happy father's day, daddy!

(peyton wanted this on my blog, "put this picture of me on your blog, mama! daddy will see it!")

we love you, daddy! thank you for loving us the way you do and for teaching us to be really good people. we think you are the best daddy in the whole world.

we especially love when you teach us how to do things and for telling us we can be anything we want when we grow up. we hope you had a good daddy day and that you liked the pictures we took for you!!!

xoxo

love, peyton and beckham!

ps. happy father's day!!!... gido, g-pa, and papa.

home away from home.

we made it through ohio and onto michigan, and although i don't have many pictures to share (i forgot to charge my camera battery) but tha'ts okay...i know this trip has been well documented.

it was a little sad dropping kelle and lainey with her dad, as that marked the end of roadtrip 2009 but i knew we had family anxiously awating our arrival, so secured my hat, turned up the radio and listened to more fried chicken and headed north to see daddy, sito, and auntie hi-o!

here are a few pics i snapped in a small town in michigan...or maybe ohio!

kelle said this house is called a painted lady...i love it's charm.

hello...i really want to live in a small town that has a mill. could get over how sweet these streets were. i was looking for kids with lemonade stands and a handpainted sign that said free lemonade and homemade bisquits...it was that kind of quaint little place.

a page from out roadtrip journal...random little thoughts...

a big shoutout to lainey for being the BEST traveler ever. she amazed me and i can't stop talking about it. this little one never made a peep in the car. don't think she cried once, and tried to make her buddy, beckham feel better when he was upset by sharing her snacks with him.

we love you lainey bug.

(a little scaredy in this pic bc her mama was honking the horn...lainey wasn't into it.)

and most improved traveler award goes to...

peyton mae!!! she really pulled it together for our last day.

and my bubby's did well too! he was happy as long as he had a different snack and new movie to watch.

and kelle...

you crack me up.

love ya.

once home...

we had to quickly get dressed and go to celebrate my dad. he is retiring next week after more than 30 years of hardwork. we are so proud of him and he is so deserving of a night dedicated to making him feel good. what a huge accomplishment. my dad IS the hardest working man that i personally know...i'm so happy that after wednesday he can relax and just enjoy his clean slate of a day.

we spent the night with all of our family at a party, my sister, heather, planned for him. it was lovely having my whole family in one room together! very special.

look at my little neice...evie!!!

i couldn't wait to get my hands on her. she's such a little happy peanut...

will post more pics later!

where troubles melt like lemondrops...kinda

disclaimer:
i am so tired that my eyes are begging me to sleep. this post will be small with random photos throughout the day. i actually can not b that i am awake right now. kelle is too...i can hear the the keystrokes on her computer, her thinking out loud about song choice and such. my post...short and sweet. mama needs to sleep!

day3:

we started out singing in the car to fried chicken (thank you, marcia!) we made it through the mountains in tennessee and arrived in kentucky (peyton and beckham called it, ducky. "are we still in ducky, mommy?") early afternoon. driving into kentucky may have been one of the prettiest sites i have ever seen. the trees looked like big green cotton balls. they look soft and comfy...

many times i told kelle i wanted to sprout wings, so i could fly like a bird over the vast mountains. it was breathtaking. it was even more breathtaking when kelle spotted a state park called indian mountain! we drove within the winding confines of the cutest little town where the barber shop and hospital sat next to one another. the signs were old and charming...begging to photographed...even though i didn't. i kind expected laura ingalls to come walking down the street in a long prairie dress and welcome us in.

it was...unique. the park sat beside a river on one side and train tracks on the other. kelle wanted to do train track photos and i wanted to do river photos. seemed innocent enough, right?

it was scenic from the inside of the car where we were safe from bugs, humidity, and heat...once we ventured out, it was a tad harder to take pictures in. ....BUT SO WORTH IT!

we let the kids take their shoes off and play in the water, open fields, and chase butterflies. it was so beautiful. it was perfect until i wanted that perfect pic...then it got ugly. many days of being on my own with the kids...without jeff have caught up with me...i need a break. a big one.

the three kids ran free...laughing and exploring. it was so wonderful! (until a nice guy in a pick-up truck told us to be careful of snakes...!)

with that said...i could not have dreamt up a more picturesque place to play with my kids and make memories in.

we oshkoshed our kids...

lainey lovin's

after our shoot...we had a quick lunch, collected our kentucky spoons, and headed away from the tornado and into ohio.

we stopped in Cincinnati...SOOOOOO exciting. so beautiful. so energetic. we decided we wanted to stay over in downtown Cincinnati. we drove around the downtown streets filled with beautiful old buildings and dirty sidewalks...would have a made a great photoshoot stop, but we promised the kids ice cream first.

we looked for a hotel and couldn't find one-mama b jones got us lost a few times (navigation), so after a long while we decided to drive further north which is where we are now. we were a tad sad not to be in the big city...but it all worked out and we did try our best. either way...it was a fab day. seriously good stuff.

we took the kids to have dinner in their pajamas...which they loved, and then we shared chocolate milkshakes way past bedtime...it was sooooo much fun and so on track with the theme of this trip. we really have no timeline and nowhere to be...so we really do what we want and it feels so good.

i can not even begin to explain tonight how much fun and how special today was for me and for kelle. it was a spectacular day. a day where i thank god for making such a beautiful place for us to live and enjoy. a day so touching and sweet that kelle and i could not stop talking about how lucky we are to have husbands that allow us to be us. a huge thank you to our hubby's who were happy to foot the bill and let us be us. a couple of chicks who wanted to roadtrip it from naples, fl to michigan. take pics, stay at hotels, eat out, buy spoons, and listen to our stories throughout the day. xoxoxoxoxo to jeff and brett.

it's not over yet, but i am out...i need sleep. this girl has a KICK BUTT post. her pics are amazing. she is so passionate. she rocks.

i know i skipped over a lot of goods, but hopefully you get the picture...

this has been the best experience for the kids and i. so much quality time and learning, laughing, and even crying-the good kind.

with that said...

JEFF WE ARE COMING HOME!!!!!

we will see you around noon today!

xoxoxo

more roadtrip to come tho!

and more videos to make you smile...

fried chicken...take 2

kelle's darkroom!