Little Pioneers…

Long ago and far away when the kids were little–well, little-er, we went on a trip to Martin’s Cove, Wyoming. We hiked around and kids even got to see what it was like to pull a real, live handcart. I took off my shoes and walked the whole way barefoot just to get a feel for it.

On the way up to the Cove, as we were making the long, dreary drive through the Wyoming plains we did everything we could think of to make the trip fun, but I have to say, this part of the drive was incredibly boring. Really, there was just nothing to see…nothing. In fact the view outside the car windows was even gray/brown and dull–like nothing. There were no other cars and no animals and no houses or farms or birds–I’m telling you that it was a slow day in this part of the country. After about 30 miles of this, from out of nowhere, up pops what appears to be a small, abandoned grocery store. We pulled in out of shear boredom and crawled out of the car to stretch. One of the kids went up to the door and peeked through the tinted windows and hollered, “It’s a real store! There’s a person in there!”

Well, she was right. It was a real store and it was open. We were so happy to see the the planet did indeed, still have people on it that we all went in. In our excitement, the kids were given permission to each choose a full-size package of cookies or chips for the rest of the drive. This was big stuff, something that they never really got to do. But seriously, in this dry, dusty, gray, hot, and really really dead looking part of Wyoming, we were ready to do anything to help the kids remember that life was still good and that the end of our long drive was coming soon.

Little bald kid–the one in the front of the picture, was so excited with his very own package of Nutter Butter cookies that when we got out of the store he kept jumping up and down and giggling–squealing really. He was so happy that he almost couldn’t contain himself. With one mighty leap, he threw his fist in the air and shouted, “I just LOVE Hawaii!”

Someday, maybe we’ll take him to lovely, lush, green Hawaii so he can see how funny that really was.

Alo-ha.

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18 Replies to “Little Pioneers…”

  1. Hmm, Manti pageant. Maybe I should do that one next year šŸ™‚

    Also, when the Bald Kid grows hair again, are you still going to call him the Bald Kid? Or is he going to be like that guy in the book who is named “142 bears,” then next week he’s 160, and the next is 172… etc. So the “Bald Kid” then the “Somewhat Bald Kid” then the “Not Bald, but he’d like to be kid” etc. šŸ˜‰

  2. I believe for the next little while, he will be known as “the formerly bald kid.” Unless he chooses to remain incognito–and then we’d just call him by his given name…his Christian name…his legal and binding name—

    The Bald Kid.

  3. A whole bag of Nutter Butter cookies…that would be like Hawaii for me too. Arctic Circles Nutter Butter shakes are SOOOOOO good. Why hasn’t Purple Turtle figured out that they need to add that flavor????

  4. Oh my goodness! That made me bust out laughing. What a cute little guy šŸ™‚

    What a sweet, tender picture of your kids. They are so stinkin darling!

    I saw Lyndi tonight outside the stake center as I was heading inside for a camp meeting. She’s a cutie and ran over and gave me a hug. It’s time for a party (well, maybe after this weekend)

  5. That was quite an adventure… but no Hawaii! šŸ˜‰ What a drive. I’m all about road trips… but there’s needs to be a huge ball of string or a couple more gas stations around to hold my attention a little better! šŸ˜‰

    I remember there were a FEW different lawn mower stores… and that confused us all because no one had a lawn. šŸ˜

  6. You know…I’ve never actually had THAT flavor before. Hmmmm…I better think about this some more–and maybe do some hands-on research.

    :]

  7. I know…what a contrast, huh? Wyoming is just sooooo gray. We should take him to Hawaii so he can see the incredible contrast. sheesh.

  8. Wyoming was much nicer seeing it as a grown up! šŸ˜‰ I’m sure it helped being a little more in charge of where and when we stopped and having a camera to take pictures of the randomness with! šŸ˜€

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