"Where have you been lately?"

To California...if I would have been driving due west. Instead I went in a triangular shape and spent 42 hours driving, but ended up back at home.

It seems far easier to just post pictures. I'll have to set it up for you first so you can fully comprehend why I would temporarily lose my mind and take part in such traveling shenanigans.

My dear hubby spent two months responding to the oil spill in the Gulf.

The week after he left, I packed up the dog, the kids, and a new dvd player and visited friends on the East Coast. We came home, started school, learnt a phew thangs and then packed up again. This time we visited relatives in the Ozark Mountains, went to the Gulf for a week, and then grabbed that guy we've been missing and hit the road for home.

Along the way we picked up the dog from my parents, and the birds from a friend (who, incidentally, laid 7 more eggs once they got rid of their last clutch). It was a baptism by fire re-introduction to the family life for Seth. That last leg of the trip, five wild kids, one stinky ear infected dog, and 4 birds plus a nest of 7 eggs.

We lived to tell the wild tales though. My neighbor had the audacity to ask, "Did you school those kids any while you were gone?" I smiled and said, "We crossed the Mississippi River three times in that many states, saw Civil War battlefields, and saw that New Orleans still hasn't fully recovered from hurricane Katrina. We may have learned a few things."

Tide Pools in Rhode Island

Tubing for the first time

Marine Mammals in Connecticut (with a fabulous personal tour guide)

Hay Bale Jumping on Grandma's Farm (Mom had to leave the premises)


Admiring the Beautiful Beaches on the Gulf

The Van, The Van, The Van...

(notice the dog crate in the fourth row--he traveled to New England with us)

Yeah, we are crazy.