We started vacation by going to a family reunion/graduation celebration for Jared at Virginia Beach. The family Dani nannys for was so kind to offer their large beach house to them and we all took advantage of that. We drove down to denver sat and then flew out on sun to virginia. the kids did great during the drive and didnt really get upset at all. rylie got a few cat naps in there and ryker slept for maybe an hour. but other than that we were snacking, and watching movies. The kids did great on our flight. they really didnt get too upset at all but were definitely active the whole time. it was stressful to keep them happy but mostly because both justin and i were on edge hoping they wouldnt ever have a meltdown. People complimented us on how good our kids were so that was nice that other people noticed that we didnt annoy them too bad. getting onto the flight was crazy because security was soooo long! like wrapped around baggage claim long. i was a little worried about even making our flight, but the line was moving fairly quickly. we had checked 1 bag. so to carry we had justins carry on, justins backpack, 2 carseats, a stroller, and a diaper bag. oh and 2 toddlers that did not want to stand in line. or really stand on their own for that matter. rylie just wanted to be held. ryker was okay sitting in the stroller for a while. either way it was a lot to keep a hold of and half way through security Justin and i were both very hot and sweaty with all we were trying to do. but we did get on the plane just fine and gate checked most things. we got into raliegh NC just before 5 and then picked up our rental car. poor rylie hadnt slept all day and just fell asleep in my arms waiting for justin to get the car. but around 530 we were all packed up and ready for the 3 hr drive to virginia beach! The kids did fine on the drive and only really started getting cranky when we were about half an hour out. for good reason it had been a long day already. we were the last ones getting in and the kids had a few min of downtime and light socializing before poor rylie just couldnt handle being awake anymore and needed a bed. everything was already set up for us, so it was easy to change them and put them to bed. they slept great that night! it helped that we had been keeping them in the same room the whole last week.
So monday was the real start of festivities. it was sunny and beautiful. while rylie was taking her morning nap, justin, me, ryker, my dad, carlee, and her friend janelle all went on a bike ride down the boardwalk. it was so great. beach on one side, fun little shops and hotels on the other. it was beautiful. we ended up stopping at this little pier a ways down. it was so cool. one shop had some amazing fudge! many delicious flavors, but our fav was the orange creamsicle. we ended up going back to that pier 2 more times during our stay. we took ryker out of his seat and walked around the shops. there were these cool pained shells and then in a cage were a bunch of hermit crabs you could buy that were living in the painted shells. he thought it was the coolest thing. one happened to fall off the side and then he kept trying to make more fall. oops... We spent some time on the beach and the kids played in the sand. ryker tried very hard not to get dirty but rylie ate sand anyway. they found a crab on the beach and aunt carlee taught ryker to clap his pinchers and say "mer mer mer" just like a crab obviously. ;) its adorable. my kids are cute.
Tuesday was overcast and rainy. We surprised alicia with a bachelorette party for lunch. it was the best time when all of us sisters would be together that wasnt day of wedding. we walked to this yummy little sandwich shop, but then called justin and brandon to come get us because it was raining harder and we didnt want to walk back. we played in the pool a little bit that afternoon. because of the rain is wasnt as warm as normal, but we still had a lot of fun. rylie was very nervouse and was clingning to me for dear life the whole time, but still enjoyed it. ryker was having fun racing people across the pool with justin being his motor. haha. the best part of the evening was fallyn finally got her mission call! Since we were all in virginia, she had a friend checking the mail everyday to see and she finally got it. her friend took a pic of her letter and emailed it to her so that she could read it. It was so great to have all of our family there while she opened it. all who could helped out calling her friends over facetime so they could be apart of it too. she is going to the washington, federal way mission. Spanish speaking. leaving July 26 going to the Mexico MTC. She is so excited! at first a little sad to not be going foreign, but after the rish of so many emotions of finally getting her call she is so excited and knows this is where God wants her to be. We are all stoked for her! I was doubly excited to spend 2 weeks in denver to hang out with her and spend good time with her. With baby boy coming the beginning of august its not likely that we will make it to her farewell. I am so sad, but she knows we love her and pray for her.
Wed the family watched the kids while justin and i and beez spent the day in raleigh. We were looking at all of the memories from justins mission. Beez was hanging with a friend most of the morning so justin and i drove around and saw his old apartment complex, his old mission office, his old transfer building which is where the new mission home is. and we got to talk to the missionaries in the office there. They were so impressed that he came back after almost 8 years to see his old mission. the mission has been split now, but all of his old areas are still in the mission. It was good to talk to them and humerous when they commented how he "brought his sweetheart to his old mission." they asked if we were expecting our first. haha actually our third.... Justin has done some great things since his mission. We met up with Beez again and then went exploring downtown while we waited for carlee and ethan to come down so they could all meet up for their flights home. we went to a farmers market and i officially bought my first piece of fresh food! okay it was a cookie. but it was my first experience! it was a rootbeer float cookie and quite tasty. then we saw the war memorials in the town square. we went through the museum of natural science, and saw some old places where justin remembered taking pics with his old companions. Then met up with everyone for lunch. famous southern pulled pork sandwiches, southern mac n cheese, fries, colslaw, hushpuppies, and justin made me get a taste of collard greens. it was all delicious! i am okay not eating the collard greens again. they were not awful, but im good with my 1 token bite. after beez, carlee, and ethan were on their way to the airport jusin and i drove back to virginia beach in time for the kids to have some time with us before we put them to bed. our last stop on the way home was shakes from cook out. Justin says the rest of the food isnt great but the shakes were amazing and he used to get them after every transfer. lots of old memories that day!
Thursday was pretty chill. It was overcast again. mom dad justin me and both kids went on another bike ride. we rode down to the pier and bought the delish fudge. justin and i turned back after that but mom and dad went on for a little ways. we are glad we turned back when we did because it started to drizzle on the way home and we almost didnt beat the storm. luckily mom and dad went a little faster so they were not too far behind us getting home. I think alicia, brandon, and justin and i went out for a double date outing a little in the afternoon. we went back to the pier and got some cute knick knacks. Between all the souvineers we have from everywhere throughout our marriage we are running out of shelf space. Justin says he is thinking about making me a shadow box for christmas. i would love it. at virginia beach we got a little bottle filled with sand and shells from the beach. I couldnt resist and got myself a little glass blown octopus. its adorable and i couldnt stop staring. as well as a glass penguin that has 2 colored penguins inside. its awesome and i love it. dont judge. :)
friday was finally sunny again! we spent the morning at the beach and played in the sand. Justin, mom and ryker built a sand castle and barrier to protect it from the waved. we enjoyed the sun and the breeze for a while. when we brought the kids back for lunch and their nap we started cleaning and got the place ready to go. we packed up our things and left around 6 ish for raleigh. dani has a friend whos parents live in raleigh so they were very gracious to let us stay the night with them so we wouldnt have to drive at 3 am from virginia beach to make our flight. all went smoothly. the flight home wasnt as great. rylie kept having outbursts when she would see fallyn in the row behind us but couldnt be with her. (fallyn slept the whole flight so she didnt know she was wanted so bad) but calmed down fairly easily. so small victory that she didnt scream the whole flight. and she actually did sleep for about 45 min. i was shocked but very happy. longest 3 1/2 hrs ever. that flight was ridiculously long. but i feel it will always be that way when we have cranky kids.
Justin flew back on sunday. I took him to the airport and then met mom and the kids at church. with the broomfield ward nursery being so small, they were happy to watch rylie too. awesome! she is much happier there anyway so i got to put her in nursery for 2 weeks! it was great. hipefully she will do just as well when we put her in here in ND. there are a lot more kids so we will see how it goes...
The 2 weeks in denver were mostly just having fun and helping with wedding planning. I tried to help all I could while the kids were asleep, and then keep them out of the way when they were awake. they both loved spending time with grandad and grandma. for the first few days of being home ryker kept asking if we were going to get up and see grandma. sorry buddy, not here at home. Fallyn wanted to go through the temple before alicia got married so that she could be there for the sealing. So i was ecstatic that I could be there for her going through. it was another day of feeling numb from a lot of feelings at once, but she really did enjoy it.
Justin flew in the friday afternoon before the wedding and we basically hit the ground running. we had a few hours of the afternoon to play with the kids but then we had a family dinner with brandons side of the family plus the friends who flew in. that night was the bachelor party which justin attended. I stayed home and helped mom with some last minute things till he went home. Dani and lottie came in that night around 7. saturday morning was all about the wedding! helping alicia get ready. helping her girls ashlyn and joclyn stay happy and get them ready as well. and then the rest of us as well. haha. i am so surprised and grateful but the kids did so great all day. its june so of course its hot. we drove our kids plus dani and lottie to the temple and waited for friends/family to come watch them before we went in for the sealing. it was beautiful by the way. the sealing was awesome and i loved hearing the same sealer. Pres Linford is such a great man. gave me some wonderful memories of my own sealing with justin. so great. we got out of the temple and get the kids dressed. we figured with giving them a ton of snacks we didnt want to dirty their wedding clothes so we changed them before alicia came out. they looked super precious. i think we all looked pretty good. all the sisters and i didnt look to carefully when were picking out shoes to wear and they were so high! and not just me the pregnant one. everyone was basically dying after 30 seconds of wearing these shoes. we dealt with it for pictures but were all super grateful for moments to sit or take them off. my poor feet were so bruised the next day. we didnt get the kids back to the house for a nap till 330 ish. they napped for an hour and then we needed to be back at the church at 5 for the ring ceremony. because the kids were not needed in the ceremony we just put them in the nursery with a babysitter and they had the time of their life just playing and eating mac n cheese. they were very content with that. the ring ceremony was the last time we all had to wear the shoes. it was short and sweat but i could already feel myself getting a cold sweat and getting a little dizzy by the end. after kiss your bride i found the closest chair and took them off. its a shame! the shoes are beautiful! just not real great for a 7 month pregnant woman. after the ring ceremony was dinner, so everyone just transitioned into that. that ran a little long and my mom was the one with the babysitter info for who was watching our sleeping kids while we were at the reception. it was a little frusterating to try to get the info from her as she is stressing trying to make the transition from dinner to reception. she had a lot on her plate and i love her, but i wish i had gotten the number of the girl the day before so i could have been in charge of talking to her and not put the added stress on my mom and stress on us for not knowing who or any details about who was watching our kids. live and learn! she was a sweet girl from my aunt jannys ward. we met her at the house and justin, me and dani, put all 3 kids to bed and headed back to the reception.
it was beautiful! we did our usual go through the line and congratulate the bride and groom. haha. even though we are family we still get the personal hug. we ate some food and chatted with guests. they had a wedding party dance and i got justin to dance with me again. at this rate he will dance with me once every 5 years haha. i will take it. it meant a lot to me that he was even willing. Brandon surprised alicia by singing her a song. it was beautiful. she was stunned and teared up. then we went out and helped decorate the car for them to drive away. it was so fun! we quickly moved to cleanup mode. justin and i were able to take 1 big load of stuff and then stayed home to get ourselves ready to leave early that next morning. we woke up at 4 to leave. but after getting to bed at midnight after a long day we both said no and set the alarm for 530. we left around 6 and still had a decent trip home. rylie maybe slept for a total of 20 min the whole drive home. ryker didnt nap at all. when we got home 830 ish poor rylie looked so stoned. eyes glazed over. didnt want to move. hardly could keep herself upright. we were going to try and get some good food in her but she couldnt even do that. so we put her to bed and ryker was in bed by 9 as well. both kids didnt wake up till 10 the next day. we were all for them sleeping as much as needed.
I think I will stop there because this post is already horendously long and i havent even gotten to the pictures yet. haha. hopefully more of a family update next time. Between getting some pics from other peoples phones some pics might be out of order. sorry....
look at these cute kiddos on the beach. i just love it.
dad and ryker on the bike ride
fallyn and rylie waiting for the bride at the wedding
just a little stretch during our car trip to loosen any tight muscles. what? you dont do this when you go on car trips? haha
they both loved watching the planes at the airport.
getting ready for our first flight! the flight attendants were so confused and thought ryker was the lap child. no. he has the seat he just doesnt want it. our lap child wants the seat haha.
playing with a food cart that first morning in virginia beach
i tried to take some pics mid bike ride. slightly more difficult. dad and janelle are behind me
almost family photo of our first bike trip.
ryker loving the hermit crabs
we came back to find everyone enjoying life on the beach
our new crab friend! poor guy didnt make it... he couldnt get back to the water in time avoiding humans so he got a little crusty on the sand. we buried him with some touching words and more crab sounds.
dad and rylie at the beach
ryker with aunt carlee
these 2 girls are just precious. my mom was just laughing all week with how much they reminded her of when dani and i were this age. nd apparently looked just the same!
we all were helping ryker get in the mood to dance so we had a dance party 1 morning
grandma and grandad with the 3 grandkids
one night we went out shark teeth hunting with alicia and brandon. justin wrote this in the sand and we put our footprints in it. cheesy yes! but i love it!
our bachelorette outing
rylie trying on carlees fake glasses
she makes a cute librarian
tues night we celebrated carlees birthday that was going to be on thursday. with all the family there you cant not celebrate!
fallyn reading her mission call
so many tears! i blame being hormaly pregnant. and happy for my sister.
driving around in raleigh
the street that he put as his address for his apartment complex
his old mission office
war memorials in town square
the snapping turtle form the science museum
family photo from our second bike ride
we visited an old lighthouse on the norfolk base i think?
another token cheesy shot. but i love it. and justin loves me for wanting at least a few of these. we both have our cheesy gushy romantic moments.
fallyn was too lazy to get her cup one night but wanted some lemonade. so she is drinking/licking it out of a bowel. oh im going to miss her.
lottie is very good at putting on clothes. she is trying to wear her clothes and both ryker and rylies sets of jammies. good try lottie!
last morning at the beach
we loved snuggling with grandad
building the sand castle
ryker was eventually okay with getting sand in his toes.
all the hard work they did!
I love this family photo. we are slouching and relaxed which is why i look 20 months pregnant and not 7. but i still love it.
mom has this big stuffed dog that the kids loved to play on and fall off of. they were entertained all morning on this.
i was suddenly put in charge of alicias bridal shower and put it together in less than a week. it worked out really well!
cupcake wedding dress
family after fallyn went through the temple
everyone who came, minus brandon and alicia who had to run somewhere real fast afterwards.
i love my girl! this was a pic we sent to justin one morning.
the beautiful bride after work. ;)
she was trying on her dress for some more adjustments and decided to nap for us. haha.
lots of giggles and cuddles with grandad
happy wedding!
i love this. a great excuse to get a matching family photo.
he looks so snazzy! my good lookin boy!
brandon singing to alicia
they were too nice to each other. no smashing the cake in each others face.
daddy daughter dance
our good work on the car! one of the groomsman bought a glitter curtain that we just stuck in their trunk to have it flow behind them. genious.
a little bit of time at the park while we stop for lunch on our drive home
ryker and dad playing at the park
arnt they precious. ryker is hugging her so they can fit as dad puts the tent over them. but its still adorable!
justins very early christmas gift
we finally got the VR headseat from samsung!
rylie was in selfie mode and copying all my faces. it was great
here are my knick knacks. the octopus
its still hard to see. but there are 2 black and white penguines coming down a snow/ice/water? slide in the middle. its cute.
beautiful bride and groom and family.
dani and her wonderful date.
beez and rylie at the beach
trying to touch the water. rylie wasnt a huge fan. it was cold!
the first trip to the beach!
making crap sounds/gestures
one one pic with the crab
rylie found this cat in the house and loved it all week. took it everywhere.
loving our road trips! we are getting good at them.
Watching wreck it ralph on our drive to denver.
we have never played this song for ryker, but apparently its his favorite to dance to. who knew!
singing along to veggietales. they loved watching these at grandmas house.
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