Amazing place!

OK,I really do need to do some blogging about our trip, so I'll do it in parts and add pics to go with it! We took 3 days driving down and I was a little apprehensive about it, but figured we'd be OK because we had a long time to do it and we'd just stop when we needed to. That's exactly what happened! The rest areas along I-5 are great and we just pulled in when we needed to and everyone had their stretch and a pee break.

On the first day, mum had packed stuff for sandwiches for lunch. It was good to get out and let the kids run around and just do what we wanted rather than sitting in a restaurant! We had great weather all three days, so that was never an issue either thankfully.

We were into the hotel the first 2 night before dinnertime, so we pretty much went into our rooms, dumped our stuff and headed off to eat before the kids got too crazy. We ended up at Denny's both nights just because it's not that expensive, there's lots of choice and it's family place. The first night went quite well, but the second night was a little later and Nathan was pretty burnt out and tired, so I ended up having to walk him around the restaurant for a while. Not the most relaxing dinner with him climbing all over George and I!

The third day, we jut sort of took it easy in the morning because we weren't that far away and had told Scott and Toni that we'd be there sort of mid-afternoon. Nathan was up early and mum heard us, so she came over because she'd been sharing a room with Trace, Brian and Sophia, but they were all still sleeping (after Sophia was apparently up half the night). Mum and I took Nathan for a walk (because Kyle was still sleeping too) and went to a coffee place I'd seen the night before and had a really nice morning sitting have a coffee outside and watching Nathan play. It was a great way to start the morning.

We went back to the room and we all went next door for breakfast, but Nathan and I only last about 10 minutes. He was getting tired because it was a little later on and wasn't co-operating, so I told George to get us take out and the 2 of us went back to our room. It just wasn't worth fighting him for an hour in the restaurant and it sure wouldn't have been relaxing! This way, I just let him run around the hotel room and we played.

We were on the road again and other than getting separated once and being slightly concerned about whether or not we had the directions we needed (on paper), it was a smooth go. A little stressed there at one point, but all was good! Now when we got there, I picked out their house from mum's description because of all the windows on the front! Then, I also saw the stairs up to the house that mum was talking about - more than 100! I couldn't imagine doing it every day that's for sure...

The stairs were worth it though and I understand why Scott and Toni can put up with it because the house is gorgeous as is the view from it! And let's face it, if all of us can invade their place and there's room for all of us, then it's a good size too! We ended up downstairs and that worked well. Mum and dad were upstairs and then Trace, Brian and Sophia were in the guest house!










It was soooooo wonderful to see Scott and Toni again. It always just seems like way to long when we do! They were fantastic to put up with all of us that's for sure. We also got to meet Jade who's 4 and a half. She's staying with them for the summer and I believe she's Toni's cousin's daughter. Regardless of the familial ties, she's an absolutely wonderful little ball full of non-stop energy! She and Kyle hit it off and were like siblings shortly after they met with the whole love/hate thing and sometimes irritating the heck out of the other person!

This is a HUGE thank you to Scott and Toni for putting up with all of us for the time we were there! It was a wonderful visit, but seemed to be over all too quickly though I'm sure they were happy to have their house back!!

Well, I guess I'll stop there for now... it's going to be a hot one here, so it's going to be a matter or keeping cool in the 30-35 degree heat!
Cheers,
Colleen