Trip around the world in less than 45 minutes

Last night, my mom called to let me know what time she would get to Ames. My dad had a last minute towing job to Algona, so is driving down this morning (um, he's driving my grandparents down, so it's an added bonus, as I haven't seen them since Christmas, either).

Anyway, Mom asked if we wanted to go over to Kim's that night. The guys would hang out and keep an ear on the baby monitor, and the girls would go get the enormous amount of groceries it would take to feed everyone for the next two days.

After we finished getting groceries, we went to Kim's to goof off and talk for a bit. Around quarter to ten, LeAnn called from the road, and asked how far Waterloo was from Ames. They were running early!!!!! We decided to look up on google maps to see exactly how long it would take the to get here, and as it was only about an hour and a half, we decided to just stay at Kim's house until they arrived. My brother-in-law and my son decided to watch "iRobot" in the basement.

Kim was explaining Google Earth to Mom, but she couldn't find it on their computer. I suggested she download and install it, so we could show mom. We started off with the usual, typed in Kim's address, and got a picture of the construction site of her house. :) We did my address, and looked at the cars in the parking lot. We looked at Manson, which is still lo-res.

Then we got adventurous.

Paris!!!!! The Eiffel Tower is so COOL on google earth!!!!! Rome! London! Central Park! Las Vegas! Disney World - love the Mickey Mouse lake! Bourbon Street! Type in a city or a landmark, and rotate and zoom your way on a world trip! We were pretty perplexed that the Louvre "couldn't be found." Kim asked if I was spelling it correctly. "I was an art major, Kim," I joked, but we looked it up anyway, and yes, I was spelling it correctly.

We had a great time typing in different things, including showing Mom the lovely picture of Area 51. "What's Area 51?"

We talked for another 45 minutes, and then heard the car pull up in the driveway!!!!!

Yay!!!!!!

We stayed a short 20 minutes or so, just long enough for my niece to get used to us again, and get a little chance to talk about the important stuff. Then, we went back to my apartment, had a snack, and crashed at about 1:00 am.

"Set the alarm for 6," my mom asked. "Are you NUTS?" I asked.