Thule Time

'Twas the night before vacation and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The suitcases were all packed with care,
In hopes that our road trip would soon be here.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
while visions of Hershey kisses danced in their heads...

YES, we leave tomorrow morning for our trip to Illinois. It has been a VERY busy couple of days taking care of things and getting all packed but we are so excited to finally be on the road tomorrow. The goal is to leave by 7 am. Since our kids are early birds, we are hoping this won't be a problem...we'll see. A friend of ours told us that every time she saw a Thule carrier on the top of a car, she thought FUN! That car is going to have FUN! We went on vacation with her last year and she had bought a Thule bag so we could take one car to Martha's Vineyard. And you know what? We did have FUN! For our trip, we borrowed her "FUN" bag. I know it isn't a great picture but this is what we will look like driving for the next couple of days. This mini-van is going to have FUN! I know there will be difficult moments with 3 little ones in a car for 19 hours and things won't always go as planned but that is ok. We are so blessed to be able to take our kids on vacation. Growing up, we always drove. I don't think I was on a plane until I was about 16. And I remember how much fun we always had as a family. My mom and I have been reminiscing this week about those trips (she's also been sharing some traveling tips!) and how fun they were. I'm excited to set out on our adventure tomorrow morning. I'm excited to make more memories with my family. The plan is to get to Hershey, PA tomorrow around dinner time, go to Chocolate World, swim at the hotel for a bit and then head to Hershey Park on Monday for the day. We hope to arrive in Illinois by Tuesday evening. Don't worry, I'll be sure to post about all the FUN we had. Well, I have a few more things to do before I am off to make more Libby family memories...

THULE = FUN!!!

Father's Day ~ These kids have the greatest dad in the world taking them on vacation!!!

Double 8's

As you can see, we have only 8 days to go until our road trip. I made this countdown for Caleb to pull off each day. Well, of course he wants to do it first thing in the morning which is like 6 am. So usually more than once during the day he will ask if he can pull another number off. Not only do I have to explain to him that it doesn't work that way...just because you pull the number off, it doesn't mean the trip will come faster but boy, as I look at that countdown, I realize there is only 8 days left and I can't have another number pulled off yet!!! I'm not sure who the reminder is actually for...hmmmmmm. This week will be full of packing, cleaning the van, last-minute shopping needs and making it all come together. I am truly looking forward to our family adventure.
As for the second "8", Hannah turned 8 months old this week so I thought I'd just share a couple of pictures with you of her. I will probably post one more time before our trip and then it is vacation time!!!!

This girl wants to move. She is rocking on her knees and always trying to get in the crawling position from sitting up. She just can't quite get that leg to do what she wants it to.

Here she is reaching after her pacifier and the boys car. She is so proud of herself when she gets to something she wants on her own. I'm sure she will be on the move in just a few weeks or so.

This video is so funny. She hasn't really been into being in the jumper until this past week. Now she is like a little kangaroo!

Two Weeks and Counting

It's hard to believe we are only 2 weeks from our road trip. The destination is Streator, IL to see Dave's family but we will stopping at Hershey Park on the way to break up the trip and have some fun along the way! We have been busily preparing for the trip. I am a list lady so this weekend we have made the budget list, the packing list and the most stressful...what needs to be done before we leave. This weekend we also had a yard sale...a treasure hunt. We made about $90 but the best part of the day was meeting our neighbors. Many came by to introduce themselves and see who we were! There are a lot of school-age kids in our neighborhood but not a whole lot of preschoolers or toddlers. But at the yard sale I met one woman who had 2 kids the same age as mine plus she is due again in July. It was really nice to meet her and our kids played together for awhile in the backyard. She is also a pediatric nurse so we had some good conversation. It was so nice to meet those around us. We were also happy with the money we made and today we used it to buy Josiah's next car seat so that we can move Hannah up to his. Dave put all the seats in for how they will be for the trip. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. Now that they yard sale is over, I can focus on the trip again. I am getting things ready for the list and just trying to get things in order for the big day. Caleb is getting excited because he is starting to have a sense of time so he realizes it is coming soon. He can't wait! He finished school this week and he had his program. No he didn't sing but boy was he cute! Here are some pictures of it. Have a great week everybody!

We had a smile and I thought maybe we'd get a song since he'd been singing them all week long at home...

Not so much. He just kept looking down. Later he told us he just wanted us there and not all those people. I think a little stage fright set in...

All smiles after the show!

This is Caleb with his teacher, Mrs. Sullivan. She has so much love for the kids and she gave Caleb a wonderful first experience in school. He learned so much and whenever you asked him how he knew something..."Mrs. Sullivan told me."

One year of school down...and so many more to go... I'll have to save this picture and put it next to his high school graduation picture someday...

Treasure Hunting

This year we have been all about yard/garage sales. I put a slash because I call them yard sales and Dave calls them garage sales...I guess it just depends on where you are from! Well, we have been taking the kids on Saturday mornings when we are around. A friend of mine told me to call it "treasure hunting" when we go. So we have adopted that. We always make it exciting and say we are going to find a treasure and every time we go, there always a car, truck or game that comes home as a "treasure". Mommy tends to find a few "treasures" too each Saturday. We are also having our own yard sale next weekend and Caleb has been helping get stuff together to sell. That being said, garage sales tends to be on the forefront of Caleb's mind. Well, yesterday I took a walk with him after a very difficult day at home. The boys have just been fighting a lot and having trouble with listening and obeying. Caleb loves the one on one time so I took advantage with a walk. He was so excited to go without "Siah" (as he is called in our house). While we were walking I asked him what he thought of his brother. He didn't quite know what I was asking. I then went to ask him if he liked Siah. He looked at me and said, "Well, I don't want to sell him in the garage sale...then we won't be able to find him!". I couldn't stop laughing. He may not be too fond of him at times, but it's good to know he still wants to keep him! At the end of a very long day, it put a smile on my face and reminded me that I have the best job in the world...to be Caleb, Josiah and Hannah's mommy.

Though Hannah is now sleeping in her own crib upstairs at night now, she usually ends up in our bed around 5 am where she will sleep a bit longer. I just thought this picture was so funny. Little her waking up in our big bed. And yes, this is the smile we get to see everyday!

I meant to post these last time. They were a couple of videos from the softball tournament. I think we have a little soccer player and baseball player on our hands. Ever since the tournament, Caleb has been all into hitting the ball and running the bases. I guess we will be looking into T-ball next season...and so it begins. (Look how excited his face gets when mommy starts cheering him on)