Friday night, before vacating our Wheaton home, we celebrated Valor's eighth birthday, closing out one of the so many backyard parties. Even though our house was empty, my heart was so full from having one final party together in this place we loved so dearly. It was a special evening, indeed.
On September 4th, we packed up our RV, and it was our official "hit the road as full-timers" day! We were leaving even though our house was still on the market, we had tons of showings, but no official offers yet. As we were literally hooking up the RV to the truck, our agent called us saying we received an asking price offer on our home. It shouldn't surprise us, but God is always on time, even if we think it's pushing the line, ha! So that afternoon we took off with relief to our first location: Indiana.
INDIANA
In Indiana, Nick's dad lives in the country on a beautiful piece of property, and the back is a magical place for our boys — behind the big auto barn are the woods with a creek running through. Valor loves the three outdoor cats and exploring the creek, and True loves all the vehicles! The boys also got to spend time with two sets of grandparents, and four cousins, and see their great-grandpa (who will be 101 years old this November), we started road-schooling, visited the boy's Great Aunt's farm, saw three of Nick's high school friends and their babies, and took the kids to see our undergraduate alma mater.
At the end of our three weeks in Indiana, we were packing up to go dump our RV, then the plan was to leave it while we headed to our next three destinations, and would be back in 2.5 weeks. But as we were cleaning up, we found that the water pump was all of sudden no longer working. So with a quick change of plans, we hooked the RV up and drove it back with us to Illinois to drop it off at the dealership's repair department.
ILLINOIS
In Illinois, we stayed with my parents. We celebrated our niece's first and Nick's birthdays, went to the zoo, and the boys spent lots of time with Grammie and Papa as Nick and I finalized a few things for the house before the official closing date (9/30).
OHIO
From Illinois, we drove to Ohio for a few-day visit to see my grandparents and two uncles. It is always special when kids spend time with their GREAT grandparents, as many never even get to meet two generations older than them.
FLORIDA
From Ohio, we then drove down to Destin. Our family needed a minute to catch our breaths and spend quality time together. To our family, warm weather, salt water, and sun are a magical combination of relaxation and recuperation from all the go-go-go.
We are leaving Florida on Saturday, heading back to Illinois to pick up the RV, then returning to Indiana to get readjusted. Next up will be Mammoth Cave, Kentucky and then Harrison, Tennessee (in Skull Island Campground for Halloween!).
