Colorado, Day 5 - Driving home

Sunday was our scheduled day to come home. Tiff jokingly asked if we should stay through Monday, and in hindsight, I'm realizing that we really should have. But, I had a few things I needed to get back too, so I made the executive decision, and home we came.

We left around 8:30 am. The kids were sad to leave, but it was nice to know I would be back in my bed before nightfall (or so I thought). 

Jess sent us home a different way and it was beautiful, but super windy. First, Sof threw up, then Kobe, then Lexi. It was horrible - and Sof has informed me she never wants to throw up again. Hopefully it is the first and last time for her. 

What was supposed to be a 9 hour drive turned into a 15 hour drive. We made good time until we reached Price and realized it was going to take 2 hours to get through Spanish Fork canyon. There was no good route that would save us time, so we opted to stop and let the kids play at the local elementary, where I stayed to supervise and Tiff left to get dinner. Dinner ended up being delayed too, so we were all hungry and tired by the time we all climbed back in the car. 

We ended up just braving Spanish Fork canyon, and everyone but Claire and Dayton fell asleep, which was no surprise. Why would Claire sleep in the car? Anyway, we eventually pulled into Tiff's driveway around 10:30, we unloaded her car then loaded mine, and we pulled into our driveway around 12:15 am. Greg was asleep, so I was tasked to carry our finally-sleeping girls into their beds, where they were blissfully unaware of me having done so.

Road trips are so fun, but it sure is nice to always have a place to come home to. Until next time Colorado ☮.

Colorado, Days 3 & 4

Day 3

We ate lunch on Friday at a local diner that had absolutely amazing shakes and burgers. My mouth still waters just thinking about them. We ate well on this trip, between the food Jess made us and the places we stopped to eat. No one went hungry.

And they had the cutest little picnic tables for the kids to eat on.

Canon City, CO is known for their famous bridge. I can't remember what it's called right now, but it's one of the longest free-standing bridges in the World(?) or maybe the USA. Anyway, we went to visit it one day and it was amazing! If you wanted to pay the atrocious tourist fee, you could cross the bridge and have fun at the carnival on the other side. We weren't too keen on doing that, so just seeing the bridge was good enough. And the girls each got a souvenior, and I got a cute ornament to hang on our Christmas tree, so all was well. On the way back, we drove down what the locals call "Skyline Drive." It's the road along the spines of one of the mountains where a man who had money to burn paid to develop. It's a one-way road, and pretty amazing to drive along.

Claire was being Claire, so this is the best picture I got. I'm realizing now I should've taken more time to actually look at the bridge. Oh well, next time.

I had Sof snap this picture of me just to prove I was there. The older I get, the more fascinated I become with trains. They are so cool! And remember the passenger train in the previous post? The tracks go through the canyon under this bridge. How cool would that ride be?

Day 4

Jess is a people person, so she was so happy to have family visit around a holiday. She planned and executed the funnest Halloween party ever! She is the type of person who doesn't care what people think and is so fun no matter what she does. I'm glad we were able to visit her.

I die every time I watch this video. The kid's faces tell it all - no one knew what to think or where to look. Claire chooses not to react. Her Daddy would be proud 🤣

Painting pumpkins

I wasn't as prepared as I should have been costume-wise for myself. Luckily I'm small enough to fit into a youth size 7 Batman costume. Yay me.

Willie won "Best of Costume." The memory of him strolling into the room so confident as a pregnany lady in a swimming suit will forever be with me 🤣.

The whole crew

Claire was in her element with all of the dress up's to play with.

We ended the night watching Hocus Pocus. The kids were in heaven.

Our Trip to Colorado, Day 2

Jess is renting this amazing house - they definitely scored. It is roomy, with a 3 car garage, unfinished basement, and more than enough room to run around and play. She chose to homeschool her kids this year, and it even has the perfect sunroom right off the kitchen for her to use. Just being there helped me see that Colorado is really is where they are supposed to be right now.

The house also came with this awesome hot tub, and just from the looks of the water, you can tell it is well used and the kids absolutely loved it.

If I couldn't find Claire, I knew she was most likely in the basement soaking up all of the toys awesomeness. I love that she can entertain herself.

A couple of neighborhoods down from Jess is this amazing pioneer mansion, still in use today as an Air BnB. I'm trying to figure out how to nonchalantly get my parents to pay for us to stay there when we visit again :).

After the hot tub, and a mid-morning yoga session (which I chose not to include pictures, you're welcome), we loaded up and headed to a local park to let the kids run off some of their energy. The park was next to the train station, a giant river, and pond where Claire enjoyed walking on the inside of the railing, instead of the outside like a normal person. Oh Claire. The kids had fun and enjoyed the sunshine.

I love Claire's love of leopard.

The passenger train in the background was so cool! Sadly it was sold out the whole time we were there - my girls would've loved to ride it.

Sof was in her element - down exploring by the water.

Claire's face mirrored mine after we realized they didn't want you to climb on the dinosaur. Whoops!

Jess is the fun aunt. I want to be more like her when [if] I grow up.

The 3 besties. Only 5 months separates them all.

This is my favorite picture. Jess took us to the local thrift store and thought it would be fine to wear a children's mask inside. She had no clue what she looked like 🤣 And it's no surprise that it fit me just fine, so we traded.

There was the most incredible sunset Thursday night. 

Sof was too busy to look at me during dinner. She legit had mush for just about every meal for 4 days straight. Was she on vacation or what?

My girls and I commandeered the bedroom upstairs while Tiff and her crew slept in the basement. Claire had a bed all to herself, and Sof and I shared the top bunk. I learned that night that the floor was the softest bed. I slept there the rest of the time. But, the girls slept good each night and slept in each morning, so I can't complain too bad. 

Fall Break: Roadtrip to Colorado, Day 1

After the pumpkin patch, I loaded the car with the girls, kissed Greggy goodbye, and headed south to stay the night at my sister's in Lehi, so we could get an early start on our 9 hour roadtrip. The kids didn't get in bed too early, and we left an hour behind schedule, but were still loaded by 8:30 am, which is pretty good if you ask me.

It was a tight fit, but we did it!

Look how cute we are, not knowing how crazy the roadtrip would be.

But the girls were having the time of their lives, so who cares?

The drive to Colorado was absolutely beautiful! Utah suffered from lack of fall colors this year, and the drive through Colorado more than made up for it. 

The girls were loving fast food for every meal, and being able to stop every 45 minutes for a potty break (that may only be a slight exaggeration). But all in all, the kids traveled really well. 

But, there is one hilarious memory I need to mention. My sister had to run my niece into a Hobby Lobby because we couldn't find any other decent quick potty on the roadside. After we were all back in and situated, Claire announced that she needed to go potty. So, we found a quick sidestreet that had a couple of tree's for Claire to hide behind, but little did we know that Claire actually had to go #2, not #1. So, As I'm realizing what Claire is doing, I lose it and can barely hold her up, I'm laughing so hard. Also, it needs to be known that we were really on the side of the street in some neighborhood, going potty on rocks, so there is no way I am going to be able to bury anything. So, after Claire declared she was done, I grabbed the biggest rock I could find, did the best I could, and jumped in the car while telling my sister to "go, go, go!" before the resident's came out to discover what we just did. 

The windy canyons were making everyone slightly nauseous, so these girls got to share a seatbelt for a while. They loved it.

We pulled in just before 7:30pm. 10 hours really isn't so bad when you have 6 kids ranging in age from 3 to 13, and 2 moms not knowing what the heck they were doing. 

But, we made it and we were ready to party!

Family Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

We had a busy couple of weeks in October. We went down to Cedar for the weekend, then we came back and only had 2 days before leaving on our Fall Trip break to visit my sister in Colorado. We were able to go have a fun Family night at the Pack Pumpkin Patch in Farmington before heading out and leaving Greg for another 5 days. The poor guy. Luckily he loves his job and has Mittens to keep him company.

Fun on the zipline

Sof found some mud.

Obedient Greggy wearing his mask in the great outdoors

The sunset this night was amazing! The sky was all sorts of colors. The pictures almost do it justice.

This is Claire after I told her to "let me take a picture of her donut." Oh Claire, not quite what I meant, but hilarious anyway.

We managed to ride the zipline, go down slides, get dirty, play games, and pick our pumpkins all without major mosquito bites. I call it a win, win, win!!!

Dance Class & Duckies

Sof has been begging to start dance. I took her to a local place that had really good reviews, but for some reason she did not gel wll there. In the two classes I had her try, she stood at the door both times and refused to participate. Oh Sof. Well, I talked to a mom who recommended Illume Dance in Kaysville, and I cannot say enough things about them! From day 1, Sof walked in so confident and has loved it there ever since. Thank you, Jesus! Seriously, prayers were answered.

She walked in like she owned the place. A huge difference from the other studio. Sof has found her match.

While Sof was dancing her heart out, Claire and I went to soak up some Vitamin D and feed the local duckies. Thursday's are my new favorite day.