Our First Big Roadtrip

For Thanksgiving we decided to drive to Reid's parent's house in Elgin, Illinois.  It had been three years since we had gone out to visit and flying is so expensive these days.  So we decided to give the drive a try.

We left on Friday November 20th at about noon and planned on stopping for the night in North Platte, Nebraska.  There is a roadside attraction in North Platte that Reid grew up stopping at and so we planned it into our trip.  We arrived at Fort Cody in North Platte at 5:25pm only to find out that they closed at 5:30pm in the winter.  We did a quick look around and then headed to our hotel next door to check-in.  After that we had a quick dinner at Wendy's and then headed back for treatments and some rest before continuing on the next day.

I love that Kai loves to read!

Finn needed the most entertaining.  Here he is doing a magic ink book.

Bree with magnets and a cookie sheet to play with them on.

With the time change, our kids got up at 6:45am our time, which was 7:45am in Nebraska.  We were ready to check out of our hotel right about 9am--when Fort Cody opened.  So, we decided to go back for one for look around.  We let the kids each pick one souvenir from the shop.  Kai chose an "open your own geode", Finn picked a wooden snake, and for Bree I grabbed a sock coin purse.  Then it was back in the car for the 10 hour drive to Elgin.

Fort Cody

The two-headed calf

Watching the gun show

We made really good time and had very few stops.  I was proud of how the kids handled the drive.  We had a seat clear next to Bree so that whoever wasn't driving could sit back there and entertain her and help the boys.  They did watch a couple of movies later on in the  drive but they weren't electronic junkies for the trip which was awesome.  Bree got crabby for the last bit of the drive, but who can blame her.  We got to Elgin about 8pm.  It was so funny to be back at Grammy and Papa's house!

She looks a lot happier here than she actually was.  She really likes to "draw".

Playing with window cling stickers

The next day we slept in and skipped church.  Everyone was just too tired.  We spent the day in the house visiting and playing.  Monday we did much of the same, except we did pull out Kai's geode and attempt to open it.  We wrapped it in an old sock and the boys hammered away.  It was very difficult to open.  In fact, it more just kind of chipped off.  But inside we found some quartz and Kai was quite excited!

Breaking open the geode with Reid

On Tuesday morning Reid and the boys went to see Big Hero 6 at the local theater.  And then on Wednesday we went to the Discovery Center Museum in Rockford, Illinios.  It was a recommendation from our cousins and it was a really good one.  The kids had a lot of fun at this hands-on museum.  We have found that the museums in Illinois put the ones here to shame.  I always come back from our trips out there completely disillusioned with the option we have here for the kids.  That being said, we have great things here.  In Illinois they just have AWESOME things!  After our trip to Rockford we decided to go out to dinner at Golden Corral with Grammy and Papa.

A big gear wall

Bree loved playing with these balls and air tubes

You put the scarves in these tubes and they get shot out by the air.  I so need one of these at our house!  Hours of entertainment!

An air cannon and a mirror wall

Eggs at the chicken coop

Instead of taking the stairs the boys could climb up this way

The water table in the kids' area

Thursday November 27th was Thanksgiving and it was also Papa's birthday.  This year was only the second time (in their lifetime) that Grammy's birthday fell on Easter and Papa's was on Thanksgiving.  We had a yummy dinner with Grammy and Papa and then we had Pumpkin Birthday Pie and sang to Papa.

On Friday we headed out from Illinois and started the long drive home.  That first day we drove from Elgin to Lawrence, Kansas to spend some time with the cousins (Reid's sister's family).  We always enjoy our visits and this time was no exception.  I love that my kids can say hi to their cousins and run off to play within minutes.  They get along so well and really enjoy each other.  Our one day to spend with them was Saturday and so we packed it full of fun things.  We went to the downtown area of Lawrence in the morning for some "ice" skating.  It was synthetic ice and we were all curious to see what it was like.  I had a real good laugh at the "attendants" whose job it was to help the kids skate.  There was one that was worse then the kids sliding every where, hanging on to the fence, and then eventually landing flat on his back!  My boys enjoy ice skating but had never experienced synthetic ice.  Finn got frustrated when the walkers didn't slide along but he eventually was talked into holding the fence and skating in a rectangle.  It was a quick, fun activity.  We promised our cousins that we would take them "real" ice skating the next time they come to Colorado.

Bryn, Isaac, and Finn

Owen and Kai

Later that day (after naps) we went out on a hike down a nature trail in their neighborhood.  It was fun to get outside and spend time together.  The weather was so much nicer in Kansas than it was in Illinois.  The boys spent a good deal of time outside and Kai particularly enjoyed playing outside with their new puppy, Scripps.

We capped off the day with a dinner trip to Jason's Deli.  The day had gone much to quickly and the boys were sad to say goodbye to their cousins, but it was time to head home.  We were gone 10 days and had been through 6 different states.  It was a jam-packed trip but so much fun.