A quick introduction for those just joining us…
Sharing our Road Trip, Day by Day
From the day we arrived here and settling down, I’ve dreamed about sharing the daily logs from our road trip (which I shared only on my private Facebook page), photos and videos, as well as some funny adventure stories and practical tips/lessons for anyone planning to travel long distances in a very full car with very busy babies and/or toddlers. I wrote these daily updates as a way to keep our family in the loop and let them know, every night, that we had arrived at our next destination point safe and sound. Little did I know that we would get such a following of friends and relatives who were interested in following our trip! I am so grateful that God gave me the perseverance to keep them up because they are such treasures to our family now, and an online journal we can always look back on.
Note: I have put the updates I wrote last year in italics so you easily differentiate what I wrote last year and what I’m adding today.
I hope you join us for the next 15 days as we relive this forever epic #peitocaliforniaroadtrip! Below are the links in case you missed them.
Day 1 Summerside,PE to Bangor, ME
Day 2 Bangor, ME to Rochelle Park, NJ
Day 3 Rochelle Park, NJ to Pittsburgh, PA
Day 4 Pittsburgh,PA to Louisville, KY
Day 5 Louisville, KY rest day
Day 6 Louisville, KY to Michigan City, IN
Day 7: July 11, 2016
Michigan City, IN Rest Day
Today was another rest day and oh how much we savour them! We had a fun-filled day with Alex and Amber and their boys, spending the day doing what kids do best: playing! After breakfast we explored the creek right by the house and spent time riding around on everything the boys could find that had wheels: scooters, bikes, and that hot rod Dominic was riding. 😉 After exploring the city for a bit, everyone went over to their Grandma’s house to have lunch and go swimming. I never thought it would end up turning into a 4 hour swim session but they said the kids just keep swimming. A few sunburns and very cranky, tired kiddos later, we called it a day with a delicious bbq meal: chicken, coconut rice, and grilled veggies, and cold craft beers for the adults. Perfect!
Audrey and I missed out on the bulk of the swim session as she had a very rough night which left both of us exhausted. So we stayed back at the Hassett’s home and had some quiet playtime, a snack, and finally when she finally gave in, a good hour+ long nap. We both needed it and when she woke up beside me and saw me, she crawled over with a huge smile on her face. Yay for naps! I also got the opportunity to Facetime with parents which was really nice as I haven’t done so for almost 2 weeks now with the busyness of our trip. Amber and her mom came to pick us up shortly afterwards so we could join everyone for dinner.
Brendon shared with me how proud he was of Dominic for conquering his fear of swimming around with a puddle jumper. Dominic is quite the fish when it comes to water but has not swam without one of us holding him up to this point. When Audrey and I arrived, he proudly showed off his new skill to me by jumping into the pool again and again! What happened to my baby boy?! How did he grow up so much in just the few hours I was away?! He absolutely had a blast today. Oh how it’s very bittersweet watching your babies grow!
What an amazing and generous, fun and loving family the Hassetts are! We’ve felt so comfortable here, loved seeing Dominic become friends with their spunky and awesome kids, and thoroughly enjoyed our nightly grown-up conversations. Thank you for having us! It has been an absolute pleasure getting to meet you!
We’ll hit the road again tomorrow with patches of thunderstorms forecasted here and there but we’re hoping we can make it mostly, if not entirely, dry to our next stop: Iowa!
Here’s to hoping Audrey has a better night and that whatever bug is bothering her will go away soon! Please continue to pray for safe travels. We are almost at the 1/2 mark of our journey! xoxo #peitocaliforniaroadtrip #day7_michigancityrestday
Practical Tips & Funny Stories of the Day
By this point, although we were unaware of it at the time, we had made it to the half way point of our trip!