Griffen - Summer Tour - 2009

20 states...30 days...we are total rock stars!! Take a deep breath. Here we go.

Day 1:

Irmo, Sc - St. Louis, Mo

11:40- 742 mi.

Gateway Arch

Day 2:

St. Louis - Nauvoo, Il

3:21 - 195mi.

Nauvoo Temple

Nauvoo, Il - Des Moines, IA

3:10 - 191 mi.

Day 3

Des Moines, IA - Mitchell, SD

5:13 - 352 mi

Corn Palace

No, seriously, "The Corn Palace"!

Mitchell, SD - Rapid City, SD

3:55, 277 mi

The Badlands

Mt. Rushmore

Day 4

Rapid City, SD - Alliance, NE

2:27 -156 mi

Carhenge

Alliance, NE - GRANDMA'S!!!

Take the hours, take the mileage, multiply it with 4 kids. It all adds up to a long trip!! And, that's just the way TO Grandma's!! We still have the return trip to share!!

What smart girls do on Friday night...

I found this under the couch. (amongst SO MANY other things. Kids are amazing and I thank them for tempting the cockroaches beyond their insectile self-control....but that's another story.


Written by Taylor, 5th grader, to her brother.

"
July 8 2009

There are many reasons I think you should let go of my arm and leave me alone. Through out this essay I shall explain my many reasons in many paragraphs and a variety of sentence structures and three different punctuation marks. I am quite unpleased to say that I am writing this group of pages during movie night. Now I shall use this sentence to bring my summary to a conclusion and I am now pleased to announce that I will begin my second paragraph.
This is my opening sentence to my second paragraph. In this paragraph I will explain my first reason. My reason is that while Payton is holding my arm (as I am sure you have noticed from the many spelling errors I have made so far in this essay) it is very had for me to concentrate on important matters.
My third reason "

It ends there. I'm sure she started screaming at that point. That's how interactions between the Bigs usually end.

But, she's a smart one. Watch out Oxford! She's got her eye on you!

Vomit Van (the sequel) & Tender Mercies

Day 2 of our return trip...leaving Flagstaff, AZ.

Macy's hot chocolate became "unsettled"...all over. Reily, apparently, had a sympathetic reaction and lost her breakfast too...in a van...FULL of a weeks worth of living; and a months worth of souvenirs. Poor girls. But, we were blessed in our mess.

- We were only 5 minutes away from our hotel. They were long minutes.
- Blaine usually leaves the key on the desk. This time he had it in his pocket. Hallelujah!
- I had laundry detergent on hand. Just in case.
- Macy had really good aim.

Tender mercies. One of my favorite conference talks.

Bye-Bye Birdie

Conversation from the road…

Setting: Likely Nebraska or Iowa. We were all looking for a new distraction. We’d just his one of (unfortunately) many creatures…a bird

Mom: We hit a bird.
Macy: (concerned and disgusted) And it’s feathers are on the window!!
Taylor: (sympathetically) Oh sad.
Reily: (matter of factly). Don’t worry. It’s washing off.
Payton: (with certainty) It will learn to fly with it’s legs.

Flushed with Gratitude

Sweet Ms. Macy. I love this girls outlook on everything!

In one of the MANY potty stops en route to Grandma’s house, we were lucky enough to come across automatically-flushing toilets. As I waited in line for the 3 girls to finish their potty break, I heard a swish; and Macy said, with her trademark enthusiasm, “Well, thank you toilet!!” The lady next to me started cracking up. I asked her and I ask you:

Have you been grateful for the flush of a toilet today? (or ever?)