Monday, September 2, 2013

Vacation Day 1

We set off in the morning of Sunday, August 11 for our much-anticipated family vacation. I had made preparations for months--planning the agenda and making things for the kids to do in the car. Everyone packed their bags and helped  me pack the car on Saturday, and I felt so ready when we drove away, and looked forward to getting away with my family!
 
I got several DVD's for the kids to watch in the car, made clipboard packets with car bingo, coloring sheets with cool new markers, the license plate game, and maps of our itinerary included in them. The kids requested that I also make large bags of trail mix for them like I did for our family vacation last year. They told me all the things they'd like included, such as marshmallows, m&m's, gummy bears, and raisins. It was enough to keep them busy during the driving parts of the trip!
 

On the first day of vacation, we drove to Butte Montana, and stopped for lunch. Then we continued on to Great Falls to visit Josh's Grandma and Grandpa Parsons. We got there late in the afternoon and spent about 2 hours at their house. Josh visited with his grandpa, the boys looked at photo books, Grandma showed me her awesome sewing machine and computer system, and the boys liked playing with their dog.
 


We had a nice time visiting them at their home! We are so blessed to know our grandparents and to have the opportunity for our children to know them, too. I like our tradition of visiting grandparents each summer!

Grandma and Grandpa treated us to a buffet dinner at the Golden Corral that evening. We rarely eat at buffet restaurants with the kids, so this was such a treat! The boys loved being able to pick their own meal items, and dessert especially excited them! They were so happy that cotton candy was available, and jell-o was a huge hit with them too!
 


Grandma also treated us to exquisite accommodations at a hotel in Great Falls that night. Our room had 2 queen beds and a couch with another pull-out queen bed, so everyone was able to sleep in beds that night (usually kids are sleeping on the floor when we stay in hotel rooms). It was a super nice room! And when we first walked in, the kids were all oohing and ahhing!

The hotel also had a really nice swimming pool, complete with a big waterslide, a kiddie slide, and a hot tub. We spent almost two hours playing in the water that night.







We felt like we were treated like royalty! It was such a relaxing afternoon & evening, and we were so appreciative to Grandma and Grandpa for their hospitality! After we were tired of swimming, soaking, and sliding, we headed back up to the room and watched TV until everyone fell asleep. Day 1 of our vacation had gone so well and we all slept great in the comfy beds of the nice hotel.

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