1. From Kala: Emily it's been a month already! I'm dying to know how your trip home went!
Kala, your wish is my command. Here's a quick recap of our trip home.
2. Day one: Spent mostly with Joe packing, me cleaning and our children selling random belongings to people on the sidewalk. It was a little embarrassing, but what is humiliating to us is charming to innocent strangers and they made a lot of money! It kept them occupied, and while exhausted we decided to leave that evening, rather than put off more loading for the next day. So on Day one we made it all the way to Maryland! Trying not to unload too much, Joe opted to use the Hotels crib for Susannah. Big mistake. She spent most of the night in our bed, until Joe caved and unloaded the pack and play. As soon as we had her sleeping soundly, Rachel woke up and crawled into bed with us. We were too tired to care.
3. Our goal was to make it to Ohio on day 2. The kids did great - mom and dad- not so much. Two major arguments about losing the directions to our cabin. In the second one, I actually accused Joe of deliberately hiding them to make me crazy. In my defense, he was the one who placed them in the take out food bag.
Fighting aside, the cabin was found and was beautiful and we had a great night in Ohio.
4. Day 3 was spent hiking and exploring the Hocking Hills State park in Ohio. It was beautiful and so much fun!
5. Day 4 was spent driving as fast as we could to Nebraska to see the Chaffins. It took forever and I had to keep calling Robert and Summer to tell them we would be later than we thought. We finally made it and the kids were so excited to see their cousins! We had a great dinner and evening at their house, and drove a couple of hours to South Dakota before we crashed for the night.
6. Day 5 was spent driving across South Dakota. We saw the Badlands, Wall Drug, Mount Rushmore, and Crazy Horse. This was a fun day for me. South Dakota is beautiful and I had always wanted to see Mount Rushmore. The kids loved it too!
7. Day 6 got to a slow start. Joe took the kids out on the paddle boats by our cabin, we cleaned out the van, and then it was on to Cody Wyoming. We made it just in time for the nightly rodeo, which was a favorite for the the kids.
8. Day 7 was a scenic drive through Yellowstone National Park, with a few stops for sight seeing and hiking, and finally the beautiful Drive through the Grand Tetons. We planned on spending more time in Jackson Hole, but were a little too tired and decided to just make it home.
9. All in all it was a great trip and a wonderful family memory. A few lessons learned:
- No matter how organized you are with kids activities, diaper bags, food, by day 2, things will be falling out of the the car when you open the doors.
- Print an extra copy of directions and put them in a safe place!
- Take more pictures- I thought I was taking a ton, but was a little sad at some of the things I have no photos of!
10. QOTD: Rachel, meeting her new teacher for the first time.
Mrs L.: And did you have a fun summer, Rachel?
Rachel: Yes!
Mrs. L: What did you do?
Rachel: I went swimming!
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8 comments:
Loved the post. I am surprised you made it all the way to Day 2 before things were falling out of the car...we just try to make it to Stop #2.
Seriously, I had considered you all but dead because it's taken you so long to post. However, I think I was just going through withdrawals from my addiction to your blog. So I'm ecstatic to see that you haven't given up blogging forever! I love love love your posts!
I was going through scrapbook magazines the other day looking for inspirations, and I saw the one that was posted in the Mother's Day issue done by you and I thought about you all day long! I've missed you!
Glad you made it across the country in one piece and that you lived through it!!! I think the argument over the lost directions is hysterical, it's so similar to arguments I've experienced with Josh while driving!!!
I've never heard of Hocking Hills, but it looks super cool! I'm glad you got to make a vacation out of moving--all those stops sound like you had fun and the kids will remember the great memories!!
Rachel's quote is so classic.
We've missed you!!! Sounds like you've had some great experiences. Are you all settled back in again? School routines and all?
I thought you got some GREAT pictures!!
So happy to hear the recap of your trip. Looks and sounds awesome! I agree that you did great making a vacation out of a move!! Your kids are growing so fast. I am so glad you guys are closer once again. We need to get together and catch up one of these days.
Glad to have you back and loved reading about your trip :)
I don't know if Joe has mentioned this, but I've been asking him for weeks now when you were going to update again, as I've been missing your posts. I particularly love the pics, as they always give me something to smile about!
No doubt about it...road trips with kids are ROUGH! I feel the same way with everything falling out of the car, except for us it's after 2 hours! We have lots of the same pictures...Hocking Hills, Yellowstone, Grand Teton. I would love to see Mt Rushmore one day!
I'm glad that you made it alright and hope you feel settled soon.
Hey I realize you are probably pretty busy. I was just secretly hoping you would post a tribute for James. I would love to read what you have to write.
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