Early in the morning on June 28th we headed off to the airport. When I say early, I mean we left the house a little before 6 am, which means we were up and about before then. We tried to let the kids sleep as long as possible, but that's not saying much since Reed doesn't usually wake up until around 7:30 and Eve doesn't usually wake up before 8. Needless to say, the schedule was off from the very beginning. Reed was happy because Grandpa Rowberry was driving us to the airport, so this helped his stay happy through our car ride to the airport.
Well, we got to the airport in good time and were checking our luggage, when I realized something: my driver's license was in my church bag! I have to drive to church separately now since Tyson stays after to do tithing and other financial stuff. I forgot to put my license back in my regular purse before leaving to the airport! Ack! I had a couple of other forms of identification since we were going to be doing bank stuff, but I was really worried! Luckily, the security people were understanding and I was able to get past security! Phew! My dad was standing by at our house with my license, just in case. Thanks, Dad!
We were so excited to be getting on our plane, but nervous about how the kids would do on the flight. We had packed a bunch of snacks and activities for Reed, but you never know! We also got him his own "rolly bag" as he calls it where all of his fun things were stored. I do think that this helped, in the long run.
The flight went fairly fast and the kids were fairly good. Eve slept for about 2 hours, I am guessing. While awake, she was just as happy as could be - thank you Eve! Reed only slept for about 15 minutes. Luckily, he didn't really scream at all. Phew! I feel so bad for parents who have screaming children on flights. I know that there is nothing more they can do to make their children stop screaming. Having music and movies on our ipod helped a ton! Also, he loved getting his stickers, coloring books, pipe cleaners, snacks, and books out of his rolly bag. I am totally pro rolly bag! We touched down in Las Vegas, NV and thought we wer home free. Our pilot had gotten us there pretty fast, making up for the flight delat. But, we were stuck on the plane for another hour! Ugh - the flight experience that would not end! Our gate was not clear, so we had to stay on the plane. But, it did end and we did get off the plane, thankfully!
We were all exhausted and it was still only the morning time in the Las Vegas. I was already ready for dinner!
Grandma Walker came to visit us, and Reed was a bit hesitant at first - totally expected. He warmed up really fast, though! He loved riding in Grandma's car!! We went right over to visit Aunt Kimber (her new house) and her boys, Vance and Carter. Reed had so much fun with Vance's toys - they clicked almost instantly! We spent the rest of the day shopping, swimming, eating, playing, and preparing to head to Julian, CA on Tuesday for the Heap/Abney reunion (my mom's side of the family). We put the kids down around 7:30 pm Vegas time and we went to bed around 11:30 pm. What an exhausting day!!!
Tuesday we slept in, sort of. Eve woke up during the night (totally expected), so I was awake for a bit. Reed ended up waking up around 5:30 am, I think. That is 8:30 VA time, so not too unexpected. But, I laid with him and he fell back asleep for a few hours. Not too shabby, but we were all still exhausted. We got our stuff together and left for CA in the later morning.
We got to take Grandma Walker's car and Reed was so excited. He kept saying, "Grandma's car. Grandma's car." He was also excited because he got to watch movies on our way there. It really helped him through the 6+ hours we spent in the car that day. The GPS was working great and we were making good time. We even stopped by In-n-Out for lunch! I was excited because I could special order it without dairy and soy and not have to wory about it. I really miss In-n-Out - it is great and, in my opinion, better than Five Guys (sometimes called the In-n-Out of the East or vice versa depending on where you grew up). Then, it all went downhill when I fell asleep. Don't worry, I was not driving!
I had fallen asleep and the GPS gave Tyson different directions than Google Maps. He didn't really know which one to follow and so ended up missing both exits that he could have taken. Aaaahh! We turned around and found our way to Julian, CA, almost to the camp. Along the way, we encountered 20+ miles of windy roads! I was starting to feel sick, we were lost, I was hungry. That all equals me getting upset. Sorry, Tyson! We stopped in the little town to ask for directions, but no one had ever heard of our camp, so we just tried our luck.
A few miles down the road we find Camp Cedar Glen, and I was so grateful to be out of the car and not going on windy roads any longer! We got our stuff into our rooms and then met up for dinner.
Since I cannot eat dairy or soy I brought some back up food options, just incase I could not eat the food provided. I could eat at least part of every meal, so that helped me not to starve while I was there. The meals actually looked very good, and I heard that same thing! During dinner my mom started the family reunion. It ended up being a great time! There were about 120 people there from my mom's side of the family (She grew up in a family of 11 and then you add spouses, their kids and the kids' spouses, and grandkids). There were still a lot missing, but it was nice to see some people had not seen since I was in high school! I guess that what happens when you have such a big family!
The next few days were filled with lots of talking and fun! We did so many fun things: crafts for the kids, field games, swimming, rock climbing (on a wall), archery, nature walks, seeing wolf dogs, skit night, testimony meeting, smores, family pictures, and of course game nights!
We were all so tired, but ah well. Our cabins were set up in families. My parents, my family, Shauntelle's family, and Brandon's family were all in a cabin that had 4 different rooms. Reed absolutely loved being with so many cousins! He kept saying, "Cousins, cousins." He had a blast! He loved swimming, running around, playing on the playground, helping Uncle Jimmy during field games, blowing bubbles, and just being with all his cousins!
I know that I have more stories, but I will just continue on with the rest of our vacation. When the pictures come, so will the stories :)
On Saturday morning, we headed back to Las Vegas. The Zobrist Family reunion started as soon as we got there. A lot of the family members live in town, so it was a swim/bbq party at the Walker home. Tyson and I were so sick of swimming by that point, but Reed needed to get in for a bit. Luckily, he spent most of his time in the giant sand box. We chatted with some of Tyson's cousins and just chilled out in the heat. I do have to say, humid heat and dry heat are COMPLETELY different. Yes, it was over 100 degrees in Las Vegas, but it was so much more bearable than the VA summer with its 95+ degrees and 90% humidity. Yuck!
Anyways, it was all over too quickly and everyone went home. We played some games and went to bed!
July 4th is always a big deal for us. Tyson has such great memories growing up, that it is probably one of his favorite holidays (aside from Christmas). I guess growing up with a dad and grandpas in the military, I just love Independence Day as well. Since it fell on a Sunday, a lot of the normal activities were not done, but we still had homemade ice cream and watched fireworks!
We made homemade blackberry sorbet for me, which ended up being delicious! I was afraid that Reed would be scared of the fireworks this year, since they would be loud and close. It was just the opposite! He loved each one and made the appropriate, "Aaaaah" and "Oooooooh" sounds! Heeven tried a few sparklers! He loved it all until he was trying to be a good boy and clean up sparklers. One was a little hot as he picked it up and scared him more than burned him. He took a little while to be happy again, but eventually, he was happy again and even did some more sparklers! The few pitcures we did get, were from this night. Enjoy this short picture break!
I love Vance's face :)
I know it's dark, but how cute are these boys?!
This is my favorite one :)
Carter was drunk on way too many cookies!!!Monday was Tyson's 27th birthday! Wow, we are all getting so old! :) We went shooting with Adam, Kimber, Grandma, and Grandpa. Reed and Vance spent much of their time in the truck, until the end when they found sticks with Grandma! (Well, Reed found his stick first and Vance needed one. Hence, a stick hunt. They were successful!) Eve sat there with her cute chubby cheeks, wearing her "ears" they call it. I shot a few times, but am really no good. It's still fun, though! Tyson did great and we all had an awesome time!
The rest of the day was spent hanging out and playing! We dropped off Reed at Kimber's house that night so we would go to dinner. We went to Montana Joe's and had steaks. We made cupcakes and sang "Happy Birthday" to Tyson! Then, came the part I had been waiting for - the presents! I was so excited about my gift, it was hard to contain. Tyson got an electric razor (which he has been wanting) from his parents and from me...... tickets to Dave Matthews Band!!!!! So, this was a present for both of us, really. I should have gone to a concert a long time ago, but never went. So, it was just one of those things that we needed to do! (The concert was fabulous - coming in a post later). All-in-all a great day! Happy Birthday Tys! I love you!!!
On Tuesday we went to the Lied Children's Discovery Museum. The kids had a blast! The adults had a blast as well! Jared, Tyson's brother, came back from CA that morning and met us there. Even some of Tyson's cousins with their kids met us there as well. Of course, Grandma, Kimber, Vance, Carter, Mackenzi, and Kylie were there as well. We played and played and played until we were hungry for lunch. I think one of the favorites was the ball machine. You put the ball in and it got sucked up the tube.
We stopped for lunch (I got some later) and then went to the bank. I thought it was just going to be a quick trip, but it ended up taking an hour and the lady was SO SLOW!!! I had not eaten lunch yet, so was just grumpy. (I guess I am just not so happy when I am hungry). Once we got all the account stuff figured out, we went back to Grandma's where I finally got some food!
Grandma had some little magnets for the kids to paint and Reed had a blast! The kids were all so serious during paint time. Reed painted a lion! I think it is still hanging on Grandma's fridge! They also did some finger painting (I think it was Tuesday - all the days kind of ran together for me).
Wednesday we went to Sunset Park aka Duck Park and fed the ducks! Both Reed and Eve loved seeing the ducks and watching them eat the bread. Again, Reed made all the appropriate "Ooohs" and "Aaaaahs." Eve wanted to jump in the water! There were also pigeons (aka rats with wings) who would come by and try and get bread. I stomped them away, but some of the kids wanted to feed them. Yuck! I detest pigeons!
After we fed the ducks, we fed ourselves and relaxed on the grass. Then, we headed to the playground and played for a while. When we got back we went swimming and Grandma even got out the bouncy house! Reed loved this as well! My friend, Sydney, came over and we caught up on our lives! She is one of my favorite people in the world!
Thursday we went to see my sister's house. Man, I really want a house! They are just so affordable in Las Vegas right now. My sister has a 4-bedroom home, as does Tyson's sister Kimber. There are so many houses available right now! I hope they don't all go away before we can snag one! It was great to see Shauntelle and her girls! They are just so much fun!
Friday we went swimming and played in the sand box. Sometime during the week, I don't remember which day, Reed really learned how to use his floaties and would swim all by himself! He just go stronger and stronger throughout the week. (I think that happened on Wednesday, but I am not sure). He became such an independent swimmer! Yeah for Reed! That night Grandma had a movie night in her backyard. We watched "Bolt" and all the little kids fell asleep for at least part of the movie. Reed, Vance, and Carter all wore their "I heart NY" shirts! So cute :)
Saturday was the Walker family reunion. We hung out the whole day, swam, ate food, and just talked to everyone. Fun to see everyone!
Sunday I accompanied one of the sister missionaries for the musical number. It all turned out fine, but the piano was not as long as the one I had practiced on. So, the page turns ened up being totally different at the last minute. Ah well, it did all work out and was a lot of fun.
Monday was spent mostly packing since we were leaving on Tuesday morning. For dinner we went to Kimber's house and then had a movie night in her down stairs family room. We watched, "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" which ended up being really funny!
I did forget to mention that we played games every night. This kind of goes without saying, but there, I said it :)
All too soon, Tuesday morning came and we were back to VA. This time, I had my license (thanks, dad!) so no more worrying about that! We were excited to get back to our own beds, but sad to be leaving Grandma and Grandpa's house. Our half-smiles became much smaller when we found out that our flight was delayed for about 2 hours! Yuck! I guess it did give us time to eat and feed the kids, but that did not take nearly long enough. We took some walks through the airport, used the bathrooms, and then just sat waiting for our flight. When the time came to board the plane, I was grateful that we were one step closer to our beds. Eve hardly slept on Monday night, (which never happens) so I was exhausted by the time we actually boarded the plane. But, she ended up sleeping over half the flight, so at least that was nice. Reed did a pretty good job on the plane, but we were all just tired.
When we landed in VA I called my parents to come and pick us up. When they got to our house to pick up the truck and pick us up, our cars were not there!!! Turns out, they repaved our road on Monday and moved all the cars! They eventually found our cars and came to pick us up. On the paper, though, it said that we would have to pay for the towing! Luckily, they are not charging anyone for the towing (we were not given enough of a warning, anyways), so that all worked out. When my dad pulled to the curb to pick us up, it started pouring rain. Welcome to the East!!! We were drenched in an instant. Ah well....at least we were all safe, our cars were safe, and we ate Thai food for dinner. :) Thanks for the Thai food, Mom!
Now we are back to real life and it is just normal. Vacation is always hard to leave - back to responsibilities, laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, working, etc. Ah well, at least we had a vacation!
