There and Back Again

a novel (because it will take FOREVER to finish) by: Malerie


Ok so this summer we left our house for a month long vacation involving 7 cities, 30 hours of driving, 10 hours of flying, and a TON of stuff in between.

IT WAS CRAZY! I'll do my best to recap our adventures.

We left our house on Sunday to drive 5 hours down to my parents house in Sa_____. We hung out there for a few days playing with siblings, gparents, uncles, an aunt...blah blah blah. The best part was riding in the wagon. Here are those pics.

On Wednesday around 7pm we had my parents suburban loaded with 15+ bags, a pack 'n play, SUV stroller, probably 15 pillows (for 8 people) dvds, food, and the tent trailer hitched in back. We drove through the night 14 hours to AZ. The kids sorta slept. They woke up several times and I'd nurse Chels back to sleep and then try to get some shut-eye myself. Lets just say I won't be driving through the night again.

Cities Vail & Tucson, AZ

 My Grandparents (mom's side) and my mom's sister Tracy & family live in AZ. I'm really glad I got to visit them. I think it had been 6 years since I'd been to my gparents house!      We went to the zoo...

 Carson would not leave this tractor alone. It was his favorite "attraction" at the zoo or "bee-youm" as he calls it. Not that it sounds at all like zoo.

it was SO hot I had to keep getting the kids' hair wet to cool them off

 The zoo was actually really fun...and it was one of the quickest trips to the zoo I've ever experienced!

 While in AZ we also played in my aunt's pool, went to In n out several times, and had a really fun time visiting with my cousins there. (they are closer in age to my sibling and my own children so they all had a blast playing with one another). Carson still to this day tells me he want to go to Aunt Tracy's house.

We ate good food, played with toys that I used to play with as a kid, played Shanghai, talked, and really had a great time!

Really not sure how this happened....poor Goo

 City # 4, Provo UT

After 4 full days of fun, we left Monday around noon to make the 13 or so hour drive up to UT. We got in around 1:30am and that was SO much better than all night long. Aw Utah. Home.

Provo House,                
                              Family,

Such a great depiction of their relationship

 Memories,  
                

                                    BBQs,




             
                                                 Games,

             




                                   



                          Best Friends,

really unsure of what I'm doing

 Learning, 

Bonding,                     

              Cousins, 




Aunts & Uncles,

Food,                
                Siblings,

LOVE

Do I even dare say that this was my favorite part of my vacation....? It was just peaceful and warm, comforting, and familiar. I love coming back home.

I loved seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and remembering why I LOVE being me.   Thanks to the Gill's for letting us stay with you! It was so great to be in your home again.

To be continued......