Robots Unpack Some More

It's been four days and we're almost done, just have to unpack the craft supplies and figure out where some pictures are gonna go. We keep getting interrupted by things like, having to go buy lamps, or Maria shaking for hours at a time.

Ria is still shaking. It's been a week now, and we've been to the ER, had an MRI with "some small changes" (thanks Doc, that makes me feel all better.) and to the pediatrician, who is sending us to a neurologist. I'm really glad we've been doing so much video taping though, it really helped Ria's Ped. understand how bad this is. Dr. I Should be on a Soap Opera (really ladies, silver hair, super tan, soothing voice) told Ria she was "interesting". She loved that. "Yay! I'm interesting!", Ria said with only mild sarcasm.

It is incredibly frustrating watching your child go through something that hurts, for hours, without being able to help or even explain what's happening to her body. She's an angry, sad, owie little girl right now. Even Lilly knows something's wrong. Yesterday morning when Ria was shaking, Lilly laid down next to her and stroked her hair and said, "it's ok, it's ok." When it started again late last night, and went on for two hours, I just wanted to cry myself to sleep.

So here we are, a family of robots, unloading.

Robots on the Road, Day 1

Well, today we began our cross country journey. We made it thru Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania without mishap. We were very lucky and hit almost no traffic. We checked into our fabulous hotel and took a swim in the pool, then put the girls to bed and soon we're going to relax and watch a movie. Not much to report.

So here we are, a family of robots, in Ohio.

Robots on the Road, Day 2

Today we made it to Joliet, IL. Lots more miles under our belt. We had another great day in the car, singing, talking and watching the miles go by. Lilly greeted this hotel the same way she greets every hotel, "swimming? pool?" So into the pool we went, as soon as we got all our many bags into our room.

Lilly began her trip into the pool, the way she has begun every one in the last week, by sitting down. I don't know why, but it's her ritual, so here's how she gets into the pool. First Lilly has to sit down in a chair and look at the pool. After everyone else has entered the pool and is well away from the steps, Lilly will come and slowly put one foot in the pool. For the next 20 minutes, Lilly will let her feet rest one at a time, first on one step, then another, but she has to pull her foot out of the water and look at it before she can go to the next step. Eventually she'll be all the way in. Then she'll crawl her way around the entire perimeter of the pool, holding on to the edge. When she's done, she'll shout "Peedy Peedy Potty!", and we all have to get out. It's kind of like 'Mother May I?", but it leaves the rest of us plenty of time to cool off and have a good time.

So here we are, a family of robots, in Illinois.

Robots on the Road, Day 3

Tonight we will sleep in Le Mars, Iowa. I know this will sound silly, but having driven all the way across Iowa, I now believe it is entirely made of corn. The whole state. I'm not kidding.

All day, all I saw was corn. It was pretty corn, but it was a lot of corn. When we got to Le Mars, we took the girls to the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Museum. It was sparse, but cheap, and the girls enjoyed it. After that we did laundry, so between the two, I feel like we accomplished something.

We checked into our hotel, had a swim, ate some dinner and folded the laundry. All was well till I discovered that not only does my oldest have impetigo again, she's given it to me too, Yay.

So here we are a family of robots, in Iowa, with impetigo.

Robots on the Road, Day 4

Holy Cow, South Dakota is full of cows. It's a really beautiful state though, and I really enjoyed listening to Lilly say "Moo, Baa" every time we passed a field full of cows. We had a fun filled day. We were on the road by 5 am as usual and by 8 am we were stopping off at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. We looked at some corn, spent a bunch of money on tourist trap stuff, and got back in the car.

So we drove for hours, saw hilly beautiful cow filled fields, crossed the Missouri river and saw the out skirts of the Bad Lands. We stopped in Wall, SD, at Wall Drug, which is a huge tourist trap akin to South of the Border in South Carolina. It was fun and full of Bikers. It's bike week in Sturgis, so we've been seeing them most of our way west, but this town was wall to wall motorcycles. I enjoyed it immensely. My parents ride, so it reminded me of home.

We got back in the car and headed west again. We went out to see Mt. Rushmore and then checked into our hotel in Rapid City. We had our required swim, ate dinner, and headed downtown to see the bronze presidents. Yes, on the corners, all down the two main streets they have bronze statues of our past presidents. We took the girls pictures with every one. It' sounds silly, but it was so much fun watching them pose.

So here we are, a family of robots, in South Dakota.

Robots on the Road, Day 5

Oh, today was a big one. We drove from Rapid City, SD to Gardiner, MT, thru Big Horn National Forest and thru Yellowstone. I cannot describe the beauty I witnessed today. I was amazed by so much of what I saw, I even teared up at one point (ok, that might have been because I was terrified by the extreme angle of the road we were driving down).

The girls summed the day up this way,"boring birds, beautiful bison". Yes, we did not just see amazing landscapes, we saw moose, elk, deer, and bison. We saw bison up close and personal. One decided to walk right down the middle of the road. I was telling Lilly the whole way thru, "Look Lilly, a bison!" and she would repeat after me "Bison." However, when the bison walked right past my window, ( I had the window down so I could get a good picture), Lilly looked up and said, "ELEPHANT!"

So here we are, a family of robots, in Montana, with elephants, I mean bison.

Robots on the Road, Day 6

Well, our trip is almost over. Tonight we're in Missoula, Montana and tomorrow we'll have made it to our destination in Washington. We spent a wonderful morning in Yellowstone. I hope someday we'll be able to go back and see more, it was so amazing. Lilly got to see more "elephants", and Hana and Ria got to make more of their "nature show". I really never thought we'd have so much fun.

The girls have done so well in the car on this long, long, long, long, journey, I'm so proud of them. I know our trip hasn't been what anyone else would consider amazing, but for us, it's been superb. For us, just the fact that we've all been able to sleep every night, without listening to Lilly scream about chicken nuggets or the pool, has been pretty great. I've heard things come out my my children's mouths that amused and amazed me. When we were in downtown Rapid City, SD, Maria told John, "Sometimes you make me worry!" Today as we picnic-ed in bear country, Hana told Maria, "If a bear sneaks up on me, you have to tell me!". And best of all, yesterday morning, as we drove thru the dark early morning in South Dakota, Lilly said to me, "The stars! All across the sky!"

I have in the past despaired the possibility of ever enjoying travel with Lilly. While we have had some tough moments, I have to admit this trip has been a blast and Lilly has been so good. I'm full to the brim with gratitude, and awe.

So here we are, a family of robots, full in Montana.