Day 6-Omaha, the half-way point, July 6, 2013

We finally were able to catch up with my family. I, obviously, have mastered the art of miscommunication. I thought we had booked the same hotel, but when we rolled in town they invited us across town to swim in their hotel pool. Dizzy from watching the corn fields whiz by, we checked in and then hopped back in the van and went to visit and swim. It turns out they were at our hotel on Wednesday and they thought we’d be there by 5 o’clock. I meant 5 July, not 5 that day (so sorry guys!) My only saving grace is that they were seeing other family and not waiting for us exclusively. We asked about the hotel change. Tessa traveled from Texas (at least 12 hours) with some kind of stomach bug. Without giving away all her secrets she mentioned violent eruptions from her north and south.

We booked all of our hotels with the plan of taking Charlie. What we have noticed is that hotels that allow dogs- smell like dogs. Poor Tessa was sick in a smelly, small hotel room and the hotel didn’t even have an elevator or pool, so they switched for her comfort. Their old room at the La Quinta was room 202.  The room we had just dropped our bags off at was (drum roll) room 202. We were staying in the room Tessa had contaminated. Since we had already checked in, we stayed that night, but we packed up and moved this morning.

First conversation of the day via phone call from Jace.

“Hey, Jace. What’s up?”

“Mom, Charlie is pooping rocks and dust.”

“Uhhhh, I think it’s from his kitty litter noshing.”

“Oh, I forgot about that. Ok, things are good. Bye”

Short and sweet; phone calls from Jace are usually scary-this one was not too bad.

Since we’d never been to Omaha we started out by traipsing on the Bob Kerrey pedestrian suspension bridge . When you stand in the middle you have one foot in Nebraska and one foot in Iowa (more or less I suppose).

  

Walking on Bob with Haley, Laney, Yany, Alyse, Tessa, Kerry, & Carrie.

We read good things about the Lauritzen Gardens so that was our next stop.

Carrie, Kerry, Kasen, Laney, Alyse, and Yany in the stroller caravan

Kasen and Alyse figured out you could get more wishes by fishing money out of the fountain

Wonderful Aunts and Uncle helping the little kids climb something we probably shouldn't have been climbing

Kerry and Tessa spent time with their dad’s family in this area when they were young so we had to eat at their favorite spot as little kids, Spaghetti Works. Italian sodas and all you can eat pasta-yum!

We found the slides that they dangerously flew down during their younger summers.  They used wax paper to hit warp speed. We didn't have wax paper but we found something comparable and did our best to turn back time. These slides are really fast, you need someone at the bottom for a safety catch.

 

Yany and Alyse 

Laney

Kerry said he used to get a lot more air

Days like these are what make life in the military so hard. We had such a great time being with Kerry, Carrie, and Tessa.  I wish we could live closer to them and not be moved involuntarily. It was a perfect day in Omaha-family, fun and beautiful weather. Thanks guys-I'm missing you already!!

DeeAnn- Military Lifer Wife

Day 5- Time to roll, July 5, 2013

 We are sad to leave family, but we’ve got more places to go through before we can get to our new home in Lacey, WA. We get out of Chicago with only a minor mishap at the toll booth-this toll road doesn’t take Visa or MasterCard, only cash. The guy with the cash is in the last car. We need remedial toll booth paying.

We make it out of the city and into the wide open corn fields; hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of miles of corn fields. Iowa was pretty but the scenery was monotonous.

I had no idea you could grow so much corn

Fortunately, my son texted me for a little comic relief:

Jace: I caught Charlie (the dog we left him) eating cat poo from the litter box.

Me: uh, nasty

Ok, so that didn’t really go far with the 6 hours of corn field viewing; but I was desperate for distraction.

One of the benefits of being a military lifer wife is that we have friends all over the world. Our destination today is Omaha, Nebraska, and it is like hitting the jackpot. We will get to see my brother Kerry, his wife Carrie, and my sister, Tessa. On top of that we will get to see the Pope family who we used to live next to in Okinawa, Japan.  For the cherry on top, Haley’s high school friend from Okinawa will be stopping in Nebraska, so she’ll get to see Akani in the Heartland of America. It’s a triple play!!!

Can’t wait to see everyone and get out of this corn!

DeeAnn Military Lifer Wife

Day 4- Chicago & Independence Day, July 4, 2013

Happy 4th of July-y'all!

WOW! Chicago has a lot going on. I’ll start with the negative, because it’s not very long. Gas $4.45; parking $25-$45 per day; hotels-expensive; traffic-terrible.

Now the positive-just about anything you want to do within walking distance or by public transportation. On the 4 blocks surrounding our hotel you can eat pancakes, Thai, Indian, Greek, all you can eat Sushi (Mon-Thur), Vietnamese, Mexican, Starbucks, Japanese, Cuban, burgers, and a bakery. A 15 minute bus ride will get you to Broadway plays and the Magnificent Mile where shopping could be an extreme sport. Plus any other restaurant I haven’t already mentioned. Museums, Art Galleries, and the public library look like mansions. There are parks and beaches and big sidewalks to walk and bike on.

It is so much better to see a vibrant and populous town with someone who knows how to get around and knows what the best things to see are. Thus, Aldo made the day awesome!

Mouth watering Food-Quartino's

Alyse, Yany, and Kasen-Kasen is wearing a rain hat, because it is sprinkling on us

Tapas (means sharing-my kids are still learning sharing) Italian Food-Aldo got us reservations in his section on the patio-the food was SO GOOD! This restaurant is owned by one of the top 50 steakhouses. It was absolutely packed.

American Girl Doll Shopping

Alyse was in Paradise-she was moving so fast I couldn't get pictures

Legoland

Everyone else bailed on us and went to Legoland

Kasen drooling for Legos

Showed us how to see the view from floor 96 (the Hancock Observatory) without paying

View from the girl's bathroom on the 96th floor

 We sat in the Lounge and looked out from the 96th floor. I was glad we didn't pay ($22/adult, $12/kid) to see this because it made me nauseated-thanks MaMa for the vertigo

 

Awesome Park 

 

There were random sculptures in the park. We have sister bears and brother bears.
Below is a water feature. It is a tower of bricks that water is running down the sides. The digital picture shows up and makes different faces. Smiling- Sleeping-Blowing

Smiling    Sleeping

 

 

Blowing-the water looks like she spitting and everyone runs under it to get wet. It's a little gross when you think about it, but it was really awesome

 

 

Explained the difference between boy buildings and girl buildings

Girl                  Boy

Let us experience “the bean” 

 

This art piece shows our reflections. In the second picture Haley and Kasen are up close. Aldo, Yany, Laney, Alyse, and I are reflected in the background.

 Got us on the right bus



Brotherly love in Chi-town

Help us find the best investment for Chicago- strollers

We walked for about 5 minutes before the crying started-problem solved!

Laney did get a souvenir (Chicago tee, not the fountain)

No explanation-your guess is as good as mine

Haley needing to ride pushed by sleeping Laney

 

Kasen at rest while awake-a rare sight 

Laney doing "photo bomb" 

Alyse and Yany got the bird

 

 Kept us out of the ghetto

I forgot the name of the church

Spectacular view of Michigan Lake

Really much better in person-It was a beautiful day and so peaceful

FIREWORKS IN CHICAGO



Happy Birthday America!

 

 Some random guy in my shot-I don't do retakes ;)

 

God bless our service members on Independence Day; but thank God for our families-so blessed to have mine!!! We had exceptional company, and an impressive time. Thanks Aldo and Jonathan-it wouldn’t have been as good without you guys

Kasen, Haley, Laney, Yany, Alyse, and Me                       MIA my pirate son, Jace, and Will

Jonathan and Aldo

DeeAnn- Military Lifer Wife

 

Day 3- Moving On Down the Road, July 3, 2013

The kids are still exhausted from Kings Island so it’s a great day to travel. We don’t worry about leaving before the sun comes up since I know they will be passed out even in the daylight.

Our destinations are not in a straight path to Washington. We’ve decided on some detours that we want to see. This evening and tomorrow we will be in Chicago. Yany’s youngest brother, Aldo, moved to Chicago a few years ago. So we get to see a cool city with an awesome tour guide (not to mention walk around with cute guys-Aldo, Yany, Kasen).

We flew through Indiana; it was like driving on hwy 287 in TX up through the Vernon, Quanah, and Childress area. There were crops (corn not cotton), there was a flat highway, there were 18-wheelers, and there few convenience stations but not much in the way of a town. The other major difference was that everything is GREEN and the temperature was 68 degrees-July 3^rd-unbelievable!  Gas is $3.34 in IN.

Indiana corn

Windmill farm

I seriously don’t know how women end up marrying men like their dads. Let’s take the walkie-talkies. I don’t know if that idea was borrowed from my dad or if Yany has just always wanted to be a truck driver. I have 2 walkie-talkies in my car because I have an aunt and her nephew who have a hard time sharing (Alyse and Kasen-I’m talking about you). I also drive the fastest and use a GPS more frequently so I am in the front vehicle (but zero sense of direction without a map); therefore I have walkie-talkies “Lead Eagle” and “Eaglet.” Laney is my navigator/babysitter and usually does the walkie-talkie since I drive with one hand and have the other arm straight up. Haley drives in the middle, she’s “Silver Hawk” since she drives a silver Accord. She learned to drive in Okinawa on the wrong side of the road and has the least amount of heavy traffic driving. She has somehow gained her Granddad’s awesome sense of direction that sadly, I did not inherit.  Yany is the last vehicle, also has great directional ability, and his code name is “Bald Eagle”- since he asked my opinion to name the walkie-talkies (he! he!).

Being the seasoned travelers that we are, I graciously gave everyone $5.00 of quarters in a baggie for toll roads-I assumed we’d come upon some in Chicago.

Right before we cross in to Illinois-

 walkie-talkies on-check

 baggie of quarters-check

 raining as usual-check.

 We are ready.

We make it through 2 toll roads no problem ($.70 and $1.80). Next toll road $4.00-oops! I pull out my Mastercard-nope, toll booths in Chicago take Visa. No problem for me, my business card is a Visa. I pay for myself and Haley and wait for Bald Eagle. I see the toll booth lady running up to Haley’s car.

 I hop out of my car in the rain, “I paid for her!”

 Haley is handing her a credit card. “I have a Visa,” Haley announces as she pays for Bald Eagle. Yany is the one without a way to pay-no Visa and no quarters. Maybe we aren’t expert travelers yet.

By this time I have a little boy that needs to pee. There are no bathrooms on a toll road. Bald Eagle is yelling at me, via walkie-talkie, to slow down. We tell him our emergency.

 Bald Eagle asks, “Do you have a water bottle?”

 Eyes wide, Laney and I look at each other. “NO, WAY!” is Laney’s answer.

“I’ll buy you something,” I promise Laney.

Poor Laney is stuck with pee patrol. Not something we had on her list of duties. Bladder empty and ½ a bottle full, and we never slowed down.  Mark that off of our bucket list (although I don’t think it was ever on it).

Chicago should be an adventure.

DeeAnn- Military Lifer Wife

Day 2- Kings Island, OH; July 2, 2013

We decided to break our travels up so the kids will not be riding day after day in the car. My bright idea was to spend the day at King’s Island. It is a huge amusement/water park with the Snoopy characters for its theme.

Obviously, we came a day too early.

The girls-Laney, Alyse, and Stella

 

I am a huge Disney fan. I always want to go “where dreams come true.” King’s Island has Disney prices without the Disney magic-where’s the rat when he’s needed?

 Parking was $12 with tickets an additional $205 (military discount price). Yany didn’t eat enough for breakfast so we grabbed some drinks and ice cream (of course-it is a meal) and a pretzel which came to $34.

 Group shot-all smiles

 

This morning’s temperature was still a chilly 71 degrees so we decided we’d ride park rides first. We split up and Laney and Yany went to ride the “thrill” rides. Haley, Kasen, Alyse, and I went to Planet Snoopy for the 48 inch and under crowd. There were a lot of rides for the kids to get on, which was nice. Their favorite was the bumper cars. This ride hardly had a wait and they each were able to drive alone and crash into things.

 

Greatest driver ever! 

Second greatest driver, ever!

After a couple of rides Kasen was sure he wanted to ride the roller coaster. Here’s the photo op.

He doesn’t look excited, he looks terrified-Haley, of course, looks good

Later in the afternoon we headed to the water park. It still wasn’t hot, but we thought we needed to at least get our money’s worth and wallow in the water. A couple of hours later we were trying to keep from going into hypothermia. Haley and Alyse were shaking, and Alyse, Kasen, and I had blue lips (cyanosis-for sure). I left all the 10 towels I am hauling around in the hotel room so we ended up buying a towel and a brush for $27.

Kasen and Alyse-freezing

We all meet back up and ride a few rides together. Laney is sure that she needs a cheesy cartoon drawing of herself and her dad. I tried, unconvincingly, to dissuade her.  $47 got them this lovely artistic rendition of the daring duo.

Yup, they paid $47 for this beauty (it's worse in person)

We stagger to our hotel room and I hear complaints of swollen feet, bruised heels, and witness utter exhaustion. I raise my arm (just because it feels better that way, not because I have a question) and wonder, was it worth it? Spending the day together was worth it-but maybe next time we’ll pick a cheaper place to hang out. Tomorrow is Chicago-I don’t think cheaper is in my near future.

 

 

All I need is $500 and I can get your kids to sleep like this ;)

DeeAnn- Military Lifer Wife