Hot & Cold

Duck greeted us with a picture of his gloomy weather down in Texas.  Of course, gloomy for him was still warm!

Princess Duck joined us today to show off the weather we had today--cold and snow:

While Duck had the warm weather, he did have a very long day while we snuggled up at home :p  We watched a movie, everyone did their chores, played some games, had a nice dinner, everyone off to bed.  All while Duck was still working away:

Poor Duck :(  At least he's back in his room now and off to bed!  I, however, am not because the whole Spring Forward thing is messing with my ability to sleep by the clock :p

Today was a lazy day for us but Duck was hard at work

Today is cold and snowy so we snuggled down inside and watched tv, played with W's new train, got out the dollhouse, and frankly, just be lazy ;)  The morning started off as all mornings should--with coffee!  Army Duck needed a big cup:

Duck is in Texas today and he was super busy with work but he did find time to take one picture for us, out near Pecos, Texas:

I must admit, we were a little jealous of his wide open blue skies and warmth.  We watched it snow most of the day and the kids fought over the blanket on the sofa :p  We were so lazy today, we didn't even cook a full on meal!  We made a salad bar, which was a bigger hit than I thought it would be.  They don't mind eating a salad as a side dish with dinner but while I will eat an entree salad as my complete meal, I've never tried it with them:

Excuse the dark lines on the table.  Someone *cough*Iz*cough* found a sharpie one day and those marks never did come completely off.  We are so used to them we don't even think about it but every once in a while I really notice them and think, hmmm, that looks bad.  Ah, kids.  Its always something!

I think if I had just dumped everything in the salad bowl and served it up they would have been resistant but putting all the toppings out for them to make their own was a lot of fun. Plus they could leave off the things they didn't like.  I thought for sure that bowl of cut up fried chicken tenders would disappear first but it was the grilled chicken that emptied out almost immediately!  Baby W ate multiple servings of veggies, chicken, and boiled eggs but barely touched the avocado--he's always been hit or miss with avocado.  He will eat it if its spread on buttered toast every time but plain?  Only once in a while.

After a few days at his North Dakota home, Duck is on the road again!

It is kinda crazy how many types of weather Duck can see on his travels--we will get pictures that look cold and gloomy and later that day it will be all sunshine and blue skies!

Miss Iz decided Army Duck should share our gloomy skies, too.  She said this time he's just napping up there ;)

Oh, Duck, you're so silly!

When we got in our truck, the kids started laughing--they said it looked like our Duck was up at the windshield trying to eat all the snow off the windshield so we could see better and they couldn't wait to send Dad and Duck a picture

Duck sent back a couple pictures of his own.  It was cold and snowy and kinda boring :p

And then Duck got super silly and the kids giggled for the longest time ;)

Duck is finally on his way home!

He started out his day still heading south for Texas:

Miss Iz got out one of our ducks and asked me to take a picture of him with her in the background:

And then Duck was on radio silence for the rest of the day!  He reached Texas and then had to wait a bit to see if he was being sent to Louisiana or heading back north to North Dakota.  If he was sent to North Dakota, we'd get to see him at least overnight.  We finally got the word that he was heading back north :)  He's in Oklahoma right now, enjoying Steak N Shake (we are very jealous--we don't have that where we live!) and his big comfy hotel room :p

We are starting to think poor Duck will never make it back home!

Duck started was working his way north today so he could meet up with yet another Big Truck so he could turn right back around and head for Texas again.  When the kids woke up, Duck still hadn't sent a picture so they sent him one:

Introducing Adventure Duck!  He has a little compass so we figure he's an outdoor enthusiast, hiking through the woods and bird watching or something :)  He decided to help made a Duck Adventures post ;)

Duck sent us a picture back that he had reached the Missouri state line.  My Busy Little B was so excited about this picture--he certainly does not take after me.  He loves bridges, I, however, do not!

Our next picture came from Army Duck.  Baby W fell asleep on my lap and I think Army Duck got confused--he thinks he was storming the mountain but it was just W's head ;)

Duck finally met up with the Big Truck in Percival, Iowa and then it was time to head back to Texas!  They made it into Missouri and are hoping to hit Texas tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Miss Iz had a dinner date with Adventure Duck :)

Kid Adventures got a snowy day!

After those gorgeous couple of days we had where we didn't even need a coat, the cold and snow came back :p

The next day we had a delay in school start times so everyone got to come along to Miss Iz's appointment.  It sure was cold when we went out to the truck!

And of course when Duck saw the ice and frost and snow Army Duck was dealing with, he sent us a picture of his weather:

Oklahoma was warm with blue skies and sunshine.

After Miss Iz's appointment we came outside to some sunshine of our own but we couldn't compete with the warmth of Oklahoma :P

At least we didn't get as much snow as they initially predicted!  The 7-14 inches ended up only being a couple of inches

Duck, though, couldn't help himself and rubbed it in he had the better weather ;)

More Duck and Kid Adventures!

Compared to the last few days of Duck and Kid Adventures, today was boring!  Duck did what he does everyday--be on the road.  The Kid Adventures Army Duck helped with groceries ;)

Duck traveled from Nebraska to Missouri today.  Only one picture, though, from a rest stop about 35 miles from Kansas City.

Here at home, we had back to back to back appointments, a trip to the medical supply store for more thickener and then loading up on supplies for the upcoming weekend before the storm hits (boo! snow!).

The Adventures of Duck, Trip Three Day Three

Duck was up early again and on his way!

They crossed into Texas today which means Duck drops off the building and heads north again.

Time to head back north!

Miss Iz found some more of our ducks (Princess Duck and a second Army Duck) and had grand plans to bring them along on our own Kid Adventures today but then she forget them at home :P

But that's okay because original Army Duck was already hanging out in the truck

We went to a kid's STEM exhibit at the museum today and much fun was had by all :)  Army Duck ended up staying in S's pocket because all of them were too busy having fun to get him out and take pictures with him ;)

Duck made it to Nebraska to spend the night.  Unfortunately, he doesn't get any time at home this trip--he won't even come close to us!  He met another big truck driver in Nebraska and in the morning they head south to Texas again with another building.  If their travel permits keep them on the interstate, the big truck doesn't need the escort so the building came down the first two days of the trip alone to meet up with Mr. Piper and Duck to get the building down south faster.  Tomorrow they will have parts of the trip off the interstate, though, so the timing is right for the big truck to meet up with the pilot truck ;)

The Adventures of Duck, Trip Three Day Two

Duck started his day much earlier than we did!  Because school is on holiday, we slept in (sort of.  These kids don't actually sleep in but they did watch cartoons so mom didn't have to get out of bed so early so.....).  Duck, however, was up before the sun and on his way!

Baby W had physical therapy at home so Duck had time to send us a few pictures on the road before we got going ourselves.

The kids decided today was a perfect day to send Dad their own Duck photos so Army Duck came along.

It was a beautiful day so we took Army Duck to the zoo! Because the tiger was Baby W's favorite last time, we went to see him first and Iz held Army Duck so he could get his picture taken with the tiger (basking in the sun in the background):

Our next big stop was the farm where Baby W discovered another favorite--the red pandas.  They were really active so he really enjoyed watching them :)

Miss Iz was fascinated by the porcupine:

All the Big Kids decided to show Army Duck they are family so they hatched from an egg with him ;)

The goats were fun to watch--one kept putting his head through the "window".  The kids fed him some treats and we petted him and even after we ran out of treats, he kept pushing his face to the window and enjoying some ear scratches.

A lot of the animals were off exhibit because even though it was a nice day, it wasn't nice enough for them yet.  But some had their winter quarters open so we could still go in and see them.  This tortoise was on the move while we were there and he moved a lot faster than I thought he would!

The giraffes were outside in their winter pens enjoying the sunshine.  I'll bet they'll be glad to move back to the big Savannah area when the warmth comes back, though :)

Another exhibit we spent a long time at because Baby W loved it was the meerkats :)  They were all over the place and made him laugh with their running and jumping and wrestling.

And of course my Busy Little B couldn't resist a silly pose :)

Baby W spent most of the trip in his stroller--he can walk a good distance but we covered over three miles and that is too much for him :p  He spent a good portion of the ride like this:

It look so uncomfortable to me!  But he used to sit in his high chair with at least one leg up on the tray.  His OT thinks it might be because his hip flexors are tight and so holding his legs down and together to sit properly might not feel the best.  We have been working on stretching and aligning his hips and he rarely puts his foot up on the high chair tray anymore but I guess he needed those feet up for his long ride.