A Trip in Pictures

Hello again, it is me, the occasional blogger. Sorry for the dry spell. My brain seems to be on summer vacation and very rarely can it put together thoughtful words when I finally find time to sit at the computer each day. And tonight is no exception, as I just erased the several sentences I wrote to follow this one.

So without too much more ado I want to share with you the pictures texted to me from my dear husband as he made his way across this beautiful country with our van and his father. They had a marvelous trip, and though I hope to someday see all these sights for myself, I remained quite happy to simply receive the "postcards" while he logged the miles. I couldn't properly caption each photo, as they are not my moments to recount, but I can summarize the highlights:

A trip begun in eastern CT started west through Massachusetts and New York to Niagara Falls. From there the travelers zoomed through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa as rolling hills flattened to farmland and they turned north along the Missouri River. South Dakota marked the beginning of the sightseeing, with a drive through the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, and into Montana to the Little Bighorn Battlefield. Back into Wyoming for a few days in Yellowstone and the Tetons. Through Idaho, seeing the Shoshone Falls, then on to Oregon along the Columbia River where they saw Horsetail Falls and had a room with a view of the river and Washington State. Lastly, a mere 30 minutes from our new house - a herd of elk grazing near the road. Please enjoy!

Stay tuned for more updates as the kids and I begin our own westward voyage. And I do hope to jump in before then with one more hodge-podge of pictures from the summer, and I might even take a stab at capturing some of the musings twirling through my head these days. Hope you enjoyed the arm-chair cross-country trip! 

Fireworks

Amy and William got their first real, live fireworks viewing this past weekend (postponed from the Fourth on account of rain) at none other than my very own high school. My dad and I brought them, and Caroline stayed with my mom. Logistics worked out beautifully and the kids were thrilled. Rivaling the actual fireworks were the glowing light sabers I bought from a vendor just as dusk settled in. 

Yes, William is indeed wearing his pajamas - he was quite insistent on this point, since it was going to be dark. Didn't stop him from doing battle with Amy. The light sabers were such a huge hit with these two Star Wars -obsessed munchkins. 

I knew a picture (particularly with a phone) would never do it justice, but the show was spectacular and it was a special little memory to accent our summer and to add to Amy and William's list of firsts!

William's Hats

I'm sitting here scrolling through all the pictures I've taken with my phone in the last three weeks and trying to decide which to use and how to organize a blog post that comes even slightly close to capturing all my favorite little moments of late. I don't think it's possible, so I'll have to catch up in bits and pieces and hodge-podge posts for a bit. 

But there was one recurring theme I found: William sure knows how to wear a hat. 

Hard hat, space helmet, garden hat, blanket, you name it. Something on his head plus his trusty boots and he's ready for anything. Love my boy. 

Christening

I've been a blog-slacker lately, but it hasn't been for lack of material. We've been busy here on our little northern vacation! One of the best days so far was two Sundays ago when we celebrated the baptism of our sweet Caroline Grace. The service was wonderful, she was a doll, and we had the rare pleasure of having tons of extended family over for a light brunch after. It was a truly special day and one that we will remember for a long time.