"My ideas usually come not at my desk writing but in the midst of living." -Anais Nin

Girls road trip to Auntie's house

I quite possibly have the best little travelers.

Turns out nap time is the best way to start any trip.

The scenery on the way there was amazing!

The colors were breath taking and the little streams and rivers along the way had me stopping more than once to capture their beauty. I'm going to have to make this trip again next fall. Only this time I'll be expecting all the splendors of fall in that area and will be prepared to make stops often

 Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and had to use my crummy cellphone camera. It doesn't do it justice. One day I will own a beautiful, expensive camera and our road trips will forever be changed. It will probably take us twice as long to get there.

Auntie had yummy chocolate chip cookies waiting for us when we got there. The only thing she and I have in common...but that deserves a blog all of it"s own.

Apparently Haddie shares that same love. :o) I have to insert here that I make the yummiest whole wheat choc. chip cookies. I know, it sounds like an oxymoron, but don't knock it till you've tried them! We forgave Auntie of her evils ways, but before I left I burned all her white flour to help her over come it's enticing ways so she wouldn't be drawn back in. She was ever so grateful....really. 

Isaac adored his little baby cousin. He was asking to hold her every time I turned around. I think he would enjoy a little baby of his own (hint hint Auntie) Haddie and Caleb only clashed when they were eating, sleeping, or playing. Those two have a long history together. Unfortunately, Haddie's side of the story looks more like a rap sheet.

I know I said we only had one thing in common, but I lied. We both love breakfast and man, can she make a mean breakfast! There were several things to pick from and all were scrumptious...not saying that I ate all of them....:-S ok, I did, but I worked it off...or I'm planning to anyway. No, really, I am. Bible study is in two hours and believe me I will have worked up a sweat whipping this house into shape AND getting dinner ready. Who needs Jillian Michael's when you're cleaning up after two toddlers all day?!

Ok, back to the trip...it was so much fun getting to spend quality sister time with her. It amazed me how she is still that little girl who begged me to play house with her. She would spend two hours getting the "house" ready, all of her babies dressed, and the meal (mud, pine needles, grass, and whatever else we thought looked good in a pot) ready. I would patiently (bah!) sit around and wait for her to be ready to play house while she got everything just so, only to have her say after two hours, ''Ok, now what do you want to play?". It wasn't at all frustrating...

She is the perfect little homemaker and mother, cleaning up after the kids while cooking for us, baking and preparing for a baby shower that she was hosting, preparing for and teaching Sunday school, as well as spending quality time with me. I don't know how she does it! She probably doesn't blog...

She was my best friend throughout my childhood and this trip really made me miss those days.

Uncle was amazing! He watched the kiddos for us a few times and when I was packing and trying to get the car loaded he took fussy Jenna for me and put her right to sleep. He is a great daddy and I enjoyed watching him interact with both his kids and mine.

We had such a great time. The weekend went by way too fast. If you notice Caleb has a hold of that chair. He is ready for undeserved abuse at any random moment. I think he was brokenhearted to see us go.

As if the eight hour round trip drive wasn't enough, but of course it wouldn't be a road trip without road construction

I had to do something to entertain myself. Like I said my kids are great travelers and both were passed out in the back seat. Two super late nights in a row make for a long drive. It was a fun drive back tho. I was in a storm pretty much the whole way. The rain was pouring and there were angry clouds hovering at all times. I came to a sign that I wish I could have gotten a snap shot of. It was on the highway and by the time I saw it it was too late to accomplish without causing a wreck. It said water on road. I found it quite comical since we were in the middle of a down pour. Maybe they wanted to make sure the drivers new that rain created water on the road. I thought that was pretty obvious, but it was Oregon. After all their speed limit is only 65.