The End of our Vacation

So we decided to take the "scenic route" on the way home from Burley. FYI... this took us 2 days to get home! Granted, we stopped and did a lot of sight seeing, baby feeding, diaper changing, potty breaks, gas stops, and bought WAY too much junk food!

This is at Lake Cascade, about 30 minutes outside of McCall (where we stayed Sunday night). Maggie had to eat, and there was NO way I was going to listen to her scream for 30 minutes! Joe took these pictures while I was in the car with the babe. It was too late to go swimming that night, so bright and early the next morning, you better believe that's the first thing the kids wanted to do! Of course, I was AGAIN feeding Maggie while the kids were swimming, so I didn't get any pictures, but this is right after Mag's bath.

HELLO ROUND BELLY!

After we left the hotel, we drove down to the lake (Lake McCall) for some more swimming. It was pretty overcast so the water wasn't all that warm but that didn't stop Haylie and Connor from jumping right in! Even Connor, who is a little weary of the water sometimes, and really would rather be in a hot tub, put his head right in!

This dog belonged to someone at the lake, and he LOVED to play fetch. Luckily he found the biggest sucker of them all, and he and Connor played and played until it was time for us to go!

Poor Haylie... she's such a trooper. She swam and swam until her tiny little body just couldn't take it anymore. She was FREEZING!!

So, after we swam til our heart's content... we loaded up and went to go find a yummy place to eat some lunch. Maggie was asleep so I put her in her car seat so we could eat. She was ZONKED! We filled our tummies, jumped back in the car, filled up with gas (and a delicious Maverick frozen yogurt :), and headed out of town. I'd say it was about two hours down the road when we saw some rafters on the river. The kids were FREAKING OUT so we stopped to watch. Joe opened up the door to check on Maggie and this is what he found:

OH. MY. GOSH.

What the heck?? Who forgot to buckle up Maggie?? Look at her head! What if we got in a wreck? Haylie, why didn't you tell us Maggie wasn't buckled up? Joe fix her head! How is she still asleep? Joe, look at her head! Fix it! Is she asleep?

2 HOURS!

Yep. You read that right. We drove for two straight hours, through a winding, narrow, canyon with Maggie asleep like this. Can you say horrible parents? Jeesh! Luckily, everything was fine. Joe picked her up, changed her diaper and put her back in the car seat and she didn't even flinch.

So since our little "detour" home was taking WAY longer than it should have, we stayed put in the car for a while. When we got to Grangeville, ID, we decided to stop at this little building that we passed on the way through town. Apparently, some guy was digging a trench to lay some pipe in 1994 and dug up this huge bone! He later discovered that it was a mammoth femur bone and went on to dig up the rest of the skeleton. How cool is that??! Who woulda' thought in little ole Grangeville, you'd find a mammoth skeleton?!

(next two pictures taken by Haylie)

I guess he didn't want to say "cheese." Ahh the joys of travelling. Don't I look marvelous?

I'm so happy that these two girls have each other for life! Doesn't Maggie look like she's enjoying herself?

Aaaaand... she's had enough!

What a great trip! If I can get a picture with these kids smiling after being in the car for two straight days, I'd say our little vacation was a success!

Thank you so much Rachel and Steve for letting us barge in on you while you're getting ready to move. We are so glad you did, and hope to make some new fun memories with you in Wyoming!