The Nomadic Life

Things started to get really interesting for us in the end of September. At this point our stay in Middletown was up. Hunter was in Manhattan and Kellan and I became nomadic - literally. My dad came out to help us pack up all of our belongings into a POD for an indefinite amount of time and after a couple intensive days of packing, we started the long drive back to Utah.

Kell was such a good sport through the whole process. We ended up leaving a lot later than we wanted - which meant nap time was greatly delayed for Kellan. At one point he just laid on the kitchen floor and said "night, night". He didn't actually go to sleep, but likely would have if we weren't being so noisy around him.

We made sure to take the bus with us on our trek and Kellan made sure that we let him ride it every night in every hotel.

Our third day of travel landed us in Iowa! Luckily it was still early enough in the season that we were able to enjoy some Sugarbowl Ice Cream.

We spent a couple days at Grandma's house, played outside, and went on walks. It was a much needed respite from all the time spent in the car.

Kellan loved Leo and Ming! They loved him too. It was too cute to watch.

Once back on the road again, Kellan had to find other ways to entertain himself - like trying to fit in the fridge at hotels. haha.

Finally, after a couple more days of travel, we made it to Denver! Kellan and I stayed in Denver for 10 days and my dad took the car and dogs back to Utah. Our stay in Denver was filled with all sorts of fun things! Some of those things included finger painting with Aunt Camy,

watering the plants with Vovo,

playing at the park and climbing on dinosaurs,

going for a hay ride (I promise he enjoyed it - he was just soooo tired at this point, haha),

watching some of Zaiden's favorite TV shows,

going to the Butterfly Museum (boo-fly! boo-fly!!),

playing in the house that Aunt Camy built,

and my personal favorite - The Children's Museum! They had so many cool things and Kellan absolutely loved every single section. If we lived in Denver we would for sure have annual passes.

We also hit up the Denver Museum of Nature and Science - which went over a little better than than the Peabody, haha. 

We also went to the zoo! 

We finally made our way out to Utah! Just in time for my cousin's baby shower - where Kellan got to play with her little boy, Rupert, who is only about 5 months older than him. They were a riot to watch play together.

After that we continued onto Parowan where Uncle Kurt was quick to give Kellan a tour of the firestation - which was a guaranteed big hit.

We did go back to Delta one more time where Kellan spent more time with Rupert and had a grand time.

A trip to Utah wouldn't be complete without visiting the Bothwell's! It was so fun to see Kellan and Cora together again - and know that they remembered each other.

Since we were out west with not a lot on our plate, we decided to visit my brother in Idaho! I'd never been to his house before or anywhere in the area, really, so it was so much fun to finally have the opportunity. Luckily, my mom and Brit and Landon were able to join us and we had a mini family reunion.

We were able to visit Teton Pass where Kenny and Kate are to be married in October as well as where they will be having their reception, Grand Targhee, and Jackson.

Kellan and Landon really do seem to like each other even if pictures are never able to accurately portray that.

Oh, hi, welcome to life with an active 2 year old. haha.

Once back in Utah, we made a stop at the Pumpkin patch which happened to have wagons and a petting zoo which made all of Kellan's toddler dreams come true.

After visiting the Museum in Denver and having Kellan in that astronaut suit I was sure that was what he needed to be for Halloween. He was particularly fond of the hat. 

We went on another hay ride at the ward Halloween party

and attempted trick or treating at the neighbor's houses with Grandpa.

Kellan loved playing in the piles of leaves as my parents cleaned them up.

Another big event was the Las Vegas Ragnar! 

First Ragnar without my husband and the second with my mom.

Since it was our second of the year, and Vegas Ragnar + any other Ragnar = deuces wild, we double medaled!! That, if for no other reason, was why I ended up participating. haha.

Towards the end of our stay in Parowan we cut Kellan's hair. I had been putting it off the entire time we were on tour but it finally had to be done. It was just to the point of being a snarly mess every morning and Kellan was none to pleased with my attempts to brush through it. I fully anticipated a freak-out-require-three-people-to-hold-the-toddler-down-while-the-barber-cuts-his-hair kind of experience buuuut Kellan completely surprised us all and was a perfect angel through the whole thing! He didn't move or flinch at all! Doesn't he look handsome??

Our last day in Parowan we went to the drag races! It was just like old times in my childhood. Kellan was mostly concerned about the "ambulance lights" but did get into the fast cars a couple times. 

Before flying back to CT we spent a couple days up north. One of those morning was occupied with a trip to the aquarium with Marci and Cora!

This was the best we could do to get a picture of these two together. haha. Every other attempt ended in a "no" from one, the other, or both of them.

We spent the bulk of those last days with the Cardoso's! True to form Kellan and Landon wouldn't take a good picture together. Better to have something than nothing though, right??

A major other thing to note is that during this time Kellan greatly increased his vocabulary. He went from speaking very minimally to speaking more often than not to turning into a little parrot - which is where we still sit now. He will say more words and knows what most things mean/refer to. His sentence structure isn't quite there yet but gets closer and closer each passing day. It is SO FUN to finally be able to communicate more effectively with him and see him learning in leaps and bounds. Poor Hunter went from seeing a barely talking baby to being greeted again with a toddler that has his own language that takes a while to completely understand if you aren't surrounded by it all the time. 

While we were really able to make the best of our nomadic situation for these couple of months, it was such a relief to be able to fly back to New Haven and be with Hunter again. Life is definitely better when your spouse is there every day - and not just on the phone or FaceTime.