I Live On A Planet Aptly Named DENIAL …

We have been home for two days from from our month-long epic journey across the country. We are all struggling with jet lag (even though we didn’t fly), end-of-fun-it-is and classic rentry to reality syndrome. In other words, we are all in denial. Especially me.

That beautiful cloudy sky was caught by my camera two weeks ago in Kaysville, Utah where we stayed with my baby brother and his family.

I am two weeks behind on blogging.

WAAAAAAAA!

Life does not slow down. Laundry needs to be washed. Food needs to be bought. The kids are all together with no cousins to play with so they have to fight with each other. It is as awesome as it sounds.

Nevertheless, we are forging on. And I am blogging backwards.

I didn’t get my camera out enough while I was in Kaysville. Instead, I just enjoyed my bro and his stellar wife Mindy. Here are the moments I did capture:

Right down the sidewalk was a horse who loved eating carrots out of the kids hands. I’m pretty sure it’s the first time my kids have actually interacted with a horse.

Here are some of my favorite people. Don’t they look like a picture straight out of the suburban life? Him, carrying the home baked goods. Her, strolling the toddler to the neighborhood gathering. Seriously. These two rock.

Here’s RedDog with his cousin Lou. They played Harry Potter for days. It made my heart so happy.

Here is Hannie B at the neighborhood water party. This picture is a perfect commentary on her life. Go get ‘em, girly.

This is my niece MiMi. I want to eat her right now. That curl on the back of her head is perfect. So is her dress. And the fact that the soccer ball matches her dress . . . help.

This is why Hannie B is also known as Second Momma around here. She takes care of the little guy. He was cold from being wet. She snuggled him and gave him a cool hair do. Nice.

I have a few more snippets of our week in Kaysville to share in other posts. It was a great week. I was really sick the entire time, but loved every minute of it.

Thanks for your patience. It has been a CRAZY (and I mean really, really CRAZY) month. But I am back to writing every day. I need it to help me feel like I am back in my normal life again.

I like normal.

Road Trip Insanity: My Funny Daughter

Hannie B. has a gift for bringing laughter and joy to any situation. That has been very evident to me on this trip.

She’s also a ham for the camera. Lucky me. Enjoy some shots of my little comedian taken during this epic trip.

Holding up the heavy stuff at Arches.

Patriotic  . . . with cat eyes.

A little Taylor Swift for Ipod Idol.

World Peace, Yo.

The look in her eyes says PIE.

Homegirl rocking a bonnet pioneer style.

The problem with poles is …

They’re water balloons. Sheesh.

Shark Hannie.

Hannie being her nerdy self with her nerdy cousins.

She’s a total goofball, but one of the things I love about her is that she loves babies and is so good with them. She’s been around lots of cousin babies for the past two weeks and has been a fantastic help. What a beautiful young woman my Hannie B is becoming. Love her!

Road Trip Insanity: Family Reunion In One Post!

This year we spent five days up at Bear Lake with the Hubby’s family for a really fun, jam packed reunion.

I could write a separate post for every single thing we did at the Hubby’s family reunion. It was all AWESOME! If I did that, I would be even more behind! Instead, I’ve picked one photo from each activity to share (I missed some of the activities because I was sick, but hopefully most are here). If you have questions about details, ask me in the comments.

Above you can see  that minutes before driving away from our week together I accomplished my most stressful assignment: trying to get as many of the thirty-nine of us smiling and looking at the camera as possible for a family photo. Way to go Ollie (front left) for ruining my plan.

Our reunion included teenager boys who could walk right into the lake from our house.

A color run that ended up with an adult chalk fight.

Rope swinging into a glacial lake after a nice hike.

Ipod Idol. I peed my pants and cried the ugly mascara cry it was so funny.

Grandparent/Grandkid time.

Beautiful sisters-in-law.

Boats, tubes, skis, wakeboards, sand volleyball and lots of LAKE TIME.

A jacuzzi for hanging out with cousins!

A photo booth for big nerds!

A kids’ craft of marshmallow gun making which turned into an adult marshmallow gun war.

Cute babies with mustaches! (we laughed for a long time about this)

Three birthdays on one day = a smashing birthday party!

The traditional family baseball game.

One last lake selfie from the Dragonfly.

Road Trip Insanity: Ollie Turns Four!

Today our baby turns four. How can that be?

He is enjoying a day of spoilage – breakfast of delicious Ebleskievers by Aunt Mindy, opening of presents, bedroom door decorated with streamers, an afternoon at the waterpark.

Here are a few pictures of Ollie taken while we’ve been on our trip. He’s having a great time, falls asleep exhausted every night, and loves playing with his gazillion cousins.

I love you Oliver. Thank you for making me a mom for the last time.

Roadtrip Insanity: Fourth of July

One of the reasons we drove out to Utah so early was to get there by the 4th of July. The parade and Freedom Festival in Provo (home of our alma mater BYU) is one of the most patriotic in the country and we wanted our kids to experience it. It did not dissapoint.

There were flag bearers in period dress and military vehicles, including a tank (Ollie’s fave).

There were fantastic floats and beauty queens a plenty waving in their formal dresses. There were marching bands (at least 12) and jugglers, horses and motorcycle riders. There were even giant balloons. It was great and we had front row seats.

The most random parade moment? Llamas!

We spent the rest of our afternoon with family. We barbequed, laughed, played games and ended the night with fireworks. It was blissful.

My father-in-law joined the kids in getting his face painted. What a cutie!

Ollie took a few dips in the kiddie pool to cool off.

Best part of the day:  being with my Hubby and his family. God Bless America!

Road Trip Insanity Day Five: Utah At Last!

Our last day of serious driving saw the flat plains of Nebraska turn into this:

It wasn’t long before the kids were looking for abandoned mine shafts and the Hubby and I were singing Rocky Mountain High while gazing in amazement at the beauty of Colorado around us.

We didn’t need much entertainment during the drive as our surroundings provide enough to look at and talk about for several hours.

Once the rocks turned from grey to red, we knew we’d found Arches National Park. It’s been a dream of the Hubby and me to take our kids to Arches for years. We’ve never been able to swing it on our quick Utah visits. This year, however, the drive from Denver to Utah took us right past it and we were determined to stop despite the 100 degree weather and bad attitude of one teenaged child.

I’m so glad we did! It was unbelievable – the kind of earthly beauty that makes your jaw drop. Behold, the beauty of Arches National Park:

Little Ollie became Mister Explorer. These next two shots just might be my favorite ever. He ran around exclaiming “Look at those rocks, Momma!” Never mind that his cheek were flushed pink from the heat.

Seeing my little Ollie, you can get a feel for how massive the rock formations are. Simply breathtaking!

RedDog was determined to move a red rock. No matter how hard he pushed though, it wouldn’t budge.

I even managed to get in a picture this time. I had to have proof I’d actually been there!

Hannie B’s one request? That we get a shot of her holding up “Balancing Rock”. I think we did a pretty good job of it!

Our one and only goal during our stop at Arches, aside from taking in the beauty, was to get a family picture at Delicate Arch. This proved to be more difficult than we expected for a few reasons:

First, we had a grumpy teenager. Notice who isn’t in any of the pictures? He was threatened within an inch of his life if he didn’t join us for the picture.

Second, to get to Delicate Arch, we had to hike a half mile uphill in 100 degree weather with no shade.

Third, we had to carry water bottles for six people, the camera, the tripod and one little boy named Ollie on that hike.

By the time we got to the top of the hike, the Hubby and I both felt dizzy, RedDog thought he was going to barf and Ollie was screaming and crying.

In other words, we had the perfect climate for a family photo.

After collapsing in the car, sticking ice packs from the cooler down our pants and up our shirts, guzzling a bottle of water each, and cranking the A/C full blast, we agreed that it was worth it.

After this picture, it was a short two and a half ours to our final destination. The kids laid in their chairs, exhausted from our adventure and watched The Three Amigos.

And the Hubby and I marveled that we had done it! We drove across the country with our four kids and SURVIVED!!!!!

Up next: The Fourth Of July