Washington D.C. National Mall & Zoo

The White House

Seth paying tribute to the Washington Monument

Boys at Washington Monument

Evan LOVED The Air and Space Museum. One of the highlights of the day was an IMAX movie we watched about Fighter Jets.

U.S. Capitol Building

Emmy at WWII Memorial

Our Oregon Tribute

Reflection Pool...you should see the dancing and faces Steve is making to get these kind of smiles!

Abraham Lincoln Memorial

Monkey See, Monkey Do!

Boys with Tiger

Good Morning Baltimore!

It was actually, Good Evening Baltimore! After Steve got off work with Marsh, we headed to Baltimore to see the city and have a delicious dinner at the Rusty Scupper. After dinner we took a walk up to a nearby fort on a hill and enjoyed a view of the city!

At the marina in front of the Rusty Scupper Restaurant where we ate.

Steve and Emmy at the fort

Ohio and Pennsylvania already are behind us...on to Maryland and Washington D.C.

We left exactly one month ago on August 18th! A milestone for the Winnie! We hit 44,444.4 miles! That means we have gone about 4,500 miles!

We left Michigan and drove to Dayton, Ohio where Steve worked with Bob Grote. Then we immediately drove to Washington, Pennsylvania for Steve to work with Dave Smith for the day. Then immediately after they finished working, we drove to just outside Washington, DC to Millersville, Maryland...Wow! We have done a lot of driving in the last day and a half. While Steve worked today, the kids and I did some grocery shopping and spent some time in Petco looking at the animals. We should have some more exciting news coming up in the next couple of days as we do some exploring in Maryland and our nation's capital. I hope we move into a house when we get back home because after being in Petco today, the kids really want to have animals and they hope to adopt one of Riikka's puppies!

Cabela's

Cabela's is a huge outdoor store with hundreds of animals and an aquarium!

Detroit, MI

We spent a couple days on Greenfield Lake in Michigan while Dad worked with a rep Dick and caught up on office work.

Go swim in a lake!

Sandcastle Fun

Ducks vs. Purdue

The ducks were behind the whole first half, but we cheered them on and they came back in the second half to win after they went into overtime...it was a great game! Steve had a fun time checking out the players braces and seeing Bio Skin braces all over the field on both teams players!

Seth and Evan with the Ducks Mascott

West Lafayette, Indiana

While Steve attended a Pain Management Conference in Nashville, TN, the kids and I went to my brother Cole's house in West Lafayette, IN. My brother Cole and his sweet wife Rachel and their two kids Rella and Giles were excellent hosts! We had a great time getting to know our cousins better and taking a little break from the RV life. My brother Cole is attending Purdue University to get his PHD.

Emmy LOVES her new little cousin Giles

Riding in the motorhome

Froggy back rides

Jensen kids in their true fashion!

Petting Zoo Fun!

Emilie LOVES her little cousin Rella

Evan and Rella

Fun at the Zoo!

The cousins are Sunflowers!

Aunt Rachel starting Emmy young on violin lessons!

Historic Nauvoo, IL

Kids with Christus in Nauvoo Visitor's Center

Finding out what it was like to ride in a wagon

The Jensen Clan with Oxens Gary and Gabe and Oxcart

Original sun stone from the first Nauvoo Temple

Nauvoo LDS Temple

CHICAGO......and all that Jazz!

The Jensen Clan and the Chicago skyline

After Minneapolis we drove through Wisconsin stopping only in Madison to eat breakfast and straight on to the windy city we flew...unfortunately for us it was the stormy and rainy city when we arrived. Steve stayed at a KOA outside Chicago to do office work in the Winnie and the kids and I packed up to meet up with Nana in a small town outside Chicago called Romeoville. The next day Steve went to work with Joy Bowen in Chicago and we spent the morning with Nana and then said our good-byes. Although it was a very short visit with Nana, it's always good to see her and especially since we are so far from home. The kids and I also enjoyed staying at a hotel for a night and swimming and relaxing away from the Winnie for a change. After our good-byes, the kids and I were off on an excursion to the big city. We hopped on a train in a Chicago suburb and took the train into the city. We got off the train and walked towards the water and the Navy Pier. After their work day, Joy dropped Steve off at the Navy Pier where we rode some rides and walked around. Then we went to the Uno's Pizzeria for some Chicago-style deep dish Pizza and then we walked around the city exploring and staring up at all the big buildings. Emilie loved the American Girl store too...We had a great time in Chicago and exhausted we all took the train back to the car having had a very fun filled day!

Joy Bowen with Steve and the kids after their work day

Navy Pier BIG Ferris Wheel

View of the Chicago skyline from the BIG Ferris Wheel

Emilie ecstatic about her new American Girl dresses. One for her and one for her Bitty Baby that matches!

Mall of America, Minneapolis, Minnesota

After a day in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, we headed northeast to the Twin Cities. One of the big attractions in Minneapolis is the Mall of America. IT'S HUGE! Inside this gigantic mall is a Nickelodeon Theme Park. We spent the day walking around the mall, eating lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe, and riding rides. The kiddos were in heaven! Steve worked with his rep Brian Bowen and got to see a surgery which he thought was very fascinating.

Meeting Dora The Explorer (The highlight for Emmy!)



The Lego store was so cool. This neat sculpture behind Seth & Evan is made entirely out of legos!




The kids meeting Spongebob Squarepants!



Emilie and Seth driving go-carts!



Steve going into a surgery with rep Brian Bowen


Brian Bowen getting ready to go into surgery

Cody Nite Rodeo, Mt. Rushmore, Badlands

After Dad did office work during the day and the kids played and swam at the KOA in Cody, WY, we took off for an authentic night on the town cowboy style.We ate at a super grubalicious restaurant called Bubba's B-B-que and the whole family had spare ribs, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, baked beans, salad, garlic bread, and bread pudding! It was quite the feast! After dinner we went to an RV parts store for a few items and found out while we were there that our fridge was broken and that the RV needs two more batteries! Unfortunately we also found out that Steve's fix on the kitchen floor didn't hold and water was leaking again! We had taken the motor home to a tire place earlier today as well because we had blown that third tire and realized that we needed to just replace all the tires that were on the rig from the previous owner so that puts the record at 8 new tires now! All six of the tires on the Minnie Jack and the two on the car dolly that we found out were 13 years old and illegal to be on the road! At least now we can feel pretty confident that we won't be on the side of the road stranded again- at least not with a flat tire I hope. After the repair on the fridge we were off to forget our worries at the famous Cody Nite Rodeo! None of us had ever been to a rodeo before...it was quite an experience...bare back riding, bull riding, barrel racing and more! The kids got to go down in the arena and try to pull a red ribbon off a calf's tail for a prize.



Wyoming was much more beautiful then we expected. We hit the highest elevation on our trip driving between Cody, WY and Rapid City, South Dakota it was near 10,000 feet. We went to church in Rapid City, SD on Sunday and then Sunday afternoon we went to Mt. Rushmore on the way to the Badlands National Park. The kids earned another Junior Ranger badge at Mt. Rushmore! They are learning a lot about our country. Steve talked to a girl at Mt. Rushmore who works in an Orthopedic section of a hospital and was familiar with Bio Skin products in Denver, CO. It's a small world and fun to make those connections. We stayed near the Badlands for one night and drove on to Sioux Falls, SD the next day. That was last night that we arrived here. It was raining really hard yesterday with really intense lightning. Today Steve is working with his rep Tom and the kids and I are off to discover Sioux Falls....