Road Trip Days 7-13: Oklahoma

We spent the last leg of our road trip in Oklahoma with Ethan's uncle and his family. This was one of my favorite points in our road trip. It was so nice to get to know that side of our family better and just spend quality time with them all. We kept our days busy with seeing sights, shopping around, watching movies and sharing good laughs. There were so many people around that I always had a helping hand with Kaiden and Skye. I really didn't want to leave but I knew that saying goodbye meant we were one step closer to our final destination. I took pictures sporadically so this is just a compilation of the here and there. By the end of this trip I just didn't feel like pulling my camera out for every little detail haha.(On a side note: sorry the blog posting has been a bit slow. We've been ridiculously busy and blogging takes quite a bit of time. I probably won't get into a normal groove until next month, after we close on our house and settle in. Thanks for being so patient!)We spent the first day in Oklahoma just hanging out at the house. After a ton of traveling, it was so nice just to sit around and be lazy for once.Our family took us to downtown Enid. The pic on the left is Madison sporting our Ergobaby carrier (and our baby haha.) It was actually pretty awesome walking around and seeing some of their awesome shops. "The Felt Bird" was a favorite of mine.This is a peek of the inside of "The Felt Bird"...pretty cool, huh? A lot of the stuff inside was made by local artists.Grabbing some coffee at a local, downtown coffee shop.The four of us. :) // Kaiden still doesn't know how to sip out of a straw...The coolest thing about this coffee shop was the  fact that all profits go towards different ministries. Everything you ordered was paid for by donation only. I've never seen anything like that before.The next day we went antiquing. Aunt Jill spotted a bunch of vintage toys for only a quarter a piece. Kaiden was definitely in heaven.The best part about antique-ing in Oklahoma is all the southwestern and native american things we came across. My husband actually enjoyed antiquing and spent the whole day shopping around with us. It was pretty awesome.We stopped at a local sandwich shop for a lunch break.I think Madison enjoyed coloring the kid's placemats more than Kaiden haha.And what's a day of antique-ing without grabbing some gelato?Took this lovely lady's senior pictures!They have such beautiful property. This little stream runs through the front of their yard.If we walked under the bridge we would make our way across the street where a little kids train runs on the weekends. For those of you that don't know my son, he is OBSESSED with trains.Patiently waiting the train...I love this picture Madison took of the four of us. :)Snagged these crazy, vintage pants at an antique store for a  few bucks.The bridge to their home.My guys...We ended up driving straight from Oklahoma to Georgia and I didn't take many more pictures. You can imagine how tired I was from traveling AND taking care of a toddler and newborn. I hope you enjoyed seeing the road trip pictures and I'm excited to say that our journey doesn't stop here. We have a whole new territory to discover being in the South and I can't wait to update you on it. 

Road Trip Day 5+6: New Mexico and the Road

Blogging has been a bit delayed since our arrival in Georgia. We have been house hunting and taking care of a lot of the in-processing stuff that needs to be done for our family. We also spent the weekend in Pensacola where we didn't have wi-fi so I'm finally getting around to this post!Days 5 and 6 were spent mostly on the road. We left Flagstaff (attempted to check out a Native American festival that turned out to be a total flop) and headed to stay with our friends stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Every exit seemed to have colorful little shops that sold a variety of Native American goods. If I had it my way, we would've probably stopped at every one of them and never made it to our destination. I'm glad that Ethan chose this one to visit. It was nice being able to stretch out our legs and snap a few pics.They also had dinosaurs, of course.Kaiden got to pick outa free piece of petrified wood.The scenery was constantly changing and we went from desserts to a more mountainous landscape.There was definitely a boring part of our ride where I found myself taking pictures of random things just to pass the time. Kaiden was getting sick of it haha.We finally made it to our friend's house where they had a DELICIOUS home-cooked meal waiting for us. It was so nice to take a step back from more of the touristy stuff and just unwind with good food and company.I was obsessed with thier hammock in the back and had to take a picture of it lol. // Do you see one of their dogs peeking at the camera? Kaiden was in love with them!They gave Skye a pair of moccassins that fit her perfectly!A delicious Southwest breakfast.I also snapped a few photos of them. Barbara is a photographer too so she knows what it's like to always be behind the camera and never in front of it.So we got back on the road but after several hours, we noticed that Ethan's truck was acting up. We decided to pull over and give it a rest.We ordered some pizza from the restaurant attached to the gas station and it actually turned out to be quite delicious. Our road side stop turned out to be more of a picnic. :)After eating, we got back on the road and drove our longest stretch which was about 9-10 hours to our family in Oklahoma. We had initially planned to stop in Amarillo, Texas but since it was already night and the kids were asleep, it seemed most logical to continue on. I'm so glad we did because it gave us an extra day in Oklahoma (which I will be blogging about soon!) Thanks for your patience, friends! A lot has happened since this post and I can't wait to update y'all! (<<I'm already becoming a Southerner, see?)

Road Trip Day 4: Grand Canyon

We almost decided to scrap the Grand Canyon all together. It was a total of 3+ hours (roundtrip) out of our way and we could've just cut straight through Arizona. As much as I didn't want to, I knew it wouldn't benefit the kids if they had that extra time in the car. I had already accepted that we weren't going to see it when Ethan changed his mind, turned the car around and started heading North. I'm so glad he did. I've never see anything so beautiful in my entire life. The Grand Canyon is gorgeous in picture and video but there is nothing like seeing it with your own eyes. The depth, the colors, the immensity of it all...itis such a grandeur sight that can't help but make you feel miniscule in comparison. I kept telling Ethan over and over, "If this kind of beauty exists here on Earth, I can't even comprehend what heaven will look like." I was nervous that we would drive all the way up there, look at it for a few minutes and then want to turn back around but that wasn't the case at all. I could've stayed there for hours. I just wanted to sit in the middle of it and read my Bible! But a crying newborn and tired toddler feet only kept us there for a few hours. It was so worth it, though. If you haven't made your way out to see the Grand Canyon yet, I highly encourage you to add it to your bucket list. It was such an awesome experience!After leaving the RV resort that bordered California and Arizona, we made sure to snap a picture at the Historic Route 66.Crossing into Arizona while drinking some Arizona Tea!Here's another picture I took while driving. It's really amazing watching the terrain gradually change as you drive through the different states.Waiting for our shuttle to take us to the Grand Canyon. It typically costs $25 for a car to get into the state park but we are free since we are active military!Such a goof.Riding the shuttle.A peek of the Grand Canyon.Simply breathtaking.Riding back to the car.Some scenery of the drive to Flagstaff. We stayed in a hotel for the night to take a break from our RV'ing experience. I didn't take any pictures that evening since I was busy giving the kiddo's baths. It was so nice to be in a completely air conditioned room and take the longest, hot shower I wanted. We all left the hotel feeling refreshed and ready to hit the road once again.