The rest of the story...

No, our travels did not stop in Norfolk. After saying goodbye to John, realizing that I forget my wallet in the terminal after trying to buy some gas, going back and saying good-bye once more, we set out for Fairmont, WV to visit Aunt Katy, Uncle Eli, and Xander. We had to go through DC and never having been there, I thought it would be a shame to just drive through. So we took the exit for the Memorial Park. Sydney and I walked through and saw the Washington Monument, White House, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean War Memorial, WWII Memorial, the Capitol, and we even had time to hit the Holocaust Museum (which I would like to go back and spend more time in).

After that little break, we went onto Fairmont. By the way, it took me a good 45 min. to figure out how to get out of DC and get back on the freeway. I kept missing my turns, but thank goodness for the iphone and the maps app. Otherwise, I would probably still be there. We got to Katy's at about 7:30 that night. It was quite a long day.

Our time with Katy was filled with lots of playing. Sydney and Xander had a very good time together, playing and mimicking each other. We made it to the WV zoo, which is literally in someones back yard. However, they did have an impressive selection of animals. Sydney got her first bee sting there and I'm happy to announce that she's not allergic to bees. I think the bee landed right on her nose and she swatted at it, thus getting a bee sting.

It was sad to leave them after only a few days, but the beautiful fall colors were a nice pick-me-up on our drive to Chicago. Once there, we took in the Chicago Marathon, which I'm proud to say, my uncle completed. What an accomplishment for all those people. We also went up to a pumpkin farm and did a corn maze, went on a tractor ride, and picked some pumpkins out, of course. My dad flew in the last day in Chicago to drive the rest of the way with me.

Onto Cedar Falls, IA to meet the Great-Grandparents...

We spent a few days in Cedar Falls, mostly relaxing and playing with Great- Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma Betty couldn't take her eyes off Sydney and it was fun to see them all interacting. 

After leaving there, we were pretty much headed straight home. We stopped in Moville, IA to see my Uncle (dad's brother), I realized that I hadn't seen him since I my senior year in high school. I guess I've changed a little since then. :) We made it to Chamberlain, SD that night.  The next day, we stayed in Sheridan, WY with a stop through Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument. The following day we drove a short (relatively that is) distance to my good friend and pretty much sister, Julie and her family. She was kind enough to house us for a night. And the next day we made it to Coeur d'Alene. Ahhh, what a sigh, when we parked the car and knew that we would be here for a while.  It was a wonderful trip. I think we made the most of it as a family. Sydney was awesome the whole time. The only downfall was that John couldn't finish the trip with us, but we would have never done the trip if he hadn't been deploying. I appreciate my dad for taking the time to drive back with me. Sydney is such a good traveller, that I think we could have done it ourselves, but it was sure a comfort to know that we if we got a flat tire, or something else unexpected happened, that there was someone there to help. Plus it was some good quality time with my dad that I haven't had in a very long time.

p.s. after being in Coeur d'Alene for 2 days, we hit the road again and headed to Tacoma. You know, just can't stay in one place for too long. Well, Sydney did have to go for a dr. appt. and we had to pick up some of our stuff there, and of course see the westside grandparents. 

A welcome to DC surprise

Washington Monument

White Huse

Vietnam Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Unfortunately the reflecting pool was under construction

It seemed interesting to be taking this picture the same day that John deployed,  good reminder

Okay, so I actually did a drive by past the Capitol building, I was a little tired of walking

Playing with cousin Xander

Xander decided he needed help walking too

And I think he wanted to be a baby again

feeding the goats

Kind of a happy camper after the bee sting

Siberian Tiger

Just chilling

Xander was really enjoying the chocolate cake

Sisters

Fall colors in Pennsylvania 

Go Uncle John

The crazy Kenyans leading the pack

Hanging with cousin Mary Faith

There he goes (green shirt)

Looking pretty good for running 26 miles

Corn Maze

Great-Grandma Betty

having a snack together

Mt. Rushmore

Crazy Horse, they still have a long way to go

Grandpa Dave, with Julie's kiddos

Breakfast time

Group Pic