The Big Long Trip: Wrap Up

We had an awesome time on our trip. The kids traveled well and were in mostly good spirits. When we got to Idaho, it was 102 degrees. It stayed that way through Wednesday. Then, for our last 3 days in Idaho, it poured and poured and poured. There was wind, hail, thunder and lightening. We went to the McDonald's play place (along with every other person in the Boise area) to get the wiggles out. We did lots of play dough and coloring, too, to try and pass the time while the weather raged around us.

Thursday was a great day to visit friends with the less than perfect weather. Lexi's former nanny, Shannon, lives close by with her twins. We got to see their new house and let the kids play for a few hours. I miss Shannon a lot and it was nice to see her. It's hard to be so far away from so many of our favorite people!

From there, we made a visit to see our buddy, Travis. He ended up in Tracy, CA (of all the places!) while we were there and we struck up a good friendship. When we met him, he was single, had just graduated and was working very hard. He is now a teacher, FFA leader and was one of the track coaches at the local high school. He also helps to run his family's farm. A few years ago, he got married and he and his wife are preparing to welcome a son in October. Even though he's only, like, 3 years younger than us, we kind of feel like proud parents. It's weird, I know, but he's a great guy and we're so happy to see him having fun in life.

My Uncle Kyle and Aunt Cheryl also live in Boise. They came over to Mom's on Saturday with their grandson, Isaac. The rain let up for a bit so the kids got to play outside a little. After being cooped up, that was really nice.

My Grandpa and Grandma George also live near my mom. They joined us at the ranch but also came over a few times to visit. This is my Grandma who has Alzheimer's. She loved seeing the kids and kept saying, "He's so cute!" about Addie. She did not know who I was. She has declined quite a bit. I'm sure it's heartbreaking for my Grandpa to see his wife in such shape. It's very hard to see someone trapped in their body that way, but I still enjoyed the chance to visit with her - whatever that may mean given where she is at a particular time.

Along the way, Addie started refusing her feeds. About Tuesday, she stopped wanting her solids. Then, she ate less and less for each bottle. Thursday, she power puked her breakfast and didn't want to eat her solids after. It didn't get much better as the trip progressed. She continued to barf at least once a day and eat less and less. Sunday, as were were loading up to go home, she barfed her dinner on the trailer's carpet. Gross.

Our drive home was uneventful (well, if you don't count Addie's barfing in the back of the car that morning). Awesome! We got home around 7:30 a.m. Of course, Allen and I felt like we'd had sand and glass rubbed in our eyes since we took turns driving thru the night. But, when the alternative is a 12 hour tantrum, we'll take the sand and glass torture.

Leaving is always bitter sweet. We were sad to say goodbye to Nanna and Grandpa Geoff. Lexi woke up this morning and said, "I'm kinda sad mom. I miss Nanna." I particularly love the Utah Valley with the mountains and beauty right out side your bedroom window, too, and always find myself wishing there were lots of places for Mechanical Engineers to work up there so we could entertain the idea of moving there.

On the bright side, the kids did so well overall that we're no longer scared out of our gourds to travel with them. We're actually looking forward to camping a bit more, traveling a little more when schedules allow and creating these all so important memories.