Last time I posted, we were in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
That following day, we headed towards Minnesota. We went to the Mall of America, did some shopping and browsing, and met our friend Brittainee and her sweet kids. Britt is another SIDS mom who lost her sweet baby boy, Mason, around the same time as Arianna.
Later, we drove to Deluth, Minnesota, and spent the next day there. The town was a bit scary at night, but beautiful during the day.
Dj, a friend from church realized where we were, (close to where she used to live and work). She made some phone calls, and let us know that a Bible Camp that she used to work for was opening up the camp for us, and treating our family. So, we headed that way, and what a blessing that camp was for the family! We stayed in a cabin on a lake, with paddle boards and boats, water slides, more frogs to catch than my boys could keep up with, room to run, and a washer and dryer!
Happy Boys at the Lego Store, Mall of America.
She was very excited to shop at the American Girl Store, Mall of America.
Getting ready to head out to explore Deluth, Minnesota.
At Covenant Park Bible Camp.
We then headed to Wisconsin, and checked into Faiths Lodge for the next 3 days. Again, such a blessing and a sweet experience. We were there with three other families, and all the kids got along great. Two families there had daughters with similar health issues/needs. The other family, has 7 beautiful kids, and their oldest daughter has a brain tumor like Sierra. During the 3 days, we did guided meditation classes, women's and men's groups, yoga, endless arts and crafts, canoed in the lake, sat by the fire pit with s'mores, played a basketball game in the rain with the other families, hiked around the property and found places for our painted rocks, talked, shared, laughed and cried.
At Faith's Lodge, Danbury Wisconsin.
From Wisconsin, we headed towards Nevada, Iowa to meet with a friend. It didn't work out, so we continued on to Illinois, where we visited with another friend. The next day we made it to Louisville, Kentucky, where Ken's sister and her family live. It was a sweet visit. The boys and Andrew, their cousin, instantly hit it off and were inseparable while there. After Kentucky, we headed for Ohio, where we were meeting another friend, Chris.
Chris was my middle school teacher in 7th grade. Later, when I moved out on my own, we were roommates. We haven't seen each other in over 20 years...so it was long, long overdue. We jumped right in like no time had passed, and my kids loved getting to know her.
With cousin Andrew, in Louisville, Kentucky.
With Chris, in Youngstown, Ohio.
We then headed through Pennsylvania and into New York. The next morning, we spent at Niagra Falls. Such stunning beauty!!!
We then drove towards NYC. In NYC, we went to the Freedom Tower and 9/11 memorial. Our friends cousin is memorialized on the monument, so we wanted to find his name for her. Such a beautiful, emotional tribute. We took a ferry out to the Statue of Liberty, ate some NYC pizza, and had a great time exploring this incredible city and the incredible people who live there.
The next day, we were in Connecticut, and met with our friend Becky, and her family. Becky lost her son Sean around the same time as Arianna. We had lunch at a park, while our boys ran around catching crayfish and frogs, then went to a beautiful overlook and a small castle. That night. We headed on our way, and made it to a camp ground in Massachusetts that was just feet away from the ocean. We had a fox come through the campground (Bryce has always wanted to see a fox, so he was a happy kiddo). We seen seals on the beach, and had a skunk come right up to our site. Thankfully didn't spray. The next morning, we woke up really early, and walked to the beach to watch the sunrise. We planned on coming back to the campsite and getting some more sleep, but ended up staying for a couple hours while the kids played in the water, in their pajamas. Later, we drove through New Hampshire to Maine, and went to another beach. There, the kids played in the surf, caught little crabs, collected sea shells, swam in some tide pools, and Ken had a lobster roll.
Maine was obviously our last stop on the Northern route of this trip, so we headed back south. We stopped in Maryland, and the next morning, we met up with Stephanie, another SIDS mom who lost her precious little girl, Kaitlyn. While at the park with Stephanie, Makenley started playing with a little girl, and we chatted with her grandma, Linda. Turns out, Linda lost her child a long time ago to brain cancer. Another odd, but sweet connection.
We left the park, and headed towards Washington, DC. We seen the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Monument, the White House and the capital. And, Donald Trump.
We were standing in front of the White House, when Secret Service ordered us all back, and quickly hung police tape in front of us. A little while later, the motorcade came through.
In Meridian, Connecticut
In Massachusets
In Ogunquit, Maine
In Baltimore, Maryland
From Washington, DC, we headed to North Carolina. We met with Wanda, another SIDS mom from our group and her sweet little girl. Wanda lost her daughter, Lindsay not long after Arianna died. We then stayed with our friends Tamy and John for a couple days. (From the Carson Valley originally). It was so sweet to be with them again and catch up. Our time there was mostly spent relaxing, visiting, and exploring. My heart needed this time with them
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We left North Carolina, and headed to Georgia. We spent three fabulous days with Ken's brother and his family. The boys caught more frogs and lizards than we could count in the yard. We went to Jekyll Island, and spent the day there, playing in the sand and surf, catching crabs, finding shells, shrimp, horseshoe crabs and any other sea life that washed up. Jekyll Island was beautiful. That night there was a rock painting event to raise awareness for Childhood Cancer, so we went to that. A couple of the kids weren't too excited to go at first, but they ended up really getting into it and painted the most rocks. Another day, we went to St Simon Island, and did some shopping and exploring. That island still had quite a bit of damage from Hurricane Irma, but they were working hard at restoring it. Our last day there, we went back to Jekyll Island, and did a photo shoot.
We have now been in Florida since Sunday, with another one of Ken's brothers and sister in law. Things have slowed down a bit since getting here, and we are finding balance between exploring and resting before we head back. It's mostly been park days and yesterday we went to the gulf. While at the gulf, there was a team of scientists studying the horseshoe crabs, and the kids ended up getting to help them. They caught about 16 crabs, helped measure and weigh them, check the health and genders, tag them and release them. Super exciting experience for them. Monday and Tuesday we will be at Disney world and Universal Studios, we have an event we want to attend on Marco Island on the 21st, then I believe we will start our trek back.
In North Carolina
Reading the bible. She mumbles some words, then stops and says "Yep. It says Jesus loves me."
