Sparing the details of the very long, laborious, and lonely month of preparations while Otto was studying for boards, buying us a new minivan, and working 10 hour days (we'll save that for a future post) the morning of May 28th, 2015 finally came, and I raced to wash the sheets, clean up the house, and load the minivan, while Otto took his pre-board exam at the school. While I prepared, Eli found the cell phone and took several selfies:
Otto came home having scored very well on the pre-board exam; a huge relief after some of the challenges we faced last year. We quickly loaded the rest of the car and were on our way!
Our first leg was a six hour drive from Glendale to St. George UT:
The kids were wonderful. I came prepared with several fun activities to keep them happy in the car. Here are a few of my ideas:
#1: Cookie sheets/metal pans. They worked great for playing with airplanes and cars, and the mini ones fit right on their laps! I also bought some magnetic letters which we never got to- they will be a fun new toy for the trip back.
#2: Cheap dollar store toys go a long way. I purchased a bag of these for a dollar: little plastic paddles with balls attached. It kept the kids entertained for a bit.
#3: Cheap Dollar Store Binoculars. They loved using these to look out the window, and I also printed and laminated several "bingo" cards that they could mark off items as they saw them. (More for Eli). They weren't as excited about this piece, but they loved playing with (and breaking) the binoculars.
#4: Maps
Eli has been fascinated with where different places are in relation to other places lately. I printed off a world map, and a map of the United States. The world map was more for him to look at and talk about, and the US map was for us to track where we had been. We had a lot of fun crossing off places as we went. Alayna used hers as a sticker page, which also worked. :)
#5: I also brought along some sticker pages and notebooks, some sticker books with removable stickers to make funny faces with, some flashlights that kept them entertained for a few hours in the dark one night, and some pipe cleaners just for fun. We didn't use them all in one day, but spaced them out over the four days on the road.
#6: Of course with our new van, we wanted to use the DVD player! My goal was just one movie per day, and that worked great. Since my kids don't watch hardly any TV at home, it was memorizing for them. :)
Day 1 ended in St. George UT after 6 hours of driving.
We drove past the temple where Grandma and Grandpa were married to show the kids. It is so beautiful!
We are trying to save money AND not eat in our new car, so we were all pretty hungry by the time we got there. Luckily our St. George relatives had some great food waiting for us, and the kids gobbled it all up.
Alayna and Eli had a great time getting re-acquainted with their Great Grandpa Grimm (Otto's Grandpa.) I think he enjoyed it quite a bit too. :) They were best buddies in no time, with Alayna following him all over the house asking what he was doing and where he was going.
DAY 2- May 29thAlayna was so tired from being up all night, she slept as if in a coma until 10 am. She is so cute. :)
Eli was up and ready to go early. He had a blast playing with all of his second cousins out in the yard. He kept talking about how there were "a lot of cousins!" and how he wanted to stay just one more night!
After a few last goodbyes:
We hit the road around noon and traveled to Salt Lake City.
Along the way, we had to stop at Otto's favorite place, "The Red Barn" in Santaquin, UT for ice cream. Even after building it up in our head for the last several years, we agreed it was STILL the best ice cream we've ever had. :)
Next, we drove around Provo, showing the kids where dad used to go to school:
Showing Eli the hospital he was born at:
Driving past the two Provo temples:
And finally, driving by our old exit in Midvale:
We arrived at Grannie and Grandad Gates's that night (my grandparents) and the kids had a great time outside riding their bikes and enjoying the UT cool evening air. Later, Alayna enjoyed a luxurious bubble bath...
Once again, the kids stayed up half the night with all of the excitement of a new place. Otto and I were getting tired...
DAY 3: May 30thThe next day was busy. We started out at a wedding of one of our friends on temple square after dropping the kids off with my cousin Erika for the morning. Then we went down to City Creek and had lunch with some of our best friends from way back in our single years before hitting the road again. It's been so fun to see how our families have grown!
We wish we would have had time to see all of our friends in UT- there are so many people we miss there! Hopefully we'll have more time on our next trip through!
We started off around 3 pm on our longest day yet- Salt Lake City to Starkey OR. (By La Grande).
We didn't get in until 11 pm, and we were all exhausted!
DAY 4: May 31stWe stayed in the most beautiful little cabin owned by my Great Aunt Jeanne and Uncle John's Bed and Breakfast in rural Oregon. It was just the good night's sleep and breath of fresh air (literally!) that I needed.
The kids had a wonderful time running around and looking at the animals:
After a wonderful homemade breakfast and a lot of visiting, we hit the road again for our final stretch. Luckily this was the shortest one yet (only 3 1/2 hours) because we were all ready to be done!
We arrived around 4:30 pm and I just kept thinking, "I can't believe we actually drove all the way here."
My parents just built this home themselves. It's still a work in progress on the outside, but you should see the inside. Wow!
We went for an evening walk so the kids could move around. It's so nice to have so much open space here!
We got to see the neighbors chickens, horses, and lambs. Eli wasn't sure what he thought of the horses, but Alayna wasn't shy:
Alayna loved playing with Sadie dog, and Eli loved bonding with Uncle Sam:
It's a good end of the day when you have a Meme to read stories with:
DAY 5: June 1stOtto left around noon to head to PA for his board exam, and promptly had car trouble in my grandparents car. Luckily, before I could get to him, my dad found him on the side of the road and switched him cars. He made it to his flight on time, and all the way to PA, where he flew in at 11:45 at night, right after his rental car company had closed (despite having a reservation.) He tried everything he could think of, calling the company, calling other companies, looking up bus routes, etc etc, but nothing was open or affordable. Meanwhile, we lost internet and phone connection on the farm so I was trying not to panic not being able to know he had arrived safely. After the kids were down I drove into town with my dad's cell phone to call him, finding him in a panic at 1 am PA time, sure he was going to fail his boards the next day and get no sleep. Thankfully, a blessing from heaven came driving down the road (that he was walking down at 1 am trying to figure out what to do next) in the form of a fellow med student, who picked him up and let him share a rental car and hotel room with him.
DAY 6: June 2ndOtto made it to his board exam after 3 1/2 hours of sleep, and somehow survived acting as a doctor in front of a board of judges for 7 hours. When it was all over, they referred to it as "The Nightmare on Elm's Street." We were ALL glad to have that successfully behind us, and I was especially relieved to hear he was sitting on the plane and on his way home after such a small window of time to catch his flight after the test.
Meanwhile, we all got hair cuts and went to the park, and stayed very busy digging up dirt in the front yard. Of course I don't have any pictures, because Otto had the iphone and the ipad with him. :)
DAY 7: June 3rdSomeone was extremely glad to wake up and find that Daddy had made it home (at 1:30 am the night before)
Otto slept until 2 that day. He was just a little worn out.
She also REALLY loves Sadie dog. :)
Eli spent over an hour riding the "tractor" with papa.
That night while my parents took Sam to his baccalaureate program, the four of us went on another walk. The kids loved climbing in the grain bins (as I call them) or "silos" as they learned from their favorite library book:
It's hard to believe we've been gone a week. It's so fun to see my kids enjoying all of the places and things I did as a child. In some ways, this doesn't feel like home in the same ways that it used to, but it will always hold such a special place in my heart. I love that Otto loves to come here as much as he does, and the way he talks about how beautiful and peaceful it is. It makes me feel grateful and amazed that I had the opportunity to spend my childhood here, thinking it was the privilege of any child to grow up in such an amazing place.
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