Visiting William

I loaded the kids up last Sunday morning for a 7 hour road trip without Paul.  I was a little nervous, but it was the easiest trip with the kids I've ever had.  Maybe they just knew I had no co-pilot and they had to be good.  Whatever it was, they did awesome!  We only stopped once and we got there an hour earlier than I'd planned.

Here's a couple toddler tips that really helped.  I spent $8.00 on little books, dinosaurs, and race cars and wrapped each one individually in wrapping paper.  I had 18 gifts total.  (for 8 bucks!!)  Totally worth it.  He got one or two gifts an hour and even though a lot of it was similar, it was like Christmas morning every time. Also, I bought a squirt bottle at the dollar store and filled it with water.  He loved spraying the windows, spaying in his mouth, spraying the back of my head, etc. etc.  It was about an hour of fun.  And also, fruit loop necklaces.  This was awesome for both kids.  A fun snack, lasts a long time, and they can't drop it.

We stayed in a condo through my parent's timeshare the first 5 days.  We extended the trip by a couple days and couldn't stay in the condo, so we moved to a brand new hotel behind Dixie Regional that is for families with someone in the hospital.  It was really nice, and really cheap!  Then the last 2 nights we spent in Mesquite NV.  Paul was on a golf trip there so we met him and hung out for a couple of days.  We took one morning and went back to St. George so Paul could meet William, and we had lunch with Taylor and Samira.

outside the hospital hotel.

It was a good trip.  Pretty relaxing, fun for the kids, and good to be with my brother during this hard time.  We went to the hospital at least once a day to see my nephew.  He's doing really well.  He has ups and down but he's making progress.  I reminded my brother often to look at weekly progress, not daily.  It's a slow process, but he's heading in a good direction.

My little nephew, William.

 This is my kids being little angels in the waiting room while the rest of us took turns in the NICU.  Garrett got a little sick of it (notice the top right).

 Gift giving to the new parents.  I made a bunch of stuff for William that I wish I'd taken pictures of but I didn't.  Maybe I'll try and remember to when we pass through St. G next week.  We also frosted Halloween cookies.

 A Scotsman and a sushi.  I made Addie's costume the day before we left and it cost me less than $3.00 and took about 10 minutes.  Notice her getting more confident on her feet (top middle).

 Trick or treating.  Garrett caught on really quick, and even though we only went to 5 or 6 houses, he acted like he hit the jackpot.

 At a splash pad at a really fun park right by my brother's place.  Garrett was fearless, even when he got hit in the face or up his shorts.  He loves water.

Addie mostly sat on the side and cheered him on.  When he was good and water logged, we rode a carousel. 

 We went to a dinosaur museum.  Both kids seemed to like it.

They especially liked the play room for kids.

 Another afternoon at the splash pad.

We also went on walks, did some antique shopping, went swimming, and spent a lot of time at the play ground.  My mom is so great with my kids and even though they exhaust her, she loves every minute of it, and they love her.

Hanging out at the CasaBlanca hotel while dad was golfing.

These kids were wiped out by the last day of the trip.  I love the bottom left picture.  It's hard to tell, but it's Paul and Garrett in a queen size bed.  Paul on the edge, and Garrett snuggled right up next to him.  More than half the bed is empty, and I slept in the other bed.  And Addie slept in the bathroom.  Don't judge.

It was good to get home and get all unpacked, just to do it all again in about a week.  And we made it home in time to vote!