Our Trip to Wisconsin

Back at the end of September, the kids, Grandma and I headed to Wisconsin by train to celebrate my grandparents anniversary.  The kids were so excited to ride the train, but as the time to leave came closer, they also felt bad for leaving Daddy behind at home. 
One of the things that we packed was a travel journal that Daddy and I made for the kids.  Each page was dedicated to a day and the kids got to draw or write what their favorite part of that day was.  That has turned out to be a huge keepsake for them.
The day we were to leave was so crazy and hectic.  Time just flew by and I remember thinking "We can't be here already!  I'm not ready to leave Josh!"  But ready or not, the time came to get on the train.  I hate good-byes.  Always have and always will.  I cried for a good half hour after we left.  And wouldn't you know that Josh called not even ten minutes after we left?  And I was crying, trying so hard not to, infront of the kids and the other passengers on the train.  Josh did most of the talking since I couldn't for any words more than 2 syllables long. 
I love my husband.
Anyways, it was a very interesting trip there.  We had only been on the train 8 hours and I had told mom, "If I wasn't so stubborn to not fly, we could have already been there by now." 

Leaving the PNW behind

 



 

First full day on the train and J.D. was sick for the rest of

the trip.  He didn't start to feel better until the second day

after we arrived in Wisconsin.

 

 



West Glacier, National Park

We had gone here for our anniversary trip last year
and we were thrilled to learn we would be
going through the Park again.
It's one of our favorite places.

 

Sunset in North Dakota

 

We arrived an hour and a half late into St. Paul?Minneapolis.  Great Grandpa and Grandma were there waiting for us and ready to take us to their home.

After just a couple of hours at their place, the kids made themselves at home, and just had to climb "the tree".





Great Grandpa took us out for a walk in the woods.



 

Great Grandpa and his tractor

 

While we were out there, we wanted to help Grandpa and Grandma get ready for winter.  Hauling wood in from the woods was a must.

 

 

First load of wood hauled to the house for unloading

 

 

 

While we were there, lady bugs/asian beetles were everywhere, and I really mean everywhere.  Lily had so much fun catching "her friends".





 

Great Grandma and Great Papa

 

The trip went by all to quickly, but we were missing Daddy so much.  Calling him twice a day on the phone just didn't cut it.  The train ride home went so slow, I thought we would never get back home.  There were so many delays along the way, one being our train hit a cow in eastern Montana.  That was certainly interesting.   But we did finally make in back to Vancouver,  3 hours late.  But Daddy was patiently waiting there to greet us!  And we were so happy to see him!  We said our "Hello's" and got all loaded up in the truck to head home, only to find out that the battery to the truck was dead, so we waited a while longer for AAA to come and give us a jump start, but we finally did make it all the way home.

The kids and I were so excited to be back, we ran around the place checking on all the animals and the garden, just glad to be home. 

Daddy was glad to have us home too.  He said it was just too quiet and lonely here without us.

It was a good trip, with special memories made and special time spent together with family.

I will end this post with something J.D. me one night after he met all of mom's side of the family, "I like these people."