Paul Bunyan's Cook Shanty

We passed this cute restaurant, PB's Cook Shanty on our way into the Dells, and we knew we had to eat there. Giant Paul B!

The girls have not been the best picture takers. Usually one or more are not wanting to look at the camera, smile, and/or be in the picture. It's so aggravating.

He was ready!

Delaney wanted to take a picture. Good, right?!?

The restaurant was super cute. All decorated and lovely atmosphere.

Everyone was happy.

For about 5 minutes.

Cute restaurant, but not the right choice for our picky ladies.

These faces pretty much sum it up. It's family style dining and home cooked fare, and no one was digging it. Except the man and I, of course.

It was yummy and fun and would have been 10 times better if we didn't have 3 complainey-whiners with us.

Speaking of...

I had packed glow sticks in their fun bins that morning, and it was fun to look back and see 3 girls with light up bracelets and sticks.

The girls were a little wild this night. Not too bad, just some bickering. We've been getting late starts, like 10 or 11am (what with the swimming and all) and then driving late, getting to our hotels around 10 or 11pm. I wish they would fall asleep better and relax a little, but instead they get a lil' crazy. C'est la vie!

And this is one of the reasons why I love a road trip. Pictures don't do justice, but it is soooo beautiful!! Minnesota at night.

Wisconsin love

We stayed the night in Elkhart, Indiana. The day before had worked out so well that we did a repeat - Matt took the girls swimming while I replenished their car fun boxes, got outfits together, and packed the room. Delaney does not like dresses, (she likes skirts) but thankfully didn't throw too big a fit about this one.

My #2 all time fav rest area in Wisconsin. I love that they have a super safe spot to take fun pictures.

Florida has my all time fav - safe "welcome to Florida" sign and free orange juice samples = bomb.com.

We so crazy!

I made us a road trip bucket list, and one of the items on it was to get a trucker to honk at us. Success!!!

Matt and I have a kiss-as-we-cross-state-lines ritual, so here's the documentation.

We came upon the Wisconsin Dells right around dinner time, so we decided to check it out. First stop - taste testing some authentic Wisconsin cheese. 

Another bucket list item ✅. Of course, Delaney, who loves cheese wouldn't taste any, but the rest of us did.

Oh yeah!

And one of the littlest cheese heads.

Wisconsin Dells looks so fun! We totally want to go back and spend some time there! Very cute little city and the waterpark Capitol of the world.

Addie told us to sit down on the cow again and kiss, so ok.

And lastly, a lighthouse restaurant, just for good measure.

Uncles

After Kirtland we drove a few hours to uncle Howard and aunt Emily's house, just over the Michigan state line. Emily served cold cut sandwiches, veggies, and fruits, and it was so nice to have a simple, home cooked meal on the road.

Uncle Jim and aunt Norma came too. These are Sharon's older brothers, 89 and 81 respectively.

Some couples. I met howard and Emily when Sharon passed away, but this was the first time to meet uncle Jim, who was quite the character.

Cousin Doug and his sweet wife Lana came over too, and had their 3 cute grands with them. Their son Ben came for a little bit too, but they left before picture time.

Photo bomb!

Happy family!

So glad we got to visit them. What a wonderful piece of grandma ray for our girls that never got to meet their grandmother in this life.

Before we left, uncle Howard told the girls to listen to their parents and behave. Have to document those talking to's.

As we left town, we found this road:

Meanwhile back in the SMC, Chris went to our neighborhoods movie night at the pool where they showed Jaws. So fun! The only problem was that it was a chilly night. There will be another one and hopefully nicer weather.

Our first full day of driving was a rousing success. 

Kirtland temple

We got to the Kirtland temple in time to make some pb and j sandwiches and eat some cheese sticks for lunch.

It was crazy hot (93) and humid. My hair was a hot mess. And having people take pictures is always so fun! :/

There was no photography inside the temple, but it was a good tour and it's still a beautiful 180 year old building. We wanted a picture with the door in the background, but the random-person-horrible-picture taker strikes again.

So beautiful. They have around 40 meetings a year in this building now including a send off for the Kirtland football team as they went to the championships last year.

Matt wanted this pic because the last time he was in Kirtland was around 1980 and in a 1969 Buick station wagon.

My mom sent these fun travel games for the girls and they've been playing all day. So fun.

Pre road trip fun

I discovered that 8 year olds can legally be left home alone for short periods of time. One day I took the little girls to water the K tree at school, and left this big girl home alone. She opened the door for us like this:

She loved it and said she wasn't scared at all.

I captioned this: "Don't ever grow up. Your vitamins go from delicious to disgusting."

Chris had a blast at Skills! He sent lots of fun pictures and it looked amazing!

How cool is this?!

This came up in my newsfeed. A year ago we partied with T. Swift. (And thousands of our besties)

On Wednesday we went to the Breton Bay Beach for our preschool end of year party. Except only Sarah, Colleen, and Lindsay K could make it.

Cute little beach and cute little wedgie.

Chris was all excited to see mike Rowe at Skills. Eagle Scout buddies!

Friends and the beach, you can't go wrong.

Nerd alert.

Before going home we headed to our pool to rinse off and shower. Delaney walked around the pool and made some friends. She stopped and chit chatted with a group of teenage girls for a few minutes. When she circled around again, they were waiting and ready to talk to her. She's definitely my most outgoing girl.

Roslyn happened to be at the pool and these two 1st graders have the same toucan.

Bubba and friends posted lots of pics. These two were labeled "chris' twin."

Group shot!

Chris said they checked in so much on fb because that's what old people do and they were making fun. Whatevs.

The Louisville Slugger museum was cool and they got a free small bat. So fun!

The conference from Maryland's spot in the auditorium. I'm so glad he got to attend. It was a really good thing for him.