Vaca!!!

We're finally on vacation!!! Wow it seems like it's taken forever for August 10th to get here...but it's finally here & we're off on our 3 week long vacation. We didn't ever intend for it to be 3 weeks, but that's how it worked out with Dustin & his job...so we get more time than we thought!

We left home the 10th & drove to Yellowstone National Park...only about a 3-4 hour trip for us. Since we found out Brooklyn has to have 2 more surgeries, we decided to camp each night to save money.

Here's Brookie asleep on our way to Yellowstone

We got to Yellowstone, took our time getting to our campsite, set up our tent, then went to Old Faithful. We ate a little dinner first & then quickly went to see it erupt. The girls were wound SO tight after being in the car so dinner didn't go so well!! And neither did waiting for the geyser to erupt. It was supposed to erupt at 5:45pm (give or take 10 mins either way).......6:15pm rolls around & it FINALLY erupts!! Needless to say, the girls were going crazy!!

Here's Cali in the car at Yellowstone...playing with hers & Brooklyn's sunglasses!

Brookie & I waiting for Old Faithful to erupt

Cali & Brooklyn watching Old Faithful...priceless!!

Before we left home I'd been checking the weather to see what kinds of camping equipment we'd need. Well it was supposed to be hot throughout the entire country...so what's the need for sleeping bags?! All I ended up bringing was our air mattresses, a fitted sheet to go over them, a pillow for everyone, & a blanket for everyone. That's it. If it was going to be hot, then what's the need for bringing something that we wouldn't even use?!

HA!!!! Well once we got into Yellowstone & saw that it was only in the 60's & overcast...and RAINING...we quickly regretted our decision to not bring sleeping bags! Let's just say that that first night in Yellowstone is now in my Top 5 Worst Nights Ever. EVER!! It started raining in the afternoon, before we set up our tent. And it never stopped. We set the tent up in the rain, slept in the rain, & took the tent down in the rain. Unfortunately, there was no grass anywhere in sight so we were on dirt. Dirt + water = mud. :(   Our tent was filthy dirty & we were muddy. It got to just above freezing that night...right about 35-36 degrees and let's just say that we were miserable. The girls each had their own twin air mattress, but they were so wound up & excited that we got to sleep in a tent so they weren't laying down to sleep at all. Cali ended up sleeping with me on the queen air mattress & Brooklyn was on one twin with Dustin right next to her on the other twin. A little while later the girls switched so Brooklyn was with me. (Oh and of course, since it was going to be so hot...what's the point in packing warm clothes?! I didn't even have socks for any of us!! Just tank tops & shorts.)

So Cali was shivering the whole night, even with Dustin right there next to her in his arms. She was so cold that even with Cali's blanket & Dustin's blanket, he still crawled with her on one twin mattress, let the air out of the other one, & put it on top of them to keep them warm. Helped...but not 100%. Brooklyn was the only one that slept like a baby...that silly girl got 8 hours of sleep that night! I was in the fetal position with Brooklyn's legs in between my legs to keep her warm. I maybe, MAYBE, got 3 hours of sleep. Dustin thinks he got 1 hour. At 6am Dustin went to the car, turned it on, & slept for a few minutes with the heat blasting on him!! There were people leaving at 4:30am that day...Don't know if it was because they were just ambitious people who wanted to see Yellowstone or if it was cause they were just as miserable as us!

So we finally decided to get up...at about 6:15am, got dressed, packed up our muddy tent, & headed out of the park & down south.

Here are the girls right inside of Utah

The 2nd night we had reservations at the KOA in Beaver, UT. There was NO way I could live through another night like we had in Yellowstone so we were going to go buy sleeping bags. We stopped by a Cabela's but they were way too expensive. Plus, it was just plain HOT around Salt Lake City, so we thought we'd just stop at a Target or WalMart in Beaver if it was getting colder. Well once we got to Beaver we quickly realized that there wasn't a Target or WalMart. It's one small town!! We did find a dollar store & Dustin found 2 wool (ick!) blankets there for $3/each. I hate wool. But putting our own blanket on top of us & then the wool blanket on top of that wasn't too bad. It got in the 50's that night, but we still didn't sleep good. Super cute & nice KOA though...if you're ever travelling through Beaver, UT!

The next AM we got up & were on the road early again. I was joking to Dustin the whole trip that we're living like old people. :o)  We get up around 6am, pack up our tent, & are on the road by 7am...eat lunch about 11am...eat dinner around 4-5pm...& then are in bed asleep by 8-9pm!! We're SO old people!

We got to the Grand Canyon fairly early, which was nice. We drove around, looking at the "big hole", as Cali & Brooklyn called it!

Here's a cute picture...minus Brooklyn looking at Cali!!

Our campground at the Grand Canyon

We didn't have as bad of a night as we did the first night, but this wasn't all that great. But we managed & got up early again, got breakfast, & were on the road.

Leaving the Grand Canyon Monday morning

On our way to LA we stopped in Phoenix to see some nevus friends. Ok wait. These aren't just "nevus friends". These are 2 of my 4 closest nevus mom friends. We don't get to spend a lot of time together but we just "get" each other. So we stopped at Islands for a too-quick lunch with Amie & her husband, Bruce, and Christine & her husband, Adam, & 2 kids Josh & Katie. Josh has 3 expanders in right now & I was excited to show them to Brooklyn so she could get re-aquainted with the bubbles! One of Josh's bubbles is in his back right side & Brooke still says that she's going to have an expander there. LOL

Brooke, Cali, & Katie

After lunch we were off to So Cal. We got in at 8pm & were so happy to see Grandma & Nanny (my grandma & my great-grandma, who live together). The girls were excited to be out of the car, I was excited to be in So Cal, & Dustin was just Dustin!!! ;o)  Now on to a fun-filled 2 weeks of pure bliss.....