Remember That One Time: Rest Stop Edition (and the super-fun trip that followed)

Bryant has taken a handful of trips to work for a client in Houston over the past couple of years and had a few on the calendar this summer, so we decided to join him on one.  It was the longest of this summer's road trips - both in road time and stay time - and was honestly fairly daunting, but only until it was the next thing on the list and we had a chance to sit down and think it through.  After doing a bit of research, finding several options things to do that would please several individuals, making a list of restaurants to try, and getting the low-down on Houston traffic, we felt ready for the adventure. 

Narrator: Little did they know what an adventure it would be...

This leg of the trip brought to you by The Boxcar Children audiobooks and lotsss of stickers from Grandma.

Our first pit stop was in Wichita.  The boys went to the Kansas Aviation Museum (It has been on Jacob's list to take Bryant there since about a year and a half ago when the kids and I went during the day on another one of Bryant's work trips.).  They happened to catch not only free admission, but also several planes rehearsing for the air show the following weekend!

He saw a pair of the plane pictured on his shirt!
(Can you see them to the right of the light pole?)

Lydia and I went to the Exploration Place - another attraction we had visited last time we were in Wichita.  We invested in an ASTC membership this year - mostly for the free admission to Science City - and were able to fully take advantage of free admission to other museums on the list over the course of this trip.  Exploration Place was the first!

This is where we spent most of our time - in the pretend garden area, picking and washing pretend produce.  Glad we weren't paying to be there...hahaha. 😉

We also stopped here to bulk up our snackle boxes and pick up some "thank you" treats for our next stop.

the first of several successful strategic snoozes
(Can you tell we're studying alliterations?)

We broke up the trip down with a visit/stay at Bryant's extended family's farm. 
It was such a wonderful visit, all around - we were treated to a delicious homemade meal, enjoyed playing with cousins, got to see and pet some animals, and slept well in these perfect accommodations!

We planned our lunch stop around our proximity to Buc-ee's (the kids and I's first time).
It didn't disappoint in food or entertainment value!

How lucky to run into the Buc-ee himself!

About two hours from our destination, we simultaneously lost almost all acceleration, saw the check-engine light flash on, and passed a "rest area two miles" sign.  Bryant put the hazards on, pulled us into the rest area, and set about assessing the situation.  The kids and I used the facilities, had a snack, played several rounds of "Mother May I?" and "Simon Says," and bought Bryant a Coke from the vending machine (a fun, new experience).  We found a quarter-mile trail around the little pond behind the rest area, ate more snacks, played my tiny-purse-Uno, and finally, set up camp on some benches in the rest area and broke out the iPads (something we hadn't done, yet, on this trip, so they were fully charged and loaded with some fresh entertainment).  While this all certainly wasn't ideal in the TX mid-day heat, we considered it a small miracle (the first of many) we weren't on the side of the road.

Since we were on the front end of our week-long trip, our snack (and water) reserves were high!  We fairly quickly burned through a couple garden cucumbers and tomatoes and the last of the previous week's grapes we had thrown in.  Small Miracle #2: I had brought along some "easy mac" as a treat for a hotel meal, since they only required water and a microwave.  Thankfully, there was a security guard/custodian on duty at the rest area who gave me permission to go "in the back" and use the microwave, because, "It seems like sort of an emergency, I guess."  The kids were so thrilled to "get to" have mac and cheese!  We also enjoyed some caramel-apple cookies our oh-so-thoughtful hostess from the night before had sent along.  They were very delicious and certainly a moral booster!

I actually found this unplugged and far from an outlet, so scooted it over to make use of it.  I chose not to photograph the inside, because I'd rather not remember it on purpose...yikes.  But it cooked our noodles, and that's all that mattered, at that point!

We had our picnic blanket along not knowing how handy it would end up being!

Yay!  Everything is wonderful!  Can't you tell?!  😏

Bryant spent literal hours on the phone with a buddy who used to work for Hyundai, roadside assistance, the local dealership, tow truck drivers, our hotel for the night, and who knows who else.  I had complete confidence in him to figure out the best possible outcome, so (surprisingly), I wasn't terribly stressed (this was also the Lord's provision of peace, for sure).  I just stayed in my lane and kept the kids as happy as possible.  I knew we wouldn't be there all night, and if we were, we had a couple sleeping bags packed, so...  We were just very glad to not be on the side of the road.

In the end, here's how it all shook out:

The car was not drivable - there was a terrible knocking in the engine.  The first tow truck (that would supposedly accommodate all of us) was called off the job after we had waited an hour for its arrival.  The second was en route not too long after that, but was two hours out and wouldn't hold all of us.  Neither Uber nor Lyft would come out to where we were.  The highway patrol line was busy.  So, our last option was to call a buddy Bryant met on a previous work trip who lives in south Houston.  

Small Miracles #3-7 or so: The friend was available; he so graciously drove the two-hours-one-way to pick us up, dropped us off at the airport Enterprise (the only location open at 11 p.m., but also the one where we'd planned to pick up Bryant's rental for work, anyway, the next day...so we just got both necessary rentals at once), and waited in the car with the sleeping kiddos while we got the rentals squared away.  His truck accommodated all our things, his kiddos are the same ages as ours, so we just used his car seats and didn't have to install/uninstall ours, and he was a great conversationalist after our unexpected five-hour layover at the rest stop.  He also was able to recommend a hotel that was closer to our next day's planned activities, ended up being cheaper, and came with a view!  (We had cancelled our original reservation thinking we'd stay closer to where the car was, but that didn't pan out, after all.)  Not all heroes wear capes!

11:30 p.m. - taking in the moon-on-the-water view while waiting for the boys to bring the luggage up

After a good night's rest, a hotel breakfast buffet with a view, and no ability to make any tracks with the car situation since it was Sunday, we were ready to move forward with our trip as planned.  We purposefully traveled down a day early so we could all go to the Space Center together (That annual pass I mentioned previously admitted us all for free here, as well!  It more than paid for itself with this admission, alone. 😮), and we were so very grateful to still be able to do so, despite the car trouble.  

It really was so cool!

I'm especially glad we went with Bryant, because he could answer all the questions I couldn't...haha.

We also took advantage of our proximity to the beach and headed down to Galveston for a couple hours.  Small Miracle #8: the forecasted rain dissipated and left sunny skies!  All Jacob wanted to do was be in the waves, and all Lydia wanted to do was build a sand castle.  Both requests were granted.

Tried a fun local seafood place for supper that evening!

We stayed in an Airbnb outside of Houston for the rest of our time there (pro move by my husband - it was so much easier than a hotel set-up, all around, but esp. for him to come and go from his 12-hour work shifts while the kids were sleeping).  After consulting the aforementioned museum list, I had found that we could get into both the Health Museum and the Houston Children's Museum, and upon further research, found that they were right across the street from each other!  So, we drove back into the city to go to both. 

He was very much fascinated by this.

I've known this guy since he was oh-so-tiny and spent many a summer babysitting him and his two siblings.  Small Miracle # 9: He was off work and available to meet us at the Health Museum and for lunch!  What a true pleasure and delight to spend some quality together as adults and with my own kiddos!

The "Kidtropolis" exhibit at the Children's Museum was truly wonderful.  Jacob spent the better part of nearly two hours going from ATM to ATM (there were probably ten or so) depositing, withdrawing, and being generally enamored by putting in a PIN and accessing his very own account.  We can tell you more in person, if you want - it was just really, really cool.

Lydia was a little more diversified in how she spent her nearly-two-hours, but was equally engaged and delighted by it all. 

We don't miss the chance to explore a new-to-us grocery store. ☺

Tuesday was spent closer to "home," so we could take advantage of the chance to meet Bryant for lunch.  When looking at the map for parks when we were planning out our days, I happened upon an equestrian center, so reached out to see if we could visit.  We spent over an hour watching training rides and petting horses!

It was pretty cool (and mind-blowing) to see the vast infrastructure of this and other companies in person.
(We were dressed to head to a really cool splash pad after this.  It sprinkled on us, a bit, but we were getting wet, anyway, so just stuck it out.)

Due to the afternoon's rainstorm, Bryant got off work early and was able to join us for supper!  The only plans that changed when the car broke down Saturday was a ferry ride to a restaurant on the shipping channel Bryant had been to on one of his trips here.  I had re-planned to take the kids our last evening there, and we were so glad Bryant got to come with us (Small Miracle #10!).  We got a window seat, shared a great meal, and were even gifted an extra dessert after the decision/indecision between two different ones ended in a 3-1 vote.

It really was cool to see all the tugboats, ships, and other watercraft.

There was a fun park across the street, and since the weather ended up being so wonderful (thanks, God!), we spent some more time watching the ships go by.

Watch timer selfie for the win!

The kids and I headed back home mid-week and were able to break our trip up again with a stay (with extended family on my side, this time) in Dallas.  My mom flew in there at the beginning of the week to spend some time with family and rode the rest of the way home with us.  It all worked out so well!

This was also the day we (finally) heard back from the Hyundai dealership about the car.  The tl:dr version and Small Miracle #11: the failed engine will be replaced under warranty.  Here's Bryant's expert explanation of the issue:

When the dealership called, they said that the engine had failed the bearing clearance test (which caused the engine knock we heard at the rest area).  This was due to the batch of bad "theta" engines they had made.  Apparently, the resulting class action lawsuit gave us a lifetime warranty on the engine.  It is a huge blessing that we are not going to have to pay for it out of pocket.  We were also grateful that the dealership had worked our vehicle into their schedule to get that ball rolling since we had been told it could be even the following week before they were able to diagnose it.  

So, we drove our rental back to KC.  Thankfully, Hyundai also agreed to cover the cost of that (equivalent sized - phew) vehicle.  The only downside: there was no CD player in the new-fangled rental, rendering our volumes of Boxcar Children CDs - our inflight entertainment - unusable.  😬

This is the sign for the same rest area, just going the other way.  The kids really wanted to stop, again, because they had such a fun time (?! - patting myself on the back for that one).  We didn't stop, but I snagged a picture, at least.

I have great memories of swimming in this pool at my mom's cousin's house!

Notice any resemblance to that other guy we got to hang out with?  😉
We were so grateful it worked out to see this young man (Small Miracle #12) and get a tour of (some of) his day-to-day.  It was just really rewarding to get to spend time with these guys that I babysat as infants/toddlers/little boys and see what amazing men they've grown to be.  It was also beyond special to watch my kids be so immediately drawn to them...and vice versa. 💗

♥

The rest of our drive home was without incident, and Bryant flew home safely a few days later.  To be clear, his job doesn't take him away from home as often as this post might make it sound.  We were glad for the opportunity to see some things we'd never seen and spend some extra time together, and all (mostly) on the company's dime.  ☺  God's provision and protection was so evident in all of this, and we certainly thanked (and thank) Him for it on the regular.

Gladly (for it all, but also, to be home),

Kensy

Favorites of the day:

recessing at the splash pad

coming home to freshly-arranged flowers from our very talented neighbor

stamping weekend (that also allowed for time with besties and an "11 years later" photo shoot)

 

Summer 2024

Phew.  What a whirlwind of a summer we have had!  I fully intended to post about each trip/activity in real time, but obviously, it never happened - we just went from one thing to the next!  There were several weeks in a row that the suitcases (and car backpacks full of activities) were just left out, going from unpacking to repacking.  But goodness - it was all so fun!  

We are very proud of our little travelers - all these trips were road trips!  I don't yet have words for how grateful I am to have had the opportunity to do all we did and see all we saw, so I'll just leave it at that: I'm grateful.  What follows is photo documentation of all but the very last trip we took (it has a post of its own).  I know there are a lot of pictures here, but I did what I could to narrow down the highlights, and as usual, am documenting mostly for posterity's sake.  

At the end of May, we made our annual trip to my mom's family's farm in Nebraska.  I grew up spending a week each summer on the farm with grandparents (and often cousins), so spending time there with my own kids (and cousins, still!) is so nostalgic and sweet.

This year, we also got to celebrate my grandpa's 90th birthday!

Lydia entered her "pony era" this summer.

And Jacob entered his "gun era." 

Can't tell you how many pictures we have from over the years of various little girls petting various little kittens.  Never gets old. ♥

Lincoln is halfway home and the perfect pit stop.  I always figure we might as well make a stop where we can also get a visit in!  This time was with this dear friend (who you may remember babysat me and whose girls I also babysat - gotta love a full-circle (or two?!) moment).

We also had an impromptu park playdate with friends we didn't even get a picture with, as it turns out.  But we didn't miss a shot of these two sharing the ice cream treats our kind friends treated them to.

We spend a lot of time at the library, and we were all so excited when they announced a stuffie sleepover!  They each chose a stuffed animal to drop off at the library one evening, and we picked them up at story time the next morning.  Both kiddos were so thrilled and delighted by the pictures of the stuffies participating in various library activities, and Jacob enjoyed figuring out exactly how the librarians pulled it off.  😉

The theme for the summer reading program was camping, so this was a perfect precursor for it.

In June, we took a trip to Colorado with my parents and brother and sister-in-law and kids.  Growing up, we often took trips to Estes Park and had done so together recently for a family wedding.  The kids loved the "fancy" Airbnb in the mountains so much that we decided to make it happen again this summer.  This time, we tried a different part of Colorado, and our time hiking, eating, playing, and hanging out was just as enjoyable.   

Perks of traveling with grandparents: built-in child care while we took a mountain sunset stroll!

The little girls collected these on our first hike.

The property where we stayed had so much to offer, including lots of really cool rocks!  The kids collected, washed (those tiny squirt bottles from the food fight came in handy!), and "sold" their collections.

They even made price tags and fake money for everyone to use. 
Lydia was the most *diligent* about setting up her shop.

Bryant ordered gold-panning equipment with our gold-obsessed son in mind, and it ended up being great entertainment for young and old!

They found lots of sparkly dust, at the very least!

Very proud to be doing this by herself.

When your cabin is 20 mins. up the mountain from the nearest town, you just bring your own sundae and enjoy them with the view after the kids go down. 
(What is it about Magic Shell?!  I love it so much.)

The Adam's Falls hike was our favorite!  We lucked out with a beautiful morning for it, and all our little hikers did so well.  It truly had something for everyone!

♥

when you get to go off the trail...

...and when you're too little to go with the big kiddos, but you and Mom find the first water access of the hike(!)

We spent a long time here...and could've spent all day. ♥

Ice cream in Grand Lake was a hit.

♥

After finding the trek to the destination lake of the trip's last hike to be less accessible than we anticipated, we pivoted and found easy access to Lake Granby.  Lydia put her swimsuit on, too, after this picture, and the kids enjoyed some chilly CO water play.

Since we didn't go all the way into RMNP, our access to the ever-memorable "summer snow" was limited.  Thankfully, our trip home took us through Winter Park where we found this!

Our trip home also took us through Byers, CO!  We didn't plan on stopping this time, but someone happened to need a pit stop, so we pulled off and went all the way into town.  We decided to go ahead and pick up a couple things for lunch, and when Bryant asked if we got a discount for having the last name Byers, we got 10% off our purchase!

I'm not usually one to make goals or bucket lists, but at the beginning of this summer, we did write down several things we wanted to do, eat, see, etc. (mostly because the requests kept coming in, and I didn't want to drop the ball on any of them).  Here are some of them:

We went to the new Paw Patrol movie as a family several months ago, and "Summer 2024" had been on Jacob's radar ever since seeing the trailer for this one.  It was the perfect activity the day Daddy left for a work trip.

One of the things things I had added to the "to do" section of our summer list was cataloging our books.  I often find myself at a sale or store thinking, "I think we have this one, already, but I'm not 100% sure..."  We've also often speculated as to just how many books we own.  So, I found an app that made it super easy to scan in each one, and we did it in just a few sittings.  The count, as of now (not including books we have stored away for later or the grown-up's books) is 784.

We had gone on a family date to the Iron District a few months prior and were all surprised by a new ice cream shop.  We weren't ready for everyone to have ice cream at that time, so we put it on the summer list...

...and thoroughly enjoyed getting to partake when we did.

Gardening was obviously on our summer list.
We harvested carrots in several instalments, and they all turned out great!

One of our standing summer rhythms is to have a "movie time rest time" after a morning of water play (pool, splash pad, etc.).  This one was especially sweet after a morning of not wanting to be near each other, at all.

I made a small post about Jacob's birthday in real time, but thought it should be documented with our summer activities, as well.  We celebrated him on his actual birthday, again with his birthday buddy (and others) while in Lincoln for the Fourth of July, and again at his (first ever) friend party the following weekend. 

Lydia was very excited to give Jacob his gift from her.

So thankful for thoughtful neighbors who leave gifts before they leave for vacation. ♥

Thank you, Dollar Tree, for having giant gold balloons. 
This gold-obsessed kiddo has this in his room to this day.

He and I designed and made his shirt together this year. ♥

We were close to one of my favorite coffee shops that day, so of course, we drove through.  He greeted the barista from the back and said, "It's my birthday!" which earned him a free cookie.

He asked to go to library story time on his birthday, because he knew they'd sing to him. 

Then, he asked if he could (finally) get his own library card.

His dream came true to use his own card and his own code at the space machine!

His favorite place with his favorite people...

...for his favorite meal...

...and best dessert!
(He chose the chocolate cake, but after reading the description, requested caramel sauce instead of chocolate...all on his own.)

These guys put several miles on this and various other vehicles during our July 4th festivities!
Made for easy conversing for the mamas, in the meantime, for sure!  😉

He asked to help make his party treats.

I think I already posted about his police Lego birthday party at the local Lego store, but if this is news to you, please ask us about it!  It was just so wonderful, and while it was initially difficult for my frugal self to pay for someone else to host his party, it was totally worth it. 

I don't often catch shots of this girl's hand-me-downs anymore...

...but I'm glad for the times I do.

The kids attended a quintessential VBS at our friends' country church, and it was just the best.  So fun to attend with friends, so well done, and so refreshing for me to have a couple hours to myself each morning that week.  We're still singing the songs (for real)!

We passed these signs on our way out of Crown Center and realized they had just attended both advertised events!

Not pictured: Jacob's day at church day camp, 1.5 hours from home
Pictured: my brunch at an Amish bakery in the nearest town while I spent several hours doing homeschool planning before picking him up

♥

free birthday custard (and one for sister, too!)

My college (and beyond) roommates are both teachers in Omaha, so we make a point to see each other at some point each summer.  This year, the kids and I went up to Omaha to spend a couple days with them.  The kids were so excited to go see these friends, which of course, made my heart swell.

They were gifted their very own (mini!) Owalas!

We checked out this really cool playground on the riverfront, visited a favorite splash pad, and spent lots of quality time reading, playing fetch, and enjoying treats.

I had planned an Omaha/Lincoln trip for spring break of 2020 that was, of course, cancelled due to Covid.  I had made plans to see several people over the course of just a couple days, and I was very excited it had all come together...and super bummed it when didn't end up happening.  I was so glad to get to sort-of recreate that trip this summer.  After visiting Omaha, we went over to Lincoln for about ten hours, and by the grace of God, it worked really perfectly to see so many friends!

We loved our morning at the zoo!

From one zoo to the next...😉
The kids talk so often about the cool animals they see at Arts Inc.

I nannied for this sweet friend's youngest two when they were about my kids' ages. 
So thankful to maintain this friendship and mentorship.

Speaking of mentorship, what fun to get to spend time in person with this friend (and her engaging and entertaining hubby)!

A surprise, but very necessary, addition to my part of the summer list was spending time with this new baby nephew kitty.  This particular trip to Manhattan was very short, but filled with so many snuggles.  It's a little difficult to tell in these pictures, but Lydia and I both shamelessly wore our kitty shirts.  😸

His name is Sunny.

This was at like 11 p.m.  Soaking up those snuggles...

Jacob loved playing with him very much and wore him out!

♥

We specifically went to this zoo to see the cheetah (after this mom missed a requested photo opp at the Lincoln zoo).  The cheetah was (understandably) napping in the shade, so was difficult to see, but a zoo volunteer happened to have this pelt out for petting, which was just as (if not more) thrilling.  Phew.  Thanks, God!

The Olathe Lake Spray Pad has been on our list for a couple summers, now, and we finally made it this year (with our favorite pool friend)!  The adjoining beach we had planning to build sandcastles at was closed, but thankfully, the spray pad area had it all - sand included!  It is honestly such a cool play place.

These kiddos do a lot of reading and love to be cozy, so I certainly didn't pass up these pillows (the last two of their kind...and in their colors!) at Aldi.  They were beyond excited and put them to use right away.  Getting those minutes in for the reading program!

Jacob lost three teeth this summer!  Bryant mentioned having filled his teeth gaps with tic-tac's once upon a time, so of course, we had to try it out.

Jacob won the Awana pinewood derby, which earned him tickets to a Monarch's game!

We had a couple days to ourselves while the kids camped with my parents (and cousins - good job, Mom and Dad!).  The power was out for most of it (hence the glistening skin), so we didn't feel at all guilty going out for a nice meal...in air-conditioning.

♥

Our penultimate trip of the summer was to Tennessee.  A podcaster I follow (Annie F. Downs) was hosting an in-person ten-year celebration at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, and with some encouragement from my husband, I bought a ticket for myself when it was announced last winter.  We decided to all make a trip of it so we could also visit Bryant's grandmother (she also turned 90 this year!), who lives in the area.  We really enjoyed our quality time with her, as well as swimming in the hotel pool and taking in some of Annie's recommended Nashville eats and treats.

Our garden-fresh flowers made the 9-hour trip in tact!

♥

The hotel was so gracious to let us utilize their conference room. 
It was perfect for puzzles, meals, and more!

I've listened to Annie's podcast for all ten years, and it was really wonderful to be there for this celebration!

She sent everyone out the door with a popsicle!

downtown Nashville from our hotel room

If you ever find yourself in Nashville, we have some delicious recommendations!

I was influenced into making this "easy summer salad for busy moms," and was pleased to have all the ingredients on hand and half from our garden!

I grew up playing "mad scientists" outside (colored water, baking soda and vinegar, etc.) and haven't done it with my own kids nearly as often as I thought I might.  So, we "did it up big" and invited our homeschool group over to play with us!  It was the best.  ♥

The sign of summer's end: Awana beginning! 
Lydia is so thrilled to finally be in Cubbies.

Look at her looking up to him. ♥

This post is to be continued with our last trip, but will leave it at this, for now.  Again - I'm so thankful for the opportunities and experiences and quality time we have had with so many people over the course of just a few months.  Of course, these pictures are just glimpses of it all and often only tell part of the story, but over all, it was all so good.  If we weren't traveling or doing any of the other pictured activities, we were likely gardening, swimming, building Lego, and/or doing laundry so we all had enough undies to leave again. 😉

Somewhat-weary-travelerly,

Kensy

Favorites of the day:

snackle boxes

getting just a couple of lots of offerings from Sprouts bulk bins

sharing garden produce