Utah trip 2016....the drive there.

Time to drive to Utah. 

I have a bag full of pinteresting activities and 5 strange Redbox movies. (That's the limit.)

So in every way, I have done what I can to prepare for what lies ahead for the next 17 hours and 42 minutes. 

Never underestimate the power of an "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movie to captivate the children for roughly an hour and a half. Well worth the dollar fifty....

To save money, we stopped at rest stops for sandwiches and a variety of other picnicky foods...hard boiled eggs, capri sun, bugles, cuties, granola bars.  It was uncharacteristically chilly so we made use of our freshly washed beach towels to keep the littles warm. (I packed their jackets deep into the massive suitcase, thinking we wouldn't need them until Bryce Canyon.

Mark challenged Ethan to some crossfit-style drills to get the blood flowing again after hours and hours of driving.

And Megan showed us that she can literally cartwheel circles around the rest of us.

Mark took several beautiful shots of this golden field of wheat right behind the rest stop. I miss the mountains, but I have to admit that Kansas has its own natural beauty.

We hit the road again and didn't stop until we were in Denver. Dinner was an expensive trip to Chick-fil-a. Then a dip in the strange indoor/outdoor pool while Mark and Ethan spent some quality time and the local guitar shop.

The next day we made our way through the Rockies where a five minute potty break grew into a 40 minute "gather as many rocks as possible and sneak them out in your pockets" break.

But we walked away with a Christmas card worthy photo. Well worth its price in river rock.

We coasted out of the rockies jammin to Adele and holding our breath through the tunnels. 

 Everybody was feelin fresh and excited to see Grandma. We made it in record time and having no crying infants to sooth made it some version of heaven for me.