Our time in Alliance with family

I know it's been over a week since I've written, and it's with good reason. I'll get into all of that later, but for now, let me recall some good times we had in Alliance while we were visiting with family. We weren't there very long, but we kept the days pretty packed full of activities while we were there.

One of my favorite things about visiting my family is that everyone always comes over and we have huge family dinners and gatherings...that happens when you have 3 siblings and they each have 3 children! It gets hectic trying to plan it all and make sure we have enough food for everyone, but once everyone is able to sit and eat and chat and hang out, it all turns out fun. The adults get a chance to be adults while the cousins all play together and have a great time!



The kids went exploring and found a snake and played games and finally went swimming for the next several hours. I went with them for a little while, but mostly it was just the cousins.

I was able to get my bike out and take it for a ride. It was quite lovely out and felt great to be moving around.

The next day we went to the lake...and by "we" I mean many of the family members! My brother brought his boat and the kids went tubing (kids, including my husband). We cooked and ate and watched people wipe out on the tube and laughed and just had a wonderful day. The wind was quite brisk and the water was chilly, but that didn't deter the children!

That night, My Love and I took advantage of the fact we had a babysitter and we went out for a few beers, just the two of us. It was a fun evening.

The next day we celebrated Victoria's 10th birthday a month early (so that we could be with family and because we won't know anyone in Alaska to celebrate with when we get there). We made fresh strawberry-rhubarb crisp for breakfast and the kids had a water balloon and water gun fight and we ate cake and dinner and just had a wonderful day!


Victoria and Gryphon both got a few presents and they were both so thrilled with what they got!

 Gryphon's reaction to his little 4 wheeler was so wonderfully innocent and excited and I wish I had gotten that on video. 

Knowing we were leaving the following day, Sunday, My Love and I went shopping to get some groceries for our camping trip in Yellowstone (more to follow on that).
We got up the next day and headed West, with tears in my eyes. I tried really hard not to show my daughter, who was riding with me, how difficult that was for me. We've always headed back East when we were done in Alliance and this time, it was different...and it was heartbreaking and a bit exciting. I love to travel, but maybe still a bit in denial that this isn't just a vacation.........