Thanksgiving

This year we decided to take a little road trip to see family in Washington.  We knew it would be an adventure having 2 6month olds to travel with.  But we also couldn't wait to get on the road and out of town.  

The plan was to leave Tuesday afternoon unfortunately mother nature had other plans and roads were closed till early Wednesday morning at the Idaho/Utah border.  So instead we headed out early morning Wednesday in hopes of getting to the closure as it opened.  By luck we did, it was around 10AM when we reached Snowville and after a diaper change and a rest the roads were cleared and open..well..if you call this cleared:

It was about 200 miles of 45mph making the trip a little longer than expected. 

Shortly we reached the Idaho border-

The girls were doing great so far sleeping a good portion of the trip unless we stopped for changes. Occasionally waking to talk to their hanging toys or each other. Although Miss K decided to get her first diaper rash on her first long long road trip!  (poor thing)

I've always enjoyed this trip simply from the great scenery and changes in it. From Flat farmland to piney mountain sides.

The sunsets out in the farmlands are just so beautiful.

I regularly made sure the girls were all bundled up.  The temperature rarely peaked above 10 degrees on the first day so it was...chilly.

The girls Grandma & Grandpa Adams got them a great new early Christmas present for the trip that we knew would help distract them, a little at least. The seemed to enjoy the videos though giving them a little change in the 10 hour drive when they weren't sleeping.  I think they did amazing with their attention spans compared to their mom...who in random spurts of energy and boredom started making up words to songs and occasionally smacking (gently) my better half in the arm.  

 First class if you ask me!

After a long day of driving we were all tired and decided we wouldn't drive straight through to Yelm.  Instead we stopped at my Aunts house in Kennewick for the night which was a good idea 5 more hours of driving would have done us in I think.

After checking to make sure the passes were clear we headed out.  This part of the drive again one of my favorites. Just such pretty trees going through all the small logging towns and seeing secluded lakes through White Pass. 

After about 5 1/2 hours of driving and the girls yet again doing great for the drive.  We made it just in time for a nice clean up and then shortly after Thanksgiving dinner.

We were all soooo hungry and I could not wait to dive into my Aunts cooking!  

Us youngsters were lucky enough to sit at the "kids" table :). Which was fine since we had the gremlins on the floor right next to us to watch. 

Even Kona kept us company-

I'm pretty sure we were all stuffed to the point of explosion by the time we were done.  It was so nummy!  We spent the rest of the evening watching the tube, chatting, playing with iPhones and the ever so popular iPad, the moms had way too much energy and ended up putting the Christmas tree together.  I'll have to say though, they did a great job! 

For some reason miss K wasn't in the mood to go to sleep let alone nap.  Pretty much the entire trip she was just wide eyed and would only sleep by passing out on the couch..sounds like mommy.

Too soon it was Saturday, my Grandma and my uncle stopped by for some brunch and some family photos.  It was great to see them all and have almost everyone together in the same room. 

Shortly after we were having to pack and prepare for the drive back to Kennewick to spend more time with the fam and meet up with some friends. As much as I hated leaving the drive back again was just full of pretty sights.  

 Not only did we see Giant Elk we saw several Bald Eagles flying about, some crazy mountain goats and deer. 

Getting into Kennewick it was obvious Miss O wasn't feeling too hot, she got very grumpy and wasn't getting calmed easily.  We still didn't break plans and left the gremlins with the grands and went out for some home cooked ribs with some friends.  It was great to see them and get away from the daily baby thing for a few hours. :)  

The next day was supposed to be the day we made the entire long journey back to Utah.  Unfortunately again, the roads were closed and didn't look to be opening till 12pm the next day!  On top of that Miss O was in lots and lots of pain and couldn't seem to settle down.  After some walking, calming, and a little Tylenol she was able to rest. Just in time for us to make our plans to drive half way to Boise and stay the night.

A top Cabbage hill was a site to see.  Backed up traffic and just a winter wonderland! 

Luckily it wasn't too long and the roads cleared and the girls were patient. Hehe.

I wasn't excited we wouldn't make it home but I was excited to stay in a hotel!  I love walking into a room all cleaned and ready for a night of relaxation.  The twins were just as excited and once laid on the bed where wiggling and rolling and talking up storms while we ate our DELICIOUS Applebees dinner!

Eventually they calmed and we all headed for bed in hopes the roads would be open and clear by the time we reached the border. 

Packing up again Mr. A really started to look like a dad of baby girls!

The girls were ready to go again even though Miss O didn't seem to be feeling much better we hoped the meds and a nice full bottle would help her through the rest of the trip. 

(Getting their las wiggles out before the trip)

I came to appreciate a good pair of winter boots in 5-15 Degree weather!  I rarely took them off!

The rest of the trip was rocky!  Oakley actually did great sleeping most of the way but poor miss K was pretty cranky on and off.  My back was in spasms at the amount of times I was getting up from my seat and twisting and turning to put pacifiers in, grab toys, or simply just comfort.  By the time we reached the closure we saw the line of hundreds of cars lined up in hopes of it opening soon and not having to take the 2 hour detour!  

Just our luck as we "butted" a way ahead of everyone they opened the road!  We were in the top 15 cars having no traffic in our sights!

It wasn't long before we were making good time again and the end was near!

We finally reached the border and were only a couple hours off from being home!  

A total of 1800 miles and 30 hours of travel later we made it.  We were back in our County, hungry, tired and ready to be home.  Since we all knew we had no food at home we decided to make one last stop at JCW's for some burgers.  Were the girls had a taste of their first chocolate shake..and I think Miss K liked it TOO much!

Not only were we ready to have our own beds to sleep in but we were all in need of some clean up....even our poor car needed a bath. 

All in all the trip was an Adventure!  We were so lucky and thankful to have my parents help us get up there to see family and have the girls meet some of their relatives the haven't yet seen. Without them the rest stops would have been nightmares and the diaper rashes and ear infections would have made my brain explode! 


I'll definitely have to put this in the girls baby/scrap book so they can look back and remember.  Luckily they'll get to remember the high points ;) and laugh at the low points. 


Now to get back to the norm, make appointments, clean house, prepare for Christmas and School in the coming months.