Road trip!

We made it to Colorado in one piece!
I have to admit, I was pretty nervous the night before we left, kind of wondering, "what was I thinking?" I can't believe that I get to say this, but the drive was fun. We took six days to drive out here. Our first leg was to Atlanta, where we spent the entire next day with my high school friend Maggie. Then we drove to my Dad's in Tennessee. We took the kids boating and I got to revisit my high school days in FL when we used to go water skiing. I must admit that I didn't really want to get in the dirty lake water, but I knew that I would regret it if I didn't try. I get to report that I did pretty good. I got up and was even able to drop a ski in an attempt to slalom, but wiped out shortly after. I also tried knee boarding. It was kind of strange doing that and not having my brothers egging my Dad on to throw me off! T. Jay and Summer also tried knee boarding and they loved it! I can't believe that they were able to hang on, but they were. Matthew even wanted to try. I wish we had had the time to let him try, I bet money he would have done it!
After that, we drove to Topeka, KS and stayed at the "best hotel ever!" according to T. Jay. It had a spiral water slide that kept the kiddie kats busy for an hour and a half. Up the big flight of stairs, down the slide, swim to the side and do it again. It was so fun to watch their joy and bed time was a piece of cake! Mission accomplished!
On the sixth day, we got to Mom's and the kids have had a great time playing on her swing set and having free run of the fenced back yard. We will be here for two weeks and then head up to MT for another round of fun there! Adventure everywhere! I'll keep you posted!

Insane?

About a week ago Kelli and I were talking about how hot and muggy Florida is and also how fast our kids are growing up. Kelli was a bit sad that we live so far from the Grandparents. She had a thought about how to resolve all of the aforementioned issues on Sunday night, looked over at me and said, "I'm going to spend the next month and a half in Colorado, Utah, and Montana." I looked at her, and taking her only half serious, said "OK". She then said, "And I'm leaving on Wednesday", which she did!

My wife is totally awesome. She is by far the best mother that I know. She handles 4 (5 if you count me - which she regularly does) kids with the grace and ease of an angel. She handles our 4 kids better than most people handle 1 or 2. Those of you who know her can attest to this. Even with this super-human mothering ability I wondered aloud if 3000 miles wouldn't be a bit much with just her and 4 small children in the car. To make my point very clear I told her that for the record, I thought she was insane. Tonight she is in Topeka, Kansas and so far the kids have been wonderful.

Secretly I am glad that she up and left since I now have the chance to meet her in Montana, spend a week on our ranch on the Yellowstone River, and make some great memories with my family!