Time Out Forever!

This morning dawned bright and early as usual (for some reason the girls wake up at 6 a.m. every morning - which is 4 a.m. Utah time - I haven't figured that out). Curly was excited that we had plans to go to Costco with our friends - the Collings. I was getting ready to go and couldn't find my drivers license. I keep my license, metro card, and a credit card bundled in a rubber band so that it is easy to keep in my pocket when we go sight seeing - all three were missing. After searching my room, I asked Curly if she had seen them. She said "I did!" and ran into her room. She pointed at the air vent and said "They're down there." I took off the cover and could the see the credit card and metro card. I tried to use a long spoon to slide them within reach and heard the metro card fall with a clang, but was able to get the credit card. And thus began the excavation of my metro card and drivers license. Our friends arrived about that time and Lia and her sister were very helpful. We tried a long spoon, an unwound hanger with inverted duct tape on the end, a vacuum hose, and some other interesting contraptions that we rigged, but alas - we could not recover the cards. We also attempted to pry open the vent in the basement (which is fortunately not finished) but gave up on that. I tried a few more things during the day and stuck a camera down the hole to take a picture which showed nothing within sight - uh oh! (but thank goodness for the miracle of instant digital photography). I called the Utah DMV and found out that without the ability to be there in person, it would take 3 months to get a replacement license. It was then that I decided to wait for Fisher's advice.

On his mission, the other Elders called him MacGyver for good reason. After attempting several of the same things I had, Fisher pried the vent open below - Long story short - After a lot of time, vast amounts of dust, another hole in the vent (cut with a utility knife and hammer- see what I mean - MacGyver), and all the house hold tools we could squirrel up, we were victorious! Fisher told Curly that if she ever puts my cards down the vent again she will be in time out forever! She reiterated this to me as I put her to bed tonight.

The first futile attempts
So close, then gone!

After cutting the first hole. The metro cards corner is barely showing up close and the drivers license is just visible way down the vent.

I love my MacGyver!

Sweet and Sour

The Sweet
1. Awesome parks - everywhere! Like this park called Clemyjontri where we had a playdate with the Ethingtons, (friends from our newly wed ward). Curly loved playing with the darling girls and I loved visiting with their darling mom! The playground had a free Carousel!

2. The Diversity. I kind of feel like the minority in my neighborhood. At the playground, most of the other children speak a different language or look a little different than us. It's great. Plus, there is lots of ethnic food to try. Last night, we had fabulous Thai from the coolest, tiniest, take-out place I have ever seen.

3. The sites - I am sure we won't run out of things to see or do and the great thing is that most of it is free! Yesterday we visited the Holocaust Museum, one of my favorite things so far - I just with I could have seen more of it. DON'T GO THERE WITH YOUNG CHILDREN! It's a quiet memorial museum and even Lou's happy squawks got dirty looks...I eventually just had to leave because I felt conspicuous about the girls whinyness. I hope to make it back though!

4. Friends - Jill, the Ethingtons, new friends from our ward and neighborhood and my cousin Nikki who has come over for dinner each week. Curly loves it when "Mickey" comes (and so do I)!

5. Public Transit - I just think that well-functioning, easy to use public transit is cool. Especially with gas prices so high!

The Sour
1. So close, yet so far - Even though, most things are so close, it seem like it takes a really long time to get anywhere - If you drive there's traffic, buses and trains are great, but just take longer... We love walking, but it is not the fastest mode of transportation, especially with all these hills.

2. People and stuff everywhere - It's crowded - lots of people, lots of cars, lots of tall buildings, It always feels congested.

3. I miss my kitchen (especially my Kitchen Aid) and my nicely stocked pantry. I also miss my family and friends. At least I know I get to see them all soon. I am sure it will be a happy cookie-making reunion with the kitchen! :) I'll be happy to see family and friends too!

Silver Spring and beyond...

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and since arriving in Silver Spring a little more than a week ago, we have done so many things that the thought of blogging about all of it seems impossible to me.. so here are thousands of words (in pictures) and a few real words too.

We live about a mile and a half from the temple.












The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History - the butterfly house was very cool!

Curly and Lou's birthday countdown chains. Notice Curly's shirt. She has decided that she like's Lou's clothes better than her own and is modeling Lou's sundress.














- My close friend, Jill, lives out here and I have been able to do things with her several times. She came with us to the museum and we visited her in Virginia. The girls adore her!










We took a tour of the Supreme Court, walked along the National Mall, and enjoyed the flowers at the National Botanic Gardens.











Our ant infestation! We are working really hard to get rid of them... at least they aren't cockroaches!















The National Air and Space Museum



Lou's first taste of ice cream at the NASM. She's a fan!Lincoln Memorial. We have very few pictures with the girls because they are either asleep or too grumpy to participate in a picture.

Can we sell the car and fly home?

Our 2,000 mile road trip was, well..., long. 35 hours of driving... 78 gallons of gas ... 10 states ... 13 rest stops ... 6 fast food joints ... and two squirmy children ... We made it here with a few big highlights along the way!

We were able to visit friends in Kansas City and Indianapolis. In Kansas City, we saw the recent tornado damage, but fortunately didn't see any tornados. We also visited Liberty Jail and Jackson county. Curly loved playing with Timo and Bella!

In Indianapolis, we relaxed and it felt great! Alli and her mom (who was visiting) served us a wonderful home-cooked dinner, Curly met Jackson, another great friend to play with and we enjoyed a walk to the the lake near their home. We love that part of the trip and we wished we could have visited with both of them longer! Thanks you guys.

It was the last leg of the trip that was the longest and saddest and hottest (for everyone)... The car started overheating, so we had to turn to AC off while going up hill. I think we had all about had it! We were about an hour from our destination when Fisher said, "Can we sell the car and fly home?" ... I wish!

Dispersing

Our time in Rexburg has ended and tomorrow we will make the looong drive across the US to Washington DC. I would rather blog right now than pack... so here is the wrap-up of our last fun filled week in Idaho.

I attended to my sister's high school graduation. She is the last of my siblings to graduate from good old Madison High School. I saw many of my old teachers and we sighed that it is the end of "The Lovell Era".

Our good friend Susanna and her children visited my family. Susanna was our exchange student a long time ago and has always remained close with our family. We had so much fun playing with her and her children. Audrey's cousin Letty also came to visit and the three girls had so much fun together!

We got to visit all of our favorite Rexburg, Idaho tourist attractions (yes, there are great things in Idaho). We went to the Carousel and park. We picnic-ed, rode 4-wheelers, and flew kites at the sand dunes. We visited my family's cabin. We went to the Playmill in West Yellowstone. We ate frozen yogurt at Millhollow (there is no fro-yo like Millhollow's) and had Craigo's yummy pizza buffet.

There was a houseful at my parents all week and in the next 24 hours everyone that was there will disperse across the United States. Susanna is headed back to Georgia. My sister is headed to California. My brother's family already went back to Washington and we will head east. Then my parents will go home to Idaho all alone...sad.

Well, that wraps it up. We won't have internet at our house, so who know how often I will be able to blog. Hopefully it will be soon! Until then...