Welcome 2011....oh my goodness, it's half over ALREADY!!!

It's been over 6 months since my last blog update...lots happened since then. 

November 13, 2010
Detroit Pistons were in town to play the Lakers...so my buddy called and offered couple tickets for me and Noah and his friend.  Always love going to Laker game with Noah when they play the Pistons...Noah hates the Lakers and loves the Pistons, so you'll see me with Laker jersey on sitting next to my son with his autographed Piston jersey.  After the game (which the Lakers won easily ; )), we got to stay and meet some of the Piston players....here is Noah getting a 2nd autograph of Ben Wallace on his jersey.  His biceps are bigger than my thighs!!!

December 17-19, 2010
Abby performed in her first play...Charlie Brown Christmas...this was serious...practice twice a week for few months and they were the opening act to Nutcraker...all taking place at the ACME Comedy House in Hollywood....Abby, of course, played Snoopy!!!  Final performance, everyone came to watch...grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins...

Feb. 6th
Taught Noah how to shave today....NO HE DOESN'T HAVE ANY HAIR...but I was in the shower couple days ago and noticed my shaving cream half empty...I thought, "hmmm, I don't remember shaving so much?"  I asked Noah if he's been using my shaving cream...he blushed and nodded.  He then asked if I can teach him to shave.  I reminded him that he has no hair, but he insisted that he just likes to shave.  So, I agreed.  I gave him his own disposable razor and showed him what to do and what not to do.  He asked if he should shave everyday, twice a day....I told him shaving once a week was plenty for him. 

Feb. 10th
I came home and noticed Noah's cheeks all red.  Amber told me that his face is all dry and that he was complaining about his cheeks burning.  She told him to put some lotion on.  I took a look and realized something, so I asked, "Noah Kim.  How often have you been shaving?"  He smiled and said, "Everyday, sometimes, twice a day."  I couldn't stop myself from laughing.  He now understands why he shouldn't shave everyday (twice a day) as an 11-year old boy. 

Feb. 19th
Noah had a basketball game today where his team got blown out by 20+ points.  Nobody on his team actually played very well, but the disappointing thing was that they gave up in the first quarter when they were down by 10 points early in the game.  Noah supposedly hurt his foot and was limping around.  After the game, mom and dad let him have it.  We came home and sat down to talk.  Noah immediately got defensive and said, "I really hurt my foot!"  Mom asked, "did you really hurt it or did you make it look worse than it really was because your team was losing so badly?"  He denied everything, but make long story short, he finally said, "Everyone was saying how we were going to get our butts kicked, so when they scored and led by 12 points, what was the point in even trying?  We were going to lose anyway!"  Finally, the truth came out.  Mom talked to him about Mental Fortitude'...about how it doesn't matter if you lose by 100 points, what's important is that you keep battling, you don't give up, you try your best, you get your teammates to try their best, you get back up every time you get knocked down.  After our talk, we went and got something to eat.  As we were finishing up, Noah says, "mom, dad, thanks for talking to me.  It makes sense.  I understand it."  I then asked, "What do you understand?"  He responded, "well, you know how you guys talked to me about Mental Fornication."  ; )   Biting her lip, trying desperately not to laugh out loud, Amber gently said, "you mean Mental Fortitude?"  "yeah, that's what I meant."  said Noah....FUN TIMES!!!

It snowed today in La Crescenta...enough to cover the lawn and for kids to make little-bitty snowman....kids were so excited. 

March  4, 2011
It's been few months since Abby started jump roping on a local team.  She's quite good at it...non biased, of course.  Well, she decided she was ready to compete, so her first competition will be in May of this year.  This means her jump rope practice goes from 4 hours a week to 6 hours a week.  She loves it. 

March 8, 2011
Abby started playing softball last week and today she played in a scrimmage against another team.  Abby's team on defense...bases loaded...no out...batter up (hitting off a tee)....swings and hits a line-drive right to third........took me back to the scene out of Sandlot where Smalls puts his glove up....Abby sees the ball come right at her face...she puts her glove up, the ball zips in for the 1st out....she takes 2 steps over to third for the 2nd out, then everything stopped....coaches from both teams are yelling...the other team is yelling (at the runner on 2nd who is between 2nd and 3rd and forgot to tag up), and our coach is yelling at Abby, "tag her, tag her!"  Total chaos for good 5 seconds with none of the players moving...trying to make sense out of the adults yelling and screaming.  Well, the base runner finally understands what her coach is saying, and takes off running back to 2nd base.  Abby sees her running back and immediately starts chasing her...tagged her for the 3rd out right before she got back to 2nd....UNASSISTED TRIPLE PLAY!!!  I was rolling.  I texted some of my friends including high school baseball coaches and one of them replied, "at the age of 8 she's already accomplished what I have never been able to do."  I wish I could have videotaped the moment!!


April 5, 2011
Spring Break...packed up and got on the road...much, much shorter road trip this time compared to our last one in the summer.  Just 300+ miles up north past San Francisco to Fairfield...the home of Original Jelly Belly Factory.  The tour was amazing...got to taste variety of flavors, view beautiful Jelly Belly art, and spent a fortune in their store...

Noah, Amber, Abby

It's got her name on it, don't you think?

One of my favorite presidents!!

Hey guys, I just did a report on her!!!

John Wayne!!

After our visit to the factory, we did a quick drive-by thru San Francisco....Next time, we'll stay longer.


Golden Gate Bridge



Downtown, San Fran in the background

April 15-16, 2011
Ragnar Relays....12 of us teachers decided it'd be fun to do a 200.3 mile relay run from Huntington Beach to Coronado....so we signed up for Ragnar!!!! We met at work at 3AM and headed down to Huntington Beach...2 vans, 12 tired middle-aged men and women (with couple young'ns as ringers).  Our first leg started at 6AM....to explain, 12 runners, 36 legs, each runner runs 3 legs staying in order.  My legs were 5 miles around 7AM followed by 9.7 miles around 5PM, then finally 6.7 miles around 4AM.  Our last leg finished 32 hours after our start time.  It was CRAZY FUN!!!  Students at our school asked "why are you doing this again?"...many thought, "mid-life crisis"  It's been 7 years since our last relay, "Wild Miles"...187 mile relay from Borrego Springs to San Diego....temperatures topped off at 113...hope our next one isn't 7 years from now.  We finished 206th out of 500 teams.   Not too shabby for bunch of teachers.

Mike Flower getting ready to start us off...about a minute before the gun

waitin' for Mike...gettin' psyched!! 7AM

Mike Flower finishing strong on his first leg!

5 miles down, 16 to go (9 down, 191 to go as a team!)

Bertram getting ready

Saw (right) after his first leg.

Smiley taking off on his first leg...only guy I know who runs in his reading glasses?!



Schilling after his grueling first leg!!



Schilling giving us play by play



teams waiting for their runners and taking in a little nap




all coiled up, ready to strike....on Ricky's 2nd leg




Saw (lt.) getting ready for his 2nd leg, Smiley (rt) just being Smiley



2nd Major Exchange (Van1 - first 6 runners to Van 2 - second 6 runners)...I'm on the far left.



that's right....Hot For Teacher!


May 14, 2011
So after 5 months of jumping rope, Abby competed for the first time.  We made today a family event....you only get to compete in your FIRST competition once.  She competed in multiple events (individual and team) and did GREAT.  This is one of her clips...something didn't quite go right when I was uploading...no sound...but her routine was to Addison Road's "All that matters"
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rc2KTzJVkA

I'll plan on not waiting 7 months between updates....let me leave you with some photos....

Abby Nov. 2010

Noah Nov. 2010

Kibera keeping Abby company, Dec. 2010

Abby playing super hero Feb. 2011

St. Patty's Day, 2011

Crazy hair day, March 2011

Noah, April 2011

shooooot!! just realized, I need to take more pictures of my beautiful wife.

'til next time, be well my friends. 

PK

vacation OVER, school BEGINS

Last week of August....

kids were busy going from grandparents to grandparents knowing that once schools starts, sleepovers at their places were going to be few and far between. Spent couple nights with Amber's parents and couple nights with my parents. Amber and I were busy unpacking from 2010 Kim Fam Summer Road Trip (read previous posting) and getting ready to go back to work. But before going back, we went car shopping. Amber's vehicle (the nicer one of the two) has been co$ting u$ $o much in the la$t 4 month$, and we learned that Volvo does not stand behind their product, so got tired of throwing money away and paying insurance on a 'luxury' vehicle...we never knew 5 year old mid-size suv was considered 'luxurious'...we traded it in and Amber went back to her 'roots'...she loves her good ol' American Chevy...in fact, starting the engine and hearing it 'roar' tickles her fancy ; )

My car, after serving me well for 10 months or so, started going as well (Amber says it "already went long before I purchased it") Things were falling apart, engine started to overheat frequently and 'smoke', couldn't go over 25mph coming up the hill, topped off at 60mph on freeways and the top half of the right rear door literally started to 'FLOP' whenever I went over 35 mph. I was excited when I bought the car back in November seeing that a 23 year old car only had 112,000 miles on it. Well, I soon realized that the odometer often got stuck and wouldn't roll over...one time I drove to Artesia and back (about 70 mile round trip) and my odometer stood still. Blue Book calculated my car to be worth $800 (that's with 120,000 miles, who knows what the actual mileage is) with fair exterior...mine was FAR from fair...molding was half falling apart, one of the headlights rattled up and down, CASSETTE TAPE deck was on its final leg, etc. One of our friends said that my car was suffering from car leprosy. So after discussing it with Amber, we decided to donate the car to 'Cars 4 Causes' They came and picked up the vehicle and did all the paperwork...turns out they cleaned it up and sold it for $1500. That's $1500 for a charity and we get the same amount as a tax write off. Pretty cool. So, in 4 days, we ended up with 2 new cars. Surprisingly, not much difference in insurance, and I love knowing that my car isn't going to start smoking.

Back to School / Back to Work....

Noah and Abby are enjoying school for the most part.

Noah is in a split class of grades 5 and 6; it's a challenge for him, but he enjoys it. None of his close friends he hung out with last year are in his class, but he's adjusted well. He often talks about 'hanging out with 6th graders.' He is reading at a 9th grade level.  2 1/2 weeks ago, he came home and announced that he was going to run for vice presidency. He was really into it. He came up with his speech all on his own; Amber and I helped him with his campaign posters and his slogan. Every member of the family, on our own, tried desperately to come up with a catchy slogan. We sat and watched TV commercials, looked on-line for help, and finally I got tired of sitting and thinking. So I got up to go to the bathroom and walking down the hallway, the heavenly gates opened up and it came to me.... Cha-Cha Slide....you know...."Everybody clap your hands!" So I yelled out "EVERYBODY VOTE FOR NOAH" clap clap clap clap....then I heard all 3 in the background, "Yeah, that's it!" So his 1 minute speech started with his back turned towards the audience and dancing to Casper's Cha-Cha Slide (about 10 seconds). Then he turned around (music stopped) and started his speech with "oh, I didn't know you were there...." Made a 35 second speech and ended with "Well, I'm gonna go back to my dancin' now" music started back up and Noah spoke into the mic "EVERYBODY VOTE FOR NOAH!" the the whole student body joined in with their clapping. It was pretty neat to see our boy step out of his comfort zone and do what he did. He went up against some great candidates. At the end of the day, he found out that he won. Amber and I were proud at the fact that he got up and did it; Abby thought it was 'way cool' that her brother won the election. My parents are already thinking about next year and running for president ; ) Besides school, our 5th grader continues to grow like bean sprout and is really enjoying water polo. He has also been busy working as a ball boy for CV's varsity football team. He and his buddy (son of head coach) have been diligently showing up and running up and down the sidelines communicating with the officials, exchanging balls for the home team and the other guys.

Abby is enjoying her 2nd grade, but is struggling a bit more compare to Noah. Her 3 Stooges gang from 1st grade got split up. One moved to another school and the other ended up with a different teacher. Turns out all 3 gals were struggling. 3 weeks into school, Abby finally made couple new friends. She is enjoying her school work; she says it's "too easy." Her reading level is just under a 6th grade level...thanks to her brother challenging her from time to time...it might take her a long time, but when she hears "it's too difficult for you", IT'S ON. She started tap/jazz/ballet and went back to her art class. So with school, girl scouts, dance and art, our 7 year old stays pretty busy, yet she still manages to have FUN throughout each and every day....just being silly.

Amber started back up as an elementary school librarian. She enjoys the short hours, the students and the extra paycheck to Kim Family Bank, but is somewhat disappointed at the fact that she can't volunteer more at Noah and Abby's school. Physically, she continues to run in the mornings with her friends...crazy hours...she's usually out the door by 5:10. Really enjoys it especially trail running....gettin' down and dirty. I don't know how she does it. Gets up at 5, runs, comes home by 7:15, showers, gets ready for work, makes breakfast and lunch for the kids, drops them off, goes to work, picks them up, comes home, helps the kids with homework, takes kids to extra-curricular activities, prepares dinner, reads to the kids.....repeat. enough said....Super woman.

Me? heck, I'm back in the classroom and for the first time in my 12 year teaching career, I have my own classroom. I'm having fun. It's so true...'if you can find a job that you enjoy, you'll never have to WORK a single day of your life!' Whether it's here in the states or in Kenya couple years ago, it's FUN. Financially, it's tough, especially this year with district's new bargaining agreement and the effects of recession, I'm taking about a 10% pay cut...it is what it is. I'm thankful I have a job. I'm thankful there are students in my classroom. I'm thankful my family is healthy. I'm thankful that my wife loves me (I'm thankful everyday and quite puzzled that a hottie like her chooses to be with me!") I'm thankful that God blesses and provides for my family each and every day and makes each day perfect. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Dog (Cal)...well, it's been 13 months since Amber and the kids brought this knucklehead home, and he still hates my guts...still cowards as if I'm going to abuse him (as in the picture)....still barks and charges me to protect Amber (which I appreciate) when I come home ...still growls when I walk by. So, the last weekend of September, we visited the shelter. Amber and the kids said, "this is going to be your dog...your choice." I wanted a dog that acts like a dog...who wags when I come home, who gets disappointed and gives me that 'look' when it gets disciplined, who lays on its back and wants you to scratch its belly, who uncontrollably shakes its leg when I find "the spot." Well, long story short, I found her....8 year old white lab/boxer mix. She looked pathetic; she looked like she was roaming the streets for a while...bone thin, barely enough energy to squat to pee (legs were shaking), but as soon as I saw her, the tail wagged and she slowly walked up to the gate. 2 hours later (had to bring Cal by to socialize them to see if two would get along, and they did) I was a proud owner of "Kibera"....Amber actually came up with the name sighting that the first look reminded her of poverty and desperation. It took 2 whole days to get 2 of them comfortable with each other. At night, Kibera sleeps with Cal on his pillow...what an odd couple. Kibera is a DOG. She likes to chew, she has her 'spot' and she looks out the window and longingly waits for me to come home....which makes it alright that she's already chewed up some things and peed in the house. Amber thinks she has separation anxiety....I guess she's right...heck, who'd want to be separated from me....; ) besides Cal.

Halloween is just around the corner...Kim family's worst time of the year. Everything's just too dark.  When we're not careful, kids accidentally see images that scare them tremendously.  I just don't remember Halloween being this dark.  Seems like it's gets darker every year....Abby went as Padmé Naberrie, Noah was 'your grandma' and Amber went to work as hs football player. 



Life is GOOD! We continue to look outside of Cali for teaching jobs. As much as I love it at my current place, I still don't know if SoCal is the best place for my family physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually, mentally....gosh, I sound like a Health teacher ; ) Been looking and coming up with many different scenarios...for one, I started looking into teaching for the Dept. of Denfense.

Well, that's it for now. Reporting from the Kim household...hope you enjoy catching up with us and I'll report back with our next update in a few...

Be well, friends and family.
PK

Around the country in 18 days...

Day 6 - Spent last night re-mapping our drive...heck, we already out past halfway mark across the country, why not go a bit farther....so, left Kansas City and headed for Indianapolis, Indiana. Wanted to catch the Royals play but they were out of town. Drove past their stadium; nice stadium from the freeway. About 30 minutes into the drive, Amber says, "I think the AC is going out ...it makes this noise before it starts blowing hot air." Well, 99-100 degrees outside and HUMID...and A/C started to go. It wasn't completely gone, but it was no longer cold. It got WARM in the car real fast. We made multiple stops at fast food places and gas stations just to sit in an air-conditioned room for 10 minutes. We all agreed that may be we couldn't make it to Indianapolis. Drove past St. Louis and crossed Mississippii River. As soon as we had the sun behind us, it got much better in the car...so, we kept on driving. We got to Indianapolis about 9PM, checked in at the local motel and ate at Bob Evans diner...what a great little place to eat.

Day 7 - got up early to get the A/C recharged. got back to the motel and kids and Amber were just getting up. Packed up and left for Cincinnati...after 7+ hours of driving yesterday, today's 2 hour drive with AC working was nothing. Outskirts of Cincinnati was beautiful. Kids and I swam for couple hours, then we headed for the Great American Ball Park to see the Reds take on St. Louis Cardinals. Central Division's 1st and 2nd place team going into tonight. Place was packed with both Reds and Cardinals' fans. Cards had a great 4th inning where they scored 7 runs and that was the ball game. Kids had fun, but it was hot. We were in direct sun for first couple innings. the sun seemed to be moving sideways, not down. Hot and Humid. Left after 8th inning. Kids and Amber are asleep now. Better hit the hay as well...driving up to Cleveland tomorrow.

Day 8 - took the day off today. Spent the day slowly driving up to Cleveland. Drive was beautiful, but every time we got out to rest/stretch, there was this faint odor of what seemed to be pesticide...probably from all the farmland. This didn't sit well with Amber...she's got better/more sensitive sense of smell than a canine. I even smelled it which means the odor must have been pretty strong.

Day 9 - the Indians game against the Orioles wasn't until 7PM, so after getting up and swimming, we took the kids on a surprise trip to Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. We didn't tell the kids where we were going...(it was more of a surprise for Noah; Abby would be happy as soon as Noah got excited). As soon as we got off the freeway and Noah saw the sign to the Hall of Fame, he screamed in excitement which brought Abby to agreement. The Class of 2010 Enshrinement Ceremony was just held the week before, so when we pulled up, workers were still busy taking down tents, folding up chairs, etc. We were greeted by a picture of Walter Peyton on the side of a building as we parked. 'Coach Nelson would love this entrance,' I thought. All 4 of us were fascinated by its rich history...learning about how the game evolved, evolution of the helmet/pads/cleats, etc. The kids' favorite part of the Hall of Fame was "the telephone" as Abby puts it where they got to hear an authentic play-by-play of a player who recovered a fumble and ran the wrong way 60 yards for what he thought was a touchdown...Amber and my favorite was seeing Jim Thorpe's used blanket draped over a life-size statue of him kneeling. After the visit, we headed over to the Indians' game at the Progressive Park....Indians hosting Orioles...division's 2 bottom dwellers this season. The park was EMPTY, but we had SEAT-NAZI who wouldn't let anyone move to empty seats until the 6th inning...our row was packed with 2 kids (our own) and 6 adults (3 of them quite big) and the next section was COMPLETELY EMPTY. It was a great stadium though. Walking in, we walked by Quicken Loans Arena where the Cavaliers play...where the 'self-claimed' the King, LeBron James used to play. There are billboards everywhere directed at LeBron...vendors selling anti-LeBron t-shirts, etc. Back to the game...it was what you'd expect from 2 bottom dwellers...not so exciting (to be polite), but it was a neat stadium.

Day 10 - So, about 3 1/2 weeks ago, Amber and I were channel surfing and came across what looked interesting....Burt the Conqueror...Burt goes around the country and does/tries what the locals are known for....this one episode we caught, he was in Sandusky, Ohio visiting Cedar Point Amusement Park and riding the FEARSOME FOUR...4 of the scariest coasters/rides the park is known for. Amber turned to me and said, "wow, Noah would love it there." I agreed. >>>>>Fastforward 25 days...we were already in Cleveland, an hour away from Sandusky....ahh WHY NOT...So, we packed up and headed to Cedar Point. Six-Flags' Magic Mountain was still fresh in his mind, so it was a great opportunity to compare the two places. The first ride we got on was Top Thrill Dragster (check out the video)...0 to 120 mph in less than 3 seconds, then straight up, corkscrewing up to the top, then over the hump and corkscrew back down (180 degrees straight down)...WOW!!! Greatest ride ever!!! Noah, as he did waiting in line for Goliath (Magic Mt.), was sweating profusely. But he came off the ride screaming, "that was so awesome!" The best ride of the day was Antique Cars, that Abby drove. She drove Noah and me around and was very careful not to hit anyone or anything. The second best was the SkyHawk. 2 groups before us, someone literally pee their pants and walked off without saying anything. They had to wash the seats off and let it dry. Amber took some great pictures. We capped the day with Millenium Force which in my mind was a close tie with Magic Mts' Goliath. One thing that this had going was that the ascent was FAST and SMOOTH. Overall, another great day!!! Noah was a great big brother riding with Abby on her junior-size roller coaster, Jr. Gemini.

Day 11 - Left Howe, Indiana (1 mile south of Michigan border) - known as Michiana Area - and headed for South Bend Chocolate Factory. We got a tour of the factory and got to make our own chocolate-dipped Golden spoon. Easy relaxing day overall. After the tour, we headed west to Chicago...traffic is as bad as LA...thought I was stuck on the 110 near downtown...yeah, that bad!! We're staying about 15 miles outside the city which is good. Spent the afternoon swimming with Abby while Amber and Noah rested. After dinner (seems like nobody knows how to do Mexican food like southern California, especially Joselito's, La Cabanita and Los Burritos...I guess we're spoiled), we found a mom & pop ice cream store, Tate's Old Fashion Ice Cream Store. LOVED IT!!! Started to POUR CATS AND DOGS while we were enjoying our ice cream...I offer to pull the car up and Abby wanted to join me, so we went out in the pouring rain...thunder and lightning and buckets of rain coming down...had to run about a 1/4 mile to our car...I hate getting wet with clothes on, but it was so worth it to see Abby smiling ear to ear...before she went down for the night, I asked her, "how was it running through the rain?" She responded, "that was the funnest thing I ever did in my life!" My clothes are still hanging soaked from the rain 2 hours later.

Day 12 - spent the day swimming and resting....Abby started to not feel well, so she went down for a nap and kept on sleeping...so did Noah...Noah got up an hour before game time...waited for Abby...Amber decided to stay with Abby and rest. Noah and I went to the White Sox game...ChiSox hosting Tigers (2nd and 3rd place team in division at the time)...no love lost between the two teams...never knew so many Tigers fans drive down to see the game. Sold out crowd, $32 to park...OUCH!!! That was worse than Los Angeles. Sat way up top...surrounded by a rough crowd...Noah sat next to a drunk...couldn't move to another seat (sold out), and she was so GONE, I told Noah, "I would talk to her, but she's so unpredictable, I'm going to leave it alone." But we made a life-lesson out of it. We talked about her behavior, how she was dressed, her actions to get attention, etc. We also tackled some tough questions like "do you think she's old enough where she should be in a serious relationship?" "do you think she's capable of carrying on a serious relationship?" "Why do you think she's the way she is?" "How strong do you think her relationship is with her dad?" Noah and I talked inning after inning. It was good.

Day 13 - got up early and drove outside the city to Rockford (about 90 minutes from Chicago) to meet up with the Dellamater family from Kenya. Amber met Heather at WNS and ended up volunteering together in the slums of Kibera (if you recall). Abby and Gabriel were in Kindergarten class together, and their Noah was in my PE class as a 6th grader at the time. Brian and I became friends over time and this is the family who traveled to Egypt with us over Christmas in 2008. We met them at church and we were so happy to see all of them. We ate at Beef-a-roo, "Rockford phenomenon (according to them)" and met up with some of their friends...and guess who was in that group. Friends we met in Egypt (Dellamater's friends who showed us around Cario). It was one big happy reunion. After lunch, we drove another 30 minutes out to a town called Rockton, 'village' of 4,000 people where they live. It was so beautiful. We first stopped at their friend's tree farm. As the adults sat around and relaxed, their Noah took our Noah and Abby on ATV ride all over the farm. Abby even played with their reindeer...yes, a reindeer. We went to the Dellamater's and chatted and chatted and chatted. What a beautiful little town. Didn't want to leave. There was a small 2-bedroom house right next door for sale that we joked about purchasing. We ate at a local Italian restaurant and topped it off with ice cream for everyone at DairyHaus, a hole-in-the-wall joint that was packed with people of all ages. Didn't want the day to end, but we had to say good-bye to our friends.It was so good.

Day 14 - Kids went swimming again (while I had to get the AC recharged again), then for lunch, we headed into the city...Giordano's...coach Torres recommended. WOW!!! Their 'stuffed deep dish pizza' took 35 minutes to cook and it was honestly the BEST pizza ever!! Amber said it was the sauce that was the difference. After, we headed to Shedd Aquarium, then to Wrigley to watch the Cubs take on the Padres. What a GREAT stadium! Felt like we were back in 1950. It was Amber's all-time favorite ball park.

Day 15 - Packed up and started on our way back home. Drove through Illinois, Iowa and stopped in Kearny, Nebraska. Drove past flooded areas of Des Moine; it was a sad sight.

Day 16 - Visited the original Pony Express station in Nebraska today. Great history lesson for the whole family. Exited Nebraska into Colorado. Brief stop at the Mile High Stadium to see the outside before tackling the Rocky Mountains. It was beautiful driving through until the sun went down and the rain started to pour. Kids were asleep in the car and I was busy paying attention to the road. Took a lot out of me, so when we finally came out of the Rockies, we decided to call it a night (11:46PM) in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Day 17 - Amber and the kids got up and swam while I did couple loads of laundry and loaded up the car. Found out the city of Grand Junction was hosting their annual Peach Festival....who knew! Anyway, got back on the road again right as it started to rain again. It cleared up in about 10 minutes and I said, "Hey, this will be the last rain you'll see in a while as we head back to southern California." We drove for a while...leaving Colorado and entering Utah when I saw the meanest looking clouds up ahead...thought I was in a movie. We started to climb through a pass (I don't even know where we were....only that we were on Interstate 70). As soon as the road started to twist and turn, DOWN POUR!!! Thunder, Lightning...Noah's Ark-Rain. 2-lane highway, I was driving 25 miles per hour and passing other cars. I couldn't see 5 yards past me. It was scary...but fun at the same time. All the vehicles had their hazards on; nobody dared to pull over because we couldn't see how much room there was on the shoulder. Down pour lasted about 15 minutes then the sun came out. Interstate 70 finally ended and Amber and I celebrated as we approached the I15...a familiar interstate...hooray! Kept on going and arrived in Las Vegas just in time for dinner. I love buffets. Amber is not much of a 'buffet' person; however, dinner buffet at the Mirage she likes a lot. So we thought last night that it would be fun for the kids to eat and stay at a nice place to end this long road trip. We got a great deal at Mandalay Bay. Had plenty to eat and then checked in at Mandalay Bay...on our drive over there, we had to keep telling the kids to close their eyes...if it wasn't for the buffet, we'd never go to Vegas. We checked in only to find out that our room was still a mess (I actually walked in and expected to find a body in the bathroom or something). Anyway, we had to go back down to registration and discuss the issue. We were not rude; we just wanted to put our luggage down. Without asking, they upgraded our room to 3rd to the top floor overlooking their pool(s). And they gave us a $50 credit (which is nothing to them) for food. Kids thought that was "very cool" of them to give us $50 for free. Amber and I explained "there's no such thing as free lunch." They responded, "Ohhhhh..."

Day 18 - got up and kids had breakfast in the room (not room service, but what we took with us...granola bars and cereal with rice milk)...had to eat quickly so they could swim. Amber got up in the morning to use the restroom and when she came out, she noticed Abby wasn't in bed. So she started calling for her and paniced a little...where in the world did she go? Turns out she was sitting with her face glued to the window looking at the hotel's 8 pools (she had the drapes closed to keep the room dark, so it looked like either somebody kidnapped her or she just vanished). Anyway, from "lazy pool" (river) to "wave pool" all 4 of us spent good 2.5 hours swimming before heading home. As we approached Los Angeles county, kids came up with a plan to stay the night at grandparents' (we were going there to pick up our dog anyway, why not?) So, we dropped the kids off, picked up our dog and came home around 9pm.

2 days later after kids got home, we finally sat down and had our first home-c00ked meal in over 3 weeks. Tortilla Soup (Amber), Tortilla chips (prepared by Noah), and guacamole (prepped by Abby)...I was busy taking pictures ; )

Fast facts.....5,400 miles driven...0 wins and 4 losses by the home teams...$2.53 the lowest price per gallon of gas (I forgot where)...$32 for ChiSox parking, the most I've paid for any sporting event...$2.99 everyday kid's meal at Bob Evans...4 arguments between the kids where Amber and I had to ask them to close their eyes and be quiet...12 episodes of Cosby Show(season1) plus 10+ movies kids watched in the car...2 novels read by Noah...396 pictures taken...1st visit to White Castle (as a family)...that about sums it up.

Be well, friends and family

PKim