Look who we ran into!

We decided to break the drive up into 2 days.  Our 1st destination Casper, Wyoming.  The Witt's had spent a few days in Yellowstone and they were headed back to Colorado on the same route as we were taking.  We figured our paths would cross anyway so we helped it along.  We got a later start then we wanted and had other small set backs, so we thought we were going to be pretty late, but funny enough, we pulled into the hotel parking lot within 5 minutes of each other.  Everyone was so excited to see the Witt's, turn off the DVD player and get out of the car.  This was just a taste of the fun family times we were in for.

We got to drive with Katy all the way from Casper to Colorado!  So fun-she is a much better conversationalist then Conor. 

A 15 minute detour took us to Independence rock and Martin's Cove.  We were short on time, but I am so glad we stopped. Whenever I hear stories of pioneers I am always so humbled, thankful, amazed and awe inspired. 

The Witt's and Kellogg's in front of Devil's Gate

Independence Rock

Climbing on Independence Rock

 

The view from on top of Independence rock.  Looks pretty desolate even today.  I am thinking the landscape hasn't changed all that much in 150 years.  Although I am thinking that freeway to the left would have been helpful then.  I just have such a hard time wrapping my mind around pulling a handcart across this terrain in all kinds of awful weather.  I can hardly stand five minutes in a non air conditioned car and my kids can barely ride (not walk) 5 miles with out a movie on.  We are so blessed.  

Into the car again and onward through Wyoming.  6 miles out of Colorado we were detained by a not so friendly Wyoming state patrol.  GRrrrrrr.  He pulled over a red truck, the Witt van and the Kellogg van all in one stop.  Cha Ching for him.  75 in this desolate terrain seems hardly worthy of pulling anyone over for.  Lame- I guess he prefers handcart and wagon speed.

.Next stop....Snow Mountain Ranch Colorado.  Nielsen family reunion here we come.

Off to Colorado

Time for us to hit the road! After a late night of packing we snatched a few hours of sleep, then as if we never even slept we climbed into the new van with plenty of lovely cooled air.  So began our 18 hour journey that would take us across 5 states.

Sunrise on the way out of Washington

Lincoln tolerating the ear phones to watch the movie.  This lasted about 12 seconds

All the "cool" kids ride in the back seat.  Josie is a great car traveler

4th of July and a few days around it

The 4th of July here in Spokane is one day that I really really miss living in Utah. Utah just knows how to do the 4th for some reason. It doesn't help that Spokane county doesn't allow any type of "home" fireworks. This year we got invited to a friends pool for some swimming and BBQing. For breakfast we went to the church for a pancakes and a bike parade, and after dark we hit the fireworks up at Deer Park. All in all it was a good day.

This is what we would like to do on the 4th...I think this was the weekend before the 4th up at Mt. Spokane.  Biking together is an ideal date for us.

The bike parade.  You can see the back of Conor and Josie in this picture.  Josie only had one spill, but it was wise to steer clear of her as she was a bit wobbly.

Lincoln didn't even want to swim.  He preferred circling the pool with this dump truck

The kids doing some snaps before we went to the firework show-we can't even do sparklers.

The fireworks!

The newest Kellogg bike rider

Josie is finally riding with out training wheels! I am sure she could have done this much sooner, but she never asked and I honestly forgot to get her started a while back. Once we got her on the smaller bike it really didn't take her long at all. She only had one spill and that is only because she wouldn't use the brakes. Yea for biking!!!

The happy rider

Daddy helping Josie get started

Josie focused on the road (the hardest part for her)

The new rider keeping herself hydrated

Love this face-After she mastered the little bike Kevin wanted to see if she could ride Conor's.  Just for a size check

Side note:  Some cute things Josie has said lately.  A friend was watching Conor check his blood and they wanted to know why and Josie told them it was because his pinkie was broken.  She meant to say pancreas.  She calls finger nail polish- paint nailish.  We were watching the Olympic track trials the other day and Josie looked up just as they were coming in to the finish line and she says.  "Are they playing tag Mom?"

Busy 2nd week of summer

Last week was crazy busy for us. A few days I drove up and down our street 12 times (I counted). To top off all that driving we had to do it with no air conditioning in the minivan-don't get me started. Where were we going you ask? The gym, vacation bible school, soccer camp, birthday parties, the store etc...Oh, and I was watching my friends kids so she could go to girls camp. Fortunately her kids are best buddies with mine, so they weren't much work. Today we decided to take it easy and stay home, but I did pick up 2 more kids to watch. Another friend had a funeral she needed to go to in South Carolina so I have had her 2 kids today. Sprinklers and park and jumping on the trampoline, swingset and eating popsicles is all that is on the agenda today.  I just bribed them all to stay outside for a whole 30 minutes without fighting or tattling and if they did it they could have an ice cream cone.

Lincoln loved this American flag I used for singing time in primary.  I had to pry it out of his little fingers for nap time. 

Not sure how this happened.  Lincoln is very territorial about his car-he loves to sit in it and push the horn.  He can't move it forward yet. 

Just admiring the flowers and yard...so often we don't

Conor and Brayden at Pirate soccer camp.  They both loved this camp put on at Whitworth

Josie and Bree at Vacation Bible School.  They both had smiles when they left each day.  5 1/2 days of fun for 10 dollars?  sign us up for sure!

Josie went to a fairy princess/dance party and came home looking like this.  So magical.  She cried and cried when we had to clean off the face paint.  This was one of 3 parties she or we went to this week.

Haiwatha Day 2

Tent camping agrees with our kids, everyone slept great and everyone was excited to head out to the trail.  We took our time eating breakfast and let the kids play while the adults got all the gear ready to go for the ride.  The bonus of this campsite is that it isn't in a campground, so we didn't have to break down camp until we returned from our ride, which was an added bonus because the kids got to play around after the bike ride, and we were able to dry everything out. 
 

Josie, Michael, Lincoln, Isabelle, Luke and Conor-a rare moment when they were all sitting still

One of the first pretty views and I like the sign on the edge

Dead in the middle of the Taft tunnel.  If you turn off your lights in here you can't even see your hand if you wave it in front of your face. 

I have one leg in Montana and one leg in Idaho here

Looking down the tunnel

Just outside the Taft tunnel. 

Daddy's riding buddies

Mom and Conor were riding buddies-leading the pack

The Ward's and the Kellogg's

One of my favorite views

Annual photo location

Lincoln sound asleep holding on.   He had a smile on his face the entire time the trailer was moving.  You could hear him laughing and giggling through most of the ride

Our picnic spot

The kids feeding trail mix to the chipmunks while waiting for the shuttle.  Josie would tell you this was her favorite part of the weekend.

All three sound asleep on the way home.  I took this moment as a sign that the weekend was a success.  All tired out and dreaming of the memories and fun

Haiwatha 2012

We decided to combine 2 of our favorite summertime activities into one. Camping and riding the Haiwatha. The following are all pictures we took the night before our ride. We had a great camp spot, right below the start of the trail. We couldn't ask for a better location. In the morning we rode up to the trail right from our campsite, which was really convenient. The only damper on the trip was that it poured rain for about an hour. Surprisingly, it wasn't all that bad. It rained right between dinner and s'mores. We waited it out under the trees and umbrellas and the kids played in the rain and then the fun went on. After the storm, no rain the rest of the trip and we were able to dry out all our stuff so no packing wet gear, which made everyone smile.

View of our spectacular campsite

Lincoln sitting in the dirt playing with...CARS.  Put a cookie in his other hand and you would be hard pressed to find a happier kid anywhere.

Waiting out the rain

Isabelle and Josie with S'more mouth

Lincoln chillin in his camp chair.  He really thought these chairs were pretty nice, I caught him relaxing quite a few times

Ask Conor what his favorite thing about camping is and he will always say:  "The fire."

Lincoln after the rain storm.  I was trying to warm up his hands but he was mad. 

Drying out by our roaring campfire