Once upon a time we went on vacation....

... and here I am a week and a half two weeks later telling you about it.  (it's been a busy summer friends and we've been soaking up this short lived warm weather while we can.  Which, unfortunately, means less blogging. Oh well.)

Anyway ..... during the week of 4th of July, we ventured on what I would call the "Anderson family tour".  We covered a whole lotta miles in just six days.  But it was so great to visit family - some of whom we haven't seen in almost 5 years!

We started our trip on Tuesday, July 2, which, I would like to point out, was our anniversary.  Driving 10+ hours in a van with two small children was not exactly my idea of a fun way to celebrate, but I guess that what's happens after 8 years of marriage.  We did make up for it later.

Our first destination?  Crosby, ND.  Go ahead.  Google it.  It's in the middle of nowhere - which, let's be honest, is most of North (and South) Dakota.  Chris' Grandma Ardis (his dad's mom) lives there along with many of his aunts and uncles.  We hadn't been to Crosby since his Grandpa Jim passed away in September 2008.  A visit was long overdue.  The boys had fun playing with Grandma's piano, swinging on swings and discovering her fun new toys.  We spent Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday there.  Wed night all the relatives gathered at Grandma's house for a BBQ and the boys had a few cousins to play with.  Well, not first cousins.  In fact, I have no idea exactly how they're related.  They're Chris' cousins kids.  Whatever that makes them.  Anyway, we had a great time visiting!  Family is such a blessing!!

Chris and his cousin Ryan

Getting a ride from (great) Uncle Doug

the boys with Grandma Ardis

On Thursday morning, we packed everything up and drove two hours to Sidney, MT where Chris' parents live.  They moved there about three years ago and this was our first visit (ooops).  The boys, as always, had fun seeing and playing with Grandma Lue and Papa Les.  We ate good food, lit a few quiet fireworks (to appease my noise-sensitive first born) and mostly just hung out.  Chris and I did sneak away one evening for supper while Grandma & Papa watched the kids.  That was nice.

Papa Les & Grandma Lue

Uncle Tim introduced the boys to his bunny "Baxter".  They both loved him!

 Fireworks ....

 Brooks really does hate loud noises.  And even not-so-loud noises.  He was covering his ear while doing snap pops.  Seriously.  Snap pops.

Brooks was able to open his birthday presents from the grandparents too.

A new pool and squirt gun!!

Reading stories is a MUST with Grandma Lue.

Saturday morning we packed up all our stuff (again), left Sidney and drove another two hours to Baker, MT for Chris' cousin's wedding, in which Brooks was the ring bearer.  About 45 minutes into the drive, the alternator on our van decided that the "middle of nowhere" would be a fantastic place to quit and die.  Quit. and. die.  In the middle of nowhere.  Awesome.

Fortunately, Tim and his girlfriend were close behind us and pulled over to help.  We found a little "drive" into a field and pulled over there.  We moved the boys' carseats into Tim's car, moved all our stuff over and headed to Baker, while Chris stayed with the van.  And there's a few things we learned during this whole van breaking down adventure.
~ Glendive (the nearest town) has four mechanic shops.
~ Apparently in Glendive, a Thursday holiday warrants taking the entire weekend off from work.  This includes mechanics.
~The nearest tow company (who actually answered their phone) was 100 miles away.
~My in-laws SUV is capable of towing a mini van.
~Glendive (thank God) has a Napa auto parts store that carries alternators.
~Chris' Uncle Dan is a great mechanic and is capable of replacing an alternator in a K-Mart parking lot at midnight.

So yeah, that was fun.  Anyway, while Chris was dealing with van stuff, Tim, Jennifer, the boys and I pull into Baker, have lunch with my mother-in-law's family and get Brooks ready for pictures.

And I would like to throw out there, that the boys were totally cool with this whole adventure.  Sleeping in different places all the time, hours and hours of driving, meeting dozens of new relatives they've never seen before, not having Daddy around for half a day, being thrust in front of a camera for wedding pictures.  I, on the other hand, was getting a wee bit stressed.  But we survived.

After lunch I began my duty as "keeper of the ring bearer".  It started with the multi-piece tux.

Oh my beating heart.  I definitely had one of those "I can't believer you're my baby" moments.  I hugged him and made sure to tell him just how very proud of him I was!  And I also made sure to take this picture before we left the bedroom ... you know, before the cheek-pinchers got to him.

And Brooks absolutely amazed me during the whole wedding celebration!  He was so patient waiting for his turn for pictures, he actually looked AND smiled at the camera when asked to (shocking!), he performed his very important ring bearer duties flawlessly (including standing ON STAGE for 45 minutes during the ceremony) and then not eating supper until 8pm.  The kid was a champ.  Seriously.  I couldn't have been more proud of him (and Carter).  There were no tantrums from either of them all day.  

At the reception, they had a whole table filled with bowls of candy.  And for once, I gave Brooks carte blanche.  Here's a cup kid.  Fill it with whatever you want.  You deserve it.

This flower girl (I can't even remember her name) cracked me up!  After the ceremony, she kept toting Brooks around on her arm and calling him her "prince".  It was hilarious.  And apparently Brooks is cool with being bossed around by girls, because he just happily went wherever she told him to go.  (We may have to work on that) 

Before the wedding, Brooks kept asking ,"Carter, do you want to watch me get married?"  To which Carter emphatically replied "Yes!"  And seeing these two, they were like a little mini bride and groom :) 

We left the reception pretty much right after we ate.  The boys were exhausted.  I was exhausted.  And Chris headed out with Uncle Dan to fix our alternator.  We all slept hard that night.

We stayed at Sue & Steve's house (Chris's Aunt & Uncle and parents of the bride).  They're farmers in Plevna, MT so on Sunday morning while Sue cooked breakfast, Steve took the boys out for a spin on the four wheelers.  Brooks had fun but Carter was in heaven!  He hopped right on, grabbed the handle bars and was ready to drive!  Then Steve showed them the tractors.  I didn't think we'd ever get Carter to leave!

Being on the farm, even for such a short amount of time, made me wish we owned some land instead of just a small patch of weeds in the middle of the city.  (sigh)  Perhaps someday.

After breakfast, we said our good-byes, packed up all our things one last time, and began the eight hour trek back to Sioux Falls.  Our boys traveled so well during this whole trip.  I think I did more complaining than they did.  But by the time we hit Chamberlain (two hours west of Sioux Falls) we were all getting pretty crabby and were ready to be home.  We powered through the last few hours and finally made it home Sunday night around 9:30pm. And although I had a mountain of laundry and a filthy van staring at me, we were at last home.  And happy to be.