I cannot believe that our trip to North Dakota has come and gone. Doesn't this always happen? You see that you have 2 1/2 weeks ahead of you and that's so much time. But then, all of the sudden it's gone! I remember laying on the floor the first night we were at my parents and I told my mom: "This time is going to fly by!" And yep, it certainly did!
What a blessing that we get to see family every summer: mom, dad, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. (We missed out on seeing my brother's family this summer so that was pretty sad) I can't tell you how much I just needed to get out of town. Get out of a routine. Get away from "it all." Going through changes can be tough and what this girl really needed was her momma! I really wanted to be with my mom and talk! I wanted to sit with my dad and drink coffee and catch up! And if I can be completely honest, I wanted a break from parenting!!! I always joke that when I go up north to visit my family my parenting goes down to about 20%! Let me explain. Matt and I are on constant parent duty- 100%. We can't call family when my kids are freaking out and driving me crazy and ask them to take the kids for a couple of hours! We can't drop them off at family's house to do date night every ____ night. Heck, we can't even drop one kid- ONE KID!!!!!! Sun up, sun down it's mommy and daddy duty! Don't get me wrong, we have friends who say they would love to watch the kids, however, it's not as convenient as calling up mom and dad in tears and telling them you really need them to take the kids or you're going to go crazy! haha....Ok, Ok, I'm being overly dramatic, but you get the picture! So I really don't feel bad at all for being a little "mommy lazy" when I go visit North Dakota. The boys had my mom outside in 50 degree misting rain playing soccer! Me? Well I was inside nice and warm drinking my coffee watching the today show without interruption! I had to laugh when at the end of the day my parents would plop down on the couch and say, "man, I'm tired! Why am I so tired?" It could be that the boys made you play soccer, trains, planes, golf, catch, bubbles, soccer, soccer, chase after them on battery cars, and a little more soccer before bed. Welcome to our life! :)
Below is a little recap of some of the things we did in ND. We had a blast!!
*Preparing for the trip is a lot of work for mommy!!
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| My color-coded list! This doesn't even include my list of freezer meals I made for Matt! |
*Lets get this trip started!! We had a fabulous time in OKC at my friend Sabrina's house! We only had to drive 7 hours the first day and spent the night with The Starks. Fabulous hosts!!!
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| We're all excited!! |
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| Happy travelers! |
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| Sweet Kinley didn't do too bad either! |
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| Bubble fun with Will! |
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| More bubbles |
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| Sure felt good to get out of the car! |
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| Kinley and Natalie checking each other out! Kinley wants to know where her bow is! |
It must be said that to travel with my mom and me is not for the faint of heart. You will be limited in what you drink so that bathroom breaks are kept to a minimum- no big gulps for you! We are going to go as many hours as possible in one day and we are most definitely going to try to beat the time that is on the GPS estimated time of arrival. The stops are quick- get out, move your legs, pee, change diapers, wash your hands and buckle up! You ask how that is possible with an almost 4 year old, 2 1/2 year old and 7 month old? Movies, treats, games, toys, a little bit of whining and crying (this is when you turn up the music & sing as loud as you can), games and forced napping! Of course there was a little bit of tough love to go along with it. I can say that we have fun, however!! The passenger even gets a workout climbing over seats to the back to retrieve dropped items and get kids set up with treats. Therefore, the best seat in the whole place is the driver's seat because it's you and the open road and no dealing with kids. On the way there mom and I took turns driving, but on the way back to Houston my mom drove the whole 17.5 hours to Oklahoma City!! I must say my kids are awesome travelers! I'm so thankful for my mom that she was able to fly down just to turn around the next day to drive to ND and then drive back to Houston and make the flight back to ND. What a mom!! I love that she has summers off now!
*We finally made it to North Dakota Friday evening!! The boys had so much fun with Morgan, Brooke and Brynn!
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| Brooke and Carson |
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| Morgan and Carter |
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| Cute! |
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| My adorable bed head girl! |
*I planned a get together for all the Nottestads at my parent's house. It was great to see everyone but we missed some who couldn't make it!!
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| All the littles! |
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| Grands and great-grands with Grandma and Grandpa Nottestad |
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| Cousins |
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| Kelly |
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| Rachel, Shelby and Rebekah (and Hadley sneaking in!) |
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| Carter bawled when Shelby left! Carter and Carson wouldn't leave her side! |
*Another short (2 1/2 hour) road trip to Ellendale, ND to hear about my aunt and uncles time on the mission field! I'm so glad our trips coincided!! Had a great family get together with my mom's side!
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| Why yes, you can take all the kids to the park! These are the little mommies that take over! Love it! |
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| Last summer my precious cousin Kate was getting married! |
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| Chelsey! New adventures a coming their way! |
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| These two always have the sweetest kodak moments! |
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| Brynn was Carter's buddy! He also bawled when he had to leave her!! |
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| My sweet Auntie Tammy! Proud to call this missionary my aunt!! |
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| Why yes, those are cans of pop my boys have! Like I said, it can be a free for all!! YOLO, right?! |
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| My PRECIOUS grandma Jan |
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| Four Generations! |
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| She likes the swing! |
*BEYOND EXCITED that my bestest friend came 6 hours to see me!!!!!!!!!! Nothing like the comfort of being with your best friend- it was perfect timing!!!! Caught up over a nice, peaceful, super long walk, did some damage shopping and did lots and lots of laughing! I'm pretty sure she was tuckered out by my kids as well!! :) But the boys love her!! Can't wait to have her visit in August for her annual birthday trip to Houston! WOOHOO!
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| Lunch date! |
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| Playing a little golf this night! |
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| Abby was their buddy! |
*Made some good memories in North Dakota this year! Hoping Matt can come with us next year!
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| Trip to the Heritage Center- Very interesting!! Dinosaur exibit |
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| Love this |
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| Some special time with Grandma Betty! |
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| Fun times with Grandma Jan! |
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| Grandma Jan drove to spend a few days with us! What a woman! Driving all over the state at almost 76 years old! |
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| Have to get a ride in on the Harley! It was GORGEOUS! Wish I would've had my camera with. |
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| Carter ready for a ride...not really! |
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| Beautiful girls dressed up and ready to go out! |
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| It was so fun to have all this girl time! There really is something about having a daughter! One day the three of us will be shopping for K's wedding dress! (But lets not get ahead of ourselves!) |
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| Papa, that Harley is LOUD!!!! |
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| Books before bed! |
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| This is the morning the boys drug my mom out to play in freezing weather! |
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| Driving the tractor? Wow!! |
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| I spent a couple days going through bins of old pictures, books and memorabilia. I tossed a lot of stuff, but this gem had to be kept for Miss K! She tugs at her bows and pulls them off but she did NOT even touch the crown! |
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| So blessed to have spent some time with my dear friend, Andrea and her boys!!! |
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| Taking a ride on the John Deer! |
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| Car wash and yogurt! |
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| What fun!! Papa Tim made the boys an awesome soccer field! They spent sun up to sun down (well, they weren't up long enough to see the sun go down since it doesn't go down until about 10:30!!!) out on the that soccer field! |
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| Love this picture, admiring the soccer field! (Nice shirt, dad!!) |
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| "Let's go Dynamo!" |
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| Yes, that is my 75 year old grandma playing soccer!!!!!!!!!! |
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We got a couple pool days in with my mom before she left.
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THANKS FOR ALL THE FUN, NANA AND PAPA TIM!!!!!!!!!!
