Roadtrip Marathon

The kids and I are 18 days and 1,000+ miles into our month long roadtrip extravaganza and going strong! 

(There was a minor hiccup this past weekend - I got sick - but I am better now).

Our bags are packed and the van is loaded. We are ready! A mere 130 miles and we will be at our next destination - Great Grandpa and Grandma's house for pre-wedding fun. Even Turtlick gets to join us for this leg of our journey! Should be interesting!

And we are off!!!

Can you tell I am excited? Not so much for the loading and unloading of the van again. I mean how many times can I do that in one month?! The answer: too many times. But time with family makes it all worth it. 

Camping

Nothing says camping like diapers drying in the grass...or a dad napping amongst playing children in a tent, right?

Cutest little tent escape artist ever! And I am not biased at all:)

We had a great week camping. The kids loved spending time with their daddy...and so did I. Sadly we have to part ways today. Back to school for him. And back to MN for more fun for us!

We promise to come home again...eventually! Until then enjoy the peace and quiet. Oh and try to eat more than just PB&Js:)

Let the good times roll...

Thank you dear friends for allowing us to crash at your place. The accommodations were great. The food was fantastic! Obviously we enjoyed your toys:)

But spending time with your family was the BEST! We love you guys. Thank you for you hospitality. 

Celebrating 30

These are my girls. 

And it was an absolute pleasure to go out with them to celebrate my {belated} 30th birthday. It was a perfect evening of eating, chatting and laughing! I truly spent the best years of my 20s with these girls and I can't think of a better way to usher in this next decade than with them by my side!

And now I must (over) share about them because they are so FABULOUS!

Left to right...

Jennilee: this girl is the reason I survived (thrived in?!) PA school. Seriously she more than carried me through 2 of the most challenging years of my life. And on top of that she provided the best study snacks...candy, popcorn, chips, salsa, apples and caramel. Spending all of my free time studying was so much better when it was spent on her couch.  Last but not least she is a wonderful, loving, patient mom...if I was only half as good at this whole mom thing as she is I would be...well a much better mom:) She is AMAZING, trust me. 

Next is me. Moving right along...

Jessie & Erica: these girls were my first "mommy" friends. We met at story time at the library when our oldest were just babies and after I fabricated a playdate that did not exist a friendship was born! We have navigated so so much of motherhood together. We have watched our babies grow into toddlers to preschoolers and now school agers! We gave birth to our second children within months of each other and learned all about mothering 2 kids together. We have laughed together and we have cried together. I am the mother I am today because of the love and support from these amazing mommies. 

Last but certainly not least, Andrea: this girl is an inspiration to me. For starters she is the mom of 2 boys! That right there puts her on a pedestal in my world. And her sense of humor is the BEST! She is also the most supportive, understanding wife. She has weathered the storm of her husband's residency years with grace and seemingly unending energy. I may need to take a lesson or two from her in the near future. 

Mr (or Mrs) Turtlick

*Disclaimer: mostly this is post for my husband because he misses the kids and wants an update. Therefore it will be full of kid pictures and very little else:)

We "rescued" a turtle from the middle of the road yesterday. The kids' reactions to our turtle range from excitement to fear to indifference. They did however pick a good name for him (her?): Tootie Turtlick.

Tootie has been "hissing" at us quite a bit so I was afraid we found a mean turtle! After a little googling I discovered turtles don't have vocal cords, who knew?! The "hissing" is actually the air rushing out so they can fit in their shell when they are scared! So as long as we can get Tootie to eat we will be keeping him/her around until The Turtle Races in a few weeks. 

And now for the picture overload: a morning at the park with Grandpa Paul.