Kids Stuff and Cleaning

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I am getting the house cleaned out so I can put it on the market. Jenni goes to school in another town and it would be closer (and cheaper) to live in that town, and maybe she could even take the bus.

So I have bags and bags of stuff that needs to be thrown out. To me, it seems amazing the amount of things we have. As soon as I can find out what week out of the next few is good for everyone, I am getting a dumpster.

As I was sorting the books into “Keep” piles and “Donate” piles, I came across an old road atlas. For those that are not familiar with these, they are like GPS devices in book format. This particular atlas, together with Mapquest printouts, was our guide for when we took our driving trip from Massachusetts to Windsor Falls, Canada.

The trip was a real departure for me. I seldom drove more than 25 miles at a time and was usually a nervous driver. At that time in my life, I wouldn’t drive in Boston because I was too scared. But the kids had met and really hit it off with some cousins that lived over the Michigan border in Canada, so I decided it would be nice for them all to hang out some more. They were constantly in touch by IM and were very excited about the prospect.

We drove and played games for the entire trip, and spent a lot of time at Niagara Falls (Little Vegas), which the kids loved. It was a fantastic trip. We saw a bald eagle, and got soaking wet on the Maid of the Mist.

So the atlas. When we were looking through it we noticed State mottos. Some of them are really different and unusual, and so we started seeing which state motto would apply to each family member. When I leafed through the atlas I saw that Rebecca had written them down:

• Alabama – Kids – “We Dare Defend Our Rights”
• Kentucky – Kids & Parents – “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”
• Idaho – Mom – “It is Perpetual” (she added: “referring to us and the long long long road trip”)
• West Virginia – Dad – “Mountaineers Are Always Free” (he used to like mountain climbing and had wanted to do the entire Appalachian Trail at one point)
• Oregon – Meg – “She Flies With Her Own Wings”
• Maine – Rebecca (who was writing this down) – “I Direct”
• Washington – Peter – “By and By”
• Virginia – Jenni – “Thus Always To Tyrants”

Okay, they were a little harsh with Jenni.  But overall the trip was great, except for the one time that Becca stated firmly that if you checked out a hotel ahead of time that ruined the adventure. We decided after that night that there is such a thing as too much adventure :) .

Things I have learned -

1. Check out the hotel before you go there.

2. Any more than one day spent visiting attractions in Niagara Falls geared towards children is time you can never ever get back.

3. When a child says to Border Patrol, “This is not my father. I don’t know this man,” they take it seriously. (true story- happened with this cousin we were visiting and his father)

4. It is silly to be afraid in anticipation of anything.

5. I get too distracted when I clean house. But I am keeping this Road Atlas.

L to R: The Director, The Tyrant, and Destination Peter

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