Needless to say, everyone has been very excited for a visit this summer. And we barely squeezed it in between school ending and me being too far along in my pregnancy to travel. (I actually had Tiago miss his last 2 days of school so we could get the longest trip possible-- 2 weeks.)
I certainly didn't take for granted how easy it was to fly with kids this age. (I flew out with the kids a week before Hyrum joined us.) They were excited to go the airport. We checked our two bags so all we had to carry were snacks and entertainment. We arranged to borrow carseats in Utah so we didn't have to carry any through the airport. And once we were on the flight the kids watched movies and played games the whole time.
There were only 2 potential hiccups that didn't end up being a problem. First, I had to take all 3 kids to the bathroom before boarding the flight. That took forever (and I must have repeated a million times don't touch anything!) and when we got back to the gate half the plane was already boarded. And second, our kids headphones--which we've used for the past 3 years--were SO hard to hear with all the airplane noise. I was able to get Tiago to watch a movie through the airplane entertainment system, which seemed loud enough, and the girls didn't seem to mind not hearing the games on the tablet. One quick 2.5 hour flight and we were in Utah!
(One more note about traveling with kids... I bought a fanny pack and it was awesome! I kept our documents, boarding passes, some candy, phone, headphones, gum and credit card inside, and then I didn't have to keep digging through my backpack for what I needed. Did it look ridiculous wrapped around my enormous stomach? Probably. But so worth it!)
The firs thing my kids wanted to do when we got to my parents house was run down to the basement to see all the toys they remembered. They were giddy. And to top it off, there was a deer in the backyard eating from the garden so they got to run outside and chase it away, yelling "Monster!"
Sunday afternoon there was a family party hosted by my sister-in-law, celebrating all the birthdays in May and June. It was a great way to see everyone right out of the gate. There was delicious BBQ and M&M's in every flavor available. My favorite was the thai coconut, but there were so many other intriguing flavors like jalapeno and hazelnut. The kids had a great time playing out in the yard, with blocks in the basement, and with their cousins' toys. The girls were dressing up with Charlotte and playing in her pink tent. But then Siena started to complain that she was cold, then tired. Before I knew it she was curled up on the sofa asleep. (That never happens, unless she's sick.)
Monday was Memorial Day, so we went to the Bountiful Cemetery to put flowers on a few graves. My kids have fun with that, seeing where everyone is buried. After, we dropped off my dad and Siena at home (Siena got to watch 2 hours of movies, because she still wasn't feeling great.) The rest of us went to hang out at Amie's house, and go to Chik-fil-a. Then Amie went to my parents' house, and Kayla came over with baby James. So we had quite a gathering that afternoon. My kids think James is the cutest thing in the world. And miraculously, Mila, Siena, and Talia were all getting along! (For the most part.)
Tiago brought a few chapter books from home. He and my dad spent a little bit of time each night reading, and they finished the biography of Ronald Reagan. I spent a lot of time relaxing, while my mom helped putting kids in bed and doing the cooking and cleaning. I really played the pregnancy card... with her permission.
Tuesday I went to get my hair done. I still haven't found a person I like in Dallas, so I went to a salon in Farmington that I've been to before. Aside from it taking 3 hours to color/cut, I was happy with how it turned out. (This is a before picture. I was so sick of the length.) Plus, hair coloring in Utah is about half of what it costs in Texas.
Right after eating, my mom and I drove up to Logan with the kids to see my Grandpa. It was a quick but pleasant visit. On the way home we stopped to get shaved ice, and bought some pajamas at the LazyOne outlet. Driving home is when Tiago started to feel sick. He went to bed early, and woke up the next morning still not feeling well. He laid in bed for an hour just listening to audio books before deciding he was able to start his day.
The girls did some gardening with my mom.
On Wednesday we went to a children's museum in Lehi. The kids loved it. I was exhausted by it. All I wanted to do was sit on a bench and do nothing. So after a few hours we called it quits. Luckily my mom was there to play with them and act engaged. The girls' favorite part was in the Kid City--there was a theater with dress up clothes and a stage to perform on. There was also a pretend bank, and a container you could send out to the drive-through. My mom put a few pieces of candy in the bottle and sent it back into the bank for the kids. They thought that was just how the bank worked and kept saying how cool it was that you got candy at the bank. Other kids wondered why their bottles didn't come back filled with treats.
On the way back to Farmington we stopped at Jenna's office. Of course the kids got loaded up with sweets from the vending machine and got to run around for a few minutes before we let Jenna get back to work. On the way home, it was Mila's turn to fall asleep because she wasn't feeling well. Early bedtime for her. All in all, whatever stomach bug my kids had for the first four days was pretty mild. Siena puked up breakfast once, but that was it. Mostly they just took turns not feeling well and falling asleep in their car seats.
Tiago discovered the joy of a jacuzzi tub. I think he spent 2+ hours playing in there, and the bubbles just kept multiplying with the jets on. We got a laugh out of that, because last time we visited it was my parents' shower he was obsessed with. We'd have to drag him out. This time it was the tub.
While my mom worked at the temple on Thursday, I took the kids to a park in Bountiful to play. It was awesome! I literally sat on a bench in the shade for 2 hours while the kids played. The weather was pleasant, they didn't bother me at all, and it was free. Occasionally they'd come find me for snacks, but I mostly just listened to a Harry Potter audio book and enjoyed the sunshine.
Matt had been on a business trip to Germany, so after Kayla picked him up from the airport they stopped by for lunch. It was a quick visit but fun to catch up... and see their baby again.
One of the best parts of the entire trip was having kids to play with in the back yard. It wasn't more than a day or two into our visit when the kids asked if they could go play in the neighbor's sand box. Once they were out there, kids started coming out of the woodwork. There are 3-4 backyards that all kind of connect, so they can easily move between yards. Several of the kids were older than mine, but acted like little moms, carrying Mila and Siena around on their hips. (I don't even do that!) There was a giant trampoline in someone's yard for them to bounce on, and a swing and sand box. Any time my kids were bored they could just go outside and within minutes there would be a handful of kids out playing with them. That's their version of heaven. They're such social creatures.
Often we'd ask them what the best part of their day was. And regardless of which museums or playgrounds we'd been to, they'd say, 'playing with friends.'
On Friday we drove to Heber to visit Kayla. When we saw them a few months ago in Houston Tiago was disappointed that Matt didn't bring any chocolate, so Matt promised him chocolate if he came to visit. And Kayla promised the girls she'd make them 'fancy drinks'-- they requested cotton candy and something purple. Matt and Kayla both delivered! We played with the baby for a while, and the kids loved all his toys. Then we ate lunch and had fancy drinks before going to check out Matt's factory. Here they are watching the chocolates being made.
And just because there's no limit the the amount of sugar we can eat in one day, we took advantage of Baskin Robins' cheap ice cream on the 31st.
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