Happy Halloween!

Posted on October 31st, 2011

It’s that time again… spookiness is in the air and the smell of candy drives children wild. Both of our school kids were able to visit the pumpkin patches as a field trip, and Sam got to pick out baby pumpkins from the school. The season has been fun, rather wet… but wonderful.

Until it snowed… October 29th, 2011 gave us 3.5 inches of SNOW! Tonight, as we went trick or treating… there was still remnants of the white stuff on the ground. Last year it was t-shirt weather, this year we had to bundle up like Eskimos!

Yesterday was the school’s big family fall festival. We spent all day at the school working and playing. The kids had a great time and got to wear their costumes. Later that night we were able to carve our pumpkins!

The boys were still not very helpful when it came to cleaning out the pumpkin guts… but they posed well for pictures!

Say, "Pumpkin!"

"Scooping"

The Girl is a real scooper!

We had great fun deciding on faces this year… we went with scary and ‘mad’ looking pumpkins.

This is what my pumpkin looks like, Mom!

Happy 'scary' monster teeth

Some just don't line up...

The Pumpkin Crew!

All a-glow...

Bonus Pumpkin #1

Bonus Pumpkin #2

This year’s costumes were very traditional… Trin decided to be a mummy, Jake a dead-guy ghost, and Sam wanted to be a bat. Costumes were fun and simple to make and we all worked hard and had lots of fun. They were perfect for wearing all day during the festival, all day at school today- and then for trick-or-treating at night. We got a LOT of use out of our costumes this year.

Trin the Mummy at school, with her pet bat

Top two at musical chairs!

Before we went out, we had to decorate our walk. This year we made jar-o-lanterns! We painted our glass jars with pumpkin faces and added candles. The looked GREAT on our little wall.

Jar-o-lanterns

Pumpkins in place and a-glow!

For the main event- the kids went all out in their costuming and added face paint to make themselves look AWESOME!

Our lady mummy...

A scary bat

a tough bat face...

A dead-guy ghost...

The close-up

Happy Halloween All!

We’re going to eat our candy now…

Posted in Posts | Tagged as: bat, dead-guy ghost, fall, Halloween, jar-o-lanterns, Kids, mummy, Pumpkins, scary | Leave a comment

My baby’s birthday…

Posted on October 6th, 2011

(Please remember that you can click on a picture to view it better!)

4 years ago...

It’s hard for me to realize that my littlest guy is NOT a baby. Today he turned 4 years old. He’s more than officially a preschooler! He’s a strong willed, intelligent and playful spirit. He is full of love, has no concept of fear or age… the world is his adventure and he’s going to live it to the extreme. He brings me joy, gives me headaches and makes me laugh. I see his father every time I look at him, which brings a smile to my face while simultaneously makes me worry just a bit more.

Another real 'baby' pic

At four he has big dreams… he wants to be a fire fighter that goes to outer space. (His lack of fear will surely help!) He’s already at the cusp of sounding out words, and tell stories that make my head spin. His imagination is vivid- and his love for super heroes edges on obsession. In all, he’s a wonderful little guy. His sense of self is well established. He’s a joy and I’m thankful for every day that I have with my guy… I’m going have a hard time letting this one grow up.

Sam and Ellie, much too big!

His fourth birthday started out well- he woke up early and got to have the last bit of Boo Berry cereal while everyone else got Apple Jacks. Since it was a chilly morning, he got to open his present from mom and dad before we left to take the big kids to the bus stop.

Leo hat!

The morning was spent watching Diego until we had to do a bit of work at the school. First we needed a special lunch to keep us ‘energized’ so we ventured to McDonald’s for a happy meal. Then it was off to work… while mom painted signs, Sam played in the field- turning sticks into light savers- then took a bit of time to play on his ds. If I had to guess, Lego Batman is what’s going on there. He really is a big kid.

all play...

We came home in time to get the big kids off the bus and welcome our friends over for cupcakes! The day turned out to be gorgeous and perfect outside playing weather, so the kids played happily while we set up the treats.

Super Cheesy Hero Cupcakes!

Mom made gluten free (I wanted one too!) chocolate cupcakes the night before and decorated them with various super hero theme designs. Yes, I was made fully aware that the toadstool cupcake is NOT technically the mario theme, but it worked. Also, the silly three lines there? Those were made by Wolverine himself, ok? They tasted really good, that is what matters in the end.

The "power ranger" cupcake!

Everyone sang to Sam after we lit the candles. There were 8 kids singing… it was quite a bit of energy for him, but he loved every second of it!

Whoa, that's a lot of singing!

His eyes... they are so happy.

Blowing out the candles

Now it was time to open his presents. He had ‘patiently’ been waiting all day. He knew exactly what he was getting because he TOLD everyone exactly what he wanted. I’m just glad we listened, because I’m not certain what would have happened if something else would have been in those boxes! Sam LOVES Fisher Price’s Imaginext Batman Heroes. We call them, Chunky Heroes, as they are built rather sturdy. He already has the giant bat cave and all the batman guys… including a couple bad guys. However they just released a new set of evil villains- which HAD to be had in order to complete the scenes.

Thank you Grama Jo and Papa Dave for the new Joker Fun House, Penguin and Two-Face characters!
Thank you Grama Jeanne for the new Catwoman and awesome motorcycle!
Thank you Great Grama and Papa Majesky for the new Clay Face and Killer Croc characters!
Thank you Great Grama and Papa Bradshaw for the ‘big’ money to buy “everything Sam wants!”***
Thank you Rose family for the wonderfully difficult to transform Bumblebee transformer!

It's TWO FACE!

Checkin' out the Joker house

It's a SINGING card!!!

Sam was a pretty happy camper when all was said and done. The little party was held right after school because our friends had various sporting events that evening, but it was perfect because it left a lot of time for the kids to break in the new toys (and introduce the new evil villains to their hero counterparts.)

All set up on the front porch

In all, it was a great birthday.

***Bonus Story*** This happened on the way to McDonalds… Sam was so anxious to open presents that after I checked the mail on our way to lunch and found a card from Great Grama and Papa Bradshaw, I went ahead and gave it to him to open. I was driving and he suddenly yells out, IT’S A CARD! (duh) and HOLY MOLY, A LETTER!?! (insert mom laughter here, Grandma usually sends letter to mom telling her important stuff) and MOM, LOOK!!! BIG MONIES! WhooHOO!!! I can buy EVERYTHING I WANT! Can we go to Wal*Mart?

I convinced him to wait before running off to Wal*Mart to spend his fortune. He needed to know what presents he had first! But it won’t be long before we make a venture that way, all that money is burning a hole in that boy’s pocket.

Bonus picture- I cropped this one because Sam was the star and I wanted everyone to see how important it was for him to get a ‘singing’ card. But Jake’s face in this is absolutely hysterical… his facial expressions crack me up- he’s animated that way, like his mother.

HAHAHA

Important Fact #1- Yes, Sam is wearing a visitor’s tag from when we went to the school. You have to sign in and wear name tags while there, Sam likes to get one too. Then he likes to continue to wear them for the rest of the day and forget to take them off and ruin his shirts when mom runs them through the wash. *sigh* They have some good stick on them.

Important Fact #2- I took a LOT more photos of kids singing and presents being opened… but something was wrong with the camera. Probably a simple setting issue, but everything happened so fast that I couldn’t stop and fix it- so… these are our memories. I’m glad I got what I did… had I tried to mess with the camera, I might not have gotten any. *sigh* Camera duty is normally the dad job.

Posted in Posts | Tagged as: birthday, cupcakes, evil villains, four, super heroes | Leave a comment

It was a FAIR day!

Posted on October 5th, 2011

Today we took a trip to the Virginia State Fair!

A special treat from daddy because he likes to spoil us so. We decided that we would make it an extra special day and play hooky from school! It turned out to be the perfect day to go- yesterday was cold and wet. Today was windy, but warmer and (most importantly) dry. We arrived right as they opened the gates… and had the run of the park. For a mom, alone with three kids, I couldn’t have had a better time. The kids could run and see the sights, be happy and adventure away from me and I could still see and hear them at all times. It was a wonderfully free time to explore and the kids ate it up. They were wide eyed and beaming the whole time.

Customary Cheesy Photo Op!

Kangaroos at the fair? Yup- lots of them!

Each kid got to pick a special fair ‘event’ to do during the day. Trin decided that she wanted to ride the ferris wheel, Jake wanted to win a prize from a carnival game, and Sam wanted cotton candy and to see a cow. Mom promised corn dogs and elephant ears! Thus, we were off to have our adventures.

First, upon arrival, we went to find the Ferris Wheel… not that is was hard to find- just ALL the way in the VERY furthest point from the entrance. But we got a great peek at everything else that was there. On our way, we saw the Duck Pond Game… unable to contain ourselves (and the lady promised prizes) the kids each got to pick their ducks, and thus, their cheesy expensive prizes. Sam and Jake had glowing light savers… but Sam quickly changed his mind and followed sister’s lead and got a stuffed lion. (Much to mom’s chagrin- because she KNEW later he’d want the darn light saver.)

Cheesy expensive prizes!

We made our way to the giant ferris wheel and got right on. Trin and Sam jumped right on in, but Jake? Not so enthusiastically. I stole a picture of everyone while we waited at the top- you can see Jake’s ‘excitement.’ We got to go around and around and around and around- many times! (Got my $20 worth, I thought) But Jake was not a happy camper. Every time we got back downward, he was ready to GET OFF. But we just kept on going! and going! and going! Finally, we did end up getting off… and he did have to agree that it was a little bit fun. Maybe he’ll try again next time.

Daredevil vs On the ground boy

Sam the ham, pretending to be scared. Actually, he was looking over the sides!

After our ride, it was CORN DOG TIME! We wandered around the ride area and checked out some of the big rides… it won’t be long before we’ll be investing in some wrist bands for our darling little daredevil of a daughter. There were many she’d gladly go on today! We found a great spot to eat lunch, near the carnival games, where the kids were able to watch some high school kids play the games. Jake was enthralled at watching them play and win. They were some big boys playing those games, and WINNING! My little guy was highly impressed.

Yummy!

We spent quite a lot of time watching the big kids play and enjoying our lunch. We spent more time walking around the rides and oohing and ahhing over how fast they were. We went off to check out the craft pavilion, where Trin found the Girl Scout table and was able to earn herself ANOTHER patch! *high five* Those girls have a patch for everything. The boys were not so thrilled with the arts and crafts, but Trin loved looking at all the things made by kids… so we made the unhappy males follow us around. We rewarded them richly with delicious elephant ears, however… everyone agreed it was worth it.

The happiest boy I know...

It was now time to see the animals. We hiked ourselves over to the farming section- up hill! (The fair grounds are separated out in specific areas. Nice if you want to remain in one area- tricky if you want to see it all.) As we reached the top of the hill we found that they had a Young McDonald’s farm exhibit- a perfect little mix of everything the farm has to offer, all tailored for the kids. Woohoo! We got to see all the necessary animals- cows, pigs, rabbits and alpacas. We got to pet most of them AND we got to see a video about a baby cow being born. All three were very interested and all three were very grossed out. Mom duty done.

The fair people were smart making a special exhibit just for the kids… I thank them. After we finished up seeing all we wanted to in the animal department- we were exhausted. Extra energy was needed for the long walk back to the car so we stopped at got Sam’s required cotton candy. We stood for a long while watching them make it before we got a bag of our own.

Sticky Greatness

Then, one last treat before we left- they each got to pick another souvinier! Blow up toys for all. lol The car ride home was adventurous, as you can tell with all the new goodies. One would think the small people would need a nap (mom sure did) but we all lasted until we got home… but not a peep was argued at bedtime tonight and all are sleeping peacefully after the wonderful day.

Special stuff!

Posted in Posts | Tagged as: corn dogs, cotton candy, elephant ears, ferris wheel, Fun, Kids, playing hooky, virginia state fair | Leave a comment

Recovering through nature

Posted on August 2nd, 2011

Day 5 did not begin with the happiest of moods. The kids slept poorly trapped in the same seats they had been trapped in all day long. Adults barely slept at all, and were sore and grumpy. By 5:30 am, we were finding our warmer clothes and leaving the campground of grumpy memories behind. We were only about 40 minutes from Yellowstone, and since our breakfast foods were lost, we needed to find sustenance.

Turns out, the disaster encountered from the night before was a real blessing the next morning. The kids returned to sleep as we drove towards the park and mom and dad got to enjoy the early morning beauty of the park in an uncommon silence. First thing we saw a bald eagle perched in a tree. Mike quickly parked and ran back to get a picture, but it flew off just as he got to it- still a marvelous sight to behold. Early morning hours are the best for elk sightings, as we were able to see quite a few.

a deer

In the forest as we made our way towards the first stop the older kids woke up as we pulled up to our first pair of buffalo… thus waking up excited and happy. Sam continued to sleep for a while longer, but he too woke up to see buffalo. A whole herd of them, right along the side of the road- babies too. We all got a good laugh as he excitedly pointed out the, “buffalopes.”

In the morning mist

We ate a delicious breakfast at the park and shopped for souvenirs- then continued our drive through the park trying to find more animals. Mike saw some pronghorns, I saw a yellow-bellied marmoset and we all saw more and more buffalo! We also saw some osprey and lots and lots of geese.

The kids enjoyed themselves and we talked about volcanoes and how animals lived in the forest. We wanted to see bears, but according to the papers given to us the moose was the most elusive animal in the park. So it was decided by all that a moose would be the most prized animal to see. We thought we saw one- but it was an elk.

Yellowstone Lake

Old Faithful was a must see on our adventure so we slowly made our way through the park looking for animals heading towards the geyser. We arrived just as it started erupting… we missed the initial blast but got to see the rest of it. The kids were impressed. They were also tired and it was getting hot. We made our way back to the car and decided to call it good. We’d watch for more animals on the way out. It was also determined that we were all willing to drive for a bit and see just how far exhausted mom and dad could make it.

waitin' on Old Faithful

Now that Yellowstone is complete, family camp is on our minds. We have a special stop tomorrow to visit Aunt Tracie, but we’re all ready to make it to Oregon and play with our family members.

The drive out of the park was beautiful and serene. The kids seemed to have lost interest looking for the animals and Mike was keeping his eyes on the ever-growing busy road ahead of him… leaving only mom to keep a vigilant eye out for the forest inhabitants. We had just passed a sign and it was noted that the animal guides claimed it was a prime moose sighting location, wouldn’t it be awesome? When, out of the corner of here eye… what does mom see? Way off to the left, far far far across the field!?! A MOOSE!!! You could just barely make her out, weaving in and out of the trees, and she’s still only a small figure on the camera using the zoom lens- but she’s there. The elusive moose, and WE saw her.

The elusive moose

It was a great ending to our Yellowstone trip.

Posted in Posts | Tagged as: deer, elk, family vacation, geisers, moose, old faithful, volcano, yellowstone national park | Leave a comment

Vacation… too much fun to work!

Posted on August 2nd, 2011

My hope was to keep up on our blog while traveling… but this proved a futile effort. Writing was easy- we drove many hours every day and I could easily work up an account of our happenings. The trouble arose when the pictures were much to difficult to work with in a short time. lol I couldn’t just upload them- they were too big and it took A LOOOONG time. I over estimated my ability to WANT to keep up with it all while driving all day, then getting somewhere at night and having to take the time to argue with my computer about pictures. Hotel’s are not a reliable source in regards to uploading times and campsites are not a reliable internet source, period. lol

Thus, I tossed in the towel… as my friends and family members noticed. But we enjoyed ourselves immensely and over the next couple of days I will go back through all the photos we took and add them to the blogs I did write, then compile the rest of our adventure to share.

I would apologize… but really, I can’t. I enjoyed myself too much.

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Independence Day, A Test of Spirits…

Posted on July 6th, 2011

We woke early on day 4. Normally kids wake up first when camping (ok, normally kids ALWAYS wake up first) but not this morning. A car alarm woke mom and dad up, but kids didn’t even stir. We all could have slept much longer, but we had to get up and get going… there was stuff to do and places to be. Mom managed to blow a fuse in the car and our electronics no longer had a way to charge (AAHHHH!) Everything had to be unpacked from the trunk… and repacked. * sigh * Kid stuff needed rearranging and the camp packed back up.

Mount Rushmore

Luckily, we had an important place to be so everyone worked quickly to get back on the road. The evening before we were able catch a great view of Mt. Rushmore, but we didn’t get to walk around. It was amazing to see the faces in real life. Trin was fascinated by the movies explaining how they were created, that’s the artist in her. The boys? Not so much… they were more concerned with wanting to climb up onto the faces and touch them. We said they couldn’t, Sam piped up with, “yeah, we’d fall and die.” Yeah, that’s why. Lol.

Cheese!

The tourist

After a stop in Custer, SD for more ice we were off to Wyoming!

It should have been that easy, but due to some VERY slow traffic and some traffic oddities because of construction, we didn’t arrive into Cody until 6… our campsite was still about 15 miles away. We decided to unload camp and head back into town and enjoy ourselves. We knew the kids were going to be exhausted and setting up camp in the dark wouldn’t be any fun. Hindsight, people…

Big Horn National Forest

We were camped at a beautiful location right along the Shoshone River, set in-between some gorgeous cliff sides and rolling hills. The wind was rather strong so we staked the tent down, set our cooler inside to weigh it further down and unzipped the windows to allow the wind to pass through. We were set.

a great view from the campsite

We drove into town and ate at the Irma Hotel, built by Wild Bill Cody and named after his daughter. Sitting next to us was a group of cowboys, with guns and spurs! They were dressed up for reenactments… and looked rather cool. Dinner was delicious and the kids ate free, always a great bonus.

Dinner was delicious!

We walked around the city of Cody for a while, but the kids were tired at we weren’t exactly certain where the best place to see fireworks was… we did see a group of people sitting by the hospital but we went to the local Wal*Mart to kill a bit more time and pick up a few needed goods. I’ve never been so happy to be a Wal*Mart shopper- everyone was there sitting around behind the store and in the parking lot. It was the place to be!

Fireworks were set to begin at 10… but by 9:30 there was a rather ominous look heading towards us from the direction of, you guessed it, our campground. Mike and I begin to exchange worried glances as lightning streaked the sky and the wind picked up. It was strong enough that people began to worry that they would have to cancel the show. We hung out, watching the pre-firework lightning show, with our eyes glued to the western horizon and that not so good looking cloud coming towards us, already visiting our campground.

The wind grew even stronger, but the show went on. It was a great, and even more exciting as the wind pulled the designs across the sky as they exploded. 20 minutes into the show we were waiting for the finale to occur, hoping that it would happen BEFORE the rain hit. The rain made it first and we all went running for our cars as we were pelted with GIANT blobs of rain. Luckily we had to stop for gas before heading to the campsite because we actually got to watch the finale from the car. It was a great show.

The kids were exhausted and happy… and all promptly passed out on the way back to camp. This was our last bit of saving grace for the night. When we arrived back to our campsite, the tent was definitely not where we left it… nor did it look the same as when we left it. It had fallen over and twisted around itself. The open windows we (stupidly) left to allow the wind to pass through allowed the rain to soak our belongings. Wind/rain-proof tents only work if they are sealed up, for the record. The winds were so bad they picked everything up and moved it around, stakes were worthless and the cooler was just another hazard to our sanity. We lost everything and the ice was inside Mike’s sleeping bag.

The kids remained asleep while the campground was packed up. The damage was done- our brand new tent suffered a broken pole and we were NOT going to be using any blankets, sleeping bags or pillows that night. It was a rather devastating feeling to be standing there, knowing full well that we were in trouble. It was a holiday night, in a packed town… nearing midnight.

Yeah, we slept in the car. Not the most fun we’d had thus far… * sigh *

Posted in Posts | Tagged as: Cody, Disaster, family vacation, Fire works, Fourth of July, Irma Hotel, Shoshone River, Wyoming | 1 Comment

They call it, “The Mount Rushmore State.”

Posted on July 6th, 2011

But for us, it will forever be known as the land of endless billboards! From the moment you cross the state line, clear through to the other side… there are billboards trying to lure you to the next attraction. Truthfully, there are not that many attractions so most of the billboards point out the same thing over and over and over and over. You don’t really want to see the 1880 town at first, but 240,000 billboards later? Well, one really does want to know what all the fuss is about.

SD has cool rest stop art

Seems the most popular attraction, aside from Mt. Rushmore itself, is Wall Drug. It is literally the FIRST billboard you see upon entering the state offering FREE ice water. 400 miles of billboards later you realize it offers literally everything you can think of, even garden burgers! Yes, there was a sign that let us know there were going to be garden burgers at Wall Drug. Of course we stopped at Wall, South Dakota to eat ice cream and see the awesomeness for ourselves. It was huge, there was everything we could think of and we did have quite a good time.

Wall Drug

Hangin' with the cowboys

We started out day in a hotel in Sioux Falls and drove right on through to a KOA located a few miles from Mount Rushmore. We stopped many times on the way, letting the kids run around and getting snacks. They are still doing a great job traveling, but we have spent a lot of time in the car and it is harder to go too far without having to get out and stretch our legs a bit. One of the places we visited was the world’s ONLY Corn Palace. Inside, the kids got to meet Cornealeous the Corn Cob. It was an interesting place and the kids had a great time.

Welcome to the Corn Palace!

Mitchell Corn Palace

The kids and Cornealeous

We're 'corny'

We wanted to arrive at our campsite earlier than we actually did, as we ended up having to make a store stop and then decided to grab dinner… the plan was to set up camp and then head over to Mt. Rushmore after we ate. Dad looked rather weary so we decided to wait until the next morning, however it turned out there was no need! As we drove to our campground, we had to drive right by and we got an amazing view. That pleased everyone. We didn’t stop to explore, but we got to see it. We planned to drive back by in the morning after a good night’s sleep.

After a full day in the car the kids needed a chance to run free-ranged for a bit. We really did pick the best campground for it! Not so much for privacy or level tent set-up, but I guess we can’t have everything. The campground was definitely a resort style set up to keep people busy… offering everything from wine tasting to horse riding. There was a pillow jumper, giant playgrounds, sand piles, horseshoes and water slides. The sight of water slides no longer seems amazing, however… they are the norm around these parts. EVERY place that is anything has one to offer. Even the hotels have them sticking out from parts of their buildings. Not sure we’d ever seen so many before this trip… the mid-west really enjoys its waterslides! After a good hard play, it was time to set-up camp and settle in for the night.

Mommy had to do laundry- and everyone was passed out by the time she returned that evening. It was a much needed good night’s sleep.

Posted in Posts | Tagged as: family vacation, Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, The Corn Palace, Wall Drug | Leave a comment

Day 2… westward ho!

Posted on July 3rd, 2011

Day one was a wonderful start to our adventure. We left our driveway at 2:20pm and arrived in South Bend, Indiana at 1:00 am. The kids did a wonderful job traveling: playing with their new games and travel toys… the DS systems were a wonderful addition to our bag of kid wrangling tricks. Each kid has their own along with a growing collection of games to play. Trin sure is growing up, choosing to rock out to her .mp3 player and reading a good book most of the trip, rather than gaming it up like the boys. We didn’t do much along the way, just got a good westward start. It’s a bit slow-going with all the potty stops, but we’re making good time.

Trin and Jake

Sam keeping busy

Day 2 began rather early… well, it felt early to mom and dad who did not sleep while traveling at night. We enjoyed breakfast in our hotel- WOOHOO! It’s the simple things in life that make our kids so darn happy. Then we took a chance to explore our surroundings. We knew Notre Dame was near our stopping point, but did not realize that it WAS our stop. We walked about the campus and took a touristy photo. Then drove around some more seeing the sites.

We couldn’t stay there too long, however, we had another very important destination to make before lunchtime. PIZZA! Chicago style, thick crust pizza to be precise. We had to brave downtown Chicago traffic to get there only to discover there was an hour wait time for a table… but we’d already made it there so we had no choice but to wait it out. Boy, was it worth it. Each kid ate an entire GIANT slice of pizza, Dad ate 2! We made our own combination, stuffing it with sausage and pepperonis and topping it with black olives. The cheese was perfect, the crust was crunchy and delicious, and the sauce- heavenly.

The pizza we waited for!

The place worth traveling too

We got a little bit lost heading out of the city… things were crazy in Chicago as it was a city-wide festival event in honor of Independence Day. There were A LOT of people, but it was fun to see everything and the kids were in awe of the giant buildings.

Cheese!

We headed north towards Wisconsin… hoping to see some cheesey sites. Oddly enough, all we saw was corn. The kids (and mom) were in awe at the endless ocean of cornfields. We found a place to eat online that was supposed to be Wisconsin Cheese related, but stumbled across a very amazing surprise – Wisconsin Dell! Apparently this place holds the claim of the most waterparks in the world. We drove through town open-jawed in sheer amazement. Water parks and roller coasters EVERYWHERE! Really, Vegas has nothing on this amazing unknown adventure. It was quite the place and we’ve all made the promise to come back sometime in the future when we could stay for an extended period of time.

A long morning

We were supposed to camp in Minnesota, but the state is currently having a budgeting crisis… and all state parks and services have been suspended, thus our campground was no longer a viable option. We took the hint and decided to drive right on through and booked ourselves a hotel in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This will put us further westward than we had planned and will shorten our travel time on day three… and will give us more playtime at the campground.

Again, the kids have traveled wonderfully. They seem to be enjoying themselves with their travel goodies and we make frequent stops for them to stretch and run around. Sam likes to make the most of these stops and tries to impress as many people as possible… today at the rest stop the kids were running around, mom was cheering on Jake, and turned around to discover Sam, standing in the middle of the yard with his pants around his ankles, peeing away. * sigh * Boys. He did give the other visitors a good laugh, much to mom’s embarrassment and dismay

The sights have been beautiful. We drove over the Mississippi river, stopped by an Amish store, and drove through five states today alone… putting our tally thus far at 9 states. Tomorrow will include more driving, camping and Mount Rushmore!

Minnesota Sunset

Posted in Posts | Tagged as: family vacation, Notre Dame | Leave a comment

We’re OFF!

Posted on July 1st, 2011

Hopefully we will be able to keep up on this blog on our Great Family Vacation!

Today we leave… hopefully we make it to South Bend Indiana. Kids are SUPER excited, though we’ll see how it goes after we start driving. lol

Here they are:

Ready to GO!

From the back, our travel rack:

Three weeks worth of 'stuff'

Everything we need somehow manages to fit into the car, trunk and travel trailer. lol

Wish us luck!

Posted in Posts | Tagged as: family vacation, traveling | Leave a comment

Spring has Sprung

Posted on April 12th, 2011

Spring is here, and we’ve finally gotten ourselves out of the house and exploring our wonderful corner of the world. It’s nice, as Sam is big enough to explore without the stroller… and both him and Jake are adventurous in terms of learning more about the world they live in.

Please note that if you click on an image, it’ll show you a larger image!

First adventure- National Zoo!