We took our first road trip with just our family! We have been on several trips, but they have always been accompanied by extended family. We were excited and nervous. We were headed to Littleton, Colorado to visit the Tuttles.
We left Wednesday morning (June 1st) for our eight hour car ride. I was totally stressed out, but I prepared with lots of snacks and fun activities, toys, books, new pad games, and movies for the boys. I felt confident in my preparation, however, I did not prepare for carsickness. Charlie has never gotten carsick before, but we have never taken such a long drive through windy mountains. Charlie got carsick within the first hour! I knew we were in trouble. All of the treats, snacks, activities, movies, and books became useless as his stomach did not want any food and he couldn’t look at anything in his lap. Miraculously, Charlie fell asleep before too long. That was the exact remedy that we needed. For the rest of us that weren’t sick, it was a gorgeous drive. Just beautiful. Overall, the boys did really well on the drive. I sat back with them for a good part of the drive to help them out, but when I was able to sit up front, Jason and I listened to Red Rising. Such a great book! One of my favorites now. Charlie got carsick on and off, but finally threw up only five minutes before getting to their house as we were getting off the freeway.
Preparing the goodie box
Charlie before his carsickness. He was SO excited to go to Colorado...
even though he didn't entirely know what it meant to drive all day.
Our midway lunch stop at Burger King.
When we finally pulled up to their house, Charlie quickly felt better, and we were stoked to see everyone. We got there in time for a lasagna dinner and banana bread. Yum! It was so sweet because the cousins, Harlan, Clara, Oliver, and Penelope, were so excited to have us there. Charlie was on Cloud 9! We even let him have a sleepover in Harlan and Oliver’s room in a sleeping bag on the floor. He did really well and felt so special and big being able to do that with them. They were sweet to help him in the morning. They have an awesome basement that is their designated playroom. It is every kids dream! Every morning they would go downstairs and play with all of their wonderful toys until the others woke up. Colson was in the room with Jason and I. We slept in the office on a blow up mattress. Colson was in a pack n’ play surrounded by a sheet tacked to the ceiling to keep him from seeing us and crying.
We certainly kept busy during our stay, in true Tuttle style! On Thursday, we checked out Red Rock Amphitheater. It is so cool there and the kids loved climbing the big stairs. Next up was Belleview Park. That was awesome too. There is a fun creek to play in and a little train that goes around that you can ride if you want. We took a lunch and the kids played in the water and built a dam. That night the Tuttles treated us to a delicious burger place called Crave. They have totally unique and mouthwatering burgers. It was so fun.
On Friday morning, I slept in a little bit. I got bad stomach cramps that were totally taking over. While I rested for a bit, Jason cut Oliver's hair. It turned out really handsome. Then we all went to see a new river wave that is being built. People will be able to surf on this river. Such a brilliant idea. And it is only 15 minutes from their house. Then we went swimming. The kids had a blast. That night we made tin foil dinners that we roasted on their fire pit. We had s’mores, jumped on the tramp, played Spike Ball (a surprise gift we ordered for them), and ate homemade chocolate ice cream.
On Saturday we kept it simple and hung around the house. We had an epic water balloon fight that lasted for an hour or so and Robby showed us a dry ice experiment. It was such a fun day. Oliver said it was the best day of his life. Jason also helped them plant a tree in their front yard. For dinner, we had grilled chicken with grilled vegetables. For dessert, we went to Inside Scoop for some delicious ice cream. That night, after the kids were in bed, we taught Robby and Amy how to play Dominion.
Before we knew it, it was Sunday morning and time for us to start the drive back home. We had such a fun time that it was hard to say goodbye. The Tuttles are such great hosts. They made us feel so comfortable and they really spoiled us with so many fun things to do. I know Amy and Robby put in a lot of work to make it such a fun visit, and we were so grateful to them.
Here are some other things of note from our stay with the Tuttles:
Oliver was a crack up. He loved playing the game Life and trying to get anyone to play with him. Penelope loved trying to push and pin Colson down. Needless to say, Colson was scared of her. The kids loved jumping on the tramp. They spent a lot of time when we were home on the tramp. We helped Harlan land his front flip. Clara was a little gymnast and could already do a front flip and a front handspring. Clara loved playing with Colson and did well looking after the boys. I kept saying I needed to get myself one of her to help me out at home. She was sweet and made the boys flags to hold when we left for home. The kids went on walks and took Oliver and Charlie in the red wagon with the canopy. It was really cute. This is the time that Colson’s toenails started dying and then Charlie got some athletes foot. Apparently, we need to try and keep our kids a little cleaner.
Some of Charlie's photography catching glimpses of our stay:
On the drive home, the boys did really well again. I had to go back there sometimes and Charlie was car sick on and off, but considering how horrible it could have been, we are pretty lucky and thankful for the road trip success.
We made some wonderful memories with the Tuttles that we will always remember. It was great to have some one-on-one time with them, especially for Charlie to get that uninterrupted time with cousins without having to compete with others. It was also great for Jason and I to get to know the Tuttle kids better on an individual basis. Overall, an amazing trip and we look forward to the time we get to go back.
We made a little video of our trip. Click here to see the video.
We made a little video of our trip. Click here to see the video.
