Have I ever mentioned that I'm overconfident?

And in case you're wondering-it's a real thing; I suffer from the I got this mentality. This mentality sometimes gets me in a car on a highway 23 hours from home with nothing but spilled Cheerios and whining children between me and insanity. That's the razors edge of sanity if ever there was.

 Here I am after 26 hours on the road with these hooligans. 


On July 2, 2014, in classic Jamie style, I decided at 9:00 a.m. to go ahead and leave that same afternoon, rather than the next day, as planned. We headed for St. George, UT where we stayed at my Aunt's vacation home. After a mere 8 hours on the road I was seriously considering heading South back to Arizona, calling it good. We ended up staying there for two days and heading North to Salt Lake where we picked up Grandma at the airport. (Everything is better with her around!)


The hardest part of all the driving I did over the month of July was those first eight hours; especially the part where Jack cried for three hours straight and I had to drive with one hand while holding his hand with the other. On a positive note, he got it all out of his system in one fell swoop; deciding that three hours of uninterrupted crying was enough even for him.


We detoured through Idaho Falls attending a Peterson family reunion. We saw grandma Peterson--she's 96--and it was great to see her. The ranch looked beautiful and it was really fun to see all my cousins all grown up with their own families. That night we stayed in the world's worst hotel! Thankfully, the next day we were bound for grandma's house in Washington (lice free!).

A quick nine hours later Jack and Lily were ecstatic to be in Grandma's bathtub.  Every time I come home I'm blown away by my parent's yard, everything just grows and grows. It's so beautiful! Shortly after arriving, I took refuge on the porch swing--my sanity hanging in the balance--while the kids soaked up the glorious Wi-Fi. Who knew Wi-Fi was so important? Kidding (not really).

Wi-Fi is everything--everyone knows that. Reconnect to the internet, sanity returned to all. We forgot about the trials of road and we all lived happily ever after. Please don't make me recount the return trip to you. Agh! *drool runs from my cross-eyed face*