MT RUSHMORE

Kind of patriotic of us, eh? Visiting this neat site on today's date...

The town of Rapid City actually seemed to have a lot to do, touristy-wise, but we had only allotted time for the actual main attraction, but we vowed to make a trip back some day.

Mt. Rushmore itself was pretty impressive... We enjoyed seeing it, but didn't do much beside view it and snap a few pictures as it was difficult with our whole crew. The gift shop was fun, but Caleb couldn't be persuaded to get the cool little stuffed President Roosevelt (I figured I'd get Lincoln for Aidan, and I'd be set). Instead, he wanted the cheap snow globe, so that's what they both got...

After lunch, we hit the road and finally made it to Aberdeen around 9:00 CA time, which was 11:00 to our poor friends who waited up to let us in.

some cute things

We've seen a lot of motorcycles on this road trip, much to Caleb's delight. There were especially tons throughout the Sturgis area. It's crazy though how there are not helmet laws everywhere. When Caleb sees a guy just wearing a bandana, instead of a helmet, he identifies him as a "pirate" on a motorcycle.

He also cracked us up the other day, when we were talking about where to eat lunch, and he put in his vote that he 'wanted to eat lunch at Disneyland'.

Also, it made us laugh at one point in the car ride today as daddy was buckling him back in after a stop, he asked to watch another movie, and daddy said, "okay, I guess.". Caleb exclaimed very gleefully, "oh, I really thought you were going to say no".

Here's some pictures of the boys having fun in the hotel.

Rapid City, SD

Today wasn't bad for a travel day, except that I have a yucky stomach bug and was pretty out of it. Weston did an incredible job of handling most of everything/everyone himself. We arrived in Rapid City, SD in early evening, and found a hotel that had an open indoor water park (which Weston and Caleb are currently enjoying) Nothing else very eventful to report on... except that Aidan took a pretty narley fall onto the concrete at a rest stop. But what is one more scrape to that kid?

Home on the range...

Long travel day today... Spokane to Billings, Montana. Beautiful drive though, through part of Idaho and then Montana, which neither one of us have ever been to. We've sure seen a lot of cowboy hats!
The boys all did really well today, for which we are so thankful. We stopped at two fast food places with great playplaces. One had a group of teenagers 'hanging out' in it, which seems a little tacky, but we laughed at how Caleb and Aidan flocked right to them. They are sure used to being around "students". The teenagers were great with them, also.
We chose a hotel with an indoor water slide area... only to get here and find out it is closed due to 'remodelling'. But, they told us we could use similiar amenenities at a hotel across town, which we might hit in the AM.

One neat thing we've noticed is that Caleb and Aidan seem to be really bonding as brothers on this trip. Maybe Caleb is finally bored enough to accept Aidan as a playmate? Whatever his reason, its very cute, and very nice as they are doing quite well playing together, especially wrecking havoc around the hotel room.

Made it to Spokane...

We enjoyed a leisurely morning at the Oxley's farm, and headed out, after emotional goodbyes, after lunch. The kids napped the first leg of today's journey, through the beautiful mountains, but did get rather annoyed that we were still in the car during the late afternoon shift (esp. the twins). We made it though, and even did dinner at Denny's (a feat not to be attempted again anytime soon... although the twins can sit in high chairs now... so cute...). We made it to our hotel by about 9:00. It has a living room, kitchen, and 2 bedrooms! Wow!

Troutdale to Onalaska

The kids actually all slept in until past 8:00, so we had a bit of a relaxing morning. We drove the hour and a half to Weston's grandparents house and arrived in time for lunch. It was very fun being there, on their beautiful property in WA. It was also extremely nice to have Weston's dad, Alan, there as well. The boys had a blast playing around the house, and it was so fun to see them interact with their relatives! Caleb got to sleep in the top bunk of a bunk bed, which he thought was extremely cool! Aidan's favorite new experience there; peaches and corn on the cob!

Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!

Today we got to visit a very fun drive through Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR. Mommy and Daddy were a little more excited about this than the boys, but Caleb and Aidan did have fun seeing so many animals, especially the ones that were close to the car. Our best views included giraffes, bison, turkey, and an emu. There was also an area to walk around and see some more animals in cages. It was good for them to run some energy off.

We drove for about 4 hours (hitting Portland traffic which was annoying) to Troutdale, where we got to visit the Laffins (Scott, Sherrie, Kelsea, Rusty, and new baby Hunter). We enjoyed a pizza together, and visited some amongst the chaos of our 7 children. It so nice to see them!

Now we are in a hotel in Troutdale, and I think the kids are finally settled in... and its after 10:00. I'm exhausted.

Day 2

Caleb and Aidan thoroughly enjoyed spending time at Grandpa Bernie's. There are animals to observe everywhere... And Caleb was SO excited about going fishing (for the first time). He helped to catch several bluegill and even a small bass! He loved it (more than daddy, but probably not more than mommy). Aidan loved being out there too, and taking a paddleboat ride in the pond (it was just hard to keep him out of the pond). I'm so glad the boys got to spend some time there. It was very special to see Dad and Dorothy enjoying our kids so much. Even in the midst of the craziness of 4 small young'uns!

We hit the road again about 2:00 pm, and everyone napped beautifully until we stopped for dinner. How did we manage to stop at our third fast food place along I-5 that didn't have a playplace, or even a changing table?

However, the last leg (about 1.5 hours) to Canyonville, OR, was pretty trying. The twins cried pretty passionately, and Caleb and Aidan vocalized their discontent at being strapped into their seats for so long as well... But we made it, to a hotel with adjoining rooms. Daddy took Caleb swimming while I put the others down, and then Caleb joined them in the "kids'" room.

I wonder what is going through their little minds? Especially Caleb...

And we're off...

After 4 hectic weeks of packing and saying goodbye to So Cal, we are finally on our way, a day late (due to not finishing packing), but on our way still the same.

We thought we'd try to record our trip as much as we can, for those who are following our progress, and for our own memories.

We left at about 9:00 AM, and arrived in Oroville at Amy's dad's place around 6:30. Not too bad... we made 3 stops (gas, lunch, and a snack). The kids did amazingly well, with each one fussing at various times for about 5 minutes max. Caleb and Aidan LOVED the DVD player in our new van. We're trying not to abuse it, but it sure is handy. We also stockpiled some new toys and goodies to dole out along the way. Caleb got to play with a very cool Star Wars learning laptop that Grandma Joy had found for him.

We're pretty exhausted, but got Aidan and the twins to bed in a room together, and Caleb has his air mattress next to ours in the living room. Here's to a good night's sleep.

this twin or that?

Its fun to see Kellan and Ethan's developing personalities... I thought it'd be fun to record what I see every so often and then be able to see if the observations continued to ring true.

Ethan: He is a little more social. Our little outgoing, gregarious, charmer. He doesn't want to miss out on anything, and is usually the one to be awake more often when we are out and about. His smile lights up his whole face and is most often accompanied by wiggling arms and legs. If I am nursing them both together, he does not like to be underneath Kellan at all. He'll squirm and kick, and karate chop Kellan in the head. He also gets really scared and stiff if I carry him down the stairs too quickly. I have to take them very slowly.

Kellan: He is more laid back, and has the sweetest little sly grin. It melts my heart. "Sweet" seems to describe him very well. He's more content to just take things in as they come, and will sleep through more outings. His mantra is more like "whatever". I feel he will be a stable, loyal, dependable guy.