and away we go: part 5:)

we woke up Saturday morning, ready to enjoy our One Year Anniversary and celebrate Homer's 4 month Birthday:) Day 6 and state 6 of our Vacation:):)

and then Homer lost his shit. Jacob and I lost our shit. And so Jacob packed up our campsite as I sat silent...while Homer screamed. He screamed in my arms. He screamed in his seat. He screamed while I walked. He screamed while sitting in his seat...in the car.

we hit the road. Homer had finally fell asleep and we were still upset with each other. I was upset that I let Homer being upset...upset me. - I don't think Homer was doing it on purpose...but we can't prove that;) And I knew that Jacob and I not talking was mostly all my fault;( And we were heading out of town without doing any of the fun things we had planned for the day.

fast forward 20 minutes. A ridiculously illegal y-turn in the middle of Moab, UT and we were on our way back to enjoy the day. 

oh, yeah. I cried. Jacob hugged me. And then all was right with the world again:)

once back in Moab, we went to Arches National Park. Gorgeous rock formations. 

 

we pretty much decided we'd have to come back the day this fell and check it out...unbelievable!!!:)

homer was still a bit fussy at this point but he was good enough to let us get out and check out some of the arches and do some light hiking.

a beautiful photo: taken by Jacob:)

after the arches, we went back into Moab and got some lunch. We picked a great smelling Italian restaurant with an outdoor patio. It was such a gorgeous day and turning out to be much better than we had expected. Homer was even being great during dinner and believe me...we considered not even eating because we feared he would freak out the minute our food came. Luckily, that wasn't the case:)

seriously. This husband of mine gets more and more handsome by the day. I was losing more and more hair by the day...so my scarf was around my neck at this point and made it's way to my head by the end of the day;)

after lunch we decided to hit the road. With Homer being a bit fussy, we wanted to take our time getting home and make plenty of stops for Homer:)

i feel like I even got a few great shots from the car (above and below) as we drove out of Utah. Such a beautiful area and I feel so lucky to have gotten the chance to venture to a whole new area of the states:)

we took a back road. Eeeeeeeek. We just had to stop and take a photo because there was NO one and NOTHING to be found in either direction for a scary amount of time!!!
(above is looking South)



jacob had to run and find a rock real quick while I was snapping photos of our desolate drive;) 
(below is looking North)

celebrating our one year anniversary on the side of a road in Utah;) Amazing how you can go from not talking to being in love in a matter of minutes;) In the old days I would have been walking on the side of the road earlier that day and Jacob would have probably thrown a water bottle out (he's not a monster after all;) and flicked me off as he drove off with our child - I'm not gonna lie...I was being a tadddd crazy;)
But in our old age;) and with a little experience...we're able to stop and pull it together much quicker than we used to. I'm so glad that we've both gotten to that point because we couldn't work if we were the people we were 5 years ago.

4 hours later we were passing through Frisco, CO. Our friends, Ky and Nikki, just happened to be there working at a small fair that was going on that day. They just recently started their own business - Wacky Water Walkerz. They do such an amazing job and their personalities are a perfect fit for something like this! They are wonderful with people and so fun loving. It was great watching them do their thing!

see them in action above:)

they're actually thinking of trying to come close to WI - where we live - and possibly even lining up enough shows to travel through-out the states next summer. I plan to bring the kids next time they're close enough. They'd love it...and most likely sleep like babies that night;)

jacob, Homer and I walked around town for a bit while they finished up. We looked in some amazing stores and were disappointed that there were adorable and affordable items that we couldn't fit in the car:( We had to leave behind an amazing framed Star Wars poster. Shucks;) - but after some research, I may have found a great Christmas gift for Jacob that I could live with:) - check it out HERE.

i was addicted to coffee/cappy's/iced drinks on this trip. Oh, man. Stillllll addicted:) You can't blame me...especially when the coffee shops were as adorable as the one below:)

as I mentioned...the scarf went on my head by the end of the day to hide some of that hair loss:/ I actually really liked the way it looked but haven't been able to bring myself to break one out since I've gotten home. I'm actually relieved that the colder months are coming because that means beanie's and adorable winter hats - for both Homer and I:)

they were done with business around 6PM and we stuck around long enough to let me sit and feed Homer and Jacob helped them pack up. We said our good byes and hit the road:)

it's towns like Frisco that make me LOVE vacation/the West. I absolutely love finding a random small-ish town with tons of personality. This one had that. It was a stop that we hadn't planned on making but ended up being one of our favorites and most relaxing:) It seems that's always how it goes for us. It's something that reminds me of my parents. And something I'm glad Jacob and I have in common with them. My parents loveeeee to just up and drive somewhere and just stopping anywhere that catches their eye along the way. They've always been that way and now we are that way:) We've inadvertently assigned Sunday's as our 'drive days'. Which makes me feel insanely old;) BUT it's something that I look forward to every week!

by the time we left...Homer was sleeping and seemed to be more consolable and improving with every mile we drove:) I hope someday he has an appreciation for these road trips we've taken and does the same with his family...and blames us for his love of travel!!:)