"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." ~Lin Yutang

What a journey these past three weeks have been! I'm exhausted & I really don't know where to begin.

My Sugar Daddy, ... I mean, my husband spent a week in Las Vegas at the World Series of Poker & didn't win big at that particular tournament, but won it big at another tourney. He came home & shared some with me/paid me my babysitting money (I'll explain later) so I could endulge in all the things I have always wanted & never had the money to buy.

While he was there, I made my first super long road trip with Cashe to visit my BFF, Snookie from the Bozeman Shore. (Only kidding - if you don't know who Snookie is, you need to watch The Soup on E!)

Snook (also known as Angela) was driving back to Bozeman from Missoula, so we met in Butte & got some groceries with the kiddos & then headed onto Bozeman. While we were in Butte, the kids were a riot together in the store! Amara (Angela's sweet little 15-month-old) kept saying "hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi" to every stranger who walked by & Cashe just stared at her & squealed.

As we were checking out, Angela was in a line where the cashier was obviously head over heels for her. He kept telling her how beautiful Amara was & talked her ear off while a line of 10 people formed behind her. He was bagging her groceries & as he put her bottle of Merlot in the bag, it fell through the bottom. There was a RIVER of red wine all over the front of the store & we had to be detoured out another door!

Well, while Miss Beauty Queen & her gorgeous daughter were getting hit on by Mr. Safeway, Cashe & I were in another aisle checking out. As I placed my hummus & chips on the conveyer belt, my cashier asks me if I'm babysitting. Do I seriously look like I am incapable of being the mother of this child?! I'm taking it as a compliment & perhaps I look too young to have children, but THAT is the reason I required babysitting money from Shad.

So ... onto Bozeman. We finally arrived & guess who came down with mastitis? Uh huh, ... me. Honestly, could there have been a better time?! Ugh. After several days of a fever & chills & some tremendous pain, I wound up getting some medication that helped within a day & I was back to enjoying my vacation. And, I don't think I have ever laughed so hard for so long in all my life. (Love you, Snook.)

After Bozeman, I kept the party-wagon movin' onward to Missoula for our annual trip to Lake Mary Ronan with Shad's family. Shad didn't fly into Missoula until Saturday, so we hung out with my family & friends for a few days (the beauty of having grown up in the same town - there's so many people to visit while you're in one town).

This was our 10th year at Lake Mary & our 1st year with a child. For those of you who don't know about our annual trip - Shad & his family (of 5 kids!) used to go to Camp Tuffit on Lake Mary Ronan every summer when he was a kid. In the Summer of 2000, the 5 kids & Shad's parents decided to start the tradition again, so we all started meeting up there from all corners of the Northwest to spend a week in cabins together.

We did the usual - played game after game after game, ate way too much food, played in the water & relaxed in the sun. It was simply mahhhvelous!

As we packed up the cabin, we decided we couldn't just stop there, especially with a 7-month old everyone wants to see. So, we headed back to Missoula & spent another night with my Mom & sister & brother-in-law.

THEN, my Dad asked if we would swing over to see him & my Step-Mom in Coeur d'Alene! Why not?! Shad & I have the most incredible jobs that allow us to work from wherever, so we loaded up the truck & we moved to Beverly... Hills that is! ... I mean, we trucked on over to Coeur d'Alene & spent a night with my Dad, Step-Mom & the gang there. We had yet another fabulous home-cooked meal that required us to have seconds (again). (I've applied to be a contestant on next season's Biggest Loser.)

I cannot count how many new faces Cashe met & boy, was he a trooper! He smiled & squealed & loved on everyone as he pulled their hair & drooled down the front of them (or pooped on their bed sheets). His schedule is a bit off these days, but he's a Happy Camper (yeah, literally).

And needless to say, we're FINALLY home - 5 beds later, billions of extra calories, too much laughter & several thousand miles on the car, we're SO glad to be back.