What a journey!

11 days. 1750 miles. I refuse to even add up my gas receipts. The boys and I drove to Michigan to give Daddy a little bit of time for the final 'push' of studying before his big bad oral boards on June 1. Needless to say, traveling alone with 2 kids under 5 had its interesting moments, but the boys were FANTASTIC and I am now master of peeing in a port-a-john with two children (one of my many stories!).  We had many firsts along the way. . .Merritt saw many people, some for the first time (in all I think we saw close to 30 people that he is just realizing are part of our lives!). Some other firsts. . .Gavin held a fish and pet a calf, Merritt took his first steps on my dad's birthday (yes, before teeth as predicted!), and also had his first fever/trip to Urgent Care/ear infection/antibiotic. I could have predicted that would happen, because isn't that always the case - almost a whole year practically illness free, then 800 miles from home - POW - ear infection. Ah, kids. Anyways, it forced us to chill a little more and limit visits towards the end of our trip, but honestly, we were pretty worn out by the end, anyways! These pics are some of my favorites. It was hard to limit it, since I took over 300 pictures (I really love my camera. . .), but these pics give a good 'snapshot' (horrible pun, sorry) of our time away. 

Making rainbows and memories on the farm. . .

Free lawnmower rides!

Workin'. Gavin did a lot of 'workin'. . .

The boys and their chainsaws. . .

Glee!

Here is a picture of Merritt's first tractor ride. . .he slept through most of it. See my grip on Gavin? It was a little bumpy.

Gavin saw Carla and Kris' calves - from the oldest to the youngest. So cute and loud! Sound familiar???

Old toys, new tricks? No, same farm work his daddy did!

Merritt palming Micah. These two are going to be trouble together someday!

The kids. I wish I had room to put the other 7 pictures similar to this.  The downward spiral of behavior is very evident! What a riot. They had a blast together, even though this picture doesn't exactly show it. . .

Merritt pretty much found every rock on the farm. And then tried to eat it.

Gavin caught a fish at Deb and Ed's in the net. He was very proud of the big one that ALMOST got away.

Scruffie came all the way down to meet Merritt for the first time! What a great Memorial Day we all had on the farm.

GGMa came to visit too - it was great to see her and I think she had fun watching the chaos of all the kids around her!

We visited Tracey, Mark, and Ashley for a yummy BBQ. Mark and Gavin then went on a bike ride. And Gavin has been attempting to jump curbs ever since. . .

We surprised Kathy, but perhaps I was more surprised when Gavin waded into their very chilly pool, just enough to soak his clothes (OK, well, I guess I wasn't that surprised - this is Gavin we are talking about!!).

Here is Carla with twins Ty and Cole (born the day after Merritt). It was fun to compare notes and drink wine. At 10:00 in the morning.

Grandma and Grandpa in Ohio had a dirt pile - a total boy magnet. We are still dumping dirt out of shoes and boots.

Tractor ride with Grandpa! And a visit to the John Deere store, of course.

Dirt and boy.

WHEW! Yes, I am exhausted. No, I am not settled back in (but close!). But ABSOLUTELY that was a wonderful adventure. Thank you to everyone who hosted, partied, laughed, and helped! Love to you all!