NUMBER FOUR: ROAD TRIP

This maybe should start with a "What was I THINKING??!?" moment, but no, let me dive right in.  We went on the mother of all road trips this summer.  We didn't just do it willy-nilly either.  We were on a mission alright.  The plan was made in part to cut down driving time -- no more than four hours at a time, but mostly to see everyone we have ever met living in either MN or ND.  Not really, but close.  Honestly, if I'd've known how thrown off M in particular would be, I would've made some serious adjustments.  But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

STOP ONE: Des Moines, IA --- when Gar-gar took us to downtown we knew we had made a mistake.
STOP TWO: West Des Moines, IA

Yay!  We got to visit our very dear friends C and M A and their ADORABLE, sweet and funny girlies, N and L.  It was so much fun getting to hang out with them - they have a sweet little house with an awesome yard complete with a tree swing that M fell in love with.  The girlies played in the water, swung to their hearts' content and we went to the coolest toy store.  We have a new fav children's CD: check her out, she's AWESOME! Too bad C had to work the majority of our visit, but we enjoyed the time we had!  Oh, and I also accomplished something on my list here -- #39: Try a New Food.  I am NOT a fish/seafood person at all, but I would like to at least try to eat more fish because I know how healthy it is and how much what a parent eats affects kiddos.  SO.  With that said, C grilled up some salmon... and... I ate it!  and... I... liked it!  It just basically tasted like grill food to me, so that was great!  And M ate the pants off that fish, too!  : )

Sprinklers on a nice day!

This swing was a hot commodity!

Sweetie pie N-n pushing M!