Goin' on a trip, doo doo doo doo doo

When our oldest son was little Jason and I made up a lot of silly songs.  We actually had a competition to see who could come up with the better ones, and while mine were always very chipper, they were also very dorky.  Jason's were, quite simply, better in form and tune, but to this day we still remember all of them and have a good laugh every now and then when we sing them to the kids.

One of my dorky songs was a preschoolish one with the words, "Goin' on a trip, goin' on a trip, going' on a trip, doo doo doo doo doo."  Now I have to add that our son was actually in preschool at the time, so it wasn't really all that bad, but still, I'm not terribly proud of that one.

Nonetheless, every time we get ready to go on an adventure of some sort, I sing that little ditty, sometimes out loud, which then prompts someone (if not everyone) to tell me to stop.  So it's not surprising that as I sit down to write this inaugural post on our family travel blog, the humming begins.  It's just so catchy!

How did this big adventure even come to be?  

Well, I adore traveling, and so does Jason.  We both have had ample opportunities to travel, due to our chosen career paths in classical music.  Neither of us, however, has ever spent time out west, with the exception of an opera gig Jason performed in his 20's at the Utah Festival Opera one summer.  We've always dreamed of traveling a lot with our kids, but the typical suburban life doesn't really allow for much more than dreaming.

Until now.

With Jason's sabbatical from his university job, we have decided to take a trip.  A big one.  Since we homeschool our four children, our schedule is more flexible than most, and because of the university structure, which allows for continuing education time for professors, Jason has a window of time between professional conducting gigs to make this a reality.  So once Opera Columbus completes its run of The Marriage of Figaro, with Jason at the helm, we are off on this amazing journey.

Where are we going exactly?

That's for us to know and you to find out.  The basic loop we are making is south from Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico, west to California, then north and back around to the east.  We'll visit family, spend time in national parks, and eat a lot of s'mores.  You'll have to follow along to get all of the wild and crazy details!

Our goal is to have the kids each post once per week on this 8-week trip.  This is part of our geography curriculum, after all!  We each have an art journal and some travel watercolors, oodles of card games, and fully stocked Kindles.  We leave next week!  Why don't you come along for the ride?

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