breathing deep where the air is thin: C to the M

Eric declared today Good Attitude Day.

It was needed.

The kids have done remarkably well, but today they are starting to have a few issues. It’s still not too bad, but obviously the traveling is starting to take it’s toll.

Eric and I had a great time in spite of it all, however. We found a great radio station playing “Hot Child in the City”, “Big Shot” by Billy Joel, “Dude looks like a Lady” by Aerosmith (I think Steven Tyler was singing about himself....), “One Way or Another” by Blondie, and all kinds of dandies like that.

Eric was a little mean to me, though. He made me drive for a full half hour today. What’s up with that? How am I supposed to fulfill my own agenda if I have to do his job?

And to top it all off, I missed taking a picture of a bearded house because I was driving (I won’t mention to him that I probably wouldn’t have been able to pull out my camera, turn it on, take out the battery, put it back in, removed the lens cap, focus and shoot all in the seconds it took to drive by it.) But I really do wish I had a picture of it. It was hilarious. I think should draw it for you, but it is late.

It was a two story house. The bottom floor came out further than the top and it was completely covered in thick, dark vines. You could hardly see the door.... kind of like a man who has a really thick beard and you can hardly see his mouth. Then they also had the vines continue up the sides of the house in two thin strips, looking like sideburns.

Describing it? Not funny. Seeing it? Very funny.

There is so much to see as you drive. It absolutely amazes me.

The beauty of the world, that it.

When we drive in Ecuador, I am overwhelmed by how beautiful it is there. And now, driving across the states, I am reminded about the beauty here. It is incredible - the variety of landscapes and how wonderful each is.

Even Nevada....

We were driving through the eastern part of Montana when Maddy commented about how flat it was.

“Honey,” I said, “You ain’t seen flat yet.” Actually, she has but I guess she just doesn’t remember. Manitoba is a whole lot flatter... this land has ripples and hills on the horizon.

To me, the flat prairies are as inspiring as the mountains.... the crops with their varying textures and shades of green. I love it. And the huge sky - seeing horizon to horizon.

All this beauty reminds me that this earth, however, is nothing more than a shadow. Even the most gorgeous, stunning sunset is only dull compared to what heaven will be like. Isn’t it crazy to think that even with how incredibly amazing it all is, it is nothing compared to heaven.

I know some people think this is ridiculous. How can it be so much better?

We just don’t have any frame of reference for anything more amazing. I suppose it is kind of like talking to someone born blind and trying to describe their child’s face to them. They have no frame of reference. It, or nothing like it, has ever been an image in their brain, so they can’t possibly manufacture a picture in their head. But if that same person had some incredibly surgery that would give them sight? Can you imagine how much in awe they would be of their sweet baby’s face? They would never want to stop drinking it in, marveling at how amazing she is.

I think that is how heaven will be. And we will be overwhelmed so greatly we will be dumbfounded as to how we could have thought this world was so incredible.

I can’t wait.

I also can't wait because you won't have to pay a small fortune to see the beauty in heaven.

And I am sure there won't be any mosquitos.

If you look at the far left of the side view mirror, near the top, there is a squashed mosquito on the inside of the window. I killed him and left him there as a warning to any other mosquito that might think he is smart and try to bite me.

We lunched at Subway again and Lucy again commented on the cleanliness of the bathroom.

I quote: "It's so sparkly in here!"

It took a while for the kids to get into the good attitude day, but once they did, they were great.

As per normal, Lucy took it to a whole new level.

Since she could talk, she could sing and make up all kinds of crazy songs with crazier lyrics.

Her singing to her new elephant lasted a good 15 - 20 minutes. (I accidently didn't pack "Sparkle" the dog, so she was stuffy-less. Falling asleep wasn't going so well, so I dodged into Walmart once again and picked up "Gordo"). Maddy, Eric and I had some good laughs and her and her song.

Cade and Mia have an uncanny knack of tuning her out when they want to.

Cade found all of the objects in the treasure jar.

Actually, he even found one extra.... I put a button in there but forgot to put it on the list. Oops.

Since the kids heartily adopted the good attitude day, they were rewarded with ring pops.

Looks like Cade and Maddy have reverted to their soother (binky, pacifier....) days.

We are currently snuggled up in La Quinta hotel in Bismarck, ND. I'm sure Eric choose it because it would give us a little taste of home. You know, Spanish - "La Quinta".

Since I am so not fluent I had to look up what quinta is. Turns out you not only would have to be fluent but also so a botanist to know that word.

It's definition? "A dyewood (yielding black) of the Napo region in South America".

So it really should make us feel at home - the Napo is in Ecuador, in fact!

La Quinta does not disappoint.

We knew there was a pool but the pool area had a mini slide and some fountain features and a basketball hoop. The kids were quite delighted - as was I.

They all were quick to figure out that if you sat on the fountain a certain way it looks like....