Wisconsin trip--Day 1

Saturday, August 7, 2010

8:03 a.m. leaving home. Sarah said a good prayer. Van is loaded to the gills.  Kids are eating hot pockets and listening to Mr. Stinky Feet’s Road Trip.  It wouldn’t be a Janes road trip if we didn’t start with a loud playing of our favorite road trip CD.

8:33 a.m.  Now we’re listening to VBS songs.  The kids are dancing in their seats, singing loudly, and doing all the motions to the songs.  Noah just said, “I wish Isaac was still alive, because I wanted to be President and him to be my Vice President, and then it would be a great country.”

8:54 a.m. I made my first trip to the back to set people up with trail mix and drinks.  Noah is reading a Boxcar Children book. 

10:00 a.m.  Stopped at a VERY busy rest stop somewhere on I-39.  It has a nice playground with a stand-up seesaw.  Kids are now drawing and listening to a book on CD.

10:15 a.m. I spouted out a random trivia fact (“Astronauts get two to three inches taller while living at the International Space Station.”), and Mike asked, “Do they shrink back down when they get back to Earth?”  Occasionally I do Wisconsin quizzes (the state insect is the honeybee) or knock-knock jokes from a library book.  Noah is playing the license plate game.  He has six states so far.

11:00 a.m. Took a picture at the Janesville sign.  We passed it and had to walk back to it.   

1:20 p.m. Stop for gas and pee.  I’m having a discussion with Noah about evolution.

2:01 p.m. Road closed, taking a long detour.  Noah just noticed that our ETA on the GPS has gotten later, and he said, “What?!  It’s still an hour and a half?  You said an hour and a half about half an hour ago!”

3:20 p.m.  Arriving at the cottage.  It’s in a very nice setting and has everything we need.  Hauling in stuff, unpacking, getting organized.  It’s pretty hot.  No air conditioning.  Getting the fans going and windows open. 

4:30 p.m.  Going on a search for food.  Got burgers, fries, and ice cream at a DQ-type place.  Stopped at the town’s only grocery store and bought stuff to make breakfast in the morning. 

5:30 p.m.  Getting in the lake and trying out the kayaks.  Noah paddled one by himself and did great!  We paddled across the lake to a wooded island and explored it.  It was raining a little, and we saw a rainbow.  

6:30 p.m.  Started a fire in the fire pit on the patio.  Blew some bubbles and played with punch balloons.

8:00 p.m.  Put kids to bed after showers. They’re both sleeping on their top bunks.