Road Trip . . .

And now for another marathon post . . . Why does it seem that most of my few-and-far-between posts are so gargatuan? Perhaps because, for the most part, we live very regular, hum-drum lives and occasionally when something out-of-the-ordinary happens, I feel the need to document that we have, in fact, done something interesting. In this case, it was the month of July. We turned a trip to a family reunion into a month-long trek that took us from Texas, to Washington, to Idaho, to Utah, and back to Texas again. Overall we had a wonderful time, but tired mom with a new baby (who was a dream -- easiest part of the whole trip!), lots of different locations, lots of long drives, erratic bedtimes, and lack of routine made for some interesting (to say the least and I mean to really say the least) behaviors on behalf of the rest of the kids. We are still trying to get back to normal. I think I need a vacation to recover from my vacation. Thankfully, the girls are good car travelers -- especially good thanks to the Leapster and portable DVD player. Mark had masterfully planned our trip to Spokane, WA: four days of 7-8 hours of driving, arrive at nice pricelined hotel, take a dip in the hotel pool, go to bed, wake up, partake of the free breakfast in the morning, stop at a park for picnic lunch, and repeat. It ended up really being quite fun. The ride home? Not quite as fun. Overall we covered roughly 4500 miles and our favorite state to drive through was Montana.

Will was a rock star throughout the whole trip, and this is how he spent most of it. I could gush and gush about what an amazing baby he is (thank goodness for my sanity's sake!!). He really only cries when he is hungry or tired, started sleeping through the night at 10 weeks, is the most calm, pleasant little fellow imaginable! I just can't express how grateful I am for his temperment and how much I love my little man!! He is also quite the young traveler. At 10 weeks old he had been to 10 different states, and his first six weeks of going to church were in six different buildings.

We hit the jackpot the last night of our roadtrip in Billings, Montana. The hotel pool looked questionable, but we all felt like we needed to vent our cooped-up energy. Mark spotted a family fun center (I think it was called Geyser Park?) and we were able to feed and entertain the whole family for 2 1/2 hours for $45! They had go carts (our favorite), a terrific inside playground (the girls complained of being cold at 70 degrees and breezy!), and these bumper boats.

A few hours before arriving in Spokane, we stopped at the incredibly picturesque ol mining town of Wallace in northern Idaho. The pine-covered mountains were spectacular and we enjoyed getting out to stretch our legs and tasting some amazing BBQ at The Smokehouse restaurant. As fun as the trip was, though, we were all ecstatic to reach Spokane and be welcomed by family!