O State Travelers

From one O-State to another

OKLAHOMA to OHIO
10 days +
5 states +
1 minivan =
2,183 miles driven (and we'd do it again, it was that great a trip!)

This was our family vacation this year. We decided we'd make the drive and have us a 10 day, mid country, Griswald family journey. My big Wilson family reunion was in Ohio at the end of July, but it all started the weekend before with a friend's wedding in St. Charles....

Here's some of the highlights:
Stop 1 - St. Louis (4 days)

• Six Flags (serious fun...not just for the kids but the adults). We went with Chad, Annette, and Kate' so we all got to go on some "big kid" rides too. We had a blast!


• Jennifer's wedding (and celebrating with good friends)


• Catching up with Christine, Micki, Derek, Christy and Mandy. Wish there was more time for me to see everyone else but sadly theres just never enough time. And of course spending time with Family, that always comes first.

Stop 2 - Indianapolis (2 days) And home to the most expensive gas along the way (4.18/gallon)

• Indy Motor Speedway -- We took a lap around the track, and one little boy I know was in race car heaven!
  


• Indianapolis Zoo. This zoo was incredible, probably one of the best zoo's I've ever been too...better than San Diego. It has a combined aquarium so they had this dolphin show (smaller scale, but similar to what you see at Sea World). The kids got to pet sharks! We took a train, rode a roller coaster, played in the splash park, fed giraffes... There was a butterfly house with hundreds of butterflies and the kids favorite part...playing with the walrus. This walrus would look through the glass at the kids and do whatever they did. So if Riley leaned to the left, he would lean with her, he'd play peek-a-boo with them. So cool!


• The Children's Museum (the biggest Children's museum in the world). And really the reason we decided to drive rather than fly...we knew the kids needed to check this place out. We knew it was gonna be cool when you see the entrance...

Stop 3 - Columbus (3.5 days)

• Meeting my newest nephew Garrett! Isn't he a doll?

  

• Cosi- We worried that it might be too similar to the Children's Museum in Indy, but they both had very different things. It couldn't have worked out better. A "must-visit" for kids in Columbus.

• Cookout at Todd and Lori's House -

• Hanging out with my dad and brothers's families before the massive family reunion. We had great food, great weather and we all had a ton of fun.

One of the greatest things is that all the cousins are all close in age.

Riley has Kate' who is 3 months younger.

Brooke has Kelsey who is 3 weeks younger.

Cade has Aiden who is 1 year younger (but were the only boys until Garrett). Seriously, these 2 are going to be lady-killers. Aren't they the cutest little ones ever sporting Grandpa's soccer jerseys from Italy.

Now Heath and Pearl will have their little one soon which will be about 8 mo. younger than Garrett...so everyone has a buddy. I have a jillion cousins, but all alot older than me. I love that they all have each other.

• Family Reunion- This is just from my Grandma and Grandpa down. I couldn't tell you how many people we had there, well over 100 (pretty good considering it stems from just 2), but we have the smallest of the families (16 and a half) but we're still cranking them out. And no we're not Catholic.

Stop 4 - STL (overnight Sunday)

Stop 5 - Tulsa (.5 days - Monday) (the longest part of the journey)

HOME!!! There's truly no place like home! And home to the cheapest gas on the trip (3.82/gallon).

I had a ton of pictures I wanted to share, but I know they are a lot more exciting to me than all of you, but here are a few other fun ones in case you wanted to see just a few more.