And then he cried...

We just returned from our amazing annual summer trip to Montana to visit my aunt and uncle. I shouldn't really say "just" because it's actually been a week and a half. We came home exhausted and out-of-sorts, but in a good way for once. And then my daughter was hit with a nasty stomach bug that I later got. Anyhow, it took us a good week to get back into the swing of things. I'm just now looking back at photos and remembering the trip.

Curtis loves these trips. We have been going every summer since Curtis was a year old--the year we rented an RV and drove from AZ to MT and back again. A crazy fun road trip we took with three kids age 5 and under and no idea what we were doing!

That year, we picked raspberries, swam in the lake, drank huckleberry milkshakes, ate every meal outside, went fishing, took rides in my uncle's boat, collected eggs from the chickens, and watched the sunset over the river. It was amazing--for both adults and kids--and we quickly decided we needed to go back every summer. And we have. The following years have included my parents, as well.

So what is it about these trips that my little dude loves so much? What sets them apart from, say, our annual trips to Hawaii? (Tropical paradise--hello?) 

There is magic in Montana. Curtis knows it. He knows that the second he gets off the plane, he is going to enter a world of adventure. Of the great outdoors (he loves to be outside). Of being surrounded by his favorite family members--grandma, grandpa, aunt, and uncle. Of late nights eating ice cream with raspberry sauce made out of berries that he helped pick. Of racing little speed boats with his favorite uncle. Of throwing rocks into the river with his grandma. Of taking mid-afternoon naps on the couch with mommy. 

Something changes in Curtis when we go to Montana. Curtis comes alive. He blossoms. It probably sounds totally corny and cliche, but it's true. There are fewer tantrums. Less fighting with siblings. Less arguing with mommy! He doesn't fight naps, but rather asks for them. He's willing to try things that my normally timid, cautious little boy would never try--paddle boarding!? Who is this kid? I love it! One day I imagine him trying (and succeeding) at wake boarding or knee boarding or waterskiing. I can picture him in a few year's time going out on the river on the paddle board all by himself, just like his big brother and sister did this year for their first time.  

It will be awesome.

sprinkler fun

 

just hanging out--in the middle of the lake

 driving the remote control boat

 power nap

 

 running down the hill

ice cream break

This year, when we were heading to the airport, my kids kept saying they didn't want to leave. None of us did, really. Who wants to go back to "the real world" after a lovely vacation? When it was time to say goodbye to my aunt and uncle, however, something happened that has never really happened when leaving Montana. Curtis cried. Like, lip quivering, needed to be held and consoled type of cry. He was genuinely sad to leave them, and Montana, and for this time to be over. And that was when I realized just how much he loved this trip and his family and just how special it all is to him. I had to choke back tears, myself. 

I will never again take this little family trip for granted, for I now know the joy it brings to my boy. If it makes him happy, it makes me over-the-moon. 

drinking his "soda 7" as he calls it ;) only on vacation!!