To the brim......with special people

Summer vacation. Yep, love it. Ours has been taken in SD at grandma and grandpa's house for the last 5 years (maybe even longer)! I occasionally yearn for the days we can vacation elsewhere or even without kids (dare I imagine). But for now, I'm trying to really cherish the years of sharing my homeland with our kids. There's MUCH to see and as the kids age the schedule seems to get a little more packed! Our trip was jam packed FULL of time with special people. This year it seemed like there was so many highlights. It may have something to do with it being my first visit home that I wasn't pregnant, lactating, or with a newborn attached to my hip in almost 4.5 years (yea wow, I feel the same way). So, it was somewhat like appearing from beneath a rock for me (which I feel is a theme in my life the last few months)! We were also blessed to overlap our trip with several other family visits.......here's how it went down. We traveled early morning this time (on the road @ 5am). Worked great! It provided an "extra" morning nap, less stops yet daytime freedom to stretch our legs, and our quickest time to arrive traveling with the kiddos yet! We arrived to connect with my Aunt Tracey, whom I haven't seen for 12 years! Everyone but me was meeting her for the first time. It was pretty wild but good to see her after sooooo long. We also planned our trip to overlap with Uncle Kyle visiting from Louisiana. Here he's "roughing" Eli up a bit. Eli's diggin' it. As always, the kids were most excited for grandma and grandpa. The plans are always super hyped before we arrive for added excitement.....special snacks, a few hot spots, like Storybook Island, Old McDonald's Farm, a bike ride, etc. This trip we added: - a ride on the 1880 Train -a track race Kai entered with kids his age hosted by high school track coaches -a trip to the public pool for Kai with his second cousins, Henry and Frankie -Eli's 1st birthday party! Here's some shots with some of our special faces: Addie, Grandma, Shelbie, Grandpa Addie was sick the first few days of the trip until her antibiotic kicked in.....Grandma held her LOTS. Thanks mom. That smile you see was VERY rare the first few days. Grandma also stayed with Eli during our train ride. She was our ride home at the end of the line. Thanks again mom. Grandpa and Kai on the train. Grandpa taking his turn cuddlin' Addie Kelly (my bro's girlfriend) and Reid, Derrick and I, and Kyle at Eli's 1st b-day party. Uncle Reido snuggling Addie during the thunderstorm. Great Grandpa Ernie and Shelbie. Love this guy! Kai and Henry (my cousin's son) becoming better buds each visit. Kai protecting Bridget (Kyle's girlfriend) with a flashlight from the thunderstorm. Great Grandma Joyce meeting Eli for the first time. Got to see my friend Ashley (who was a fellow intern at UVA and now happens to be stationed at Ellsworth in RC) and her new baby! Kai holding 2 wk old Zachary. A few more pics from the week to come, but altogether a very fun, BUSY trip and lots of people whom we love to share it.

My lil guys

Just too cute not to share. All kids love boxes. The free entertainment that keeps on giving! The boys have a growing bond. It's been fun to watch. Kai forgets Eli is so much smaller than him. They've started to wrestle together. Kai pulls Eli around the room by his feet and hugs him while they roll around on the ground. Eli actually loves Kai to play rough with him, although Kai goes overboard sometimes and then we have crying. Kai has designated himself as my helper to keep Eli from climbing the stairs. He will just pick him up and carry/drag him to the other side of the room. Eli does not like that. It's pretty funny to watch the "help" and protest.

Eli's 1st haircut

It was a 2 man job for this.....Eli got his 1st haircut! He was extremely squirmy. But it was necessary. He had sideburns down to his jaw and bangs in his eyes. He also had been called a girl on several occasions lately. So it HAD to be done. He really looks like he has a "bowl cut" in the front because his stick-straight hair. Haircuts are not my best skill...or even near the top for that matter. But luckily it will grow back. We were desperately grabbing any objects from the bathroom counter to keep him interested and still. He was pretty happy through the whole process as you can see. The after-bath. Wet headed cutie pies.

Marching band TRIO

Yes, we had a marching band by default. Now that Eli is getting into cupboards and pulling things out, on OCCASION I just let him. It's always when I'm in the kitchen to referee. But it helps me actually get something done. However, on this occasion I ended up having the whole crowd in there "helping" Eli pick an instrument for the marching band trio. Seriously, what was I thinking????? :) Here's Eli when he first started pulling stuff out of the cupboards by himself. Here's when Eli started getting some help! The pot lid cymbals were the biggest hit....of course the loudest and most annoying as well. Here's Kai and Addie showing me their rhythm. You can bet there was some singing involved as well as marching through the front room and kitchen. I guess I'll be thankful they are interested in some sort of music. Don't they say music makes you "smarter?" Guess it couldn't hurt. Side note about music: Kai has just started requesting music (OUR music) in the car. He surprises us on how many words he actually knows. His favorite right now is David Crowder's "Everything's Glorious." Addie doesn't request songs yet, but she is the one yelling to me from her seat, "LOUDER!" Makes for quieter, yet loud car rides (make sense?). I like it.

freedom=happiness

The freedom children feel when released to run after hours strapped to their carseats........glorious. Can 3 peas fit in the pod? I think so. These pics are from a state park somewhere off I-80 in Nebraska on our trip home from Omaha in May.