Summer Vacation: Day Eight!

We have 11 hours until home... Do we attempt to push through, no matter the cost, to get home? 

We left around 9:00 and drove on...Charlie and I fell asleep right away (I hadn't had coffee yet!) Apparently Aiden was throwing things at me and wearing his backpack on his head while I slept...

We made a quick stop for coffee (thank goodness!) and drove on. Aiden was kinda whinny (you would be too if you hadn't...gone number two for two days) so we stopped to run around Wal-Mart and do the general routine. Aiden finally went, so we picked out a flashlight as a reward. ;)

Had lunch in the van, kids napped, I knit, Daniel drove. We made a second stop for frappes and fries at McDonalds. Aiden went to the bathroom again and asked for a flashlight... Ha, no, nice try kiddo!

(Grumpy cat anyone??)

Back on the road... Around 6:30 the kids (and I admit, I too) were getting restless. We were....by Waterloo, IA I believe and the closest (and only) restaurant on our route was...McDonalds. Ugh. I didn't care, kids needed OUT! But of course, it was closed for renovation!! C'mon!! We drove onward and came across Pita Pit. Bam, done. 

Back on the road again, around 8:00. The kids and I fell asleep around 9:00-9:30. I woke up a few times, made sure Daniel was doing alright (2 energy drinks help with that!) and would fall asleep again. Somewhere around 45 min from home I woke up HOT! Easy solution, took off my fleece jacket. Wait a minute, it's still hot. I asked Daniel why he turned the air off?! He didn't...yep. The A/C went out in the van around Albert Lea, MN. It. Was. Hot. Then the kids woke up... NOT GOOD. We had 45 min left. Just 45 min. That's an eternity with two kids screaming and the temperature is 87 degrees in the van. Somehow I managed to calm them down and at 11:45 pm, we were home. 

Amazing trip! Great memories! 

Summer Vacation: Day Seven!

A(Remind me to have more interesting blog post titles...)

We dreaded today. We had to say goodbye to family who we may not see again for awhile.  Aaaannndddd we still had to drive back home! I think Daniel and I looked at each other and knew we would rather poke our eyes out than start the 18 hr drive. (Ok guys, really, it's not THAT bad...) 

So maybe we were okay that Charlie fell asleep... 

And that Aiden had to do the puzzles ONE (read six) more time...

And that Aiden knew Buddy needed a tent...

And Aunt Ashley needed another picture with her niece and nephew...

( I swear I took pictures Ilene! Maybe they are on Daniel's phone...)

But we said our "see you laters" and gave hugs, then we set off. We drove 2 miles and stopped. Charlie decided she was hungry and the boys went and stocked up our travel foods and some sanity, 

Then we were off!!

We made it quite a ways before our first stop. The scenery was beautiful

We stopped for supper and stretching and then... We saw...this!

Aiden was elated!! Can you tell?

Literally jumping with excitement!

We tried to find the fire fighters and we finally saw them, after encouraging Daniel to chase them down so Aiden could say hi to them (Daniel was shy) I grabbed Aiden and we chased them down. He saw them get into the fire engine and they waved at him! His face lit up it was too cute. 

Then he stood in this

We stopped in Louisville for the night, they swam 

And Charlotte grabbed her toes

And we went to sleep!!

Summer Vacation: Day Six!

Today was also quite relaxing. We took our time at breakfast and got ready for Tom and Ilene's community BBQ/pool party. They had to go early to set up, so I batted my eyes at Daniel and asked if we could go to Michael's because a yarn I use a lot was on sale. ( I really didn't need to bat my eyes, he supports on-sale yarn deals ;) ) 

After that we went over to the party which was already hopping! Music was going, food was being set up, the pool was full of people, a dunk tank and bouncy house completed it. 

Lunch was delicious! Pork right from the pig, potato salad, coke slaw and Ilene brought fruit, which was refreshing! And you cant beat soft serve ice cream! Aiden thought the pig was an alligator... 

"Oh... That's a all-gator mom."

He and Daniel played on the swings and slides and Charlie found her designated holder for the afternoon and slept, 

And hung out with her Aunt Ashley

We left the party early so Aiden could take his nap, however, he was "fishing" with a rainbow slinky and yelling "fruit snacks!" From his bed instead of sleeping... ( crazy imagination! ) so we went to a nearby mall to walk around and window shop (he fell asleep in the car) ;) 

We had a yummy salad and pizza for supper (seriously Tom how can you not like pizza?!) and the guys had an iPad party, haha!!

We had coffee and visited too, a great last night in NC!

Couponing!

I am briefly interrupting my blog series on our summer vacation to bring you the following (and free up space on my phone): 

This is a Target trip from last week: 

Loaf of bread, target brand Tums, 4 razors, two jars of pasta sauce, strawberries, peaches and 6 travel shave gels for: $10.47!! The shave gels and peaches were FREE, strawberries were .38, bread was .19 and I can't remember the rest, but WOW! What a great trip!! 

Summer Vacation: Day Five!

Today was sooo relaxing, it was exactly what we needed after 4 days in the van. 

We hung out, drank coffee, visited, played and colored, read books, 

Fell asleep with books...

Aiden jumped off furniture with Gpa Tom and did puzzles with Gma Ilene, (we later decided we are calling her "Nan", I love it!)

And enjoyed grilled burgers/hot dogs for supper, followed by some really good cookies! I THINK we watched a foot ball game last night too, though maybe that was Thursday, can't quite remember. I did get a little knitting done as well, but ill post about that later! 

There is so much more but my photo library is FULL on my phone and I hadn't blogged about each picture yet so I missed alot! Tomorrow will be a fun day at the community pool for an end of Summer party!

Summer Vacation: Day Four!

Graduation Day!!

We arrived to an already packed field (graduation was outside and it was HOT!) before 9:00 am and awaited my brother's graduation from Basic Training. We passed a few tanks while walking to the stands, Aiden liked those: 

The ceremony was awesome! Very well done and interesting. Here is a photo of the band: 

I wasn't able to take as many pictures as I wanted to because of: 

I cannot believe she slept through the cheering and the guns going off! 

My brother is somewhere in here....

We did take a few photos with him after the ceremony but they are on a different camera, hopefully I can post them soon! We left fairly soon afterwards and stopped at a mall for diaper changes and a stretching before our trip to North Carolina. 

We also stopped later for a little sanity...

Aiden opened up another present, Jake and the Neverland Pirates coloring book, 

And Charlie played with her toys

And 5 ish hours later, we were at my birth father's and family's home  in Charlotte, NC! ( No, Charlie isn't named after this town ;) ) We arrived just in time for supper and my family took us out to a Mongolian stir fry restaurant. It was VERY good but our kiddos, well, lets just say we didn't go back up for seconds and thirds. They were ready to be done I think :) We came back to their house and unpacked, put kids to bed and visited, it was a great evening! We looked forward to the next day because there was NO driving involved! 

Summer Vacation: Day Three!

Today was MUCH better than yesterday! We left Birmingham, AL around 10:00 and started our 2.5 drive to Columbus, GA to join several family members and my brother Josh for family day. 

The drive was very pretty. We loved all the trees and rolling hills. We came upon Auburn, AL around 11:30 and I was in need of coffee. My gas station cup was a major letdown. I tried really hard to enjoy it, but I couldn't do it. I looked up a Starbucks and found one fairly close to our route. Friends...I took us to Starbucks...at Auburn University...on move in weekend! Oops!! But the campus is gorgeous and while trying to get our mini van off campus as fast as possible, we caught a glimpse of the stadium. Wow. So cool! 

While (accidently) driving to Auburn U, we passed a Target. Sometimes Target has a Starbucks and Daniel suggested we check. I ensured him the one I looked up was the closest and well, you know where we ended up. After turning around, we went back to Target to grab a few things and while I fed Charlie in the van, I received this photo: 

Yep...SB at the Target I was adament did  NOT have one. Oops...

We drove another 45 min to Columbus, GA and met up with my brother and the other family/friends who came as well. My brother looked GREAT! He ended up losing 50 lbs during his time at Basic! We chatted awhile and he showed Aiden the correct way to do a military push up: 

And we went bowling, Aiden is a very good bowler! 

And of course took lots of pictures with Josh. 

(Again, this is a cheesy smile, not a look of pain!)

We ate pizza for supper and returned to the hotel for more visiting and swimming! A VERY fun day indeed!

Summer Vacation: Day Two

What can I say about Tuesday, day two, of our travels to Columbus, GA?

Late late start. Meltdowns. Frequent stops. Late late night. 

That about sums it up! It actually sounds worse then it was but it was a more challenging day. We finally left St. Louis around 10:30 and rolled into Birmingham, AL at 11:30 that night. 

I only have one photo from the day, here is Aiden opening one of his presents after lunch at a park. He "looks" upset but really, this kid has the cheesiest smile I have ever seen. He was elated to get his Lightening McQueen stickers. 

Parents traveling with small children: stickers. Stickers. Stickers. He needed help peeling them but then I had a stroke of brilliance and I peeled off the middle parts that surround each sticker. Then of course, that was cooler than the actual sticker. Ha!

We also had a Wal-Mart stop for a few things and to stretch our legs. We rolled into Nashville, TN around 6:00 pm and after about 30 minutes of trying to find a mall to run around, we gave up and went to Chipotle. Delicious! 

(Side note: does anyone else's child(renlove beans?! Aiden DEVOURED his black beans. I hate beans!)

Knowing we wanted to roll into Columbus, GA somewhat early on Wednesday, we drove into Birmingham, AL and checked in at 11:30 pm. Kids were already asleep so it didn't take too long for us to settle in. 

Whew. Day two. Done. 

Summer Vacation!--Day One!

This blog is partly an effort for me to document our lives because I want to remember the things we do and places we go. 

We are taking a trip to Fort Benning, GA to watch my brother graduate from Basic Training. From there we will be driving to North Carolina to visit my birth father and family. I am hoping to post daily on our trip, and even though it may not be terribly exciting, I want to remember driving half the United States with a 2 year old and 3 month old!

We left Monday morning bright and early--4:30 a.m. and headed towards St. Louis, MO. Leaving early with young kiddos is a great idea! We were able to put a big dent into our mileage for the day while they slept, and thankfully avoided meltdowns!

I packed lots of snacks and presents for Aiden to open along the way as a way to keep things interesting! Before we left, I searched my gift drawers for fun little items and picked a few things up from Wal-mart too. 

Aiden received his backpack the night before we left so he could help "pack" too. 

He was pretty thrilled to pack his books and cars in it!

We also worked on creating a "Travel Journal". I thought about this pretty late in the game and could have made a "cooler" looking cover, but this worked! All it is: sketch book and a cover page. 

After he was finished decorating the cover, I taped the whole page to the book and wrapped it up to give as a present. I'm hoping to ask him about each day and write a little note on the page(s) he colored that day. 

We stopped for lunch in a small town outside of Hannibal, MO. I brought lunch foods and snacks so we could save money and find little parks along the way. 

This park had a wooden train, which both kids loved, maybe one more than the other. ;) 

We stopped for the day in St. Louis and thankfully our hotel had a pool! Charlotte loved it...

Aiden...warmed up to it. 

Later he was jumping into the pool so I think he ended up having fun! We ordered pizza and just relaxed the rest of te evening. A great first day in our travels!

Year of Projects: A Knitting Post

A few weeks have gone by since I posted any knitting projects and that's mainly because one of my projects has been in the "need to block" stage. 

I finally finished and blocked out the Comfort Wrap for my friend and I am in love. I will be knitting this pattern again!

I used 4 skeins of Berroco Vintage Chunky in the ruby color way. This yarn doesn't really seem bulky weight to me, can anyone else chime in? The wrap is very cozy and hoping it brings lots of warmth and comfort to my friend. 

(BIG shout out to my mother-in-law and hubby for their awesome landscaping work!)

I also finished this Newborn Pig Hat and Diaper Cover. I made up the hat and the diaper cover pattern can be found here. 

Finally, I whipped up a quick cowl! Weather here in MN has almost felt Fall-like some days and I can't help but be excited about Fall knitting!

A couple weeks of productive knitting I'd say! This brings the Year of Projects list to:

Sweaters/Cardigans:

Shawls:
-Comfort Wrap

Socks:

Tunic:

Gloves/Mittens:

Hats:

Toys: 

Bunny Blankie Buddy

Diaper Cover & Hat Sets:
-Pig Set

Scarves\Cowls:
-Quick Knit Button Cowl