Jul 12, 2011

Coming Home

I hope you all got a chance to see my fun baby pics yesterday! So yes, we made it safely home from our Idaho trip and we even brought all the kids back with us, although there were a few moments just before the state line that my sweetie threatened to leave a couple of them. It was a long drive home, made longer by the fact that we decided not to take any electronics with us…that’s right, no GameBoys, no TVs, only the cell phones and my laptop that stayed in its bag until it was time for me to update my blog. We were thinking that might promote more family togetherness, but I’m not sure it worked. Leaving a couple of kids in the middle of the desert might not exactly keep us together…besides, now that Bossy works for DCFS, I might be in big trouble just for TEASING about such a thing. (This is a joke, if you were here you would see me chuckling as I’m typing it.)

Picture Credit
If you ever make a trip to Boise, I’m totally recommending the Hampton Inn! We only paid $53.00/night for each room and that included free breakfast for 12 of us. I’m not talking just muffins and juice…they had a full breakfast every morning and they didn’t seem to mind that we took extra stuff back to our rooms for afternoon/late night snacks. I’m talking fruit, donuts, yogurt…even bowls of cereal! And all the rooms had microwaves and little fridges. This actually saved me a ton of money since the little vultures always seemed to be hungry. The hotel also had random bowls of apples and oranges sitting around just for the taking. And at certain times during the day you could pick up a warm cookie and in the evening they served free bowls of soup in the lobby. We seriously could have stayed there and not paid to eat a single meal.

On Saturday night, after we drove back from Oregon, we wanted to fill the last request on the kids’ list. It was to drive to the State Capitol building, so we changed our destination on the GPS and headed into downtown. The only problem was that we couldn't get to the Capitol. It seems that there was some kind of “car parade” going on. Roads were blocked off, and in the distance, we could see that vintage cars were driving slowly around the capitol behind a fire truck. We kept driving, trying to get ahead of the parade so that Sport could see all the cars, but it was difficult because of the one-way streets and the roads that were shut down. If we would have known we could have showed up an hour earlier and found a seat, but as it was we were fighting a losing battle.


The parade finally ended before we could see it all, and disappointed, we decided it was time to head back to the suburbs. As we pulled onto the main road heading out of town, we were surprised and pleased to find that some of these vintage cars were heading the same direction. About half a dozen of them were in the lanes around and behind us. Sport was beside himself with excitement! It was a good day. But I’m glad to be home. Other than the laundry…and the van cleaning…and emptying the coolers…and cleaning the house and taking care of the dog…but at least I can type on a real keyboard again with an actual mouse attached. That’s gotta be worth something.

11 comments:

Liz Mays said...

Now I'm curious if you'll incorporate electronics into the next trip or not. ;)

I've stayed at the Hampton many times, but never have I paid a $53 rate for doing so. You totally made out!!! And the food, wow!!!

Anonymous said...

bossy should go over and help with the cleaning of the car and laundry. its the least she could do after you took her kids with you

Jillybean said...

The Hampton Inn's are our favorite! We're always disappointed when there isn't one available where we are traveling. Even if it costs a bit more to stay there it's always worth it because of the breakfast. (you, however got a screamin' deal, $53.00? WOW!)
I can't believe you made the trip without electronics.

Lacy@uphillandsmiling said...

That's a great rate for a hotel room! :)

looks like you had fun, even without all the electronics!

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Sounds like a fun trip. I've eaten many a Hampton Inn breakfast (I used to travel a lot for a job I had) and they do have nice breakfasts. Although back when I was staying in so many I didn't eat breakfast. I do now though, LOL!

Unknown said...

You got an amazing deal! I love that they had snacks out. It is so cool that you ended up in the parade of cars.

mCat said...

Love me the Hampton Inn. Doesn't matter where - they are always great

LeAnn said...

What a fun adventure. I do think you should reconsider the use of tech for the kids while driving. We went to Idaho Falls with to of our grandchildren ages 4 and 7. Not a pleasant quiet moment for us.
Loved your post today!
Blessings to you!

Bossy said...

I'd just like to say that I am kind of sick of the DCFS jokes. It is bad enough that my friends don't want to talk to me I don't need my mom all paranoid. (Seriously, it is getting old people. And I would've reported you way before if I was going to report you. Sheesh!)

And Jillybean, I really didn't want my boys to go to Idaho, but without it I had no childcare for Wednesday. As it turned out Gamer and I were sick all week and off of work. Glad the kids got to explore with them and not stay at home and have strep like us.

Ashley from Sloanbook said...

Oh wow sounds very busy! But sounds like a fun time! I don't know how my siblings would handle a road trip w/o electronics ha. And that is a good deal on that hotel! :)

Ashley Sloan

Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam & Dylan Too said...

Road trips with kids are always interesting! I hope you had a fun time!