Road Block!

Driving day 3 was a long, hard slog!  Before we left the super cool hotel, Dylan told me his finger hurt.  I looked at it, but didn't really see anything wrong with it.  So, I told him I was sorry, and we moved on.  As the day progressed though, so did his whining.  He told me he could feel his heart "beep" in his finger, and that it was hurting more and more.  After lunch, I took a look at it, and it did seem pretty red.  By the time I stopped for gas 3 hours later, it looked like this:

So, in the course of about 7-8 hours, it went from looking fine, to having pus around the fingernail, and an ominous red streak from the fingernail, down the side of his finger, into the hand.  I called hubby who did some searching for me, and found a Walmart with a clinic on our route.  We were able to get a walk in appointment, with not too much wait.  There he was diagnosed with paronychia.  However, the clinic wouldn't drain it, so we had to find an urgent care (which thankfully happened to be down the road) that would.  They soaked his hand in ice for a few minutes to numb it, and then poked it with a sterile something or other.  Dylan was pretty freaked out that it was going to hurt, and was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't bad at all!  We then had to wait at Walgreens while his antibiotic prescription was filled.  All in all, not a difficult thing to do.  But it put us back almost 4 hours.  So, while we originally planned on being at the next hotel by 8 pm, it was almost midnight by the time we arrived....  It meant we were also a bit slow on the exit the next morning.  But, thankfully, everyone survived.  Even Dylan ;)

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'!

The first day across the US was a short one.  I wasn't sure how long it would take to drop hubby off at the airport, or how packed we would be the night before.  But really, the biggest limiting factor was finding a hotel that allowed dogs.  So, the first day, we only drove about 5 hours and stopped somewhere in Wyoming.  But stopping early allowed us to take our first dip in a hotel pool!

 And the kids didn't seem to mind it at all.

 They kept going back and forth from the "freezing" cold pool to the hot tub...  Well....  anything will feel freezing after the hot tub!

 That night we also had time for pizza and a movie!

 Driving Day 2 was go, go, go!  We drove a little extra to make up for the short day before.  And got into the hotel around 8 pm.  From the outside, the kids were excited.  From our room on the top floor (which the kids desperately wanted) they were ecstatic!

 Breakfast the following morning was a grand affair!

 The kids begged me to take a picture from high up.

 To show how cool the accommodations were.

 They really thought the view was pretty cool!

 And, to be fair, it was!

 Also, my kids are goobers... 

But you already knew that.

An Evening at the Park

After the dairy farm, we wanted to go hiking in the mountains.  As we drove up the canyon, the sights were very pretty.  Unfortunately, when we got there, we discovered it was closed because of the wildfires they were having this summer.  We were bummed.

As we drove towards home we decided to stop for ice cream at a little place that Danny Boy knows called Dairy Keen. The ice cream was pretty great!  It also happened to be across the street from a park where a car show was happening.  The boys were in heaven!  There was a gentleman with a yellow something or other car that looks like the Transformer Bumblebee.  He also had a transformers mask that he would allow people, such as my crazy son, to use while he took a picture.

 After our ice cream and car adventures, we needed a fun way to end the day.  So we picked up some pizzas and went to a local park.  There was cool zipline that the kids all had a great time on. 

The adults even got in on the action.

Grandpa always has been such an adventurous fella!

Although, I think Auntie La gets the award for having the most fun on the zip line.

 There were swings, and cool things to climb on...  Everything a park should be!

Who knew having no responsibilities and spending money like there is no limit could be so much fun?!?!  

Back to School!!!

Welp, today is the first day of my second semester!  Wish me luck!

Dairy Farm Time!

That night, after playing in the pioneer village all day long, it was time to come home and shower, eat dinner, and go to bed.  But we had one more surprise up our sleeve.  About the week before we left on our driving excursion, Nana offered to help pay the difference if we would rather fly.  But a week before, for 5 people, plus a rental car when we got out there was too expensive.  So I asked if she would be willing to fly hubby out.  At that time, he had no plans to join us in Utah at all.  She said yes.  So we went about making plans, but didn't tell the kids.  So when Daddy showed up, everyone was surprised and super happy to see him!  Even the dog :)

 The next morning we got up bright and early for a tour of the dairy farm that Grandpa's company owns in Utah.  

 The first thing they showed us was the literal mountains of food used to feed the cows.

 They specially design the food to be the most nutritionally valuable for the herd as possible, so they can remain healthy.  They load various grains, minerals, veggies and vitamins by the literal truck load into a sort of huge blender.  And when it comes out, it is well mixed and easily digested.

 The kids also thought that it was quite odorous.  To be fair....  it was!

 Then we went into the office where we learned about how they track the animals through, basically, a cow fit bit.  They attach it to their foot, and the tracker monitors their movement and sleep patterns.  With this information, they can tell when the cows are going into heat, so they can sent them for breeding.  Did you know that a cow will move much more when she is in heat than when she isn't...  Interesting cow facts!  #WhoKnew

Also, while this part was mostly interesting for the grown ups, I would like to point out that my eldest understood pretty much all of the information we were discussing, even though we were using big, technical terms (on purpose).  Boo!  I don't want her to grow up!

 Then we got to go in and watch the cows be milked.  These cows can produce 4-5 gallons of milk in around 5 minutes, 3 times a day!!!

 They actually look interested!

 This picture is one of my favorites...  Though I probably couldn't tell you why.  At one point in our tour, we walked by the cows as they were heading into the milk shed.  Our tour guide told us the cows don't really associate with humans very much, but if you stood still, they might get closer.  So...  In their plastic shoe covers (meant to protect the cows from any foreign particles we might track in), looking directly at the cows, my two youngest look terrified and enthralled...  And the cows look pretty interested themselves.  I love it!

 From there it was out to the nursery!

 Baby calves are born every day.  This one was literally hours old!

 They are taken to the nursery where they are separated according to where they will eventually end up, and cared for.  

 Even Grandma found a friend!

I've never toured a diary farm.  I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting both adults and children found it!

Last Day in Utah

After a fun filled Saturday, full of cows, cars, and ziplines, Sunday was spent visiting some friends!  

We got to spend a few hours with some friend who moved out to Utah a while ago.  They were super nice and drove about 4 hours to come visit us!  Which was super nice since we would be spending so much time in the car the next day.  It was great to visit and talk like things had never changed :)

 After that, we also got to spend some time with friends who had moved away a while ago, but who we try to visit with whenever we have the chance.

That night it was time to pack up and get ready to head out.  Hubby was flying out to go to his job site, and we were loading up to drive back across the country.   But we had to have a few dance parties first.

 This time, our destination was Virginia. Ironically, the difference between driving home and driving to the in laws was less than 300 miles and 4 hours.  And once you've been in the car for forever, that little addition is no big deal.

I did add an extra day to the drive.  To make it a tiny bit more relaxing.

This is the Place Monument

Because I have visited Utah a few times, we have done several of the tourist-y things.  However, I had never been to This is the Place Monument.  And when La suggested it, I was totally on board!

 Of course we had to stop for a picture or two on the way in!

 The first thing we did was experience a little bit of pioneer life.  Washing and ironing.

 And plowing.

 And the occasional rug beating.

Of course we got to experience some of the fun things the pioneers did too!

 After that particular house, we headed over to barn where we got to ride and pet some horses. 

And even milk some cows!

 Kari was unfortunately too big to ride the horses, but she spent some time with this chestnut while the others had their turns.

And the petting zoo was a fun experience for the kids too.

 At one point in the day we stopped to eat our picnic lunches.  But then we kept right on going.

We got to ask the blacksmith some questions. 

 And then we sent the kids to school!!!  The bigger kids went to join in the pioneer games, but Bethany wasn't interested.  Funny girl...  when she notices I was taking pictures, she pulled this pose all on her own!

 After recess, they went inside to get some learning!

 As we continued to tour the pioneer village, we made sure to stop at the bank.  Where these three, ironically, were talking about the best way to rob the bank and get away with it!  Little boogers!

 We made sure to stop at the tannery and let the kids have the opportunity to personalize their own pieces of leather.

Sweet baby Beffy.  She didn't get to stamp her leather, but she saw everyone else posing for pictures, so she did too!  I love how she posed exactly the same, even though she didn't have a piece of leather to hold.

 We stopped by the pharmacy.

 And the barbers shop, where everyone got a classic pioneer shave.

*Funny story:  I sent the picture of Kari getting shaved to a few of my close friends with the caption "We've talked about her starting to shave, but this isn't what I had in mind."  She saw it after the face and said "Moooom!  I can't believe you sent that.  But it was pretty fun.  I forgive you."  Dang teenager!

And what pioneer village is complete without a visit to the mercantile for a candy stick?

 We probably spent the most time at the printer.  He was very personable and very knowledgeable.  And he managed to interest the kids and keep them there for probably 15 minutes.

 There was a small Indian craft area too, because the Utah Indians were a large part of the pioneers settling.

 And then, we had to take the opportunity to pan for gold!

 Towards the end, we did one last craft, where we colored and cut.  And, I'll just say we were about done.  We had originally only planned about half a day for this activity, and were pleasantly, yet surprised, that we literally spent all day there!  By the end, some of us may have been more worn out than others....  I'll not mention any names, but....  cough, *me*, cough.

After we stopped by the gift store on the way out, to get a souvenir, it was time to head home!

FYI: I know this is a largely LDS run park, but there really was hardly any overtly religious stuff around.  More pioneer based.  So if you are possibly interested in going, but afraid you will have to convert to Mormon-ism....  never fear!  It was more entertaining than religious.