Birthday parties!

One of the benefits of being closer to family is being able to celebrate birthdays! The kids were able to go to their cousin Beckett's birthday party for the first time! They loved it! (Or was it the treats they loved?)

The kids LOVE Grandma and always choose to sit by her when they get a chance. 

Playing in Michigan

We were happy to find this toddler friendly park in the town south of us. The kids were thrilled to have something similar to what they had in Washington. The major difference is, there are hardly any other kids at this park and the park in Washington was always busy.

Snack break! I bought a box of fruit leather for our big road trip, but we just didn't eat them as much as I anticipated. We finished them about 10 months later. Lesson learned.

When we first saw our rental house, the person showing us apologized for all the rocks in the front. Noel and I both said, "This is great! Our kids LOVE rocks!" We were definitely right about that one. These rocks have provided hours of entertainment.

I wish this picture wasn't blurry because it's one of my favorites of Jude. It's SO hard to get a good picture of him.

Within a couple of minutes of the new stool being put in the bathroom, Nona made her way into the sink. She is the adventurous one of the 3.

"Look Mommy! I have stickers on my legs!"

There's a small hill in our backyard. Hazel likes to "help" Nona up and down the hill. So sweet.

Made it!

Better late than never, right? Thankfully, we were able to stay with my parents for 4 days after arriving in Michigan since our stuff was still in Utah. We had a few pretty frustrating days with poor communication from ABF about the whereabouts of our truck. But, it finally arrived, we had help unloading, and the kids were thrilled to run around in an empty semi truck. They still talk about how our stuff was on the semi truck and how they got to go on the semi truck.

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.

Vacation

I guess I drafted this post a long time ago and forgot to post it! Here's some pictures from our vacation (which was almost 2 months ago).

The kids never really eat at restaurants due to all the food sensativities we're dealing with, but we tried to find a couple "safe" places on our trip. Hazel loved this Mexican place. 

Hazel was also a BIG fan of the breakfast buffet at the hotel. She wanted a little of everything. I wonder who she gets that from.

The kids napped in the van each day.

We spent the better part of one day at the Seattle Children's Museum. The water was their favorite part. They got so wet that we had to go back to the hotel and change clothes.

They also enjoyed grocery shopping at the museum.

And the slides!

We found a playground nearly every day where they could play and eat lunch before driving around for naps.

First time in a pool!

Brrr! Walking back the room in a wet suit was very cold.

Stick collector.

We were really concerned about how the kids would do since we've never traveled with them, but they did really great! They LOVED vacation and have asked for more every day since we've been back. Since they did so well, we've decided to drive all the way from Washington to Michigan when we move next week. I actually think that 6 days in a car with them would be better than 6 hours on a plane. I sure hope I'm right about that one!