and another swig of coffee.
7:40 AM - Night shift is over, stop for gas in York. Switch drivers again.
9:15 AM - Cross the Missouri River into Iowa. Don't get confused by the big city traffic - just stay on I80 as it winds around Omaha and jogs a bit north before settling east again across the the rolling corn fields of the Hawkeye State.
9:30 AM - Eat breakfast on the run. Usana bars and shakes make it quick and easy. We'll clean up the crumbs later.
10:30 AM - Potty break somewhere west of DesMoines. Brush your teeth, get the kids back into their clothes. Congratulations, you have been on the road for 24 hours. Six more to go. Switch drivers again.
1:00 PM - Lunch and gas in Williamsburg, Iowa. Might as well browse through a couple of the outlet shops and stretch your legs a bit while you are here. Last shift coming up, switch drivers and hit the road again.
2:30 PM - Cross the Mississippi River into Illinois. Three cheers for Illinois!
2:45 PM - Talk to mom and dad using Skype and the laptop web camera. The video stream is a bit jerky but we can see them and they can see us as we make our way across the prairie. Wave to Grandpa and Grandma everyone!
3:45 PM - It feels strange to be coming into Peoria but not be home yet. It still feels like home. The three-year old is certain that his bladder is going to explode, so we'd better stop for a potty break anyway.
5:45 PM - Finally. Exit the freeway for the last time in Mansfield, turn south towards Monticello.
6:00 PM -Home. "Hey, I recognize where we are now!"
Good job Paxton.
Good job everyone.
Total driving time, about 30.5 hours.
Time to shovel out the van.

But Mom!

But Mom, all the little girls are wearing their hair this way!

Painting Fall

Andrea got out the watercolors for Paxton the other day and set them up out on the back patio. His painting looks a little like his personality. Good job buddy!

 Anya, on the other hand, seems to see the world in shades of grey.

Foot-tility

Triple bummer on the college gridiron today: Iowa 21 - Michigan State 37, Illinois 14 - Michigan 31, and unbeaten, fifth-ranked Boise State 35 - TCU 36. Bah, Bah, and Aaargh!

Go Bears?