Close to Home in 2014

I haven't exactly been updating my blog too much recently, but I assure you it's for a good reason:

We haven't really gone anywhere.

Okay, maybe that's actually more of a bad reason haha But in reality, it's really a good one, because the reason we haven't been traveling much is because we added another little boy to our family at the end of August.

Our big trip of 2013 was to Hawaii in late March, and after that trip, we just realized that it doesn't really make sense to go through all the hassle of traveling for a few days of bliss. We figure one day, when we don't have to lug carseats and strollers and food and diapers everywhere, we'll get back on track and begin traveling again. But for now, if we decide to go anywhere further than a few hours' drive, we'll be doing it without the kids. And for now? We just like spending time with the kids.

SO...what's on our docket for travel in 2014? Anything close to home! Here's what we're thinking:

This is a little late for starting out 2014, but I'm including what we have already done and looking into the future :)

January

We spent a fun weekend together in Minneapolis at the end of the month to celebrate Cashel's 2nd birthday together as a family. We hit up the Como Zoo, enjoyed the hotel pool and visited to the Mall of America :) Cashel had a blast, and aside from a rough night of sleep for Mama and Daddy in a king bed with two kiddos, we did too :)

Recap HERE.

February

Mark and I enjoyed an overnight in Sioux Falls by ourselves to just kinda regroup (and hopefully do a fair amount of catching up on being lazy and sleeping. We were, unfortunately, sick the entire trip with some nasty colds, but we still enjoyed the time to rest.

Recap HERE.

My Mom's birthday was on the 23rd, so we went down to Iowa for a day trip to celebrate with her.

Recap HERE.

March

We made our way back down to Humboldt at the end of the month to help celebrate birthdays with our niece and nephew, who had a joint party.

Recap HERE.

May

Mark's cousin is getting married at the beginning of May in Mankato, but it will just be a day trip. We're only planning to attend the ceremony, as the reception starts at almost bedtime for the boys, and it's about 2 hours between the ceremony and reception. We plan to make a short stop at Menards to pick up a few things and will probably eat at BWW before heading home.

We also are planning to leave at the end of the month for a week-long trip up (which will go into early June to Brainerd to a cabin as a family, and we can't wait!!

September

We'll be celebrating 8 years of wedded bliss on the 23rd, and will likely do a long weekend away up to Duluth again. I still haven't mentioned it to Mark yet, so we'll see how that goes haha :)

That's just about it for this year! We'll be staying put most of the rest of the summer, and planning a birthday bash for Kendrick's first birthday at the end of August.

As usual, fall brings harvest, and then we're jumping right into Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then before we know it, it will be a new year.

I'm beginning to plant a bug in Mark's ear for a trip to Portland in early spring (i.e. when it's still snowing here but not there) 2015, but he is leaning more towards visiting his brother in northern California (LeMoore). With little ones underfoot, I tend to lean towards places where we can just go and stay that doesn't require much travel once we get there. We will see what the year brings!