Thursday, August 30, 2012

Part 1: The Adventure Begins...

Last Spring we found out that Daddy would be taking two classes at Hill AFB, UT for a total of 6 weeks in May. This was much too long for our family to be apart so we started making plans. With the help of Lucas' teacher and principal we decided to take Lucas out of school and home school him for the last month of his Kindergarten year. We also discussed all the exciting places we could visit having over 100 days of vacation to work with before first grade started.

Brief Plan:
Daddy would fly to various location from Florida. Mommy, Lucas @ Axel would take the car out west and return sometime in August. We would start by driving to Colorado, then Utah, back to Colorado, then to Oregon and back home. Crazy huh?! That's what I thought too but I was willing to give it a try to escape Florida's summer conditions.

Actual Itinerary (condensed version):
Trip begins on April 27, 2012
Drive, after school, from Florida to Colorado via Memphis, TN, Tulsa, OK and Hays, KS.
Stay with G&G J, see family, hike (get used to altitude)
Drive to Ogden, UT - meet Daddy, visit friends, climb, hike & bike for 7 weeks
* Almo, ID - City of Rocks on weekends
* Salt Lake City, UT - here and there
* Snowbird, UT - celebrate 10 year anniversary where we got married
Drive to:
Grand Jct, CO - visit friends, hike
Palisade, CO - hike, visit friends & eat delicious fruit
Longmont, CO - pick up Daddy at airport
Aspen, CO - climb, hike, bike, celebrate 4th of July
Montrose, CO - wedding, visit friends, small family reunion
Ouray, CO - pan for gold, hike & eat ice cream
Evergreen, CO - family time, hike
Colorado Springs, CO - friend time, hike & bike
Evergreen, CO - more family time, hike & bike
Fly to Portland, OR to meet Daddy and see G&G A
Bend, OR - family camping, bike, hike, climb
Corvallis, OR - wedding, bike
Back to Bend, OR - more climbing
Fly out of Portland, OR
Arrive in Denver, CO - see Grandpa J, pack car
Drive to Tulsa, OK
Drive to Crater of the Diamond State Park, AK - Lucas' birthday request
Drive to Hattiesburg, MS
Drive to Niceville, FL just in time to meet teacher, Mrs. Chlebowski
Arrive home to see all our toys and neighbors.
Trip ends on August 17, 2012

So that is the "kind of" condensed version. I'm sure I'm missing things but I'll let the photos tell the story. It's amazing how much we did this summer. Literally, everyday was packed to the max. Our family mantra was "MAXIMISE FUN!" and we were successful.

Here is my attempt to share our adventures with you starting with our arrival in Longmont, CO after a 2 1/2 day drive from Florida.


Skipping rocks and park time with Grandpa.
Sorry...I had to! :)


Tazer tickles.
Cousin Logan
They look like babies. Amazing what 3+ months will do!
Pearl Street in Boulder, CO with Grandpas
Grandma too. Lucas sharing his Ben 10/Angry Birds necklace.


Little climber


Big climber
We love maps.
He would stop every foot or so to make sure we were on track.



See, we love maps!
Aunt Kate & Logan at Zolos for dinner.
Homemade kites that worked perfectly.


Grandma J...how did you escape the camera?!!

Monday, August 20, 2012

111 Day Vacation and a Big Birthday Celebration!

My last post was in June sometime so I have a lot to catch up on. I'm still downloading 3+ months of photos and it's truly amazing all that we did this summer. We were gone for 111 days total, traveled through 12 states and just returned last Friday. We pulled into town just in time to meet Lucas' new teacher, Mrs. Chlebowski. She is wonderful and his classroom looked awesome!

Today was his first day of school. Here's our big first grader!
 



We also had a birthday to finish celebrating. Lucas turned 7 and he was super glad to come home to some long awaited presents. Axel was just as excited. He's been telling everyone we meet (all summer) that Lucas was getting a Mothership! This is a LEGO Alien Conquest kit and it didn't disappoint! Either did the Angry Birds Mighty Eagle cake I made while Daddy helped build LEGOS!

Did I mention that all this took place the same day after driving our last leg (3 days total) from Colorado...after flying back from Oregon to Denver on day one? Crazy?! And yes, we started in Mississippi that morning and drove through the most horrendous rain storm I've ever seen. At times I wondered if we were in a hurricane! We were glad to be home. :)









 The last photo and I are not friends. It wants to be horizontal and I'm tired of fighting with it!

As for the rest of the summer...please be patient! We have some amazing stories, adventures and photos to share.

-The Andersons


Above Photo: Downtown Portland Oregon Bike Ride

The Danger Zone needed a little update to include not only LUCAS DANGER, but also his little brother...AXEL ADVENTURE!

Welcome to our family blog now known as:


DANGER and ADVENTURE Around Every Corner!!

Enjoy!!