We are still in Minnesota even though we were supposed to be trekking through the Canadian soil by now. I guess we just can’t get enough of it here. Yesterday we met up with our pastor who was also in the area for the same wedding as us. We hit a couple state parks saw some lighthouses and ate at a famous pie restaurant. The odd thing about the nature parks was that the government still has them all closed. You can’t drive in, but that hasn’t stopped anyone from exploring all the natural beauty that the state has to offer. Instead people are just parking outside of the park and walking in on foot. That was fine for a little day time rendevous, but we still couldn’t use the parks in the area to camp so we just slept in the car last night.
Today we went to some more parks. We hiked all over the place and even took a dip in the icy cold Lake Superior. This whole trip has been an adventure, we have a plan, but we’ve also veered from it a time or two. While we were on the shore line skipping rocks J said “I wonder if this was the destination” This is one of those trips where it is truly about the journey itself, but sometimes you have to stop and take in the moment without thinking about where you are headed next. When he said that all I could do was smile and nod. We are currently staying in a town called Grand Marion. There are some really neat shops and restaurants and beautiful seaside scenery. In the evening we left our hotel to be a part of the live outdoor entertainment. As we approached we could see that people were raising their hands in worship. Then we heard that they were singing songs from the Bethel worship album (which couldn’t be anymore up our alley). It was an unexpected, but welcome opportunity for us to worship with the body of Christ on the north shore. Inbetween songs one of leaders announced very somberly that they had just experienced a horrible tragedy within their group. He said “for those of you that are not a part of ministry, you wouldn’t know that we lost someone in our group this morning. 1 year old baby Reagan was playing at our camp sight and was hit by a truck. He was rushed to the ER and died an hour later.” I cried when I heard it and I am crying again now as I write it. I can’t imagine what the parents are going through. I debated sharing this story on the blog, but I feel like I was there to be a part of this mourning and crying out to God and that maybe you all would like to remember baby Reagan’s family in your prayers as well. As far as my little babies they are still with their grandparents getting spoiled and having a great time in Kentucky. I miss them terribly, but J and I are grateful for this opportunity for just the two of us to reconnect. We are blessed far beyond what we deserve.

You’ve got bikes chained to every parking meter.There are even special bike lanes everywhere you go. We haven’t had a ton of time to check out the city with the main priority being my photography job. That’s our pastor getting down to the cha cha slide.But the wedding was beautiful and I am so happy for the bride and groom who we have known for 4 years now. And I have them to thank for making this trip possible. Next up the North Shore!

My parent flew in to Minneapolis from Louisville today and tomorrow morning they will be taking the kids back to Kentucky with them. We spent the afternoon and evening at the Mall of America.I had never been before, but what an experience! We ate a place called Kokomo’s where I actually hula hooped in the restaurant. You know it’s a fun place when they encourage hula hooping. We stopped into the almighty Lego land and American girl store. It’s a cult-like experience. If you’ve been then you know what I am talking about. Z rode his little heart out in the amusement park area.But above all the things that will be logged in my mind, the one I will never forget is the Flying Dutchman ropes course.J wanted to try it and it looked like a fun little adventure. I saw little kids joining in so I knew it couldn’t be that bad. Welllll, let me tell you, it was bad. J and I both thought we were going to loose our lunch. The Flying Dutch is the tallest skyrail ropes course in the world. It’s basically like an obstacle course where you walk across creaky wooden bridges and tight ropes starting at 30 feet above the ground, all the while you are securely fastened to a metal track, but your brain doesn’t know that and who wants to fall in order to gain the assurance that you are not plummeting to your death!? I can’t remember the last time my adrenaline pumped like that. I went up the first set of stairs and walked across a jiggly cable holding onto some ropes above me and when I made it to the other side I announced that I was done! Level one was enough for me, I didn’t think I could go any further, but J said “you can’t quit! You have to keep going. Come on.” That was all the encouragement I needed although he still insisted I lead the way.By the 4th story you are 56 feet above the ground and I can’t tell you what the view was like because if I had looked I would have thrown up! J asked one of the workers there if anyone has ever puked and he said not while he was on the clock, but a kid peed his pants earlier that day. I am not at all surprised.The only thing that got me through was singing as I walked across. I had to get a song in my head each time I stepped off of the security of the sturdy metal columns. The songs ranged from “A whole New World” to “Strangers in the Night” and I sang them out loud not caring whatsoever what anyone might think. At the very end of the 4 levels you have the option to walk a little plank that hovers over the amusement park and pull on some ropes to sound a fog horn alerting everyone that you completed the course. I took a deep breath and teeny tiny baby steps over to the edge pulled the ropes and then had to decide whether to walk backwards or turn around. Here, I am to worship, here I am to bow down… HOLY CRAP what am I doing up here!?I turned around walked back and then clung to the post for dear life before heading back down the stairs. If you are not the slightest bit phased by heights, I am sure this is nothing, but for J and I it was INSANE, but we did it. We did it together.

7-14-11Blessed are the flexible for they will not become bent out of shape. I learned that quote on a missions trip and it’s stuck with me ever since. After realizing we weren’t going to be able to camp in Minnesota as was originally planned we hopped across the border to Wisconsin’s beautiful Willow River State park. We showed up just before they closed and set up camp by the illumination of the car headlights. The kids were fussy, everyone was tired, and J was insistent on using that same air mattress that let us down (literally) the last two times we went camping. I was frustrated by the whole situation, but for the record it stayed inflated the entire night thanks to J’s chewing gum/wrapper patch that he concocted. It rained some at night, but it was a welcome sound as the 4 of us safely snuggled in our little shelter. We got up early and decided to take down the tent while it was still drizzling in order to avoid the storms that could come in. The moment we stepped out the rain stopped. In the end we were able to take the tent down and go for a nice long hike together as a family.

We let the kids dunk their feet in the icy cold water. and we even climbed to the top of the cliff so that I could have multiple heart attacks every time my children were remotely near the edge, even if they were in my arms and there was a rail. Once again, the stairs were killer, but the view was nice. After showering and getting all of our stuff together it started to rain just as we were pulling away from the park. How perfect is that?

Iowa is a beautiful state. My husband is from there. We were originally going to visit the city of his birthplace, but we ran out of time. We were also going to visit the world’s largest concrete garden gnome, but couldn’t find it. So what did we do in Iowa? Well, we went to a park and played a mean game of kickball with J’s niece and her gang. My team looked like we came straight out of an episode of King of the Hill and despite being labeled as the gimps due to repeated injuries, we still managed to bring home the title of champions. The work out didn’t end there either because after that we went up to the top of a water tower that was converted into an observation tower.The stairs were very steep and seemed to go on forever, the view was nice though. We had a ways to drive, so we said our goodbyes and got back on the road again. After traveling for several hours we stopped to fill up in a little town in Minnesota that just happened to have a mini carnival going on. Thank you Jesus for sending a bounce house, paint, and games to some kids that have been cooped up in a carseat half the day.

On day two we went to a place called Deanna Rose Children’s farmstead.

If you are ever in the area it is a must see. It’s almost like a zoo or a park, but it’s all local wildlife and farm animals. We walked around, pet some goats, fed some turkeys, and then went fishing. Z has never been fishing and this was a good place to start. They give you an old fashioned pole with a hook and a bucket of worms. The policy is catch and release. The fish are small, but easy to catch. We did have one fish lose an eye and I felt terrible about it. He’ll never be able to watch 3D that way.

After lunch and some coffee at some recommended KC places we kind of stumbled into the World War I museum. I went to the top of the memorial to take a few quick pictures, but was completely caught off guard my reaction to the view, the architecture, and overall magnitude of the place. I actually cried a little. It’s weird I know, but I was all alone up on this building the weather was perfect, the sky was breathtaking, and I just felt peace and reverence all at once. That’s the best I can do to explain it.

From there we crossed over into Iowa where we would spend the night with J’s niece and her family. I haven’t seen them in almost 4 years. The last time was when I was in labor with Z, so the kids were all meeting for the first time. They made dinner and were very hospitable and unlike our hotel in Kansas city there were no problems with the AC.

We made it to Kansas city, later than expected, but that is to be expected. On the way up we made frequent food stops. We got fresh peaches from a fruit stand beside the highway. Later we tried some small town Barbeque at a place that has been around since 1927. By the register they have some individually wrapped bubble gum in a bowl that was priced 5 cents with a marker. Nothing costs 5 cents anymore.

And just when I thought you couldn’t get anymore simple and old fashioned than that, we found Chet’s ice cream. They have chocolate, vanilla, or swirl. It was a no brainer decision for our little family. CHOCOLATE!

When we made it to our destination we had some hiccups at the hotel because the AC was out in our room and if you are anywhere near Kansas City Missouri right now you know that is not a good thing! They upgraded us from a little queen bed room to a suite that was like having our own apartment with two bathrooms. Don’t picture anything fancy, it was a cheap hotel, but still it worked out great because long story short we have a friend that was visiting the area from Tyler, TX and she ended up staying with us on the pull out couch in the other room.

Very cool spontaneous fun.

Other than that, as if that wasn’t a full enough day already, we had dinner with an old friend from High school that lives in KC.

It was really great to catch up, despite the fact that SJ banged her head on the marble table and busted her lip open causing a slight scene (blood and all), but she’s okay now.

After that J dropped me off at IHOP (International House of Prayer). IHOP is an amazing ministry that has an auditorium for 24 hour prayer, open all the time. IHOP is what brought my friend up from Tyler, it’s also what brought my High shool friend up to live in KC and it’s the reason we hunkered down in this area for the night, so you know it must be incredible. I prayed, spent some time in worship, and even wrote some poetry until 1:00 am. It was awesome. J stayed at the hotel with the kids and he had his time at IHOP in the morning. You could show up at 3:00 am like our youth group did last week and there would still be live worship and all kinds of people on fire for God interceding and spending time seeking Him. You could even go online to see for yourself because they keep a live stream going so you can peer into the prayer room at anytime and see what’s happening.

Well, friends, that’s day one. 18 more to go.

Good Morning from Texas. This will be my last time checking in from here for a while. Today we are leaving for our 2011 Summer “vacation” (the quotations are because I will be photographing a wedding in Minnesota, which is the reason we are able to get away in the first place). My ical is nothing but travel for the rest of the month. I’ve got a new tripit app, tons of pages printed out from google map and weather.com, along with several drawings of what I will be wearing, so I think we are ready! Hopefully all of the planning will pay off because we are going to need it. We’ve never made an endever like this one before. We are talking about traveling over 3,000 miles by way of car. If we were to drive the entire route without stopping it would take over 2 days! Don’t worry the kids will only be with us for part of it. My parents are picking them up and they will fly to Kentucky with them. Definitely wouldn’t mind prayers for safe travels. I’ll be back on as often as I can to let you know where in the world is Messy Momiago. That was supposed to be a joke for any other children of the 90’s that remembers this show.

For now I’ve got to run, cooler weather is calling my name.