I called Grandma Mary and told her we would be coming by and staying for a night or two and she sounded excited! Somewhere in the messaging it got convoluted that we would be picking her up and taking her on with us to Idaho...well what a great idea! Since my mom lives here too, no sense in her flying so she came along as well! (Turns out that it would have been nearly impossible without her- so very happy she came!)
On Friday the 27th loaded all the kids in the acadia. Kenna got the back seat with her stuff, Zachey had his backpack and toys under his feet, grayson had his things, the picnic basket and his loveys under his feet and the cooler fit in the middle. We borrowed mom's car topper because Chelsey wanted us to bring a baby bassinet back from Idaho and we knew it wouldn't fit in the car. Also, that allowed me to see out the back - so was happy about that - even if it was really noisy.
We picked up mom and off we went! Not even an hour outside of Des Moines a transmission message popped up and the check engine light came on....crap....I had just had them do a service check, and the transmission had just been fully repaired under warranty not 6 months earlier! So, called the dealer and back to des moines we went. In the meantime Josh got us a rental car that is almost exactly the same as ace. We just took everything off of the acadia and loaded it in the rental (whom we named Velma.) The only stipulation was no topper allowed.....So, creatively packed in all of our stuff in the back including bubble wrap that my mom insisted on bringing across country to pack her stained glass-story for another blog - love you mom ;)
We found a little state park outside of omaha to stop of lunch. The two hour delay sort of cramped our plans - but this place was dry and shady. We had a TON of crazy rain prior to reaching Omaha so glad it was over!! I did a pretty good job of bringing lots of treats in the cooler to make sandwiches and keep the kids fed. They were pretty tired of turkey and PB&Js by the time we were done, but so much cheaper and more fun to hunt down places to picnic vs. trying to eat out all the time!
Loaded the kids back in the car and headed to North Platte. When I was booking hotel rooms EVERY room in North Platte was full except the Super 8....yikes. I knew that it would be less luxurous that we were used to - but it was the halfway point, had wifi and breakfast...so booked it a few months prior.
The kids did surprisingly well with the toys, games, ipads, DVD players and "stuff" we had to keep them entertained. There were very few fights and outbursts - which really surprised me. Good travelers!
Once in North Platte, I was psyched cause I saw a burger king that looked like it had a play place! Turns out that it used to but they took it out - boo! But they did have ice cream. So after dinner the kids enjoyed a cone :)
We go to check in and realize we are on the second floor and there is no elevator. AND we have about 20 things to carry up between toys, coolers, bags, loveys, etc. So...I get the only rolling cart and we start loading up. Got all the stuff upstairs and kenna's roll away bed and could barely walk in the room! The kids were totally wound up and just wanted to jump from bed to bed (can you blame them?) So, we connected to the wifi and had them all watch a movie or play with toys to calm down before bed. I messed with the air conditioner - finally having to shove toilet paper into the vents to keep them open. The choices of temperature were humid and hot or Antarctica. We opted for the latter - mom slept with a blanket over her face - sorry mom.
We attempted lights out around 9 but Grayson kept poking my face, asking to get up to get a drink, asking if Kenna was asleep, etc. Kenna kept whispering "I'm not tired." Pretty sure it was around 11 before everyone fell asleep. Grayson continued to kick me and nuzzle me and sort of force me to the very edge of the bed. How a 3 year old who weights 30 pounds can take up an entire bed is beyond me - but the theme continues throughout the trip.
We got up pretty early and ate breakfast in shifts. Then loaded the whole car in reverse from the day before. Happy that Grayson is potty trained - and even happier he is a boy as we traveled the next day. He would occasionally realize he had to go potty RIGHT NOW!!! So would pull over on the side of the road and let him pee in the weeds - he thought that was cool!
Along the way to Grand Junction we saw a sign for "Lookout Mountain" right outside of Denver. I thought that it was about time to stop - so we took the exit. We drove over and around and up this big mountain. At the top was a nature center that had hikes and places to have a picnic. The kids needed the break and I loved the view!
The best part about the nature center was a little kids room. It had about 40 stuffed animals from the rocky mountains, a science area with different specimens and observation area with binoculars. The kids didn't want to leave!
Near the nature center was an old historical mansion. We walked all around it. I think you could rent it for weddings and parties, but was over 80 years old.
The kids LOVED the hike. We took the forest hike, but there was a neat prairie hike that I would have loved to do if we had more time! They especially loved climbing the rocks and looking for a special small rock to take home!
Zachey was obsessed with finding mountain bugs. He told me to stop and take a picture of this special find!
Kenna being zen with the wilderness.
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