The adventure started on Friday, June 26th. I packed up the car (the goal was to pack "light," but still have clothes to accommodate weather from 30 degrees to 80 degrees), and then stopped in Nashville for Tristan's ortho appointment. I had to take in the small cooler and some groceries since it would have been to hot for them in the car....I must have looked like a complete wacko...packing up my whole kitchen for an hour appointment. After we were done there, we piled in the car and drove to St. Louis where we had originally planned to spend the night. Sometime during dinner, we decided to head on to Kansas City that night to help make our second leg of the journey (destination: Rapid City, SD) a little shorter. We arrived in KC sometime around midnight and were up at 7 the next morning...on the road by 8. The kids did a lot better than both Cari and I anticipated...much thanks to 3 separate DVD systems. The girls in the back had a 2 screen system, Tristan had the player that is built into the car with headphones, and Luke had a portable player on the front seat arm rest. It was probably a bit excessive, but I don't know how we would have accommodated a 13 year old boy, 3 girly girls, and an almost 3 year old boy. After we stayed the night in Rapid City, the third leg of the trip was crossing the border and finishing at my Grandmother's Cedar Log Cabin in Orton, Alberta.
Loaded Top to Bottom!!! Poor Alicia was squished between the 2 car seats...at least she had lots of places to rest her head!! Instead of getting to sit straight back, she had to put one shoulder in at time to get between the 2 seats. She was a good sport and helped the little girls quite a bit.
Cari and I had NO interest in even LOOKING at the car the first day we were there, so we spent the day Monday just enjoying my Grandma's large yard and comfy couches. Tuesday we drove 45 minutes into Lethbridge to visit my Aunt Evelyn (my dad's twin sister) and Uncle Wayne. They treated us like royalty and gave us some much needed pampering! We had a delicious lunch of lots of fresh produce (a real treat after all of our fast food), then Uncle Wayne insisted on taking us out for Dairy Queen ice-cream, then off to a park, and we finished the day eating Chinese food. So good!
Getting ice-cream. Alicia, Uncle Wayne, Luke, Addi, and Lily.
Aunt Evelyn pushing Lily and Addi on this suicidal mini-merry-go-round.
Tristan and Alicia stayed busy having races across the playground equipment. This park was great for kids of all ages!
On Wednesday, we loaded up the car to head to Waterton National Park for 4 days of camping for a family reunion to celebrate my Grandma's (my mom's mom) 90th birthday. Much of the posterity was accounted for...I think we were only missing 5 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren who couldn't make it for various reasons. On the way to Waterton, we passed through Cardston and thus, the Cardston Temple where my parents and much of my extended family were married.
front row: LaNae, me, Alicia, Addi, Lily, & Luke
middle row: Tristan, Gavin, & Cari
back row: Aunt Darlene (one of my mom's younger sisters)
Tristan, Alicia, and Adelaide with a better view of the whole temple.
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