Vacation Recap (2016)

Well another year and another vacation is in the books, while it is a long.... I mean a long drive to New York state I love the memories that we make. This year's trip was extra special because my sister got married! We were able to see and visit with a lot of family we haven't seen a very long time. Vacations are rarely vacations they end up being busy and full of "stuff" to do. And this year was no exception! While it was busy and full I wouldn't have changed anything.

My sister's wedding was absolutely amazing, very simple and rustic. Everyone had a really great time and a lot of memories were made. My sister was able to meet Parker and we got some cute photos of Parker and my niece Paisley together. Paisley is 8 months and Parker 4 months... Parker was almost the same size as Paisley! As I've said before Parker is definitely the biggest baby we've had!

My mom!

Cutest little flower girls!

Paisley, my sister, and Kate (snapchat steal :)

The newly married couple!

 Paisley and Parker

We were able to visit with my dad, my mom, and my in-laws. It was great spending time with family we don't get to see very often.  It takes some time for the twins to warm up but when they do they really enjoy their time with family. I haven't seen my brother, sister in-law, and nephews in nearly 8 years. When my sister and I heard that the were there you would have thought we were trying to win a race to hug them all!

My mom

My Dad

My nephew!

My brother and my grandma

My brother and my sister in-law

My handsome nephews Riley and Julian

We were able to eat some of our favorite hometown foods and visit our county fair. It was great to see family and reconnect. When you go so long between visits it really makes you realize just how much you love and miss them. We have already started planning the next time we all get to see each other.

We are all very happy to be home and back into our routine. The twins continue to talk about their aunts and uncles as well as how much they love their grandpa! I'm so very happy we were able to see so much family and to spend time with everyone. A big shout out to my sister for getting married and bringing us all together!

2015 Vacation Recap

Travel (part ONE)

Well we made it to New York State... Only took us 24 hours to make a 19 hour drive! I'd say we did pretty well with 2 toddlers, an infant, and (a very helpful) 10 year old. We drove through 6 states and 1,188 miles. We split the trip into two days as it's nearly impossible, ok it IS impossible to drive that far in one day with young kids. Our first day was ahhhhmazing we drove a total of 10 hours and only stopped once! If you remember above I have TWO (almost) three year olds and a four month old so only making one stop was like heaven. The kids watch (and we listened) to the same movies (zootopia, Olivia, and Mickey Mouse club house) on repeat. We had to watch Charlotte perform tricks with fruit loops and Livy ask to see Kendal 1 million times! There was minimal crying by Parker and my sister in-law (hubby had to stay in FL) and I kept each other company. We stopped at a hotel for night one, we ate pizza, swam in the pool, and relaxed in the hot tub. Sleeping was a little rough ... But we won't mention that... We ate some breakfast at the hotel and headed out.

Day two... GPS was set for 11 hours and we were hopeful we would make it with only one stop again! And hopeful is about all we got, we made it about an hour and had to stop for a potty break for the twins. We ended up stopping a total of 5 times for potty breaks, lunch, RITAs (the best Italian ice on the planet), one sore botty, and gas. I think I started to go a bit crazy as my snapchat (klynn4613) portrayed.  When we arrived it was and always is such a relief to just be done! The girls played for a good hour and then fell right to sleep and slept amazingly.

We are here for another 7 days with lots to do and experience before we head out on the second part of our "big trip" per the twins description! 

Family, Friends, and the Fourth

We had a great fourth of July, spending it with friends who are like family and family who is well... family. Some of the kids are in New York so we were missing them for sure but none the less we had a very relaxing long weekend. So much so that I only snapped a few photos the whole weekend. As much as I love to capture photos of my family sometimes it is nice to put the phone down and enjoy the moments. 

Sunday we lounged around the house for the better part of the morning and afternoon until it was time to prep for our cook out with friends. Since our friends put a pool in we have had several get togethers at their place... we always try to do our part by bringing some food along! The 4th of July was yet another great reason to have a pool party! We grilled, we swam, we ate, and we swam some more oh then we ate again. The twins were a little sick from a cold they had gotten earlier in the week so we headed home and straight to bed. Around that time hubby said he wasn't feeling too well either. 

Monday came and hubby was in fact sick so we were in for another day of relaxing and doing nothing... which was just fine with me.

All though we didn't partake in any "real" independence day activities we enjoyed the weekend as a family and got in some much needed rest and relaxation. Some holidays are busy and others are spent doing nothing, either way the meaning behind the holiday is never lost so here is to America's Independence.. Happy "late" 4th of July everyone!