JULY 23 - Aug 1, 2010
That's right... you read the title correctly... every year our family takes an ULTIMATE ROAD TRIP to Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah and back home to visit family. It is quite the journey for sure. We cover over 3000 miles of asphalt & back country dirt roads in 10 days! Some say we are CRAZY and I might have to agree.
This year we broke down and spoiled our youngest for our sanity's sake.
We surprised Blake with his own Nintendo DS for our 3000 mile road trip. Since the girls have theirs to keep them entertained, we knew blake would beg and plead to play their DS's. So we got him his own and he is sooo excited.
He loves his "Red DS". He already knew how to turn it on and maneuver through the menu & games. He has got good practice stealing his sisters DS early in the mornings before they are awake to play & explore their game systems. So Blake was an old pro :) We held out giving it to him 7 hours into our road trip. Our dvd players were getting old already so this should help us last the next 5 hours of day one.
I will tell you it was the best decision we made for this trip. The DS worked like a charm :) hooray
First Pit Stop on the Zito Family Road Trip ... Summer of 2010 was Salt Lake City, UT.
We enjoyed a yummy together at Z' Tejas.
Took the kids to see this super cute movie! we LOVED It!!!!
Got to visit with this guy.... my brother Jacob. He is an EMT in SLC and it was fun hearing all his crazy paramedic stories. Leonard is very jealous of his new ride. :)
I also took an afternoon to do a little more shopping at some of my favorite utah decorating stores. It worked out perfectly. Leonard and the kids hung out at the hotel pool and I went shopping. Since my last overwhelming and mind boggling, but super duper fun trip here just the week before, I had time to make a list of what items I "needed" for my kitchen/family room make over that is currently under construction :) good bye fruit kitchen and hello the new and improved updated SIMPLER version....
Now Back to the Road Trip.....
We made it to Greybull, Wyoming at last.
Leonard's mom...a.k.a - Granny, organized all the cousins 4 and up to enjoy 3 full days of Fun, Fun & more Fun at COUSIN CAMP. We were only missing one cousin... missed you tyler!
10 kids all together
Let's get this party started!
Day 1 of Cousin Camp
Granny & Kaitlyn organized the first fun activity.
A Scavengers Hunt....
It was pretty fun watching all the kids run as fast as they could to the next clue. We had the kids who could read, take turns reading the next clue and those that couldn't read, got help on finding the clue :)
We have to be fair you know.
Blake is on the run, trying to catch up with all the other cousins. go buddy go!
From one end of the yard to the other! back and forth... full speed ahead!
We have some very smart little people in our family! We had a LOT of great clues! Way to go granny & Kaitlyn :)
Searching, searching and searching
They found the final clue... who will find the treasure???
WOOO HOOOO! Wow!!! Granny put together a cousin camp tote for each kid!
just look at these happy cousins!
top L-R: Seth, Carly, Dominique, Lexi, & Brenna
bottom L-R: Aden, Blake, Kaitlyn, Ashlyn & Brandon
Yee Haw! What a great way to start off Cousin Camp 2010 at the Funnee Farm!
Next, the kids got to decorate their totes.
Everyone got a cool punch ballon in their totes too! Such fun! Aunt Merilee was sweet enough to put her art skills to work and gave each balloon a little pizzazz.
One more group shot in their matching Cousins Camp T-shirts!
And it's a Huddle and a cheer with Granny to a GREAT COUSINS CAMP 2010!!! Hip Hip Hooray!
After a day full of playing hard, the kids got to make their own batch of FUDGE IN A BAG.
All you need is a few sweet ingredients, ziplock bag and some elbow grease... or in this case... finger grease.... eeew that does sound gross right?
You mush, smoosh, mash, kneed, mix and eventually you have a bag of fudge. You can cut the corner of the bag and squeeze out the yummy goodness! it doesn't look so good, but looks are deceiving! What a FUN treat! :)
Leonard enjoyed some very needed time off to relax and unwind. He loved spending time learning about his new toy...uhhh i mean TOOL! yes, Tool he would call it. The Ipad is AWESOME! and it really will make his work life easier. So, hooray for Leonard :)
Day 2 of Cousin Camp
We took the long 45 mile journey to hidden gem in Powell, WY.
The Powell Aquatics Center
This indoor pool is a great place to spend a hot afternoon. They even have a lazy river! SWEET!
The kids & adults had a blast!
Kaitlyn taking on the lilly pads.
Carly was a pro on the lilly pads. She made it across a few times! So proud :)
Slides, fountains, racing, splashing & splashing!
I would come to Powell, Wy just for the fun pool!
Day 2 of cousin camp... success :)
DAY 3 of COUSIN CAMP
Cafeteria Lunches??? yep! you bet :) the kids were excited to head to Greybull's Elementary school to enjoy a free lunch! Crispy Mac & Cheese! can you say YUM!!!
After lunch, the kiddos got their wiggles out and played on the playground. It got hot fast. But Granny and Merilee came to the rescue with icee's for everyone! YEAH!!!!
I did take pictures of the crew with their drinks and more group shots in their awesome camp shirts ..... BUT..... they accidentally got deleted! grrrr! don't you hate that! You can imagine hot sweaty kids all line up in height and again in age youngest to oldest. They were some good pictures I tell you! DARN IT!
Next on the agenda was 3 hours of Bouncy House Heaven at Greybull's Rec center where Granny rented out the whole place and the obstacle course/giant slide & a bounce house set up to play on!
You'd think the kids died and gone to heaven! They were having the time of their lives :) Jumping, running, sliding, racing, laughing and yes...a few bonks, and tears too... comes with the territory :)
But over all.... Fun, Fun & more Fun!
Blake is getting adventurous and sliding down headfirst backwards :)
Is your GRANNY as cool as ours???? Probally not! :)
We love our Granny and she LOVES us! Thanks for all your hard work and dedication you have for your grandkids! They will not forget the good times we share together. :)
That purple blob is me... Yes, this mama got down and bouncy too! It was fun... just like being a kid again. Infact, Leonard & I both got crazy and decided to race each other on the obstacle course. I was beating him...of course... and he CHEATED ... of course... and grabbed my leg as i was climbing up the ladder to the big slide. Once I scrambled back to the top, we were both there ready to slide. I threw myself over the top, head first.... not feet first, sitting down like Leonard would have assumed I would slid down. Soooooo, That meant we were both colliding down, rolling legs, arms, bodies out of control. It was a tangled mess tie. I ended up with some good road rash on my elbow and a huge goose egg on my leg. Leonard was beat up too. I surprise the heck out of him. It was GREAT!!! I declared myself the winner, since he cheated and tried to stop my lead! That was the only race for me this day! Ahhh to be young again :)
Once the kids bounced them selves silly, they came home for some arts and crafts :)
Blake played very hard... He played him self to sleep at the dinner table. He was OUT LIKE A LIGHT. We couldn't budge him awake for a couple hours. He was ZONKED!
So 3 days full of cousins, playing and fun. The party is over and we have good memories to last us until next time! WE Love You all :) Thanks for the Adventure :)
Our last morning together in Greybull, WY with Granny & Pappy Zito!
We love our Granny & Pappy and thank them for their love and kindness! We wish we lived closer.
Until next summer!
Stayed tuned for more adventures of The Zito Family Road Trip - Summer 2010.
So far we have only covered UT & WY.... We have more to come...MT, WY, ID, and UT!
Yeee HAW!!!!!
