Family Reunion | Part 3

Our final day of our trip ... 

This day was bittersweet for all of us. It was hard to say goodbye to family that we know we won't see for a long time but also so exciting getting to fly back to daddy!

We left my Aunt Wendy's house early on in the day and made the drive back toward Seattle. We didn't have to be to the airport until later that afternoon so we decided to rope my Aunt Deanne into going to the Woodland Park Zoo with us! I lasted about 15 minutes packing Lyla on my back in the baby carrier before realizing I had to rent some kind of stroller. The one downside to this zoo was that everything was so spread out so it was a lot of walking for kids. We quickly found a double stroller that worked perfect and Liam was even able to see most of the animals from the stroller with so many different look out points to each exhibit. It also wasn't too crowded because of the heat!

The best part about this particular zoo was that it had so many bigger animals that a lot of the smaller zoos we've taken our kids to before don't have. Even I hadn't seen some of the animals in real life since I was a child and my parents took me to this zoo. One of them being gorillas!!

A few more favorites ... the hippos, orangutans, and otters!

We stayed at the zoo until it was time to head to the airport. Thankfully we got TSA pre-check for the way home so going through security was mostly a breeze ... well, a breeze with two kids in tow, having to step into the full body scanner with arms in the air for carrying a baby through, and having my diaper bag thoroughly ransacked until they found the bottle of sunscreen I completely forgot about shoved at the very bottom that I took to the zoo. haha Oops!

We tried to get as many of the kids' wiggles out before getting on the plane with walks around the terminal. By this point in the trip my back was totally shot from bending over for days on end helping Lyla walk around and packing her without Nic's help but I was so so grateful to have my mom with me! I couldn't have done the trip without her!

She entertained Lyla for most of the flight home when it was past her bed time ...

And always helped hold Liam's hand as we walked through airports ...

Love my little busy bodies so much and thankful my mom gave us the opportunity to share that little slice of the world with them!

p.s. In case you missed them ... part 1 & part 2 of our trip. XO

Family Reunion | Part 2

Okay, where were we ... 

DAY 2!

Sunday was the day of the family reunion ... Lyla ate her hundredth meal for the day (kidding, but felt like it haha), loving every second of it ;) 

While Liam found their play house outside ...

It had a little kitchen inside and he kept bringing us "lunch"!

Everyone began to show up between 1-2 in the afternoon, the pot luck food was ready around 3, and for the rest of the day there were lots of little second cousins running around, jumping in a bounce house, and racing each other in these metal tractors all over the farm (even mid-bite!) ...

My sweet grandpa came too. It broke my heart a little bit inside to see how much he has aged since the last time I saw him (one of the biggest reasons I came to visit). I loved seeing that his wit and spirit hasn't skipped a beat though! When I asked him if he would play his harmonica for me, he mentioned he left it out in the car and when I offered to go get it for him he fired back, "It's too heavy for you, it weighs about 6 oz." and winked back at me. 

My grandpa loves to perform. He always has and always has to be standing while doing so, no matter his age. He set his adorable widdled cane that he made from his neighbor's tree (so cute!!) aside and started looking around for more people to join his audience. When no one else really gathered but my mom and I, he seemed perfectly content to play Auld Lang Syne and a couple other favorite songs of his and some of the only ones he could still remember by heart. I feel so grateful to have captured his heart, spirit, and that moment in this picture so I can keep it forever because I know the realty is, it may have been the last time I get to see him this way ...

Clapping for him at the end of each tune he would play ...

We also sang our favorite song together, "I Love My Rooster", and introduced it to Lyla for the first time. It is a song my grandpa taught me and it is one I plan to continue to sing to Liam and Lyla as the grow and pass it on to them. My mom took the sweetest video of both my kids sitting on my lap while all of us are looking at my grandpa as we sang it together. 

The view the entire day was magical and I loved getting to show this place to our kids ...

Her first ice cream sandwich that she ate 3/4ths of in about 2 minutes tops and I had to take the thing away from her while she kicked and screamed because I was part afraid of her getting a tummy ache and living in total fear of the diaper it would create while on vacation! haha

My mom, her sisters, and their dad and sweet step-mom (my Grandma Mille) ...

More fun sister pictures!!

This is my cousin Kelli's son, Landon. He always has the most adorable smile on his face and the most beautiful brown eyes ... basically you want to give him anything he wants!!

My sweet grandma ... it's equally hard to see her age too but just being around her, I can feel how much she loves me and all of her great grandchildren too. 

We ate way too much food (exactly how a vacation should be!) and stayed up well past midnight (me, not the kids ... in fact, Liam completely lost it and had a total melt down at 6 pm. He was beyond exhausted after spending the entire day jumping in a bounce house. I need some of that energy!!) catching up with cousins and soaking up those last moments on my aunt and uncle's farm! Love my family so much!

Our last day of the trip and a trip to the Seattle Zoo coming tomorrow! And if you missed part 1, you can find that here! XO

Family Reunion | Part 1

A couple weekends ago, Liam, Lyla, and I flew with my mom to Washington for a family reunion! The last time we went Liam was Lyla's age, so it felt like a crazy time warp experiencing my daughter taking some of her first steps on the same farm that my son did just 3 years before. We missed having Nic with us so much this time but he started his new job the Monday we were out of town so he had to stay behind. 

It was Lyla's first flight ever and the only one that Liam can remember so far and they both did great! Lyla struggled with ear discomfort during take off and landing, thankfully I had nursing to help her while Liam happily ate his sucker. :)

My aunt picked us up from the Seattle airport and had pizza waiting for us when we got back to her home. Lyla with her foot in her plate of food about kills me haha ...

My aunt and uncle live on a golf course so Liam had a blast getting to ride on their golf cart!

That night Liam and I had to share a bed for the first time. He's always slept in his own bed so as I was tucking him in and telling him I was going to be staying he said, "No mom, you find your own bed." haha For a few minutes there I thought I might just be sleeping on the floor but I rubbed his back a few times and he was fast asleep and never even knew I stayed. ;)

When we woke up the next morning, we piled in the car and headed to Mount Vernon where the rest of my mom's family was waiting. This angel fell fast asleep on the car ride there and I had the sweetest view getting to ride in the back seat with her ...

Liam spent the first half of the drive awestruck by all of the cranes, giant buildings, cargo ships, and stadiums that make up downtown Seattle! Then when we hit farmland, out came the tablet. haha

Until we showed up here ... this incredibly breathtaking place ... my aunt and uncle's farm! We never left outside!

Besides getting to visit with and hug my extended family, probably the second best part of this trip for me was witnessing this place through Liam's eyes. He was not only surrounded in all of his favorite things but actually got to ride on most of them for the first time!!! My Uncle Keith giving him his first ride on a tractor and letting him even drive it too ...

And his riding lawn mower ...

My uncle also has an obsession with collecting model trains and built these incredibly intricate tracks around part of his property ...

A little boy's heaven! I think I heard, "Mom, I'm going to go play with my combine harvester" at least 100 times while we were there and it made me smile even bigger every single time. 

To top it off, my aunt has created the most magical toy room for her grand kids to play whenever they come to her house and both Liam and Lyla were in love with it ...

Lyla girl even found a dolly ... look at her reach for it (melt my heart!) ...

More and more family began to come by and visit! My Grandma Jan with my mom on the left and Liam playing ball with my Uncle Jim on the right ...

Lyla and my cousin, Melissa ...

The same push toy airplane Liam learned to walk with the last time he was here and the same swing he rode in too ... that swing gave me quite the scare this time though when the knot came undone on the left side while she was swinging in it. Luckily she was perfectly fine and didn't seem phased but it sure scared her momma quite a bit! 

Liam adored being surrounded by other kids to play with the whole time we were there! These are my cousin Melissa's kids (minus Carter who was Liam's favorite friend while we were there) ...

And I can't possibly leave out my mom's best friend, Janel. She is always the life of the party! I was cracking up watching her try and hang all of these solar lanterns to "decorate the yard" that she brought with her. haha Laughing even harder at the jokes she was telling around the camp fire later that night!

As I expected, Lyla rarely got set down the whole trip. haha Everyone loved meeting her, holding her, and FEEDING HER! Devouring a chocolate chip cookie in this one ...

That was our first day at the farm! Soaking up that 75-80 degree weather with the perfect amount of breeze. Visiting with people I love that I haven't seen in 3 years and excited to see many more the following day. Part 2 (day two) of our trip tomorrow ... X)