We had a LONG day ahead of us the next day. I wanted to drive from Spokane, Washington all the way to my Aunt & Uncles house in Cody, Wyoming. That's over 600 miles in one day! According to Mapquest it was going to take us over 8 hours, but that didn't include the hour that we would lose because of going from Pacific Standard Time to Mountain Time.
I told the kids we were leaving at 7am. I got up at 6am and for some reason I couldn't get the water to work in the trailers shower. Thank goodness I brought dry shampoo!!! I was actually really glad it didn't work because there would have been no way we'd have been out of there by 7am! Just saying...I guess I'm high maintenance! Ella and Logan did SO great when it was time to go. I had told Ella that when we left this time she didn't need to be sad because we'd be staying at Logan's house again on our return journey. After the second time we stay at Logan's house then she could be sad! She loved repeating that to people.
Ed & Penny had told me about this cool rest area in Wallace ID. It is dedicated to the miners and has all sorts of things to look at and explore. I thought it would be a nice place to stop since it was about an hour and a half away from Spokane. Of course the kids did not think it was all that fun and they were whining and I really started to get angry. That's when I stopped myself and was reminded of a sermon our Pastor had just preached about getting hurt. We are all going to get hurt in life and the number one thing we need to do is left ourselves feel hurt and recognize that we are hurting. I was not wanting to admit that they were hurting my feeling by basically hating something that I thought would be fun. Instead I was protecting myself per se and getting angry. Once I realized that I stopped myself and told the kids that they were hurting my feelings. I was trying to give them an opportunity to run around and stretch their legs and have fun, but instead all they could do was complain and it hurt my feelings. They of course all apologized and were so sorry. It really was such a wonderful moment! We got back in the van and I started another movie and we were off again.
We stopped in Missoula at a gas station to go potty, get snacks and gas up. The next stop was in Bozeman at Wal-Mart to go potty and get MCD's. The final stop before Cody was in Laurel at a gas station to go potty.
Prior to the trip I downloaded an app that could keep track of where I was at all times. It's called Life 360. I also had Michael and my Mom download it as well. It made is so Michael would always be able to see where I was. I just felt better knowing that. I was also texting Michael and my parents every single time we stopped for any reason at all. My mom was watching my progress so she knew when I was in Cody and almost there. I had told my Aunt that we were going to get to her house around 7pm and we ended up walking in the door at 7:07pm!!! 11 hours of driving! Honestly though I love it....the driving was actually amazing. My kids travel so well. We had lots of movies to watch. I told them I would only start a new movie when we stopped to go potty or get gas. I was not going to be pulling over on the side of I-90 so they could have something to watch. They did have books to read and things to color so that helped. I also from the suggestion of my best friend Kim got some audio books. They were awesome! We got 3 Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and then one Hardy Boys book. I was amazed at how much the kids loved them. I also bought to Elevation Worship CD's for myself just in case I needed a little Jesus on the trip! :)
The day after we got to my Aunt & Uncles we went down to the senior apartment where my grandpa lives. He moved to Cody last fall to be closer to my Aunt Linda & Uncle Lee. The place where he lives is wonderful!!!
He has a studio apartment with a bathroom. It's all he really needs. They staff take care of everything...they fix all grandpa's meals and he can have a snack whenever he wants. They have events like movie nights or game nights, they do his laundry and they even have a place where Aunt Linda can come in and cut Grandpa's hair for him.
We all piled in his room for a visit!
My cousin Melody and her 3 kiddos ended up coming up from their home in Rock Springs to spend some of the week with us. It was such a great surprise that they came! Alli and Ella had fun playing together. They had their moments for sure...they are 6 & 7 going on 13 you know! It really was so nice getting to see them!!!
Of course the kids raided Grandpa's snacks so we ended up having to replenish them later in the week!
Also when you have 3 boys stuck in a room for too long wrestling will ensue!!!
I ended up coming and visiting Grandpa a total of 3 times during the trip. It was so nice to see him!
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