July 14 Hail & heat

So our plan to get up early & hit the road didn’t really happen. I was planning on Dalton waking up early, but he did then went back to sleep. It figures when we want him to wake up early & be our alarm clock he doesn’t wake early, but when we want him to sleep in he doesn’t. I got up to start the space heater again then went to the bathroom. Everyone was still sleeping so I went back to bed as well. It was about 6:30am(ish). Emry was still pretty warm, but she slept all night long. Annika came into our bed & snuggled then hubby finally got up & got moving. The air bed has been losing air & my butt was touching the hard bottom of the bed & the mattress was kind of curved inward towards me. Needless to say I wasn’t comfortable so I decided to get up. Hubby was on a roll which meant I had to hurry or else I’d be the rotten egg (the last one). I got the kids ready & got their breakfast then got myself ready. I fed Emry some yogurt & then hubby was ready to leave. Gotta love how he stands right there near me just waiting. Ugh….I don’t like being rushed. I inhaled some granola & yogurt fast then realized I had to pee. He was attaching the trailer to the suv so I ran to the park bathroom & made it back just in time to leave & good thing too because there were 2 other trailers coming up behind us. We were on the road at 9:06am, not too shabby.

The park seemed empty for a Sunday morning, but we figured people were just now making their way in. It took us about an hour & a half to get out of the park & we saw more buffalo & prong horn on the way out. They are amazing & beautiful creatures, but I’m kind of to the point now where “you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all”. We had our close encounter with them already & got photos so no need to stop….unless they’re blocking the road & they did that to us the day before. I got a photo of the buffalo walking down the middle of the road & his hump is in the window as hubby drove by. As we exited the park there was a huge line of people ready to get in. Yep we made it out just in time to avoid all the traffic. We crossed over into Montana for a brief time then were in Idaho. Every time I hear the word Idaho I think of Mr. Potato head from Toy Story “way to go Idaho”. The kids watch those movies way too much & I hear the dialogue so I could probably recite the movies. We were worried that the kids would be totally unbearable during this long drive, but they did amazingly well & we were so grateful. I made sure to praise them on being so well behaved. One of Dalton’s favorite movies right now is Toy Story. He calls it “Woody Buzz” movie & he’ll say it over & over & over again “woody buzz woody buzz woody buzz” until you get him his movie. It reminds me of when I was traveling in Germany with hubby & his friend & I had to pee, but his friend said we weren’t stopping. I started with “peepee peepee peepee peepee” & next thing I know he’s pulling over. Haha! Hey it worked & now it’s coming back to me with my son. Yep full circle. Today Dalton said “da skyyyyy” in reference to the part of the movie when Woody’s string gets pulled & he says “reach for the sky”. He’s so darn cute….my son that is.

Since we are out west we see LOTS of cows & horses & each time Annika says “uhhh mommy you might want to look out your window right now”. I know what she’s talking about, but I make sure to comment with an “ooohhh horses” or “wow look at all those cows” or something just to acknowledge her. Again “you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all” but she gets so much joy & excitement out of seeing them & I don’t want to make her feel like it’s not a big deal. One thing hubby & I find humorous is when Dalton sees animals on his side then says “ha ha ha ha” in that teasing kind of way like “they’re on my side not yours”. Annika always comes back with “be nice Dalton” or “how come nothing is ever on my side”. Sheesh the sibling rivalry so soon?

As we made our way into Utah we saw dark clouds & sheets of rain ahead. Maaaan this weather is drawn to us. There were huge drops of rain then the hail started & it sounded like it would shatter the windshield, but thankfully it didn’t. At one point Dalton screamed, which made us laugh, but I reassured him that it was ok & it was just big rain. When we finally got in front of the storm hubby filled up at a gas station & we checked out to see if there were any dings, but we were all good. Whew! Of course the storm was catching up to us again so we got out of there as fast as we could, but not before I had to change Emry’s diaper on the front seat & I started to get rained on.

Our destination was Ogden, UT where Hill Air Force Base is. It was so hot! It was reading 95 in our suv. We are not used to that kind of heat since we’ve been up in the mountains the last week or so & before that it hasn’t been very hot at any of the places we’ve been. I was ready to get leave before even setting up & get back up in elevation where it’s cooler temps. I scored on a “camp site”, but it was really a mobile home park for $13.50 for one night. Hey it didn’t matter to us since we were only there to rest before hitting the road again. We need to hit up more inexpensive spots like this to make up for the expensive park camping we did. I planned on taking the kids swimming, but the pool closed at 8 & by the time we set up & ate dinner it was after 7 & would take at least 15 min to get everyone ready so it wouldn’t have been worth it to go. That’s ok because it turned out nicely in the evening & I went outside for a bit with the kids to play a few games with them. We played hide n seek & freeze tag. Annika has one of those laughs when you hear it you start laughing too & you’re not sure what you’re laughing at. Oh I made one of Annika’s favorite dishes for dinner (chicken n rice) & she ate everything off her plate & said “I love this stuff, it’s my favorite & I want to eat it all the time”. Well ok then. Later that evening I was trying to explain something to her in a serious manner & when I was done she said “look mommy there’s something shiny” I couldn’t help but laugh. That girl cracks me up. Did she hear a word I said? Probably not.

Bed time came & I blew up the air mattress. I noticed it was leaking faster than it usually did. I was bummed out since under the air mattress is just a piece of hard wood. My back & neck are already jacked up from sleeping around the kids all the time. I didn’t want to feel even worse sleeping on plywood. I blew up the mattress again to see if I could find the leak. I could hear it & when I lifted the sheets I saw a tear/hole big enough to fit my pinkie finger in. Bummer. Annika came over to inspect & stuck her little finger in the hole before I could tell her not to & the whole grew. Gah! Hubby took a look & said “yep it’s done, there’s no fixing that”. Not what I wanted to hear so late at night. Thankfully we have a king & twin size air mattress with us. The king was way too big so it had to be the twin size. Well wouldn’t you know that when he took the seat cushions off the bench seats (kitchen table) they fit perfectly next to that twin mattress so neither one of us would have to sleep on that hard wood. Sweet! He’s so handy to have around. The kids were watching Cars while all this was taking place. Once everything was good to go, I got Emry to sleep & hubby showered & laid next to Dalton. He was snoring in no time (hubby not Dalton). Two more down, but now for the night owl. Annika was playing a horse game & said she wasn’t tired. Riiiight. She fell asleep rather quickly & I was going to move everyone around, but decided it was all good. Tomorrow we’re stopping by the Mormon church to take a photo then it’s off to Capitol Reef National Park & Bryce Canyon.