Simply Charming

Almost time to leave!  We're now thinking about what we want to accomplish on the trip.  In addition to getting as many people registered as organ donors as possible (http://help.BestPlacesInTheUSA.com ), we have some other personal things we'll be doing.   Here's the daughter's thoughts:

My blog is about what I want to collect on the trip. My answer to that question is charms. Because one of my friends gave me a charm bracelet with four charms on it, I'm going to get charms and put them on my bracelet. Whenever I put my charm bracelet on, I think of my friend. When the trip is over I can look at my charm bracelet and remember each state.  From Miss Pomegranate.

- the daughter

Shhhh! The Daughter is Talking

We took a risk this week and asked the kids what things they are most frightened about spending 365 days with us in hotels and cars.  

"Today my blog is about what's the scariest thing about being with my family twenty-four seven. My answer to that is that they're going to interrupt me a lot, and trust me it's not fun when they interrupt me. Because they don't even say sorry, that's kind of sad. When they interrupt me, I would want to get away from them. That’s how it would be hard because there's nowhere to go.

-the daughter
PS They’ve been getting better at not interrupting me, but they still have to work on it."

(It's good to hear we're getting better...oh wait, did I just interrupt her blog?)

365 Day Trip Preparation: Chapter 5 – Homeschooling

One of the first preparations we undertook for the trip around the USA - after writing to each of the governors (see their responses here: http://bestplacesintheusa.com/USA/_letters.aspx) - was to start homeschooling. We are fortunate to live in an excellent school district, but we knew we didn’t want to be driving away on our first day of the trip AND cracking open the school books for the first time as homeschoolers. Believe me, THAT would have been a nightmare!

We actually started homeschooling 5 years ago to prepare…has it been that long?? There are many wonderful curricula out there - so many, in fact, that the decision was overwhelming that first year (and even in subsequent years), but we chose Sonlight, a literature-rich curriculum. It was fun to snuggle and read together a lot. My son gained a love for history, which the trip will bring to life for him.  This year, however, we went one step further to prepare and started using a curriculum that is more travel friendly. Alpha Omega Academy Switched-On Schoolhouse is electronic-based. We chose it for its portability in not having to haul all the books, workbooks, etc. around with us on the road. It’s completely loaded on the laptop.

I was very nervous about homeschooling when we started, but I’m so glad we did, not only for being prepared for the trip but also for the great experiences we’ve had homeschooling. Our kids seem to be well-rounded and have done well on their achievement tests every spring. Homeschooling does require discipline, but it’s nice that we can look forward to the trip without having homeschooling jitters.

Interestingly, the difficulties came from unexpected places.  The social aspect isn't that big of an issue unless you lock your family up and never let them out.  A shy kid is a shy kid and an outgoing one is an outgoing one.  We have both..and it has strangely switched over time.  What has been difficult is providing the motivation to excel.  In public school (many years ago), my husband and I both wanted to impress the teacher and our parents.  Something changes when the teacher is your mom, and we started out the year with some bad grades.

We sat down with the kids and came up with ideas that would motivate them to work harder.  We decided on losing privileges (video games, TV, friends) for grades under a B.  In addition, acing (100%) a quiz or test got them 10 tokens (a reward system to earn cool stuff I'll have to blog about later).  Then we watched.  

They read a lot of books that first month, but soon they began to get it.  They figured out what they needed to do to get a B or A.  So now I think we're ready - at least on the school side of things...That is until we actually leave on the trip.  Then we'll have a whole new problem when they don't have friends around to begin with!  How will we ever motivate them then??

-The Mom (the practical one)

Water, Air, Terror, and Lumberjacks

Our son finally finished his blog on the most adventurous thing he wants to do on the trip.  I was thinking maybe my big adventure would be eating some really hot chili...he's going a bit farther..

Hi everybody! A. B. Logger here, and I am blogging about the most extraordinary activity which is skydiving. Skydiving is the most extreme thing I want to do. Despite the fact that it is very scary if your parachute breaks, I want to do it. Usually I'm scared of heights, but because I have a parachute, I'm willing to try skydiving.

Another thing I want to start doing is try some of the biggest tube water slides and roller coasters. I love water slides and some coasters already because of how scary they are. One of the roller coasters which I loath is the Tower of Terror. It would be fun, but the theme of the ride was creepy. Other than that, I really want to try all the other coasters. This is Dr. Dorito signing off.

-the son

(Sorry about the title, but for some reason his blog makes me want to talk about lumberjacks.  I don't know why...)

Surprise! It's AOL!

Welcome to all our new friends from AOL!  We were blessed to have our story on the front page of aol.com for several hours yesterday and today.  For those of you who joined our community at HelpUs.BestPlacesInTheUSA.com, we will work through replying to your blog posts and getting back to you.  Our family is touched by how many great people we encountered and we haven't even left yet!

We are especially excited about the people that registered as organ donors!  If you haven't yet, you can register  HERE.  In some states, just signing your Driver's License is not enough.  Please be sure!  Let us know if you decide to be a hero!

It seems like a good time to talk about the impact of organ donation.  I think most people don't take the few minutes (depending on your state) to register because they don't realize the HUGE IMPACT it makes.

First, it costs you nothing.  It costs your family nothing for you to be a donor.  You can have an open casket, even after tissue and cornea donation.

...PLUS YOU MAY SAVE A BUNCH OF PEOPLE'S LIVES!

How cool is that!  Have you ever saved someone's life?  Do you realize that registered organ donors can say, "Well, not yet, but I plan to."

I have also met so many people now whose family members have been donors.  Even though they have a tragic loss, they consistently say how meaningful it is that their loved one helped save someone else's life.  Wow.

Reading your stories has truly inspired us.  It's actually funny for us to be on AOL's philanthropy page since it's YOU who are becoming heroes through organ donations.  YOU'RE the philanthropists!  We're just hero recruiters.

We can't wait to get on the road and meet some of you!  Thank You.

-the dad
(one of his few blogs without any humor...although technically, some of you may think none of his blogs have ever been funny...)

Duck...Duck...Duck...Raccoon!

OK, first you have to understand that our 9 year old daughter's nickname is "Twitter" because she will spout out anything at any moment...many times unexpectedly.  In the three times she's been asked what her favorite state is going to be, she's replied differently each time.  All this to say, the answer below was not what we expected to hear from our animal loving, wanting to be a veterinarian, daughter.

"The most adventurous thing I want to do on the trip is eat weird food such as goose, duck, and raccoon. I wouldn't eat horses or bunnies because they are some of my favorite animals and it wouldn't be right to eat them. One other thing, I will go in the ocean once. The other times my family will have to drag me in because I hate oceans.

There are 3 reasons I hate oceans. One - they are sooooooo very salty. I love salt, but oceans have too much salt. Two - when you go under water you can't open your eyes unless you have goggles. Even if you have goggles on you can't see because it's so dirty. Three - in the water there are stingrays, sharks, jellyfish, and much more. Those are the three reasons I don't want to go in the ocean that much."

- the daughter

(I was looking forward to getting a dog again after the trip...guess I'll have to make sure it's not on my daughter's menu first...)

The Verdict is In - RV vs. Hotel

Went RV shopping at the Peoria Civic Center with the Grandparents yesterday.  I think we looked through 50 RV's and had a blast.  The kids, of course, fell in love with a giant $100,000 Class A that was twice the size of the Partridge Family bus.  They had bunk beds with curtains and TV/DVD players for each bunk.

Two words...not happening.  If you haven't looked at an RV lately, by the way, you have no idea how much like a home they are.

My father grew up on the farm and, as I watched him sit behind the wheel of a nice RV yesterday, I could see him thinking about selling their house and parking an RV by different lakes across the country, living near nature.  His parents had a camper on a lake that we used to stay at for a week when I was a kid.  We'd fish during the day and play cards with the complete strangers we met in the evening...falling asleep appreciating the moon's reflection on the lake.

I inherited some of that.  I can look at the beauty of a lake, or mountain, or valley, or most of creation and find a peace unknown to the hustle and bustle we typically live in.  It's good.

But we realized we needed to decide what kind of trip we're taking.  A trip in an RV is not a city trip, it's a country trip.  It's a more relaxed trip.  A year around the USA in hotels, however, is more comprehensive, and probably a bit more hectic.

We decided with our goal of promoting organ donation, working with the media, and seeing all the important sites, this trip needs to be a city trip.  We need to be highly mobile and able to park anywhere.  It's a hotel trip.

Unless, of course, one of our corporate sponsors decides otherwise.

We will do a nature trip someday, though, where we get to park by a mountain and a lake.  We have to.  The mom hears the lapping of the ocean waves in her dreams, and I "need" the mountains.  Maybe after the kids are off to college, who knows, but we'll get there.  In fact, we just might look over and see the grandparents in a nearby RV, looking for someone to play cards with.

-the dad
(The only reason I can have these dreams is because my hero, Annie, was an organ donor.  Click HERE so you can be a hero to someone too.)

365 Day Trip Preparation – Chapter 4 Basic Necessities

So you’re going on a trip for 365 days around the USA, and you’ll be hitting every beach, water park, lake, river, stream, and swimming pool there is. What is the first necessity you need? A new swim suit, of course!

Last year, I went to buy a new suit, but silly me, I waited until May! Am I the only person who wore a faded, stretched out, chlorine-eaten suit last year because the new ones were all picked over by MAY?? Good grief.

Well, I made that mistake only once. This year, yes, in early March, while wearing my winter coat and gloves, I went swimsuit shopping. Oh, and if you’re laughing at me - the swimsuit department was quite crowded. In fact, they were already getting picked over. I suggest you run, don’t walk, to the store to get one today – while they still have something in your size.

As for the other basic necessities, they “pale” in comparison to a new swim suit...

-The Mom (the practical one, well maybe not in this case..)

Don't Let the Bed Blogs Bite

I’ve found you never really know when you’ll experience one of those “last moments” with your child. Typically, they suddenly just stop. For instance, you never really know the last night that you’ll read them a good night story. One day they decide to read it on their own or listen to music instead. All of the sudden, you’re out of your bedtime story job.

Of course, they’re not all sad, the last time you change their diaper or get up in the middle of the night with a crying infant is something to be cheered!

We had a last moment recently. Our daughter’s grandpa custom-built her bed when she was 2. It is a loft bed with a playhouse underneath - and it is awesome! From the end, it looks like a house, with peaks like a roof, window shutters, and even a birdhouse. The Grandpa even put a light switch and plug-in inside the playhouse and topped it off with a bookshelf on the loft. It really is THE bed of all beds!

Our little girl loved it. When she outgrew a playhouse, it became a barn for her horse adventures. Recently, she had all her American Girls in it; however, large playhouse beds don’t travel well for 365 days on the road. Fortunately, a good friend of hers who is very special to us bought it.

On bed moving day, the Daughter was able to go over and help her friend set-up the playhouse. (See how adorable it is in the pic!) They arranged all her friend’s American Girl stuff underneath and all her books on top. When it was decorated just right, they lay together reading Magic Tree House books. It was soooo cute!
That night, I realized we had another “last.” No longer would I crane my neck to give the Daughter a goodnight kiss through the bed railing…Now I’m just an unemployed bedtime kisser.

-The Mom (the practical one)

P.S. I’m pretty sure I won’t be unemployed long as my husband will offer me gainful employment as soon as he reads this…

P.S.S. You can help stop some "last moments" fom happening. 18 people die every day on the transplant waiting list. Be sure to register and save lives - and “last moments!”. Http://donateLife.BestPlacesInTheUSA.com