Good Day For a Road Trip

I am a spontaneous person....at least I used to be spontaneous. Marriage, responsibilities, motherhood and life has slowly crunched that spontaneity up into a little ball and put it neatly away on some long forgotten shelf. I have been known to run through the sprinklers at the park, go sea-dooing at Willard Bay in March, run through the fountain in front of Carnegie Hall in January, goad a sunday school teacher (with help from friends) into tossing his sunday school manual out the window. Yes, I have had my days of crazy fun. However, I am much more likely now to dismiss any water activities in the winter for fear of pneumonia or ruining my hair. Doing things that aren't planned and scheduled is my equivalent to jumping off a cliff into a black chasm. How did that happen? Well, I found that little ball sitting on it's little shelf last weekend. Justin had a couple days off. Friday at 11:00 AM we decided to load up the van and drive to Montana for Saturday. We would then drive home Sunday, in time for Justin to be to work in SL at 3:00PM. Take that spontaneous crusher!!! Was it worth it??? You be the judge....
We stopped in Idaho Falls for some stretch your legs and give Ethan a break time. We went to the Greenbelt around the Idaho Falls temple. We found a nice little sandy beach area down by the water and let the kids explore, sink their toes in the sand, find little sea shells, and throw rocks in the river. They loved it!
Here are our funny faces before loading back into the car for the next stretch of the drive. We stopped in Dillon, Montana for some pizza at the Stageline Pizza at the University of Montana Western. We were the only ones in the little pizza joint and the kids liked the pool table. We then arrived in Helena at around 9:30PM
Saturday it was off to the Canyon Ferry Lake for some boating with Uncle Ryan's fiance, Andeelynn and her family. They have a great boat and access to a great lake front family cabin. The kids had a blast!!! Here is Nathan on the short drive to the lake.
Here is Abby in her Papa's new truck on the way to the lake.
Here is the cousin soup in the lake.
Here is Nathan, attempting his first tube ride behind the boat.
He was mighty successful. He loved tubing and hung on so long Andeelyn's dad, Brian, had to actually create some big old waves to throw him off. He wasn't too sure about being dumped into the lake but was all smiles when he got back in the boat.
Gage, Ryan, Nathan, Abby, and Annalyn on the boat.

Here is Abby on her first attempt at the tube.
Whoa!! Hang on little rag doll! She got the hang of it and was soon tubing like a champ!!

Even Ethan enjoyed himself at the lake. He took a boat ride with Justin and myself and took a nap as the rocking and bouncing of the boat helped him drift off to sleep. I attempted some kneeboarding....but didn't get all the way up!!! Justin attempted some kneeboarding and was much more successful than I was!! I think he enjoyed himself as well!
Saturday night we went home and attended the Last Chance Fair, Stampede and Rodeo. The kids loved it. Ethan even loved it, yelling and getting all excited over the horses and bulls. By 9:30PM Justin, Gavin, Ethan and I were heading for home with a very sleepy bunch. Nathan and Abby however, stayed to the fair for some ride hopping. They came shuffling in around 11:00PM, exhausted. All in all, we all had a great time. We loaded up the car at 5:00AM the next morning, easily making it home for Justin's work and with fairly happy and easy-to-handle kids. Thank goodness for our little burst of impromptu impulses...it was just what I needed to get me through until school starts and scheduled insanity returns to the Wardell household!!