Today was our final day at the Heartwood Cabin we had been staying at. Even though we woke up to a light misty rain, Kristine and her dad were able to get in another good (albeit slushy) round of skiing while Analise went ice skating, and Josiah and I went sledding. Right now, we are back in Shell Lake where the rain has started to mix with snow, and there is a forecast of maybe an inch or two of snow overnight.
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Kristine cross country skiing in the light rain (video):
Analise and Josiah had such a blast this morning sledding. I posted one quick video earlier today, but here are a few more really good videos of them having fun. We went sledding for almost two and a half hours without them even once complaining about the cold. They were having so much fun!
Analise super far sled almost to the football field video:
Josiah and Analise on the big hill video:
Two person sled launching on the big jump (at the very end of the video):
After lunch, we packed up and headed even farther into the northwoods to a rural retreat center where we are having a mini-vacation tonight. Kristine and her dad went skiing for over an hour on the trails while the kids played legos inside. I biked up from Shell Lake to join everyone shortly before dinner. Then after a fancy dinner, we went ice skating – Josiah’s first time on skates.
We are heading out the door for a mini-adventure in an even more rural area of Wisconsin, but this morning we had an awesome time sledding for nearly two hours! Here’s one quick video of Analise and Josiah on the hill next to Grandma Sandy and Papa Dale’s house!
Yes, it’s possible – but only if you can find an indoor pool! One of the attractions in Shell Lake is the indoor pool complete with a couple water slides at the town’s only hotel. Kristine and Grandma Sandy took the kids today to meet up with our friends Allison and Judi for an afternoon of swimming and sliding fun. See the pictures and video below!
We are having a blast up here in Wisconsin. It was a long drive, but the kids have already gone sledding and skiing! See the pictures and video above.
We made it out of Alabama just in time – staying to have a nice relaxing white snowy Christmas morning with family followed by a drive up to Nashville to hang out with our cousins before finishing the rest of the drive up to Wisconsin to spend a week with Kristine’s parents in Shell Lake, Wisconsin. We heard that the roads in Alabama Saturday night and Sunday were treacherous. The roads must have literally been freezing behind us as we headed north.
As soon as we left our house and climbed up to the top of Vestavia Hills, there was quite a bit of snow coming down, much more than we had expected. There was maybe a half inch to an inch accumulating on the grass and even a little bit on the roads (Vestavia Drive / Shades Crest Rd). The snow died down a bit as we headed north on I-65, but the snow that had fallen earlier was amazing (see the picture and video below).
We had a great time visiting our cousins in Franklin, TN just outside of Nashville. The kids were happy to play inside with all their new toys while we chatted over some yummy snack foods. Kristine and I tried Boiled Custard for the first time, and it was delicious!
It snowed the entire time we were in Nahville, and the roads were very slick. We saw several accidents on I-65 including one car that swerved from the southbound lanes all the way across the median and then across the northbound lanes immediately in front of us finally coming to a rest just off the shoulder of the road pointing in our direction. I can’t imagine how scary that must have been for them.
As soon as we crossed into Kentucky, the slick roads simply became a little less slick because of all the salt on the roads. Then by the time we made it to Indiana, everything was dry and we were able to make up time all the way to Chicago. Josiah woke up as we made it into town, so he got to see several trains, several subways “L trains” and the tall skyscrapers including the Sears Tower. Once we made it through downtown and out towards the O’Hare airport, we got caught up in quite a Lake Effect snowstorm. This is us driving on I-90 near the O’Hare airport and Elk Grove Village.
As soon as we made it out of the snowstorm, it was pretty uneventful all the way to the Wisconsin Dells which we made it to by 5:45AM. We slept for a few minutes in the parking lot outside McDonalds and then went in at 6AM for a breakfast.
As the sun rose and we left for the final 3 hour stretch, we were greeted with snow everywhere AND cold, cold, cold temps. Check out the temperature sequence on our car thermometer as we went descending down into one of the lower valleys.
Finally, it wouldn’t have been a 20 hour drive w/o capping it off with a 60 mile bike ride. Read all about it on my cycling blog soon.
So this post is about a month late, but after seeing some of the pictures and videos, I thought “better late than never”. We had a great trip up to Gatlinburg in early November. The fall colors were absolutely beautiful, and the kids enjoyed the snow at the top of Clingman’s Dome. My conference went well, and I got a chance to do some fun biking, too.
Welcome to Gatlinburg video – Kristine and the kids at the Pancake House while I’m at the ACM conference.
Riding the Ober-Gatlinburg gondola.
Josiah videos Analise and Kristine riding the chair swings at Ober-Gatlinburg. Josiah was not old enough to ride with them. He did a great job on the video though!
We left Thursday afternoon for a week-long trip to Chicago-LaPorte, IN-Louisville, including 3 bike races. Our car was in the shop, so we were lucky enough to be able to borrow Brian’s dad’s car, MUCH smaller than ours, but a great ride! In spite of no built-in DVD player (we had the portable one, though), the kids were well entertained with the awesome sound system and my music loaded iPhone. We opened the sunroof and rocked to The Chipmunks and Madagascar soundtracks. Over and over again. I was awfully proud that we didn’t watch any movies on the entire trip to Chicago. (patting myself on the back)
We stayed with friends of mine from college, Scott & Rhonda Dart, and the kids had a great time playing with their kids, Phillip and Myella. Josiah got to play his first “baseball” (wiffleball, really) game, and he was awesome! They played football and walked to the playground, too. We met my dear friend, Michele, and her kids, Emma, Michael and sweet little Nicholas, at a fun park and splashpad. The kids see each other once a year or so, but they always pick up right where they left off as best buds. So cute! The boys were hilarious, having “guy” chats about bad guys and numbers. They’ve grown do much since they first met 3 years ago! The girls managed to convince us to have a sleepover at Em’s house… Analise’s first! She did great, and they were up playing for poor Michele at 5:20.
I saw my old college Physics lab partner, Alison, at the bike race, and they joined in cheering for Brian. On Sunday, Michele and Em joined us at te bike race. It’s so fun to have company while I nervously wait for the finish!
After the race, we drove to my grandma’s house in LaPorte, IN, where my mom had come down to visit us. We’ve had a relaxing couple of days, playing in the pool and having dinner by Lake Michigan. Later today we’re headed to Louisville for the Master’s Nationals race before heading home tomorrow night. But between good friends, good playmates for the kids, my family, a pool, smooth travel and a few days with no agenda, this is as close as we get to a vacation on a bike race roadtrip! I’ll take it!
This has been a summer of whirlwind travel! While we were in Minnesota, Brian was asked to attend a conference in Orlando. We couldn’t pass up a chance to visit Disney’s Magic Kingdom. We left Tuesday, drove 9.5 hours, visited Magic Kingdom on Wednesday and Friday, and “recovered” at the pool on Thursday. I, personally, don’t like crowds and wasn’t really excited to experience Disney’s busy season in 90+ degree heat and 90% humidity. But I kept reminding myself it was “the happiest place on Earth”. Armed with great tips from friends and websites (will definitely detail all my thoughts in a post! so helpful!), Beverly, the kids and I rode almost everything (including our favorites several times), learned my kids LOVE roller coasters, met 4 princesses, 3 fairies and The Fairy Godmother, saw the parade and fireworks, and had an all-around fabulous time. In spite of the crowds, I don’t think we waited more than 30 minutes for anything. Since I’m typing this on my iPhone, I’ll just add a few notes before the pics posted at the bottom…
– The kids were EXHAUSTED both nights after the fireworks and long, crowded trek back to the car (getting home at 11:15 and 11:30). Josiah was asleep standing up when we got back Wed!
– We found Tiana and Prince Naveen from the Princess & The Frog in a gazebo, and I think that’s my favorite pic of the kids 🙂 The characters are so sweet about talking to the kids and helping you get a good photo.
– Didnt get a pic, but Josiah got a kiss from Tinkerbelle. When asked how it was meeting the fairies, he said, “I loved them!”
– Analise’s one souvenir from us was Minnie princess ears (she was just posing w/ the giant Minnie doll), which she has only taken off to swim this morning.
– Josiah’s souvenir was a twirly light-up Goofy airplane, to remind him of his favorite roller coaster, the airplane that crashes through the barn (The Barnatormer). We rode it 5 or 6 times, I think!
Happy anniversary Kristine – thank you for an amazing seven years!
We just got back from a 4,000 mile road trip that passed through 11 states, included 8 bike races, and included 90+ hours in the car. The trip culminated with us driving through “Billboard Alley” in north Alabama at exactly midnight when the date rolled over to June 28, 2010 – our 7 year wedding anniversary. You’ve got to go back 8 years and 3 months to Easter of 2002 when I proposed to Kristine to see where it all began… That trip was so big I’ve got to use two maps! The first shows an overview, and the second shows the details of the road trip portion – a mere 2,787 miles.
I took vacation over spring break while in grad school at UC Davis in the spring of 2002.
Kristine took vacation from her missionary work in Nicaragua with Mercy Ships.
We both flew to and met at the Dallas Fort Worth airport, and picked up a rental car to begin…
…our 2,787 mile road trip to introduce Kristine to my family and get engaged.
We returned to Dallas and then flew to Chicago for me to spend Easter with Kristine’s family.
Meeting in the DFW airport in Dallas, TX and renting a car together.
Going to a movie with Mercy Ships friends in Tyler, TX.
Spending the night with friends from Mercy Ships
Driving on I-20 to Birmingham, entering Louisiana
Driving on I-20 to Birmingham, entering Mississippi
Driving on I-20 to Birmingham, entering Alabama
Kristine meeting my parents for the first time, going to church together before driving to Clemson, SC
Exploring Birmingham, rocks on top of Shades Mountain
Driving on I-20, entering Georgia
Stopping for lunch in Buckhead north of Atlanta, GA at the Cheesecake Factory
Driving on I-85, entering South Carolina
Clemson, SC – quick botanical gardens visit, proposing to Kristine beside Lake Hartwell, going to church together afterwards
Driving on I-85, entering North Carolina, spending the night with my college friends Darol and Donna
Driving on US-29, entering Virginia, and passing through Lynchburg, VA where I cooped for a couple semesters
Lake Monticello near Charlottesville, VA where Kristine got to meet my grandmother
Driving back to Birmingham on I-81, entering Tennessee, stopping near Johnson City to phone Nicaragua to relay engagement
Spending another night with my family in Birmingham
Spending another night in Texas with friends from Mercy Ships
Returning the rental car at DFW before flying to Chicago
Flying from Dallas to Chicago
Easter service at the chapel at Valpairaso University
Easter egg hunt with Kristine’s family in La Porte, IN to finish our engagement trip spanning 12 states and two countries
And here are photos that correspond to each of the numbered items. Hover over each photo in the gallery to read a caption about the picture. Read the photos from left to right, top to bottom. There may be more than one photo for each numbered item in the list above.
