Trevor's 50 State Album - Completed and in Chronological Order!

The physical version of Trevor's 50 State Album is alphabetical, which is the same way I've showcased it on my US Travel page. But after arranging the digital pages chronologically, I love it even more! You can literally see Trevor grow up, from his birth in California in 2006 to visiting his 50th state at age 17 in 2023. 

 

I'm still working on a way to display the album digitally as a flipbook. But for now, I'm so happy to see it this way. 

Trevor's 50 State Album - South Dakota and North Dakota

These are the last two pages in Trevor's 50 State Album: South Dakota and North Dakota. 

   

It makes me enormously happy to look through the now-completed album. It sparks so many great memories. I had the finished album on display during our 50 State Party and quite a few guests looked through it. 

I was hoping to make a GIF or a flipbook of the completed album, both as a backup to the physical album and to share here on the blog, but I've run into some technical snags. I'll eventually figure out the best way to share the album digitally, but for now you can see the thumbnail of each of the pages on my US Travel page. They're arranged alphabetically there, just like the physical album. When I make the GIF and/or flipbook, they'll be chronological. That way you can literally see Trevor grow up, from birth to age 17, as he visits each of the 50 states. 

Trevor's 50 State Album - Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire

I just realized that I never shared the pages Trevor added to his 50 State Album following our New England trip. Four of the states we visited were new, so that means four more competed pages. 

I always enjoy seeing which photo Trevor chooses for the album. Early on, we established two "rules" - the photo must be horizontal and Trevor must be in it. He's almost always posing, smiling for the camera. I can only think of one state's page where he isn't looking at the camera. But he does have a big smile. That was a fun (busy!) day. 

I'll share the last two pages tomorrow, and tell you about my plans for the now-finished album. 

50 State Album: Arkansas (#43) and Oklahoma (#44)

Trevor completed the 43rd and 44th pages in his 50 State Album, following our recent time in Arkansas and Oklahoma. 

   

I love seeing the album nearly full. Only 6 pages to go! With Arkansas now in the album (which is arranged alphabetically), the first blank page is page 7, Connecticut. That trip is coming up soon and I'm really excited.

When I posted the most recent pages before these, I asked for your thoughts about arranging the pages alphabetically or chronologically in a slideshow. I'm leaning towards chronological for a number of reasons. For now, I'm continuing to put the images alphabetically side by side below the flags on my US Travel page. Having both might be the answer. 

50 State Album: Minnesota (#41) and Wisconsin (#42)

Trevor has added two more pages to his 50 State Album, following our summer travels to Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

  

As the album is nearing completion (8 pages to go!), I've been thinking about how to display the finished project. Not the physical album - that sits on a shelf. I'm trying to decide how to display it digitally. Right now I have all the pages alphabetically side by side below the flags on my US Travel page. I'm leaning toward making it into a single slideshow with large images so you can read the journaling. Do I make it alphabetical or chronological? There are good arguments for each. I'd love to hear your thoughts.  

Five More Pages in the 50 States Albums

After our recent adventure through the South, Trevor added five more pages to his 50 States Album. As always, I love reading what he puts in his journaling and seeing what photos he picks to represent each state.

   

Of all the pages, I'm most excited that Alabama is done. Why? Because it's the first state alphabetically, which means that the first page of the album had been blank for years. Now the first blank is the fourth page, Arkansas. That bothers me a lot less than having the first page blank. 

As we have visited 40 of the 50 states, Trevor's album is now 80% complete. I LOVE this album. I can't wait until it's complete. Once it is, I'll make a digital version to share here on the blog. In the meantime, you can visit my travel page to see all the pages he's done so far. 

Update to the 50 State Album

Trevor added the 35th page to his 50 States Album! 

I love looking through this album, perhaps more than any other. While the other family albums are from my perspective, this from Trevor's point of view. I love looking back at the photos he chose to represent each state and what he wrote about each visit. I can't wait until the album is complete. If all goes according to plan, it'll be finished in less than 3 years!

50 State Album: Louisiana and Mississippi

Trevor's 50 State Album has two new pages from our December travels to Louisiana and Mississippi. 

  

We're now at 34/50 states visited. It's always exciting adding a page to Trevor's album. I love looking through it and reminiscing about our past travels. Seeing the blank pages makes me excited about future adventures!

Speaking of which, we'll be traveling to Montana this summer, but those are the only firm plans we have as of now. I'm hoping to add a least one more new state in 2020.

Updates to the 50 States Album

Trevor has added three new pages to his 50 State Album. Here's Virginia, from his March trip with his school. The trip included Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York also, but he'd already been to those states, so Virginia is the only new page.  

We just returned from Missouri and Kansas (as well as Idaho, but that wasn't a new-to-him state). Here are those pages:

While blogging and scrapbooking (and then blogging about scrapbooking!) are my preferred ways to document our trips, this simple format works well for Trevor. Slide in the postcard, write a paragraph and add a flag sticker, then choose one photo to represent the state. Quick and easy.

I absolutely love looking through Trevor's 50 States album. It's now 32/50 complete. You can see all 32 pages here, along with links to buy supplies to make your own album. Obviously, this idea isn't limited to the 50 states. Use it to document any sort of travels. Or, switch out the postcard for an invitation or a second photo and document pretty much anything else. It would be super cute to have an album about a child's birthday parties each year, or their Halloween costumes.

50 State Album - #29, Texas

Trevor's 50 State Album has a new page, following our November trip to Texas. 

The album is starting to fill up (29/50 done!). I love looking through it and reminiscing on all the wonderful trips we've done. And seeing the 21 blank pages makes me so excited about the adventures that remain! Of the missing states from Trevor's album, I have been to two (Virginia and Montana), but all the rest will be new not only to Trevor but to me as well. Trevor will be traveling with his school over spring break to Washington DC (which will include time in Virginia), so he'll have #30 then. 

As for the rest of the states, we don't have firm plans yet. We're planning to do a multi-state trip over the summer, probably to see the final four New England states. We're hoping to spend either Thanksgiving break or Christmas break in Louisiana. Exciting times ahead!

Six New Additions to the 50 States Album

I just finished updating my United States Travel Resource with the six new states we visited this summer.

I also added the completed pages from Trevor's 50 State Album. These are the six new pages.

  

  

We're at 28 states visited... and counting! I can't wait for the next trip!