Summer!!!

We're having a bit of a heat wave here in PDX. Fortunately, it's supposed to break in a few days. Which is great because we don't have air conditioning in our 1944 concrete house and, "It's too hot to care about anything" as my hubby put it this afternoon when I apologized for the house being messy. I was really frustrated because I got the front of the house cleaned up but it's been a struggle to maintain it. It finally occurred to to me that "if I couldn't keep it clean while the kids were in school, why the heck did I think I could keep it clean while they're home?" Also, my kids have been surviving on watermelon, popsicles and chicken nuggets because, in addition to the heat, I can't seem to keep any counter space in my tiny, poorly designed kitchen uncluttered so cooking is a huge pain. This is sad because a local organic farm delivers fresh veggies weekly to the hospital my husband works at. There's usually something we recognize or know how to cook, but there are a lot of things I've never cooked and haven't made to effort to figure out what to do with them. Long story short, we have too much crap and I'm tired of dealing with it. It's getting in the way of us having a full life. I'm ready to get rid of the junk and all the negative "stuff" that goes along with it.
  Anyway, we're gearing up for a cross country trek in a couple of weeks. Ian, Lia and I are driving to Alabama. Well, I'll be driving and they'll be asking, "are we there yet?" and requesting frequent bathroom stops. The kind that never seem to coincide with, gas or restaurant stops or any locally available bathrooms. My kids have become experts at weeing on the side of the road discreetly(ish). I mean, I tell them no one can see, so that counts, right?
  Despite that, I'm really looking forward to the trip. We're taking a less than direct route so we can work in a few visits with some friends along the way and we'll stop and see a few sights as well. We plan on camping some nights provided a campsite isn't as much as a hotel room. I looked up KOA and the price of a tent campsite wasn't listed. If you don't show me the price up front, I assume it's probably more than I want to spend. A lot of national parks also offer camping so we might give that a try. Another thing I'm actually excited about is what we're going to eat on the trip. I'm going to scout out farmers markets and other whole, healthy food sources along the way and my goal is to blog about not only our great experiences on the open road, but eating healthfully along the way. I'm a little concerned that Ian isn't going to like it because he's never really enjoyed vegetables beyond green beans, broccoli and salad stuff but, I also think that since we're in the middle of nowhere and the choices are take it or leave it, he'll take it. I'm not too concerned about Lia. She's a bit of a garbage disposal not picky.
  In the interim, we're getting vehicles up to snuff (yay, new tires! I mean brand new! I didn't realize treads could be that deep!), arranging play dates and birthday parties, and wading through an endless sea of Lia's clothes to pack for our trip. That's another thing I'm kind of excited about. We're going away for approximately 6 weeks and bringing 4 days worth of clothes, plus a few extra items like a sweater for evenings in the desert and a bathing suit. If we absolutely need anything else once we get there, such as a dressy outfit for church, we can get it there.So, in addition to visiting family and seeing things we've never seen before, I'm hoping that we'll be able to enjoy the experiences and people in our lives and this trip will provide a much needed change in perspective and when we get home, we'll see that we can live without all this extra stuff we're constantly picking up, storing, washing, and just tending to in general.