I should probably start off by introducing my family. My name is Amanda, and I am 28 years old. I have been married for 9 years to the love of my life, Ryan. Together we have 2 children. We have an ALMOST 4 year old daughter Jenna, and a 10 month old son Malachi.
We have recently moved to a small town neighboring the town where Ryan grew up. It's been quite an adjustment for me, as I grew up in a fairly large city, and now I am stuck in a place I will refer to as "Loser" Believe me, it suits. It's not THAT bad, but I definatley can't wait for the next stage of our life.
You are probably curious as to what that next stage is. Well we are building a dream house in the town where my husband grew up. The town is a little larger than the one we are in now, and much nicer. Think "Pleasantville" verses the town that Natalie Portman moved away from in "Where the Heart is". It's a little hicky, where as the new town is basically a suburb of the city we are 10 minutes North of. Much nicer. The house we are building has been taking much too long in my opinion. We broke ground last May, and now it is early July, and I am still waiting to move in. It will happen soon, but I am still a little impatient. Usually building and waiting doesn't bother me too much. The problem is that this time we don't have a home builder doing all the work, while we sit back and make the selections. We, well my husband, are general contracting ourselves, and Ryan has been doing a lot of the work himself. With most typical husbands, that could be a terrifying option. Not with my husband. He is a total perfectionist, and knows his way around his tools. He's an electrician, and together with his plumber brother, and Lumber Yard owner Dad, they have put a tonne of work into the house, and it's going to be fantastic. It's a 1900SqF bungalow, and both floors are being developed right now. We actually plan on moving into the basement while we complete the upper level. We have a full bar downstairs which means we won't be leaving a lot of convienences behind, besides space.
This is all stuff that I will probably mention from time to time, but it isn't the topic of discussion today. You may have noticed that my title is Road Trip, and I haven't even mentioned the word travel as of yet. Well here we go, now that you know a little bit about us, here comes the less boring, (or who knows, maybe more boring) parts.
We are planning a road trip with my parents. They even went as far to buy a new vehicle in order to fit us all in one vehicle. It's a GMC Acadia, and while my mom hates to hear this fact, it is basically a mini-van without sliding doors. Whatever though, it certainly looks better than your typical minivan, and it's not as lame in my personal opinion. I would much rather drive that thing than a caravan. Yuck. Leave the loser cruisers at the dealerships people. They are awful. (Now when years from now with some stroke of terrible luck, when I end up driving one, I will allow you to throw this in my face. If I do end up driving a minivan, I will more than deserve it.) ANYHOO, we are going on a road trip. Where you ask? (Although seeing as this is my first blog without a single follower, obviously no one is asking.) We are driving out to Calgary to meet up with my parents and taking their "SUV" from there, down through Salt Lake City, through Las Vegas, and into Buena Park. (A city in LA for those of you who have never heard of it. I hadn't before we found our hotel. This is where Knotts Berry Farm is located.) So we are driving FOREVER to take the kids to Disneyland. Oh my goodness gracious, I can not wait! To get to see Jenna's face when we meet characters and take her on Pirates of the Caribbean... (She's on a little bit of a pirate kick. Thank you Backyardigans. "If you want to be a pirate than you gotta say Arr!") wow. It's going to be great. It's only a little over a month away.
So now I am starting to look at options. I am told that buying tickets online or at a disney store is cheaper than gate admission, and I am all for saving a few bucks. However, I also want to find out about character meals. I am leaning towards going for a dinner. If I can find a Princess dinner, than I will be thrilled. I would love to do something like that for Jenna. Obviously at 11 months, Kai wouldn't care if we sat in the hotel the entire trip. I want to make this really special for Jenna. It is coming on the heels of her 4th birthday, and she starts Pre-school just a week after we return. I want her to feel special and feel like we really did something for her, because we love her, and are so proud of her. Because we really are. She is such an awesome girl, and I want to do something that makes her know that beyond any shadows of doubt. She is such an awesome big sister, and compared to any stresses that Ryan and I have put up with building the house, it has had to be really hard on her
too. Think of all the craziness in her life. We decided to move, then once we get here, we find out we are having a baby. Then the house building starts, and Daddy is away a lot at the house, because he needs to get it done, but it's too hot for Mommy out there because she is a gigantic pregnant woman. So she rarely gets to see Daddy. Then Malachi is born, and is in the hospital for the first 5 days of his life, and Mommy is there ALL the time with him. Daddy is around more for her then, but he is still trying to get as much done at the house as possible still so that he has more time at home when Kai is released from the hospital. In her little mind, of course this is the baby's fault. No wonder she didn't want to meet him. I came home to pick them up, and the last thing Jenna wanted was for me to leave, even if she was coming with me. Thankfully the minute Jenna saw Malachi she was hooked and she fell in love with "her" baby. Then she has to adjust to having a new baby in the house, and adjust to not being an only child anymore. That has got to be hard on any kid, but with Daddy barely in the picture, it has to make it worse. Add in potty training along the way and going cold-turkey giving up her soother along the way, and I think you have a pretty eventful year for a 2-3 year old. So we are going to do our best to make this a special trip for her. I want it to be all about Jenna.
too. Think of all the craziness in her life. We decided to move, then once we get here, we find out we are having a baby. Then the house building starts, and Daddy is away a lot at the house, because he needs to get it done, but it's too hot for Mommy out there because she is a gigantic pregnant woman. So she rarely gets to see Daddy. Then Malachi is born, and is in the hospital for the first 5 days of his life, and Mommy is there ALL the time with him. Daddy is around more for her then, but he is still trying to get as much done at the house as possible still so that he has more time at home when Kai is released from the hospital. In her little mind, of course this is the baby's fault. No wonder she didn't want to meet him. I came home to pick them up, and the last thing Jenna wanted was for me to leave, even if she was coming with me. Thankfully the minute Jenna saw Malachi she was hooked and she fell in love with "her" baby. Then she has to adjust to having a new baby in the house, and adjust to not being an only child anymore. That has got to be hard on any kid, but with Daddy barely in the picture, it has to make it worse. Add in potty training along the way and going cold-turkey giving up her soother along the way, and I think you have a pretty eventful year for a 2-3 year old. So we are going to do our best to make this a special trip for her. I want it to be all about Jenna. So the beginning of this blog is going to include getting ready for our trip and we'll see where it goes from there.
