11 States in 11 Days!

That's right....Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin...all in 11 days! Our "Wedding Adventures and More" trip began last Friday at 2:45 a.m. when we jumped in the van and headed west. Our first destination was Altus, Oklahoma to attend my cousin Michal's wedding and visit with family. Some of you may remember reading this blog from last year's trip out to OK for Rebecca's wedding. This time, we decided to leave in the middle of the night with hopes that the girls would sleep a good while and we could get several hours in without stopping. Our plan worked and Chris and I enjoyed watching the sunrise (behind the clouds) and talking while Addie and Lydia remained in dreamland. I think we arrived in Altus around 5 p.m. and the trip was basically uneventful, which is always a good thing.

The wedding and reception on Saturday were beautiful and it was so nice to spend some true quality time with our Oklahoma family. The weather was HOT...around 95 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, but no humidity like we have here at home so that was nice. We stuck around for another night and hung out with the family again on Sunday all day. Addie enjoyed playing with Grace and Abraham (the younger of the 6 cousins). Thanks so much to the "Oklahomas" for welcoming us into your home and feeding us :) We had a GREAT time!!!

We got an early start on Monday morning, preparing for the 7 hour trip to Kansas City, Kansas. Our next destination was the Great Wolf Lodge, which is a resort-like hotel with a huge indoor waterpark. We had heard from friends that this was a great place so we wanted to see for ourselves. There are 12 locations around the US and you can learn more about the Great Wolf Lodge here. Addie wasn't sure about the waterpark at first, but she ended up going down both of the kiddie waterslides (only once each though) and even went on one of the BIG waterslides with Daddy (only once also). She loved the lazy river...which we enjoyed as a family, just floating along without any cares in the world! Lydia even fell asleep one time while we were on it :) We stayed two nights and spent half the day on Wednesday in the waterpark after checking out. This was such a fun "treat" for our family and I'm glad we were able to experience it!

We absolutely LOVED the drive through Kansas...you know most people think it's SO boring because there's just a whole lot of nothing, but this was by far our favorite part of the drive. It's true, it is a whole lot of nothingness, but it's GORGEOUS nothingness and here's why:

After lunch on Wednesday, we piled back into the van and headed north for the Omaha, Nebraska area. Our 3 hour, non-stop drive seemed SOOOOO quick compared to the previous drives. We actually stayed at a hotel in Council Bluffs, Iowa, but it was minutes away from Omaha. Thursday morning, we went to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha and it was FANTASTIC! We got in for a GREAT price because we're zoo members here in Evansville so it was practically the cheapest and best part of the trip (besides the priceless time spent with family of course!). We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather...it was mid-seventies and sunny and breezy.

I think Addie's favorite part of the whole zoo was being able to pet a goat in the petting zoo part. My absolute favorite part, hands down, was the butterfly exhibit! It was AMAZING to say the least. Addie and I went in by ourselves because we couldn't bring the stoller and Lydia needed a rest anyway. I WISH WISH WISH I would have taken my camera in with me, but I'm glad I was able to enjoy these magnificent creatures with Addie and I will always remember how cool it was. When we came out of the exhibit, they actually had a window where you could stand and watch butterflies actually hatching out of their cacoons! I got to do a little teaching too because there was a foreign man who just had no idea how all of this worked...so that kind of made my day to be able to explain one of God's miracles to him ;) We were all SO tired after our walk around the zoo, but it was so worth every ounce of energy. I would highly recommend this zoo!!!

Friday morning, we hit the road early to make our way to Grand Forks, North Dakota for my cousin Cole's wedding. This was another 7 hour drive, but probably ended up taking us about 9 hours. Let's just get something straight right now...South Dakota is full of even more nothingness than Kansas. And there aren't any places to stop! We managed to find lunch and luckily had enough gas to get us to our destination so that was a blessing. The temperature dropped almost 20 degrees as we headed north so I began worrying about my little ones who were in tank dresses (since it was warm when we left Iowa!). Lucky for us, our hotel was right across the street from Old Navy, Kohl's, and Super Target (which we visited all 3 immediately upon arrival to hunt for warm clothes!).

Cole's wedding and reception was also very nice, although much colder than the wedding we attended only a week prior ;) We all had a great time catching up with family and dancing at the reception. For those of you who don't know me well, I used to spend my summers in Minnesota with my mom's brother Jeff and his family so I got to be pretty close to his in-laws too. It was so wonderful to be able to spend time with everyone. Sunday, we traveled south to Minnesota (doesn't that seem funny to say!?) to Jeff and Jennie's house, where we spent the next two nights before making the long trek home on Tuesday. We are so thankful to the "Minnesotas" for welcoming us into their home and bringing back some of the old memories and making new ones ;) Oh, I almost forgot to mention how COLD it was in Minnesota also. Addie had to borrow a sweatshirt from an in-law cousin (if that makes any sense) so be sure to notice her wonderful outfit in the pictures below!

We didn't get a really early start on Tuesday morning for our 12 hour drive home, but we were really in no hurry to end our vacation. It took us about 14 hours total including stops and both girls were angels. We both feel so blessed to have such good little travelers and making it through this trip with only minor meltdowns here and there just confirmed that we can take them anywhere! Thankfully, Lydia's first tooth is peeking through today (causing major grouchiness) so I'm sure glad that was saved until we got home ;) Now, here we are...trying to get back into routine in the warmth and rain. Until the next trip.....

...we'll be catching up on rest ;)