Colorado Adventure - Day One

Our Great Colorado Adventure started out at approximately 4:30am, which I have to say, was not that pleasant. I have a bit of trouble getting up at 7:45am for work, and I'm not sure I've seen 4:30am in many years, if ever. Regardless, the Mothership and I packed up the car, and were on the road by 6am. She kindly let me nap until Buffalo, but as I was excited for my first vacation in 6 years, I was unable to sleep.

We hit Buffalo around 8:30am...well, not really Buffalo, but we did get to stop at that killer reststop where you walk through the tunnel over the Thruway. I did take some pictures, but left that camera in the car by accident, and I'm too lazy to go get it! Of note, apparently the parts of New York and Pennsylvania that border Lake Ontario and Lake Erie grow a lot of grapes. I've never seen so many vineyards, and I grew up in the Finger Lakes!

Seriously, vineyards were on both sides of the road for miles...I was amazed!

Additionally of note, we always joke that New Yorkers only go to Pennsylvania for fireworks, and that may be true, but apparently you can also go there for other things, as the second we crossed the NY/PA border, we drove by this:

Mom wouldn't stop there for some reason :(

Pennsylvania went by so quick that I completely missed the border, and we were halfway through Ohio when the Mothership woke up and demanded to know why we hadn't gotten a picture of the "Welcome to Ohio" sign. My excuse was the oddly marked speed limit signs...60mph for cars and 55 for trucks/buses. Weird. I really missed the 65mph free-for-all on the Great NYS Thruway, but I guess we all make sacrifices to get to where we need to be, like Colorado!

Ohio's oddly marked roadsigns continued through the entire state, but fortunately only caused a slight incident in Cleveland, where we got lost. In the ghetto. I think I drove around in a circle three times before remembering that I have navigation in my little CR-V. Celeste was awesome, directing us back to Route 90, and we were saved!

We made it safely to the border of Ohio and Indiana, when the Mothership realized that she had left Indiana out of our time/mileage calculations completely. She was stunned, I was amused. There wasn't much to report from Indiana, except there is a city there named Gary, and the people there REALLY don't know how to drive. Well, actually the guy who almost killed us was from California, so I guess I can't blame the poor citizens of Gary.

Illinois thus far has been rather uneventful. Despite being on Route 80, we ran into an hour long traffic jam south of Chicago, which was distinctly unpleasant. We missed out on three Cracker Barrel opportunities. And we ended up in Annawan, which is more in the middle of nowhere than I have ever been. Our Best Western is gorgeous, but I am starving!!! And the only restaurant in town is the Quik-E Mart across the road, with a real, live Abu. He was super nice, and our pizza was delish. I'll try to get some quick pics before we leave in the morning. I think I should rest after 14 hours of driving 800 miles!

Old Navy's Modelquins

Am I the only person who thinks that Old Navy's "modelquins" are super creepy? I mean, if it wasn't the only store that I can get the right length khaki pants, I think they would keep me from shopping there. As it is, I really need to delete the Old Navy page from my Facebook account, because these little gems are always popping up on my homepage:

Baby Modelquins, from Old Navy's website

Rihanna-lookalike modelquin, with eerily pale blond modelquin, from Old Navy's website

For further pics of the Old Navy Modelquins, just hop on over to Old Navy, but don't go too close to bedtime, or you might have some nightmares!

Extra Baby Pictures!

I just thought I'd share a few more pictures that I found on my camera today!

Ruthie, with an angry-looking Henry.

Very serious Izzy...kind of unusual, since she's generally the clown of the family!

Henry, making it known that he is NOT in the mood for a belly rub.

My little brown dog Emma, smiling because she probably just snuck upstairs for a cat food snack!

Henry's Girlfriend

A few months ago, I noticed that Henry had made friends with a cat that lives across the street...and they visit with each other every day through the window. That's right, Henry has a girlfriend! The Mothership was able to catch them during one of their visits:

Henry's girlfriend, who I think looks like a "Mona"

Mona is really quite cute...they make an adorable couple :)

Henry, getting a little annoyed that his date has been interrupted for a photo session!

Happy Easter!!!

The girls and I spent most of this afternoon helping the Grandmother and the Mothership get ready for Easter dinner tomorrow, which is always fun. I love watching other people cook. I always feel like I've accomplished something, when really I've just sat at the kitchen table spurting out mildly entertaining tidbits from time to time. While I did not help make any of the dinner, I did help decorate cookies. Despite my lack of cooking skills, I excel at decorating desserts, as evidenced by my stellar Easter egg cake from last year. I think, however, I outdid myself this year:

Of course, the Mothership was there to keep me on task (and keep me from eating too much icing!)

We made some adorable little bunnies and eggs, and I created my very own ode to Target, as thanks for being allowed to have Easter off:

Bullseye, the Easter dog

I know he looks more like a chihuahua than a bull terrier, and Bullseye doesn't typically wear a purple collar with yellow studs, but I was working with neon icing and a rabbit shaped cookie, so I think he turned out pretty well. I'm anticipating that my cookie will taste quite delightful tomorrow. I hope no one eats him in the meantime...Ross and Luke!

The Grandmother and the Mothership, making tasty treats!

When my skills were no longer required at the Mothership's house, I decided to take the girls home, because I still hadn't finished my Easter bonnet...actually I hadn't even started it, as the Mothership did the spray painting of the straw hat for me. (I can't be trusted with flammables.) Her hat, of course, had been done for over a week. I apparently inherited the procrastination gene from my father's side of the family. I thought hers turned out quite pretty, and very Eastery:

The Mothership's Design, featuring speckled eggs and opalescent ribbons.

I decided to make mine to match the clothes that we have to wear on Easter - white shirt and black pants for bell choir. Since I'm no fan of black, I decided to make the most of it and wear my cute pink suede mary-jane heels, and that is were the pink-black-white combination was born:

My design, featuring Kilz spraypaint, polka-dot ribbon, and an extraordinarily large faux daylily.

I designed it with visions of Audrey Hepburn's Ascot hat from "My Fair Lady", which she wore tilted to the side, so I had the bottom painted bright pink. I'm glad that was my intended style, since the flower weighs so much that the hat tilts on my head! I still love it, despite the lopsidedness, and can't wait to design another one for next year!

HAPPY EASTER!!!