Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Drive to Montana

This weekend we took to the open road for a long overdue visit with Joe's grandparents and some of his cousins and aunt and uncle. We covered over 1100 miles and mostly at around 80 mph! The views were breathtaking and although the kids mostly played with toys or watched DVDs, there was one point where Kayte popped her head up and said, "Ooo, look Will! It's so pretty here. . .let's just look out the window for a little while!" (Yep, she's mine! :)
I told Joe that if he ever got fired, we were moving to Montana. I love it! It's so wide open with huge mountains popping up around the fringes, skiing and fishing right out your front door, real-live cowboys tip their hats at you while holding open the door, and we saw one guy with two guns holstered tightly under his t-shirt lunching with his family. . .I mean, Montana is America and I love that!
So, anyway, we had a good time. . .the kids are getting to be such a fun age to travel with - I love their enthusiasm!
Naptime in the car. . .a personal favorite of mine!



The room was huge because it had a Murphy Bed attached to the wall, so while it was up, there was lots of room to run, which Ben truly appreciated!

I'm starting to travel a bit like my mom: I pack my own pillow and sleeping pills, the seatbelt could definitely use a clip to hold itself in place, after 3 days of eating only sodium I was dying for a water pill, and my personal favorite: wine in papercups! My mom knows how to travel in comfort!

The minute we arrived at the hotel, we changed into our suits and hit the pool, then it was dinner and finally a movie so Joe and I could unwind a bit. And I was thrilled the Olympics kicked off that night - I love watching the kids watch the Olympics!

We found a hotdog joint that served every kind of hot dog you could imagine and the kids had fun playing with the super-sized chalkboard. Will brought his cowboy boots and hat because we were in cowboy country - he said he wanted to dress-up like a cowboy and I told him he was a cowboy! It isn't dress-up!



On our way back to Cardwell - I couldn't get enough of the view! We visited his grandparents place with this very cool 'cowboy' shed:







The kids loved the horses! That is the one pet I can imagine having one day. . .












Ben wasn't a big fan. . .





Goofy kid shot, in the background you can see the sign his cousin makes. She is quite the artist actually!



Pool fun! Get a good look at Ben's face - he's in heaven!



The water was 5 1/2 feet deep at the bottom of the slide, and I am happy to say that Kayte and Will did great with their swimming and had no trouble doing everything all by themselves!

On Sunday morning, we packed up and went into Livingston to attend Livingston Bible Church where Joe's uncle has been the pastor for 25 years. They came to that church with five kids, had seven more, and 11 of the 12 came home to surprise them with a big party! (The twelfth is in Korea in the Air Force.) It was so fun to see them all together and they really make 12 kids look like far more fun than work. . .but then, they are mostly all grown up now :)
We said goodbye, hopped in the car, and 8 hours later were home by our own fire watching the Olympics! It was a good trip!

4 comments:

Sarah said...

great photos Paula! Looks like ya'll had a good time and I had to laugh outloud at wine in paper cups photo. How trashy and great is that!!?

Josh and Shawna said...

Sounds and looks like you all had a great time!! Wish we could have been there with you.

Cory and Katie DeWinkle said...

You are just like your mom, I love it! She bought us a wine travel bag with it's own wine glasses, my favorite gift, ever! I told Cory (Even if he didn't lose his job) we were moving to Montana:) We should move there together!

Katie said...

Great pics! What a fun vacation.