Road Trip Part 1

 We had been discussing going out to Utah and Las Vegas to see family for quite some time. Spring Break was coming up, I was off of work (at the pre-school) and Ryan had a week of teaching Seminary. We started to plan the trip.  Then, my gall bladder planned a mutiny! I finally gave in and got a HIDA scan which showed it was only functioning at 11%. My consultation with the surgeon was scheduled for Thursday, the day before we were planning to leave. We waited to get his medical approval to travel before we officially packed up the car! So I had less than half a day to get completely ready! But, we did it!

We decided to drive to Utah first. We loaded the kids, bags, toys, movies, food, practically the entire house. We stopped for dinner at a Taco Bell. While we were eating, a sweet lady came up and asked if she could give all 3 kids $.50! She said they were so well behaved and enjoyable to watch and listen to, that she wanted to treat them. She also mentioned how much she missed her grandkids who lived far away. It was a fantastic "positive reinforcement" moment for the kids, and at our next stop we bought them donuts with their money as a treat.

We drove as long as all of us could take (besides Ryan, he could drive forever!). Everyone was getting tired. Cannon especially. But he couldn't fall asleep with all of the distractions around him! So he covered himself in his blanket, and fell asleep like that!!!

 We finally stopped in Burlington, Colorado for the night. We found an older, but clean motel to stay at. The girls went to bed pretty easily in their bed.

 And Cannon barely woke up when we transferred him from the car to his sleeping bag. He was OUT!!

The next morning we got on the road pretty early, and arrived in Utah just in time for dinner. Ryan and I agree that this leg of the trip was the easiest road trip we've taken our kids on. They were relatively quiet, in good moods, and didn't repeatedly ask "Are we there yet?" And Ryan didn't get a speeding ticket! I felt like it was a confirmation of it being the right decision to make the trip.