They can't get enough...

As I mulled over plans for our summer, I came up with the idea for Sam and Mary's Midwest Tour.

It involved us traveling to Arkansas to spend a few days with my folks then up to Missouri to see my grandma and more family on my mom's side in Missouri.

We were going to stop off to see our friends Janice & Bobby in Lawrence, Kansas then continue north to Des Moines, where Sam was born. We still have many friends there.

Next, we'd have headed east on I80, stopping off in Cedar Rapids for time with Tammi and her kids.

I had also planned to spend a day in eastern Iowa, with Deanette's family, before traveling across Illinois to Chicago.

I'd hoped I could get Cam to meet us there for the weekend. We could have had time with Eric & Sarah and visited friends.

We'd have been gone two weeks, driven over 900 miles and spent around $2000.

I wanted to take Sam back to places we have lived and to spend time with people who are important to me but the plan encountered several obstacles and in the end, I settled on sending Sam back alone.

Even though they had a week with Sam in June, my parents decided to come visit us at the end of July. First, they spent some time in southern California with John & Johanna, at Big Bear Lake. Then, they flew north and spent a few days with us.

We went to the Audubon Nature Center and took them to the top of Mt. Tam. On the third day, my mom helped me start a new garden. I appreciate their interest in spending time with us and their willingness to travel to make it happen.

Thanks for all you do, Mom & Dad.

Dad, I hope you had a happy birthday, today.