Our BIG RV Trip!!!

And there she is...

our home for one whole week-o-fun!

Greg and I took one of our very first (hopefully not our last) RV Vacations last week. It was Greg and I as well as Josh, Sadie, Levi and Greyson (No, the dogs didn't come with us too.) We started by loading up the RV on Sunday July 6th and were on our way to Coeur d'Alene, my old stomping grounds where my 2 best friends live!

DAY ONE

As you can see here, Levi was all ready to go, keys in hand and all...

...he was just waiting for us to load up all our stuff (and this was not all of it either!!!)...

Here you see Josh, Levi and Greg all ready to take off for CDA!

We arrived in CDA at the Blackwell Island RV Park pretty late. We got all settled, and hit the hay (not the best night of sleep, but it got better from there)

DAY TWO

Monday morning we all woke up bright and early (6am to be exact). We decided to do our first bike trip into town for breakfast.

Here Levi is helping "Uncle Gregor" pump the tires up on the bikes...what a good helper he is!

This was the first time for Levi and Greyson to ride in the "Chariot" (the little bike tow for the kids). I think this was the first time for Greyson to have a helmet on too...obviously he was not a big fan...

We finally got on the road and biked a good few miles to Michael D's for breakfast, one of Greg and I's favorite breakfast spots in CDA...

On the way back from breakfast we made a quick stop at Shopko for a few supplies (like a blanket to block the sunshine from waking the boys up at 6am :)) Greg, Levi, Josh and Greyson waited outside while Sadie and I went in.

By this time Greyson was pooped out...

Levi hung with daddy while we were waiting to load up and head back to the RV Park...

Later that night my Aunt Nancy, Uncle Kenny and my Mom and Dad came and picked us all up from the RV Park and headed out to "The Porch" in Hayden Lake. This was a really special spot for Greg and I! We had our very first date there, multiple dates there after, as well as dinner there the night he proposed to me. Super special place!

Here you see Greyson had his favorite... black beans for dinner. Levi thought he would help mommy out by cleaning up Greyson's messy face.

Greyson was not amused...

DAY THREE

We woke up MUCH later the second morning of the trip (9am!!!). I was so confused when I woke up to my phone ringing. I was thinking in my head "who on earth would be calling me THIS early?", thinking that it must be 6am again. Come to find out it was 9!!! We were all feeling quite rested and ready for the day. So, we loaded up the bikes again and went to the Dockside at the Coeur d'Alene Resort for breakfast. I had the yummiest french toast ever!

I was SO honored that one of my best friends, Paula, asked me to shoot some maternity photos of her. It was something I had never done before but knew I would have a blast doing with Paula. First of all, she is absolutely gorgeous, so I don't think I could take a bad shot if I tried, and second of all, she makes me laugh so much, no matter what we are doing! Even though we only got to hang out for a few hours, it made me realize why I miss CDA so much. It isn't about CDA, it is about Paula and Meg, my two best friends! I miss them so dearly, I cherish the time that we get to spend together!

Isn't she just gorgeous!?!

This is Paula and Reese. Reese is holding the name of the baby girl that is on her way...Drew!

Reese is such a little character! She has so much energy, and a little sass like her momma! :)

Thanks so much for the honor of taking pictures of you three! :) Paula, there are more pics on their way, I promise!

Later that night Greg and I got to go out to dinner with my other best friend Meg and her husband Michael. I can't believe I forgot my camera (the only time the whole trip)! We had a nice dinner at Crickets, and then we go to go see their sweet little Payton! She is such a doll! She is a fast paced little one too! She runs from point A to point B in no time flat! Greg and I do get to go back to CDA to pick up my ring that we dropped off at Clark's Jewelers in in a few weeks, so I hope to snap a few shots of Payton when we go back!

DAY FOUR

Day Four we woke up EARLY, but not because of the boys. They were sound asleep while Josh and Greg loaded up the RV at 4am! Josh and Greg were trying to make an 11am tee time in Whitefish Montana. I think we would have made it but we took the scenic detour on the way :) (Ask Greg about that one... memories!)

A few hours into the trip the boys were up and eager to see where we were. Here is Greyson and Levi trying to get a peek over Uncle Gregor's shoulder during the beautiful yet windy drive to Whitefish...

We arrived in Montana a little later than planned so we had to drop the guys off at the golf course and then drive to the RV Park on our own. I KNOW Josh was stressed out to the max thinking about me driving the 36 foot long RV, but I knew he had nothing to worry about. For some reason, driving "big rigs" just does not phase me at all. I drove her on out of the Golf Course, down the highway to Whitefish, backed her into our RV spot, leveled her out with the hydraulics system and got her all set up (with the assistance of Sadie of course). We thought it would be funny to tell the guys that we didn't feel comfortable setting her up, so we would just wait till they were back from golfing. Much to their surprise, they returned to the best lookin' RV set up in the park! Sadie and I also couldn't help but inform them that not only did we set it up on our own, but we did it WAY faster than they did it! Ha!

DAY FIVE:

Happy 30th B-day Baby!

We woke up on Day 5 and Sadie cooked up a wonderful birthday breakfast for us in honor of Greg's 30th Birthday! Yum yum!

After that we loaded up and headed out to the public beach on Whitefish Lake.

I was having so much fun taking pics of the boys that I didn't put my camera down till at least an hour after we got there...

During my pre-trip shopping I spotted this wonderful blow up Lobster. I thought Levi would LOVE to ride on the big Lobster. Much to my dismay, Levi was terrified of the Lobster. After Uncle Gregor blew it up, he was in tears he was so scared of it. Later in the day the lobster was out halfway in the water and halfway on the sand. Sadie asked Levi to go and get the Lobster so that we could clean up and go. Just as he was approaching the Lobster, the wind picked up, and to Levi, it appeared that the Giant Lobster was moving. Poor thing! He was really terrified then!

Sorry Levi, I won't buy you anymore giant blow up scary toys anymore!

Greyson could have cared less about Giant Lobsters, he was having fun trying to eat sand, and playing with his football...

I just love Greyson's sweet little toes!

Later that night, after the boys were in bed, and Josh and Sadie were at the Wedding Rehearsal, Greg and I shared a wonderful birthday dinner at the RV Park. My husband had only one request for his 30th birthday...

Ben and Jerry's Peach Cobbler Ice Cream!

We had so much fun lounging out under the patio eating Peach Cobbler...

Just after this picture a wind storm hit Whitefish, and we lost power for about an hour. No biggie though, we just fired up the generator.

DAY SIX:

The Big Wedding Day!

I had so much fun snapping some pictures of Jason and Jessie at their wedding! (Don't worry you two, there are many more to come!)

Just after becoming "Mr & Mrs"

"A Toast to the Bride and Groom!"

This is my favorite shot of their first dance. Jason is so tender and sweet with Jessie. I love how he is holding onto her so tight!

Levi was quite the little party man! He stole some dances with the cute little flower girl...so sweet!

Jason and Jessie were so kind as to let me take a few shots of them out in the lobby. Thanks for letting me do that you two!

Isn't Jessie such a beautiful bride?!?!

DAY SEVEN

The morning after the wedding we got up early again and headed back to Blackwell Island RV Park in CDA. It was fun to spend one more day there! Greg, Josh and I rode into town to grab a burger from the famous Hudson's. Yummy! We headed back to the RV park and I caught a few last sun rays on the lake. After that we headed back to town.

This is pretty rare...a shot of me! :) Nice camera work, baby!

Josh, Sadie and the boys met up with us a little later and headed to a fun little toy shop downtown CDA. They have a cute little merry-go-round where Levi and Greyson rode the "He-haws" (as Levi calls the horses)...

After the toy shop we headed down to the famous boardwalk.

I love this one of Josh and Sadie!

What a wonderful little fam! Off into the sunset the go...

Overall we had a blast on our first ever RV trip! I think it was some good motivation for Greg and I to keep putting that $$$ away into our retirement so that we can RV around the country when we are old! How fun will that be?!?! And as for all of you out there that predicted that Greg and I would never want to have kids after this trip...nice try! Not anytime soon, but we still want them someday!

*Let me know if any of you would like to see more pictures of the trip. I can send you a link to all of the photos I uploaded to the Costco Photo Center. I think I must have took at least a thousand pictures on the trip...it was so hard to narrow it down to just these! :)