The Dill Family

Our First Family Road Trip!

We decided that with a new baby coming this fall, we probably won't be doing much traveling in the next year. We had planned on going to Colorado to celebrate Brent's grandpa's 80th birthday party so we figured we could just make it a road trip and stop to see lots of friends and families. We drove about 3,000 miles, were in the car about 44 hrs, went through 9 states, and spent the night in 8 different places....and it was a BLAST! Hattie was the best lil traveler and Brent even admitted that I am a good traveling buddy as well!! Here is what we did on our two week vacation...I hope I can remember it all!
Day 1- We left on June 30th and drove about 8 hours to see The Marshes. We were really excited to see Kelly and Courtney again but even more exicted to finally meet their son, Cael. Kelly and I agreed that it was love at first sight for Hattie and Cael. : ) We spent the night at Courtney's aunt's house.
Day 2- Brent could barely sleep because he was so excited to see Rock City in Minneapolis, KS ( Kelly and Courtney's hometown). It was definetly a highlight of the trip : ) Then we went to Rolling Hills Sanctuary. It felt like we were the only people there. It was a beautiful zoo. Hattie loved the animals! My favorite was feeding the giraffes! That night we went to Salina to stay in a hotel- Kelly's dad got each of us a room there so the kids could swim. We went out to dinner and then took the kiddos swimming.
Day 3- Ate lunch with The Marshes and then took off for Loveland, CO. Hattie warmed up to her Nana, Papa and Tracy very quick and had fun running around Tracy's backyard.
Day 4- We drove up to Estes Park, CO to celebrate Cliff's 80th birthday!! Hattie and I got to meet lots of the Dill family that we haven't met before. It was beautiful by the lake. So happy we got to be there. I think Brent's grandpa is such a wonderful man! Everyone says so: )
Day 5- 4th of July Hattie woke up to find her cousin Jaron was there for the holiday! YAY! We went to a small parade that Jaron was in. Then we went to the mall and Nana took Hattie to build a bear where she made a cute pony. That night we were supposed to watch the fireworks at Tracy's boyfriend's house on the lake but the weather was horrible and they cancelled the fireworks : (
Day 6- Nana drove with us up to Spearfish, SD. We were so excited to see Brent's parents' new house! It is gorgeous! Hattie played with Papa outside with dog, Nugget. She loves dogs so much- she kept calling every dog " Lola"!
Day 7- Spearfish was SO cold...56 degrees. Luckily Nana had some heavy winter clothes for Hattie to wear. We went to Brent and my favorite restaurant ( remember Spearfish was our college town). Then Cathy and I went quilt shopping and we decided on a theme for baby girl's nursery! I am so excited!
Day 8- We went out to breakfast with my friend, Sheila and then went to the fish hatchery. Of course Hattie loved feeding the fish and ducks. Then we drove the 3 hours to my hometown, Pierre! Hattie and Grandpa hit it off right away. They were playing some pillow game. Hattie was also excited to see cousin, Kirsten would be there for 4 days! I was excited too....see is such a great kid and was a big help!
Day 9- We drove to Miller to see Grandma Lois. Grandma will be 97 in a few weeks and she still remembers every single birthday of all her many grandchildren. Grandma felt kinda bad that Hattie didn't want to sit with her but we explained she is at that age were she just wants to run around. Hattie shared some icecream with grandma and had fun playing in her basket.
Day 10- Jodi and Jean Cowan came to visit Hattie in the afternoon and then my dad took us to the circus in Ft. Pierre! It was just right for Hattie's first circus, not too big or long. Hattie sat there for the two hours without getting up at all! Her favorite was the dogs, of course! That night we had my dad's 62nd birthday party in our back yard.
Day 11- We went to the Capital and fed the ducks and fish. Hattie learned to say turtle and duck. She fed the ducks for a while and then decided she would just eat the bread instead : )We also went up to Jodi's house to meet her new puppy! That night we went to Pizza Ranch to see my niece, Alyssa working. She told us we could go there as long as we didn't embarass her....now would we do that?!?!
Day 12- Had a nice lunch with my family and Jodi before leaving to Sioux Falls to stay with my brother for the night. Greg cooked us a really nice dinner of steaks, ribs, brats, and hotdogs...and there was only 4 of us eating! Then we went to BK for icecream to see my nephew working.
Day 13- Drove to Omaha to meet The Holzwarths! It has almost been 4 years since we last saw them at our wedding. I was so excited to see Alexa and Dylan. They are the sweetest kids! Dylan kept smiling at Hattie- Cael might have a little competition: ) We ate at a cool restaurant in the old downtown, then went to the hotel to swim since it was raining outside. We hung around the hotel and let the kids play while we chatted.
Day 14- Went wit the Holzwarths to the Omaha Zoo! Holy Cow...this is probably the best zoo I have ever been to. It was huge! They had a desert, rainforest, aquarium, butterfly pavilion, rides and much more. We knew Hattie would enjoy seeing the animals. She did fall alseep for a 30 minute cat nap in her stroller but then woke up to see the rest. We said good byes to the Holzwarths then drove a couple of hours to Leavenworth, KS to stay the night with the Marshes. Hattie just loved Courtney this time seeing them. We ate pizza and watched the kiddos play together. We really wish we lived closer to eachother, we got so close over the two years in Puerto Rico.
Day 15- Kelly and I got pedicures in the morning than grabbed lunch and ate. We then got in the car for our last and longest stretch...9 hours! We made it home to Sachse late Wednesday night. We were exhausted! Hattie slept so good in her own bed again! And in the morning she was so excited to see the dogs. She kept saying "hi Lola'.
Last night we went to Sara's house and Hattie got excited when we pulled up. I couldn't believe how much different Layla looks. Hattie held her and fed her and then Marina and Hattie got crazy...they were running around laughing and playing. They sure did miss eachother.
It's great to be home after such a wonderful trip! Hopefully we can do that again in a couple of year!
Hope you enjoy the pictures...there's lots of them!!