2000 miles. Exactly.

Yay:

1. Drove 2000 miles with four children and a laptop for playing DVDs.
2. We went to the Titanic exhibit at the Museum of Idaho.
3. Saw Steve and Crystal’s gorgeous house. I did catch the subtle irony that I envy their green paint color (and pretty much everything else too).
4. L&L's.
5. Did family togetherness excursions like a temple open house, Jump On It, BYU’s legacy hall and Hogi Yogi.
6. JO was the youngest to make it to the top of the climb at The City of Rocks AND (thank you, Scott!) was brought back down safely.
7. Jamie and Andy and Scott helped me with my spare and the Les Schwab dude fixed my flat tire for free.
8. Got to see my parents, all five of my siblings, and 42 other relatives.
9. Went home via Leavenworth to meet up with Ben and see 23 more relatives.
10. Collected compliments on the kids’ behavior from relatives, friends, and strangers.
    

Yuck:

1. Ben couldn’t come with us and, like JO said, we all missed him "the same amount!"
2. JO and RO got stung by wasps at their Unkie Dave's condo.
3. I didn't see relatives on my mom’s side--except for my Grandma Palmer.
4. JO ate so many malasadas he threw up.
5. Monte Bean museum was closed.
6. "I'm blooding!" (CO) drama, not life threatening, but a remarkable amount of blood.
7. Got a flat tire in the middle the reunion in the middle of nowhere.
8. The windy mountain road travel at the reunion made SO hurl. In the van.
9. RO’s nosebleeds came back (quite a bloody vacation when you think about it).
10. RO also spent over 7 hours of his 9th birthday traveling.
11. I got snookered at a WA speed trap.
12. There were two family reunions on the same weekend and this year we missed Ben’s family reunion.
13. The van smelled like death by the time we hit mile #1723. Seriously stenchy. I found the culprit but can't bring myself to blog about it.
14. Drove 2000 miles.

You are hereby invited to vote. Do the "yuck" things outweigh the "yay"s on this vacation? I can't decide.

And while you’re voting, help me categorize this one: “Missed the Barn Dance at Ben’s family reunion.” Tee hee!

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Ben called to tell me he's got a boyfriend. Ben and a (happily-married male) co-worker were talking on the phone at work tonight when, at the end of their conversation, his co-worker said "Love you, bye!" and hung up. Funny! I'm pretty sure his co-worker was embarrassed when he realized what just escaped his mouth.

My sister once told me about a radio deejay in Utah who ended her traffic report with "in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." The hilarious Brian Regan also has a joke about getting out of a cab at the airport and telling the cab driver "You too!" when the cabbie said "Have a good flight!" Don't you hate that feeling of desperately wanting to take back something you've said?

Our Photographer

RO took the first two photos. CO is in nursery with her messy curly hair.

Two tired fellas.

This bin of legos are the only toys left in the house. We completely cleaned out the kids room before our friends came to visit on the 3rd and 4th of July. The kids had fun with legos, swimming, playing baseball at the park, camping in the yard (older ones), and having a princess party (four younger girls). The grown-ups had fun catching up and laughing.

Can't wait! Getting closer to a finished basement. Drywall's all done! Need to paint, carpet, and trim. (Then their toys will come in from the garage.) This is the boys' closet with a secret passageway under-stairs toy room that opens into the family room.

Don't have any photos, but the three older kids are taking art classes this summer through our district. They've been making coil pots, paper mache masks, and mosaic tiles. And RO and JO are saving up all of their money to buy model airplanes. We were in the audience for their new hero John Carter's 4th of July flight and crash. I think seeing the model plane crash was a big part of what got them interested!