Day Two!

Day two of the Road Trip!  We left Cortez and headed up into the mountains, stopping every hour so that Eliza could get out and run off a little excess energy.

Run Eliza and you're not allowed to stop until you're laughing!!

Eva, the nature-girl, loves everything she sees. Eliza said, 'Jim and Joanne live in a beautiful place'!
As we were driving through heavy forest, we were playing I-Spy and it was Eliza's turn. She said, "I spy my little eye something beginning with Wwwwww!  (the 'w' sound rather than letter 'w').  We guessed 'window' 'wipers' etc. and finally gave up.  Eliza said, 'WAIN-fowest!

Day One - Camp Sweetie-pie 2013

I know - I'm a few days behind. There isn't much time left at the end of the day for blogging when one is chasing a four year old!

You can't drive past Four Corners without getting a photo of the kids standing on the four corners of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. Eliza managed to sit on all four states at once.

The first part of the road trip went pretty smoothly, even though Eliza is only four. She had a few brief melt-downs but they didn't last for long. We spent the first night on the road at a motel in southern Colorado. I checked Trip-Advisor and found one with both a pool and free wi-fi. But as with the best laid plans of mice and men, the wi-fi wasn't available.  Oh well, the pool was fabulous; clean and as warm as a bath, and the wi-fi was working by the next morning.

It's not easy to raise and lower the Camp S'pie flag when you're on a road trip, but we ceremoniously raised it before leaving the kid's house in Arizona, then rolled it up and put it in the trunk....then lowered it that night in the Colorado motel room.  

All is well at the end of Day One - Camp Sweetie-pie 2013!

Camp Sweeetie-pie 2013!

ROAD TRIP!  The Sixth Annual Camp Sweetie-pie.

The past year has zipped by and a lot has happened since Camp S'pie 2012. I sold my house, AKA Camp S'Pie Headquarters, in Oak Creek Canyon. I moved back to New Zealand and bought a house there. Camp Staff Joe & Anne, and their granddaughter Gia, couldn't join us this year so the number of campers and staff has returned the original number of 3 campers; Eva, Ethan and Eliza - and a staff of one. Eva is now 13, Ethan is 11 and Eliza is 4 so this is a good opportunity to make some major changes to camp. Joe & Anne offered their Oak Creek Canyon cottage for this year's camp but I decided to do something completely different. I'm picking the kids up tomorrow morning and we're driving to Colorado. Lots of exciting things are planned!

I've got new tires on the car, the car has been checked and the oil changed. I've got snacks for the road and games to play. As in previous years, the campers will have K.P. duty. Eva will be in charge of keeping the car windows clean and she'll also be the official camp photographer. Ethan (the techno-kid) is in charge of the GPS and seat rotation. (He gets car sick. We'll be driving through the mountains so he can look ahead on the map and figure out when he should sit in the front seat, giving Eva time in the front seat on the flat parts). Eliza is in charge of the car interior, changing the trash bags and making sure the other campers keep their area of the car clean.

Camp Director will pick up the campers (in the Camp-Mobile) tomorrow at 8 AM!  We'll double check the supply lists, play reveille with the official Camp Kazoo while we temporarily raise the flag (before we stuff it back in the trunk) and we'll be on the road.  First stop - a motel in southern Colorado with swimming pool, free wi-fi and a microwave so we can continue the camp tradition of movies and popcorn in bed.  Let the fun begin!  Camp Sweetie-pie 2013!

We've run out of room for handprints and signatures on the flag, so I've added some fabric streamers. This should be enough room for another couple of years.