Moving

I've been meaning to catch up on the blog for almost a year now. Moving to Michigan just really knocked the wind out of my sails (was there ever any wind in my sails?) and I have had just about  the right amount of energy to survive each day. Somedays not enough. Somedays a little extra. There are still boxes in our basement waiting to be unpacked. Some will never be unpacked (this house is too small), but some will. I rarely feel "on top" of anything. The house has to be in a desperate state of dirtiness for me to finally find time to clean it. Life with 3 toddlers is challenging to say the least. But, I might say that for me, moving is even harder. I have yet to find a rhythm and it's been almost a year. Anyway, in an attempt to feel somewhat accomplished and "back in the game", I'm going to try and document at least portions of our last year. Partly for those of you who like to read, but partly for myself.

Here's Hazel and Nona playing in our half-packed Washington house. I sure miss that house!

We found lots of "fun" places to stop on our drive from Washington to Michigan. Smoothie anyone?

Another smoothie stop. This place was really off the beaten path. That's what you get for searching for things on your phone while on the road and in desperate need of a stop.

I have fond memories (okay that's a bit of a lie) of our stop at Mt Rushmore. I remember as the "Mt Rushmore meltdown", courtesy of Jude Snyder.

My first time to the famous Wall Drug!

Another first! The Corn Palace!

We stopped at a mall in Iowa (thanks to Karen Barker for the tip!) and the kids STILL talk about driving these cars. They just had a blast. 

Picnic lunch stop! This is what most lunches on the road looked like. We'd find a park, eat lunch, let the kids play for awhile, and get back on the road.

Hazel's first and only donut. Maybe someday we'll be able to all have gluten again...

Overall, I have NO complaints about our 5 (or was it 6?) day drive from WA to MI. My parents drove one vehicle and we drove the other. The kids did AMAZINGLY well (especially if my mom was in the van with them) and we were able to go 6-7 hours a day. We really couldn't believe how well they did. Jude cracked himself up the whole way. One time, he started saying "rice kike" instead of "rice cake" over and over and over. He was laughing so hard at himself that he threw up. We had no idea until we stopped quite awhile later. Hilarious. He has always (and still does) loved to make up words and laugh at himself.