Her favorite was the one below.
And this was a close follow up.
This was McKay's first science fair. She wanted to see how many balloons it would take to lift her (53 pounds). So last Sunday we put together the experiment and found out that 25 balloons lifted exactly 5.0 ounces. On Tuesday while putting together the display we also bought some balloons to deminstrate it to the students. The only down part was when we were completely done and we had bought another 30 balloons only to remember (at midnight the night before) that latex balloons wasn't allowed in the school due to allergies. Therefore the balloons stayed home. 
McKay won second place. 
This picture from several years ago was my favorite. Hannah was scrolling thru them and she turned to Jake and asked, "Why did you wear a shirt in the pool?"
Of course, the long awaited for presents. She got some four square balls, a self propelled flashlight, a new trampoline and a Littlest Pet Shop Talent Fair (not shown). After church they set up the trampoline (in the rain) and since it was her birthday, they got to jump in the rain.
Finally the cake. I had bought trick candles this year but they didn't work. Jake says I should take them back to Walmart since I was not completely satisfied. Not worth it to me.
McKay is a sweetheart! She helps me a lot and she is very smart! I have always thought of you as my little angel. You still are! We are glad she is a part of our family and we love you!
On another note, she will be baptized May 5th. We would love anyone who can come to come. Our house is welcome to anyone!
......South Dakota. We missed Wall Drug by only an hour. I had never heard of Wall Drug before and Jake was shocked. Maybe next time.....just kidding. We spent the night in Cedar Rapids and the next morning we drove down through......
Keystone, South Dakota. Where the kids got out and did a little souvenir shopping. Cruz wouldn't get on the horse above but as soon as the girls wanted on, he didn't want off. 
Now everyone knows that Keystone is the gateway to......
Then we went and read about the mountain and some interesting facts about the sculptor (IE the mountain was never finished to the sculptor's description. He died and his son did some finish work and that is how it stands. George Washington was suppose to be finished to his waist.)
This is in real proportion.
We crossed in to Wyoming and into Idaho very late Saturday night. We kept driving because we wanted our own beds.
All in all, we traveled for 10 days, drove just a little more than 5000 miles, and crossed through eighteen different states!?
We went to the top (86th floor) of the Empire State Building. You wait hours just to see this place. The view is worth it.
With a stroller we did get a little special treatment. A few lines were cut and we didn't have to wait the entire time that we should have. Although New York City IS NOT stroller friendly. Although the only other option is I don't want my kids wandering loose on the sidewalks.
I love this view. You can see how high up you are.
Cruz's favorite part was the subways (or the choo choo's as he said). Many times walking down the street of New York we had several people say, "Four kids? WOW, you must be patient." The funny thing is here in Idaho it's just the opposite. "Four kids, that's all? And your done?"
Although one of my favorites was when Jake and McKay were walking infront of me and the kids in the stroller. Jake was carrying Katanya and a lady stopped him and said, "My what a beautiful family." Then she walked past me and the other two kids and she stopped and said "Four? My goodness. What a big family."
Even the missionaries stopped and talked to us, then they had to ask if we were L.D.S. 
McKay was really interested in ground zero. We had told her about that day and the people that were lost. She found it all very interesting. Another favorite of hers was the Empire State Building.
That night for dinner, we walked down to Little India after seeing Time Square. We found a delicious Indian "kitchen" called Handori (I think) that was so yummy. You were able to get 2 meat sides, 1 vegetable side, rice, naan, and a salad for 7 dollars. We stuffed ourselves (literally!) Cruz downed it without any complaining. He also downed about 6 glasses of water with it. The two girls complained a little but eventually ate their plates. My only regret is that I didn't buy another meal and take a bunch of dahl and chicken tiki masala with us. In fact, probably two more meals! I am still craving this little restaurant and their dahl.
Kirsten's favorite was the statue of liberty. We saved this til last and took the ferry across where you were right infront of it. Then we turned around and took it back so the kids got double the view. Kirsten had spotted the statue on top of the E.S.B. (Empire) and had been talking about it ever since. I tried to take pictures of the statue but they didn't turn out because of the windows.
After this eventful day, we went back to New Jersey and spent the night. The next day was the whole point of the trip. Stay tuned......
Pennsylvania. here we took a quick stop half way and continued through......
a tiny portion of West Virginia......
and into this mystery state, New Jersey. It wasn't raining even though it looks like it. I was waiting for the sign and all of a sudden it was in the middle of the divider. So this was taken through the windshield. We drove through this small state and spent Monday night here.
......we are off from Kansas back to......
......Missouri. As we traveled across the state into......
......Illinois where Jake almost missed the sign again. Thank goodness there were only four of them as you stayed on the correct interstate. He got the third I believe. From here we went across to......
......Indiana. We are staying the night with Traci and her family. It's nice to finally meet them and their family. It's wierd because thru blogging I feel like I have met them before and I know them. I'm grateful for technology, that's for sure. Tomorrow we are off again bright and early. Although we won't reach the destination with a day's driving. Where are we going?
We have our 240 hour supply loaded and ready.
We were smart and stocked up with drinks, crackers, cookies, tortillas, sandwiches, lunch meat, treats, cereal, muffins, donuts and whatever else you can think of. We haven't stopped for food yet and we haven't had to eat out. It's been really convienent. 
......to here, Wyoming. We had a nifty idea of driving all night and just rotating drivers to make it to ??????on Friday. It started out with good intentions. Jake was tired at about 10p.m. so I started driving......
We hit Nebraska at about 3:15 a.m. I was still driving and I wasn't tired. I think my adrenline had kicked in. Either that or eating Salt and Vinegar chips while drinking Diet Pepsi with Lime was quite the eye opener. About 20 minutes before this border it started snowing and getting a little heavier. It didn't look like it was sticking to the roads so I opted to keep driving. I woke Jake up to take the picture. Not long after this he was telling me his story of driving out with his dad on I-80 in his red pickup truck. He said that they going along and it was snowing just like it was here in this picture. Not long after Dale started sliding and fish-tailing going this way and that way. Miraclously they pulled out and they stopped in Sydney where they spent the night. I didn't think twice about it. About 5 miles after the border the snow was worse and I couldn't see everytime a semi-trailer passed me. We are also pulling a 24' enclosed trailers. So I was going about 35 mph and just inching along. About 35 minutes later Jake woke up to me saying a few surprising words (not bad though) and a high shrill. I was sliding sideways but luckily I quickly thought to turn on the 4WD and we were okay. Now I really wasn't tired. It was another 40 miles til the next rest stop. It took me a little over an hour to go that far. I kept hoping I would go around the corner and the snow storm would dissappear. No such luck. So at 4:30 a.m. we pulled into the rest stop where then my kids woke up and were all excited we were sleeping in the car. After another 30 mintues of getting situated and the kids to calm back down, we fell into what we called "sleep". At 6:30 a.m. we were off again and making our way across the country into this state......
......yes Jake missed his sign. He was trying to take a picture of the Missouri River "border" that he didn't see the sign in time. That and he was "telling" me how to drive. Anyway, a short drive in Iowa led us to......
......Missouri where we were finally seeing an end for a day and a night of sleep with a bed. After a couple hours we traveled into......
......Kansas where we headed to Aunt Leslie's house. We had dinner and a nice comfortale bed where we slept and relaxed. It's sorta a funny that we drop Sarah off at the airport only to see her the next day. We tried to convince her to drive out with us but for some reason she didn't want to. Today we spent the day......
......coloring eggs, going bargain shopping (I thought it would be warmer so I didn't bring coats, only jackets. Needless to say it's freezing! We went to a local mall and luckily we found coats on clearance! They are really nice and cute too! So I bought a size bigger but I have next year coats that I paid between 5 and 8 dollars for. I couldn't even beat that at home! Retail therapy is always nice.) It's been really fun to catch up with Leslie and her family. I wish we could stay longer. Tomorrow we are off too
??????P.S. Bonny, do you still want to travel like the Kerksiek's? Or at least us? I am not sure I do. :)
