On July 16th, we began a 22 hour car trip from Utah to Dallas! Doesn't that sound like fun?! Don't you wish you could do that?
K, well, We didn't really want to do it either. So... in an effort to make the trip a little more enjoyable, we thought we would spread it out in two days, stopping for a scenic tour on day one, sleeping at a hotel in Albuquerque and finishing out the drive on day 2. That sounds like a good plan, right?
Well... it wasn't. Or maybe it was, it just wasn't executed well. Or maybe it wasn't us at all. Who knows?
We started out brilliantly. We made great time, happy kids, good gas prices. We decided to stop at Utah's famous Arches National Park. This part of the trip was excellent. Normally, we would stop at a McDonald's and let the kids run around the playland, but this was a much better alternative. I
loved it!
I know some of you are probably shocked- I mean, it's no secret that I am really an "Indoor" kind of girl.
But here are a couple of things I have discovered about myself:
1. I enjoy hiking.
2. I love nature.
3. I just want running water, a hot shower and a bed at the end of experiencing said nature. Is that too much to ask?
So, we got out of our van and hiked up to see the Delicate Arch. That's it in the background.
The delicate arch is, of course, the formation featured on many Utah license plates.
The hike was way fun- I should have grabbed a water bottle, though. Tori would walk and walk and pant and pant and then say, "I'm so Sirsty!" It wasn't a super long hike, so I didn't think about it ahead of time!
We were fascinated at this view, where the rocks and sand were a greenish color:
Matt's awesome panoramic shot:
This particular formation is called The Balanced Rock:
More panoramic beauty!
The scenic stop went beautifully! We live in such a beautiful state and we do not take enough time to appreciate God's beautiful creations all around us.
We continued to drive and made great time into Albuquerque, and that's where things went down hill. We decided to drive through the city and stop at a hotel on the East/Southern side of the city. We searched around on Matt's phone and found a Comfort Inn that looked pretty reasonable. Tori had been crying for the past half hour and we just needed to stop somewhere.
We were a little discouraged when we walked into the lobby and saw that the hotel was pet friendly. I mean, we don't hate animals or anything, but with three asthma sufferers and two people allergic to cats and dogs, it was a little concerning. So I said to the receptionist, "Do you have any rooms that aren't pet friendly?" Then I explained our allergy/asthma dilemma. She assured me that the hotel was being renovated and she would try to get us a newer room. We were encouraged by the "Smoke-Free Hotel" sign, however, and had three very tired children, so we hoped for the best.
Well, she didn't get us a newer room. We unloaded all the bags, walked upstairs and walked in and smelled cigarette smoke. Not just a little... it smelled like an ash tray.
I shook it off and tried to make the best of everything. I don't care if things don't match, I just want it to be clean. So we unloaded the bags and started to pull back the covers and there it was.
Right there on the sheets.
A Pawprint.
Ummm... kay. That's a little much. But the kids were all unloaded and laughing and jumping on the beds and we are half way unpacked and soooo tired, that I just suck it up and deal with it.
I go ahead and give everyone benadryl and albuterol to Isaac to help them sleep and prevent any asthma attacks. We brushed teeth, and opened Isaac's roll away bed to find grains of dirt/sand everywhere. Ick.
Alright, well, we were way too deep now. So, we tucked them into bed and tried to sleep. Matt had driven all day and taken a benadryl, so he nodded off pretty quickly. I finally had to lay in between Daphne and Tori to get them to sleep, which happened about 11:30. It took me forever to get to sleep and then the drunk neighbors woke me up at 2... They finally quieted down about 4 and then Isaac got a nosebleed at 5 and never went back to sleep, so I just got up and got ready and showered everyone to try and get us out of there ASAP!
Ugh.
Now, after this experience, I read the most amazing book about a WWII veteran who spent most of the war in three different Japanese POW prisons, so I feel a little petty complaining about pawprints and dirt. However, it just wasn't what I expected.
We got back on the road and were blessed to make pretty good time. The kids were spent, though and the ride was characterized by a lot more whining and crying and fussing than day 1. The girls did take a good nap and we rolled into my Mom's house about 8:30 or so. Hooray!
Rest, at last!
The kids were all so excited to see GiGi and were wired from the car trip, so it was still really late by the time we got to bed, but we were finally there!! Stay tuned for pics from our visit!
I was a little more anxious to get to Snuggle Baby Michael, who is my sister's third child. He is so precious and already a strapping young man- He weighed in at 9 lbs. 3 oz at birth and at only 4 weeks, managed to roll over!! We're calling him Samson now.
Daphne, Me, Jillian and Samantha with Michael:
Wild horses weren't going to pull me away from that baby, so Matt took the kids out to get started swimming:
Tori used this little swim ring and was a little speed demon around the pool!
After my kids got comfy in the pool, they were ready to start some more adventurous jumps! Isaac, Daphne and Jillian decided to call themselves the "Love Family" and gave themselves names like "Cuddle", "Hugs" and "Heart"
And more silliness:
Did I mention the stunts? Here is Isaac in the middle of a back flip:
Matt would hold each of the kids and then shoot them into the air, where some of them would do more back flips:
Jillian:
I like how you can see Daphne fighting over the swim noodle in the lower portion of the pic!
By the end of the week, they were all experts- I was so proud of them!! My sister was so generous to let us spend so much time in her pool over the week- I'm sure we left much more of a mess than we even realize, and she was quite the hostess, especially considering that she just had a baby!!! We love you, Shell! We had a blast!
