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! 

Summer!

It's summer!! And we are ready for it! Usually, I find myself wondering what the heck I'm going to do with the kids all summer long but for some reason (A new baby) I'm not worried this year. It's been a fun, busy, and crazy school year for Kendal and Madison and that also means the same for the twins. School drop off and pick up, projects, concerts, after school activities, forgotten lunches, early pickups, and a whole lot more made us one busy family. But now that summer is here I'm looking forward to slower mornings (Maybe even some sleeping in), long afternoons at the pool, park dates, lunch outside, evening walks, and a whole lot more.

Since Paker joined our crew I've longed for the big girls to be home for all of the reasons mentioned above and of course to have some more hands to help with the twins. It's only been a week since school let out and we've accomplished much on our summer list.

In a few days Kendal heads to upstate New York (where the majority of our family lives and the hubby and I grew up) to spend a few weeks with the in-laws. In a few weeks the rest of the family will head to New York for my sister's wedding! It is sure to be an adventure driving from Florida with two nearly 3 year olds and a 4 month old! Throw in some hometown eats and the county fair and it's sure to be a fun time for us all. Not too mention a lot of my family still hasn't met Parker!

Giving the kids lots of activities to fill their days so that we don't hear "I'm bored" multiple times a day is always a challenge but with five kids we should be able to manage! So here's to summer and all the fun adventures that await!

Summer 2015