Roadtrip Day 9

This morning Rick and I slept in a little and decided we would spend one more day and night with my brother's family in Virginia Beach. The girls went to the beach with their cousins and Sami went surfing. Since she is an athlete at heart, she is now hooked on the sport and wants a surfboard. Good thing we live in San Diego.

For lunch we walked (and skateboarded) a few blocks to a Mexican restaurant and were pleasantly surprised at the food.....obviously nobody makes Mexican food like SoCal : ) Rick held Niko while Jen and I ate, and it was precious. Niko loves him but he loves me way more. On the way home, Kona gave Mikey a ride on his skateboard:

We hung out for a while and then Jen made a magical dinner from scratch. Yes, I am in awe of people who can cook. She made baked chicken, broccoli with cheese, twice baked potatoes, and cheesecake without a recipe. Who does that?!?! It was so amazingly delicious. We wanted to look for fireflies again but it started raining so they weren't out.

 

I held little Niko as much as possible, and the kids played FIFA and some other games. 

 

Bear the Labradoodle and Kosmo the Yorkie....cute right?

This is Niko asleep with his favorite aunt.

This is Niko thinking about how much he loves his auntie Kahla.

Lastly, this is Niko right after he ate, dreaming about how he wants to go home with auntie Kahla <3

Niko makes the sweetest sounds while he is sleeping, so I had to record him : )

Roadtrip Day 8

Today began in McLean, VA at the complimentary breakfast in our Staybridge Hotel. They had "made to order omelettes" this morning, however, this poor woman was working 3 pans all by herself, and had a ton of orders backed up. It was too packed and crazy for me, as are most of the free breakfasts on this roadtrip, since everyone is on vacation right now. 

Mikey is finding ways to entertain himself and us:

We drove to Williamsburg, Virginia to check out the College of William and Mary. Because it was Sunday, nothing on campus was open, and we couldn't figure out the the campus layout, so we didn't get to see much. Thus, no rad campus pictures. But what we saw was beautiful, and directly across from
Colonial, Williamsburg:

It was super hot and humid, so our tolerance for any walking was pretty low. We checked the William and Mary Barnes & Noble (really?) and a few buildings nearby.

Lastly, we got Baskin Robbins and headed to Virginia Beach to see my brothers family, sans my brother who is working in Afghanistan.

When we arrived to VA Beach, the kids hung out, we bbq-d, and then got half-price milkshakes at Sonic, yummm! Mikey was looking forward to some fireflies, but we saw zero since it was raining. He said he thought there would be "thunder bugs" since there was loud thunder. I let him know that the lightning bugs are really fireflies and have nothing to do with storms ; )

Roadtrip Day 7

We woke up today in Cranberry Pennsylvania, ate our complimentary breakfast, and got on the road to Washington, DC to visit Georgetown University.  Traffic is crazy and it was pouring rain when we drove in. 

Jamie's friend Torian was waiting there to give us a tour since she is studying there for the summer. What a contrast from Notre Dame! This university is in a bustling city full of people from all over the world. One street over is M street which is full of high end shopping and dining.

 

The university is beautiful and historic, with incredible views of the DC area. The landscape is beautiful and covered in huge, green, flowering trees. It was a little humid but not too hot. 

 

Jamie stayed with her friend for more touring and a dinner downtown while we went to Cici's Pizza and then took a driving tour around the memorials. This was Rick's first time to DC so we tried to find a spot to park and walk around, but it was too packed. We saw Lincoln, Jefferson, Iwo Jima, Einstein, Washington Monument, the Capitol and the White House

....and some more random official DC stuff.

Roadtrip Day 6

College tour take two. Yes, we made it for the meeting and tour at Notre Dame this morning, about ten minutes late.

 

 

We parked about a half mile away from the "golden dome" where we had to meet, so we booked it and walked in during an awesome recruitment film highlighting the radness that is Notre Dame.

 

 

Our tour was led by Austin, a junior who will spend next year at Oxford, and who is a double major in English and film, and will graduate in four years. 

 

 

Rick lit a candle for my grandma in the grotto <3

"Touchdown Jesus" was Rick's favorite feature of Notre Dame : )  

 

I have to admit, I wish it was me applying for admission. The students we met were incredible examples of what this university offers students: spirituality, academics, volunteer work, research opportunities and studying abroad. We all fell in love with this school.

 

 

 

We had to stop on the way out to take one more photo : )

 

Now on to Pennsylvania for the night, but no time for Penn in Philly if we want to make it to DC and Virginia Beach for the next few days.

Roadtrip Day 5

Have you ever wondered why Starbucks Coffee is so successful despite the cost of a cup of coffee? Let me enlighten you. Anyone who loves and relies heavily on their morning coffee, and has had a horrible cup of coffee, knows why Starbucks is worth every penny. Starbucks is like a loyal friend, always there when you need them, and 100% predictable and reliable. I say 100% because if your coffee is not perfect, they will make you a new one right then and there.

This morning I had a terrible cup of overpriced coffee, with our overpriced breakfast, and there was no Starbucks in sight. We had a tight schedule to keep, so finding a Starbucks wasn't a priority for the family. Our priority was finding a Walgreens or CVS to fill a prescription for one of the kids, in a timely fashion, so we could make our Notre Dame appointment at 2pm.

 

Train ride around the resort before leaving. Mikey LOVED this place!

Mikey and Sami went back to the arcade when it opened so they could use the rest of their tokens and redeem their tickets for lots of candy ; ) Then we took a train ride around the resort. The outdoor features of this resort are beautiful. We met some local cheerleaders on the train who were attending cheer camp here. They were very sweet and thought it was cool yet crazy that we drove all the way from California.

We didn't make Notre Dame : ( First of all, there was yet another unexpected time change! Seriously, with 4 college degrees between the 2 of us, we can't figure this time zone thing out? Also, we had to exchange the prescription for a more palatable version (don't even get me started), which meant GPS'ing yet another CVS in a random town...this time Minooka, IL. After this 3rd pharmacy, we found a 7-11 and they only had blueberry coffee available. Really? What the heck is blueberry coffee you ask? Well the nice woman from MEEN-ooook-uh said it is wonderful as iced coffee. She brewed a new pot of regular coffee, and I finally got my fix.

We got back on the road, hit tons of traffic, and made it to South Bend, IN around 5pm, only a few hours late for our appointment. We rescheduled for tomorrow morning, and Rick scored a rad suite at Staybridge Suites for $115. They had 2 rooms left and gave us a $44 discount.

God knows my hotel issues, so I am sure He led us to this brand spankin new hotel with a sparkling white tub, shiny new faucets and flawlessly clean grout, to end our day a little brighter. We came in just in time for complimentary nachos and brownies : ) The kids went swimming, Rick went to the gym, and Jamie and I took yet another nap.

For dinner, Rick drove to Steak 'n Shake to get mini cheeseburgers and fries, yummm! There was a dvd player in our suite, so we rented Rise of the Guardians at Redbox and the kids watched it on the sofabed, which happens to be the nicest sofabed yet. I hope we remember to return the movie in the morning ; )

Roadtrip Day 4

Best day yet! This morning Rick and I went to the grocery store to buy donuts and milk for the kids. Then we drove to Ottawa to visit Mimi at her nursing home. The weather was perfect and we sat on the front porch in rocking chairs while we waited for my aunts and cousin to arrive.

Grandma was surprised when she looked at me, and she asked "Is this a miracle?" She is still feisty as ever, and we had a fun visit. I gave her the medal of Pope Francis that my friend Chie recently brought back for her from Vatican City. She was so thrilled and thankful.

Although my grandma loves me a ton, I think Rick may be her favorite.

After the visit, we went back to the resort in Utica so the kids could play at the arcade and water park. Jamie and I took a nap. For dinner, we met our IL family at Bianchi's Pizza.

It is literally the best pizza on the planet, and one of the only places you can order green olives on your pizza. Later we visited with more family, played darts and looked for fireflies....we didn't find any : (

Roadtrip Day 3

Today began in Kearney, Nebraska. Our plan: Get to Illinois in time to see Mimi before checking in to Grizzly Jack's Resort. We passed farms, farms, and more farms. I think it is the most beautiful countryside yet. The only long stop we made was a McDonalds with an indoor playset so Mikey could be crazy for a few minutes.

 

We arrived at Grizzly Jack's Resort in Utica, IL around 7:30 and decided to see Mimi the following day. The kids enjoyed the water park and the adjacent arcade.

   

However, the indoor amusement park is not what it was a few years ago. There is a lot of deferred maintenance, and the admission included with the resort stay no longer includes every attraction. In fact it included very little. We were not impressed with the breakfast buffet which cost extra, didn't include drinks and had few healthy choices. I hope they give this place a little TLC soon.

Roadtrip Day 2

We started our day in Historic Downtown Grand Junction, CO. The hotels in this area are designed to match this quaint, historic, location, and our hotel had an outdoor dining area right on Main Street. It was the perfect spot for breakfast.

Our first stop was a museum in Fruita, Colorado (about 20 minutes west of our hotel) known for robotic dinosaurs, lots of fossil casts, and an earthquake simulating floor. 

 

 Museum of Western Colorado 

 

There is also a giant crocodile. Michael would not pose for this picture ; )

 The largest robotic dino was a teensy bit disturbing:

I love that my kids get along so well when we are on vacation! If you are having a difficult time with sibling rivalry, getting away as a family will bring them together every time!

We drove out of Colorado and into Nebraska....but it seemed like forever! The ski resorts were beautiful, and Vail was picturesque. We saw lots of horses and cows, and many people kayaking, rafting and paddle boarding along the Colorado River.

As the sun was setting on our left, the moon was rising on our right. We couldn't stop staring at it ....well except Rick since he was driving. Not sure why he won't let me drive ; )

Our last stop was this small convenient store/gas station on the way to the hotel in Kearney, NE. The reason I took this picture is because Mikey yells out "Fat Dogs" and starts laughing. We love that he is reading already, and that he chooses random signs to figure out.