Last week the boys and I had a chance to go on a road trip to the tri-cities in Washington! I was able to leave Sam with my mom (who was grandma sitting in Jerome) and Taysom with a couple of awesome friends! Vaughn had to go to New Mexico for work, so it all worked out perfectly! We loaded up bright and early and headed out!
In the back is Hadley and Mason,
in the middle is Aubrey and Drew
The kids were all so excited! They had their headphones on and they all got along so well! Alayna and I had a fun trip with the kids all distracted and not whining!!
They had a few little dance parties in the back!
We stopped in Baker City, OR to let the kids out for lunch and to stretch a little bit. They were such good travelers!
We pulled up next to this guy in Pasco and he was so funny! I wish I could have recorded more of him, but the light changed and we had to pull away! The kids loved seeing his moves and he even looked down at Aubrey and smiled and waved. As we drove away he honked at us! The kids got a kick out of it!
It took us a little bit longer to get to Washington, because of all the stops we had to make. We seemed to have bad luck on our way, but it wasn't because of the kids and it made our trip even that more adventurous! Once we got to the farm we unpacked the car and the trailer and headed back into town. We took the kids to the Park of Dreams in Kennewick, where we met up with Alayna's mother in-law. The kids had such a good time running around and pretending to be ninja's! We were there for a good while until we all decided it was time for dinner!
Drew, Aubrey, Mason and Hadley
at Red Robin.
Oh, Mason the sneaky little dog! Alayna had said she was going to make her girls get chocolate milk with their dinner and I decided I would do the same, so that it didn't cause problems between the kids. So as we were ordering I was half listening to the kids order and talking to Alayna, when I thought I heard one of the kids order a Root Beer. I stopped my conversation with Alayna and asked the kids who ordered the soda. No one answered me and the waitress didn't say anything either. I asked Mason what he ordered and he said he ordered a chocolate milk.
So I went back to Alayna and we just kept talking. When the drinks came I saw that there was a Root Beer. It was sitting in front of Mason and I asked him if he had ordered it. He said that he hadn't and it must have been a mistake. After all the drinks were given to the kids I saw that he still had the Root Beer and he just got a big fat grin on his face and said that he HAD ordered it!! Sneaky little devil! Of course Mason and Alayna just thought that that was so funny! Since we were on vacation, I didn't really care too much. No biggie.
Drew, Mason, Hadley and Aubrey with their balloons.
After dinner we headed back to the farm. The house hasn't been lived in a while, so it just needed to be cleaned up a little bit. I have never seen my boys so willing to clean a bathroom! They did a great job and I just had to take pictures to prove that they actually did it and without being asked! Definitely worth noting on the blog!
We all slept in the basement. The boys and I in one room and the all the girls in another. The boys were so excited to be "camping" inside. They loved sleeping on the air mattress in sleeping bags. So easily entertained!!
The next morning while we were getting breakfast ready the kids were so excited to see that a cow was out of the pen. They all ran out to see it and I tried to get a picture of them with it! It let them get pretty close to it, before it started walking away, but I couldn't get there fast enough! What is so exciting now, will be an almost everyday experience for them soon enough.
The purpose of the trip was to paint some of the rooms. Alayna's mom arrived by early in the afternoon on Friday and with her help we were able to get quite a bit more done. Before we left one thing Kevin, Alayna's husband, said is that he didn't want us to start a room and move onto another room without finishing the first. He was worried we would have all the rooms started and none completed. Unfortunately, that is how it started to looking when we started painting! None of the colors were looking how they were supposed to and with us being in the country we couldn't just run to the store. So we moved on and then moved on. Then we moved on again!
Um, why is a Storm Trooper sitting in the middle of a field?!
Yeah, we didn't know either, but it was so cool to see! Oh the things you see in Washington! And I thought Twin and Jerome were interesting! We drove past him and Alayna said we needed a picture of him, so we flipped around. That put him on my side and Alayna made me talk to him. Awkward!!! So I asked if there was a reason why he was sitting in the middle of a field and he said no. It was just fun. I told him that he had just made the day for my boys and he took off his mask with a huge smile on his face and said I guess that is why I'm doing it! After I took the picture a jeep pulled up with two more people. Another one was dressed the same and they had a sign that said "Join the Empire!".
That night we ran into town, grabbed some take out and new paint colors and headed back to the farm. Have I ever said before that I hate Walmart? Well, I do. While getting an order of paint the worker left us at the counter in the middle of helping us. We probably waited a half hour (easily) for another worker to come and finish helping us. What a joke. Anyway.
The next day we took the kids over to Kevin's uncle's house, where his cousin was waiting with their horse saddled and ready to be ridden by a bunch of kids! My boys were so excited, but I don't think they had half of the excited of Aubrey. Aubrey has always been in love with horses and even says that her name is Aubrey Horse Bleazard! She is such a sweet girl and so very passionate about her horses! Of course we let her go first. My boys were glad to let her go first, so they could watch what she did and learn from her!
Kevin's cousin, Andrea, was so amazing! While one kid was riding around on the horse she let the others play on the golf cart. When Drew asked if he could drive she said yes, without even hesitating! I am not so sure I would have said yes. No matter which kid asked. I am not that brave! So the kids played on the golf cart and with the horse and loved every minute of it!
Drew
Mason
Aubrey & Drew
I've seen these types of swings before, but it has been ages! I have totally forgotten about them! They loved swinging in circles!
We stayed for about an hour, but pretty soon we needed to get back to work. It was our last working day and we had a ton to get done. Andrea was such a sweetheart and offered to let the kids stay with her. She has three of her own plus is pregnant, but she said it would be fine, so we decided they could stay for an hour or two and then we could get more done and then we'd rescue her. About four hours later she still hadn't brought the kids back and we had finished as much as we could (yahoo!). So we hurried and got ready and went back over there to collect the kids.
She said that they had driven the golf cart almost all day and had just barely come into the house to watch a movie and to cool down a little bit! She is truly amazing! I probably would have been ready to kick the kids back to their mom's if I were her! She truly was a life saver for us and we accomplished so much!
We left her house and headed in to town to go to dinner. We had a nice dinner at Texas Roadhouse and it was hilarious because Alayna kept saying how she was going to miss her small town of Jerome and she would never see anyone in the big city of Pasco, but every time we left her house and went into town, she saw someone she knew! She will do a great job adjusting to her new life. I just hope she doesn't forget me anytime soon!
Sunday morning it was Father's Day and so we wanted to make it home relatively early.
The kids did great on the way home, but it definitely was a lot more quiet! I am so impressed with how well the kids all did on the trip. If we had any fighting it was between siblings and not between the friends. They played well together and I think they all had a great time!! I know that I did. It was good to see where my bff will be living, but it won't make it any easier to say goodbye.
