Sabbatical Roadtrip Day 5-6

On our way to Yellowstone National Park! Although we only traveled 135 miles, it was an extremely long day for us. We drove the 1.5 hours from Bozeman to Yellowstone's North Entrance. We had hoped to see wildlife in Mammoth but maybe they are only out early in the morning. We enjoyed the Hot Springs and every geyser from North to South between Mammoth and Old Faithful. The boys thought that it smelled awful. Like rotten eggs. We did our best to stay on the path, but boys will be boys! We hit some construction on the way and managed to not see any wildlife (other than birds) the first day! By the time we reached Old Faithful the skies looked ominous and we felt a few raindrops. We talked a big game about being from the NW and not afraid of a few raindrops, but ended up in the gift shop for a bit. Thankfully it cleared in about 20 minutes, just in time for us to enjoy watching old faithful go off. We had a wonderful dinner on Lake Yellowstone and then found our hotel for the night. The boys enjoyed "building a fort" to sleep in for the night. In the morning I enjoyed a nice peaceful walk by myself down by the lake. We gathered all our stuff and headed out again. The boys worked hard on earning their Jr. ranger badges while we were in the car. We had an awesome encounter with a herd of Buffalo. While we were out taking pictures of the heard Ken and Jasper were approached by a Buffalo which walked across the road. They calmly walked backwards and got back in the car. We also stopped to see some waterfalls which was quite impressive and made us hold our children a bit closer. They boys loved climbing on the rocks and when we couldn't find Jasper we just had to look up on the cliff in the trees :-)

Sabbatical Roadtrip Day 3-4

We left Idaho and headed to Bozeman,MT to visit my dear friend and old roommate Sara. It was a long drive. We tried to stop at the Lewis & Clark Caverns but the tour wait was too long so we pressed on and made it in time for dinner. It was so fun to reconnect with Sara. Her 2 little boys Jack & Finn were so excited to have 2 more kids + a big kid. They called Jasper the green guy since he was wearing a green shirt. The boys loved wrestling. We went for a little picnic and the boys played in the creek while I got to reconnect with both Sara and Robbyn (another friend from 12+ yrs ago). Having a 14 yr old boys with us was a great help, but also presented some situations we have not prepared ourselves for like crossing the river and hiking up the rocks barefoot to the highest ledge. I kept telling myself, "he's a boy scout, he can handle this just fine". We also stopped by the Museum of the Rockies and enjoyed the crocodile and dinosaur exhibits. Our couple of days here were so relaxing!

Sabbatical Road trip Day 1-2

We are embarking on a trip to visit family in the Midwest! My cousin flew in 2 days earlier and will be with us for the first week of the adventure. First stop Silverwood Theme Park in CoeurdAlene, ID. We enjoyed the theme park the first half of the day, and then moved over to the Water park area till it closed. Our first ride was Tremors a wooden roller coaster that was too jerky for Logan. He decided he was done with the roller coasters after that. Nate loved the Timber Terror (the other wooden roller coaster) and rode it multiple times with Jasper. Dad was brave enough to do the After Shock ride which he had a free fall both facing forward and backwards. We all watched :-) We rode the white water rafting ride and all of us were SOAKED except Logan! After a picnic lunch we moved to the Water park area and enjoyed the wave pool, lazy river and a few of the slides. Nate, Jasper & Ken had a mat and raced head first down the Riptide Racer slides. Jasper was happy to get 1st place. The lines were a bit long and we didn't make it to all the slides. Guess we will have to return another time :-) We left the water park when it closed at 7pm, grabbed some pizza and went back to the theme park side to get in a few more rides in. By 10:30 Logan was DONE! And a very tired, happy family headed back to our hotel.

Tball

What a fun season! I was a bit unsure if Nate was going to be excited about a new sport, but we signed him up and he made it on a team with 2 buddies from school. The first game was more like watching pig pile on the ball. As soon as the ball was hit all the kids would run in from their positions and try to get the ball. Whoever got the ball would hold it triumphantly until finally hearing the coach say throw the ball to first! Eventually as the season progressed the kids were able to stay in their positions unless it was hit to their area and got better at throwing the ball in the general area of first base. Honestly it was a bit hard to watch... everyone bats, everyone hits (eventually), everyone gets on base, and no one gets out. So unless you have a sweet little guy on the field it's hard to watch. At any given time someone on the team is playing in the dirt or picking flowers in the grass. Half way through the season they did switch from hitting off a tee, to coach pitch. Daddy was able to step in and participate (in practices and games!) which was a lot of fun. We made friends and we learned a lot this season.

Happy Birthday Colton!

Logan decided to make a motorcycle bear for his cousin (who is turning 1). Colton seems to like motorcycles like his dad. We hope it's a hit!

No more monkeys jumping on the couch!

What a day we just had! It all started with a friendly game of "hey let's jump backwards into each other!" To a 4 and 6 year old that seems like a lot of fun. As I sat and ate my yogurt I began to process what I was hearing/seeing. Both were standing on the couch (usually not allowed, but since it's the old white couch I didn't come down hard on them). Back to back they started to jump/bump into each other. Well before Logan even got a turn, Nate catapulted him off the couch onto the train table. I immediately grabbed a nearby dish towel hearing the thud and knowing it was bad. Mayhem followed next. I threw on flip flops, grabbed two front teeth that were on the train tracks and we ran out to the car. If you must know I did call 911 thinking they could tell me if a Dentist or ER would be the best option. They told me they couldn't provide advice but could send an ambulance. I hung up and aimlessly drove down the street. I saw my neighbors cars were home and quick banged on the front door. She suggested calling the dentist and let them know I was on my way and provided a bag of ice. Logan screamed the whole way there. It was awful. And yes, a few posted traffic signs were overlooked as I sped down the road. We arrived at the Dentist, checked in, and I softly cried as I held my sweet little guy. The dentist quickly got him in a chair and distracted with Shrek while they took xrays and diagnosed his mouth. I was a little consoled that these teeth were already a bit loose and arguably going to fall out in the next 6 months anyway. We are optimistic that there wasn't any damage to the adult teeth. The Dentist did send us to the ER to get his lip sutured and have a follow up regarding a 3rd tooth (which is very wiggly) to determine if it needs to be extracted. So thankful as I think of how much worse this could have been. And now, to figure out how to stop replaying this over and over in my head.

Shoes are tied!

Nathaniel has learned how to tie his shoes. I think we only spent 5 minutes with him on it. He was determined to learn so he could get some school shoe laces from the gym teacher. This kid is so motivated!