Chef Mickeys

This post has been deleted because it is in our new book entitled Napkin Dreams. It can be found on Amazon.com

New Orleans

This post has been deleted because it is in our new book entitled Napkin Dreams. It can be found on Amazon.com

 

Superman, Popeye and the Western Liberty Bell

We are sorry, but we have removed this post becuase it is a part of our new book entitled Napkin Dreams.

Jimmy Stewart Museum

We are sorry, but we have removed this post becuase it is a part of our new book entitled Napkin Dreams.

Eating good in Wisconsin

We are sorry, but we have removed this post becuase it is a part of our new book entitled Napkin Dreams.

 

 

 

Kidologist and Kevin Shutterbug

Our family visited the founder of Kidology, Karl Bastian (AKA the Kidologist) and his family in Parker, Colorado. Kevin got a chance to sit down with the Kidologist and have a little chat and a few laughs. Thanks again to One Way Street for making Kevin’s interviews possible!

JEDI COUNCIL CONVENES IN PARKER, CO

Hanging out in Salt Lake City

We spent a great afternoon in downtown Salt Lake City. Our first stop was the Gateway Discovery Museum, a children's museum that was part of our membership program. This is a small little museum designed with kids under seven in mind.

Needless to stay our three younger boys loved the place and there were many shouts of amazement and excitement as we entered Gateway. Their favorite spot was the little city where they could dress up and play roles such as construction worker, letter carrier, farmer, grocer, etc.. Blake and Tanner may be a little old to play these games, but they can live a second childhood by playing with their little brothers who love to have them as playmates.

They also got to put on a little play for us by dressing up as Robin Hood and his merry men, play in a life-sized, albeit pretend helicopter, making sound effects and creating their own cartoons.

After a couple hours of this type of creative play we headed over to the nearby Ben and Jerry's ice-cream shop. You see April 12th was Free Cone Day at Ben and Jerry's which is quite a deal for a family of seven! The line was stretched out all along the outdoor mall, but the weather was pleasant and the line moved quickly and soon we were licking our way through flavors like Chunky Monkey, Chocolate Brownie and Maple Blondie! Yum Yum!!

After this we had to head over to Hatch Family Chocolates. We loved the Little Chocolatiers when they were on TLC, mostly because their chocolate creations looked so delectable. The show is off the air now, but we promised ourselves to stop in when we were in Salt Lake City. Just Patsy and I went in, leaving Blake in charge in the van outside. This way we could peruse in peace!

Patsy had a bit of a thrill as she got to talk to Steve, one of the owners and stars of the TV show. No autographs were exchanged, but he was very kind and asked us questions. His wife Katie is from Chicago so he was quite familiar with Illinois. I could tell there was a little thrill for Patsy getting to talk to a "celebrity."

We purchased a couple of turtles for ourselves and a mixture of chocolate covered Oreos and gummy worms for the boys. We did save these for later - with Ben and Jerry's still lingering on our taste buds and all.

Hooray for Hollywood

Hooray for Hollywood

That screwy ballyhooey Hollywood

Where any office boy or young mechanic can

be a panic

With just a good looking pan

And any barmaid can be a star maid

If she dances with or without a fan

So we visited the town of broken dreams to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Grauman's Chinese Theater.

My wife and I have been here before, but it was a first for our kids.

I am not sure how many of the rest of family has been here before, but for

all of us it was an interesting time.

First of all there are the hucksters and ticket hawks who are pushing their bus tours of Hollywood and the homes

of the stars! Not interested. Then there are the costumed characters trying to get you to take a picture of them with

your eager children, for a price of course. Little Mermaid was especially tricky giving stickers out to the little ones.

We felt that if they were going to to charge they should wear better costumes than their underoos.

Nevertheless there were some great highlights. I really enjoyed looking for stars my youngest kids would find fun,

like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Shrek, Walt Disney and Winnie the Pooh. We also had fun putting our feet and hands

in some famous characters impressions at Graumans, like R2D2, Donald Duck, Harrison Ford and John Wayne (small feet!).

After climbing some stairs to see the Hollywood sign we all had fun taking turns running through a water fountain (the sign

said we could!!).

But the absolute highlight of the day was visiting the Disney soda Fountain and Studio Store in Hollywood and eating some

yummy ice-cream. I had the most unusual dish, the Gnomeo and Juliet special, which featured a blue pointed cone hat, which

turned my whole mouth blue. It was quite tasty despite the stained teeth. An even trade I'd say.

Three little boys meet Goofy

Too cute!!

Show us the Hole in the Wall!

Sorry, if you want to read this post, please buy our book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Napkin-Dreams-ebook/dp/B00AZR24LG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358457775&sr=8-1&keywords=napkin+dreams

 

 

 

On the Road with 16 Children

People think we are a bit crazy for going on the road with five boys, but the Duggars have taken several extended trips with all their kids. In this video, they have 16, but the last trip they did they had 18.

Get out of debt

Before we set off on our journey one major obstacle that we felt we wanted to overcome was our debt. There was no way we wanted to have the hassle of paying of auto and credit card loans while trying to realize our dream. So a big step for us in achieving this dream is to rid ourselves totally of debt. We are over half-way there in less than five months (plus we are taking a Disney world vacation next month)!

One of the keys that I felt we needed in this debt elimination battle was a plan. I had heard of Dave Ramsey from friends and on the radio, so at a conference I picked up his book The Total Money Makeover. If you are thinking of this lifestyle or have any other dream and find a wall of debt standing in your way, I highly recommend this book. I have never taken his Financial Peace University Course, but I have friends who highly recommend it as well. Check out Dave's website at http://www.daveramsey.com/!

Will Smith sees the country in an RV

Lots of famous people have done a long term Rv trip!

Drew Barrymore RV Trip

Drew Barrymore shares a fun time she had on her road trip.

Lisa Whelchel and the Facts of Family Travel

Lisa Whelchel shares some ideas about traveling for a year with her family in an RV.