I planned a big vacation for the end of August.
It was giant.
Humongous.
Colossal.
And, really, when it came down to it, just a little insane.
Lesson learned.
AK! I don't want to give away the ending before we even get to the beginning.
So, let's roll with it, shall we?
August Vacation: Part Un
The first stop on our whirlwind August vacation was the Northeast for some family time.
We dropped in for a visit with Cousin Matty.
All day travel was not enough to stop a past-dinnertime Chipotle chow down and a way-after-bedtime Minecraft session.
Next up; a day of crazy.
You KNOW it was crazy, 'cause it started off with this.....
It was huge.
Children AND adults (not me, thanks) had much fun sliding down at about 100mph and slamming into the wall at the end.
Giggles could probably be heard for miles.
I really mean 100mph.
Just look at her face as she hits the barrier.
Pain mixed with ow.
After what seemed like hours (and probably was), it was time for water guns.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! That's cold!!!
After lunch we had some additional company.
Here's Huzbend and Granpa busy creating cardboard armor and weapons so the children could beat on each other.
It wouldn't be a family get together without a war of some kind.
You know how it is.
After a giant inflatable water slide, cardboard battles, crafts and general mayhem, it was time for a nice family dinner.
After one more cold (and hard to photograph) stint on the giant water slide,
it was time for some Minecraft School videos and then off to bed.
They look tired, don't they?
The next day Matty's parental units cooked up some delicious gluten free french toast.
The kids had time for one more Minecraft session before we had to hit the road to head south.
We picked up a hitchhiker along the way.
Actually, that's my youngest sister.
She's way too smiley to be a hitchhiker.
We gave her a ride to our next destination....
A drive-in movie!
They actually DO still exist.
We ate grocery store pizza for dinner.
It was better than any pizza we've had here in the PNW.
Seriously.
I can't remember what Katie ate.
It wasn't pizza though. Probably tortilla chips.
A staple food in our house.
We met my middle sisters family to watch 'The Incredibles' in the great outdoors.
We couldn't figure out how to play the car radio without having the rental car on. It was a hybrid. Oh well.
We were able to hear from everyone else's speakers.
The next day, we trucked it on over to my youngest sisters house for a family picnic.
Annnnd, we got to meet the newest cousin on the block, Jacob!
"Why, hello there fellow family members! Pleased to meet you."
Lest you think he's a serious little guy, here is a smiley picture.
Either that or he's pooping on Katie and Mikey was in on it.
Granpa was in on it too.
Awwwwwww.
Twinsies!!!!
Mommy and Baby.
Too cute.
Dude loves some lemonade.
Seriously.
There's another waiting on the table.
Granma and Uncle A. are impressed.
Not only are they impressed with the speed at which he ingests the lemonades but also at his obvious supreme bladder control.
Extreme Water Ballon Toss
There's a gluten-free, nut free bakery near my sisters house.
The cupcakes passed the Katie Yummylishishness Test.
Mikey's too.
One of these things is not like the others.....
That's right! There's a baby in there.
Phew.
Glad we're on the same page.
I'm guessing the pool at our hotel was a little cold....
No matter, Daddy!
Now is the time you throw us obscenely high in the air so that if anyone saw they would call child services on you!
You didn't see that.
The kids survived by the way.
We went to the aquarium the next day.
Here are the boys planning out our visit route.
Katie and Granpa were busy playing with the giant tornado coin eater.
I'm not sure what to say about this.
I didn't know turtles had two heads AND mustaches.
"SHARKS ARE AWESOME!!!"
I love this picture.
Katie is telling Jacob about turtles.
Sigh.
She's so sweet, it hurts.
Sometimes I feel like Gollum when I look at her...
"The light! The happiness! It hurts us! It hurts us, my precious!"
Touching jellyfish.
Awesome.
Touching sting rays.
Even MORE awesome.
Yes.
That is my kid.
The one that's just millimeters from putting her head in the pool to kiss the stingrays.
"They're soooooo cute!"
They had a butterfly house too.
Not just fish at this aquarium.
Katie wanted so badly to have a butterfly land on her.
But, I don't know, I guess butterflies have a thing against landing on people that REALLY REALLY want them to land on them.
This is the best we could do.
After butterflies, we scarfed the fastest lunch ever and ran to watch an IMAX movie about Great White Sharks.
We bugged out of the aquarium and trucked back to my middle sisters house for kid-fish time and dinner.
Huzbend got some cuddle time in with Jacob.
So small.
So easily portable.
So, sigh, cute.
Can't wait to see you grow up, little dude.
The next thing we know he'll be driving!
See!!
After a quick game of "boat in a storm" the kids ran inside to escape the giant mosquitos.
They grow 'em big in the Northeast.
The girls played all sorts of things.
The boys...welllllll....
See.
We had Bertucci's for dinner.
I SO miss Bertucci's.
Katie had nachos. See, tortilla chips. Diet staple.
We packed it in and headed out saying goodbye to both our families.
Thanks for hosting us!!!
It was time for August Vacation: Part Deux.
