We left Eric's grandparents around 10:00 on Friday morning. Our destination was Cheyenne, Wyoming. Traveling with kids makes it necessary to stop half way through or so.
It was sad to say goodbye to Grandma & Grandpa. Eric's mom keeps saying how sick Grandma is and that she doesn't think she'll live much longer. It's really kind of sad. This woman, though, NEVER STOPS WORKING. She was constantly on her feet - making meals, cleaning up the meals, preparing dessert, cleaning up dessert. Between her and my mother in law I certainly felt like a lazy sack of potatoes. Although, I felt it was probably best that I keep an eye on the kids.
Grandpa is amazing. His gospel knowledge is so amazing and his love of the gospel is even more amazing. He is also a hard worker and is constantly out taking care of his garden. I wish I had taken pics of the garden, but I didn't. He was so proud of his garden and always wants to show it off.
I am realizing now that we should've taken pics of each of the kids with Grandma & Grandpa, but we didn't. We almost had one of Ailey and Grandpa - but then I had to walk by and ruined that moment.
It was such a precious moment as well. Towards the start of the week Grandpa was just playing with Ailey and scared the crap out of her. The rest of the week, Ailey didn't want to go near Grandpa. She would talk to him from across the room and even blew rasperries at him a few times, but anytime he'd get close she'd run in the other direction. The day we were packing up the cars no one was around to hold Ailey and she wanted to be held. Grandpa just happened to be around and picked her up and she LET him! Mom went to grab a camera, but because I walked by we never got the picture. Eric and I are just glad that Ailey warmed up before we left. It made Grandpa so happy.
We stopped at the Air Force Museum on the way out of Nebraska since Dad wanted a new hat. Well the gift shop hadn't quite opened so the rest of us got out of the cars and Mom got pictures of us by the replica missiles and rockets. She didn't send any of those to me though.
We then decided it was a good time for a potty break, so we went into the museum long enough to go potty and wait for Dad to get his hat from the gift shop. Lex was amazed by the plane they have when you first walk into the museum. I don't know what it's called, but like Lex noticed - it's like the X-Men's jet. I laughed that Lex made that connection. Dad wasn't able to get his hat
as they were sold out, but Eric found a book about planes that he enjoyed and so he got that.
We headed back out on the road and after an hour or so Eric's parents called us over the walkie - talkie telling us they were having car trouble. The car would just kind of start jerking and making noises. They had to pull over to the side of the road for a bit and then restart the engine and it was fine. They found out if they kept the tank mostly full it ran a bit better. So we were stopping to fill up a lot more often than we would've normally.
Friday ended up being a long day for us all. The kids were all screaming and fighting. Ailey was DONE being in her carseat and Eric and I were just drained. We got to the hotel and Eric's dad got us checked in and then came back out and said we'd go to dinner first then come back and unload.
We had dinner at an Arby's and by the time we got back to the hotel, Eric and I were totally done for the day. The kids wanted to go swimming, but Eric and I just weren't up to that task. Taking 5 kids swimming can be quite the chore. So instead we just had baths, let the kids watch cartoons and then went to bed.
I didn't get to sleep until 2:30. Ailey went to bed FINALLY around midnight, but then because we were right by the highway - all I could hear was the traffic and it made it difficult to sleep. We woke up around 7 and got ready for the day.
Eric's dad had taken their vehicle to Walmart's mechanic to see what they could tell him. They thought it was just bad gas and told Eric's dad to buy a fuel cleaner something or other. He did that and we thought we were good to go.
Well the car still had issues the whole way home, but it made it home. It was another long drive and I think I was able to sleep a bit, just cause I was sooo tired. We got to Eric's parents around 7:00 and Eric's dad ran to get KFC for dinner.
We ate dinner, then transferred all our belongings to our vehicle and headed home. We got home around 8:30. After everyone unloaded they all just crashed. I would've too, but since it was Sunday the next day I decided I'd better unpack Saturday night. It was a good thing I did and come Sunday I was happy I had done it the night before. It meant that Sunday I could really relax and do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
All in all it was a wonderful trip and I'm so glad we were able to go. Eric's grandparents are some of the most wonderful people in the world. They are so loving and welcoming. Opening your home to anyone is a challenge, but when you add 9 extra people to your home, I'm sure it's a bit stressful. Neither one of his grandparents acted like we were an added stress however. Grandpa even exclaimed that he was so excited when he heard we were coming!
I was glad Grandma & Grandpa had the chance to meet Ailey. They might never have had the chance in this life. Plus, Ailey grew extra attached to Eric's dad on the trip. Always such a sweet thing to see.
I sometimes wish we lived closer to his grandparents. They are just such terrific people and they enjoyed our company and I enjoyed theirs.
As for souvenirs, I got plenty. In the form of mosquito bites. They sure loved me out there. The kids got a few, Eric and his mom only complained of one. Me, I had 3 in one place on my leg, 2 on one foot, one on my inner knee of one leg, one on the other inner knee of the other leg, 1 on the other foot, a few on my neck, some on my face and one on my chest! LOL!
Grandma kept saying, "I hope you don't get sick." She was worried about West Nile. Is that even a threat anymore? Anyway, I told her not to worry and I feel just fine now.
We left a souvenir at Grandma's as well. We left our church clothes hanging in the closet! Oops. She has to mail them to us now. Guess it's a good thing we own a few different articles of church clothing.
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