Road Trip Part 2

Yesterday's pictures were the ones I had taken of our road trip to Michigan. There is another side to the story though. We also gave a camera to the kids to document the trip. Here are some of the highlights according to them.

We stopped at Mc Donald's every morning.

See.

Because we had to have these.

Well Jay didn't, because he doesn't like coffee, he had a stash of Red Bull in the cooler in the back of the Suburban, but the rest of us wanted our caffeine in an ice blended caramel and whip cream topped form.

The dogs spent each day laying on the seat in between Kimberly and Tiffany. They falsely believed that the girls' Snuggies were for them and there were quite a few child vs. dog fights while they tried to work this out.

I don't remember seeing this, but the kids found a tire graveyard somewhere along the way.

Midway through Day 2, the Snuggie became a makeshift wall. Kimberly was fed up with being stuck in a car all day with everyone.

Aimee passed the time waving at all the big rig drivers we passed and seeing if they would wave back. There are quite a few pictures like this one of one of the other kids trying to document this process. What we ended up with was a lot of pictures of tractors where you can't make out the driver, let alone if he's waving or not.

No road trip would be complete without a truck with an eagle/flag mural on it's back windows.

And finally, Welcome to PURE Michigan, not just Michigan, but PURE Michigan.

Notice in the lower right hand corner.

That's me, rubbing my temples.

Road Trips and New Places

It seems like just yesterday we were preparing to move to Michigan and had the whole summer ahead of us. Now I find that it's suddenly fall and I haven't blogged in months. Of course we've been busy living life during that time, but I felt I should at least give you the highlights in pictures.

We drove across country from Arizona to Michigan at the beginning of June. We being me, my husband, our three daughters, three dogs, and two cats. Originally we planned to make the trip in four days. Driving with that many beings in a vehicle was so much fun (insert sarcasm here), that we decided to drive a little longer (like 6 hours a day) after the first day, so that we could get to Michigan in only three days. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Have you ever heard that things are bigger in Texas? Well if this cow (bull?) is any indication, that might be true. He was however a little camera shy and started walking the other way when I tried to get his picture.

Sticking with the big in Texas theme, this cross was huge.

Then of course there are your oddities on the road. I think this guy needs a few more bumper stickers. What do you think? He's got a little patch of window there on the right he still may be able to see out of.

Texas doesn't have a monopoly on big things though. The world's largest rocking chair is in Missouri.

Nice custom tail lights.

St Louis Arch. We didn't stop.

By the time we got to Illinois and came across another giant cross, I was beginning to think that Texas didn't have a lock on all things large.

And Finally, we made it to Michigan.

Faith Part 2

Once again I find myself needing to let go of worry and have faith that everything will work out in it's own time. I've been very stressed lately. The much anticipated move to Michigan is rapidly approaching. The moving truck comes in 42 days. In 43 days I set out on a cross country adventure with three kids as well as dogs and cats in tow. The insanity that is trying to drive small humans and pets cross country is going to be lessened by the fact that we are taking a little longer route so we can visit friends all across the country along the way.

Little by little things are coming together. I've got movers booked. I've got friends that volunteered to help. I've planned the road trip and know everywhere we are going to stay along the way. I'm making appointments to get new tires on the car and a DVD player installed for the trip. The last remaining detail is where the movers will be delivering our belongings and where exactly the endpoint of our cross country journey will be. The huge boulder in this path is that we are looking for a house to rent in a small town where there are precious few rentals.

So here is the part where I need to have faith. I went out there in March and the hubby and I looked at a lot of houses in a lot of towns much like the town we live in now, a suburb with mostly tract homes. What we decided is what we really wanted was a house like the one where we were staying. A house on a large lot (13 acres) in a small town. We want to give our kids room to roam and the ability to have things they've never had, like the ability to have big dogs and Kimberly wants to raise chickens. We can't do that in a tract home in the suburbs. We want our kids to have the experience of living out in the country in a small town with small schools where the teachers have the opportunity to build a relationship with each student. We decided which small town had all the things we wanted.

For the last month we have looked and looked in this town for a house for us. So far it isn't there. I'm getting worried. I'm losing sleep. So now it's time to let go and let the solution work itself out. Our perfect house is there somewhere. The one with the porch I can put a rocking chair on and the pond that the hubby can stock with fish. The one where Kimberly can have her chickens and I can plant a garden. It will have a big laundry room where I can sort and fold all the clothes without bumping into things. It will have all the room we need for our family and our enormous home office. It will have room for the piano the kids want me to get so they can take lessons. I know it is there and I just have to have faith that it will find us.