Holland, Michigan

McDonald's number 1 - Michigan

One of the fun features I want to include on this blog and on our trip is to try and visit a McDonald's in every state plus provinces in Canada. Sometimes it just may be a quick stop for an iced coffee or sundaes. Other times it may be for a cheap meal (I used to think the food was terrible - but the angus mushroom burgers are pretty good now). This time the allure of batman toys for three little guys was enough to pull us into this McDonald's in Grand Rapids, Michigan, about a 1/2 mile from Terry Town RV where we bough Howard the motorhome. I think he looks nice under the golden arches with the toadie van in toll.

Forester Sunseeker tour inside

The inside of Howard our RV. Howard is a derivative of the acronym HOW (Home On Wheels)! We named it Saturday.

Forester Sunseeker tour outside

It's here, It's here! It is finally here!! The dream is finally taking shape!

No worries

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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.

Travel Talk

I was recently inspired by a friend who quoted St. Augustine on something he said about travel (see below). I thought I would put together a bunch of quotes, inspirational, spiritual and funny, on the value and pitfalls of traveling. Here's to the nomads and gypsies!!

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”

- St. Augustine

“Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”

- Miriam Beard

A journey is like a marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you can control it.

- John Steinbeck

A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.

- Tim Cahill

A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.

- Moslih Eddin Saadi.

Thanks to the interstate highway system, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything.

- Charles Kuralt

I have found out there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.


- Mark Twain via Tom Sawyer Abroad

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

- Lao Tzu

"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move."

- Robert Louis Stevenson

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

- Helen Keller

Two roads diverged in a woods, and I - / I took the one less traveled by,/ And that has made all the difference.


- Robert Frost

Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey!


- Fitzhugh Mllan

We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.

- Hilaire Belloc

You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn. – Psalm 18:6

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives. Psalm 37:23

A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

- Charles Spurgeon

In America there are two classes of travel - first class, and with children.

- Robert Benchley

Snake on the Road

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Getting gear

July has been an incredibly busy month, getting moved in, unpacked, two birthdays, visiting family, family visiting us, getting the yard back in shape, catching up with old friends and a ton of paperwork!

But we also have been outfitting our RV, even though we don't have it yet (it should be ready in a couple of weeks). So what have we got so far for our big adventure?

• DVD based curriculum called Switched on Schoolhouse for Blake and Tanner. This is highly recommended stuff and will save a ton of room compared to books.


• Regular curriculum for David, Brendan and Chase. They are all going to be working on Kindergarten together using My Father's World. They are also each going to have their own Leapster and we have got several games with birthday money.


• A docking station for our Wii-motes - very important stuff! It will help cut down on battery needs.


• A portable screened in room for our picnic area. Got to keep the flies out.


• A table-top grill. Our RV does not come equipped.


• We also bought a crank-turn, non-electric washing machine. It is pretty compact and hopefully we can save some money by doing some of our laundry in it. We will post more on this later. We tried it once on some sheets and towels and it worked pretty well. You can buy one from the clean air gardening website. You can see the picture of it here.


• For work we got a Verizon mifi card, for wireless internet wherever we can get Verizon cell service. So far it works very nice.
• We finally got a GPS, a Garmin. Didn't figure we should try and tackle driving around the continent without taking advantage of this technology at our fingertips. We even found an RV for the display!
• Several little small things like laundry bags, folding tables and some clothing.

So fun and exciting to do the outfitting part! It feels like we are getting closer. Can't wait to hit the road.

Children's Ministry Expo | CMXPO recap

This is a highlight video from the conference where we unveiled Kidology to Go. You have to watch the whole thing to see me teaching in a Scoop.

A word from our sponsor

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Kidology to Go - Mobile Kidmin Training!