While waiting for baby to arrive, I have had plenty of spare time which would explain the sudden occurrence of this post - our summer trip that happened eight months ago.
We road tripped it.
It's been decided that that probably won't be happening again any time too soon.
The journey there was a breeze, but the way home?
That was a long one.
We really had a wonderful time and what a fun experience it was for Gray to get to meet everyone and see new things.
Gray has stayed in plenty of condos and beach houses, but never a hotel.
We couldn't have anticipated how exciting it would be for him.
It was adorable.
He took it all in with eyes of wonder - the lobby, the hallways, the rooms, the POOL, continental breakfast in the morning, etc.
How fun for us as well...to see something with fresh eyes.
We made a pit stop at 'The World's Largest Truck Stop'.
And then we arrived at Lawrence and Bailey's place in Minnesota!
It was beautiful and two new kiddos to play with is always a good thing.
Next stop: Fargo
The Hawleys were so sweet and had a birthday cake prepared for Gray.
Enjoying a little morning coffee at Lake Metigoshe.
As soon as Kara said it was late enough in the morning to start the engines, Gray was running to that tube.
It was his first time tubing and he was all smiles.
I'm pretty sure the signal of thumbs up (meaning faster) was a constant during his ride.
The faster, the better.
Joined by Daddy!
Waiting for Kara to get the jet ski ready...another first - how exciting!
In addition to all of the fun water activities, we had a wedding to attend!
Dusty was the officiant and married these two lovebirds :)
One foot in Canada and one in the United States...two places at once?
Check.
I don't remember exactly how Dusty ended up with my shorts on - I think I was cold or being eaten alive by bugs and he offered me his pants...such a sweet man. Ha!
Gray holding Wells for the first time ❤
While in Minot, we also had a wedding celebration where our closest friends and family joined us to celebrate our marriage!
I haven't quite gotten around to editing all of those yet...most likely, they will be in a separate post.
We began our trek home by going to Rapid City to see more family.
We had one day to explore a bit and our first stop was Storybook Island - a place Dusty used to visit with his Dad.
And then a little adventure!
We rode this way up high and then had a fun ride down...
I was going so fast that Dusty couldn't even get me in focus :)
And of course, Mount Rushmore:
Whew - big trip!
We did much more while we were there and many people didn't seem to make it into photos, but we remember all of it.
I'll try to have my camera out more next time.
Thank you to everyone who made it so special for us :)
