Thursday, July 4, 2019

July 3 Week Road Trip - Illinois, Missouri, and South Dakota

3 Week Road Trip of July 2019

This one was a doozy.  3 weeks driving, camping, exploring sites from home to Wyoming and back.  We bought an open trailer to load our camping gear and we packed the family in the mini van.  For some reason this sounded like a good idea.  Well, there were definitely parts of fun, and plenty parts of torture as well.  But the important thing is - we survived.   The other important thing is - I won't be taking a road trip any time soon!  

First stop was a 10 hour drive to Indiana State Park just south of Chicago along Lake Michigan.








With 4 kids, even just eating out is a major ordeal.


Next stop - Palmyra, Missouri.  Our Airbnb was perfect for us, but I must admit the bathroom finishes quite creative.


Palmyra is a church site that dates back to early pioneers travelling across the country in covered wagons.  They have made a whole village based on activities and trades during that time - even little pageant shows.






Cache having hard times. 


Happy 4th of July in Carthage.



Palmyra Temple




Loving this wallpapered bathroom.


Back on the road for another 8 hours.  Heading through the big sky country and into Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

This was the biggest bug guts ever.



A quick stop at a playground and off to our teepee for the night.









The beautiful Falls Park.  





Back to the open road heading to Mt. Rushmore, SD.







Yuck, Easton's nasty spider bite that required a quick trip (well an hour) down the Mt. Rushmore hill and to urgent care.  


Bingo at KOA where the boys won poop and emoji hats.


Our awesome pee tent jug of pee.  


Now we head 7 hours to Cody, Wyoming for a quick rodeo before entering Yellowstone.  Note to self:  Don't wear flip flops to the rodeo next time, especially when they invite you to the arena for a calf race.














Sunday, June 30, 2019

June Arizona Trip 2019

Cheryl's 40th Birthday!

Being the youngest has some advantages.  For starters, everyone loves you the most.  Why else would everyone agree to travel to Phoenix then drive through Sedona and up to the Grand Canyon.
We almost died on our 5 mile hike, in the desert heat, but the sisters pulled through.  I would love to spend some more time in Sedona and the red rock formations.










Then up to the Grand Canyon - it was vast and amazing.  Made even better with my sisters.














Wednesday, June 26, 2019

June 2019


Last day of school...Twins finished 2nd grade, Cache finished 4th grade, and Easton finished 6th grade.










Well, Easton survived middle school, but I'm quite disturbed after he emptied his locker.


Easton had his piano recital where he played 'Great Balls of Fire' from Top Gun.


Never my favorite thing to find black rat snakes on my front porch this time of year...



Annual check up time for these 2 cute kids...


Going through the mounds of sunglasses...didn't end up keeping either of these...



Scout camp.  Where all the weird people come together...



Cache's amazing steps... that's one active kid!



We won't win any prizes for abundance, but we enjoyed the small fruits of our labor.