Summer Reflections

Now that the kiddos are back in school, I guess it is time to catch you all up on our summer vacation.

This was one of the busiest summers we have had, I think, and that includes the summers in which we moved. We ended up going on 4 road trips this year and the trips were spaced out about every 3 weeks or so. When I say "road trips", I do not mean being in the car for a couple of hours. I mean, we put in some major windshield time. Ok, let me rephrase that: the kids put in some major DSi time, Scott put in windshield and iPad time, and I put in windshield and iPhone time. Clear as mud? I thought so!

Also, to pass the time while traveling, we did what we always do when we are in a car: we counted "Beep-Beeps", aka VW Beetles. So, here is a recount of our travels and, yes, how many Beep-Beeps we saw.

Trip #1 West Virginia/Washington, D.C. 

I've blogged about two exciting events that occurred on this trip, both of which involved my children getting hurt, but we did have fun in other ways, too! We drove through 8 states and D.C., saw so many beautiful places, and got to spend some wonderful, quality time with Scott's parents. You'd think with as much driving as we did on this trip, we would've seen tons of Beep-Beeps but I was disappointed with our total being only 56. Maybe I set my expectations too high.

Trip #2 Louisiana

The kids and I drove down to La. to visit my parents for my dad's birthday and Scott flew in to spend Father's Day weekend with us. We were there for about a week and we had a wonderful time eating, spending time with our family, and more eating. Did I mention we ate a lot? Every time I plan a trip to La, I make a mental list of all the places at which I want to eat. The food is so good in La, I just can't help it! Seriously, though, on this particular trip, I gained 5 pounds...in ONE week! I only gained 2 in DC! And, then I go and gain 5 more in La! I should have walked to Louisiana instead of driving! Anyway, speaking of driving, on this road trip, we saw only 29 Beep-Beeps.

Trip #3 SE Texas

This was the same drive as the trip to La but we were able to stop in the Beaumont, Tx-area, where we celebrated the 85th birthday of Scott's Grandma Cele. This also was a great time, spent with more family members, including a very memorable canoe trip in the rain.

Trip #4 Iowa
This trip was unplanned but wonderful all the same.  Scott's grandmother (his dad's mother) passed away, so we drove to Grinnell, Iowa for the funeral.  Grinnell is a charming town surrounded by beautiful corn fields and we were happy to finally see where Scott's dad grew up, even though we were sad about the reason we were there.  Believe it or not, we did not count Beep-Beeps!

In between Trip #3 and Trip #4, Scott and I had a little weekend get-away to Dallas to see the 100 Monkeys in concert and I'll be blogging about that incredible night soon!

I also wanted to let you know that I will be traveling to Forks, WA at the end of the month!  All of you fellow TwiHards know the significance of this trip and can probably feel the excitement vibes I'm sending right now!!  I can't wait!!  Of course, I'll be blogging, tweeting, and posting pics on facebook but I also wanted to offer to you the opportunity to receive a postcard from Forks!  If you would like for me to send you a postcard from the actual post office of Forks, WA, let me know and send me your addy in the comments, on fb, by email, which ever method you prefer, and I'll make sure you get one!

Hope you all had a fabulous summer!!  Can't wait for Fall!