Spring Break 2010: Day 1

3:25 p.m.: Depart for Colorado. 

Miles traveled: 0

Miles to destination: 664 / 9 hours 50 minutes (according to mapquest)

Scott promptly falls asleep. The GPS occupies Adam and Zach for an entire three minutes. We stop in Salina to get gas and set up a movie for the boys. 

Just west of Salina on I-70, we passed Smokey Hills Wind Farm. A quick search on google revealed the wind turbines are relatively new within the last three years. I don't remember passing them on our last trip to Colorado in 2006, so that seems about right. It was really neat to see the huge "windmills" (according to Zach) turning. I tried to educate the six and seven year old crowd about the turbines, but a movie trumps anything educational. I wish I could have taken some pictures, but using a camera while operating a moving vehicle is probably frowned upon. (this photo is from the Smokey Hills Wind Farm website)

Scott entertained me with his experience testifying for an article 32 hearing, whatever that means.

We stopped in Hays to eat dinner. It was decided that we eat at IHOP because Zach said he's never eaten there before (he has). Adam had a hamburger and fruit. Scott ate a chicken sandwich and onion rings. I had scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast. Zach had eggs, sausage and five silver dollar sized pancakes. We were all members of the clean plate club.

The last hour and half of the day proved to be the most challenging. The boys were tired (they each had their first soccer game of the season earlier in the day) and bored with riding in the car. We almost made it to Colby without incident, but had to separate them with only 25 minutes left in the day's trip.

8:31 p.m.: Arrive at Holiday Inn Express, our usual preference for overnight accommodations in Colby. I announced I would be making a Starbucks run in the morning, but nobody but me seemed to care.

Miles to destination: 379

Miles traveled: 285 / 5 hours, 6 minutes

Dayton, OH: 2000 - 2002

This is third in a series. See Charleston, SC or Birmingham, AL

Dayton, OH
1102 Katy Meadow Court

If you can't see the map below, click here

2000-2002

Scott finished his degree at UAB, so we headed to Dayton, OH in March 2000. We did take a two week vacation to Germany, but that's another post for another day.

We built a house in Fairborn, a suburb of Dayton. Scott documented the four month process by taking 2,694 pictures of the house in varying stages of development. Although I made fun of him for doing that, those pictures did come in handy when we had to go to court because of a red paint incident.

In process

Finished!

Scott worked at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and I sent out about a million resumes before landing a communications position at The Dayton Art Institute. This ended up being a favorite job of mine, even though I knew nothing about art. And Scott will tell you he had to "suffer" through some artsy events, like the one below, but I think he secretly enjoyed them.

Art Ball 2001

Life in Dayton was ordinary. We hung out with neighbors and friends, ate yummy ice cream at nearby Young's Dairy, entertained out of town visitors at the Air Force Museum and The Dayton Art Institute, and took weekend trips to Cincinnati and Columbus.

The most significant event that happened in this period of time was Adam's birth. (September 11 also happened, and you can read about it here.)

So we had our first child. And I wasn't ready. I had just reduced my work hours from full-time to three days a week. My office was not cleaned out. My replacement had not been trained as we had planned. I did not have my hospital bag packed.

My due date was Sept. 4. My water broke around 2 am on August 28, and it took us two hours to actually arrive at the hospital.

After 12 hours of nothing, the doctors suggested a C-section and little Adam was born on August 29, big eyes and all. This picture always makes me laugh. 

I had left my job, so my days were filled with dirty diapers, bottles and pacifiers. Scott introduced Adam to Monday night football and I showed him the mall.

In December, we put our house up for sale and headed to Washington, D.C where Scott had accepted a job at the Department of Justice.

Adam's First Grade Music Program

Scott and I spent our 13th anniversary at a Circus themed first grade music program. Adam was one of the popcorn dancers, as you can see from these pictures. I didn't upload video this time.

Adam is second from the left.


Related posts:
Adam Kindergarten music program: April 29, 2009

Basketball

When they're not playing soccer, Adam and Zach are on the basketball court. Here's some pictures from their last few games.

Zach's Kindergarten team is the Wildcats.

Adam's first grade team, the Rockets. Adam is jumping, in blue, with the green wristband.

 

 

Snow Day

When I was a kid, a snow day was a rare celebration. We would wake up early and listen to the news to see if our school would be closed. We would scream in delight...SNOW DAY!

Now it seems that schools close even with the slightest tinge of white. Why is that? How do schools determine a snow day? It can't be that much different than 25 years ago, can it? So it snowed a couple of inches. Big whoop. Bundle up kids.

I won't talk about how, back in the 1980s, we put on our boots, donned hats and gloves and walked to school. In the snow.

Yesterday it snowed 4.5" in Wichita. The temperature was 32 degrees, and underneath the snow was slush, not ice. There was no blustery wind. In fact, it was really nice out...I was outside with hat and gloves, but no coat. The boys played outside for two hours.

But yet, school was closed.

Is it because the buses can't get maneuver the streets? How could they get through 25 years ago?

It is because our children have to stand in the cold at the bus stop? Can a parent not wait with them, maybe in the comfort of a warm car? I understand most parents work, but my kindergartner and first grader get on the bus at 7:45 am. Is it too much to tell an employer you'll be a few minutes late to ensure the safety of your child? Or is there a neighbor who can wait with them? Maybe I'm living in la-la land because I CAN wait and I know I can count on not one, but several neighbors to help out.

Are schools closed because administration is afraid of getting sued because a student was put into danger? It seems lately that parents are suing over the littlest thing. Schools have banned tag because someone fell down and got hurt. Well, guess what. You can't live in a bubble. Kids get hurt playing. It's a fact.

My child's job is to go to school. To learn to become a responsible, smart adult. What are we teaching our children when schools close because of a little snow? Learning to function in snow, sleet, and rain is part of life.

I'm not blaming school districts. I don't know the first thing about school policies. They have tough decisions to make all the time and they are not going to please everyone all of the time. I happen to think our school district is great and the teachers and administrators are top notch. Most importantly, my kids love going to school.

Maybe I'm just jealous because parents don't get snow days.