Travel Log Part 4

Thank you Jenny, Mike, Kimby, and Andrew for donating pictures to this log!

Thursday, June 30. Andrew flew home from New Orleans on Thursday morning and his parents picked him up from the airport and brought him down to Provo.  Mike and Andrew helped with the final round of packing and then we drove down to Beaver around 2pm.  The kids did great, sleeping a good portion of the drive down. When we arrived we took a tour of the mansion house and then unpacked. We had hawiian haystacks for dinner and said hellos as all of the Snows slowly trickled in.  After dinner we gathered around Jim’s spreadsheet to see our teams for the week and then jumped into group games.  Nathan and Emily went to bed pretty well and we settled in for the night.

At 3 Nathan woke up to eat and by 3:45 I realized that I was sooooo hungry there was no way I was going to fall back asleep without food.  Andrew and I snuck upstairs and ate a few bowls of cereal followed by pita chips and hummus.

Friday, July 31. On Friday morning the kids woke up pretty early so I took them upstairs to the main area.  Grandpa Jackson was up and hung out with Emily and Nathan while I went on a run.  It was heavenly, running without a stroller in the cool mountain air.

When I got back we had breakfast and then got ready to spend the morning at Cove Fort.  Andrew and I were both amazed at how one family was able to create a home for many travelers and run a little community.  Just providing food alone was a full time job.  After we watched the film and toured the fort, we played some pioneer games.  Andrew and Emily really got into rolling the ring.  Emily also made a little garden and Uncle Sam was quick to help. We finished the morning up with a trip to get ice cream at the Cheese Factory.

After nap time we played at the playground for a bit and then came in to make monsters to donate to primary children’s hospital.  Emily designed her very own monster and Andrew made her vision a reality.  Nathan hung out with me while I made my own creation.  It was really fun to work along side all of the Snows while we united in a cause.  Emily and Nathan were really tired after dinner so we put them to bed early and joined the evening Minute to Win it games.  Andrea and Carrie did a phenomenal job running the events as extraterrestrial creatures in space.

Saturday, July 2.  The main event of the morning was getting family pictures taken.  This was a huge feat with 60 people.  Once everyone arrived and Grandpa Snow got a picture of Ashley taking the picture, we settled in with smiles.  We then took turns in different family groupings.  Grandpa Jackson wandered off with Emily for a bit.  Then she and Andrew had her running up walls and doing a flip.  Nathan was exhausted and was very snuggly.  We had a picnic lunch by the pool and took the kids swimming.  Emily hated it and screamed for 10 minutes while I just held her in the water.  Nathan loved it from the get go and when Emily settled in Andrew took her and I took Nathan.  He quickly got cold so we went inside and I put him down for a second nap.

There was lots of chatting in the afternoon.  Dinner was followed by group family games and previous family reunion videos.  We tucked the kids into bed and then chatting turned into a laser show which then morphed into a dance party.  Andrew and I called it a night shortly after 11.  We both realized how much we dearly love and will seriously miss being around the Snows.

Sunday, July 3. We grabbed breakfast and packed our car.  We hit the road a little before 9 so that we could make a 1pm session of church in Fruita, Colorado as our halfway point to Denver.  The trip was smooth and we got to church 10 minutes before it started.  We arrived around 6pm at the Powells in Denver, Colorado.  They had a delicious dinner ready for us and we spent the evening chatting.

Monday, July 4.  Didn’t get much sleep at all last night.  Had a fabulous day!  Went to the Powell’s ward pancake breakfast and played at the park for a little bit.  We came home and Elise and I went on a short run.  After Nathan and Mabel woke up from their naps we all went swimming for a few hours at the community pool.  We had a late lunch at home and everyone took much needed naps.  When everyone woke up we ate a few snacks and made dinner and dessert to take to a nearby park.  Sam grilled out and we ate and played at the park until it was close to seven.  We ran home to get the kids dressed for bed and then watched fireworks from a parking garage where Sam works.  It was an incredible 4th of July!

Tuesday, July 5.  We spent a full day driving to Kansas City, Missouri.  The kids were fabulous again and we made one longer stop at a Walmart in Kansas to get wiggles out.  Andrew found a cool hotel in Kansas City for us, decorated in the history of the city.  Our floor was the Murder and Corruption floor.  We walked to a nearby grocery store and picked up food for dinner and another day on the road.  Emily and Andrew walked to the sonic across the street for a little dessert and we gave both of the kids baths.  It was our first experience with Nathan pooping in the bathtub and then peeing on the floor while we were trying to clean up the tub.  Not an ideal hotel moment, but we made it through.

Wednesday, July 6. Our last day on the road.  It was a eight hour day from Kansas City to Indiana, but we made it in good spirits. We are grateful for this mega road trip!