Arriving in St. Louis, Missouri

Today we arrived in St. Louis Missouri.
Check out the photo gallery for more photos from today.

Longaberger

Since Ted and I have been married (21 years May 4th), my mother-in-law Nancy has been buying Longaberger baskets for me. So passing through Ohio, we naturally had to stop at the Longaberger Homestead. They have a huge store full of baskets, pottery, and lots of lovely things. But our favorite part of the visit was getting to make a basket. (I didn’t because I am the designated photographer, and I figured Katie and Chelsea would need some help). Ted and the kids were able to choose from 3 styles of baskets. They also chose their basket striping and “jewelry” to go on the basket. They wet the bands, weaved, cut and hammered. After finishing our baskets, we ate at the Amish restaurant Miller’s, before heading back to the camper. While the kids played on the playground, we got ready to go. We are headed to Indianapolis, Indiana tonight. We should arrive around 8pm. We are trying to make it to St. Louis, Missouri for Ted’s birthday (Sunday).

Be sure to check out more photos of us making baskets at Longaberger on the Photo Gallery page!

Where Jack and Annie Live

Today was a big travel day. We drove through MA, CT, NY, and PA. So many wonderful things to see in these states, but that’s for another trip. Katie and Chelsea played with Sarah and Lily all day. The dolls camped out in their new tent. Chris is rereading the Fablehaven series, so he read all day until the girls decided to watch a movie. When we got to the Welcome to Pennslyvania sign, Katie squealed, “Mommy, this is where Jack and Annie live.” (sigh… how cute is that… for those of you who don’t know, Jack and Annie are the main characters in The Magic Tree House series). Unfortunately, Frog Creek, Pennsylvania is not a real place. (Or that’s where we’d be now :o)) Tomorrow is another travel day. We are driving to Ohio to visit the Longaberger Homestead.

American Girls

Chelsea & Katie 

We spent the day between Natick and Foxboro Massachusetts. Let me just preface this post by saying, that I know there are wonderful, amazing, historical and educational activities to do in Massachusetts. We didn’t do any of them. Today we started our day at the American Girl doll store. The girls have been saving their money and marking the catalogs for months in preparation for this trip. It was so much fun watching them in the store. Chris helped them add up their purchases and carried their bags for them. Sarah (Chelsea’s doll) and Lily (Katies’s doll) got their ears pierced. (Really) We weren’t allowed to watch , so it must have been pretty traumatic. My favorite part of the American Girl doll store was eating at the bistro. Sarah and Lily were given special chairs for the table, and they were served water in teacups and saucers. Chris was such a good sport, we took him to the Lego store in the mall. He got enough legos to keep him busy for awhile. 

Chris going Lego Crazy!

We then headed back to the campground to check on the dogs, (Bentley is being so good), and go swimming in the indoor pool. It’s a beautiful campground with more amenities than I’ve ever seen at a campground. We will definitely be back. We ended the day at one of our favorite restaurants, The Melting Pot. Tomorrow is a travel day. We are headed to State College, Pennslyvania.

(More Photos Located in Photo Gallery)

Westward Ho!!!



“First” Night
 After our egg hunt and Easter dinner we packed up the rest of the RV and decided to sleep in it overnight so Bentley could get some practice sleeping without being able to see his daddy, Sheba could get used to her built-in litter box, and we could get an early start Monday morning.  Bentley slept in his crate the whole night.  However, it was not always quietly.  Fortunately, it seemed everyone (except Mommy) slept through Bentley’s whimpering.  All things considered he did quite well.  There’s hope yet.  Sheba started crying in the middle of the night and by process of elimination I concluded she forgot where the water bowl was.  Actually, I think she was complaining because she had to share the same water bowl as the dogs.



Sheba - "Not sharing my water with dogs!"

Bentley & Sasha - Adjusting Well on First Night



RV in Shop - Yes, the pets are inside while tires are balanced

We were on the road by 9:30am.  I followed Ted in the van for awhile because our back roads are dirt and at this time of year not in the best shape.  We hooked in Holden and we were off.  Well… sort of.  After we hit I-95 and Ted went over 55mph, we started shaking. (The kids were not running around :o) ).  We, of course, had the RV completely serviced ahead of time, and had new front tires put on.  Something was definitely going on, this was not just bad roads.  So we called the tire place, turned around and had the tires rebalanced. (Then there was another little incident that I’m not allowed to tell you about, because Ted says not all things have to be made public)  So that added another 30 minutes.  We were back on the road by 1:15pm.  Tonight we are staying in Foxboro Massachusetts, ETA  6:30pm.

Waiting to Get on The Road at Bennett Auto Center in Bangor!

Chris with his DS

Chelsea knitting her scarf

Katie and her scarf

Relaxed Daddy...
(before he lost the pin to the tow bar and had to go get a new one at Carquest)