Day 19 :: Mount St. Helens :: #100HappyDays vs. #100RealDays

6/30/2014

#100realdays 

I was NOT very happy today. In fact, I was quite cranky. I yelled at my sister, "Why don't I EVER get to sleep in??!!"  (Never wake a sleeping Sonja too early...in this case, it was about 10am...)

 But at least it was a perfect day to see the mountain!

#100happydays #mountsthelens #myniecesrockmysocks #theepicsummer2014

First good view on the ride to the top. I took this out the car window as we were driving!

It almost looks like we're standing in front of a mural.

This little guy came right up to us! Must be used to all the people visiting the mountain. Matt fed him a chip!

 

Chowing down on his chedder cheese Sun Chip.

B and the chipmunk sharing a chip moment :)

He came right up to L too!

Probably was looking for another handout :)

Beautiful Mt. St. Helens

SEEELLLFIEEEE!

 I have a few other pictures I'll add tomorrow...I'm tired and going to bed!

Day 18 :: Jelly Bellies :: #100HappyDays vs. #100RealDays

6/28/14 

Earlier in the day I told @ericamohler that our mom @luannajbruce should drive down to Costco and buy some Jelly Bellies. (It's always a fixture at family gatherings around the game-playing table.) Low and behold, later that night my parents came back from dropping family off at the Portland airport with a jar. Score! 

 #100happydays #winning #itwasfate #bestmom

I found every flavor and put them in order!

Day 17 :: Awkward Family Photo :: #100HappyDays vs. #100RealDays

6/28/2014

We've talked about wanting to recreate a family photo for a while now- "Next time we're all together, let's do it!" Well, lucky for you that "next time" has come along! After taking 'normal' professional family photos this morning, we recreated one of the best photos of all time. Enjoy!

May 26, 1998

Sonja- age 13

Lisa- age 5

James- age 11

Caitlin- age 9

Erica- age 15 

 June 28, 2014

Sonja- age 29

Lisa- age 21

James- age 26

Caitlin- age 25

Erica- age 31

  @ericamohler @jamesbruceky @lisathedinosaurrawr and @mrscait. We found the shirts James and I are wearing in my dad's closet. Lisa is wearing the sweater Erica had been wearing all day. Erica is wearing one of Matt's t-shirts. And we recreated Caitlin's outfit using some of my mom's extra quilt fabric, safety pins, and one of my dad's ties.

Love my family :D 

  

#100happydays #apictureTHISgooddoesntneedafilter #crazybrucefamily #theepicsummer2014 #photorecreation #awkwardfamilyphotos

Some snapshots from our photo shoot at the lake. These were taken on my personal camera by me and other family members.

(Professional photos from Bethany Raelene coming soon!)

Sisters

Sisters, Sisters, Cousins

Bald eagle!

 

Day 16 :: Grandma & Olivia :: #100HappyDays vs. #100RealDays

 6/27/2014

So many happy moments today! Almost the entire side of the family on my dad's side is in town for family pictures on Saturday. Everyone else will arrive tonight and tomorrow morning. 

One of my favorites was watching Olivia play with Grandma ♡ 

 #100happydays #theepicsummer2014 #crazybrucefamily

 Other moments...

My cousin Caitlin showed me this- so true! My students are always like, "*gasp* You have a JOB? Where is your job?" And, "You have a house? But you live here!"

Aw, Bella was so happy that she got to come inside! What a good girl :)

Day 15 :: Lake Sacajawea :: #100HappyDays vs. #100RealDays

 6/26/2014

Scoped out spots for our family photos happening this weekend with @ericamohler @luannajbruce @mrscait and @pamela_sandiego!  

@bethanyraelene we found some beautiful ones :) 

 #nofilter #100happydays #theepicsummer2014 #crazybrucefamily

Beautiful Lake Sacajawea

Day 14 :: Hymn :: #100HappyDays vs. #100RealDays

Woke up singing this hymn. 

That always makes for a happy day ♡

Day 13 :: YMCA :: #100HappyDays vs. #100RealDays

Watching my younger niece, B, perform flips in the pool.

#100HappyDays

 #YMCA #theepicsummer2014 #myniecesrockmysocks

(Video will be uploaded soon!)

Day 12 :: Kelso :: #100Happydays vs. #100RealDays

6/23/14

Never have I ever been so happy to be at my parents in Kelso. Not driving. Truth! 

I did a similar road trip last summer, moving my best friend from Oregon to Texas. However, we took our time, stopping at fun places like San Francisco and visiting friends and family along the way. This time we drove straight through, three 12 hour days!

 #100happydays #100realdays #longestroadtripever #texastowashington #theepicsummer2014

 

Ahh...I plopped right down in my mom's easy chair and curled up with the new People!

Poppy (my dad) didn't waste any time in challenging L to a Candy Land game!

Day 11 :: Christmas in June :: #100HappyDays vs. #100RealDays

6/22/14

 

After QUITE the eventful day (it included lightening, a hail storm, and the cat running away and having to chase it down), we made it to Salt Lake City! We passed some of the hours in the truck by watching Christmas movies :) 

 #100happydays #100realdays

 

Earlier in the day...

My favorite new thing at Starbucks- the protein box! Plus my Iced No Classic Green Tea Lemonade :)

Me likey! I got my sister and mom hooked too.

L just loving it.

B LOVES her cake pop!

After Starbucks, as we were driving north of Denver toward the border, we saw some ominous looking clouds. Erica checked her weather radar and saw red. Red is bad. However, it wasn't a tornado, so we kept going. We hoped for rain.

 

 

 

It started down pouring rain as we got under the dark cloud cover. Then it turned to hail. Several cars were pulled off to the side of the road, including a motorcyclist who freaked me out by yelling at me to slow down. I was following a Honda sedan though, so I figured I was ok in the giant Monster-truck of a vehicle I was driving. (My sister and her husband just bought a 2014 RAM 2500.)

However, the hail was really coming down and we wanted to take a picture, so I pulled over in between 2 metal snow markers. You can't really tell from the picture, but it was a few inches deep.

Then we decided that maybe we should get out of the truck and frolic around. I mean, how many times are you going to be stuck in a hail storm in the middle of June?

I pulled forward a bit more off the road. THUNK!! (Remember how I said this is a brand new truck??) Apparently there was a 3rd snow marker that I didn't see because it was bent over, probably from someone else running over it. Erica tried to check it out, but there was the hail storm. So, after 20 minutes of me sweating bullets thinking I'd ruined their beautiful beast of a truck, we were able to pull over out of the storm. We couldn't see any damage. Phew!

Score one for monster trucks. 

The edge of the storm.

 

 

Also, we got some good gas mileage this day! 21.5 average.

Day 9 :: Waterproof :: #100HappyDays vs. #100RealDays

"I got to test out my new waterproof Otterbox case at Pirate's Cove today! Unfortunately, it won't take pictures when it's fully submerged underwater, but otherwise I deem it 5 stars!" #100HappyDays

Above is what I posted on my Instagram. However, I didn't mention that the buttons are pretty difficult to push and the back button doesn't work at all. I don't know if I just need to break the case in (like shoes) or if that's just how it is. Regardless, I still can take pictures in the water, and that's all I wanted! 3/5 stars... :) #100RealDays

Day 8 :: MY NIECES :: #100HappyDays vs. #100RealDays

6/19/2014

My niece's (and sister) are in Texas! Let the craziness ensue...

Day 6 :: Trinity River Walk :: #100HappyDays vs. #100RealDays

6/17/2014

Oh.My.Word.
We took SO many pictures today!
These are about half of them.
I think they speak for themselves...
#100HappyDays
#100RealDays

They already were sick of pictures...we hadn't even started yet!

As always, Lenny sits in the front on my lap.

Cody cooling off in the mister.