Ok-just in case you saw my travel journal and thought, way too long -I'm not reading that! and did not read it you may have missed that at the end of the post there are three links to my photos. Not sure that anyone did this, but Rachael mentioned to me how long it was so I had to tell her about the photos so I am passing this info on to you all.
Thanks and don't worry it won't hurt my feelings if you don't read the travel journal. :)
Kevin’s younger sister Andrea –who lives in Raleigh NC-got married this past weekend. We decided that it would be fun to go to the wedding and see most of Kevin’s family. So here is a day-by-day documentation of our adventure-Enjoy and I hope you don’t get bored reading all this. It is mostly detailed for my records but I am sure you will enjoy it too:)
Day 1 Wednesday:
We actually left on Tuesday evening and spent the night at a hotel near the Seattle airport. We stayed at one that let you park your car if you stayed the night-they also shuttle you to and from the airport. This was actually cheaper than parking at the airport and then we did not have to rush in the morning and drive over from Yakima to catch our flight. We also enjoyed a delicious hotel breakfast before heading to the airport-Not. It was actually kinda funny- the breakfast bar had some cereal, coffee, and juice. There was also a waffle Nazi (per Kevin) that would not let you make your own waffle, but would let you have one that he made (and who knows how long ago) :). Ok after our delicious breakfast we headed to the airport and got on our flight. It was not too bad. Ella did pretty good-except she was not too fond of the seatbelt rule and asked me every two seconds when could she take it off! She kept her self entertained with books, coloring and stickers. Roc did ok too considering it was an almost 5 hour ride, but not something I wish to repeat anytime soon. We flew to Atlanta with a 40-minute layover and then a short flight scheduled to Raleigh planned. Well, we landed a bit late and sat on the runway for at least 20 minutes. So needless to say I kept saying to Kevin we are never going to make our flight. As soon as we got off he took off running with Ella (I had to wait for the stroller for a minute-so took Roc with me). In our rush we did not double-check the gate for our connection. Let me tell you I have never ran so fast with a stroller and a child in my life. We had to go from one end of the airport section to the other. When we got to the gate we were informed we were at the wrong gate and had to go to another concourse (on a tram) to get to the right gate. They kindly told us we would never make it and they could do nothing to help us. We tried anyway and got to the right gate one minute before the flight was set to leave, and low and behold the gate was totally empty and the flight had left early (we got there at 9:19-flight was scheduled to leave 9:20). Now we were not the only ones to have this happen to. They did reschedule us for the next day and gave us a hotel and meal vouchers, but what annoyed me was when we were on the plane the stewardess said they could not call our gate and let them know we were coming nor could the people at the wrong gate call ahead for us. You would think it would be cheaper for the airline to just wait a few minutes, rather than pay for hotels and meals for people? So we headed to the hotel and slept for a few hours. Mind you we had no luggage with us! (A side note I did have a carry-on suitcase with our toiletries and an extra change of clothes with us, but in Seattle they told me I had too many items that were not allowed and since I did not want to throw all the stuff away we checked the bag-in hindsight I wished I would have kept it…) ok enough of that-on to the good stuff.
Day 2 Thursday:
We woke up very early and headed to our 7:30 am flight to Raleigh. We made this just fine; the kiddos slept the whole time! We landed, got our rental car and checked into our hotel-This hotel was not that great but it was only for one night so we endured it. We were all pretty tired but wanted to go see the family, so we showered and got ready, had some lunch but Roc was so tired I went back to the hotel to let him nap. Kevin and Ella headed to Andrea’s to hang out with the family, but poor Ella was so exhausted she was not having fun, so Kevin came back and we all slept a while, then headed over to Andrea’s for dinner. Ella had fun with her cousins (Jesse, Austin and Ayden). Also there were Kevin’s parents, Sisters Kathleen, Dawn and Andrea, Brothers Brent and Nolan and Future BIL's in Chris (AKA The Groom) and Neil. Ella met the neighbor girl her age and had a great time playing with her. Later that evening Ella and Ayden had a great time helping Dawn tie the bows for the wedding programs. They each took turns holding their fingers so she could tie it. I was wishing I had taken a picture. They were so cute sitting on the chair together. Then it was off to bed.
Day 3 Friday:
We got up and headed to Myrtle Beach, which was about a three-hour ride. The kiddo’s took a pretty good nap on the way down, but also did their fair share of fussing and whining (think back to our Spokane drive) :) We got to Myrtle Beach before we could check in to our room at this great hotel, but the hotel said we could still park there and gave us some towels, so we headed down to the beach to play. We had a great time, although Ella had more fun playing in the sand than the water. This was a nice day, some sun and some clouds, but the water was warm! It was great. We also headed to the hotel pools. They had two hot tubs, two outdoor pools and an indoor kids wading pool with neat fountains and showers and a neat thing that was a shallow pool, with a lazy river attached. It was actually really fun but a bit cold. For the lazy river you got in a tube a rode around-there were fountains and showers that you went under too. This actually made it colder. (I want to go back in the summer and do this again). We met up with some of the family and swam, but had to be at the rehearsal at 4 so we got checked into our room and got ready for this. The wedding was on a grassy area overlooking the beach. The other flower girl was seven and she and Ella became fast friends. Ella was running around dancing before the rehearsal, having a great time. I must say she looked so cute too! Roc was having a great time getting into the bark and hanging onto the fence overlooking the pool. Ella did great practicing but was a bit tired to Auntie Kathleen did end up holding her during the second practice. Since I did not know how Ella would do at the wedding -we planned for Kathleen to hold her during the wedding if Ella couldn’t make it the whole time. Then we headed inside for a delicious dinner and Ella and Roc ate a ton, so they must have been really hungry. Then most of us headed out for a walk on the beach and then to the pools for more swimming. Grandma and Grandpa even got in on the action. If you look at my pictures Roc was so tired he fell asleep on Kevin while riding on the lazy river. (My plan on this trip was to stay on WA time for sleeping so the kiddos went to bed later and slept in later. This worked better for Ella than it did Roc.) Since Roc was wiped out I went up to the room and Kevin and Ella played for a bit. Then we all went to bed.
Day 4 Saturday:
Wedding Day has arrived. Ella actually slept in pretty late, but Kevin got up with Roc and took him down to the beach so Ella and I could sleep. Since the wedding was at 1:00 Ella and I did not join them when she finally did wake up. I did not want to deal with any moods if she did not want to stop playing so Kevin went and got us Starbucks and Krispy Kreme donuts while we hung out in the room. While we were waiting for Kevin Roc decided it would be fun to throw his milk cup over the balcony (we were on the 8th floor). As it was falling I had visions of it landing on someone’s head, (actually Andrea’s as she was walking into the hotel this exact time) and hurting them badly, but fortunately it landed on an alcove type thing. It did not break and Kevin was able to get it for me when he got back. Then we got ready for the wedding. Dawn helped me with Ella’s hair (since she won’t let me touch it) and it turned out so cute. I must say Ella was adorable! And I am not biased :) I was a bit nervous that Ella would not want to be the flower girl. A few days before we left I told her she got to go barefoot and she did not like that idea at all, but surprisingly she changed her mind and was totally happy about this. Kevin was an usher at the wedding and then took over watching Roc for me so I could take pictures of Ella. I was hoping Ella would cooperate and do this flower girl thing as I had visions of her not wanting to and it being a disaster, but she did absolutely wonderful. She had a great time walking down the aisle throwing her rose petals. Then she did great standing up at the front. I was sitting in the back with Dawn and once she noticed me taking pictures she started to smile really big and then proceeded to wave and blow kisses. It was so funny and adorable. She even managed to stand up front the whole ceremony and then throw more petals on her way down the aisle. I was so proud of my little girl. During the reception many people came up and told me what a great job she did and how cute she was! We enjoyed some great food at the reception and Ella even got in a dance with Grandpa and had fun running around with the cousins. I left the reception a bit early as Ella was begging to swim. So basically that night was just more swimming and beach walking. Then off to bed.
Day 5 Sunday:
We got up and said good-by to the family as they were all leaving but we were staying one more day. We spent the morning/afternoon playing in the pools and beach and then went on a drive –in which the kiddos actually took a nap and then got some pizza and pasta to eat back at the room. Then just Ella and I headed out for a walk on the beach. When we got there it was pretty dark so I held Ella’s hand and she informed me that God was holding her other hand. Precious! Then Ella decided she wanted to swim again. I really did not want to as it was cold, but then decided it was our last night and would it really kill me to be cold for a little while, when it could bring Ella joy? So we headed up to get our suits on and then played in the water and I hung out in the hot tub and much as possible. While it was fun, it really wasn’t the same without everyone else there.
Day 6 Monday:
We had to check out by noon so after some breakfast (a side note, Kevin when to Starbucks for our coffee each morning so I totally forgot to buy my Myrtle Beach Starbucks mug, bummer :( ) we headed out for our last walk on the beach. Ella was not that into walking in the water so we mostly stayed further up and looked for shells. The kiddos were ready to go at this time (Roc actually fell asleep in Kevin’s arms while we were walking) so we headed to the room, got cleaned up and headed back to Raleigh. They did pretty well on this drive and slept most the way. YEAH! We went straight to Andrea’s house-as Kathleen (her boys Austin and Ayden), Brent, Grandma and Grandpa, and Jesse (Andrea’s boy) were there. We pretty much hung out with them till bedtime. Ella got along with the cousins really well and they had great fun playing and jumping on the air mattress with the boys, which was in the dining room. Ella gets along well with everyone and had fun with Grandma and Grandma too (and of course all her aunties there!).
Day 7 Tuesday:
Time to go home. While we had fun, it is not totally easy traveling with children and we were tired and ready to go. I was really dreading the long plane ride. We made it through security fine and had a quick flight to Atlanta. In Atlanta I realized they put us all in different rows for our Atlanta to Seattle trip. Hello a three year old by herself?? They told me the flight was full and they would do what they could but could not make any guarantees. In the end they were able to get Kevin in a seat and then Ella and me together, and then when we got on someone graciously switched with us. We endured the long ride with some fussing and some sleeping, but we did make it and amazingly as soon as we got off the plane all our moods improved dramatically. I must say I have never been so happy to be off a plane in my entire life-other than the time I flew to KS alone with Ella when she was 15 mths-and declared I was never doing that again. We got our luggage and called our shuttle, they arrived very quickly and we got our car loaded up and headed home. Since it was 6:30 I did not want to attempt dinner when we got home so we stopped at the Issaquah Costco for a hot dog and pizza. Roc slept most the way and Ella fell asleep outside of North Bend. So we did have a nice peaceful ride home.
All in all it was a good trip and really nice to see the majority of Kevin’s Family, whom we don’t get to see that often. And to those of you that read every word-Thank You-I hope I did not leave anything out! And Thank you to Kev for taking care of Roc in the am’s so Ella and I could sleep!
To view my photos of the trip go here and here and here-unless you have facebook-then just go to my photos on that.
Were are back!!!!!!!!!I will be blogging and posting pictures of our trip to SC/NC soon, but first I have a lot of laundry to do and email catch ups etc. Check back later for the details of the trip.
But one picture for now....
Saturday did not do much, but did meet Hannah at Jo-Ann's to purchase some of the necessary supplies for the crafts I motioned in a previous post. I hope to get started on these soon. Hannah is very helpful and it going to try and make some of the stuff first, then I can look at hers for inspiration. Although I am on my own for the tutu, for some reason I can't figure out she does not want to make one for Emmett? Then of course we watched the poor huskies loose once again! Agg! Oh well maybe in two weeks it may be better (Bye this weekend). On Sunday we went to church and then in the late afternoon headed up to Ellensburg for Avery's 2nd birthday party. It was nice out so the kiddos had fun playing outside and did not want to leave, and did not fall asleep on the way home liked I hoped they would. I have spent all morning cleaning and doing piles and piles of laundry. Oh the exciting life I lead.
I did something this weekend I have never done before-I left for the weekend and spent the night aways from my kiddos! Us Sisters decided to celebrate our Mom's 60th B-day by taking her to Portland for a fun filled weekend of shopping! We left our husbands in charge of the kiddos and headed out early Saturday morning. We met up with Rachael down there and enjoyed a good time of shopping and eating out. We stayed the night at Rachael's apartment and ate some delicious cake she made. I did not take my camera thinking I would leave it with Kevin to document the kiddos every move, but the only picture he took was one of the toy room with every toy dumped out of the buckets and all over the floor. But he did manage to get it all cleaned up and the house looked great when I got home. Thanks honey!
While shopping I found the cutest ballerina wand and was looking at it and then Hannah and I looked at each other and said-pretty much in unison-I/You could make this! Then we found some neat felt flowers things at Pottery Barn and decided we could easily craft these as well. I took pics on my camera phone and am hoping I can actually do this. I have been wanting to find some cute nick knack things for Ella's room and am planning on taking these ideas and making these for her room. I don't know how to upload camera phone pictures, but basically they are felt flowers with a stem. My idea is to make these in butterflies/dragonflies and flowers to match her room. They are on sticks so I am going to get a neat clear vase and put colored glass beads in the bottom and then these in it-to display on her dresser. The wand will be for her to play with. (She has her first ballerina lesson coming up soon-so I am sure she will love this wand) . We also saw a neat felt bag for trick-or-treating, which actually looked pretty easy to recreate ourselves. So know we can be busy with projects.
All in all it was a fun weekend and the kiddos remembered me when I got home so I guess it was ok that I left.
ok I have decided I want to be at the next presidential convention as a delegate. Maybe it just because of the convention going on, but I find this really fascinating. I have had an interest in politics, but not a totally active one. I do vote, but have never given to a politician or helped one in a campaign. I did go to a political party/fundraiser for Senator Brownback when we lived in Kansas and actually thought it was fun and in the back of my mind have thought it would be fun to be involved more but have never really done anything about it. Maybe it is time-I am going to look into how to be a delegate. Maybe it is not for me and maybe I don't qualify but at least is is worth looking into.
