Travels

Cousins Kameron & Samuel



Well, we are home after two long weekends of travel. First trip was to Sequim, Washington, for Ben's sister, Shannon's wedding July 4th weekend. We had a great time & the Seattle Pennisula was really pretty. It was so nice to smell the damp air. It is SO dry here in Colorado this year. Samuel had a great time meeting family for the first time on both trips: cousins Kyra & Kameron, Aunt Shannon & Uncle Greg, Aunt Kiko & Uncle Matt, Grandma & Grandpa Andress, Grandma Karen, Great Grandma Wise & more!

The wedding was at The Cutting Garden which was absolutely gorgeous! Too bad the weather decided to cool off right before the wedding. Samuel was the ring bearer but because he was a little too unstable sitting on his own, Ben carried him and pulled cousin Kameron in the wagon. Too cute! After the wedding we headed to downtown Seattle for a Mariner baseball game. Samuel had a great time at his first Major League game. Unfortunately the game was tied in the 9th so it went to extra innings. We stayed until the end of the 12th & headed back to our hotel. We were glad we didn't stay seeing as the Mariner's lost.

Two days after we returned home from our Seattle trip (at 12:45am!) we left 2 days later for Ben's family reunion in Idaho Falls. It was a 10 hr drive but we split it up on the way there but braved the entire trek on the way home. Samuel did so great in the car! He slept or babbled to himself in the backseat playing with his feet. I never knew feet could be so entertaining!

For the reunion we did a day trip to Yellowstone. It was a bit on the chilly side so we had to bundled up. One of the guys from the reunion hooked us up with a college buddy of his who does tours through Yellowstone. He drove us around a bit of the park in an old bus. We stopped at a few scenic spots including some of the geysers. On the way back we even saw a few bison on the side of the road! Check out the video at the bottom... The bus was completely open on the top so you don't miss any of the view. Beautiful, but challenging when you have a bald 6 month old with you! I had a "I'm a horrible mother" freak out moment when we got out of the car after the 2 hr drive back to Idaho Falls. When I first saw Samuel, I panicked. His face was RED!!! My first thought was a sunburn but I put Aveeno baby sunscreen of 55 spf on him...twice! I was ready to call Aveeno and give them a piece of my mind. He also had his hooded sweatshirt on all day and we tried our best to keep him directly out of the sun. How in the world could he have a sunburn?!??! The only other thought was wind burn. After all it was 60 degrees outside and very windy on the bus. Thankfully the next morning he looked 100% better and we're pretty sure is was wind burn. Phew!!

We also did a day trip to Jackson Hole & shopped a bit. The scenery in Yellowstone and in Jackson was absolutely breathtaking. Idaho was especially beautiful and very green. A nice treat from dry and brown Colorado.

Although we had a great time on both trips & were thankful to see family, we are very glad to be home and back on a schedule. Samuel jumped right back into his normal sleep schedule! Yea! Samuel did GREAT! Mom & dad are exhausted, though! I came home with a bad cold but am pretty much recovered now. Traveling with a 6 month old is just a wee bit stressful. There is way TOO much to keep track of! Amazingly we did not lose anything on either trip! No major trips for us for awhile. Our next trip is not until Labor Day when we fly to St. Louis to see family & friends.

Here is the video of the bison...