Home Sweet Home

Before we left the campsite, Matt had to do his favorite job!! :)  And it was only fitting that he wore his Cousin Eddy hat while I took his picture.  He's had a lot of practice over the past few days so he's getting REALLY good at this.

 As we left the campsite for the last adventure on the road, I think everyone was excited to get home!  As you can see, Caitlin was listening to music and being a "big girl" and Hunter was... napping again:)  Bless his heart!

We made it home safely early afternoon and was welcomed by the wonderful Illinois humidity, ugh!  The kids were ready to run off some energy so we sent them down to Mom Mom and Pa's to do some swimming and play while we emptied out the RV.  We had packed it to the brim so it took a bit to get everything out.

One last photo opp with the RV (and baby Tina)

What a great trip, we are all excited for our next family adventure!!!

On the road again

We got on the road early and the kids and I even stayed in our pajamas for the first part of the trip. We waved goodbye to the beautiful mountains and weaved our way back through the Big Thompson Canyon. I took my Dramamine early to get a head start on the car sickness. It definitely helped!

We owe a big thank you to Daddy for driving the whole way, he's the best!!!

Hunter took some serious naps on the way. One time he even fell asleep with a marshmallow in his hand and he was NOT happy with me that it was gone when he woke up!  The RV couch was his nappin' spot!!!

We made it to our campsite just west of Omaha about 5pm. We had big intentions of cooking a nice big meal, but we were all pretty tired. We opted for hot dogs on the fire followed by more yummy s'mores. On our first night at the campsite we laughed at all those people ordering pizza but we were very tempted to tonight. 

This campsite was much busier than the first one we stayed at on our way out. It did have a nice playground for the kids and even a jumping pillow. I'm not sure how they had the energy to play so hard, but they sure did. 

Mom mom and Pa stopped by on their way through to say hello. They made it all the way to Des Moines tonight. 

After some time at the playground, we hung out by the fire and told stories. Hunter was loving on "Wolfy" that he got last night.

If we haven't had enough fun...

We add a little bit more adventure to our trip.

After Rocky Mountain National Park, Matt and Hunter went back to the RV to take a nap and hopefully for Matt to feel better. Caitlin and I went into Estes Park for some girl time and shopping and we met mom mom and Pa there. Caitlin got her 4th bag of rocks and 1 for her brother since he had to nap. That girl has been obsessed with the rocks so Pa bought her a few more. 

We went to Mountain Munchies (haha) so Pa could get a polish sausage and we treated ourselves to a corn dog!

Unfortunately, Pa got a flat tire somehow but the tow company came and fixed it pretty quickly. Thanks Bob's Towing!

After the tire got fixed, we headed back to the campsite to regroup and get the boys. 

Mom mom and Pa took the kids fishing while I got ready for the evening. Matt and I met them over at Trout Haven but they didn't have any luck catching anything. Hunter was NOT happy about that!!  But they sure looked cute. 

After fishing, we went on an aerial tram ride up to a viewing area on a mountain. It was Pa's idea but he wasn't real happy about it when we got to the top. He was nervous about the kids but they enjoyed it and we got a great view of Estes Park. Matt waited at the bottom for us.

Then we headed to Fun City!!!  Matt and I went with the kids down a huge slide and they loved it. We also hit up the bumper boats. Mom mom joined in the fun but she bailed on us because people were squirting too much:)

That slide was fast!!!!

We finished the night by going to Poppie's Grille which was Chris' favorite restaurant in Estes. The food was fantastic!  We called it an early night because tomorrow we have to hit the road again and begin our journey home.  We have really enjoyed Estes Park, what a beautiful place!!!

Rocky Mountain National Park

Matt woke up this morning with some crazy elevation sickness. Somehow he pulled it together enough to take us through Rocky Mountain National Park. It was so beautiful. One of the signs said we were 2 miles above sea level. We used Pa's car which was much easier than the RV.

Matt said it was tradition and we needed to get our picture by this sign. 

The entrance to the park was literally right next to our campsite. 

They loved each other extra much today. Matt actually has a picture of this same place when he was came with his grandparents when he was 7 years old. 

We even had a little chipmunk friend in the picture:)

The kids really just wanted to play in the snow since that's what Daddy was talking about. They liked the park, but they weren't as impressed as I was with the breathtaking views. Maybe someday they'll appreciate it!  

And some very nice lady took a picture of the 4 of us, it's a keeper!!

We didn't quite make it to the top, but we got some great views of the Rockies. On the way down, we stopped at Hidden Valley and daddy took them on a "secret path". 

Here's a couple other pictures from along the way...

We have made so many great memories this trip and I'm sure there's more to come!!!

Estes Park - Day 5

It was quite the drive in an RV through the Big Thompson Canyon. Hang on while I go take some more Dramamine...

As we pulled into the Elk Meadow RV Resort, there were 3 elk standing in the grass at the entrance. It was the perfect campsite with the best view yet!!

We made ourselves at home for the next 2 days.

We hopped in the car with Mom Mom and Pa and went into Estes Park for a little shopping. The kids were such troopers while we looked around. 

They even got more play cowboy boots, cowboy belts and Hunter got a cowboy shirt. Check out Hunter's belt he was so proud of...

We made it back just before it stared pouring rain and hailing. Mom mom hung out with us for a little bit too. Luckily it didn't last too long before the sun came back out.  

Tonight it was just the 4 of us and we relaxed at the campsite, grilled pork chops and took a walk.

This was the sign I found in the restrooms, yikes...

As the sun was going down behind the mountains, it looked as if the sun was kissing it. Another beautiful sight of the mountains.

Good night mountains...