Evergreen

I don't know how other people feel about their neighbors, but Michael and I have been blessed throughout our marriage with the most amazing neighbors ever.  The great thing about neighborhoods is that you share your lives with people in a way that is very difficult to replicate.  Friendships develop one batch of cookies at a time, and eventually bonds are forged over celebration and grief and all the other elements of life that happen at home.  Such it was with our wonderful neighborhood on Cherry Drive.  I feel like they are my younger siblings and I cherish being part of their lives.

So it comes as no surprise that we went straight to Evergreen, Colorado to stay with our former neighbors this week.  Hayden and Lindsay sold their house around the same time that we did and moved out that same summer.  They landed in Evergreen in a beautiful house in the pines that is still refreshingly chilly in July (its been in the 50's at night!)  We have enjoyed taking time to hike, bike, play with their sweet baby girl, run outside in the grass, laugh a lot, and watch the dogs play.  Sophie has missed her Best Friend Dogs SO MUCH - it is so cute to watch them play together.

That matching golden dog behind Sophie is Daisy.  They have just about been glued together since we arrived!

Our beautiful Cherry family (minus one adorable sleeping toddler)

 
Tonight was an extra fabulous evening because we had the whole bunch together.  Sarah and Travis drove up from Littleton and we had one of our family dinners together.  It did my heart good to see them all and to be together again.  We love them so much!

Rapid City!

When we were planning this trip there were a lot of variables that we had to think about, but one thing was certain.  The kids insisted that we would see Aunt Kim and Uncle Ben and the cousins.  That was not negotiable. We have all missed them very much!

 Kim and Ben recently moved into a beautiful house up in the Black Hills of South Dakota that backs up to the National Forest.  The view is breathtaking!

 The dog cousins had almost as much fun as the human cousins!  Sophie and the St. Bernard puppy (Gus Gus) romped as often as they could, and they were so much fun to watch.

Look at that view!

Cousins chillln'

On our last day in South Dakota we took a hike as a family.  We were searching for a cave entrance to drop into  and explore - but alas we couldn't find it!  However we did get the opportunity to see some absolutely gorgeous views, and we made memories as a family.  That is always a great thing.

The vistas were amazing as we hiked.

Can you tell the kids aren't thrilled to go?

 Our visit was even more exciting because Michael and Kim's Aunt Janet just happened to by flying into town for a vacation with her friends.  Aunt Janet is one of Michael's mom's sisters and we LOVE her.  She has always been so kind to us and my kids adore her.  We got to spend an evening and the next morning with her at Kim's house - what a fun treat!

The Dakotas!

We finally made it to our last state in the 48 contiguous United States - North Dakota!  We only stayed for one night, but we did it!  The next morning we got up and drove nine and a half hours to Badlands, South Dakota.  I generally enjoy looking at the scenery, but after that much driving I was so over it!  We arrived in the Badlands and enjoyed the scenery for a day or so before heading off to go see Mount Rushmore.  Mount Rushmore ended up being somewhat rushed because a thunderstorm rolled in!  But we managed to get a good shot before we had to run for cover!

We lucked out and visited Badlands during Astronomy week!

Minnesota!

We had the opportunity to visit with our friends, the Kothes at their beautiful new house near St. Paul, Minnesota.  The Kothe house is filled with girls – 8^th grade triplets and one 7^th grader and they are all fabulous.  Our kids went to Peabody together in Colorado and Lisa and I spent A LOT of time together with PTO activities.  Michael had two of the four Kothe girls in his class at Peabody.  Everyone seemed to enjoy time chatting and all the kids had a fabulous time together – the girls hadn’t seen toys since we left home, so that was really exciting.  Luke was not interested in playing Barbies, but he had fun hanging out with the girls.  It is so wonderful to reconnect with friends.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin!

From Gulf Shores, at the very bottom of the country, we drove north for two days until we reached Wisconsin.  I don’t know WHAT I was thinking when I planned that.  When did that drive sound like a good idea in my head?  

We left Gulf Shores on Friday around noon and 10 hours later we FINALLY left Alabama.  Sadly, I was so tired at that point we pulled over in the first spot we could find and went to sleep!  The next day I was determined that we would make more progress.  We started our day in Tennessee, and finished 15 hours later in Wisconsin, just 40 miles or so from our destination.  Long day, but it was worth it when we woke up and were able to head straight for Grandma!

My Grandma Bess married my grandfather when I was about 9 and our family doubled in size.  She brought with her 7 additional adult children to add to the 8 kids in my dad’s family.  Family reunions were completely crazy with that many adults, and all the 30 plus grandkids.  But to this only child, the result was magical.  I mean who doesn’t want more people to love?  Now our family includes a whole bunch of great grandkids – I have no idea how many at this point, but she does, and she has one great, great grandchild.  I have a ridiculous number of cousins.  She is an amazing woman and I absolutely adore her. 

Wisconsin always makes me feel nostalgic and a visit there means a lot of things.  Family.  Many, many cows.  Delicious cheese. Beautiful fields of wild flowers. Corn fields, barns, and silos.  When I was a child it looked like a fairyland compared to the bleak, stark beauty of the Arizona desert.  It evoked some of the same feelings this time.

While we were there we took the opportunity to go to Wisconsin Dells to one of the many waterparks they have there.  We chose Noah’s Ark, which is on 70 acres and is currently the largest water park in the country.  We rode so many rides I lost count!  We all had a wonderful time and came back to spend our last evening of the visit with Grandma. 

Carr Valley Cheese - Chocolate Cheese run!

Root beer floats on the 4th of July

Cow Kisses.

Pie in a cup! 

Noah's Ark

Rainy day at the beach:by Mom and Luke

Alvidrez road trips usually have a lot of hiking involved.  We seldom stay in super touristy areas – we don’t need nightlife or trendy restaurants.  We like natural beauty, animals, farm stands, mom and pop hole in the wall restaurants, and peace - so the kids can sleep well.  Therefore we hike to the beach and stay away from the beachfront. Plus, let's face it, we can't go on these long vacations if we stay in pricey places! (But, would we stay in a beachfront Hilton?  Yep.)

Which is all well and good when the weather is balmy and fair, but truly stinks when it is pouring rain like it was when we woke up this morning!

So we waited. And eventually we decided that an hour without thunder was long enough, even if it was raining a smidge.  So off we went.

And the rest of the story is as told by Luke.

We had fun swimming at the beach today! The weather was warm and humid with thunderclouds, but it didn’t rain while we were there.  We went really far out until the water started feeling chilly.  Which was weird because it was warm closer to shore.  So we raced each other back towards the shore.

The storm looming in the distance.

We saw a lot of sea creatures today.  I was surrounded by little fish.  They were about as big as ½ of a dollar bill.  I caught one with my bare hands, but I let him live.  They liked to kiss everyone’s legs and feet, that took some getting used to.  Mom and Dad each were pinched by a crab today.  Neither of them appreciated it, but they said it didn’t hurt.  Mom accidentally touched a jellyfish, but it didn’t sting her.  Gabi thinks she was stung by a jellyfish – once on each leg.  We aren’t sure what happened there, but we took care of her, just in case. 

Dad and Gabi are sunburned a little.

Mom is a lobster.  Isa and I aren’t bad at all.  Yay!

Gulf Shores!

We have lived in Alabama almost a year and we finally made it to the famous Gulf Beaches.  We have heard so many glowing stories about the paradise that exists just six hours south of us.  So many that we were a bit concerned we would be disappointed.  Well, we weren’t!

The water is delightfully warm – just cool enough to be refreshing, but warm enough to jump in without squealing.  That is the measure of water these days, the volume of the squeal from the kids.  The only sound we heard today was laughter.

Which is good, because it appears that we made a number of rookie mistakes today while happily playing in the surf.  First, we walked right into the path of a lightning storm.  Big gray thunderclouds looming in the distance eventually weren’t so far away.  Not so good when you walked over a mile from your campsite.  It is amazing how fast little legs can move when there is lightning approaching.  Second, we were swimming as dusk was approaching.  After we were safely back at camp Michael read that is shark feeding time.  And that there was a shark sighting in this area just a few days ago.  Whoops again.  And last, but certainly not least, jellyfish are real.  We’ve been all over the place in different seas and oceans and have seen lots of jellies, but none of them have ever been close enough to worry about.   But with the storm churning up the gulf things were not as tranquil as we expected. Few things get this mama out of the water faster than looking over and seeing a jellyfish 12 inches from her hip.  Yep, everyone out.  Isa had complained that something stung her about 45 minutes before, and I got out and did the whole scraping protocol and looked for stingers and didn’t think much of it – sent her back to play in the water.  She had a whole lot of red streaks down her leg, but I thought it was related to her scratching her leg with her nails.  But she seemed fine at bedtime, so who knows.

But somehow we returned to our campsite without major incident, where we happily sat in our air conditioned RV and dried out.