girl time...

my last day of vacation... 20 days strong... i am so thankful for the time i have had off and to tell you the truth... i did nothing...

now, when i say i did nothing, im not including the *driving 4330.0 miles* or *driving a top speed of 103 in my minivan through montana* or *relaxing with family and friends across the country for 16 days* or *enjoying incredible food* or *starbucks drive-through in 5 states* or *shopping at COSTCO in 3 states* or *playing the wii (alot)* (the list could go on)

until today... i actually broke down and worked on something... i worked in the garage for a couple of hours... and i think i got a good start... so...

while i did this, the boys played wii... mom took abby and grandma carol(my mom) on a little girls outing which included a trip to the park, a stop by the library for some fresh books and movies, and a cold beverage at STARBUCKS... what a treat...

the kids have a great mom, my wife, my love... gwen....

thanks for being so good to us...

love ya
mm

Post - Minnesota/Iowa/North Dakota Conversations

Abby: Ethan, how many mosquito bites do you have? I just have five left.

Ethan: I don't know ... I lost track ...

post #1 from home...

just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone that commented on our blog during our trip... we read all of the comments and appreciated them very much... we normally like to respond to them in comments of our own, but during our 16 days away... we were just too busy... we crammed a whole lot into that time and loved every minute of it... thanks again for reading...

mm

post #5 from the road...

as i sit here at the laptop for another post... i am amazed at what we have done over the last 13 days... our tripometer is at 3066.7 miles with about 1400 0r so left to go... we leave in the morning for bozeman, montana... our trip home...
greg, gwens brother takes abby for yet another motorcycle ride... this is something all the kids love doing when we come out to mott... to visit grandma and grandpa... abby is wearing a vintage helmet that belonged to her mom when she was a kid...
noah and i rode along...
grandpa on his goldwing ready for another trip around the town...
cole poses by "doc"... he loves the movie cars so this was a real treat...(medora, nd)

mini-golf in medora... i think grandpa won... at least thats what noah says...
grandma and grandpa, greg, and us... at the madora musical, pitchfork fondue... this was a great time....
we had a wonderful time with the grandparents, it always goes to quickly... and visits to north dakota are always a treat... thanks for the great times... they wont be forgotten...

post from the road #4...

today was day 9 of 16...

i almost feel bad trying to post on the many wonderful things that have happened... for every 1 i recall in the post there are 10 that i dont have time to tell you about... here is the last couple of days in a nut shell...

we spent a couple of days in iowa at our friends the vanderschaafs... this was a great time for us and for the kids... as the last time we visited our friends in maurice ia, 4 years ago(cole was only 6 months old last time) so the kids have grown a ton since then and so has our love for these friends... i worked for loren back in the early 90's as an carpenter's apprentice... ok maybe thats a stretch... he really felt sorry for me and hooked me up with a summer job... i learned alot from him... and some of it was carpentry... shellie is a long time family friend who also was a babysitter of mine at one time...(scary) sons...(eric pictured, michael,not pictured)
you might be looking at this years christmas card here... so enjoy....
we ran down to the "ice cream capital of the world" le mars, iowa.... this has become a staple of our trips to the great hawkeye state... noah got a huge sundae... and we all had more ice cream than we could handle... shellie thought she needed to help abby with hers...
iowa's finest... ok washingtonians in iowa are the finest...
thanks loren and shellie (michael and eric) for the great time...

post #3 from the road...

as we prepare to leave the great state of minnesota, we pause to reflect on the last few days... we are so amazed at the way God has blessed us and taken care of us... not just in the traveling mercies He granted but also the fellowship we have had with family and friends...

the first picture is of mark (gwens cousin), janine (his wife), travis and hayden...and buster too(dog)... we stayed with them the first two nights here in minnesota and had a great time swimming, talking, seeing llamas, eating, and just relaxing in their beautiful home...

the next picture is of ethan at the zoo... eating his highly anticipated snow cone...(it was actually de-lish he wanted me to have the same... so i did... we also shared with mom...)

then we got abby posing as a grizzly bear outside the zoo gift shop... ( the zoo excursion with our friends the aldridges from chicago)... the miller kids pose with kate and tom ouside the zoo foodcourt...

next pictured is abby and noah standing with a stormtrooper at the science museum of minnesota... they were having a star wars exhibit... so of course we had to go...(also with the aldridges)


the last photo for today is of me and cole with our mad faces on... but hey... what do you expect... we were standing next to darth vader...

anyways...

off to iowa in the morning so i better get to bed...

sweet dreams to all who peruse this blog...

post #2 from the road...

well... it seems really weird that we left dupont less than 5 days ago... and yet we have done so much... *we drove out to minnesota in about 2 1/2 days... *then we attended a rehearsal and dinner for great aunt shirlee's wedding on friday... abby was the flower girl... *then that night... we swam at hayden and travis's house, the kids 2nd cousins... where we stayed (pictures at later time) .... *then saturday a beautiful wedding and reception... and more swimming(with the cousins).... *then today we went to the minnesota ZOO... what a great time we had.... we went with tom and kate (pat and cheryls kids)(pictured at a later post)(and pat and cheryl)...

we also swam with them at the hotel and had a pizza feast from the green mill est.1935... it was so de-lish... followed by movie time for the kids while we caught up with our good friends...

*these are just a couple of pictures to give you a snap shot of the road including the kids with their other second cousins Jack and Julia... *we are having so much fun and to think we have 11 more days till we are home...

we are so thankful to all our family and friends that have been such a blessing to us over these first 4 days... and we look forward to seeing you again soon...

"so little to do... so much time..."

" strike that... reverse it"

what movie was that line from...???

post #1 from the road...

wow... we made it (to fargo at least)... the first day went really well... all the way to billings, montana (854 miles)... we left dupont at about 4:10 in the a.m. ... drove all day.... or should i say ALL day... but when we got there cracker barrel awaited us for dinner and then swimmin at our favorite hotel... the c'mon inn(great hotel chain)...
day two brought us to fargo(610miles)... to see gwens brother greg and that meant a stop at space aliens... the kids absolutely love that restaurant... great food, video games and tickets... those nasty tickets that you work so hard to get and end up with a green bouncy ball with the face of an alien... great times though...
then to uncle gregs house to rest, relax and enjoy uncle... thanks for the great breakfast... we sure do love you uncle greg...

(day three) on to minnesota... post again from there soon...

great dinner before we leave...

about 8 hours from now we will be on the road heading out to visit friends and family in the mid west... the first day our destination will be billings montana... about 850 miles... our plan is to leave by 4 a.m. so we can get there in time to swim tomorrow night... the kids are so looking forward to that...

to get ready for the trip we went to dinner at the Ranch House BBQ in downtown olympia... we went with our great friends, the grants and the fears... the food was great and the fellowship was even better... i think i ate enough that i wont need to eat till we get to fargo... but thats for another post... until then... sleep tight...

They Did It!

Abby has been feeling a bit bummed lately, because she was one of only a few kids in her class that didn't know how to ride a bike without training wheels. She felt a bit better last week when she found out that one of her best friends, Miki, didn't know how to either. Until ...

Yesterday we were at our good friends, the Fears, for a birthday party and I told Abby that it would be a great memory for Miki and her if they could learn how to ride a bike together ... and so they did! They were both so proud of their new accomplishment and I think it really will be a very special memory for both of them!