Day 4- Back on the road

Today we added a new state to our ever growing list of places we have been. IOWA!!! 

We literally drive across the entire state. We started by crossing the Missouri River which borders Iowa on the East (near Davenport) And ended in Council Bluffs, Iowa right on the Mississippi River, all the way on the Western side of the state. 

We found a fun playground at a rest stop! 

It pretty much took us the entire day to cover the entire state and there really wasn’t much to see. Lots of wind turbines and corn fields.

So that sums up day 4. 

Day 3- A Day on the Farm

After spending the night at Uncle Rod & Aunt Sue’s house, Christian and his second cousin Alais walked over to the farm first thing in the morning. It didn’t take them long to get all the vehicles out of the barn. 

Will spent a long time climbing trees and dreaming about the kinds of tree houses he could build. 

Will also really wants to build some sort of fort on the farm. I love his imagination. 

Grammy has her swing set up near her bird feeders and flowers. We sat and watched the birds for a long time. It is so calm and peaceful on the farm and the temperature was perfect. 

Grampy and Christian spent some time throwing the ball around. I’m sure that brought back some memories for Grampy.

We were sad to say “goodbye” but so thankful for a full day of fellowship with each other! 

Day 2-Cousins

As soon as we arrived at the farm all of the kid’s Chatterton cousins were there! 

It was MUDDY but Grampy loaded them all up in the wagon anyway and took everyone for a little ride!

I was so thankful that the big kids still wanted to ride too. Pretty soon Grampy was showing the big kids how to drive some of the tractors.

The cousins are always the best of friends as soon asthey see each other!

Even Aiden hangs in there with the big kids.

McKenna loved holding her youngest cousin, Andrew.

And Aunt Judy sure loved Andrew too!

Aunt Angel even stopped by for a quick visit with everyone!

The kids stayed outside until it was dark, but since it was the longest day of the year, they got lots of outside time!

It was a short visit. Too short! But so much fun to see everyone when the weather was warm. All these cousins love having a family farm to explore and play on! 

Road Trip 2019- Day 2

We left St. Louis to head to the Chatterton family farmin Illinois early in the morning. What should have beenan easy 3 hour drive turned into one of the most stressful driving experiences of my life.

Less than an hour into the drive we hit that massive band of red on the radar. Our phones started buzzing with warnings saying, “Take cover now. A tornado warning is in effect for your area.” We were in the middleof farm land. There was no where to take cover. 

I could barely see the road. The rain was torrential. The roads were flooding and waves were splashing up the sides of the car as I continued driving. I was praying loud and hard and fast. Alternating between praising God for protecting us and pleading with Him to calm the storm. It was high stress. 

Finally, I spotted a Dollar General and we ran inside as fast as we could. We hung out there for awhile & then finally got back on the road to the farm! 

Hotel Shenanigans-Day 1

We ended day 1 at the hotel pool! 

Oh dear.

Down they go!

The 3 of them getting along... priceless! 

Road Trip 2019- Day 1

There is a park around the Arch that is beautiful! I’m guessing it is purposely surrounded by a park for security reasons.

We went through airport type security before enteringthe museum. 

My photographer struggled to figure out how to get the whole arch in the picture. So this will have to do. 

Time to head to the top!

This was rough. See that tiny steel door? Well, five people squeeze through that door to sit in a trolley car that takes you to the top. 

The view inside. It takes 4 minutes to get to the top. 

Four very long minutes.

I took a super fast picture of everyone at the top. I pointed out the Illinois side and the view if the Missouri side and then hopped in line to get out if there. Ugh...the swaying. 

Will knew the heights & claustrophobia were putting me on edge, so he was quick to give me some love.

 

Back down to the ground!

The Mississippi River.

And I do believe I will never go up in that thing again, but the kids had a great experience. Christian could have spent the night up there!