April 2015 South Dakota Road Trip

APRIL 13, 2015

We made it to the top of Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta!!

APRIL 14, 2015

Is it naughty that I walked around the Walmart in Tennessee yesterday asking people where to find things so that I can hear their accent?

 I was sick and had to cover about 6 hours of driving. The Econo Lodge in Greenville, IL was great last night tho! After some pizza and swimming, I was finally feeling better.

APRIL 15, 2015

Illinois State Museum smile emoticon

APRIL 18, 2015

Sac City Motel

Hit some decent rain so we stopped halfway from my mom's house in Iowa to my grandparent's house in South Dakota. smile emoticon

APRIL 20, 2015

One of my aunts wore the little guy out at the park today! Here we are at Shorty's Cafe having supper.

April 21, 2015

I got to swing by and visit my dad on his 60th birthday

APRIL 23, 2015

Karate fighting bubbles and playing in a fort at my cousins house!

APRIL 23, 2015

Wagon ride and a tea party with the great grandparents!

My Gramma and I

APRIL 24, 2015

The Grotto of Redemption

West Bend, IA

APRIL 27, 2015

Elephant Rocks State Park, Missouri

  

 APRIL 26,2015

Awesome rest area in Illinois (I think)---had 2 bridges, 1 covered, and a tower to climb for a scenic view.

 

 APRIL 27, 2015 (again)

My legs KILL today. After the tower yesterday and the Elephant Stone Park hike today, I hope I can still walk in the morning! Hard work makin' memories lol!!

APRIL 28, 2015

Chattanooga, TN

This morning was a little rough. We tried to head out a bit earlier than usual, but had a big cereal spill at breakfast that hindered that and got everyone into a sour mood. Then we had an unplanned stop to get Olivia a pair of shoes because she insisted that the ones she has been wearing thus far were now uncomfortable and too small. We drove 3.5 hours to the Racoon Mtn Caverns and had a really fun tour, played some mini golf, bought walking sticks in the giftshop, and then stopped for some burgers. I had planned to go another 1.5 hours into Georgia, but everyone has been so crabby and tired all day, I just decided to get a room right by the burger place lol. Day 17 of this trip just needs to be done.

 Just finished up a cave tour at Racoon Mountain Caves in Chattanooga Tennessee. I got to take home some cave mud on my shoes and pants lol! Today has been rough, but it looks like we are still going to be on schedule 

smile emoticon tongue emoticon

APRIL 29,2015

Canton,GA

Found a nice spot to stop and let the kids burn some energy! After this is lunch time and hopefully the kids will nap while I drive.

APRIL 30, 2015

HOOOOOOOOOME!!!!

March to April 11, 2015 Catch Up Posts

MARCH 5, 2015

It's chickie time again!! We aren't doing a whole bunch yet tho...need more coop wink emoticon So far we have 4 healthy hatches and at least 1 more pipped.

MARCH 13,2015

Coffee, chocolate biscotti, and commissioned art? Yes please!!

MARCH 16, 2015

Getting our burn on.

MARCH 16, 2015

Ugh. Olivia just had a meltdown because I can't give her a tiny robot with horns and a remote control so she can attach paper wings and make a robot butterfly. Lol ‪#‎homeschoolproblems‬ I think this would fall under Daddy's area of expertise anyhow...

The girls are playing Marco Polo outside with a sleep mask now!

MARCH 18, 2015

I had no idea the magnitude of inconvenience that our little car accident would cause. I probably would not have been so pleasant at the scene, had I known. It's been over a month now. unsure emoticon

MARCH 19, 2015

Seashell painting since we finished up our bookwork.

MARCH 24, 2015

Olivia just created a new area of study. She bought this with her own money.

MARCH 25, 2015

First bullseye from about 20ft!! 

MARCH 27, 2015

My whole family was sitting around and took a vote on what to watch. The kids and I all voted for "Harry & the Hendersons." (H&H) This is what happened:
Josh-"No no no...kids don't get a vote, Mommy gets 1/2 a vote, and Grandpa and I each get 4. The only way we are watching H&H is if Grandpa walks through that door and says 'H&H!'"
So I texted Grandpa Carl, who lives on the property also, and told him to do just that. My luck though, he was at the store. I explained to him what Josh had said, to which he replied, "When did you get 1/2 a vote??"

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!

Abundant rain today has my girls talking of hurricanes and candles, puzzles and board games. smile emoticon Thankfully they seem more excited than afraid. The kids quietly listened as I finished reading this book this afternoon and now we await book 2 this Fall. I found that this author also has a book "The Melancholy Mermaid" that also looks fun. We will probably pick up a copy once we get the car back. And who knew there were book trailers on YouTube also!? http://youtu.be/ZCwpwJcpfoo

 MARCH 30, 2015

The chickies just doubled their floor space. I think they're pretty happy!

APRIL 2, 2015

If any of you had any doubt of my craziness, I have decided to prove it by venturing on a cross country road trip with only myself and my three young children later this month!! I'm sure there will probably be tears of both joy and frustration but fun will be had by all whether they like it or not!smile emoticon Goodbye Florida-Hello South Dakota!! Looking forward to seeing a lot of our extended family!

APRIL 7, 2015

Did I mention that I love chickens??

We had SO much fun at the beach yesterday, even if we got a little too much sun.....aaand grandpa went swimming with his phone in his pocket! Poor guy!

Hubby getting the pig all processed before my big road trip smile emoticonPork chops tonight!!

APRIL 11, 2015

Caught a mama opposum under the house a couple nights ago. She has at least 3 little babies!! SO CUTE! 

The kids and I will be heading out on our road trip tomorrow morning. How many times do YOU think I'll hear the phrase "Are we there yet?" It's about 3,800 miles over 3 weeks. Ha!

Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium photos

Museum, butterfly & bird aviary, nature trail walk and soon an animal expert and planetarium!

The planetarium scared the little ones, but we did get to hold a baby alligator!!

Jan Feb 2015 Catch Up Posts

JANUARY 2, 2015

SALSA TIME! I love farmer's markets!

 Darn. Lost one. I knew I should have canned them in two batches.

 JANUARY 3, 2014

 Homeschool done smart!

smile emoticon Olivia reading to the littles while they finish their snacks. 3 birds. 1 stone.(Also the girls are dressed up for "Princess Homeschool Day!" complete with lipstick and eyeshadow. lol)

JANUARY 6, 2015

Ugh. I am throwing in the towel as far as school today. No one seems to be in the mood to cooperate AT ALL. Oh well. Every day can't be fabulous. Gotta love the schedule flexibility I suppose!! We'll try again on Thursday!

JANUARY 7, 2015

 Things have suddenly become very tribal in our back yard! 

JANUARY 30, 2015

We finally got the tadpoles (Yes, they're STILL tadpoles!) moved to a smaller, cleaner kiddie pool and dumped the larger one out to clean it up for warmer weather, then played in a muddy sandbox, then had bath time---now Olivia is in the bath practicing holding her breath so she can be a mermaid when she grows up. LOL She's very excited that she can open her eyes too!

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

This morning the girls got their bodies warmed and woke up and moving by doing the "Groot" freeze dance when "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5 came on the radio. If you haven't seen the movie Guardians of the Galaxy and you want my kids to like you, be sure to watch it! Lol

FEBRUARY 8, 2015

 I sent the girls outside with their Halloween pails and a bunch of handwritten cards with things to find. They had a lot of fun!

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

 Some lady from Philly smashed into my car. All are ok. Thank goodness no one was going very fast.

FEBRUARY 19, 2015

 Well, once the car is fixed, this'll be an awesome game for the kids! We'll be hunting snowbirds!! (You flip over each states license plate as you spot them)

FEBRUARY 22, 2015

 Korbin says, "I was hungry Mommy." I think he thought it was cake or a banana bread...

FEBRUARY 26, 2015

 And of course Carly is ready for early school too... :)

FEBRUARY 26, 2015

6:30 a.m. for math? Why not?

 I am so excited to do this 30 day art challenge in my small art journal because when I'm finished I get to start on the huge sketchbook! It was half price at Hobby Lobby and I am really looking forward to cracking it open!