Five Months??!!

Have we really been back on the road for more than five months??!!

Have I really not written about any of it??!!  (Well I blogged about Lyric's birth, gold star for me)

Honestly, its been a crazy, busy, wonderful summer and fall.  I spent my time enjoying it.  But I thought it was about time that I caught all of you up on our adventures!

Here's a recap of the last five months:

We traveled through 12 States: Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Arkansas & Texas.
And drove THOUSANDS of miles!

 *Seriously...this post is long and has so many pics, .if you make it to the end then please let me know, you deserve a BIG prize.  We have lived so much life these past 5 months, sitting down in one day to recap it has inflicted an overwhelming sense of joy!  We have done so much, seen so much, loved so much & best of all we have done it all TOGETHER.  We have chosen to travel, we have chosen to have more than the average amount of children and we have chosen to live each day to its fullest AND through all this we have been BLESSED beyond measure.*

Chicagoland, IL

• Hung out at Jellystone in Millbrook, IL
• dropped Daddy off at work & enjoyed a bus ride to the FREE Lincoln Park Zoo

Rock Island, IL/Davenport, IA

• Watched the Mississippi River Locks & Dam #15 in action & learned how locks & dam works
• Visited the John Deere Museum
• Went to a ski show of the Backwater Gamblers

Galena, IL/Dubuque, IA

• Rode the Fenelon Place Elevator ~ world's shortest, steepest, scenic railway
• Explored the cute town of Galena, IL

Rockford, IL

• Enjoyed meeting and spending time with Nick's grandmothers sister
• 4th of July ~ Rockford, IL
• Swimming daily at the campground pool

Sandusky, OH

• Took a ferry to Put-in-Bay, OH (in Lake Erie)
• Aidan and Coda earned Jr Ranger Badges at Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial
• Fed bunnies and ate lots of pancakes at Camp Sandusky

Monroe, MI

• Ate, played, chatted and campfired it up with our AWESOME friends The Theides

Randomness around Ohio

Paducah, KY

• Celebrated Aidan's 9th birthday by seeing Cars 2, then ice cream & presents at Cold Stone

Shawnee, OK

• Moved out of the trailer and into a hotel because it was 115+ degrees
• Had our sweet baby girl Lyric in said hotel

Petersburg, KY

• Spent a wonderful day exploring the Creation Museum

Manheim, OH

• Had our first visitors post-Lyric -- E & Baby Lucca!
• Spent a wonderful day on the BEACH of Lake Erie

Lebanon/Hershey, PA

• Took a day trip to Gettysburg
• Spent a day in Amish country; drinking homemade rootbeer & taking a carriage ride through Amish farmland
• Spent a few days stuck at our campground due to all the roads to leave being flooded! 

Indiana Dunes National Park

• Earned Jr Ranger Badges
• Felt a little less landlocked for the afternoon

Milton, WI

•  Continued to love on this wonderful little baby.
• Ventured into Madison almost every Saturday for the  Madison Farmers Market
• Spending time in Worship and fellowship with more of Nick's extended family, love our Beloit, WI family! 
• Experiencing our first "real" fall & the first snow of 2011

St. Louis, MO

• Dropped off stuff & picked stuff up at our storage unit (fun times)
•  Ate dinner with wonderful friends!

Branson, MO

• Our good friends the Dodds who live in Texas were in transit to St. Louis, while were heading to Texas, so we met up in Branson

Little Rock, AR

• Walked the longest foot bridge in North America, rightly named - Big Dam Bridge ;)
• Saw the world famous Peabody ducks do their evening march

Livingston, TX

•  Spent a few days becoming real Texans, we have license plates, drivers licenses and an address to prove it :)