A Birthday, A Bayou and New Orleans

After Alabama we headed into Mississippi and then onto Louisiana.  The next day would be Coda's 8th birthday and we didn't want it to be a traveling day.  So we decided to stay two nights at the Fountainebleau State Park, which is located just across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans.

For Coda's birthday we decided to check out the Jean Lafitte National Park - Barataia Preserve.  There was a neat little visitors center where we picked up our Junior Ranger Booklets and our National Park Passport stamp.  Then we headed out on a walk through the swamp and bayou.  One of the activities in the JR Ranger book was kind of a scavenger hunt and the children were so wonderful at finding the little things.  We were mostly keeping our eyes our for alligators.  We did mange to spot one little one...he was so cute (from afar).  

 

Once the children had said their pledge and received their Junior Ranger Badges, we decided  to head into New Orleans.  We weren't sure what we'd find and knew we wanted to be gone before nightfall.  But we thought we'd check it out for a bit.  We parked near the French Quarter and spent a bit of time meandering the streets, window shopping and checking out the awesome buildings.  We ended up eating dinner at Hard Rock Cafe...the quality of the food (for the prices) was disappointing, but we went there to celebrate Coda's 8th birthday and that was great!  I had hoped we could find a restaurant that would be authentic New Orleans food with some vegetarian options, that didn't happen.  I welcome any recommendations for the next time we stop there.   We ended the evening with a stop at Café Du Monde for some beignets (read: fried dough covered in more powdered sugar than you've ever seen). 

 We woke up the next morning to quite the storm.  We had planned on hanging out at the state park and exploring, well that wasn't going to happen.  We packed it up and headed out --- next stop Texas.

Tuscaloosa and the Ticknors

We had a rough route to head down through Tennessee and across Arkansas and over to Texas.  I love "rough routes" like rough drafts they can be totally scrapped at the drop of a hat or and incoming Facebook message.  I checked in with Foursquare to Tennsessee at a Rest Stop at top of the state.  Within minutes Dana Ticknor (Ticknor Tribe - traveling family of 14) messaged me and asked how far south we were coming.  They were just outside of Tuscaloosa and invited us to come see (meet) them.  We have been trying to meet for quite some time now, so I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.  And so our rough route was scrapped.

We decided to make the long haul all the way to Tuscaloosa, knowing we would barely make the gate closing of 10pm.  But we were determined.  Not even a horrible thunderstorm, Nashville traffic and a wrong turn could keep us from making the gate closing.  Well at 9:52pm we called and the nice gentleman said he would wait for us...we arrived at 10:02pm, whew.

And in the morning we woke to this, the Ticknor Tribe right next to us!

We spent the day chatting (moms & dads), running in the woods and fort building (boys) and flower picking (little ones). 

I think there were three times the middles aged kids sat down -- before the two meals we shared and during the campfire :)  If you were an outsider you would have been AMAZED at how well meal time went, since there were 20 of us eating.  Bigger kids were helping little kids,  Mamas and Daddys able to sit and eat.  I feel so blessed that we were able to be in the presence of another "large" family who has bigger kids and see how well they all work together. 

It was a quick visit, but so glad we were able to connect.  And the cool thing is they travel, we travel, so we are bound to meet up again!

Introducing...Our New Home on Wheels

After spending four months in California, visiting friends and family, exploring old favorites and new finds and working, it was time for us to move on.

And we moved on fast. We moved out of our first and beloved home on wheels, packed our belongings into a Uhaul trailer and trekked (quickly) across the United States to Ohio.

We stopped briefly in St. Louis to deal with our storage unit, say hi to friends and play a little at the St. Louis Science Center.

We made it to Ohio and dropped our Uhaul trailer at a KOA.  After a day of a walkthrough, fan adding, paper signing and hooking up, we were on our way back to the KOA with our new home behind us.  It took us some hours but we unpacked and moved in.  We are all overjoyed with the newness and space our new home has given to us.

Here is a sneak peak...and yes! we've already started decorating and wall will be painted (I just have to decide on colors).

December Photo Project :::: 12.1.11:::: Sunset

Today we spent driving, driving through a whole lot of Texas. Just as the sun was setting we stopped to make dinner at a rest stop a few miles outside of El Paso, one of the bazillion reasons why I love having my house with me at all times -- homemade dinner mid-roadtrip. And after 655 miles we are settling in for the night at a Walmart in New Mexico.

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 :)