My sweet sleepy boy.

Happy Thursday! Or Friday morning by the time most of you read this. We have made our way to Billings, Montana after only 8 short hours in the RV today. Man this is a big state.

Once Shawn returned from golf on Tuesday, we headed out with the boys to Wal-Mart to pick up a few items. As usual, a few items turned into a lot of items (3 little toys included) and we settled in for a night of grilled turkey burgers, corn on the cob and roasted broccoli. If I could add another thing to the list of things I miss from home, it would be fresh fruits and veggies. I don’t think I have seen one squash or zucchini since I left, not to mention summer tomatoes, herbs, berries, etc. In my mind this whole trip was going to be produce stands and farmers markets galore and I was going to be overwhelmed with delicousness and decisions on what to make. But that definitely hasn’t been the case. The grocery stores have been sub-par at best, with Wal-Mart becoming my super exciting grocery shopping destination. But even then, they lack so severely in the produce department. It’s odd. To be fair, some of these cute towns we have visited do have farmers markets, but it just hasn’t worked out timing wise for them to be open when we are actually there. My kids have eaten more hot dogs and pizza than I care to admit. I am excited to load them up with some fresh goodness when we get home. I see a cleanse for all of us in the near future!

We ended Tuesday night with some good ‘ole music around a campfire. The RV Resort brings in local musicians and we were lucky enough to get to listen to ‘The Singing Sons of Beaches’ (truth) and make smores with our fellow campers. It was a beautiful setting and actually really entertaining. Luke had made some friends earlier in the day (He actually has a pick up line for friends. “Wanna be my best fwiend?” It appears to work.) so he pulled up his chair right along these boys, who were 6 and 8 years old I should add. This kid has confidence out the wazoo. Per the usual, Macy was snuggled up on her Mamaw. They are only with us for two more nights and as I type, Macy is sleeping with her over in their coach. It’s going to be a rough separation for her, for both of them really. If Shawn’s mom wasn’t alive, I would think Macy is her reincarnated version. I have a picture of her at Macy’s age and the resemblance is uncanny. They are tight. Papaw told me he heard Macy tell Mamaw that she wished they were glued together. I believe it.

On Wednesday we ended up doing the boat rental around Flathead lake (think I called it Flatwood last time – oops). The lake was just as beautiful up close as it was from our view at the RV Resort. We rented a small ski boat and inner tube and truly had a blast out on the water. The kids were great and it was much less stressful than I envisioned! We stopped at a little island, had lunch that we had packed, hiked around a bit, and took the boat out for some tubing fun. I was happily surprised when both Macy and Luke jumped at the chance to ride in it and we had to do paper, rock, scissors to determine who would go first. Macy won. Shawn and I took turns riding with them and we all had a blast. The water, however, was freezing. Like so freezing we would not have gone swimming and didn’t get in it at all when getting in and out of the tube. As beautiful of an idea as it is in my brain to have a lake house on a pretty lake out west, it isn’t realistic with those temperatures! We had so much fun that we called the rental company and kept it a few more hours, which ended up producing one of my favorite memories to date on this trip. My big, sweet boy Jude fell asleep in my lap while we were driving around and I got to hold him, cuddle him and just smell his little face for a good hour and a half. As you mommies out there know, there is a sadness that comes with knowing your last baby is your last baby. I am watching my first baby go to first grade soon, grow in big girl teeth and I can no longer shop in the cute little toddler girl section of Target. She’s big. Luke has turned into a little boy before my eyes and is silly and funny and charming (all when he wants to be), but he isn’t a baby anymore. Jude is it. He has the fat rolls. He has the sweet little toddler voice. He has the drooly chin and pacifier. But he’s growing quickly too. So to say that I relished every second of having him nap on me is an understatement. This kid is like Dennis the Mennis. He never stops, has no interest in toys, just destructing things around you, so it was a joy to have those moments with him.

Shawn and I got to end that great day with a date night to the Finley Grill on the lake. My in-laws had been a few nights before and really enjoyed it, as did the two of us. We had yummy seafood (my body needed some fish like nobody’s business) and enjoyed recapping our trip and talking about what we most look forward to when we get home. I think unanimously we are excited about having more kitchen space, the bath tubs, and getting back into some sort of routine. However, we will both miss the fantastic family time that we have had on this trip.  The 5 of us are basically together all day long and I can honestly say that 95% of the time, we wouldn’t have it any other way. Do I want to go get my nails done? Totally. Do I want to browse around Athleta alone and pretend like I am buying everything in the store but I’m really not since I don’t have a job now? Definitely. Do I want to go meet my friends for a drink and gossip until I am blue in the face? Abso-freaking-lutely. But for this next week and a half, I will try to cherish every last ounce of togetherness because it is almost over. And tomorrow, when we have another long day in the RV as we head to Mt. Rushmore, I will get out my iPad and re-read this entry 192 times and try to remind myself that I do in fact like my children and that I shouldn’t duct tape their mouths shut and tie them to the couches.

Tomorrow morning we are at least going to venture into Billings and eat breakfast out so we can see some of the town before hitting the road. I have absolutely loved seeing the National Parks, but I have REALLY loved just seeing our country and all the cute, little towns we have. It makes me realize that I am not proactive enough at exploring our own great city and plan to make that a priority when we get back – it’s getting added to the goals as I type! J

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