north, then west, then north, then west

It's a long drive from NC to ND, and that's that.  But we took it slow (550-600 mile days) and it was totally do-able.  Also, it helped that summertime daylight means early starts don't feel so early :).

These maps were way more entertaining than I initially hoped.  We colored states when we spotted their license plates.  This was my best, easiest, and most effective homeschool class yet :)  by the last day of the drive we were missing fewer than 10, and as we headed into northern Wisconsin I figured we wouldn't be adding any new states.  But we found Wyoming and Washington (state) in northern Minnesota.  You just never know :)

Even the little guys got into this activity, and Luke kept a steady eye out for India and Antartica.  Sweet boy can name a lot of places but their relative distance is still a mystery :).

On day three we only had a 6 hour drive, and chose the southern tip of Lake Superior as a rest stop along the way.

Gorgeous.

Then it was an incredible week at the lake with Matt's family (pictures to come!) and on August 5 we moved into our temporary home!  Hallelujah (!!!) because I was done with suitcase living!

The next day we celebrated John Paul's 5th Gotcha Day!!  That afternoon (after a massive grocery run!) we roasted hotdogs over the fire.  5 years since we brought this boy home and joy to party in the backyard with Grandma and Grandpa and another round of S'mores too.

And so we keep settling in and it must be feeling good because this is the same face Julianna makes when she's on clean up duty in Asia. Ha!

After about 12 hours in the house the kids were ready to turn this backyard tree into a real climb-er.  Extra 2x4s in the garage and a quick run to Ace Hardware, and we were in business.  See Isaac up there in the branches?!?  Also, Hello Blue Sky! Oh how we Love you!

We even got a piece of real (personal!) mail

and this week all 5 kids are enrolled at VBS at a church down the street.  So I walk them there at 9 and pick them up at noon and the walking feels just like Asia-home and we are so thankful for the walk and the church and the friends there.

I'm back on wifi after almost two weeks off so I'm planning to get some lake week photos and stories up real soon.  Luke is begging for another bike ride around the block so I'm off to speed walk behind him on yet another lap until it's time to cook dinner :).