Didn’t get time for a Daybook today so I thought I’d throw this list out there for your amusement.
Four jobs I have had in my life:
daVinci’s (kitchen & front desk)
English instructor (while I was studying abroad)
Director of Conferences & Special Projects
homemaker
Four movies I’ve watched more than once:
While You Were Sleeping
The Little Mermaid
Indiana Jones
Gladiator
Four Places I have lived:
Valparaiso, NE
Washington, DC
Montevideo, Uruguay
Austin, TX
Four T. V. shows that I watch:
Lost
Top Chef
Signing Time
“Sepame Street”
Four places I have visited:
Lucerne, Switzerland
Rome, Italy
Mendoza, Argentina (foothills of the Andes Mountains)
Las Cataratas de Iguazu (2nd largest waterfalls in the world where Brazil, Uruguay & Argentina meet – you really have to check out the link – it’s GORGEOUS)
Four of my favorite foods:
Tortilla Soup
Rib-eye Steak, loaded baked potato, & caesar salad
Enchiladas & frozen margarita
Rosettes
Four People who e-mail me (regularly):
Mom
JR
Livy
Aubrey
Four Places I would like to visit:
Jenny Lake (Grand Teton Nat’l Park, might as well see Yellowstone while we’re there)
Ireland, Spain, Poland, & The Czech Republic (counts as one b/c they’re all in Europe)
Victoria Falls, Africa (largest waterfalls in the world between Zambia & Zimbabwe)
Philippines (where my brother is from)
I also want to return to Montevideo to see my host parents one more time which I need to do in the next 5 years since they are getting older.
We’ve been to Mendoza too! That’s one of our favorite places in the world. Joe and I seriously thought about moving there for a while. How cool that you’ve also been there!
Wow, what a coincidence! I loved Mendoza. I also went over the Andes (by bus) to Santiago, Vina del Mar & Valparaiso (had to see one of the “other” Valparaiso’s since I grew up in Valparaiso, NE) which were much less enchanting to me. I felt so claustrophobic in Santiago – mountains on every side!
Neat post! I enjoyed reading these things about you!
Thanks, Aubrey!
How did I miss that you watch LOST? We really need to talk more!
Well, I have to admit that I’ve been recording the Lost episodes this season and I think I’m still about 3 weeks behind. It seems I can never get the time to sit and get myself caught up! Maybe this afternoon while I fold laundry . . .
Jenny Lake is BEAUTIFUL. We took a little ferry/boat ride across to take a shorter trail to “Hidden Falls.” Again, beautiful. I enjoyed Teton National Park more than Yellowstone… a smaller feel like perhaps you could actually see a lot! Tony and Wyatt loved Yellowstone with all its burbling and spewing geysers and mud pits. They are both great, really. We are planning a repeat trip to Teton N’tnl Park this June! I can’t wait!!!!!
Another great lake to visit (while it doesn’t bear your name…) is Lake McDonald in Glacier N’tnl Park. You have to tell your kids that is where you are going and see if they, too, look for some golden arches and greasy gut bombs when you are there. OH! and I have to say that I am familiar with “Sepame Street” although the other day my kids called it by another name… Elmo Street. OOOooPps!
Oooh! Your enthusiasm makes me SO excited to get to Jenny Lake! My dear friend & roommate from study abroad was from WY and told me all about it. I’ve wanted to go for the last 10 years!
Wow, how do you do so many national parks?? It seems daunting to arrange for the travel & keep all the kids happy during all that adventure – please share any & all “visit a national park” tips you’ve got! We’ve only been to Big Bend and that was before kids. Just a couple state parks since the girls arrived.
Yes, Elmo does seem to have totally stolen the show these days. He is very sweet, but I’ve always liked Grover, myself.
Ernie was good, too. Liked him and his duckie. Well, they all have their good points anyway!
As far as hitting the National Parks… let’s see. My first National Park Experience (I think – don’t remember for sure from my own childhood… it wasn’t a BIGGIE if we did go!) was in 2006. Tony and I had a little bit of time to ourselves and we went to Kalispell, MT and went into Glacier N’tnl Park and did the “Going to the Sun Road” and well, fell in love – with the setting – together. I am not really an “outdoorsy” person, by ANY stretch of the imagination. I grew up in a small town 60 miles west of Chicago and have always liked a hot shower, private flushing toilets and the ability to blow dry my hair. But, I do love visiting all the natural wonders… in Teton Yellowstone N’tnl Parks we did camp in tents… and woke 2 mornings to 18 degrees – not pleasant to me! But, we have found that we have the opportunity to visit these National Parks because of a few “key” things. First – we don’t stay put in one place for too long. We have had 8 addresses in our almost 10 years of marriage. Of those addresses, there are 5 of them that are more than 3 hours apart ranging from KS, IL, NE, TN, OR… Because we move around A LOT it seems we make a point to get to know the area we are living in before we move on again. (Another AMAZING lake to see that Tony and I had never heard of before moving to Oregon – Crater Lake… unbelievable and awe-inspiring and only a mere 2 hour drive – or 50 miles east as the eagle flies.) Second, we live a long long way from family. So, we can visit parks as we drive to Nebraska/Illinois to see family. We visited Teton, Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore and the Badlands last Sept when we DROVE (insanity, but fun… sort of) from Oregon to DC, NE. Not the shortest route, but lots of interesting stuff to see! We took about 3 weeks and also went to Seattle before heading home.
As far as the kids, in short – since it is already toooooo long… we do the following: First and foremost – be flexible, kids rule the show and we get to see what we want if we are doing it in a way that is appealing to them… For example, we wanted to see the Hidden Falls via a hike. The kids couldn’t have cared less about some hike to see some waterfall! But, they did want to go on a boat and they did want to see some animals. So, we took the ferry and kept our eyes peeled for wildlife – we saw a mule deer about 5 feet from us… COOL! Second, we try to get them involved via the Jr Ranger Program. Now they are always excited if part of our plan is visiting a National Park so that they can do some workbooks and a ranger talk and then swear in as a jr. ranger of another park and take home another new jr. ranger badge!! Most parks’ programs are for ages 4 or 5 and up. Third, arranging travel is easiest when you are in your own familiar vehicle! We have driven with the kids to all the parks… I can’t think of a flight to see any of them with kids. This way you can have a load of snacks, story books and other assorted items to busy them with. We do have a portable DVD player that we take on all such excursions… But, our general rule is that it is “off” when the sun is up or if we are IN a National Park… The movie is out the windows and all around them, so we skip NickJr and PBSKids during those times and save it for the end of the day when it is dark and we are trying to get somewhere and we need near perfect cooperation! OK, I have gone on for way too long and I can share more about what we do if you have more specific questions!!
As far as the parks that we have taken the kids to so far…
Crater Lake National Park, Oregon 2007
Glacier National Park, Montana 2007
Redwood National Park, California 2007
Teton National Park, Wyoming 2008
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 2008
Mt Rushmore National Memorial in the NPS, South Dakota 2008
Badlands National Park, South Dakota 2008
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona 2009
On the “hopes” for the rest of this year:
Teton, Wyoming (scheduled for June)
Crater Lake, Oregon (have a pass- waiting for snow to melt!)
Olympic, Washington (hope, pray, hope)
Mt Ranier, Washington (hope, pray, hope)
North Cascades, Washington (hope, pray, hope)
Wow, thanks for the details!