Our Final Farewell

I think this is my last Gunnison post and then I am caught up.  Here are just the remainder of pictures that I haven't got around to yet.

This was when my parents had us over for a yummy BBQ of our favorite summer meal, Tiny Tim Turkey.

Jack pushed his truck at least an hour everyday.

Of course we had to get our picture with Mater.  It drew such a crowd.

Jack on one of his mandatory backhoe rides with grandpa.  Jack would scream and scream but my dad would make him go anyway.  But every time he got back he would say "backhoe fun" between his recovery crying hiccups.  He still talks about Grandpa and the backhoe.

Grandma and Grandpa Christenson

Jack and Hannah.  Or "Hannie" as Jack would say.  I love his face in this picture.  He is trying to squirm away, not because he doesn't love Hannah, just because there is a car or truck near by to play with.

Stealing apples or "appies" from the neighbors yard.  Once he discovered this tree he wouldn't stop.  They were gross sour crab apples but everyday he would run to the tree and start climbing the fence.

Reading books with Grandma Pickett

Grandpa Pickett.  Jack loves Grandpa even though he doesn't appear that way.

Four wheeler ride on the the farm.  Jack loved four wheeler rides.

This was often the end result of a four wheeler ride too.  This particular trip he and Gracy swam in the mud and river.  He was soaked and muddy.

Can you see the mud matted to the back of his head?

Pizza with Miranda and Gracy

Jack and Madee

Jack and B-Dog.  Jack loved B-Dog and he was such a good dog to just let Jack beat on him.

Jack and Lafe/ball.  The two terms are inseparable to Jack.   

The Hose

I have a few more Utah posts to finish up.  This was a typical day for Jack at the Cottage.  Everyday he would push his truck around the yard, pick an apple from the neighbors yard and then play with the hose.  I grabbed the camera one day while he was playing and we got some pretty cute pictures of this silly little boy.

My favorite thing

One of my favorite things I discovered as a preschool teacher was the Sensory Table.  I loved teaching with one and knew it would be a must have for my kids.  So I started looking at tables but they were so expensive and not quite what I wanted.  I asked Logan if he could whip something up and he was thrilled to have a fun project to do.  Its small so Jack can play with it in the house or we take it outside when its good weather.  We have put so many things in it: water and toys, sand, cars, pasta, rice, beans, marbles, dice, play dough, pudding, tadpoles, and the list goes on.  Jack really likes the table and it gives me an opportunity to get things done. I am so glad my husband is a handy man!

Gracy and Jack playing with rice.

Logan also made this cool lid so it can be turned into a table.

Noodles and marbles.

Sand and cars

Pudding!

Beans, marbles and dice

Tadpoles.  Don't worry, I bleached it like 5 times after this.

2099 Miles

2099 miles = crossing 9 states = about 35 hours of driving = a 4 day road trip.  We did it.  We made it from Gunnison, UT to Charlottesville Virginia.  And even though the trip wasn't necessarily fun, it was as successful as it could have been.  We left Saturday afternoon and made our first leg of the trip to Boulder Colorado.  It normally would take about 7.5 hours for this drive, but because we were pulling a trailer over the Rocky Mountains it took a few hours longer.  We made it to Boulder at midnight and spent the night at Staci and Scott's house.  They were actually in Utah still but let us stay at their house.  The next day we made it just outside of Missouri but still in Kansas.  Let's talk about Kansas, I hate Kansas.  It was long and boring and stormy and I had fears the whole time that a tornado was going to pop out of no where.  Once the storm really picked up, we decided to call it a day and spent the night in Abilene Kansas.  We did stop in Oakley Kansas to stop at Prairie Dog Town.  We knew we were wasting our 8 bucks as soon as we pulled in, but we couldn't contain our curiosity and went in anyway.  It was an experience. The next day we drove the rest of Kansas, through Missouri (Logan disliked Missouri the most.  It did feel a bit gross), through Illinois and into Indiana.  There we spent the night in Corydon Indiana.  The last day we made our way through Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and into Virginia.  Yay, we did it!  A typical day would include: sleeping in, eating breakfast, packing up and hitting the road, stopping for lunch, driving, stopping for dinner and somewhere to play, driving, finding a hotel late and crashing to sleep.  It was mostly frustrating that we had to stop so often for gas because pulling a trailer really made our car guzzle gas.  We were truly blessed during our trip.  Jack did so good (he watched hours and hours of Elmo which I feel bad about and he is banned from TV for a while to let his brain recover).  And Logan and I never got tired which is amazing because we are always struggling to stay awake in the car.  Logan didn't sleep the whole time and I took a ten minute nap twice.  I am glad it is over with and we are enjoying ourselves here in Charlottesville.  More to come on that later!

Playing at a park in Colorado.

Does anyone remember Lester's Possum Park from the one of the greatest cartoons ever, A Goofy Movie?  Well this gives you a good idea of what Prairie Dog Town was like that we visited in Oakley Kansas.  The comparison was amazing.  

Prairie Dog Town!  Right as you step out onto Prairie dog town, you are literally in a small town of Prairie dogs popping in and out of their holes.

Feeding a boar.

A prairie dog

A 5 legged cow.  Gross.

I can't believe we let him touch anything.

The giant prairie dogs.

Stopping for a lunch break at Pizza Hut in Concordia, Missouri

Playing at a park in Nashville, Illinois

Leaving our hotel after spending the night in Corydon, Indiana

Eating at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Morehead, Kentucky.  I absolutely hated food by the end of this trip.