Conference in Virginia Oct 2014

This is becoming such a tradition that I need to label it with the date.  After being on the east coast for 4 days, we flew home, took care of business for 3 days and immediately flew back to DC.  Luckily, on American we can fly to the Dulles Airport which is so much closer to our family there.  We were dreading the flight since our last experience was awful.  It started out about that awful.   After Mariah kicked the seat in front of her many times (and I asked the lady to move to one of the other 50 empty seats on the flight and she spoke back in Mandarin and didn't move) and I was SO stressed trying to get her to sleep, she FINALLY fell asleep.  Jackson freaked out because he didn't pack (and I didn't enable) his favorite blankie.  He swore he would NEVER fall asleep on the whole trip just to show me how much he needed it.  After a huge tantrum and moving to the back of the plane he changed his mind and decided a blue blanket was close enough and fell asleep in my arms.  The last hour of the flight was GREAT!  I even slept.

We love being at Rich and Ashleys house.  They treat us so well and have such amazing food.  Friday night was filled with disappointment and sadness as we watched BYU lose and lose their quaterback.  So sad.  We went to bed really late and got up early for Volleyball for the boys and a long run for the girls.

We made yummy food and listened to talks from our prophet and other leaders.  It is always inspiring.  The kids were pretty good.  Jackson really looks forward to conference now that he earns $ to buy at the conference store and he likes to color and do other projects.  He actually listens too!
We ate lunch and then headed out to apple pick at a nearby orchard.  It was a neat experience.  The kids were afraid to eat the apples right off the tree... because they didn't look like the store apples.  I was glad we taught them how to do it.   We were also glad to have grandma and grandpa around.  They are serving a mission in the DC temple and we are luck enough to be able to visit them.

We had great food and the boys headed to the priesthood session in time for the moms to put the kids in baths and to bed.  I was so tired!  The boys came home with 7 Ben and Jerry's ice cream (so of course I had to try them all!)

 And we think our kids are scared of dogs... Mariah even warmed up a bit!
 

We spent Sunday going for a walk and then watching more and more conference.  The kids had a tougher time today, but still managed to let us listen to most of it.

We left for the airport as soon as the session was over.  luckily, there was no one sitting in front of Mariah and she could kick without me getting stressed about it.  She fell asleep within an hour and the kids all zonked out.


Jackson lost his first tooth waiting for the shuttle at the airport.  He has been so excited talking about and wondering about when and where he would lose it.  He was all smiles and excitement about losing it.  I can't believe we are at that stage already!

The SLOW Dallas process didn't get us home until nearly midnight!!   But it was a fun quick trip to see family

Maine in the Fall

We finally got to take a trip from Dallas. We were suppose to meet up with Dave's parents who are serving a mission at the DC temple, but they decided they needed more time to rest up.  Last minute we didn't know if we should still go, but our car trip bags were packed and our minds were set to head to New England in the Fall.  When we flights were looking worse and worse, we almost cancelled.  I tried every itinerary to Boston, upstate NY and Maine  I could think of.  I finally found one with a night in DC, so we hopped on a plane to DC.  The flight was ROUGH!  Mariah wants to walk and move and yelp.  It is so hard to get her and Hallie to not kick the seats in front of them (we like to get 2 rows so we can sit in front of our own kids and take the kicks).  It was a long flight, and we landed late and took a shuttle to a nearby hotel and crashed, knowing we had to get up really early.  The kids took a long time getting to sleep at the hotel and I was wondering if all the chaos was going to be worth it.

We accidentally slept in and I happen to wake up with only 5 mins to get ready to get to the shuttle.  I checked the flight... and it was totally full!!  I was so disappointed, so we spent the next hour (at 4 in the morning) looking for new options.  We thought of driving from DC (13 hours!) and looked at flights everywhere.  Dave finally wondered if we flew into Bangor, Maine (I had never even heard of this town).  He looked it up and sure enough, we did fly there and there were seats!!

 We decided to spend the day exploring DC.  We took the shuttle to the subway and then took whining and crying kids to the National Mall to have them whine and cry.  This is how it felt anyway.  We only brought a single stroller as we were not anticipating walking much.  We saw the Washington Monument and the Air and Space Smithsonian.  We met Dave's parents for Lunch at the National Art Gallery.

 We were exhausted and worn out of the kids by the time we took another subway ride, shuttle ride and did security again.  Luckily, Mariah managed a little nap in between traveling.  

As we were boarding it was announced that they were under weight restrictions and we were not going to get on!!  We had already checked 3 bags!  Dave plead our case of having 3 small lightweight kids and they relented and we got on.  I was almost in panic mode.  SO glad we made it!  It was a rough flight and we were SO happy the Bangor airport is TINY and the rental cars were SO close.  The kids were quiet and peaceful in the car with the things I had packed for our road trip.  Why oh Why are they so hard on flights?!?  Dave and I enjoyed the peace and quiet in the car and the beauty all around as we drove from Bangor to Portland stopping in Augusta for dinner.  It was amazing and the colors were stunning.   The kids were hard to get to sleep again, so we took baths, watched TV and prayed Mariah would go to sleep without a crib (she did.. . she was the easy one).


Sunday we woke up fairly early and had breakfast and got ready for church.  We spent 3 hours going to church in Cape Elizabeth town.  I love that the church is the same everywhere.  We felt loved and felt the spirit.  We ate lunch at the church and headed to the Portland lighthouse.  I realized that of all the beaches I've ever been to, I think this was the FIRST lighthouse I had ever seen!  It was gorgeous and amazing.  Words don't describe it.  The weather was almost hot! (Turns out this day broke records for heat all across Maine, but we didn't know any different)

We started our drive up the coast of Maine.  We stopped whenever there was something of interest to us, but mostly just ooh and aahed about the gorgeous New England Architecture, colors of the leaves, beautiful scenery and coast and quaint villages. The kids enjoyed the drive because they got "presents" ( $ store toys) and books on CD and music to listen to.  they didn't care about seeing much.  Hallie had a total melt down as we drove, so we moved her to the front row ($30 extra for a 7 seater car.... Best $ ever spent) within 3 minutes she was asleep.

We went to a state park with a beach.  All 3 kids were asleep as we pulled up, but we didn't want to wait it out (the Sun was going down) and wanted to get them out of the car.  Hallie had peed as she slept, so that was a fight to get new clothes on her.   Luckily, Dave took this one.  Traveling with kids is hard.  

We were not prepared for a true swimming beach, but people were in fact swimming and playing as if we were in Hawaii.  We just rock hopped and explored and let the kids play in the tide pools and sand.  It made us wish we could go to Hawaii (and soon!).

 The kids were bugging so people here and it was embarrassing.  Once again, Traveling with kids is hard.  This place was GORGEOUS.  It is called 5 islands and off the coast had 5 little tree covered islands with houses embedded in there.  We didn't have time to wait in the 50+ people line to get fresh out of the ocean lobster, but really wished we could.

 We made it about half way up the coast before the sun went down and we didn't want to miss anything, so we found a little dive right on the road and pulled off the spend the night.  (We were the ONLY people staying in the 20 room inn!  We had a bed for Mariah on the floor (which she fell off in the middle of the night). and the 2 kids share a bed.  It was tight, but it was a quick stop because we were off early in the morning for the rest of the Maine Coast, harbors, beaches, villiages.

 Then the crowning jewel, Bar Harbor and Acadia National park.  We ate Lobster finally in Bar Harbor (I wasn't a huge fan) and got kids meals for the kids (of which we ate most of it) Finally, Maine weather was back and we were COLD!

 We have found that National Parks never disappoint, but after our fantastic drive, I was thinking this might.  But I found it tranquil and beautiful.  I was disappointed that the clouds and fogged completely blocked our view from Cadillac Mountain, but it warmed up a little for a small hike around Jordan Lake.  The kids were in great moods and Hallie was running up the trail most of the way!

 We were cold and tired and hungry.  We opted for a hotel with an indoor pool and hot tub (at mom's request)  This was a great decision.  The kids were so happy to be moving and in a warm pool.  It was great (except poop in a swim diaper... traveling with Kids is hard!) We loved the queen beds instead of the double, and finally a crib for Mariah.  We may never stay at sub-par hotels again (and we may never travel again :) )

We were rested and ready to head home the next morning we took it slow and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel and packed up for a stop-and-see drive back to the Bangor Airport (With a slight change to layover in Philly instead of DC).   Bangor Airport has so many fun things for kids... why don't the bigger airport provide these things?!?

Flights ... oh flights.  The kids made a mess on one flight and were crazy and disobedient on our layover.  Jackson and Dave were butting heads.  Everyone was tired and hungry and grouchy.  I sat with Mariah on the 2nd leg and she fell asleep (as did I) so I was rested a bit.  Getting home from the Dallas Airport is SUCH a long process and sometimes I hate that this is going to be our life now.  I headed straight to a meeting from the airport and Dave took the kids home.  I was worried because we were all worn out and tempers were thin.  But Jackson said something that melted Dave's heart.  He stayed in bed with Jackson until he fell asleep.  As difficult as this child can be, he always has a soft spot in our hearts.  I'm so glad that we have him.  

at 10 pm, I had to go back to the airport to pick up our luggage (the flight we opted not to take... that our luggage was on...was delayed for 6 hours!! thank heavens we went on the other flight that left on time!) I was exhausted by the time I got home and went to sleep knowing I would do laundry and pack everything back up to head back to DC in only 2 more days!

Oh how I LOVED Maine!!  Such a wonderful experience.  I'm so glad we got to go!

Starting school and other adventures

In August, the Dallas Arboretum had dollar days which mean that we went twice!  It was So entertaining (despite the HOT weather).  There was lots of water works and misters and splash areas so we survived.  It was fun to meet with a former roommate from college as well as another friend who just relocated to the area with us.  

We've made friends with several people in the cul-de-sac.  We are excited to have friends around.  the kids were so nice to teach Jackson to play 4 square and be patient as he learned.  They played for an hour and not one car drove by!  Love our location!

The girls and I started mommy school and lunches together.  We love our time during the day, although we miss Jackson. 

I 've learn a few hairstyles, but my skills leave much to be desired.

Hallie had a lesson at church about being thankful for her home and how she can help.  On one side she drew herself vacuuming and the other side is her getting angry because she doesn't want to pick up.  yep, so Hallie.

We let Jackson stay out past bedtime all the time, but esp. if the neighbors were out.  One night they played night games and I LOVED seeing him out playing hide and seek.  It was 10 before he came in an crashed watching bball with Dad.

Mariah continues to be a shining light in our life.  she is really growing up.  No more baby.

Our ward had a fun yoga relief society activity.  I love getting to know people better and better.

 Jackson started school at green valley elementary.  He was so excited to start and got an amazing teacher.  We are really happy with a neighborhood school.

We went swimming with a family in our ward on Labor day.  the kids love swimming and the water.   

Saw this crazy car out on the roadway...