Cross Country Day 9 (Friday): Vernal to Orem

We woke up and ate pancakes for breakfast again (Yum!). I helped Alysa learn to french braid her hair. She did a great job! And it was only her first attempt!

Alysa got the hang of passing the braid between fingers.

She was so happy to have a new way to style her hair.

While letting the kids just sit around and as I finished charging, uploading and organizing photos, Michael said, "Hey, you never got your ride!" So off we went together. It was great! Windy and cool, but so beautiful and great to see the area from the back of the motorbike. We passed "Remember the Maine", the park we waded in the stream in last time we were in Vernal, and we went past the place where Michael takes the kids rock climbing (which I hope will be part of our next visit!).

Aleta took a pic before we headed out. I did relax a little and leaned back after we got going. Did you know I have had actual nightmares about wiping out on a motorbike while turning? The turn is so sharp and I'm so close to the ground, I dream the bike slides out and away from under me in the turn.

We named the pigs: Amelia and Gertrude. Keven was not the only one who played with these piggies!

The kids ate hamburgers at the Free School Lunch again. We then fed the adults at Wendy's, and the girls each had a Frosty treat, and the boys got sandwiches. 

Alysa

Keven (and Zoë)

Keeth

Nica (Veronica)

Megan

Zoë

We said our g'byes in Wendy's and its parking lot, and then headed west in the van. Sadly, the movie I thought was good for three days had expired after two, so the girls had to re-watch "The Sound of Music". And I will have to rent the movie again (grrr). I put in my headphones and listened to an audiobook so I didn't get distracted by the movie playing (I could see the screen from the driver's seat). The drive was a little more than 2.5 hours. Deer Creek looked full and made me sad that Travis wasn't there with us, but excited that I would see him a little later. We got to Grandma's house and it was just Buffy and her four kids there.

Buffy and her only daughter, her youngest child, Astrid Caroline Bailey.

The girls had fun playing with their cousins, and all the kids fell in love with Amelia and Gertrude. Buffy's brother, Morgan, his wife Jesse and their two-year-old son Henry were there, too. It is a true testament to how tired I was that I didn't get any pictures.

I still had to run and register for the Freedom Run race, so I left the kids and ran down to register Travis, Zoë, Megan, and Nica for the 1 mile race and myself for the 5K. I picked up shirts and packets, shopped for shirts for family pictures and for tie-dying and grabbed some milk for myself. When I got back, Grandma and Grandpa were there and the kids had already finished eating pizza. Buffy stayed a little longer, but wanted to get her kids in bed before she left to get Allan from the airport. I also wanted to get the kids settled at Becky's before I had to get Travis.

Becky was all ready for us with air mattresses and beds and the girls were giggly and so happy to be there!

Becky making up the air mattress in the living room for me and Travis. Miranda and Veronica was "lumps in the bed" and giggled as Becky covered them with sheets and blankets.

See the lumps?

Megan was giggling, too.

Snug as a bug in a rug!

They were giggly tired.

Travis' flight got in uneventfully, but I sat in a 90-degree van with no air (can't run motor in cell-phone lot) for an hour. I fell asleep and was groggy and cranky. Not the way I wanted to greet my husband after not seeing him for a week! We were both glad to fall into bed...