9 June 09 Tues 5:45pm --- hitting the road! Starting mileage for the trip 25,712. Filled up for $2.79 here in Milwaukee.Leaving Milwaukee...the girls are super excited. We're all settled in with Jonah playing on the DVD player. Two miles into the trip, we're stuck in traffic on US 45.
Heading down I-43 entering Illinois. Lexie isn't doing the greatest so we're doing our best to distract her with snacks. 
10am -- stopping for gas just east of Dallas. Filled up for $2.39 a gallon. Aubrey and Allie took turns washing the van with the windshield cleaner while I took them one by one into the bathrooms to get dressed and go potty.
Decided not to stay the afternoon and night in Dallas, Aubrey and Lexie took good naps in the van.
Heading down I-43 entering Illinois. Lexie isn't doing the greatest so we're doing our best to distract her with snacks. 8:30pm -- stopping in Oglesby, IL on I-39 for jammies and teeth brushing. Topped off the tank at $2.89. Lexie is still pretty crabby...
Around midnight south of St. Louis, MO -- stopped at a Super 8 to call it quits for the night, Lexie sleeps for about 30 minutes then wakes up crying which wakes up the other girls. However the motel doesn't have a pack n play for Lexie to sleep in so we decide to continue down the road. We reclined Lex's seat...will she sleep better??
10 June 09 Wed. 6:05am -- Friendship, AR -- we made it through the night! Stopping for gas and bathrooms at one of a scariest, most spider covered gas stations ever! Good thing only I had to go use it!
7am -- Arkadelphia -- stopping at McDonald's for breakfast. The cashier there was from Milwaukee-random! The plan we made during breakfast was to get to Dallas and stay there for the afternoon and night since our plan was to get to Houston on Thursday
8am -- Texarkana, TX!! I tell the girls that we're in Texas and Aubrey responds "If we're in Texas, why are still driving then?" Little do they know, Houston is five more hours down the road!
10am -- stopping for gas just east of Dallas. Filled up for $2.39 a gallon. Aubrey and Allie took turns washing the van with the windshield cleaner while I took them one by one into the bathrooms to get dressed and go potty. 
Decided not to stay the afternoon and night in Dallas, Aubrey and Lexie took good naps in the van. 12:30 -- somewhere between Dallas and Houston we stopped for lunch at McDonald's which had an outdoor play place...wished that it was indoor as it HOT and HUMID in Texas. Heading now to New Waverly to visit with the Bailey family.
Around 3pm -- we arrived at the Bailey's! The girls had a blast there...especially with the trampoline and playing dress up. They have a handful of cows that roam their land, many of which were or are pregnant! One was even born the morning that we arrived...it now is named Bauer!
This calf lost her mama so Andrew has the job of bottle feeding it three times a day!
Allie and Evelyn were the best of friends! They shared Evelyn's bedroom that night...I went up there more than once to check on them only to find them playing checkers and various other games! They had a great time together!
Lexie started a fever while we were there...peaked around 101 degrees. 
11 June 09 Thurs -- we got up and showered and after a big breakfast, we got back onto I-45 south to Houston just in time for Lexie's morning nap. We went to Abiding Word to meet up with Amy who was painting her classroom. (this came as a shock to us as we weren't allowed to even think of painting anything while we were there!) While dinner was being made, Uncle Matt set up the girls with an art project.
The kids enjoyed rough-housing...
and relaxing...
and just having fun.
That night, Josh and Matt played men's league basketball at church. The kids went along to watch and play on the stage, which Aubrey fell off of. She wasn't walking all the well that night (actually she wasn't walking at all without crying). Amy got the kids ice cream shakes for on the way home. We tried to put all the kids to bed in the tent upstairs...that didn't go over too well so I ended up sleeping with Allie and Aubrey and Maddie and Ben shared Maddie's bed. Josh got the tent.
Around 3pm -- we arrived at the Bailey's! The girls had a blast there...especially with the trampoline and playing dress up. They have a handful of cows that roam their land, many of which were or are pregnant! One was even born the morning that we arrived...it now is named Bauer!
This calf lost her mama so Andrew has the job of bottle feeding it three times a day!
Allie and Evelyn were the best of friends! They shared Evelyn's bedroom that night...I went up there more than once to check on them only to find them playing checkers and various other games! They had a great time together!
Lexie started a fever while we were there...peaked around 101 degrees. 
11 June 09 Thurs -- we got up and showered and after a big breakfast, we got back onto I-45 south to Houston just in time for Lexie's morning nap. We went to Abiding Word to meet up with Amy who was painting her classroom. (this came as a shock to us as we weren't allowed to even think of painting anything while we were there!) While dinner was being made, Uncle Matt set up the girls with an art project.
The kids enjoyed rough-housing...
and relaxing...
and just having fun.
That night, Josh and Matt played men's league basketball at church. The kids went along to watch and play on the stage, which Aubrey fell off of. She wasn't walking all the well that night (actually she wasn't walking at all without crying). Amy got the kids ice cream shakes for on the way home. We tried to put all the kids to bed in the tent upstairs...that didn't go over too well so I ended up sleeping with Allie and Aubrey and Maddie and Ben shared Maddie's bed. Josh got the tent.12 June 09 Friday -- Josh taught Love & Logic to a handful of WELS teachers while I stayed home with the 5 kiddoes.
We were able to sneak out swimming once the conference was over
13 June 09 Saturday -- Ben and Maddie had a swim meet this morning. We could hardly believe what great swimmers these kids are! Ben swims in the 6 and under division--the kid is only 3! We were pretty impressed with both kids. After the swim meet, Josh and I took the girls up to the Woodlands Mall. This mall has a great indoor jungle gym area for the kids to run around in. They also had a Build A Bear Workshop where we decided to let the girls make souvenirs. I was pretty bummed that I forgot my camera...
We were able to sneak out swimming once the conference was over
13 June 09 Saturday -- Ben and Maddie had a swim meet this morning. We could hardly believe what great swimmers these kids are! Ben swims in the 6 and under division--the kid is only 3! We were pretty impressed with both kids. After the swim meet, Josh and I took the girls up to the Woodlands Mall. This mall has a great indoor jungle gym area for the kids to run around in. They also had a Build A Bear Workshop where we decided to let the girls make souvenirs. I was pretty bummed that I forgot my camera...During naps, Amy and I went back to the mall for a little shopping then we stopped to pick up take-out from Pappasitos. It was so super good!!!!
After baths, Uncle Matt got out his journal and the kids took turns answering questions while he wrote their answers down. All kids are now sleeping together in the tent at night.
After baths, Uncle Matt got out his journal and the kids took turns answering questions while he wrote their answers down. All kids are now sleeping together in the tent at night.14 June 09 Sunday --- Lexie woke up with a nasty rash which gets worse as she gets warm. Can't decide if it was heat rash or roseola or if the yankee baby was just allergic to Texas. We went to church at Abiding Word. The girls gave Sunday school a try...Allie made it through her class however I had to go with Aubrey to get her to stay in hers. There was a children's sermon which the girls went up for...Allie made it however Aubrey started crying in front of church for Daddy! We know how to make a scene! Alex and Sara Garcia sang the liturgy and did a wonderful job! It's so neat for us to see our former students growing into strong Christian adults! After church and naps we headed over to the Garcia's house for dinner.
Lexie is getting to know Misty, their dog.
The Garcia's moved to The Woodlands...in their beautiful new neighborhood was a huge park that we went to after dinner. Besides it being so hot and humid, it was a lot of fun!
This was a mountain made out of ropes...the kids took turns climbing, some of the adults did too!
Alex and Sara race to the top
There were also rocks for the kids to climb
Lexie's checking out the slide with dad
Lexie was content to stay here all night on Juan Garcia's lap! I think he was content to let her!
Sara and Allie
Susan and Allie
Allie with Aunt Amy...by the "log" made in Michigan
Hard to believe there are three years between Allie and Maddie
15 June 09 Monday 6:45am --- Departing Galveston for a day of deep sea fishing. The girls are back with Amy for a day of hanging out. It was sad to see the destruction still evident from Hurrican Ike throughout the Galveston area.
Vic and Jeannie Bailey
Josh and I...I look happy as this is just the start of the day. It's hard to tell in the pictures but when we were 15 miles off shore, the waves were about 5+ feet high. I was told by the captains of the boat that vomit attracts the fish...so I took one for the team. It was a long morning. The fishing was good however. I was able to bring in one King Macreal before feeling the effects of the waves. Josh, Jeannie and Vic all brought a decent amount of Red Drum and King Macaral. Josh was the lucky one to snag a huge Red Snapper. In an effort to help me feel better, Chad (one of the captains) drove us to shallower waters where the reef shark hang out. I didn't get a whole lot better but Josh and Vic had fun bringing in shark after shark! Too bad we didn't keep one to mount...they were pretty cool.
Once we were out far enough, the guys roped the boat to the oil rigs and that's where we spent part of the morning. It was neat to see an oil rig that close...
Josh bringing in his pretty Red Snapper
The dolphins were circling the boat for a while...I was able to catch a shot of one
A shot of Vic doing battle with a king fish
Right after we stopped along the reef, Josh let his line in and instantly a shark hit it! These are black fin sharks...they looked like baby great whites to me. I was envisioning Jaws for a while.
It was nice to have Galen, the other Captain, on board to help bring them in
Galen releases the shark back into the water
Josh catches hold of another one
It's a ways out still but right in the middle of the picture you can kinda see it flop a little out of the water 
Coming closer to the boat....
...and jumping into the boat
Here is Chad man-handling the shark
So Vic had his turn at reeling one in and the shark swims too close to the motors...our talented Captains were able to untangle it and Vic was able to reel it in!
Galen does the dirty work of gutting the snapper for us to take home.
The little tow heads check out the fish
Lexie loved these chairs! She only fell a couple times....but she wanted to get right back in them anyways! She would stand and rock them...
Josh is doing his best to filet the snapper
Playing among the mess in Ben's room....5 people packed for a week makes for a lot of stuff! 
17 June 09 Weds --- stopping for breakfast at McDonald's just across the Missouri border
11:30am Litchfield, IL -- gas stop and lunch at Arby's. Lexie had fun driving while Daddy pumped the gas
Lexie is so peaceful when she's sleeping...the last hour of the trip she did nothing but scream!
Ah, the silence of sleeping children
Lexie is getting to know Misty, their dog.
The Garcia's moved to The Woodlands...in their beautiful new neighborhood was a huge park that we went to after dinner. Besides it being so hot and humid, it was a lot of fun!
This was a mountain made out of ropes...the kids took turns climbing, some of the adults did too!
Alex and Sara race to the top
There were also rocks for the kids to climb
Lexie's checking out the slide with dad
Lexie was content to stay here all night on Juan Garcia's lap! I think he was content to let her!
Sara and Allie
Susan and Allie
Allie with Aunt Amy...by the "log" made in Michigan
Hard to believe there are three years between Allie and Maddie
15 June 09 Monday 6:45am --- Departing Galveston for a day of deep sea fishing. The girls are back with Amy for a day of hanging out. It was sad to see the destruction still evident from Hurrican Ike throughout the Galveston area.
Vic and Jeannie Bailey
Josh and I...I look happy as this is just the start of the day. It's hard to tell in the pictures but when we were 15 miles off shore, the waves were about 5+ feet high. I was told by the captains of the boat that vomit attracts the fish...so I took one for the team. It was a long morning. The fishing was good however. I was able to bring in one King Macreal before feeling the effects of the waves. Josh, Jeannie and Vic all brought a decent amount of Red Drum and King Macaral. Josh was the lucky one to snag a huge Red Snapper. In an effort to help me feel better, Chad (one of the captains) drove us to shallower waters where the reef shark hang out. I didn't get a whole lot better but Josh and Vic had fun bringing in shark after shark! Too bad we didn't keep one to mount...they were pretty cool.
Once we were out far enough, the guys roped the boat to the oil rigs and that's where we spent part of the morning. It was neat to see an oil rig that close...
Josh bringing in his pretty Red Snapper
The dolphins were circling the boat for a while...I was able to catch a shot of one
A shot of Vic doing battle with a king fish
Right after we stopped along the reef, Josh let his line in and instantly a shark hit it! These are black fin sharks...they looked like baby great whites to me. I was envisioning Jaws for a while.
It was nice to have Galen, the other Captain, on board to help bring them in
Galen releases the shark back into the water
Josh catches hold of another one
It's a ways out still but right in the middle of the picture you can kinda see it flop a little out of the water 
Coming closer to the boat....
...and jumping into the boat
Here is Chad man-handling the shark
So Vic had his turn at reeling one in and the shark swims too close to the motors...our talented Captains were able to untangle it and Vic was able to reel it in!
Galen does the dirty work of gutting the snapper for us to take home.
The little tow heads check out the fish
Lexie loved these chairs! She only fell a couple times....but she wanted to get right back in them anyways! She would stand and rock them...
Josh is doing his best to filet the snapper
Playing among the mess in Ben's room....5 people packed for a week makes for a lot of stuff!16 June 09 Tues --- we spent the morning trying to see people. We spent a little time with the Bethkes, stopped by both Hildebrandt houses and drove by the Souths. Sadly, many folks weren't home! We did drive by our old house...tried to tell Allie that where she used to live when she was a baby, not sure she understood.
We then spent the afternoon packing up so that after dinner we could hit the road. We made a stop at Bailey's to return their cooler and to say good-bye. The girls settled in nicely to sleep...until Josh was pulled over for speeding around 10:30, that woke Lexie up. He wasn't really even speeding...only 73 in a 65, no ticket issued, just a warning. Besides Lexie having a hard time falling back to sleep, it was a pretty good night. We stopped in Texarkana around 2am for gas...had to beg the clerk to let us in to use the bathrooms! And then he'd only let me and girls in, not Josh...so we drove to the next station to have him get a turn.
17 June 09 Weds --- stopping for breakfast at McDonald's just across the Missouri border
11:30am Litchfield, IL -- gas stop and lunch at Arby's. Lexie had fun driving while Daddy pumped the gas
Relaxing during the last leg of the trip....
Lexie is so peaceful when she's sleeping...the last hour of the trip she did nothing but scream!
Ah, the silence of sleeping children4:50pm we arrived home! Final milage 28,537.
Allie back home in her bed with her Build A Bear she named Arista
Aubrey with her bear "Pips"
Allie back home in her bed with her Build A Bear she named Arista
Aubrey with her bear "Pips"What an adventure! This was our first real vacation as a family of 5 and overall we feel it went pretty well. Josh and I are now talking about doing a trip each summer...maybe next summer we'll head to Mt. Rushmore then down to Ohm's? It can only get easier as the girls get older right?
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