Saturday, June 27, 2015

{Road Trip} Day One - From Running Up Steps to Painting Cars

We left late Friday, after Hubby worked a full day, and to get a good chunk of driving out of the way, we drove through the night making our first stop, Little Rock, AR. 

We passed through Little Rock a couple of summers ago, and while B was already into presidents, his interest in both state capitals and running up the steps of state capitol buildings had yet to be uncovered...

Our first stop was the Arkansas State Capitol...





for a run up the capitol steps...






After a quick photo at the Arkansas Governor's Mansion, checking off a stop on our (very comprehensive) list of U.S. Presidential Sites, and a stop for breakfast...





we continued on to a new state for 4 of the 5 of us...

OKLAHOMA

and yes, yes I am that mother that plays "Oklahoma!" and "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" on repeat as we cross over the state line, and for at least a good 15-20 minutes into the brand new state...





"Your doin' fine, Oklahoma...  Oklahoma, O.K.!"

We wandered off the interstate and made our first stop in Oklahoma at Rock Café, along the historic Route 66 in the small town of Stroud, for a late lunch...





The current owner of Rock Café is the inspiration for the girl character, Sally Carrera, in the Disney Pixar movie, CARS...





The littles loved leaving their (respective) marks on the wall...






From there, we continued on to Oklahoma City and made a stop at the Oklahoma State Capitol...




the only state capitol grounds in the United States with active oil rigs!







After driving by the site of the Oklahoma City National Memorial honoring those affected by the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, we continued on into the Texas Panhandle.

We veered off the interstate once again for our first stop in the panhandle, this former gasoline station in Shamrock, known as the U-Drop Inn...






Look a little familiar???

This station was used as the model for Ramone's House of Body Art in the aforementioned movie, CARS...

Our last, and most anticipated stop in the Texas Panhandle, was Cadillac Ranch...








Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, and the model for Cadillac Range, the mountain range in CARS...

With that, Day One is officially a wrap!

More on tap for tomorrow... 

More {Road Trip} 2015 Fun

Saturday, June 6, 2015

{Summer FUN} Day 2 - Capitol Steps and Lilly Loving Friends

We woke up early, and trucked it up to both Hartford, Connecticut...
 
and Providence, Rhode Island...



to make a couple of runs up B's 21st and 22nd sets of state capitol steps!

After seriously debating continuing on up to Boston, I decided to turn back, opting to do those steps with Hubby in tow...

On our way back through Connecticut...




we stopped in to visit with good friends S & S, and their sweet little twins, B & R...


{Baby B, L & M in their matching Lilly Warehouse Sale dresses}

Headed home tomorrow...

What a fun adventure!

Friday, June 5, 2015

{Summer FUN} Day 1 - A Few Steps, Some Lilly, and a Little NYC

With another school year officially in the books, Hubby drilling for the weekend, and a wild hair up my rear, the littles and I took off on an adventure. 

A couple of weeks ago, I heard that the FAO Schwartz in NYC was closing, and as crazy as it sounds, that was my main motivation to hit the road...  That's just kind of how I roll sometimes!  Bonus was checking off a couple of sets of capitol steps, hitting up the annual Lilly Pulitzer Warehouse Sale, and visiting with family and friends...

This morning we dropped by The Pennsylvania Capitol first thing...



  
and this makes #20 complete on B's Capitol Steps Challenge since he made the goal to run up the steps of each capitol building...

Next stop...







From Philadelphia, we headed over to Hoboken, NJ and caught the ferry over to NYC...





where we met up with Uncle B and Cousin A, and made a farewell visit to FAO Schwartz...







where each little picked out a treat...





before grabbing something to eat... 

We tried to stop in Serendipity 3 for a frozen hot chocolate, but alas the wait was too long...  Next time!

From there, with treasures in hand, we caught a cab back to the dock, and headed back over to NJ...





jumped in our car and continued on to our hotel for the night...

More adventures tomorrow!