Rewind...Road Trip part 3!

This leg of our trip took us to DISNEYLAND! I have such fond memories of going there as a kid and I was especially excited to take my kids there (oh, maybe my childhood wasn't so deprived after all). Justin never went as a kid so he didn't really see what all the fuss was about, but after three days there with our kids and seeing it through their eyes, we've converted him!

We were staying at a different hotel than my family, so we actually got to the park first. While we were waiting, the kids all got their nifty Mickey Mouse ears. Classic.

One of the first things we did was see Ariel. I was surprised at how excited the boys were to see her. I thought for sure they wouldn't really care, but they did...and they loved it.

Then we split into groups to go on rides. The best thing about going with my family is that they have all been a lot so they knew all the tricks and secrets to getting on rides fast. It was a big help to be able to have their knowledge and wisdom for our first trip to the most magical place on earth.

The boys are waiting for the Star Wars ride. This ended up being one of their favorite rides. I went once (I don't remember how many times they went, but it was a lot) and it made me motion sick. Bleh.

Their group also hit up Space Mountain a few times. Clearly Zach knew right where the camera was. I also love the looks on Landon and Clayton's faces.

Sammie would crash hard once a day (which was nice). We would take that opportunity to go on Small World. It was nice and air conditioned and long so it was a perfect place to go. Sweaty sleeper!

I love this. Splash Mountain is one of my favorites. We went on this one several times.

We took the girls to the princess lunch. It was the perfect way for them to get to meet the princesses without having to stand in long lines. Here they get to meet Ariel again.

I just love this.

Josie thought she was a princess too. (Also, I love the dresses that they're wearing. Such wearable princess dress ups. Several people at the parks commented on them and asked me about them. They were perfect. I didn't make them, but if you're interested I can tell you who did!)

Aurora

Belle

Snow White

Cinderella

This picture makes me laugh every time. I cannot remember what's happening here, but clearly Sammie needed Max to stop talking.

The next day we had a magic morning. This meant that we got to go into the park an hour early. We weren't quite sure what to do with our extra hour so we hung out and met Mickey and Minnie while the lines were short. Next time, we will know better and use the opportunity to go on some rides (because that magic morning was awesome and, played right, would be a serious advantage).

This was the day that we were on our own. My family had all left to go back to Vegas so we were doing our own thing (which was nice now that we had learned the tricks of Disneyland). We split up into boys and girls (so from here out, my pics of the boys will be almost nonexistent - sorry boys). It worked out well though because the boys got to go on the rides that were more interesting to them while the girls and I did things like Dumbo and the Teacups.

That afternoon, Justin decided to treat his little ladies to makeovers and the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. These girls were in Heaven getting pampered. It was a little over the top and gaudy, but to my girls, that's how it should be!

I love these next two pictures so much I can't even tell you.

They were worried how she'd do because she's so young, but she sat so still and just let them make her over. It was adorable.

And, of course, Miss Diva was all about it.

She lived that right up!

We stayed late that night for the shows as our last hurrah in the park. Our night ended with four exhausted kids (one of whom - Sammie - puked in the elevator of our hotel) and two parents who felt very satisfied with the awesome vacation they just gave their children.

I know there are a ton more pictures from Disneyland. I need to round them all up and do an additional post, but this is a start.

I know that we'll go back someday (maybe not for another few years, but someday). It was too good of a trip not to repeat. While this was not the end of our road trip (we spent some time in Vegas and some time in Utah), I'm going to call it the end of the road trip posts. I still have a post (or two) to do about our time in Vegas and then I'll get started posting about our new life here as Idaho spuds. It's been a whirlwind summer, but I wouldn't change any of it.

Rewind...Road Trip part 2

The second phase of our road trip had us traveling from South Dakota to West Yellowstone. It was a really long day of driving, but the kids handled it like champs!

Car trip for us meant a lot of time with the boys playing DS, lots of movies (mostly 'Frozen' though), and a lot of iPad time for the girls. Perhaps not the best things for my kids to be doing all day (most of our driving days meant 5+ hours in the car at once) but it saved my sanity and the kids were all really good. Plus, I did make them spend a part of every car trip with no electronics so they could behold the world around them so I feel a little better about that.

And here we are. The Dude Motel. A.K.A. the scariest motel in West Yellowstone. Seriously, it was like something straight out of 'Psycho'. We felt like we were cheating death by staying there. (What we learned: book Yellowstone hotel reservations at least a year in advance if you want to stay anywhere that believes in maid service.)

Scary motel aside, Yellowstone was really neat. Yellowstone was another childhood experience that I was cheated out of (seriously, you should feel sad for me and my deprived childhood) and I was thrilled to be able to share it with my kids. We spent two days there. On the first day we went to the Paint Pots. It's a little cluster of geysers that you can walk around and see how the ground changes from season to season. The ground in the late spring was really muddy, but what I read led me to believe that it's really cool in the late fall when the weather gets colder. The ground sort of resembles clay (hence Paint Pots) and sort of looks like someone's shaping it at a potter's wheel. Someday I'd like to go back and see that. 

Here the pictures get a little out of order, but we're gonna roll with it.

It wouldn't be much of a road trip if our resident three-nager didn't throw a tantrum.

Collage: Going clockwise from the top left: Clayton and Noah at the Paint Pots, Me and Justin at Old Faithful (it's funny because it looks like his head is smoking), Josie at the paint pots, the spawn at one of the many picturesque locations that you just drive by, Justin and the kids at another geyser (man those things are EVERYWHERE in Yellowstone and, spoiler, they stink. Bad.).

The fam at the Paint Pots. This would actually be one of my favorite pictures from the trip if Josie would have been cooperating. (Weird thing was, she wasn't actually being difficult here, she just wasn't looking. Bad luck.)

Me and my favorite firstborn.

Okay, so time to be real. Everyone knows about Old Faithful. It's kind of the must-see attraction at Yellowstone. But you know what? I was underwhelmed by it. I saw a million things way more cool than Old Faithful. Meh. (And yes, they made a killing off of us in sweatshirts. We didn't realize how cold it was going to be there in the mornings!)

We stopped by this gorgeous lake (shoot, I can't even remember right now what it's called) and the kids filled out their Jr. Ranger booklets (if you ever go to Yellowstone with kids, do the Jr. Rangers, it's pretty cheap, but it makes the experience much more interactive for the kids). It was so picturesque and lovely and the weather was warming up...sigh. I could have sat there all day.

We went all over Yellowstone. I want to go back so that I can take more time to explore things instead of rushing through stuff just to cover ground. My favorite (other than the Paint Pots) was seeing all the bison. I don't know why they were so fascinating to me above all other animals but they were. And they were all over! I know I have more pictures of them somewhere (maybe on Justin's phone?). Perhaps this post will get an addendum someday.

The kids earned their Jr. Ranger badges. They had a little swearing in ceremony and everything. Cute stuff.

After Yellowstone we drove to Jerome to check on progress on the house and so Justin could do some stuff for work. As we were driving I texted one of my best friends from Indiana. Coincidence of coincidences, they happened to be about 30 minutes ahead of us on the freeway! So we made a plan to pull over and play at one of the parks. We also chose not to tell our kids. When we pulled over our kids were really excited to be done driving for a while. Then they ran onto the playground and saw their friends. Guys, it was epic! They were all so excited and emotional to see these good friends that they hadn't seen in a year. Noah was so happy he cried at the sight of Daxton. It was so sweet it brought me to tears. It was a little bit of the familiar in a summer full of change.

After visiting with them and having dinner together, we headed to Jerome for a few days (I'll skip that part because I have a LOT of Jerome posts coming). Then it was on to Ely for a day to visit my brother, his wife, and their sweet new 4 month old baby (who I hadn't met before). Don't let his sad face fool you, I'm his favorite aunt.

The beauty of Ely is that it is exactly halfway between Jerome and Vegas. Making it the perfect pit stop on what will surely be several trips a year to Vegas. Plus, that little baby Jared is the most perfect, angel baby you've ever met. He melted my heart the first time we met.

We spent about a week and a half in Vegas. We visited with family (which, for me is always the perfect vacation because my family is the BEST!). We didn't really do much else, other than hang out together but that's really all I wanted to do.

We had a lot of family dinners and the kids got to know Gigi (my grandma Schmidt) better. I love Gigi. I love that my kids are getting to know her and love her too.

This was before Anisha got there.

 

Shortly after we got there, my sister-in-law Kerstin came with her kids. Then we really partied! Lots of swimming, laughing, (okay, there may have been a fight or two in there), and being together.

 

One of my favorites was going to visit Grandma and Grandpa Pete. Sadly, this was the last time we got to see my sweet grandpa before he passed away. He passed just over a month after this visit. It makes me especially grateful that we took the time to see him. It breaks my heart a little that my kids will never know him in this life as I have, but I am glad to have this picture to show them so they can see that they have met him and they can put a face to the name when I tell them stories of the man he was.

Me and my sweet grandparents.

Back to more cousin fun. Sammie discovered her love of fixing hair. Fortunately, Tori is the sweetest, most patient girl ever and she just let Sammie mangle her.

And this is one is one of my new favorites. We have desperately missed living so close to Jared and his family. These kids picked up right where they left off.

We baked cookies. My girls were trying so hard to be patient.

Noah met his first love. This girl is Sydney. She lives across the street from my parents and Noah was immediately smitten by her. It was so cute and sweet (especially since Noah usually thinks girls are full of cooties). So we all tried to tiptoe around it so as not to ruin it.

And we got Disco back! My kids were very excited about this. We missed this mutt of ours! 

Then, as a family, we headed to California. It was great to be able to share this leg of the vacation with all our family. I love that, when they think back on these childhood memories, they will be surrounded by parents and grandparents and cousins. I hope that this is just the first of many big family vacations.

Our first stop in Cali was the beach. Clayton has been wanting to go in the ocean for years! He thought that if he could walk out in the ocean, he would be able to tell people that he left the country. It was a cold and windy day. Not ideal beach weather by any means, but the kids were all smiles as they ran and played. We didn't end up staying too long, but it was long enough to make my kids realize that they want more! (Someday.)

We buried Noah in the sand (which, he claimed, was actually nice and warm).

Jo got to be a mermaid.

My beach babes.

Once we were all too cold to continue, we headed out to our hotel. Though our time on the beach was short, I know we'll go back someday. Our kids loved it so I can only imagine how much more they'll love it in warm weather!

Stay tuned. Up next...The Happiest Place on Earth!