Drive to Utah

The trip to Utah was such a big deal that we have to divide the Blog posts into sections to cover it all! We'll start with the actual drive. Three 8 hour drives... We were suppose to leave Austin around 3PM, scheduled to arrive in Wichita, KS at 1AM; however, we were delayed leaving and hit traffic in Dallas and Oklahoma City. That made our arrival time 3am, but it wasn't too bad that first night. Once we got the luggage secured in the trailer, the kids mostly slept and we made it.

The next morning in Wichita, KS, we spent the day at the Zoo and a place called the Exploratorium. Wichita was actually a cute little city and we had a fun time. Our plan was the make the kids nice and tired for the drive to Denver that night. This only partially worked. It made them nice and tired...but they didn't fall asleep very easily and ended up crying a lot (the girls did). Driving quickly through Kansas, we might as well have been in the desert given how deserted it was, but finally, when we'd had our limit, we bailed in a small town called Quinter, KS. They had a Dairy Queen and a city park. We proceeded to have our dinner picnic and played at the park for the next 2 hours. This allowed enough time for the kids to relax, let out some energy, and get ready for the remaining drive to Denver.


Tori on a swing in Quinter, KS

All the kids got to swing! At first, the town seemed like a ghost town. We saw no townsfolk and it felt deserted, but eventually people started to crawl out of their homes and they ended up being really nice.

Wichita, KS

The park in Quinter had "old school" items that our kids got to play on. You know, the kind that make you throw up and break your leg, but were sure fun!

Ahhh....glories Dairy Queen.

Tori loved the gorilla's at the zoo...

This was an interesting exhibit at the Exploratorium. It was all about your insides and they had a whole section on the intestines and colon... in fact...they had a "colon" that kids could play in (it was a large plastic slide shaped like a colon).

Ahhh...Quinter.

Solving puzzles at the Exploratorium.

Not sure what Daddy is doing...

This was a very pretty river that ran through Wichita.

Why whenever we go to a Zoo, Mason's favorite thing is feeding the fish and ducks?!?

This elephant was doing tricks for us!


After we left Quinter, we made our way to Denver. That night was rough. All the kids were crying and we dragged our stuff through the hotel into the room. We were tired and grumpy as the day wore us out as well. At this point, no further pictures were taken. Either we'd had it, or just couldn't muster the energy. In Denver the next morning, we spent some time with Ashlee's Uncle and Aunt. We swam in their pool and had lunch with them. It was really fun to relax. Then we made the last bit of the drive to Manilla, Utah. Arrival time was 12AM.

Looking back...the idea of late night drives was good in theory, and technically worked the first night. But the compounded effect of night after night took it's toll and didn't work out so well in the end. Right now, I can hardly consider driving to the store with the kids (aftershock from the trip); however, come next summer, maybe the trauma will subside and I'll consider doing it again!

That's what he said...

We are in Utah! We were at my sister Brandi's house and my nephews, Kody and Colton, were playing a video game; Call of duty. Mason started to watch them and then said, "I think this game is a little old for me" and walked away! He is so grown up!!!

The Drive...UTAH or BUST

In approximately 50 hours from now, we'll be heading to Utah for our summer vacation. The plan is to leave Friday night around 5pm, arriving in Dallas around 8pm for dinner/playtime. As we leave Dallas, hopefully the kids will fall asleep and will sleep all the way to Wichita. We'll spend the night and next day in Wichita. Saturday night around 5pm, we'll leave Wichita and head for Denver, where we will again stay in a hotel. We'll hang out in Denver the next day. Then on the third, and final night, we'll leave and head towards Manila, UT. We should arrive around 11pm. This is where we're meeting family and staying in a cabin for a few days before heading the remaning distance into Salt Lake City. 2 weeks later, Jes will head out of Salt Lake City, through Albuquerque, on his way back to Austin. Overall, about 3,000 miles traveled in the Pilot! This is the longest we've ever driven with any of the kids...and especially all 3.

FYI - for all those who think stalkers will read this post and rob us the second we leave, we will have people staying in our house while we're gone and our neighbor is a big Texan with a lot of guns...so keep that in mind. =)

That's what they said and did....

We played a "game" Sunday night where Jes created a list of 17 "missions" for Mason to accomplish. It was mostly chores like "pick up 10 toys", "vacuum office", "empty silverware from dishwasher", etc., with a few fun ones, "give us all hugs", "jump 100 times on trampoline" in to mix it up. Mason loved it and did all 17! He had so much fun that he asked Jes to create a new list. Since it was close to bedtime, Jes created a list of 5 bedtime missions. 1. Go pee 2. Brush teeth 3. Put on PJ's...etc. When Ashlee was tucking him into bed, she asked him, "Did you go pee?" He thought for a minute and said, "I don't know, let me check my list.".

We've always thought Mason to be a little unique in what interests him. Mason found Jes's dad's dog-tags sitting in his office. He was carrying them around for a bit. Later we found a piece of paper with words and numbers writen on it. We realized he copied the name, social security number, etc. from the dog-tag onto a piece of paper....

Tori is obsessed with Poker Face from Lady Gaga. Whenever she is in the mood to dance, she runs to the radio, points, and says "Poker Face?". Yesterday Jes turned on some Black Eyed Peas for us to all dance to and Tori started singing it.... Maybe we should play more Seasame Street and Instrumental music!!

Wimberley Zip Line - Our Anniversary

For our 9 year anniversary this year, we went to the Zip Line Adventures in Wimberley, Texas (a cute town about 30 minutes from our house). The teach you how to go and stop on the zip line, all the safety stuff, and then drive you to the top of a large hill and you take multiple zip lines down the mountain. It took about 2 hours and was so much fun! The longest line was 900 feet and went about 35 miles an hour.

After we were done, we walked around Old Town Wimberley and had lunch with Ray and Melinda. We ate next to a beautiful river and had a great time! Attached are some pictures and video of our fun anniversary event!

Victoria Turns 2

Tuesday was Tori's 2nd birthday, so we decided to go to Chuck-e-Cheese! The kids had a blast! We had pizza and played games for hours! And then we had a homemade cake and Tori opened her presents with help from Michelle and Mason. We ended up with 350 tickets to redeem for prizes at the end of the night.

It was a really fun 2nd birthday! We love you Tori!

Tori trying to play a game....

Tori LOVED her birthday cake!

Opening presents....Tori holds them up to see how they look against her.

Mommy REALLY wanted a bite of cake...but of course...she had to feed Ry Ry, so she had to wait....

Michelle showing Tori how to eat cake on your birthday!

Enjoying some pizza...

Tori in her birthday outfit that Mommy worked so hard on. The tu-tu is special order, the shirt and hat Mommy made. So cute! Well...it was cute until she dumped half her dinner on it.

JACKPOT!

YUMMY CAKE!

Enjoying a video roller coaster

Cute Tori...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TORI! WE LOVE YOU