Washington or Bust!

We have been talking about this trip for SIX years.  Planning it for ONE year and FINALLY...we're off to Washington.  ME + SIX KIDS at 4:00 AM=potential disaster.

Thankfully...

it was a great drive with my four plus Maleia's Dani and Matthew.  We made it to Tremonton, Utah in 8 hours and only one stop.  Amazing.  I couldn't believe how well the kids handled the drive.

I am pretty sure that THIS

HELPED the drive go so smoothly!  They all slept about three hours, waking up about 7:00...hungry as could be for breakfast.  The "plan" was to stop in Rock Springs, WY...so we just started passing out granola bars, cranked up the music and were rocking out in the early morning hours.

I thought the sunrise was beautiful...so I very carefully took this picture...

After we connected with Grandma and Grandpa Titus...my kids and I were off to Boise, ID to spend the night.  We stayed with a senior couple that served in Sidney a few years ago and they have the most beautiful home! They were very gracious and had dinner for us, let the kids play and then we all crashed by 9:00.  We were out the door by 9:00 am ready to finish our day in Vancouver, WA.  The speed limits are SLOW in Oregon, so I felt like we were never going to make it.  At the summit of the Blue Mountains, we took a little break at the look out point.  I love the patchwork quilt look of the landscape.

We made it to Vancouver and I couldn't resist showing the kids our old house.  Brayden was convinced that he remembered this house...which is impossible because we moved when he was 6 weeks old.

We stayed with my awesome friend Jill.  It was fun hang out and watch the kids play, stay up late talking and making new memories.  Monday morning we loaded the van and headed out to a HUGE park with lunch from Wendy's.  The kids played and played for hours.

We said our goodbyes and headed to Tigard, OR to stay the night with Matt's sister Ellen and family.  The cousins were so happy to see each other and played wonderfully!  We were treated to Little Caesar's for dinner (they own two franchises) and Sonic for dessert!  We were nice and let everyone stay up WAY too late...resulting in a jumping off the top bunk incident...and Morley losing two of his loose teeth.  Don't worry...they were baby teeth and needed to come out anyway!

Tuesday morning we had the most delicious breakfast of pancakes with Nutella, fresh strawberries and whip cream on top.  Again...we packed up the van with our bags and headed out to a NICE movie theatre for free movie Tuesdays.  With candy from the dollar store in hand, we had fun watching Astro Boy.  Brayden was amazed at the size of the theatre!  We went back to their house for a quick lunch and the kids said a sad goodbye to their cousins.  And...no pictures.  oops.

Then...in the car AGAIN...to our final destination.