Rexburg or Bust?

Does that work? “ Rexburg or Bust?” I don’t think I have ever used that phrase and I don’t even know that I know what it means. To clarify in this context it means simply; WE HAD THE GREATEST TIME IN REXBURG! I am in a blogging slump lately and coming up with an original title for a post right now is too much for my overloaded brain. Too much to blog means too much going on. Such is life.

Saturday night we got into Andrew and Rachel’s around 10 and the kids were still awake, if I remember correctly. Little crazies got a second wind when we got to Uncle and Aunties so they were hopping around, relieved to be out of the car for at least a day.

We eventually went to bed, and slept in the next morning comfortably. Now, that’s my kind of vacation.

 

Sunday was heavenly. Andrew boiled us eggs for breakfast. I took my first shower of the trip. The kids rode their bikes and scooters and played outside. We went to church and got to simply be visitors. Lunch was a free for all. The brothers made us Japanese dinner. After dinner Andrew and Rachel took the kids on a walk with “Moose” their dog. The kids found and explored the tree house and the river while Gage got to go to bed at a decent hour.

When they got back from their adventure with the kids, our hosts shared their Sunday night popcorn tradition with us and we all enjoyed each other while munching on cinnamon popcorn.

Monday Tuesday and Wednesday were jam packed filled with more fun.

Monday we packed up and left for Yellowstone where we saw a BEAR!!

This was the highlight of the trip for some. For others the highlight of the trip was riding alone in the truck while Andrew and Rachel entertained our kids, or maybe vice versa, in their truck.  But really, the bear was awesome and the kids were super excited to be so close. The big kids (Jeff and Andrew) wanted to be closer but abstained from being complete idiots. I will take full credit for seeing the bear first and for graciously hanging out the window and pointing and screaming so that my kids were sure to see it too. Adelle was the sweetest, as the bear started meandering a little closer to us we thought it would be responsible to walk towards the trucks and get in. I was frantic, but trying to stay calm and cool of course and so here I am buckling Adelle into her car seat, something I haven’t done for Adelle for years. She stops me, looks straight in my eyes and very seriously says, “Mom, I can buckle myself. You need to get into the truck to be safe!” So sincere and motherly, that little girl.

Other Yellowstone highlights included Old Faithful, picnicking along the river, camping somewhere borderline ghetto right outside of the park, and observing plenty of bison, an elk, some mountain goats and dear.

 

Yellowstone was so, so beautiful and the perfect combination of relaxing driving around, exciting animals in the wild, and hanging out outside enjoying nature.

As if Yellowstone Monday and Tuesday wasn’t enough on Wednesday we went up to some Idaho mountains to float the river. Actually we had canoes so I guess we paddled the river. The river was nice and shallow so it was plenty safe for all of us and awesome because at any given time we could hop out and take a dip in the nice fresh river. I do love some clean, refreshing, water for a good swim. Especially when the temperature is in the 90’s.

This was another great day. Super chill, fun and relaxing. Hot and beautiful. Gage loved throwing the rocks in the water. Adelle loved watching the other floaters and snacking. Emmett was a fish and spent most of his time swimming downstream. Braxton loved paddling and looking for fish. Jeff loved the shallow spots where he got to get out and push us (wink, wink) and I, well I loved feeling the sun on my shoulders and having my own personal photographer document the trip so that I didn’t have to worry about getting a picture of anything. Rachel has a waterproof case for her phone which meant that she brought her phone and I got to leave mine back at the house to be safe.  Thanks for all the great pictures, Rachel!!

When we got home that night Andrew wow’d the kids with his motorbike and gave rides to them all. This was Braxton’s most favorite part of the whole week. I don’t think it was Gage’s favorite part, but he had to do what the big kids were doing even if it meant pretending to like it.

We don’t get to spend a ton of time with Andrew and Rachel and so just spending quality time with their family was so nice. It felt so natural for all of us to be there. I was so nervous about bringing all 6 of us into their home. My friend once summed it up when she told me something to the effect of, “When you bring one kid he’s a guest. When you bring 2, it’s a hassle. When you bring 3 your intruding….” and on and on, so bringing 6 of us I wanted to be prepared and helpful and not burdensome.  I wanted to take care of us all without taking over their home.

The whole time we were there we felt so comfortable. It was like yin yang in my hippy head. We all functioned together super smoothly. Jeff and Andrew are so much a like and Rachel and I just get each other. We spent some nights up late visiting, some we just went to bed. We ate some of our own food, some of each others. We were okay being in the same room and reading our own books… it was so, so, nice.  I want to go back already!!

More Vay Kay posts to come!!

Summer kick-off Road Trip

Lucky for me starting Friday morning I was sandwiched between the hot rugged man in the far left photo and the spunky girl in the middle photo. Like really, sandwiched. We have an extended cab pickup and let’s just say there was little room left for wiggling. Braxton was in back, middle. Emmett behind Adelle and Gage behind daddy. We were cozy, that’s for sure.

I had the important jobs of keeping Jeff awake and Adelle from throwing up. No pressure, only all of our lives and the smell of the truck for the following 15 hours! That on top of the constant job of telling Emmett how many hours we had left to go, singing “The Wheels on the Bus” with Gage, and making sure everyone had their snack of choice, water bottles (cold water please), and shoes off on, off, on, off…

All of that being said, the drive was a dream. It went really, really well. I think we were all just ready for a vacation.

We landed for the night on Friday in Spokane at our good old friends The Jagers. The absolute most perfect stop. We were ready to be out in the fresh air. The boys got right to riding their scooters, the girls got busy making bracelets, the mom’s went and grabbed dinner. It was so nice and so relaxing.

My kids got to take bath’s in their amazing tub and Adelle had her own personal hairdresser once she was all cleaned up.

We crashed that night and early the next morning headed to Montana.

Destination: Courtney’s Wedding!

Oh my! That’s all I can say about Saturday. It started out nice and chill. We woke up early. Got dressed. Had a special breakfast of fresh doughnuts thanks to our great hosts. Left right on schedule and hit the road with a full tank of diesel.

First stop was the Silver Dollar Bar in Montana. Favorite quote of that day by Braxton, “Do they speak a different language here?” We all laughed because we didn’t know what he was referencing and thought it was funny. We learned on the way home that he was referencing the sign he read for Coeur D’Alene. Too funny. He couldn’t sound that one out.

Anyway, back to the Silver Dollar Bar. This is where we would stop when we were kids and we were always amazing by all the silver dollars on the walls. The kids were equally as thrilled. They each got to pick out a souvenior from the gift shop. Adelle picked a necklace. Braxton picked a pocket knife (his first one ever!) and Emmett picked  a sling shot (since the rule for pocket knives is that you have to be 8). After we meandered through the store we went next door, got fuel and seriously, continued to mosey around.

When we loaded back up I planted my tush in the drivers seat. Needless to say I needed a break and I had noticed how relaxed and somehow completely removed the person in the drivers seat remained. So we get back on the freeway and all of a sudden by looking at my cell phone we realize that we were in a different time zone. Unfortunately when I planned out the day, the time and the miles and all the ends and outs I didn’t take into consideration the time change. We were instantly an hour behind. This meant that we had exactly 7 hours to get to the wedding. Like, the wedding would start in 7 hours and the distance was like exactly 7 hours away. See, in my mommy wisdom I had given us an hour overlap to make sure we could make the unpredicted stops, get there early to shower and change…. Not gonna happen.

Needless to say I did a little speeding, for the sake of being in Montana but more importantly for the sake of making it to my friends wedding on time.

The kids, once again, rock stars. We stopped one time during that 7 hours and it was for a 2 second bathroom break.  No lolly gagging this time! Obviously I was inspired ahead of time to pack a man size cooler with a week of meals, just in case… wink wink.

We made it to the wedding in West Yellowstone at 3:50, no kidding and the procession started at 4:00pm. In those 10 minutes together we managed to; change a babies diaper, dress a baby, pee on a tree, run into a public bathroom throw our head in a sink and call it “fresh,” dress while hiding behind the door of the truck, find 6 wedding outfits in the back of the truck and give each person their right outfit, socks, shoes… the whole bit. We were ready. A little bit frazzled, but ready. We walked in and took the only 4 empty chairs. One breath later, it started.

Courtney’s wedding was beautiful, amazingly BEAUTIFUL! I was so happy to be there with my family to support this special friend who means so much to me.

After the wedding that night we piled back into our truck and drove only a couple more hours to our fabulous final destination.

More on that to come!

The first week of this glorious summer…

Summer is here and is in full swing!
I feel like this is the best summer we have had in a really long time. Maybe I always say that though?
I am going to try and get us all caught up because there is more fun in our forecast.
The first Monday of summer kicked off Braxton’s first year at Cub Scout Camp. He was must anticipating this being awesome and amazing and it didn’t disappoint.  Monday thru Thursday he got to go be with lots of other boys, shoot arrows and bb guns, learn magic tricks, play chess, and much more. His favorite was archery, as expected.
Jeff and I took turns being his Den Leaders as well so it was great for each of us to spend that one on one time with him there and to participate with other parents in such a worth while cause.
Family night was exciting for the other kids to get to go out and get a taste of all the fun. Braxton was so excited to see his brothers and sister. So sweet.
He will definitely be back next year.

Camp didn't start until late afternoon so we made sure to have fun exciting plans for the mornings as well.
Monday we spent at Lake Padden with friends. Walking the trail, "hiking", fishing, throwing rocks and playing on the playground.

Another day pre-camp  we got to spend the morning and afternoon at friends’ house picnicking and playing in their sprinkler. The sun shone every day that week and it was so welcomed. 

Gage did some experimenting with the potty thing only to discover he just really likes to be naked. So that was good entertainment for the other kids who just thought it was hilarious that he so enjoyed not having a diaper on.
Adelle also did some shopping on morning with me and Emmett and Gage. She had some birthday money burning a hole in her pocket so she bought herself a cute new nightgown one day on our shopping trip. The agreement was that I would pay for whatever she chose and then she would pay me back. When we got home she came out of her room with this much money and she goes, “here is your 8 dollars, mom.” I could have totally scored but instead I decided to teach her what $8 actually looked like. Dang!
Emmett got really into the scooter at our friends’ house so he decided to purchase his own scooter with his money so that he wouldn’t have to share Braxton’s. Seriously, best money ever spent he is on his scooter every day and getting so good and fast.
And the last picture. Well, that was Friday. After a super busy week with sun, cub camp and lots of packing we left Friday on what would become a super fun and exciting 9 day road trip.
Stay tuned for that!!