An Ode To the Durability of Children

My cameras all ran out of batteries today and so I ended up using Elijah's phone to take some pictures. When I went to download my pictures this evening I found a whole bunch of pictures Elijah had taken over the span of our journey. It was fascinating to see the kids in all these different moments along the way. They have grown so much in the last month, and suffered their parents' whims so often. I wanted to post this series of pictures together as a reflection of the many moments throughout this journey in which our kids have shown strength and patience as well as humor.

Their last night in their room before we moved out. Sleeping on the floor in an otherwise empty bedroom.

We've had a lot of moments of waiting with the piles of luggage. This was in Sacramento at our second hotel.

Waiting for food in a weird little town in Nevada. The food took one and a half hours and when it finally came it was inedible. But the kids had fun with the anti-aircraft gun display near by. They had already been on the road for seven hours at this point.

Playing in the park in Santa Fe in the rain. Hannah's leggings are totally wet but the air is so warm she refused to wear her sweater.

They ran around in this park until after dark. Eli made friends with some kids in a nice family that were also there to hear the music.

Izzy was having a hard time that day. He kept getting really angry with Eli. But he and I were the members of the family the most interested in the music. He told me that the singer was very good.

One of the many hikes that started out with a lot of complaining and ended up with happy tired children. This one is in the hills above Santa Fe.

Izzy quietly reading to Hannah on the floor in Texas.

Hannah found a stage for her dramatic presence while waiting in the rain for our table to be ready. The kids have gotten really good at waiting for a table at restaurants.

Everywhere we go our friends and family are doing interesting things the kids get to learn about. This is Mary on her donkey Brownie.

Many of the places we go Eli introduces himself to children around us and strikes up friendships.

Here he is making friends with some kids who just moved to Texas from Louisiana.

There's been a lot of waiting, and a lot of telling the kids to behave and be quiet. This was a precious moment when they all followed that instruction. Waiting in the rain for the trailer to get hitched onto the minivan so that we can get ready to drive to New Orleans.

Some days we took too long to get to dinner.

Even the silly displays in hotels are interesting when they have guns or authentic costumes. This was a Civil War canon in the lobby of a Hilton just north of Atlanta. The kids have learned a lot about history in the last month.

Swimming pools have been one of the greatest treats of our road trip. The kids love to get to a place and find there is a pool. Hannah is already starting to swim as a result of all the practice.

No matter where we go Hannah likes to charm the people around her. Those feet belong to a guy who was sitting next to us in a coffee house. She went right up to him and started to ask him about his work. We are starting to work on boundaries a bit more.

It's a good thing the boys like each other so much. They have spent so much time together lately they sometimes forget anyone else is there. The imagination game is in constant full swing. Here I believe they were developing plans for piracy.

The best stuff is not always the stuff we expect. It's been amazing to look at the country with children as our companions. Everything looks different when you have to take them into consideration.

The boys got to talk on the phone with their friends during this meal. They were in high spirits. It's been a long haul and they have had to spend most of the time with just their family. These kids are social and not used to being trapped with just us. An interesting side effect to the road trip is that they are mostly in the adult world much of the time.

Hannah gets pretty tired during our adventures, and we have had some struggles with tantrums, but when it really counts she's a hardy little girl and a real sport about it all.

Old Town Sacramento

Eli:

We went to a museum full of trains in Sacramento. It was huge! There was a room full of toy trains. Here are some pictures of the museum.

We Went Inside a Mail Train

They Are Just Like Post Offices But On a Train

All the Trains There Actually Ran At One Time, This One Was From the 1930s

That's A Dining Car

Getting On a Sleeping Car

Driving Thomas Trains After Walking Through All the Big Ones

Rebekah:

Sacramento was really hot but we found a hotel right next to the river and the Golden Bridge, and a couple blocks from Old Town Sac. The kids and I had fun wandering around Old Sacramento while Elijah scoured the rest of the town looking for our new trailer, getting a hitch put on the minivan and generally having a hectic time. We ended up staying in Sacramento a day longer than we expected, but we got to go to dinner on a river boat as a special treat, and we bought candy at a candy store that seemed to have every kind of candy known to man. The guy was really irritated that I would only let the kids have 3 pieces of candy each, so he gave us all free candy necklaces. 

Master Criminals

Looking at the Boats on the River

Really Hot, Even in the Shade

We Could See This From Our Hotel

Just Down That Pier is the River Boat Where We Had Dinner

Our New Minivan and Trailer, Ready To Head Out on the Highway

Whiskeytown Falls At Dusk

Rebekah:

Last night we kicked off our roadtrip adventure with a hike to Whiskeytown Falls on the western end of Whiskeytown Lake, near the top of Crystal Creek. We started our hike late in the day because the day had been very hot. The temperature reading as we drove towards the lake read 102 degrees. When we arrived at the parking area it was just about 7 pm. Elijah and I were pretty excited to take the kids on our first real hike of the journey.

Eli:

We went on a hike with a waterfall at the end.The falls were enormous but the hike was 31/2 miles

long. Most of it was in the dark. I learned from my mom that if you are really thirsty you can suck on a manzanita leaf. I almost slipped 5 times. We got a new car, it rocks! We saw a lot of creeks, and crossed two bridges.

Rebekah:

We miss calculated how long it would take to hike with 3 children a little over 3 miles mostly up steep hills. By the time we arrived at the falls it was 8:10 and almost dusk. The waterfall was beautiful and well worth the journey. Here are pictures.

The Top of the Waterfall

Middle Section of the Falls with Boys

Lower Section of the Same Very Tall Falls

Izzy: 

Izzy drew a couple of pictures of the hike.

Izzy: Hannah at the Waterfall

Izzy: Me Walking Back to the Car

Rebekah:

We ended up hiking the last mile in the growing darkness. Luckily the trail was a very light colored sand. Unluckily it was loose sand which was hard not to slip on. Luckily the kids held our hands. Unluckily there were a lot of very steep hills to hike down. Luckily none of us slipped, and we made it safely and happily back to the car as the first stars became visible. We said a little prayer to the evening stars because we were all so happy to have gotten back to the car for our various different reasons.