We Survived

We recently flew up to Idaho for 10 days to meet up with Brent's family and spend time with them. I don't know how people come home from vacation with their kids and immediately blog about it. I was completely exhausted and it took me a few days to just catch up on sleep! Brent was not able to come with us because of work so I decided to endure the plane rides with the kids because I knew the visit would be worth it. We don't get to see Brent's family very often since we live so far away from everybody so this was a great opportunity. Our journey began on Wednesday, Aug 13. Our flight itenerary left us with a 10 hour day of travel with one of our flights being 3 1/2 hours long. I was most worried about this flight as I didn't know how Avery would act. About a week before we left for Idaho, she developed a major attitude. She is like a teenager in a one year old body. She has become a royal tootenheimer and I don't know where it came from. All my friends with girls assure me that they went through the same thing with their toddlers but I wasn't expecting it so soon! If things are not going her way then watch out. Screaming and rolling temper tantrums on the floor will ensue. Most days I find it funny but if this is a sign of things to come, I don't know what I'll do with a real teenager. But anyways, I digress. So the trip there was relatively uneventful. Drew behaved very well on the plane and was good about staying with me at the airports. Going to the bathroom was a group event where we all piled into the stall together. I gave a woman an eyeful when Drew decided that he was ready to go and opened the stall while I stood there with my shorts around my ankles. Ah, the joys of kids. Luckily on our 3 1/2 hour flight, Avery slept for 3 hours of it. I was in heaven and thanking my lucky stars that the diva took a rest. So after a long day of travel, we finally made it to Boise and settled in to play with the cousins. There were 10 kids in all so it was chaos at times but the kids had fun. On Friday, we all packed up and drove over to Idaho Falls for a family reunion. On the way, we stopped in Twin Falls for the temple open house. The younger kids stayed outside with Grandpa and Uncle Quinn and everyone else went through the tour. I have never gone to a temple open house and it was interesting to go through the temple in street clothes but it was a beautiful temple so I'm glad we made the stop.
(Avery sleeping in the car on the trip to Idaho Falls)
(Drew and Gavin)
(Drew, Trey, Koda, Avery, Bryer, Alex, Reece, Colin, Gavin, Quincy)

So on to Idaho Falls we go. We stayed with Brent's Uncle Evan and Aunt Sandy in Blackfoot and they were gracious enough to put up 11 people for the weekend. It was a party, let me tell you. They have a great space of land so the kids were able to play in the water, jump on the trampoline, fight over toys in the enormous playroom, puke on the lawn, sleep in the camper, have a pole climbing contest and just have fun.
(Bryer, Gavin, Drew and Avery)

(Avery, Bryer, Quincy, Gavin, Drew)

On Saturday we went to the reunion which was nice. Brent's dad comes from a very large family with a posterity of over 380 people from his grandparents. We had fun meeting people even though we didn't know who anyone was. Drew spent most of the reunion wearing his wobble gobbles (water goggles). He thought they were pretty cool.

(Avery eating her favorite food, tomatoes. Gross.)
(Drew practicing croquet)

(Reece and Trey. Trey loved to say "Cheese!")
(That's what he needs--more sugar)

(Avery and Grandma)

On Sunday, we traveled back to Boise but took the route through the Craters of the Moon. And here begins Avery's love affair with her Ring Pop. Luckily grandma had enough for eveyone because Avery really wanted that Ring Pop like the other kids (remember the attitude? Sometimes its best to just give her what she wants).

(I love my Ring Pop)
(Uh oh, it's almost gone)
(Now it's really gone)
(A binky and the wrapper are a fair substitute)
(Drew with his Ring Pop. I think he's sleeping with his eyes open here)

The rest of the trip went well unless you count almost watching my family be obliterated on the highway. OK, maybe it wasn't that bad, but it was a close one, right Darcy? The next day, we went to a splash pad in Boise and the kids had so much fun. Drew is not normally a sprinklers kind of kid -he prefers to swim- but even he had fun. It was over 100 degrees that day so the relief from the heat was nice.

(Trey, Drew, Reece, Avery and Quincy)
(This was the drain. Avery loved the sound of the water rushing through it.)

(Avery and Grandpa)

The next day was one of the most fun. We went to Roaring Springs, a water park. I haven't been to a water park in at least 10 years so it was so fun to play in the water with the kids and go down the slides. Drew loved the lazy river, the wavepool and the kiddie slide. We were able to go down one of the big slides on an intertube together. It was very fast and you are in a pitch black tunnel for half of the ride. When we got to the bottom I said, "Was that fun?!" and he said "YEAH!" so I asked "Do you want to do it again?" "NO!!!" So we pretty much enjoyed the lazy river the rest of the day. Both kids had so much fun and came home exhausted which is always good. (I don't have pictures of the water park because they are on a waterproof camera I haven't developed yet.)

Grandma and Grandpa left on Wednesday morning and we were very sad to see them go. They took one child with them so we still had 9 to look after. We got a babysitter to watch the kids while me, Darcy, and Ami went to see Mamma Mia (I told you I liked it!). Darcy spent the rest of the day packing and they left on Thursday. We left on Friday and let's just say that I will never fly with a child between the ages of about 8 months and 18 months ever again if I can help it. Avery was a little traveler from you-know-where. We were that family that everyone dreads--screaming, crying, whining baby and a mother on edge and ready to snap at any moment. At one point, I wondered if anyone would notice if I retreated to the bathroom alone and left my screaming baby on the seat (or more likely chasing me down the aisle screaming as dramatically as possible and banging on the door). Due to all the potential witnesses on the plane, I was able to at least stay calm on the outside despite completely tearing my hair out on the inside. Benadryl has nothing on Avery. She is determined to have that temper tantrum regardless. That day could not be over fast enough. We finally boarded our last leg in Dallas and luckily it was dark so that kept Avery a little more calm and quiet. She puked on me as we were taxiing in to the gate but I guess that's what you get when your baby is hopped up on Apple Juice, Benadryl and Cheetos. It was a fitting end to a long day. Our luggage did not make it back with us so we went home empty handed and absolutely exhausted. At that point, I didn't care. I just wanted to get home to my own bed and sleep. Like I said, it took me a few days to catch up on my sleep and come back from my exhaustion. We had a great trip and loved seeing everybody and we are glad to be back home with Brent.

(Bryer, Colin, Drew and Quincy. Quincy loves to wear either her swimsuit or her pj's all day.)

(Gavin, Colin, Drew, Bryer and Quincy) (Drew, Gavin and Bryer)

(Is there any question why I usually take her clothes off before she eats?)

(Drew, Gavin and Bryer enjoying a late night chat over their cereal) (Drew and Gavin with their Carnation breakfast shakes)

(Avery loved to pester poor Trey. Can you tell how much he is enjoying giving her a ride?)

(This is grandma and grandpa with 9 of their 13 grandkids.)