The Hodgepodges: Disneyland 2014 Part 5

At last we are coming to the end!

Our family ornaments we picked out as souvenirs hanging on our tree!

Thursday morning we loaded up the car and got on the road. We actually got up and going sooner/faster than we thought we would. We were a hot mess with all our stuff trying to get everything down to the car ha ha ha. But we managed. Then it was like tetris again trying to get everything back in its spot in the car.

I don't remember anything too significant about the drive on Thursday. We made it to Cedar City in time for dinner. Got settled into the hotel and went out to eat at a highly recommended pizza restaurant. It was really good pizza! We got complimented on how well behaved our kids were by an elderly gentleman and his wife... and of course within minutes of them leaving the girls lost it and weren't so well behaved. ha ha ha. To give them credit they had been cooped up in the car all day and then were being asked to sit still in a restaurant as well. The iPad helped a little, and once the food came they both did great. We went back to our hotel and decided to just crash for the night, we were all exhausted and I just didn't feel like unloading all the swim stuff and getting everyone ready.

Friday's drive was a DISASTER to put it mildly. What was supposed to be an eight and a half hour drive home took us 12 hours! That huge snow storm that came through Idaho while we were gone really affected the drive. We left on time, me in a slight (read total) panic that the roads were going to be closed and we were going to get stuck somewhere, Charlie getting after me for panicking... it was a mess. So we get on the road only to get a call from the hotel 35 min later that I'd left my wedding ring on the bathroom counter!! OH. MY. WORD. yeah no bueno. So we turn around and go back for it. I was practically in tears at that point because I was just beyond frustrated with myself and the whole situation. So back in Cedar City we stop for gas and get me a coffee at Starbucks. UGH!

We make it through Utah no issues. Idaho border is when the weather started to turn. Lots of snow/slush etc, lots of slowed down driving. We stop in Burley for a potty break, it was snowing really heavily and we had to run from the car to the restroom and we were still covered in snow! We decided to just keep going and not stop for dinner, opting to instead eat protein bars, snacks, cheese, yogurt etc that we had in the car. GOOD THING!! As soon as we hit Glenns Ferry it was 15mph and ice all over the roads. There were still tons of cars on the roads and everyone was going slow, so it felt like we were just stuck in really bad traffic. Except the semis were all pulling off the road and not attempting the drive. It was so strange to see! The girls were AMAZING at this point. They understood that they needed to be quiet and watch their movie, letting daddy focus on the roads and that I couldn't be turning around constantly anymore to hand them things. Quinton had thankfully fallen asleep and slept through all of this. I, on the other hand, was silently panicking. I don't do well in these situations. I was scared. We finally got to Mountain Home and although it was still slow moving, the roads cleared a bit and it didn't seem as scary. Then we hit that glorious corner where all the sudden you see all the lights of Micron, you know the one? It's like even though it's still far away from our part of Boise it's officially Boise and it feels like home and we finally made it! ha ha ha. Charlie and I joked about how seeing those lights always means you're almost home! We got home about 10:30pm, got as much as we could unloaded and got kiddos off to bed. It was then that I found out they had closed that stretch of road from Glenns Ferry to Mountain Home, probably around an hour after we had gone through it. So if we had stayed in Burley for dinner we would have been stuck behind the closure!! And they didn't reopen it until hours later! Thank goodness.

BUT, even with all that stress Friday and the extra time in the car. I still say the trip was SO VERY MUCH worth it. I may never attempt the drive again, instead opting to fly... or maybe it'll be like birth and you forget about the bad and only remember the good ha ha ha. We seriously had the best time overall and I'm so glad we did it. We had so many people telling us the kids were too young, and won't remember anything. And, maybe they won't. But oh my gosh was it worth it to me to see their faces and I'll remember that forever. We'll go back again when they will remember and it'll be a whole different kind of trip. =)

Found these bracelet decorating kits for them to do.

Natalia put some of the extra stickers on her face and it was super cute, but when I tried to take a picture of it she got embarrassed and started to remove them.

Very into her movie. We struggled all week to get Lydia to speak up so we could hear her. She's just so quiet! So when she had the headphones on and she did the typical talk really loud because of having them on thing, we could actually hear her for once!

**Funny side note about Lydia. We joked constantly that she is our silent ninja. She was just so quiet all the time, and half the time we'd be standing somewhere or doing something and we'd all the sudden say, "where's Lydia" because she was always so quiet she could just be standing directly behind us and we'd have no clue. With the Ergo on it was especially hysterical because I would spin in circles looking for her and she'd always be right under the Ergo so I could never find her! ha ha ha.