is a monster traveler. And I knew it was going to be a whirlwind trip traveling an obscene about of miles with tons of greasy fast food stops, begging off friends and family for places to stay and doing it all primarily on my own because Derek couldn't stay the whole time. Considering everything, it actually went really well.Day 1
We were on the road by 5:45 am. Our first stop at 5 hours later in Ogallala, Nebraska. Why, oh, why does McDonalds breakfast have to taste so good. Loaded back up and 5 hours later found ourselves once again at McDonalds, but this time in Rawlins, Wyoming, all because of their shiny new play place! 4 more hours found us finally arriving at our friend Erin and Trevor's house in Morgan, Utah. It was a fun place to stay. Trevor took Derek, Bryce and Austin out on the T-Rex (like a 4-wheeler on steroids) and they went to "the top of the mountain". Austin loved every minutes of it. Bryce was very nervous about the whole thing. That night Austin woke up twice crying, "I don't know where I am. I don't know where I am..." introducing the first theme to our trip.
Day 2This was the day of the wedding.
That night we stayed with our friends Steve and Ashley from B-school. It was very fun to get to see them again and everyone slept great because we were all in separate rooms!
Day 3
After church we drove up to Logan and stayed with Derek's grandparents. A great number (42 if I counted right) of his extended family was there also for a family dinner followed by the Dallas Mavs kicking Miami's booty in the the NBA finals (whoo-hoo!). That night Chase screamed his head off until 1:30 a.m. keeping all 14 people staying at the house awake until we finally gave him Benedryl to try to get him down, thus introducing another theme of our trip - drugging our children. Austin woke during the night not know where he was again.
Day 4This was the busiest of our days. Derek took the boys hiking up the Castle Rock in Logan, where they got rained on and came home a muddy, cold mess. Utah was COLD while we were there! Once on top, Austin decided to pee off Castle Rock, narrowly missing family members still climbing up. Thank you Austin.
Once everyone was clean and warm again we headed out to lunch at Cafe Sabor, and then Rachel-the-best-SIL-ever drove Derek to the SLC airport so I didn't have to load up all the kids and take him myself. After lunch I visited my former Jerusalem roommate Ryanne and I realized that even though I'd never met her children, because I follow her blog I felt like I totally knew them. I only had an hour to spend with her, then I took the boys back to the house, loaded up and everyone drove to Montpelier, Idaho on the north side of Bear Lake, which was about an hour and a half away.
Once everyone was clean and warm again we headed out to lunch at Cafe Sabor, and then Rachel-the-best-SIL-ever drove Derek to the SLC airport so I didn't have to load up all the kids and take him myself. After lunch I visited my former Jerusalem roommate Ryanne and I realized that even though I'd never met her children, because I follow her blog I felt like I totally knew them. I only had an hour to spend with her, then I took the boys back to the house, loaded up and everyone drove to Montpelier, Idaho on the north side of Bear Lake, which was about an hour and a half away. That night the boys and I stayed in a motel in town. Now, here was the tricky thing - how do I check into the hotel and unload 3 bags and the portacrib into the motel room, all while keeping my children safe? Do I leave them in the car? Do I leave them in the room? That was a juggling act. So this motel was straight from the 1960's and had tacky decor and nothing had been updated. But the rooms were clean and we didn't have any problems, other than Austin waking up not knowing where he was again. By this time of the trip I had also resigned myself to letting Chase fall asleep in my bed then transferring him - a habit I am still working to break him on now that we are home.
Day 5
Checked out of the motel and went to Grandma Sherrel's. I did laundry since Chase woke up and puked all over his bedding at 6am, then came to snuggle with me. We had breakfast and a "tea party" during the morning. I guess Sherrel used to do these with her granddaughters, and now they want her to do them with the great-granddaughters, and any of the boys who happen to want to participate. Here is Austin, demonstrating his version of the proper way to drink from a tea cup.
That afternoon we drove to the North Beach of Bear Lake. This may not have been our wisest decision of the week since it was only 65 degrees out, but there is a shortage of fun things to do with a crowd of 29 in "Dogpatch", Idaho.
Day 5
Checked out of the motel and went to Grandma Sherrel's. I did laundry since Chase woke up and puked all over his bedding at 6am, then came to snuggle with me. We had breakfast and a "tea party" during the morning. I guess Sherrel used to do these with her granddaughters, and now they want her to do them with the great-granddaughters, and any of the boys who happen to want to participate. Here is Austin, demonstrating his version of the proper way to drink from a tea cup.
That afternoon we drove to the North Beach of Bear Lake. This may not have been our wisest decision of the week since it was only 65 degrees out, but there is a shortage of fun things to do with a crowd of 29 in "Dogpatch", Idaho. The adults huddled around the picnic table.
Austin cried pretty much the whole time (remember my post about the Father Son campout? He doesn't do well in the cold)
Bryce had a great time in the water, playing in the sand and feeding/chasing the sea gulls. His lips were purple though, so I made him put his t-shirt on.
After another huge family dinner that night I loaded up the boys and we drove the 4 hours to Provo. Since I had the quandary about how to check in to a hotel with all my stuff and 3 sleeping children, I asked Derek's sister Megan if we could stay with her. It was crowded but it worked.
Austin cried pretty much the whole time (remember my post about the Father Son campout? He doesn't do well in the cold)
Bryce had a great time in the water, playing in the sand and feeding/chasing the sea gulls. His lips were purple though, so I made him put his t-shirt on.
After another huge family dinner that night I loaded up the boys and we drove the 4 hours to Provo. Since I had the quandary about how to check in to a hotel with all my stuff and 3 sleeping children, I asked Derek's sister Megan if we could stay with her. It was crowded but it worked.Day 6
I ran up to the BYU campus in the morning just to look around, get some chocolate milk and stop at my old office. Truly, I love BYU. What a great school and beautiful campus. Derek's parents drove down from Montpelier that morning and we were all getting ready to go to Seven Peaks water park until about 15 minutes before we were supposed to meet other family members it was decided that rather than go to Seven Peaks, we'd just go to the Provo city pool for the afternoon. This still makes me laugh. But it was great. The city pool had two fun water slides, the best kiddie pool I've ever seen and a nice "big kid" pool. It was way easier for me with my boys and significantly cheaper, but it went from a "destination" afternoon, to a few hours at the pool. =) Chase isn't sold on pools yet, but he loved chasing (hahaha) this ball around. And seriously - isn't his swim garb adorable!
After swimming I drove up to SLC and stayed with my friend Rebekah who used to live in Nebraska. Once again, Austin didn't know where he was that night.
I ran up to the BYU campus in the morning just to look around, get some chocolate milk and stop at my old office. Truly, I love BYU. What a great school and beautiful campus. Derek's parents drove down from Montpelier that morning and we were all getting ready to go to Seven Peaks water park until about 15 minutes before we were supposed to meet other family members it was decided that rather than go to Seven Peaks, we'd just go to the Provo city pool for the afternoon. This still makes me laugh. But it was great. The city pool had two fun water slides, the best kiddie pool I've ever seen and a nice "big kid" pool. It was way easier for me with my boys and significantly cheaper, but it went from a "destination" afternoon, to a few hours at the pool. =) Chase isn't sold on pools yet, but he loved chasing (hahaha) this ball around. And seriously - isn't his swim garb adorable!
After swimming I drove up to SLC and stayed with my friend Rebekah who used to live in Nebraska. Once again, Austin didn't know where he was that night. Day 7
The end is in sight. My dad, in all his awesomeness, flew into SLC from Spokane to drive home with me so I didn't have to do it all by myself. I wasn't worried about my driving abilities, but without him, my children would have suffered during the trip. It was so great that he did this with me. We did 6 1/2 hours the first day and spent the night in Cheyenne. We had all just about had it. Notice the Game Boy in Bryce's hands - I didn't see him without it the entire trip. Our $140 Holiday Inn room had 2 full sized beds, so I had Austin's knees and elbows in my side all night.
As we drove through the rain, and, just outside Laramie, the snow, to Cheyenne this rainbow appeared just minutes before we got to the hotel. I take it as a sign that I never have to do this trip ever again with small children .
Day 8
We arrived home safe and sound. Chase threw up in the car an hour outside of Cheyenne, but otherwise things were uneventful. In 7 nights our heads didn't hit the pillow in the same place twice. We spent $800 in gas, food and lodging, and drove up and down the Wasatch Front. It was great to see everyone, my boys really did great and I got to see tons of family and friends. But I've never been so glad to be home and to sleep in my own bed in all my life!
The end is in sight. My dad, in all his awesomeness, flew into SLC from Spokane to drive home with me so I didn't have to do it all by myself. I wasn't worried about my driving abilities, but without him, my children would have suffered during the trip. It was so great that he did this with me. We did 6 1/2 hours the first day and spent the night in Cheyenne. We had all just about had it. Notice the Game Boy in Bryce's hands - I didn't see him without it the entire trip. Our $140 Holiday Inn room had 2 full sized beds, so I had Austin's knees and elbows in my side all night.
As we drove through the rain, and, just outside Laramie, the snow, to Cheyenne this rainbow appeared just minutes before we got to the hotel. I take it as a sign that I never have to do this trip ever again with small children .
Day 8We arrived home safe and sound. Chase threw up in the car an hour outside of Cheyenne, but otherwise things were uneventful. In 7 nights our heads didn't hit the pillow in the same place twice. We spent $800 in gas, food and lodging, and drove up and down the Wasatch Front. It was great to see everyone, my boys really did great and I got to see tons of family and friends. But I've never been so glad to be home and to sleep in my own bed in all my life!
3 comments:
On one hand, fun trip. On the other hand, my biggest nightmare! Once we did a Utah trip which included St. George, SLC, and Roosevelt, and I about died! Glad you're home.
I'm worn out just reading the blog and I didn't have to live it. As one of your Utah relatives, I'm glad you made the trip. It was fun to see you and your boys, oh, and Derek too. I thought of him today as I pushed my shopping cart past the Banquet frozen dinners with each kernel of corn carefully counted.
I feel the same way about driving to Kansas City. Traveling with little kids is not fun!
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