So caught up!!

We've been so caught up in our trip we haven't had time to blog! Also, we went more than a week without any access to the internet, that doesn't help with blogging.

So let's see...we've done so much since we last updated you...We had a great time with Aurora's birthday, she had already received her gifts from Mom and Dad. The family we stayed with in PA gave Aurora some crocheting tools and naked skeins to dye. So for her birthday she dyed skeins, played Guitar Hero, then had a home baked cake and we played 100 Years by Five for Fighting ("I'm 15 for a moment...").

We stayed in Pennsylvania until the 1st of October. We spent most of this time hanging out with our new friends at their house. The kids went in and out, sometimes sleeping in the tent, sometimes not. Karma stayed in their daughter's room for all but the first night and Shane took over and hibernated in their youngest son's room for the bulk of our time there. Caed and Aurora and their two youngest spent a lot of time exploring the woods together, running in and out, and some extensive time on their PS2.

Aurora, Karma, and Shane went with them for their swing dance lesson and learned a bit of swing dance. Andrea and Karma attended church with them as it was a new experience, this lovely family belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Both Andrea and Karma enjoyed the experience and left with an appreciation of another religion (as well as copies of the Book of Mormon to read). Andrea has started reading her copy, though she is still reading First Nephi.

We also helped them organize their basement, where they keep their food storage and aided in clearing out the garage and holding a garage sale. This was all lots of fun. On our last day, we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo and saw lots of nifty animals. We then drove straight through to New Hampshire, arriving at about 6:30 in the morning.

We'll continue in another post.

Hello PA!

Wow, this road trip is really truckin' along (pun half intended)! We spent a fantastic five days at Andrea's brother's house in Detroit, MI. The kids all got wild with their cousins, Shane included. Rachel is their three year old who is notoriously shy. Well, she took a shining to both Shane and Aurora, treating the latter like her extra big sister.

We've now pressed on to stay with a family near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are a fantastic family. We have found some more kindred spirits. Aurora has a friend in their daughter, Karma has a friend in their eldest son, and Caed has a friend in their youngest son. Shane is catching up on his sleep and Mom and Dad get along famously with their Mom and Dad.

We are considering buying an annual pass to the local zoo as the pass is reciprocal and we can use it in other cities we visit on the way home, plus several in Texas (not Austin's sadly). The Carnegie Science Center has free admission tomorrow from 10am to 3pm. We plan to visit that early tomorrow then head up to Franklin to see some of Andrea's family and have dinner.

We're not sure yet what it is we're doing for Aurora's birthday on Monday, just that we're baking a cake and she wants to hear 100 years by Five for Fighting ("15 there's still time to choose..."). I'm sure we'll plan something she'll love.