a WHOLE lot crammed into one post

I've been absent from blogging for a while. Not because we have nothing to blog about, but because we have LOTS to blog about and I've gotten behind in doing it. The thought of trying to get caught up has been daunting and so, I've put it off, and put it off, and put it off some more. And now I've stopped.

Where to begin...

1. Dallas
In March, Allie, Katelyn, my sister - Beth, and I took an "all girls" trip to Texas to visit my dad (or as Allie refers to him, Papa T).

We drove.

Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas. 6 states. 2 days there, 2 days back. 4 days in between. The longest car trip the girls have had in one stretch is about 4-6 hours. The longest car trip Beth and I have had in one stretch (our brother, Charlie, was along for the ride, as well) - 15 hours; from Iowa to Texas. And how did we do on that trip, years ago? Lets just say, there were a few wrong turns taken, a fare amount of screaming and lots of obscenities exchanged. We swore we'd never drive it together again. So, at this point, you're probably wondering about my sanity. My family and friends definitely were. But...

We made it!

Allie and Katelyn did phenomenally well in the car. Allie watched about 25 hours of Little Einsteins episodes on the DVD player and consumed about 2500 calories of sugary junk food that she normally doesn't get at home, but hey, it kept her entertained. Equally amazing, my sister and I made it through the trip together AND are still speaking after it! :) What a difference a few years makes! (Thank you for taking the road trip with us, Beth! I never could have done it without you. And, I'm sorry you had to listen to 4 songs off The Lion King soundtrack, on repeat, the entire way there and back.)

It was a wonderful visit with my dad. Playtime at the park, a visit to the Dallas Zoo, a trip to the circus, lots of dog walking, hide and seek playing and peek-a-booing. Allie's highlight of the trip: eating "rock birthday cake" (quite the imaginative 2 year-old who can pretend that rocks are cake) with Aunt Beth and Papa T. (Thanks for having us Papa T. We ALL had a great time!)

More photos will be added later (as soon as I take the time to download them off our camera!) In the meantime, this is, by far, my favorite picture from our trip.

Aunt Beth, Papa T. and Allie eating rock birthday cake.


First time horseback riding! She was VERY serious!


Having fun at the circus!

And, of course, I didn't update as much as I'd planned. "A WHOLE lot crammed into one post" will have to have a part 2 and probably even a part 3...at a later date, of course. :)