Road Trip!

The Dial Family just took an awesome road trip. I know what you're thinking...you didn't know the Dials could go on a road trip longer than 3 hours. I think 3 hours is about as far as we have ever driven with kids. I was nervous.

We've always flown. Even when we moved down here, we flew and shipped our cars. This time, we debated and debated and debated. Just ask my parents. We're coming. We're not. We're flying. We're driving. We're not able to make it. We're coming. We're flying. We're driving. You get the picture. Our life is ever changing right now and it made our decision harder. But we did it. And we drove. 24 straight hours, baby! But it was AWESOME! I can't believe how good the boys were. When Chris and I got to Utah, we just looked at each other incredulously and couldn't believe it went so fast with no crying or whining. And we even had FUN. What?!?

The drive there was filled with busting out in song together to our road trip cds that we made interspersed with Frisbee and soccer at rest stops and random parking lots. Caleb is quite the frisbee player now.




Books on cd were a parental favorite while everyone else was sleeping. Caleb got to open a present every couple hours (highly recommend this!) (Thank you dollar store!!) And the scenery was great.




Caleb's favorite was the 8-10 trains we saw each direction.



On the way back, Chris said Caleb was up from 2am-4am just chatting chatting away. Funny kid. And if you're up anyway, what better time for some random 2am picture takings?

All sorts of fun, really. It really was just a fun time.

What? You are hoping for a picture overload? I think I can oblige.

This was our favorite gas station:

If you are convinced that we have no supreme gas, well, then we're not sorry. We're just sorry to the unconvinced.

Once we arrived in Utah, we did all sorts of fun stuff.

We went to a couple parks:

I love that Caleb makes friends wherever he goes.

I'm not sure how this started, but for quite some time, Caleb has been asking to climb a tree. There really are not good climbing trees near us. Well, I'm happy to say his dream finally came true. Here is Caleb FINALLY climbing a tree:



And speaking of dreams come true:

Another of Caleb's dreams came true. Riding the bus again. Gotta love that free bus system and all the dreams that come true through it. What's with that caption on the bus? Not sure I ride the bus to meet my friends, but hey, that's cool. I'm sure you can meet all sorts that way.

Of course we had to hit the Logan Aquatic Center. Always a favorite of ours:

Carson's introduction to the Aquatic Center. I don't think he liked it. Oh wait. He loved it.

Here he is sporting his adorable swim outfit that the awesome Austin Dials gave him.


Caleb was straight up giddy about going on this slide again:



And what is a trip without lots of good food. Seriously. Between the yummy restaurants and my parents, other family and friends...let's just say we ate well. How is this the only picture of all that good food?

That is just about the yummiest dessert on the planet. Pizookie. Mouth watering as I look at the picture now. I miss you pizookie.

Is that song stuck in your head right now too? The one that goes "This is the post that doesn't end...it just goes on and on my friend..."

And then there was the overnight campout. What? Krista went camping!?! Not. Chris and Caleb and some of Chris's family went camping for a night. Krista and Carson enjoyed nice warm comfy beds at the five star resort called my parents house. Looking at the pictures however, it seems fun was had by all:


Thank you to whoever took so many cute pictures of my boys together!!

And an extra special thank you to whoever documented these extra special precious memories:






Sittin around the fire, chillin with his drink.

Can't you just picture him as an older guy sitting around a campfire, nursing his rootbeer?



Grammy sharing a smore with Caleb



Caleb is really into thumbs up lately. When I do something he finds cool, he says, "Mom!"--I look at him and he gives me a thumbs up and a big smile. Sometimes when I am REALLY cool, I get two thumbs up.

Apparently Caleb isn't the only one into thumbs up lately:



Caleb seemed to love the river. And of course it is required to throw rocks into it. It is water, after all.



And he even got to do some fishing:



Fortunately, we were able to see so many good friends and family. Unfortunately, we were unable to see so many good friends and family. Our time always goes by so fast and all we want to do is spend a week with everybody individually. It just never works out that way. We are so sorry to those that we missed this time and hope that we will see you soon. And unfortunately, we don't have many pictures of all the great people we did get to see. But we did get one picture:

Thanks Chattertons for always letting us play with your fun toys when we come visit!


One of the best parts for me about our visits to Utah is all the extra helping hands we have with the kids. Here is one example:

Cute Halee. Such a big help.

Again.

And again. And again.



Caleb loved playing with his cousins and all the kids of our friends. He was in heaven everywhere we went with all the little friends he had at each place. We miss you guys tons already!

This is where all the pictures of Kip and Bridget's cute new arrival, Elliott should be. If we took any. Which we didn't. How did this happen?!!?!?!

And this is where all the pictures would be from our fun visit and blessing of Ben and Sarah's baby Abigail. If we had any. Which we don't. Sigh.

And the pictures of Chris golfing. Same story.

And finally, this is where the picture of the fun time at the 4th of July fireworks in Logan should be. Aggie Ice Cream. Sparklers. Card games. Frisbee. Soccer. All those great pictures captured on film. If we took any. Which we didn't.

Oh, sweet Carson. Sweet, sleep deprived Carson. He caught some cat naps--usually like this.

Driving to and from the next place. He continues to amaze me. Even when he is totally sleep deprived, he just grins and giggles and is so snugly. I love that kid.

We made it back home safe and sound. We were a bit tired. Had to take a picture of this:

Caleb asleep on the couch?!? I thought that only happened when tonsils are removed. Apparently after long road trips too.

I do want to say thank you to all the friends and family that fit us into their busy schedules and helped us build so many fun memories on this trip. A HUGE thank you to my parents for putting up with us and our craziness, feeding us too good, and always making us feel so welcome in your five star hotel. Can't wait til next time!