The House Portion of the Trip is Complete

Today was a very bittersweet day! This morning I had to hug my favorite Kelley's goodbye! Today is also the day that all the DeKelSki's split up and go our own way. We had so much fun. We played cards, fed 12 children more food than I even want to remember, we laughed, we cried and we built memories that we will never forget with our family.

The house was in an ideal setting and I am so thankful that for the second time we found a great house for a great price and it was not misrepresented to us in any way. The kids were great, although, it was very obvious to Jason and I that our "little girls" are definitely closer to their way out than they are to being little! Jason really freaked me out when he pointed out that Rachael only had five summer vacations left until college! Aggghhhh! So thankful for the time she wasn't hiding from us in the basement with her girlfriends :-)

The sweet part of today was all the laughter and fun we had traveling through some of our favorite movies. For those of you that know Jason and I really well, you can attest to the fact that our entire family, even the kids, talk in movie lines. Napoleon Dynamite is one of our favorites. So today, we toured all the major haunts from the film in Preston, Idaho. We even got to go in the high school, even though they thought we were there to register Rachael at first :-) Again, freak me out! We laughed so hard as we recalled all the funny scenes as we toured the town.

We stopped randomly in Logan, Utah at a Chic-Fil-A. We were so excited to find a place with sweet tea, we could barely stand it. It was really funny, when the manager that had taken our order asked if we were traveling and where we were from. Turns out, he grew up in Katy, TX and worked for 9 years with many of Jason's students at the Mason Road location. He and his wife moved to Utah in May when they became proud owners of the Chic-Fil-A location where we ate today. When I asked, what made him ask where we were from, he told us that anytime somebody orders sweet tea as confidently as we did, he knows they are traveling from somewhere in the south! Amen, brother!

We then headed to Salt Lake City, Utah. It is pretty, all nestled in the side of the mountain. We went to Tabernacle Square, the State Capital, the Salt Lake and our favorite spot was East Salt Lake City High School where High School Musical was filmed. We were just excited to take pictures in the front of the school but then a janitor came out, invited us in and gave us the tour and then left us to roam the school and get as many pictures as we wanted. It was really fun. The funniest part is the fact that Sharpay's locker is still painted pink :-) Those made for some cute pictures.

We were able to come back to the hotel pretty early, have a great pizza party in our room, veg out and watch some tv and now the kids are heading to bed. Tomorrow is a long day to head into Denver. We're excited to see some snow up in the Rockies before heading back to the heat wave of the century!

Thanks for sharing our trip with us. Can't believe that we're almost done! Just four more days!

Ruth

Ruth "The Nerd"- Sup!? I am having a blast on vacation! I can't believe it's almost over. So far one of my favorite parts was for sure our trip to Jackson Hole. Although we didn't meet Harrison Ford, we think we saw his private jet taking off! ;). I absloutely loved Seven Brides for Seven Brothers! It was the best musical I have ever seen! It was absolutely amazing! I loved our seats! Lauren bought some of the songs on I-Tunes and now we are listening to them NON-STOP! I think today's song we have been singing the most is Sobbin' Women! The best song in the musical! Yesterday we went on this amazing float trip and we finally saw our moose! 3 of them! We saw a mommy and little baby moose! It was pretty amazing! We have been playing lots and lots of Minnesota Rumy (which is almost like Phase 10) with Indiana Jones playing cards. I absolutely love Idaho! It is so pretty out here! I am going to be very hot when we get back to Houston, considering the high to day is 80. I am looking foward to the Olympic Training Center! I am so excited to go and see where my favorite Olpymic athletes train! Excited to be home and see everybody, but until then
Pufi Out! *PEACE!*

What's Been Up

Hey friends! We have been having a fabulous time. The weather here is the highlight of our trip. Its is about 50 degrees right now compared to the 150 in Houston. Since we last posted, we have been to Jackson,WY. WE LOVED THE TETONS! We had the best bbq lunch ever at Bubba's. We had a Sloppy Bubba, which for those of you that are curious is bbq brisket mixed with bbq pork served on garlic toast. We crossed Jenny Lake by boat and were told that the water was only 56 degrees. We then hiked up to Hidden Falls and it was well worth it! Jena Grace got a little light-headed but otherwise all the kids did fabulous. We left the park and headed back into town for the GREATEST musical ever! Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The cast owned it! They were super animated and really entertaining. The boys loved it when the fight scene was done in total slow motion, including one of the actors "falling" on Isaiah. Rachael loved it when Adam sang to her as if she was one of the girls in town who was a possible marriage prospect. We have been begging Jason to take us back the three hours to Jackson so we could see it again! Yesterday, we went to several places of entertainment. The St. Anthony Sand Dunes where Napoleon Dynamite's Grandma went on her date. We spent the whole day with just our family and it was really a fun special time for us. We also went to Harriman State Park, twice. We went once during the day and toured the Railroad Ranch, which was special since my Dad worked for the Harriman's and even had lunch with one of the founder's grandson. It was gorgeous and the tall evergreen trees made us ready for Christmas to arrive. We went back at dusk to hunt for moose. We found 5 beavers instead. We did get a fabulous picture of very fresh moose poop. But alas, the moose evaded us. Another highlight of the day was taking the kids for their ice cream award that they won a few days ago for finding all 50 license plates! Yeah! Today, was a fabulous day of card games, talking and eating great food here at this gorgeous house. Please pray for Jason as he has been in a lot of pain from his neck. Otherwise, we have been blessed with healthy and happy kids! We are going to go back to the park one more day but not sure which one. I also want to get up early and do a day a bird watching as there are some fabulous creatures here that I'd love to learn more about. The kids are loving spending time with their DeKelSki siblings. We only see them around meal times :-). Can't believe we just have a few more days at the house and then we head on to the final legs of our trip. Hope ya'll are enjoying the trip with us! Thanks for following along! Jana

Rachael's blog!

I am scared of rabbits to begin with. We saw one while Emily and I were running yesterday and it scared me to death. But not as much as the ghost stories we told each other last night! We did not meet Harrison Ford but I got quite a few pictures of his land that he owns in the Tetons.
We went and saw a 7 brides for 7 brothers play and it was amazing! I loved it! We got front row seats too which was awesome! We've been playing lots of Rumy and drinking lots and lots of water.
We have been having like and awesome time and the weather here is so nice. It is a little cold and rainy but it is really nice to sit out on our porch and look out at the lake. I saw the third Pirates of the Carribean:At World's End and it was horrible. I did not like it at all! Just like an F.Y.I.
We had party potatoes last night and Emily and I probally downed a whole pan ourselves and we had Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner and it was so good. Those are two of my favorite foods. Another F.Y.I.
Also I noticed that in Idaho my hair stays curled longer than in Houston. I like that it stayed curled like all day while in Houston it goes flat as soon as I walk outside
I have lots of good pictures although they do not capture how beautiful it really is here. I will post them on Facebook when we get home!
Good-Bye

Tonite's Post.

Yesterday we got our first look at Yellowstone National Park, and it was spectacular! It is amazing just how big this park is. One of the highlights was seeing Old Fatihful erupt. It seems that no matter how many times we see these things on TV there is no substitute for actually being there and witnessing it. There is just SO MUCH to see in this park that there is no way to catch it all in one visit. Even the best photos simply do not do it justice. We spotted several Mule Elk on the roadside, but are holding out for a bear this trip! Stay tuned to find out if we capture the ever elusive bear on film. . .

This part of the country is simply beautiful. Every mile provides a fresh view that is unlike anything before or after it. Every turn is a new sight to see.

Across from the house we are staying in is a mountain view that is breathtaking. Especially at dawn and sunset.

The kids are having the best time of all, finding that the imagination opportunities are nearly endless. Today, for example, there was a construction crew working on a house down the road. To the children, however, this was a group of white settlers bringing noise and pollution to their native lands. They were playing Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. Ki and Eli built a boat out of wood that they found, and Ki insisted that this was not a pretend boat, but an actual boat that will float. We will soon see if it is . . .

Shopping for groceries also proves to be an adventure here as well, seeing that it took over an hour each way just to get to the grocery store. But the trip 'into town' has been made and we are stocked up here now!

From the Kids' Perspective

Rachael "The Awesome" -Hello, my name is Rachael the Awesome DeKelSki. I am on vacation. Lauren is on a sugar high. And I am having a blast with my family. We went to Wyoming today. Summer home of Harrison Ford. Walked around Devil's Tower, where Steven Speilberg has been. Those were the highlights of my day. Cannot wait to meet Harrison Ford. Oh and I finished Lord of the Rings on my portable DVD player, which is purple. I like vacation. No school. Or math. Those are even bigger highlights. All right, that is all!

Ruth "The Nerd" -Because Nerds are Awesome! Today, we went to Devil's Tower and it is basically an all things movie field trip (ATM). Yesterday, we hiked at Sylvan Lake, they filmed National Treasure II there. Also a fun ATM field trip. Mt. Rushmore is pretty legit. I got a cool snow globe and a post card for Adam. We had fun at lunch at Subway today. Lauren could not stop laughing. That is all have a good night.

Ki "the Peacemaker"- In South Dakota, we went to Mt. Rushmore, which was beast. ha ha and I've dreamed about going there my whole life. We, me and my brother Isaiah, got four document souvenirs. We went to Crazy Horse which wasn't as cool as we'd thought it would be. I've been getting cool pictures so far. That's it.

Jena Grace "Miss Pretty Pretty"- Um, ha ha ha....I don't know what to say to people. Ummmmm. I like Mt. Rushmore. It was really cool. In the car, we've been doing fun stuff with each other like travel bingo and the license plate game. We only 7 plates left to find. And ummmm, when we saw the three deers fighting it was really cool. And I have had a lot of fun with Elisha. Tomorrow I am looking forward to getting to Yellowstone. And I hope we get there before it shuts down. Bye.

Isaiah "The Moose"- We have watched a lot of fun movies. And, it has been a long time in the car. (35 hours so far) We got cool documents that Dad got me and Ki. The Declarations from National Treasure the first one. (Declaration of Independence). And ummm, we ummmm, we saw really cool things and then climbed really cool rocks. And ummmmm, we did stuff really fun and stopped at Bucees on the way. And ummmm, we we we ummm, we left from our house and now we're all the way in Montana. And, ummmm, we saw the Blue Brothers where we eat. (Fuddruckers in Billings) I'm looking forward to seeing a bear in Yellowstone. We had a lot of fun seeing Mt. Rushmore with our friends. We saw Prairie Dogs. We are at a hotel, bye.

Jana "The Mom"-Well, as you can tell. The kids are having a great time and we are loving seeing the country. My favorite part of today was Little Bighorn. Love that time in history. Yesterday, I lived out a jr. high dream and stood where Kevin Costner stood in Dances with Wolves. We are laughing alot and learning alot. So blessed to be able to see this great country with our kids and friends! Thanks for all the prayers for safe travels.

Hey ya'll! We entered Kansas about 20 minutes ago. Weather is beautiful but hot! 9am and already over 90 degrees. Yesterday in Denison, Texas we saw 111! Crazy! The kids did awesome yesterday. We didn't even turn on a movie till after Dallas. It was so great to get to the Kelley's house and hug their necks. The kids are so glad to be all back together too! 4am came as a shock as Jason and I were awoken to Ki crying uncontrollably on our bed. Turns out he had jumped off the back of the couch and hurt his foot but hid it to keep from getting in trouble for couch diving. We erred on the side of caution and left to go to ER. We snuck out the back door so as not to awaken anyone. The Bartlesville ER was fast and kind. After praying that it wouldn't be broken, we were very relieved that it is just sprained! Thank you, Lord. So since we were up and couldn't get back in the house to sleep lol we gassed up the car and hit Starbucks. It was so relaxing to sit and watch the swans, geese and ducks play from the back porch until the house started to stir. At 7, I sent a text to whoever woke first to let us in. Gayla came and saved us! So now here we are on the road again! Praying for no more drama of any kind! So glad you are on this journey with us.

Who are the DeKelSki's??????

I just realized that ya'll might not know who the DeKelSki family is! This is actually the second roadtrip we've taken with our precious friends Barry and Brenda Debor, the "De", and Steve and Gayla Kelley, the "Kel" and Jason and I are of course the Ski's. We traveled together 3 years ago to Colorado and everywhere around and in-between so we're kicking it up a notch this time. You can follow the Debor's blog at http://adventuresinthesilverbullet.blogspot.com . Not sure yet if the Kelleys are blogging but if they are we'll let you know what their address is! Thanks for the prayers and talk to you soon!

One More Sleep Until Vacation

We are SO excited! We just put the kids to bed. I know its midnight but we want them to be tired and sleep in the car :-) They just finished watching the clean and edited version of the Blues Brothers. They are their father's children for sure, it was so cute to hear them belly laughing while I finished printing our hotel confirmations out and our tickets for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers while we're in Jackson, Wyoming. I am so excited to see that play in a real live saloon!

I can't believe we've been planning this trip since February and now it is finally here. Tomorrow is going to be an easy day for us. We're going to get up around 7 and hopefully be on the road no later than 9am. Tomorrow's stops might include a few letterboxes in Texas BUT DEFINITELY one of our favorites, say it with me-BUCEES!!!! We'll get our icees and snacks and do a little shopping. Isaiah is begging for a walking stick because he is the only kid that doesn't have one. What can I say? We got the other kids theirs before he was even walking. We'll keep you posted lol. Tomorrow night we'll meet up with the Kel part of DeKelSki in Bartlesville! Thanks for following us! Get some sleep because tomorrow we hit the road running!!!!! Please pray for safe travels for all three families and of course NO CAR OR KID DRAMA!!!! :-)

This Just In

So, the committe (that would be Jason and Jana :-)) has met and we have just added a day in Salt Lake City to the schedule. I am super excited for this last minute addition and have a HUGE surprise in store for the drive into SLC from the house in Idaho. Many of you may recall our last adventure, when we went to Winslow, Arizona just to stand on the corner. (Sing it with me) You know, Standin' on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine site to see. You may remember that we put our children on a flat board Ford for pictures. It is stops like this, that the kids laugh about to this day and the suprise we are planning is going to be a riot!!!We've got another cult classic in store for this trip and you will not want to miss the fun. I can't believe that we leave in 9 DAYS!!!!! So, I guess I better go find a hotel to stay in while in SLC. Can't wait to float the kids in the lake! Can you do that??? Or do you just look at it? Better look that up too....

20 Days and Counting

20 days and counting!!!! Okay, so the last few days have been spent making lists, making menus, putting together the kids travel books, and researching last minute destinations and adventures. We are so excited and are looking forward to so many things! I don't even know what I'm most looking forward too. The thought of driving to South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore seems daunting. After watching every National Geographic and special on Netflix about Yellowstone, I don't know how we're ever going to have enough time to see it all or take enough pictures. I am also so ready to just sit and relax and unwind from this crazy past year. So as we're completing all our preparations for a smooth relaxing road trip-what are your tips for having the perfect vacation?

Three weeks and counting!!!!