a little bit of london

mr. pike had business in london two weeks ago.  and he surprised me on my birthday with a ticket to accompany him!  i love london.  and it was so fun exploring with mr. pike, who was seeing everything for the first time.

and it was so kind of mr. pike's sister to come to pittsburgh to watch the kids while we played abroad.

some of our favorite places:  the V&A, the British Museum, a show at the Globe, Hyde Park, Green Park, St. James Park, Jubilee Gardens

the British Museum

the London Eye - we ended up taking a ride our last night

Big Ben

Tower Bridge

London Tower

the Globe - we saw A Midsummer's Night Dream. Fantastic show!

inside the Globe

Millenium Bridge

Houses of Parliament from the London Eye

we finally had someone take a picture of us

on the way home

we had survived the ride out west, but then we had to get home again.  since we were leaving from outside of yellowstone, we took a more northern route on the way back.  and while iowa and nebraska are beautiful and scenic too, i was really captivated by the mountains of wyoming and the diverse landscape of south dakota.  (mr. pike and i are already planning our return trip to south dakota.  it really is an amazing state.)

highlights on the way home:

artist's point --the grand canyon of yellowstone

mt. rushmore -- south dakota

enjoying ice cream -- the first recipe developed by thomas jefferson.
thank you, mr. jefferson!

who can't get enough spam -- the spam museum
austin, mn

getting there

my favorite part of road trips are the interesting things you see along the way.  with two little ones in the back seat, i knew we'd need to make a few longer pit stops to release some wiggles or suffer complete meltdowns.  (which still happened on occasion.)

some of the highlights getting to idaho:

it's the place where dreams come true

little girl and a few of her friends at the field of dreams field -- dyersville, ia

a rest stop in nebraska

carhenge (a replica of stonehenge with cars) -- alliance, ne

more car art -- spawning salmon

a stop in the smallest town -- buford, wy

this is it!

a weekend away -- with children -- can have a few downs along with all the fun times.  little boy made it clear on the ride home, he was done.  


can't wait for our 22-hour road trip to idaho!  (look for highlights from that trip mid-july!)

st. louis -- the highlights!

there it is, in real life -- the gateway arch.  welcoming all to the city of st. louis.  we felt very welcomed, of course.  and started our first day right here.

if you visit -- order tickets ahead of time online.  this saved time in line and got us to the top at a time we chose.  (and was such a better experience for the kids.)


while the kids enjoyed our ride up in these little barrel-type cars, little girl was not a fan of looking at the view from the top. 

here we are at 630 ft

the view to the west

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next stop -- a cardinals game.  especially, when mr. pike's sister, ms. pike, is there.  we didn't actually see much of the game, thanks to the kids.  but the company was perfect.  (cards lost, but i wasn't sad.  they lost to the phillies -- my hometown team.)

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there are several fountains throughout downtown st. louis.  and i was surprised how every fountain we saw that weekend had kids and adults alike wading in them.  (in most places it seems that is frowned upon.)

well, our last morning there, i felt brave enough to let the kids have their moment.  little boy was only too happy to be in the water.  just his feet weren't enough.  here's his progression.

little boy starting fully clothed

now without shorts

shirtless too

and getting muddy.  perfect.

meet me in st. louis -- the excitement builds

have you seen mgm's meet me in st. louis starring judy garland?  it's 1904 and the world's fair is around the corner.  you can't imagine the excitement among the local residents.  or the romance that's floating in the air.


well, you might have guessed, this is a family favorite.  and when mr. pike suggested spending memorial day weekend there, our home brought the revival to this musical, with us singing "meet me in st. louis, louis," and "if i like a you."  (family favorites)  we could hardly contain our excitement to venture out.  (even a 5-hour car trip with a one-year-old couldn't dampen our pre-vacation spirits!)


now there was one more factor to our excitement.  as we've mentioned before on the blog, we're big bob shea fans.  remember this post that started our author-crush?  all of the pikes can't get enough of mr. shea's work.  clever.  witty.  creative.  


so, one of our favorites is big plans.  this book never collects dust around our home -- if little girl isn't reading it, mr. pike and i are sharing it with friends and family and having them read it.  (if you've been to our house, then you probably know.)

during the story, mr. shea (with the illustrative talents of lane smith) make mention of missouri -- as shown above and to the left.  


one of the things on our to-do list was to see the arch.  but we really wanted was to have little girl frown under the arch.  and she was more than pleased to copy the little girl in one of her favorite books.  (love little girl's interpretation!)


so amid song and dance and literary genius, the pikes were only too excited for this weekend away in st. louis.  we'll share some of the highlights. . . . stick around.

from thanksgiving

we love the sunshine of southern california. especially when we visit during the colder months of the midwest. little girl was in heaven, running around barefoot outside. (trying to go for a swim, but it wasn't that warm.) it was such a treat to spend time with mr. pike's family.

we also had a few days with my family in las vegas. we had a multi-generational family reunion on my mom's side of the family, and i was invited to give a presentation about my great, great-grandmother, mary mcquarrie.

two falls ago, my sister, little girl, and i took a little tour of scotland to see where mary grew up before immigrating to the united states. i guess our trip deemed the two of us as semi-experts on mary's life. so, mrs. wright and i put together a presentation to share with our family.

i loved reading through different personal histories that told about mary's life. she was an amazing woman of faith and humility. i wish i was a lot more like her.

while we were in vegas for the reunion we had a chance to visit the hoover dam. my mom's father worked on hoover dam -- he'd repel down the dam and inspected the concrete. that's some steep repelling. and we also got a look at the new bridge (which one of my cousin's helped work on) -- there's a lot of family history in the area.

it was a great trip to see so much of our family. unfortunately, the trip was too short. we'll just have to plan another one.

road trip: madison

mr. pike and i love a good road trip. there's something about seeing the country firsthand. it had been a while since we had such an adventure, and since mr. pike had a day off from work, i didn't want to waste the chance to travel.

it being baby girl's first overnight trip, mr. pike and i decided to travel closer to home. we headed to madison, wisconsin. i have visited the capital city several times, but mr. pike had not yet been. so, we packed up the car and headed for wisconsin.

madison is a beautiful city, nestled between two lakes - monona and mendota. we first stopped at the state capitol building. mr. pike and i like visiting capitol buildings -- the architecture in some of them is so beautiful. and wisconsin's is one of the more stunning buildings. it also has an observatory around the dome so visitors can get a view of the city from above.

on saturdays, one of the largest producer-only farmers' market in the country surrounds the capitol building. we ventured around the market where people were selling everything from honey and flowers to baked goods and produce. we tried wisconsin's famous cheeses, buttermilk donuts, venison jerky, and fresh carrots.

one of my favorite finds was grace's cheesecakes -- where i picked up a chocolate raspberry and a lemon mini cheesecake for mr. pike and i to try. both were excellent!

we finished the fourth of july with fireworks -- which baby girl seemed to enjoy. she watched mostly wide-eyed, probably wondering what was going on.

it was a great trip -- a place we'd like to visit again.

somewhere in time on Mackinac Island

large Victorian homes and a quaint country church steeple stand welcoming visitors to Mackinac Island, Michigan as the ferry pulls into port. This picturesque scene turns your mind to the turn of the 19th century -- where time has seemed to stop on the island. Since no cars are allowed on the island, goods and people are moved by horse and carriage or bikes.

mr. pike and i met some of our family on Mackinac Island for a quick weekend retreat. Mackinac Island is surrounded by Lake Huron, close to the point where the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan meet.


we rented bikes for an eight-mile tour of the island. even my pregnant sister, mrs. turner, was up for a ride. (i was so impressed!) she and mr. turner shared a bike built for two. our ride took us around the outer edge of the town, with rocky beaches to our left and towering forests to our right. it was so beautiful and serene. mr. pike and i daydreamed about moving to the island; although we admit it might not be so fun sharing our home with so many tourists.


the beautiful Grand Hotel sits as the jewel of the island. maybe one day mr. pike and i will stay there. until then, we can pretend as we watch somewhere in time (which was filmed there in 1980).


Mackinac Island is also a hot spot for fudge. you've never seen so many fudge shops - Ryba's, Murdicks, JoAnn's, May's. (and many of these stores have multiple locations, so the four blocks of the main street really are full of fudge.) we sampled our fair share and decided to buy a slice of the turtle flavor - chocolate walnut fudge with caramel and walnuts on the top. delicious!

mr. pike photographed our trip. he is creative and has a good eye for composition. he also likes to people watch through the camera. this was mr. pike's favorite person he saw on the island. i like this picture, too; he has a great mustache.

to our mystery tourist friend - welcome to our blog.

we almost were in india

after finding a curious picture on the internet of an indian temple, i had these feelings to see it for myself. so, mr. pike and i found ourselves in the middle of chicago's west suburbs among corn fields and housing developments searching for a little piece of india.

and then we found it. we felt like we had just been transported from bartlett, illinois to delhi, india. we found the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir. from the website: This masterpiece of exotic design and workmanship, which was put up in only 16 months, is testimony to the sheer dedication and devotion of over 1,700 volunteers. Deities and motifs spring from the walls, ceilings, and windows, representing the sacred faith and beliefs of a culture that dates back over 8,500 years.

here are some shots of the outside of the mandir. it's gorgeous - the detail of the carvings are incredible. a mandir is a holy place to pray. we couldn't take pictures of the inside - think even more intricate stone and marble carvings all over. everything was carved. it was amazing, beautiful.

we were so pleased with our discovery. what a great treasure not too far from our backyard.

a family affair

you may think a small town in southeastern idaho hardly seems a likely vacation destination. yet every other year, the family clan finds its way back to its roots in soda springs, idaho. the town was settled in 1870 by mrs. pike's great-great grandfather.

soda springs is far from a sleepy town, especially around the fourth of july. patriotic festivities are plentiful - from the lion's club pancake breakfast at city park to a spectacular fireworks display at kelly park. there's even a parade in between, where more candy's tossed than the grandkids can grab.

as this was mr. pike's first visit to town, we hit all the major attractions. mrs. pike's favorite spots include watching the slag run down the hill at the Monsanto plant - looks like molten lava!; choosing penny candy at Eastman Drug; watching the world's only man-made geyser (to the left, a shot of mr. pike with this amazing display); taking a drink of mineral water at Hooper Springs - it's healthy for the soul even if it tastes like rusty nails; and watching a movie at the drive-in.

happily, mr. pike loves this small town as much as mrs. pike. these family roots run deep, and i am glad mr. pike has planted his roots with me.