Show Me State Road Trip

We left on Sunday, July 27th and we DROVE to Missouri! 27 hours later we landed in Missouri at my sister's house. The babies went to eight new states in one week. They did amazingly well. Lindy was a dream baby the entire way there and back. Will did get a little bit fussy each way but really wasn't too bad. We really enjoyed our nation's rest areas. We would find a rest area that would be close to the babies bottle time and would stop at it. We spread out a blanket, let them roll and stretch, fed them bottles, and then Drew and I would make a sandwich and eat there as well. We saved a lot of time and money by stopping at rest areas. We became pros at our little stops.

We made it to my sister's house in time for dinner on Monday night. We got to meet baby Rylee for the first time. She is so cute and sweet. It's funny to see Drew willingly pick her up and hold her. 5 years ago we had to make him hold Hayley!

Tuesday we did not do much of anything. We were trying to recover from the drive and were trying to get good naps for the babies. My parents flew in early Tuesday morning so we had the whole gang together!

Wednesday was the babies 1st birthday and their second birthday party. Most of the day was spent getting ready for the party. We all had a great time, and they got to meet all kinds of family.

Thursday we went to Overland Park, Kansas to the Deana Rose Children's Farmstead with my sister, Amy, her husband Lee, her daughters, Hayley and Rylee, my parents, and our cousins Lauree, Cassie, and Ruby. It was the neatest place for kids. Hayley and Cassie had a blast petting the animals, bamboo stick fishing, and riding a pony. The best part about it was that it was free! Some of the things inside cost money but it is free admission. How cool is that! We pulled the babies stroller up to some goats and before we knew it the goat was nibbling on the stroller handle!

Friday we left my sister's house in Kansas City and drove up to Maryville where my family is all from. We went by the nursing home on the way into town and visited my grandmother. I had not seen her in two years. She got to meet Will and Lindy for the first time. She had not seen Drew for awhile either. Drew loves my grandmother because she kept telling him how good looking he is! After hearing it all weekend, he really thinks he is hot stuff! Friday afternoon my mom, Amy, and I took Hayley to the Maryville Aquatic Center. It is by far the coolest city pool you have ever seen. It has water slides, diving boards, a regular big pool, and a really awesome kids area. The kids area has the zero entry part on it which is really neat. We had planned to take the babies but they had not been sleeping or napping well so they had to stay home. I'm a mean mama! Friday night we met up with my uncle and cousins and had a cookout at my grandparents house. Some other family members who were in town were able to come as well.

Saturday was the least fun day of the trip. We had my grandfather's funeral service that day, even though he passed away on June 7th. My grandmother was able to get of out the nursing home for the first time in 2.5 years and come to the funeral. The service was really very nice. Our cousin, Lyndsey, babysat the kids at the church. We brought them down to the lunch afterwards so they could meet even more people. My grandfather had talked about them a lot so everyone knew all about them. I sure wish my grandfather had been there to meet them instead of us attending his funeral.

Sunday morning the girls visited my grandmother at the nursing home and then we went swimming again. This time we took Drew and the babies. They seemed to have fun, before they conked out and fell asleep. Sunday evening we headed back down to my sister's house in KC.

And Monday morning we took off for home. We took a different route home, this one took us through Tennessee. We spent Monday night with an old friend of Drew's, Greg, his wife Sloan, and their daughter Hannah. It was good to see them, but with that many babies at bedtime we didn't get to spend as much time visiting as we would have liked.

We took off Tuesday morning and got home around dinner time. We were all VERY happy to get out of the car. We've spent all week recovering and trying to get back on schedule. Will got to Missouri, and he forgot how to sleep through the night! There were a few very long nights where no one in the room was very happy. He's done better since he got home. Between teething and being in a strange place he was not having much to do with sleeping at night!

Here are lots of pictures from our trip.

Drew and Will at our first rest area in West Virginia. Me and my sweet baby girl.
A nice lady came to look at the babies and offered to take a picture of us! Hayley and Will. The babies loved Hayley and Hayley loved the babies!
Hayley teaching Lindy how to play Simon.
Nana and Will.
Will and Lindy got to swing for the first time in their lives! Will absolutely LOVED it! He laughed the entire time. It was so cute!
Lindy wasn't so sure. She acted pretty nonchalant about her first swinging experience.

Uncle Drew and sweet baby Rylee.
Will and Lindy with some goats at the Deana Rose Children's Farmstead.
Who knew Drew was a strong and gentle dairy farmer?!
Our little family.
The Crozier Gang. My family, plus my Uncle Jim, cousin Michael, cousin Lauree, her husband Danny, and her kids Cassie and Ruby.

My family together.
My sister's family.
Our family.
Nana, Papa, and their grandkids.
The sweet outfits that the babies wore to their Great Grandfather's funeral. Will wore the sweater vest in honor of his namesake, who frequently wore sweater vests. So many people told me on this trip that Lindy looked like my grandfather. That's cool that Will got his name and Lindy got his looks!

Doesn't he look so old?
Such a big boy!
The sweetest girl EVER!
I love this picture. She is so cute when she plays with her feet. Doesn't she look like she is having the most fun? Lindy, Will, and baby cousin Rylee.Just a bunch of cousins hanging out. The girls visiting Granny. We were missing Rylee though.
At the Maryville pool.
Lindy hates this hat!
Swimming will wear a baby out.
Our family with Granny at the nursing home.
At a rest stop on the way home!
"Are we there yet?"
The cutest and best car riding baby girl ever!