So I had 3 nieces born all this year that I wanted to see (and other family too) and got to thinking maybe we should save a ton of money and drive down there for a long vacation? (Flying is super spendy.) I have a friend from my hometown living in Juneau that was game for coming along with her two kids and so we made plans for this epic road trip. Five kids 7 and under and us moms.
What did we have to do before we even left town?
-Make sure we all had passports or passport cards
-Have our husbands get a note signed and notarized stating they are okay with us traveling outside of the country without them
-Book tickets ahead of time on the Ferry to get us to Canada (Rachel needed a cabin to sleep in, I needed to also book our van)
-Pray for safety and sanity :)
Once we met up on the ferry and landed in Prince Rupert, Canada we had 1,200 miles to drive before we made it to our parents' house in Washington. From there we split up and had vacations with our families. Both of our husbands came down for a time and then we were back in Prince Rupert 3 weeks later. There's not many people I would consider doing a trip like this and I'm grateful we were able to do it together! What an adventure!
So after spending some fun time with my parents (and John joining us) we drove to ID for a baby blessing, then to UT the next day. Spent time at my TC's new house (John flew home from here), then spent time at Marisha's, then at April's, then headed back to WA (James was able to visit us at Marisha's and April's). It was so much fun to spend time individually with each family and we were really spoiled in every place we visited.
So here's pictures of from my phone, then another post is pics from my camera.
The kids started a tradition of screaming at the top of their lungs thru every tunnel.
Kaytlin hurt her ear in WA and I couldn't believe how purple it got. It bled for the longest time (cut on the back side of her ear). The picture doesn't even do it justice.
Dad took us to a Japanese restaurant that serves food on conveyer belts, you grab what you want as it goes by.
Chillin' in UT. My girls LOVED playing with Savanna, especially in the unfinished basement.
Addie was so thrilled to hold her 5 month old cousin Linnea.
Isn't this the best thing ever?! Addie could have ridden all day on that miniature pony! Kaytlin also had a blast, and Lexi did for a time and then was happy to walk alongside with the grownups. Thanks again for arranging this Marisha!
My cousin Kayla came to visit us and was an instant favorite of the girls'
James was super cute with the kids, Addie especially liked to hang out with him. He brought some specially Idaho icecream to share with everyone - chocolate with oreos and caramel! And, being Idaho, it had potato flakes in it as well.
Lexi's a very cautious girl. I was proud of her for getting the courage up to light some colorful smoking bombs.
Snow mobile races on water. Random right? Marisha and Forrest took us to a "pride" day in their town with all kinds of fun events.
Me and Sariah
Lexi really loved holding the babies.
The 5 kids, last night traveling together.
John surprised the girls with a trampoline when we got home. We're planting grass which means our whole yard is off limits until school starts. Thank goodness this has been such a hit!
Out of order pictures from WA - we loved the warm weather!
