It was time for another "mecca" to Utah last week! So we packed up the van and went on our trek. We really enjoy our road trips. We are so used to the 12 hour drive - it's old hat. (Although some might say we are wimpy because we always stop somewhere halfway. However, that's probably why we don't hate the drive.) Friday, July 16th, as soon as Melvin* got home from work, we finished up our packing. The girls did most of their packing under my supervision this time. It was kind of stressful and I was so worried about overseeing their packing, I did a sub-par job on my own and forgot some basics like my socks! Oh well. We then headed to Wendy's for a dinner to go and we were off!
Shortly after passing the zoo (20 minutes away), Angela asked if we were still in Oregon. (o:
Because of a later start than usual - around 7:00 p.m. - we only went to La Grande that night - 4 hours away.
The 2
nd leg of the trip would be 8 hours, so we made sure to get a nice "healthy" meal to start off our long day. What better than
McDonalds?
McGriddles always hit the spot on a road trip.
I love this picture of Angela having a little snack later in the day. You'd never know that she had a bit of a traumatic accident at
McDonalds that morning.
Angela's injuries. While scooting over on the bench at our table, she misjudged how far the seat extended out and put all her weight on one arm where there was no more bench. She slipped down and hit her lower cheek hard on the table. These external injuries looked painful enough, but the inside of her cheek where her teeth bit down looked worse. I was worried for a minute that we'd need a detour at an urgent care. Angela was a tough cookie and sucked on some ice for a few minutes. She never complained after that.
The rest of the drive was pretty normal - reading, coloring, movies and a game of "Rubber Neckers Jr." which the girls liked until Angela started getting mad that she couldn't find a church anywhere. (Too bad she didn't have that card when we were in the Salt Lake Valley!) Later in the drive, we hit some super annoying traffic in Brigham City and felt like we would never make it. We noticed that even the dragonflies were passing us as we inched along for several miles.
But at approximately 7:30 p.m., we finally pulled into Kelly's driveway and were soooo happy to get out of the car.
Natalie worked so hard on so many beautiful cards for her grandmas and grandpas. This was a picture she drew all by herself! I thought it was so cute - she must have been day-dreaming about some nice cold treats on the drive. (O: I love her imagination!
This was our wonderful treat we had to look forward to the whole drive that day and it was worth the wait! Yahoo! After sitting all day, we couldn't wait to run around and get wet with some of our most favorite people!!
There were three huge inflatables and it must have looked like Disneyland to the kids. It did to me! They were so excited.
Kelton had several hours to practice before we arrived and was a pro at going down standing up!
Sweet little Grace. (o: The littlest cousins change so much between visits! What a cutie pie.
I love this expression! This was Angela's first time down the big slide. She makes this face
every time she is trying something new that seems scary, but she doesn't want to miss out. Those eyes almost pop out!
Sarah had this silly grin the entire night! It's not hard to guess how she was feeling!
I love this one - just after snapping this I cried - "Look out!"
We were in awe of Kelly and Lisa's huge backyard. Even one of these things wouldn't come close to fitting in our modest Portland backyard. Urban sprawling has it's advantages!
These last two shots were my favorite airborne pictures of the whole night. Kelly above doing his "X" formation and Natalie below doing a "
Cowabunga" move!
What a fun night! As you can see in the last picture, we played well into the night. My favorite memories were seeing Melvin* and Kelly together again - these two brothers are so hilarious together. It's so nice seeing Melvin* get a chance to really just enjoy life and get a break from work. I also loved that grandma P. joined in all the fun - swimsuit or not! She went down this big old slide over and over with everyone in her jeans! I think we all felt like kids again and laughed non-stop for hours and hours. Despite some pretty crazy moves - I don't think there were too many injuries. Sore muscles and a few bruises. We also enjoyed pizza and great conversation on that warm summer night. I don't remember what we talked about, but it felt so good to be surrounded by people we love on a beautiful summer night.
