Day 10--Emerald Isle, NC

Today wasn't meant to be a lazy day.  We had visions of expending all kinds of energy at the beach building sand castles, jumping in the water, boogie-boarding the waves etc.  If you know Tiffany, you know that she loves a sunny day on the beach.  But what she got was just the opposite.  A gray, rainy, stormy day.  We were on the beach having fun at noon and looked up and saw this coming:

But, we didn't let it stop us from a little bit of fun for the next 15 minutes before we chickened out and headed in.

Here's Cade shredding up some waves....

Brady got in on the action.....

 Macy wanted to prove that she could match the boys on the board....

Brady...Boogie...Boarding...Bare...Buns

Bryce got after it while Dad did his best Baywatch jog alongside....

The storm rolled in and it rained on us the entire afternoon, and I'm not talking about sprinkles.  The boys took advantage and played a couple of rousing games of Chess and "Life" with their second cousins, Carson, Megan, and Lauren.  The storm lasted through dinner time, but the good news was that when it was over, the beach was empty and we could go out again for an evening swim.  Tiffany had a good scare that night when a dolphin swam by about 20 yards past us, and seeing his fin made Tiffany yell to Brady to run in to the beach, where another swimmer looked at Tiffany and said..."It's just a dolphin".  Better safe than sorry I guess.

We woke up the next morning, and Tiffany had to make sure to get one last swim in.  Living in New Mexico, we never know when we'll see the beach again!  Tiff, Cade, and Bryce got in one last swim while Scott, Macy and Brady packed the car.  Macy and Brady's idea of helping was to watch the Cartoon Network, which, when you think about it, really was the best help they could give me in packing up.

We had to take a few pictures with Uncle David and Aunt Beverly to remember these 2 great days on Emerald Isle.  I think Tiffany knows where she wants to retire one day.  Tiffany has always had a real fondness for Dave and Bev since she was a little girl, and it was a blast to hang out with the Schock crew!

After the pictures and goodbyes, we set out for a drive through North Carolina and into Virginia.  Liberty University in Lynchburg was the destination to visit one of my closest friends, Dale Layer, and his great wife Brenda.

Day 8 and 9--Aunts and Uncles--Hartsville, SC and Emerald Isle, NC

The morning began in Hilton Head with some serious sleeping in....no rushing to pack up and get on to the next spot.  The next spot was simply the beach.  More sand, and believe it or not, more sun.  

The kids have absolutely loved the beach.  We didn't expect them to love the waves and sand as much as they have.  Cade tries to catch every wave to body surf while Macy has shown no fear.  And, Macy and Tiffany look pretty cute in the water!

After a few hours on the beach, the whole gang decided to go on a Dolphin Cruise out in the harbor (thanks to a free gift from our time-share presentation!)  

After going all around the harbor the boat finally came across some dolphins and the kids thought they were cool.

 Although, not nearly as cool as getting a stuffed animal souvenir dolphin.  

These kids are pretty cute, but for you hard-core golf fans, you'll recognize the lighthouse in the background as the famous lighthouse on the 18th hole at Harbor Town where the PGA Tour plays every year. 

After cruising around Hilton Head, we packed our bags for a voyage in the Chrysler Town and Country up the road to Hartsville, SC to visit my Uncle Greg and Aunt Barbara.  The kids fell asleep in the car right away, and Tiffany and I listened to the Mariners game on the radio while we drove.  I'm amazed she didn't fall asleep as well.

We pulled into Greg and Barb's at 11:30pm to the most comfortable, warm southern home you can imagine. We went right to sleep and then had a great time visiting with them in the morning and playing baseball on their massive front lawn.

We could've easily spent a few days in Hartsville.  I think Greg and Barb are the reason southern charm and southern hospitality have gotten such a good name (and I'm not just saying that because I know you're reading the blog)!

Here's two southern beauties....

  And the whole crew together....

It was way too short of a visit, but we continued up the road and out to the coast again, to visit another set of Aunt and Uncles....Tiffany's Uncle Dave and Aunt Bev in Emerald Isle, NC.  

I've got to end this blog update so we can get out to the beach....more pictures of sand covered kids to come tomorrow.

Day 7--Hilton Head, SC

A Day in Pictures:

Day 5 and 6....St. Louis to Hilton Head, SC

Two LONG days in the car.

Day 5 started off fun enough.  We fell asleep to the sweet sounds of fire alarms until 2am and then woke up at 8am to head down to the banks of the Mississippi River to check out the St. Louis Arch.

I've been to St. Louis quite a few times (most recently that forgettable Lobos trip to the NCAA tournament in March), so I've seen the Arch a bunch from a distance.  But, it's not until you stand right underneath it that you realize how inspiring it really is.

When we arrived at the Arch we went to the Visitors Center underground beneath the Arch and watched a 45 minute IMAX movie about the Lewis and Clark journey.  It was fun for all of us (Even the kids liked it...not just history nerds like me!) and it was cool to see the voyage come to life on the screen.

After that, Tiffany, Bryce, Brady, and Macy went up to the top of the Arch and enjoyed the view.  Cade and I stayed down on the ground because Cade is scared of heights.  OK....I just threw my own kid under the bus.  The truth is that I wasn't feeling well....about heights.  I hate them too.  So, to maintain my manliness in front of my own kids, I told them that I really wanted to spend a lot of time in the museum instead....which was true.  Partially.

After the Arch, we jumped in the car at noon and drove across southern Illinois and southern Indiana.  There isn't a whole lot to look at out the window in that part of the country, but Brady did his best....

The other boys didn't even try....

We entered our fourth state of the day in Louisville, Kentucky which happens to be the home of Louisville Slugger, so we had to stop to check out the factory and gift shop.

Brady has started a Mini-bat collection on the trip, and we were able to get him a few more bats...so he now has bats from the College World Series, the Royals, the Mariners, the Orioles, and the Red Sox.  He told me after I bought him a couple of mini-bats at the gift shop "This is best day of my life!".  Hope it's always that easy to impress him.

The drive continued through Kentucky (Tiffany and I agreed that Lexington looked like a great place to live) and down into Tennessee where we spent the night before waking up to hit the road again.

The Appalachian Mountains were no obstacle for the strength of our Chrysler Town and Country and we rolled down into North Carolina and then South Carolina.  After 8 hours of driving we arrived in Hilton Head, South Carolina and quickly changed into our swimsuits so our kids could jump in the Atlantic Ocean.

What made it even better was that it was raining the whole time we swam in the ocean.  Rain and an ocean.....two things that us Albuquerqueans never see.

We're about to see a whole lot of both for the next couple days.  The forecast is for thunderstorms for our entire visit.  But, we aren't going to let that stop us from enjoying the Atlantic.

The next two days will involve no driving in a car, no fast food drive-thru's, and no having Tiffany telling me to slow down a half-mile away from a red light.  But, it will also mean that we won't have State Trivia each time we cross a border (Who can tell me the population of the biggest city in Tennessee?), no spelling bees to keep the kids occupied, and no singing along to the One Direction channel on Pandora.

Car Ride Question of the Day that Dad had Absolutely No Idea How to Answer:
After saying "Hey dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, dad" in the span of 5 seconds, Macy whined "Why don't you answer me dad?  Can't you hear me?"

Day 3 and Day 4, Kansas City and St. Louis

Lots of time to blog tonight as we are lying in bed at our hotel listening to the sounds of the 7th time the fire alarm has gone off in the last two hours.  We were hoping to be asleep a long time ago after back to back full days.

Day 3 started with a quick 3 hour drive from Omaha to Kansas City.  The topic of conversation on the drive centered around corn--how high it grows and how many people it feeds.  Enthralling stuff for elementary aged kids.

When we arrived in Kansas City we stayed at the house of our old friends Eric and Genevieve Jaeger and their 4 kids.  They have an awesome house with a huge back yard...over an acre of grass!  For kids who've been raised in Albuquerque that seemed like Disneyland.  An acre of grass allowed for games of baseball, soccer, bouncing on the trampoline, and sweating like crazy in the midwest humidity.   

That night we went with the Jaegers to see the Royals play the Mariners at Kauffman Stadium and it couldn't have been a better night.  Let me list the reasons:  

1) The Mariners scored 2 runs in the ninth to win 7-5 (That was us you heard cheering your homerun Brad Miller!)

2) It was dollar hot dog night

3) A chance to catch up with good friends we hadn't seen in 2 years

4) Post-game Fireworks....Macy's first time seeing fireworks, and she loved it!

We returned to the Jaegers at midnight, and slept for a few hours before hitting the road at 6:30am for St. Louis.  We drove 4 hours straight to City Museum and watched the kids smile, laugh, run and play for hours in the most unique kids museum I've ever seen.  I'm not sure how to describe it.  It's an old industrial warehouse filled with slides and tunnels that were created out of used industrial materials.  The highlight for the kids was the 10 story slide through the old shoe factory.

  Or maybe it was climbing through wires suspended 40 feet above ground to an old airplane.

Or maybe it was crawling through tunnels that go underneath the building.  Or, playing in an enormous ball pit.

I've never seen anything like it.  But, it was so fun that we had to return later that night after the St. Louis Cardinals game.  

Yes, that's right, 3 straight days of baseball.  Busch Stadium was packed for the Cardinals and the Phillies and the view was as good as it gets from our seats.

This trip has started off as a dream trip for a baseball fan, and tonight I came across this article from ESPN.com that describes so much of our trip  this summer. The article suggests baseball fans travel from Omaha for the CWS to Kansas City for a Royals game, to St. Louis for a Cardinals game.  Done.   

After the game it was back to City Museum for more slides and tunnels.  And, no the kids never hit a wall.  I couldn't believe the amount of energy they had in them after just a few hours of sleep.  We stayed at the Museum until 8:45pm, and the kids would've stayed another 2 hours if we let them.  Mom and Dad are worn out, so needless to say, these fire alarms are coming at the wrong time!  They've stopped for now so hopefully we can get some rest.  We've got 8 more hours of driving ahead of us tomorrow.  But, like Cade told Bryce today, "We're going to look back and say this was one of the funnest days of our trip."  I think he's right.  

Day 2--Omaha, NE

Our second day of driving through the Heartland.  A very uneventful drive from Dodge City, KS to Omaha, NE.

Brady seems absolutely thrilled to be in Nebraska.  I'm not quite sure, though, why Nebraska gets to claim exclusive rights to Arbor Day.

The highlight of the morning actually happened before we even hit the road.  Free breakfast at the hotel....free muffins, free waffles, all you can eat cereal!  It doesn't get much better than that if you're a kid.  (And if you're a parent trying to feed a family of six!)

When we arrived in Omaha we jumped in the hotel pool and continued to try to help Macy learn how to swim.  She's getting better and I think she'll be an expert before this trip is over.

We also realized that Cade left his shoes at our hotel yesterday...the first of many things that will get lost, I'm sure.  And, the first unexpected expense on the trip to replace them.

But, the real highlight of the day was going to the College World Series.  TD Ameritrade Park had an awesome atmosphere for TCU vs. Ole Miss.  It was so cool to see that park after watching it on TV for so many years.   And, it was cool to see the look in Cade and Bryce's eyes as they watched what was going on around them.  At one point Cade turned to me and said "Dad, it's fun to look out here and picture myself playing in this game."

The journey continues as we roll on to Kansas City tomorrow.  398 miles today.  No spills in the car yet.  No fights in the car yet.  Mom and Dad haven't yelled at the kids yet....all in all that's a pretty good start to the trip.  

Hotel Room Question of the Day that Dad has No Idea How to Answer: (Courtesy of Brady while looking very uncomfortable while going to sleep) "Dad, how come you get to sleep in a bed every night and I have to sleep on the floor?"  

Didrickson Family US Tour Day 1

It's finally here!  My sabbatical has started and our U.S. Tour has begun! After about 2 years of meticulous planning, we finally loaded up the mini-van this morning with 4 kids, 5 t-shirts and 3 pairs of shorts each, and 2 coolers of food.  49 days together as family touring the United States awaits.  It's going to be awesome.
Originally, we were planning on leaving tomorrow and driving to Oklahoma City on our way to Kansas City on Friday night to see our friends the Jaegers, and watch our beloved Mariners take on the Royals.
But, last night about 5pm we got an idea....what if we leave a day early?  It sounded like fun...our bags were already packed, the house was already pretty clean, so why not?  But, where would we go?  Let's face it, there isn't a whole lot to see between Albuquerque and Kansas City.  So, I looked at Google Maps and noticed that Omaha isn't too far from KC.  And this week Omaha hosts the College Baseball World Series.  A little more baseball was an easy sell to the kids and surprisingly even to Tiffany.  (That poor girl has become a true baseball mom...and is loving it.)
So, we loaded up and left the house about 11:30 this morning.  Here's what the kids looked like as we pulled out of the driveway of our house.

Pretty cute.  We'll see how long that lasts with 7 weeks of driving ahead..

 

We hit I-25 and headed north. I've always liked driving through New Mexico.  The skies are huge and it feels like you can see forever.  But man, it's a huge state!  Finally we reached the border of Oklahoma and jumped out of the car to stretch and snap this quick picture.  Lots of driving through the panhandle of Oklahoma and into the prairies of Kansas continued, and I tried to make the drive interesting for the kids by pointing out fascinating things like, "Did you know the land we are driving through has been designated as a National Grassland?" and "Would you like me to explain how a grain elevator works?"  Those stirring questions resulted in many blank stares.

We finally stopped in the great small town of Rolla, KS where we found the local elementary/high school and let the kids burn off some steam at the playground.

Even the big kids got in on the fun!  After playing on the slide, Tiff made sandwiches and a good old fashioned picnic took place.  Then, the boys and I played catch on the town baseball field.  I don't think it gets any more All-american than this:

A father and his boys having a catch as the sun sets behind the town grain elevator.  A perfect summer evening.

The night finished by driving to Dodge City, KS to sleep and get ready for the drive to Omaha and the College World Series tomorrow.  478 miles down....about 8,000 to go.  I couldn't feel more blessed.


Car Ride Question of the Day that Dad Has Absolutely No Idea How to Answer:  (Courtesy of Cade, somewhere in SW Kansas) "Hey Dad, How many miles up in the air would you have to be to see Albuquerque from here?"

    

First Day of Sabbatical

Today is Packing Day!  We are going to do a practice run at packing up the minivan to make sure everything fits....including the 4 kids.