Today was driving day.

After spending the last two days in Missouri, today we loaded up the Family Truckster and made our way north. We decided to sleep in a bit after two late nights at the ball park. With a long drive ahead of us, we resorted to all kinds of games to keep ourselves entertained. We’ve been playing a yearlong game of “License Plate” – starting on Jan. 1, we’ve been looking for all 50 state license plates. So far, we’ve found 47 of the 50 states! (There was WAY to much excitement in our car the other day when we finally found Nebraska and Montana!) We also played a game we call “Concentration” (although Sunny insists it’s called “Categories”). We basically pick a category, like “Disney characters” or “restaurants”, and take turns saying things that fit the category. If you repeat someone else’s guess or if you get stumped, you’re out. Today’s “Concentration” highlight: with the category “Body Parts”, Joshua, without a moment’s hesitation, guessed “carscophagus.” We gave him credit for cracking us up.

We drove north across the entire state of Iowa today and we were just blown away. Under a clear blue sky, we took in mile after mile of corn fields and farmland. Driving across the state gives you a deeper appreciation for our farmers here in the heartland. Several times Sunny and I turned to one another and said, “Can you imagine living here? It’s so beautiful.”

The beautiful heartland of Iowa

After arriving in Minneapolis a little after 6PM, we decided to head over to the Mall of America. I’m not much for shopping malls, but this place was awesome. This atrium was pretty impressive!

Tomorrow we’ll work in some sightseeing along with a trip to Target Field to see the Twins and White Sox. More pics to come!