Wade and I are always down for a crazy road trip so, here we are again! Our summer of insanity started in Dallas doing Keely’s favorite thing; a pageant. It was an emotional pageant because of the passing of a sweet friend. Keely was honored with being named the first Kailia Memorial Award winner. We’d gladly hand the award back if it meant having Kailia with us. Kailia was an amazing kid that the world needs more of. Go do something nice in her name! Thank you McKinley family for starting this award!

After a quick two days at home, Keely and I headed out to Memphis. We got to enjoy some time with the Schwartz family before heading out to Atlanta for another pageant. While in Memphis we got to celebrate Hannah’s birthday, play with the pups, and laugh……a lot!

Now, we are off to Atlanta to pageant without Wade. Then to Charlotte to visit friends. Wade will meet us on Thursday next week. Until the next post friends!

Johnson Space Center was a huge hit. When the screeching stopped, I was able to tell Keely we were going. She was very excited and we could barely keep up with her!

Her favorite part was listening to the real life astronaut talk about his time on the International Space Station. It was a really cool lecture. We learned a lot of things at the space center and through the lecture. We learned that Wade and Keely should NEVER drive the Mars Rover. The favorite in our family were the toilets. Hey, priorities are different for everyone! All in all, it was a fun experience!

Four years ago we prepped to take a 4 year old on a 5000+ mile road trip. This time, we are prepping to take an 8 year old on a 4000+ mile road trip. We have friends that do these long road trips all the time. I’m not sure how they maintain their sanity! I’ve been incessantly planning to make sure I don’t hear “I’m bored!” I also don’t want her to be on the iPad for all 4000+ miles. So, if you were with us on the last journey, we are using some of the same things we had the first go round. We have her trusty tray that she can work on, eat on, whatever. It’s a little more beat up than when she used it originally but, that’s what 4 years of use will do.

I remade her sleep rest. It’s a bit smaller this time. My crafting skills have improved lol!

2015

2019

Instead of a tub of packets for her to dig in to, she has a tub of books and a binder with tons of things to do. We also have magic pen books, work books, and quiz books.

2015

2019

I really feel like I had to have MORE planned for her at this age than I did at 4. That could just be the crazy in me though.

We did have to add an additional item to our backseat. It’s the puke bucket. (It may be an ice bucket I accidentally stole from a hotel) Since the last road trip, K has developed abdominal migraines. Stress, travel, fatigue, not enough water, and too much sugar can trigger them. Fantastic for a road trip right? At least now we know and are prepared and know what to do.

So, we’re off for another adventure. Feel free to follow along. I’ll do my best at updating!

People have asked about this whole hockey thing. When did it start? How did this goal of trying to see a game in all the NHL arenas start? How long has it taken? Who’s going to be last? Do you include your daughter? You want answers? We’ve got answers. 

When did it start?

It’s more of a how did it start. Wade has been a hockey fan most of his life. He’s been a Redwings fan for almost as long. He’s been following them since they were referred to as the “Deadwings”. I was always a sports fan but never knew anything about hockey. Wade introduced me to the sport. It started with watching it on t.v. Then he took me to a few minor league games (Fort Wayne Komets and the Dayton Bombers). He followed that up with the big boys…..a Redwings game. I was hooked! Not long after that we headed to California to follow the Redwings. In one week we saw games in Anaheim, San Jose, and Los Angeles. This all began during the 2004-2005 season. 

How did this goal of trying to see a game in all the NHL arenas start? 

Not long after, we hit a few more games here and there. We got married and moved to Phoenix. Being hockey fans, we got season tickets to the Coyotes. We made a trip to Denver to see friends and happened to go to a game. At some point we went back to Ohio and caught a Blue Jackets game. After the game, we were talking to Wade’s brother about the arenas we had been to. Somewhere in the conversation (it’s been a long time now) somebody mentioned going to all the NHL arenas. That night we laid out the two ground rules. 1) We have to actually see a game IN the arena. We can’t just see the arena.We’ve been to an outdoor game in Chicago but, it doesn’t count because it was at Wrigley Field.  2) We have to be together. Wade has been to a Blackhawks game but I haven’t. It doesn’t count. Fairly simple and straight forward. As a bonus, I usually pick up a tshirt at all the arenas and Wade is trying to get a jersey from every team. We’ve missed a few but, our collection is large. 

How long has it taken? 

It’s not over yet. It’s been about 12 years we’ve been working on this. We try to work in games on my breaks from work. It makes it tricky. The Canada grouping we just did, we’ve been looking for about 5 years for a way to get them together. 

Who will be last? 

That’s a good question. Had we thought about that a while ago, we might have planned it better. However, Wade’s favorite team was our first arena. So obviously it can’t be last. We want to make it special. At this point, we are leaning towards Tampa Bay. Wade’s mom and brother can come down from Indiana (with enough warning) and Wade’s dad can come from Orlando. Plus, their GM is Wade’s favorite Redwing, Steve Yzerman (seriously, he’s all over our house). 

Do you include your daughter?

Some. She’s been to 5 (I think). She is just too young to get it. She likes hockey but likes the popcorn better. She will definitely be at the final game with us though. 

So there’s that. Any other questions, ask away! Thanks for reading!

Wade and I worked Friday morning and slept very little on the red eye. With the crazy events of the day in Winnipeg and the game Saturday night, we finally hit the hay after being awake for 42 hours. At our age, that’s asking a lot! We were exhausted and because of that, we had an adventurous bus ride back to our hotel after the game. 

We were able to sleep about 3 hours before we had to get up to shower and head to the airport. The Hampton Inn in Winnipeg had breakfast in a bag waiting for us. Winnipeg may not be a whole lot to look at right now but the people are SUPER friendly!!

We landed in Vancouver around 7:30 am. We headed to our hotel I hopes our room would be ready and we could take a nap. No such luck! However, the staff at The Sutton Place were awesome and gave us suggestions as to what we should do and held our bags. 

Upon their suggestion, we headed to Granville Island. They had a public market that would rival (not in size but in quality) Seattle’s or Reading Terminal it Philadelphia. We were able to watch the, clean our fish we had for brunch! That was pretty cool.  They had a Kids Market, tons of shops, a Kids Market, a distillery, and a great brewery. We are already trying to figure out when we will bring Keely. 

We’ve had such a great response from those we meet when we tell the, why we are in Canada. You know, the stereotype is true. Canadians are super friendly people. I don’t think we’ve met a stranger yet. (Except for the Winnipeg bus driver.)

Now it’s time to watch the Deteoit game (on T.V) and finally get some much needed rest!

Wade and I set a goal a few years back to try and see a game in all of the National Hockey League arenas. It combined our love of hockey with our love of travel and well, why not? We have been tryi…

Source: Spring Break!

Wade and I set a goal a few years back to try and see a game in all of the National Hockey League arenas. It combined our love of hockey with our love of travel and well, why not? We have been trying to cluster as many of them as possible.  Wade has been searching for about 5 years for a way to get Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver all at once. Amazingly, it all came together and we are able to hit them all during my Spring Break.  Beepers (Keely) is not on this trip as it would be way too taxing on her.

 

Spring Break started with a bang. My (Erika’s) dad was admitted to the hospital Thursday night with stroke like symptoms. Being the daddy’s girl that I am, that was difficult. I was pretty much a mess Friday morning when I found out. But, knowing that my dad would kick my butt if I took the day off work to sit at the hospital, I went to work. My principal and team gave me the green light to leave a half hour early and I headed up to the hospital. He was as feisty as ever. While I wasn’t completely okay with leaving, he was threatening bodily harm and I’m pretty sure he could take me, stroke and all.

Keely was less than thrilled that Mommy and Daddy were leaving (the first time ever she’s shown this emotion). She feigned a stomach ache and finally admitted she was sad. Two minutes after we were gone, she was fine.

 

We departed for Canada at 11:55pm on March 11th. After a less than eventful journey (but rather fishy smelling) trip through customs in Toronto, we are sitting at a bar in Winnipeg. Our first of four games is tonight. Should you choose to follow this journey, thanks! I’ll do my best to make it an interesting read. No promises!!

(He can’t even take his eyes off the t.v. game long enough for a picture)

We began our journey back west with a super quick stop in Indianapolis to have lunch with a few friends. Again, not enough time to see everyone we would have liked but, happy to see the friends we did see.

After arriving in St.Louis and checking in at the hotel, we headed to St. Charles for a nice dinner. It was a nice, relaxing evening.

Friday morning was pageant registration. After registering, we headed back to the room to get our game face on. Okay, well Wade got his game face on. K and I watched T.V. Competition began Friday afternoon with 3 events. K did great. It was the best we’ve seen from her. Afterwards, we headed out for a nice dinner. We sat out on the patio and enjoyed non-115 degree heat and non-99% humidity.

Saturday started bright and early. As we were preparing for her last event, visions of The Arch danced in our heads. Except, the director had decided to move crowning up to that evening from the next day. The Arch was pushed back to the next day and we began the waiting game. After crowning, we all returned to the room smiling and passed out!

Today, we headed to The Arch. K loved it. From the cramped closterphobia inducing egg ride up, to looking out every window. As we were waiting to head back down she asked for another museum. That kid! (How about a beer museum?)

K enjoyed the small bit of the pride parade she saw from The Arch.

Now, on to Tulsa!