One of the items on my pre-trip to-do list was, "Learn how to blog from the new laptop." Guess what item did not get checked off before we left? So, hopefully this works and I can figure out how to upload pictures correctly!
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I spent most of Friday getting things ready for the drive. Saturday morning was surprisingly unrushed as we finished packing and tried to check a few final things off the to-do list. I was pleased to see how much space we had left in the trunk once everything was packed. It will get more full when Mark joins us, but it's not nearly as bad as I had feared.
Saturday my boys had their final soccer games of the season. As soon as Bryce's last game was finished, we said good-bye to Mark, hopped in the car, and drove just over 2 hours to Royal City, Washington. We ate leftover pizza for dinner while we drove and started our first audio book of the trip. When we arrived, we all agreed that the two hours flew past and felt that bodes well for our ability to handle the driving on this trip.
Visiting Royal is always one of our very, very favorite things to do. We arrived just in time to have dessert. Thane and Max volunteered to squeeze lemons to make copycat Chick-Fil-A frozen lemonade.
In addition, Ashlee made us ice-cream and cookie sandwiches. Yum!
The Fieldings came over briefly and before we knew it, the kids had maneuvered sleepovers. Megan, Jaylen, and Aubree camped out in the media room at Ashlee's, and Andrea took Bryce, Thane, and Maggie with her. If we'd thought it through a little better, we would have switched the sleepover locations (poor Andrea had to get 7 boys and 1 girl ready for church the next morning on her own!), but the kids had so much fun together. Andrea sent me this picture of Bryce, Maggie, and Jerry studying their scriptures that evening. Later, Andrea thanked me for letting Bryce go saying he is "such a good influence." I'm not arguing that Bryce is pretty great, but I think this picture makes it clear that Jerry and Maggie are also excellent examples!
Nellie and Graham were super keyed up, so it took them a while to fall asleep. It took the big girls even longer, though I can't say they were trying too hard. They spent their evening watching Studio C and JK Studios. They introduced Tyler to the Freelancers series, and it was late enough that they were all laughing hysterically.
Ashlee and I stayed up till the wee hours of the morning talking about matters dear to our hearts. I am so grateful for friends like Ashlee. I think God wants us to have relationships of deep connection.
Sunday morning Graham and Nellie woke up at 5 am telling me, "Mom, it's light outside. Can we get up?!" I made them stay in bed till 7, but I don't think Graham fell back asleep. Ugh!
Since we were all up so early, we had more than enough time to get ready for church. Going to church around the country has been one of the things I've most looked forward to while planning our road trip. Attending church in Royal was even better because we know so many wonderful, wonderful people there. Both Sacrament meeting and Relief Society focused on Christ, the Lamb of God. Talking about the Atonement and Grace is my favorite, so it was a very good day.
After church the kids changed into play clothes in about 5 seconds and got to work playing with their friends. I made Bryce practice his piano, but he didn't mind too much because Maggie practiced right along with him. I'm glad that even though they are getting older, they still have an easy, balanced friendship.
Ashlee made meat and potatoes for lunch, but the kids all liked the corn bread and honey butter best.
We met together for afternoon scripture study, then Jaylen and Aubree played a special musical number, "Peace in Christ," on their ukuleles.
At five, we loaded up and headed over to the Allred home for dessert night. Jaylen, Aubree, Bryce, and Maggie left a little early to see how far they could walk before we caught up to them in the cars. It's a different world in farm country!
Dessert night brought together so many of my favorite people. The kids felt like it was heaven on earth: a table piled with treats, hordes of kids, a big playground including a merry-go-round, and dirt in which to dig. Oh yeah, they loved it.
I adore the scenery in Western Washington, but the vistas in Royal are also beautiful and stunning. It seems to me that Royal City has a heart beat. When I'm there, I feel connected and grounded.
We made a concerted effort to get everyone to bed reasonably on time Sunday evening. Even though I was sorely tempted to stay up late talking to Tyler and Ashlee, we managed to cut our conversation off by 11pm so we could get enough sleep. I loved their thoughts and experiences about helping the poor and needy. They are such great examples to me!
Monday morning we were up and ready to go early. We said good-bye and drove away by 7:30 am. The kids were not happy about leaving; they would have been happy to stay for at least another week. I think leaving places might end up being the hardest part of our trip.
Monday was the longest travel day of our whole trip. By the time we arrived in Springville, we'd been in the car for 12 1/2 hours. We had our moments of fussing and arguing, but overall, the kids were all excellent! It helped that we fixed the DVD player in our car, and I let the kids watch a movie the last two hours of the trip. The good news is that from now on, all other travel days should seem easy in comparison to yesterday!
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