Trip Across The Country - Part 2

Day 2:  PENNSYLVANIA - OHIO 

Having already visited PA, we didn't stop for that state sign, but here we are in Ohio:

We stopped for several hours in Kirtland, Ohio, to see the Temple and many other church historical sites.

DAY 3: INDIANA - ILLINOIS 

 Sadly, we were unable to capture the Illinois state sign, as it's location was too dangerous to justify putting our family at risk for a photo (the ONLY state sign we couldn't get!)...but here's our little car saying we made it, and here we are in our hotel in Joliet.

Days 4-5: WISCONSIN

Can you see that Wisconsin sign, way off in the distance, between Angel and Grins?

Wisconsin was one of the highlights of our trip!!!  If that sounds unlikely to you (as it did to me, prior to planning our trip), you must be unfamiliar with Wisconsin Dells, the WATERPARK CAPITAL of the WORLD!!!

We decided to make the most of it, so we spent not one but TWO days at Mount Olympus - The World's Largest Theme Park and Water Park Resort!  We were grateful we had selected a park with an indoor theme park and water park, when it was pouring rain the entire first day! :)  Fortunately, we spent the day on indoor rides and slides.  The second day was hot and sunny, so we took advantage of the many, many pools, waterslides, and outdoor theme park rides!  It was SO much fun!!!

This was hilarious!!  There is a ride called "The Drop" that Wiggles really wanted to go on.  Angel and Grins had been on a similar ride previously and hated it, so they both refused to go, and kept telling Wiggles "It's scary! Don't go!".  Still, she wanted to try it - and adults weren't allowed, so she went on it alone.  The result was SO entertaining, as you can see on the video!

 OK, I know it was sad :( but it's funny now, because we all laughed about it later, Wiggles included! :)  Here's her reaction at the end:

Here were a couple of her favorite rides, that she DID enjoy:

All 3 kids thought the go karts were AMAZING!  I remember LOVING them as a kid too - it's so empowering to be able to drive a car all by yourself at that age!

The airplanes were another favorite!

The "kiddie coaster" was just their speed!  I kept trying to get them to go on some more 'exciting' rides with me (and Grins did try one!), but my safe-loving children were happiest on the kid rides, and that's just fine with me! :)  Hopefully they will keep that sense of caution throughout their teenage years! :)  And yes - Wiggles is wearing her pajamas, as her clothing got too wet at the water park. :)

The lazy river was one of Angel's FAVORITES!  She could have gone around and around all day long!

We make it a point to try "local" or cultural food that is customary in the place we are visiting. (e.g. ShooFly Pie in PA, etc).  So we decided to try a funnel cake at Mt. Olympus - and it did not disappoint!  (Well, it did disappoint us with how quickly it disappeared, but I guess it didn't stand a chance against 5 hungry mouths!) :)

All in all, our visit was a HUGE success, and definitely one of the highlights of our trip!  It was with heavy hearts that we got back into the car at the end of the second day, and headed west, leaving Wisconsin behind. 

Road Trip across the USA!!! - Part 1

Since we were moving across the country from one coast to the other, we knew we'd never have a better opportunity for a cross-country tour - so we took advantage of it!  We hopped in the car one day in Maine and hit the road!

Day 1: Leave Maine, drive through New Hampshire and Massachusetts to New York

We've found that, since the Mr. is more fun and entertaining to the children, and much more relaxed when travelling, we make a great team when I drive and he sits in the back, so that's what we did!  While I was driving, the Mr. concocted this creative little model of our van driving across the country, as a visual representation for the children to mark our progress.  Each label is a state we would drive through, so each time we entered a new state, we would move the car forward to that state.  It wasn't fancy, but it did the trick! ;)

Here we are, starting out.  We didn't take any pics of the first few states, since we've been to them several times before.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

MASSACHUSETTS (We stopped in Boston to ship some things since our van was 

packed to the gills!!!)

NEW YORK

We'd been to NYC and upstate NY multiple times, but one place we had not yet visited was Niagara Falls, so we decided to go for it!  

We arrived Sunday night, checked into our hotel and drove to the falls for the firework show - only to have it cancelled right then due to thunder and lightening storms!  Fortunately, the next day was BEAUTIFUL (VERY sunny, as you can tell by our pictures!) for our tour of Niagara!

We took the "Maid of the Mist" boat which was AMAZING!!!  I'm not sure what the children enjoyed more - the close-up view of the falls, or playing with the ponchos! :)

Most of us decided the mist felt so refreshing that hot, summer day that we removed our ponchos.  Little did we know the mist soon turned to spray and then deluge, and we were soaked from head to toe by the end!  It sure made for an exciting ride!! (Except for Wiggles, who cowered and cried in fear at the bottom of the boat, due to the loud roaring). :)

Here we are, after the boat ride (soaking wet!)

The Mr. is pointing to us, in our little blue ponchos.

My beautiful girl and a beautiful view.

Niagara Falls was everything we had hoped it would be, and more!  What a terrific first day to start our cross-country trip!

The Mr's Graduation

We enjoyed a nice, small little ceremony to celebrate the Mr's graduation from fellowship.

The Mr. shaking hands with Dr. William Dexter, president of the National College of Sports Medicine and director of the fellowship program at Maine Med.

The Mr. gave a nice presentation about the year.

Saying Goodbye

During our four years in Maine, we made many dear, dear friends whose friendships we will treasure for years to come.  It was SO hard to say goodbye but we will definitely keep in touch and have high hopes we will see them again soon!

Some of our very dear friends planned a lovely tea party to bid us farewell!  It was fantastic!!

Mini Marathon

In Maine, one of our friends came up with the awesome idea of a "mini marathon" - 2.62 miles compared to the standard 26.2.  She is so crafty, she even made some little race number tags and the kids helped decorate them - so fun!

Our kids decided to bike it (and we went further than the 2.62) but Grins' bike chain kept popping off!  Our very kind and patient friend Todd saved the day by fixing the bike multiple times.  Here we are all at the end:

We all enjoyed some post-race watermelon - especially Wiggles!