We visited the White Sands Missile Range Museum. The boys thought it was so cool (and it was!)

We finished lunch, said our "see you laters" (they'll be visiting us Labor Day Weekend... yay for friends who are a short drive away!) and got back in the car.

Let me tell you how awesome it was to finally program HOME into the navigation.

A brief 1900 miles and 4 days later and we were on the final stretch of road to our new home in the Tortolita Mountains. 

I cannot say enough how proud I am of these 2 kids. Between packing up our house in WI, living in Mukwonago for 2 months, and then road tripping across the country to their new home you'd think they wouldn't have these smiles on their faces at the end of it all. But, they did. And they were so excited to see all of their toys and stuffed animals again that they haven't seen since early May. We are so incredibly blessed to call these 2 boys ours.

They earned a much deserved dip in the pool on our first night home. I ran out for some groceries and Erik took them in after dinner.

You can see the sun setting in the window behind the boys. 

All of those miles were totally worth it to finally be home. 

We started our day in Memphis and decided to stop for a late lunch in Little Rock. We got the recommendation from Kelly of Big Orange Midtown. The burgers were really good and it was a great stop to stretch our legs and be out of the car for a bit. Other than that, Arkansas has a whole lot of nothing to see! 

We stopped in Dallas for dinner and, most importantly, to see the Giant Eyeball. It was, in fact, both giant and an eyeball. The kids couldn't decide if they liked it or not. 

We had dinner on the rooftop of Iron Cactus in downtown Dallas. It was over 100 degrees outside, but it felt awesome to be out of the car. Plus, they had misters to keep us cool, along with our beers and waters. The boys ate their body weight in chips and had no desire to eat their meals. Oh well, such is the life of roadtrippers!

After dinner we walked around Pegasus Plaza right next to the restaurant. There were ponds and twinkly lights, which is more than enough entertainment for 2 little boys. This was such a fun stop on our trip. Not only were we ready to be out of the car after a long day, but it was another fun, new place to see with our kids, even if only for a short time. The food and beer was good, too.

We left Dallas and finished our drive to Waco, TX! When we were looking at the new road trip plans and I saw how close we would be to Waco I told Erik I really wanted to make the stop so I could cross it off my bucket list. I figured it would be busy, crowded and overwhelming, but was hopeful that we'd all still enjoy it.

We had a quick breakfast at our hotel that morning and headed over to the silos before they opened. Silly me, I figured we'd beat the crowds and, since it was a Monday, that it wouldn't be super busy. Let me just say HA! It was a holiday week, in the summer, and the line to get into the actual store was ridiculous. The kids started running around on the lawn, which was really cool, and I debated whether or not I should even brave the line to go in. Luckily, it was so long because everyone was still in line waiting for it to open. Erik encouraged me to go and wait while he watched the boys. 

I met a couple in line in front of me who were on a camping trip with their toddler, all the way from South Carolina. We talked Gamecocks vs. Clemson while we waited. I swear, we always meet people from either WI or SC everywhere we go!

I made a fairly quick pass through the store and came out with t-shirts for the boys and I, 2 magnets and a Christmas ornament. I am way too sensible and realized that with a house full of items that still needed a home on my walls that it seemed silly to buy a decoration that I wasn't sure I'd actually need. Plus, I love buying magnets and Christmas ornaments when we travel because they are a great keepsake and a reminder of all the places we've been together.

Then we got in line for Silos Baking Co so that we could get the boys a well deserved treat for the car ride. Those Gaines' are pretty slick with their planning for the lines at the bakery. You fill out your menu card while in line so that you can hand it in at the counter, pay and be on your way pretty quickly once inside. The boys got cupcakes/muffins and we both got cinnamon rolls. The cinnamon rolls were HUGE and we shared one on our way out of town. The 2nd one came in handy when we were in rural TX and starving. 

We finished at Magnolia after roughly an hour there and loaded the kiddos back into the car. We had a LONNNGGGGGG drive ahead of us thru western Texas in order to get to our friends' home near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Erik drove until we reached I-10, nearly 6 hours later. 

Once we reached I-10 and I took over he drive, we don't have many pictures until our arrival in Las Cruces. But the drive down I-10 was absolutely gorgeous, complete with watching a huge storm roll in over us. The boys were a little concerned, Will especially, about the thunder and lightning. But, they were troopers through it all. If you ever have the opportunity to drive from Fort Stockton to Las Cruces, do it! You will not be disappointed by the beauty all around you.