Family time - Campbell Style

It was really great to see the family. Being so far away from them, it is extra special to spend the time together. Grandpa and Shasha live about 5 hours east, so we visited them first. It worked out great since we could break the long trip to two. We were of course nervous about the drive, wondering how the kids are going to handle it. They did great! The babies slept most of the way and Sean happily watched Bob the Builder on the new DVD player. We stopped in Othello and had lunch there. We found a nice big park and the twins were able to stretch their legs and Sean was running around chasing birds etc...

Once we got to Grandpa's Sean enjoyed playing in their yard, scooping water with a Tupperware from their doggie's pool and dumping it into a hole in a concrete block. He was doing that for what seems like hours! He'll make a great laborer, we thought. The babies were obviously tired and had napped some, but there were some cranky moments. But that's expected and we handled it well. Grandpa cooked us nice mini hamburgers with buffalo meat and nice marinated chicken. Grandpa and Shasha always serve gourmet meals and we appreciate their hospitality. Food always tastes good over there! Sean and the twins had a good time being the center of the universe. I guess that's what grandkids are! We regret taking no pictures while we were there!

The next day, we left around 9 am to Boise. The trip was ok and there were some stressful moments near McCall. Alyson had a poop explosion and we had to change her clothes and clean the car seat! We stopped at a little parking area off the road right by the Salmon River where some people were fishing. My three lovely children were screaming their lungs out and the serenity and peace of things were shattered and by the time we were done, there were nobody around. After that, the trip was better. I even fell asleep a little and when I opened my eyes we were already in Eagle!

That evening, we went to grandma Marie's house for a dinner. She cooked us a wonderful ham, beans, wheat buns, potato salad and cucumber salad. She also made us a light raspberry dessert which I could not get enough of. Thank you Grandma! Alyson had a melt down and it took for a while for her to calm down, but she did eventually fell asleep in the guest room. Noah was stealing the show, smiling at everyone and being mellow. Sean acted shy toward Aunt Wilma and Kirk, but could not resist uncle Kirk's arms swings. Their daughter Sam, unfortunately, was in Sun Valley and could not see her. We'll see her next time for sure~!

Uncle Kirk hosted a bakyard dinner at his place on Saturday. He cooked us tons of pork ribbs with his special recipe. The weather was gorgeous and enjoyed sitting out on his patio. Sean was busy playing the entire time, he only sat while he ate his dinner. The twins slept most of the time. Alyson has gotten quite a reputation for all the crying she did and uncle Kirk attributed it to being a little girl. Noah DOES cry too, even though he acted like he's an angel! That's what men do... play cool outside and melt down once at home. Mike's friend Mikd joined the dinner, too and we were able to see the Hempkers across the street. They haven't changed a bit and it was nice seeing them again. We have a lovely family and so fortunate to have them in our lives.