Family Travels: The Great Midwest.

May 31, 2018

Posted 09/12

We loaded up the kids in the car the day school got out and started out on our two day trip towards middle earth….aka Kansas. It took a day and a half, and there were certainly some crazy moments in the car involving a certain set of toddlers, but all things considered it was a good trip. We were all so eager to see family, and kick off our summer vacation with a bang, and we arrived just in time for Memorial Day weekend fun….

After Gabe and I got married we moved out to this small town for a few years for a teaching job, and to be near my sister’s family. It was a short but sweet time. We miss living so close to them, we miss the slower pace of life here. We only get to see them once or twice a year now, so as you can tell we are seizing the day. Squeezing every last drop of fun out of the week as we can. Water balloons, lemonade stands, summer night soirees, lazy rivers, fishing, and parades…with some good long naps in between.

My sister Maria is one of my best friends, so it will always be hard to live so far away. Now that our children are best pals too it makes it even harder. I have a feeling everyone will have long sad faces when we pull out of this small town this weekend. I always dream of my brothers and sisters all living close by, but I guess that would eliminate the fun of the excuse to travel across the U.S. to visit them, right?

Have you ever lived far from your families? If so, how often do you get to see them?

Cheers to the start of summer!

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Carrie
says:

June 1, 2018 at 9:21 am

That looks like a lot of fun! My sister lived in Oregon for work for a couple years. She came back home a couple times a years. Now she lives 2 miles away so I see her a couple times a week.

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Krischa
says:

June 1, 2018 at 12:17 pm

We live 15 minutes down the road from my husband’s parents, grandparents, and both of his mom’s siblings and their families. However, we live half way across the country from my parents and siblings. We get to see them once or twice a year. It’s very hard especially now that we have children. Thank God for texting and video chat!!

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Kris
says:

June 1, 2018 at 8:12 pm

I have one sister who lives in town and when our kids were little, we saw each other every week – and our kids are the best of friends because they grew up together. As they got older and she and I both went back to work, that tapered off. Now we see each other at major events, holidays, etc. More than our out of town siblings, but not a ton. She’s far enough on the other side of town that it has to be a specific event or meet up. I’m one of 4 sisters, plus our younger brother. We have a family reunion of sorts every year at my Dad’s lake house – and all the siblings and cousins come, so we do that every year, no matter what. And now that most of the kids are older, the sisters have started a tradition of “sister weekend.” We meet up for a weekend, just us, no husbands or kids. No real agenda – nothing fancy. Just a weekend with the girls to catch up and refresh. It’s my greatest treasure. We are all close and the other two live in NC and NY respectively, so it’s our sister time to reconnect every year.

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jenny says:

June 2, 2018 at 3:33 pm

that shot of your boy silhouetted against the lake… gah… absolutely breathtaking. so many wonderful captures here. you make me want to visit kansas 🙂

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Crystal
says:

June 2, 2018 at 9:23 pm

We are an army family and move every 2-3 yrs it’s hard to be away from family but it has made our little group closer. And we have learned to trust in the lord after 6 months a place sure does grow on you.

Since y’all work from home would you consider moving?

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AnneMarie says:

June 2, 2018 at 11:22 pm

That’s awesome that y’all had a good trip! Kansas has its own unique beauty. My family lives in Kansas and I live in Oklahoma, so it’s a pretty easy trip and we try to make it up about once a month or so. It’s pretty nice! My husband’s family, on the other hand, lives several states away, so we sadly only see them about once a year-if that. At least we live closer to both our families than we did when we lived in Ohio as newlyweds!

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MOLLY
says:

June 3, 2018 at 10:40 pm

Anna, your pictures are STUNNING!!!!!!!! They could be in a catalog. Love the one of Max with the bubble!

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Hayley
says:

June 4, 2018 at 10:01 pm

All our family lives in Oklahoma. We are in Maryland and have made that same two-day drive and it is exhausting. But so worth it once you get to Family! Such fun memories for you all and the kiddos.

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Rachel O.
says:

June 5, 2018 at 12:38 pm

I lived for one short year across the street from my sister and her family, and upstairs from my parents. Now my husband, my five kids, and I live LITERALLY across the world. 🙁

Every day I wish I could return to that lovely paradise of community living…

Reply
Joy says:

June 12, 2018 at 5:26 am

You make me want to take a trip to the Midwest, and I don’t even have family there!

I live quite literally on the other side of the world from my family. I’m on my once-a-year trip to the States right now to visit everyone.

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