We headed up to Cane Beds, AZ and spent the night in Rhian and Nicoles rental apartment, which was in horrible shape. They had laid some blankets and mats on the floor for us, and since the kids could sense how uncomfortable I was, and they don't usually like sleeping in strange places, Jake and I slept between the kids. So it started with William, who was on the very outside edge (for wiggle purposes), then me, then Sydney, then Jake, then Lizzy who was up against the wall. Jake got very little sleep. It was cold, then hot, and with the kids all around him he just couldn't get comfortable. I on the other hand don't remember much once sleep overcame me. Banjo and Amber slept just on the floor near us.
The next day, Sunday the 18th, was a little better. Rhian so kindly made Jake and I egg sandwiches for breakfast while the kids had oatmeal. Jake and Rhian talked, while I got the kids all ready, and we took everyone and the dogs outside to kind of get out of the house and have something for the kids (who were so bored) to do. We got to see Nicoles goats, and Amber had a huge issue with them. Banjo just loved being able to wonder around a huge yard and smell new things.
Finally around 11:00 am we left to go see Jake's grandparents, Butch and Becky Lounsbury. They kids got to eat some of Beckys homemade bread and play. Butch took Jake and Rhian on a tour of all their Airbnb properties (they have 3). Its amazing what Butch is still able to do and build in his old age (80 something). Wes (Jakes uncle) came over for a while and we all sat and talked. William just wanted to play outside. So occasionally I'd go out and check on him, but since we were in the middle of nowhere with no one around, I figured he'd be ok outside on his own. And he just sat in the dirt and rocks next to where Banjo and Amber were chained up and played.
Finally around 2:30 pm we packed up and headed out on the road to finish our journey.
We headed down around Jacob Lake to Flagstaff. I think we stopped a few times (because in the van with Sydney and Lizzy in the way back I had a really hard time helping them or handing them anything with out getting completely out of my seat in the front.) to hand the girls snacks or drinks or for potty breaks. At this point we let the kids have their tablets for a little while and Jake and I just talked.
We finally got to Flagstaff and at this point I think the stress of the journey was weighing heavily on Jake and me because we were looking for food to eat and Jake and I got into a huge fight. To where we pulled into the parking lot, and I just had the kids and I sit in the car while Jake to the dogs to go potty. When he got back in I told him he picks where we're going to eat, to which he replied well I should pick because I know what the kids will eat. But I was angry and I got out of the car and walked away. Mostly to go cool off, but also to be mean to Jake. The kids were total innocents in this argument and did a pretty good job of just letting Jake and I work it without interference from them. After playing the walking around in the cold waiting for Jake to chase after me game, he did. Only to bring me his jacket so I wasn't cold (see such a sweetheart) and for some reason that totally pissed me off even more so I left his jacket on the ground and we both walked away. After about 30 minutes of this we were able to apologize, get his jacket, get Mcdonalds kids meals for the kids, and get back on the road. Jake and I after our fight were not hungry.
We made it to Phoniex/Mesa at like 9:30/10 PM. The kids were so done in the car. And kind of ran around Lydias rental house for a while. (See they recently sold their house and were living in a rental while waiting for their new house to be built). The girls had two twin bed in the spare room, so thats where they were sleeping. Josh had been kicked out of his room and so Jake and I were in Joshs room, with a little mattress on the floor for William. We kept all of our stuff (which was a huge amount) in the room with us. Turns out that Lydia couldn't find her toys for the kids (they were in storage???) so she had bought some new toys for the kids and they played with those for a while, and the 5 week old puppies before getting into bed. Which allowed Jake and I to empty the car and put everything away (ok he emptied the car and I put everything away). We probably didn't go to bed til close to midnight. And as we were climbing into bed realized how hungry we were cause we didn't eat anything (other than a few snacks) since Flagstaff. And we set up our blow up mattress in the living room for Josh to sleep on.
Monday the 19th. Was a lazy day. We played with the puppies. We ate food. The kids played. Because Josh wasn't out of school yet we had to go pick him up from school. Then after picking up Josh we went grocery shopping. Lydia had waited for us to get there before going and getting the food for Thanksgiving dinner. So Jake and I picked out what we needed to make all the pies and other things we were making, and also getting food for the week. Later that night after Scott got home, Jake and I headed to the car wash to vacuum out all the dog hair (because we weren't technically allowed to have dogs in the car so we needed to remove all evidence. And we thought that if we waited to do it til we got back home that the dog hair would embed itself in the vehicle, so we figured, vacuum it now, and then vacuum it again when we get home.) and let me tell you, that car wash vacuum was AMAZING! While we were gone Nana got out coloring books and crayons and the kids were having a grand old time.
(also during this trip Amber escaped out the front gate twice (because the fence was wide enough for her to get through) and thank goodness it didn't take more than a couple minutes each time to find her).
Tuesday the 20th, The kids had been begging for a couple days to do these little water balls. So they played with them this morning. We had brought some things down from Bindy to give to her cousin that lives in the Mesa area. So I had made the plan the night before that We would meet up with her at an address (turned out to be the address of the Largest Furniture Warehouse in America.) and gave her back the stuff. Then Jake and I decided to check out this Mattress Firm store that was advertising Purple mattresses. So we actually go to test one out. Oh my gosh, we were sold on one. So now we just have to save up for one. Afterwards we decided to check out the Largest Furniture Warehouse in America (we had a limited amount of time because we had to be back in time to watch the kids while Lydia picked Josh up from school-also it wouldn't have been that big of deal, but we left the van and carseats with Lydia and took her truck. And Jake had this thing about letting anyone drive the van but him since he was the only one registered to drive it with the rental company.) and the furniture in that place was to die for. We loved a few pieces and they were vary reasonably priced too. After picking up Josh from school we went to a park. We weren't able to go to the childrens museum or zoo while visiting like I was hoping, because Zoey had puppies and Lydia couldn't be a way for very long.
Wednesday the 21st:
Today we played some games at the house. Jake and I went grocery shopping for some last minute items. And we waited for Lyndsey to get here. She was driving down in her motor home with her boyfriend, Aaron. We played that pie in your face game. And big connect 4. We played with the dogs. And that evening we gave Lydia her Christmas gift to open. The kids picked out a snow globe. It had butterflies. Jake and I (+Lyndsey) gave her a snow globe with two kids decorating a dog in it. And at some point during the day Jake and I made two pumpkin pies and one apple pie. They turned out really nicely.
Thursday, the 22nd was Thanksgiving. We spent the morning prepping for family pictures (which our photographer (Brittany from Little Clark Creative) was even late for by 20 minutes, and she thought she was early. Turns out our scheduled time was 30 minutes later than we thought. Whoops. hahaha.) and making sure we got out of the house on time. I ended up being like her assistant with organizing the groups and sending out the next group to be photographed. And afterwards I realized I missed a couple of groupings, but oh well. Jake and I thought she had a really hard time dealing with our silliness that we wanted photographed (I don't think it was her normal style). Afterwards we headed home and got ready for dinner. Jake and I made desserts and the rolls. Ashley brought the mashed potatoes and bean casserole. While Ashley was cooking her food for dinner, Aaron and Lyndsey pulled out their bows and arrows. And so Josh, and Aaron, and Jake, and Lyndsey, and yes even Lydia took a turn to shoot some arrows. Good thing William napped during the whole thing.
Friday the 23rd: we were planning on leaving today so that we could get home on Saturday, rest and relax Sunday, and get back into the grind on Monday. So Jake played around with his family, while I packed everything. Then we packed the car. We made the decision to bring home one of Zoey and Joeys puppies, who would be almost 7 weeks old when we left, and named him Ukulele. Then Jake went to sleep so that he could drive home, and Lydia and Scott and I took the kids along with Josh, Lyndsey, and Aaron to the park. We played for an hour or so. I woke Jake up around 5PM. We got on the road around 6PM. We had a great and mostly relaxing trip. The kids hated leaving Nana and Papa and Josh. The kids had fun playing in the rental house. We were supposed to go see the property they were gonna be building on, but it was an hour away, and we just never had the time to go that far away.
We took a "family" picture with our new puppy. Only family member missing was our cat.
Aaron (Lyndsey's boyfriend) was very good with the kids. Was very helpful. and I really appreciated that.
Saturday the 24th. We got home around 10 AM (ish). Unpacked. Then we headed to go vacuum out the van and return it. We set up Ukuleles cage area. Lydia had this fantastic idea to use fake grass (that way the puppies got used to everything but the texture and it would help them learn to potty train) so we brought some home and used it with our new puppy. We set him up in the kitchen that first night (Saturday night), but that night he kept waking me up. We think he was cold. So we moved his cage the next day (Sunday) from the cold kitchen tile floor to the living room, next to a heating vent, and locked on the big cage and for the first couple days had Banjo sleep in there to help puppy not be cold, and to have company so he wouldn't whine at night. Even though Jake was super tired when we got home because he drove all night (and Lizzy was the only one to sleep the whole drive home, Sydney and William and I slept intermittently.) So Lizzy was very happy in the morning and the rest of us were very sleep deprived. Anyway with little to no sleep we proceeded through the day. And Jake didn't lay down to nap til later that afternoon. The next day on Sunday we set up our Christmas Tree.
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