One Grand Adventure: Part 1

We just got back from one very grand family adventure.  Like all great adventures, some of our trip was fun, some was super challenging and all was new and unknown. Here we go!

Here is our happy crew as we embark on said grand adventure.  We were so happy!

All the excitement and anticipation finally got this one.  He was out!

Our first day (the 18th, if anyone is counting) we drove from Albert City, cut through Minnesota and drove halfway across South Dakota.  As we were driving, we decided to stop and snap a picture by the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.  I remember my grandparents sending me a postcard from there when I was a kid and I thought it'd be fun to see it (although we didn't go inside).

We stopped for the night just outside Kennebec, SD.   If I look a little shell-shocked, that's because Addilyn, who had been feeling a little car sick all day, threw up all over the back seat about 3 miles before we got to our campsite.  I then spent the first hour or so trying to clean up the van with lake water and paper towels.

Here's our crew at our first campsite of the trip.

Another view of our pretty little site.

We had some awesome views of some storms to the south of us. Luckily, the radar showed that they were heading straight east and our chance of rain for the evening showed 0%.

For our first camp meal, we had meatball subs. They were actually really easy to make and really good.

Tyler seemed to enjoy his.  Unfortunately, we were all still a little bit queasy from the ride, etc so none of us were too eager to eat a lot.

Our sleeping arrangement.
Now just a minute ago, I mentioned that the weather forecast for the night said there was a 0% chance of rain for the night.  We decided that it was probably safe to leave the rainfly off and enjoy the gorgeous view of the stars that our very secluded campsite afforded us.  We could see the Milky Way really easily and way more stars than I remember seeing in a very long time. We went to sleep gazing at the stars and enjoying a gentle breeze. It was wonderful.

We woke up an hour and a half to two hours later, to lightning in the west. We checked the radar and saw a strong storm cell heading directly for us.  Tyler and I quickly got up and put on the rainfly and threw anything from our campsite that might blow away into our van. Then we climbed back into our bed and waited.  The storm hit and it was a doosey. There was no hail but quite a bit of rain and wind. Tyler spent the maybe two hours of the storm, pacing around the tent making sure no one was getting wet.  We had only a very small leak, from the wind pushing rain in the zipper around the door.  Other than that, everyone was dry.  Surprisingly, the younger two boys slept right through the storm. As for Tyler and I, we got to sleep after 3 am.

The morning was just as beautiful as the evening before had been. We enjoyed a quiet breakfast.

Tyler even got some fresh coffee.  It took a couple of tries to make the coffee without it boiling over.

As Tyler and I packed up the tent and the got everything back in the van, the three oldest went and sat on the dock.  If you look closely you'll see Elias standing at the start of the dock; he was a little nervous at first.  Once Addilyn and Asher started throwing rocks in the water, Elias was over his fear and fully participating.  I was fun to watch the kids lug the biggest rocks they could find on the shore to the end of the dock to throw them off.  There were a few of them so big that I was surprised the kids could carry them. They may have gotten eaten up by chiggers (or maybe that was when they were collecting sticks in the tall grass for the campfire) but I still think they all had a good time with this.

A Getaway

For the first time since having Addilyn, Tyler and I went on vacation without the kids. Tyler's parents came and played with the kids in Albert City for a few days so Tyler and I could run off and play in Chicago. It was so fun!

Tyler always makes this face when I take a selfie in the car. I actually have multiple pictures of us with these exact faces. Goober.

Alone in a restaurant!? What are we going to do with ourselves?!

We went to Navy Pier and watched the fireworks.

A Bigfoot sighting...if Bigfoot liked to hang out in extremely well-lit walkways.

The Chicago River!  I forget how much we love wandering through downtown Chicago...and without a stroller it's pretty enjoyable too.

We brought our bikes so that we could bike the Lakeshore trail. It was pretty fun being able to bike our favorite trail again (but without each of us having two kids on our bike).

Chicago pizza!  Granted it was gluten-free but still delicious. Tyler loves me so much to forgo Giordano's so that I could get some Chicago-style pizza as well.

Ever time we used to bike up and down the trail on a hot day, we would see people jumping off the pier and want to try it. We finally did!

Silly kissy face (just to make our kids uncomfortable some day).

Dive!
This was not only super-fun (if not cold), but we were jumping in right next a celebrity's kids. She's a talk show host and her kids and husband were pretty hilarious. Fun times!

Kissy face by the Bean.

Wandering Millennium Park in the evening.

Sitting and enjoying watching all the people. There was a concert going on just east of us.

After we played in Chicago, we stopped in Galena for a night on our way home. We wandered up and down the very cute Main Street area and then ate dinner in a local restaurant (with a surprisingly extensive gluten-free menu). After that, we grabbed some pints of ice cream from Walmart and headed back to our hotel to eat our dessert in the jacuzzi (we got a great deal online to stay in a honeymoon suite so we had a jacuzzi in our room)! It was an awesome ending to a wonderful little vacation!

Our New Addition

We bought a new van!! It is very much like the van we purchased in Houston before seminary but about 2 years newer.

Here Tyler and the kids were washing it up and getting ready to wax it up right.

I'm not sure I told you all the stories about our previous van. It was a Chrysler and it served our family beautifully for just under 5 years. Maybe I should caveat that: it served our family for nearly 5 years; it served us beautifully for a little over 4 years.
There was the worn out rear strut that plagued us for a while (finding an appropriately-sized replacement for under $300 proved very difficult). Then there was the wheel that fell off in the middle of our big move to Albert City. And then there was the time I got rear-ended in the middle of a blizzard. That last one was more on me than the van but it did result in the back hatch being bashed in. It still worked (once Tyler drilled a hole which allowed us to unlatch it with screw driver) but since all the weather-proofing and sound-deadening had been compromised, there was a ton of road noise. All-in-all, it wasn't all that comfortable to travel in for the last 9 months of it's time with us.

This van, on the other had, is very, very comfortable. It is super quiet, the kids all have a bit more space, and the seats are right down magical!

Our first ride in the new van! Check out our very happy crew.  Notice how Albert got promoted to a "big boy" seat. Pretty exciting. Here's to many years filled with adventures with our newest addition!!

Last Day of School!

Yesterday was Addilyn and Asher's last day of school!

They seemed pretty happy about it.

Don't look too close at this picture; it's a little bit gross. (But funny.)

Last day as a Kindergartner (and with Mrs. Frederick...sniff, sniff).

Silly boy.

Last day of second grade. It was a bit of a rough year, with a new school and the loss of her beloved Mrs. Decarlo mid-year, but this girl still looks pretty smiley on her last day.

I'm not sure where she got this pose from but she all-of-the-sudden pulled this out.

Off to school.

Waving them off.

Watching them go one more time before summer.

Last day with Ms. Manneman.

One more pic and squeeze with Mrs. Frederick!

The traditional Last-Day-of-School cake. This year it was gluten-free but still delicious. Yay for another school year complete! Now for a fun-filled summer!!

Yet Another New Frontier

Just as we are getting past the majority of Asher's many food allergies and therefore food restrictions, we are embarking on a new set of them in this household. Addilyn has just recently been diagnosed with celiac disease. Since celiac disease is a hereditary autoimmune disorder and I was diagnosed just before Christmas this past year, this finding doesn't come as a complete surprise. It will be an adjustment to us all in some ways.

We did a blood test at our regular doctor's office which indicated that she might have celiac. To confirm this diagnosis, she had to have an endoscopy to see if there was the characteristic damage to her small intestine. For this, we had to travel to children's hospital in Sioux Falls to see a pediatric gastroenterologist. The rooms at the hospital had video games which Addilyn enjoyed trying out.

If you've seen the movie Big Hero 6, you might enjoy, as Addilyn did, the reference to Baymax. "There, there."

After her official diagnosis, we went out to eat her first gluten-free meal at Five Guys. If you ask for your burger without a bun, everything else including the the fries are gluten free. Yum!

Here she is trying some of the gluten free pizza I have been eating for the past few months on pizza nights.
While we weren't aware of how much she had been suffering throughout this school year until recently, it will be nice to see her recover and get some pep back in her step. She is understandably saddened and frustrated, but seems to take solace from the fact that she and I will be able to do this together. She is really a pretty amazing kid.
If you are interested in learning more about celiac disease and the diet restrictions that come along with such a diagnosis, check out https://celiac.org/celiac-disease/what-is-celiac-disease/