"On The Road Again!"

Price of a gallon of gas in Iowa, $3.95. Price of motel room at my daughter's house, $0. Having the entire family together for the weekend, PRICELESS!!!!

We packed 5 adults and 4 children, ranging in age from 2 through 8 in two vehicles on Thursday afternoon and headed for Nebraska for Colin and Autumn's wedding and to spend some time with my family. We were armed with walkie talkies for communication purposes (in case we needed to make a potty stop) sandwiches, juice boxes, sodas, snacks and DVD players with movies. Ready for any emergency or so we thought. First stop Minnesota rest area for a picnic supper right by the Mississippi. The kids thought this was fun especially since a barge happened to go by as we were eating to provide them with more to see. Back in the cars and on to Mason City and the motel where we stayed for the night. The kids had a great time there riding the elevator and jumping on the bed until the manager called and said people were complaining. Geez, some people don't know how to have fun.

Day 2 we are up early( I'm talking the butt crack of dawn) to eat breakfast and get on the road. My daughter Tara says George likes to get up with God because he gets up so early every day and I tend to agree with her. We made it to Omaha around 11:00 and met my daughters Tara and Carrin and their families at Mickey D's across from the Henry Dorley Zoo where the kids ran off some energy in the play zone before hitting the zoo. We spent the next 4 1/2 hours trying to corral 8 children in a rather large zoo that was crowded, humid and smelly in a lot of places. The gorilla house was a lot of fun because the young gorilla interacted with the kids and they really loved that!

Which ones are the real monkeys here? The kids loved the Gorillas and had fun interacting with them.

Here are all the kids hiding inside a huge tree trunk deep inside the jungle in the zoo.

Saturday we all got up, got prettified (for some of us that was harder than for others) and went to get our picture took. It has been a goal of mine since George and I were married to have our blended families together for a family picture. I was amazed by this photographer and the job they did with our large group. The pictures were absolutely phenomenal and the price was pretty good too. Then it was lunch, a nap and time to get ready for the wedding. I was so glad my daughter Tara lives down there because we ahd our own built in GPS system since she knows the area. I made her ride shotgun and direct George on the way. Everyone had a great time at the wedding and the dance. Tegan caught the garter, Marie caught the bouquet and a fun time was had by all.
Sunday morning we packed everything back into the two vehicles, including the 4 children, 5 adults, walkie talkies, food and DVD players to make the long journey back to Wisconsin. Only this time we were doing it all in one shot instead of breaking it up like we did on the way down. We stopped for fuel before we left- both for the vehicles and for the people and then only stopped for potty calls and gas until we got home. My a__ was sore by the time we hit the driveway and I couldn't wait to get out of the car! Unfortunately that just meant i had to unpack and do laundry. Oh well, life goes on. I wouldn't have traded one minute of the time I got to spend with my family this weekend and all the wonderful memories we made and will be able to share for anything. It truly is Priceless.