Meeting With Lots of Family

There was, of course, a trip to Aunt Leslie's house.  Kiki & Po got some steamed crabs per my request for us to chow down on.  Not to mention we also had corn on the cob, which put me in absolute heaven!!  We all spent the afternoon surrounded by family.  It was so great to see everyone again and have them meet our two latest editions, Hadley & Emrey.  My Aunt Kathy drove from Kentucky to visit with us too, so that was an extra special treat to have her there!  The girls got to hang out with Kiki, Po, Aunt Leslie, Chelsea and her fiance, Austin, Trevor, Aunt Kathy, Aunt Terry, Uncle Justin, Aunt Sara, Addie & Bella.  It was quite a party!!  I thoroughly enjoyed myself and was so happy to be able to spend time with so many members of my family!

Here are a load of photos to remember the day:

Visiting Justin & Sara's House

Trey and I took the girls one Saturday(or Sunday) to play at Uncle Justin and Aunt Sara's house.  The girls couldn't get enough cousin time in, especially Riley and Addie.  It was a nice afternoon without any hustle and bustle of an agenda.  The adults got some Mexican take out for lunch and Sara made the girls lunch at home.  The girls played together nicely and Uncle Justin even took Addie & Riley to the playground for a bit while Bella & Hadley took a nap.  Well, Hadley didn't actually take a nap, but Bella did!!  Hadley was having too much fun playing with Lucy I think.  She was absolutely petrified of little Lucy at first.  After a little while she warmed up to Lucy and started throwing her the ball.  It was rather amusing to watch!  I think everyone enjoy themselves.  It was so great to spend time with my family!

American Girl

 My mom, the girls & I drove to Tysons Corner and met up with Sara, Addie and Bella at the American Girl Store.  The girls are still a little young for the American Girl, but they also have Bitty Babies for the younger crowd.  All of the girls loved shopping around the Bitty Baby area.  I'm pretty sure they all wanted one of everything!  We all had lunch at the bistro that was in the store.  It's a cute little place where the girls were able to have their baby dolls sit next to them in a highchair.  The babies even got little tea cups so that the girls could feed their baby.  It was really cute, but definitely overpriced.  Not to mention it felt like Antarctica in the Bistro.  Hadley's lips were definitely purple!  Of course that didn't stop any of the girls from eating their ice cream for dessert!  It was a really fun time and exciting that the cousins got to experience it together!

Definitely trying for a Kiki and granddaughters shot!  

Best of friends!

Enjoying lunch!

I've never seen a child eat ice cream like Bella!  She could definitely win an ice cream eating contest!!

Typical Hadley cheese face!!

Helping Hands

We stayed with my mom & Mr. Kevin(aka Kiki and Po) while we were visiting.  It was so nice to have two extra people helping out with our three girls.  I guess I never realized how much work goes into taking care of three little ones.  Especially when you aren't in your own home, you really have to be on your toes making sure that the kiddos aren't getting into things they shouldn't be!  I have to give it up to my mom though.  After being at work all day she would come home and play with the girls as if she had all the energy in the world.  I wish I could be more like that.  I'm exhausted by dinner time most days.  I don't know how she was playing so much with the girls, but they were definitely loving every minute.  And I must say that I was loving every minute too because I was just sitting back and relaxing, watching everyone have fun!

While Kiki entertained Riley & Hadley, I was trying to capture some moments with my camera.  Then Trey wanted to play with the camera and take a billion pictures of us.  So here are a couple of shots I figured that I'd include since I rarely make an appearance on the blog!! 

I LOVE this shot of Emrey and Po!!  Emrey is such a sweet and happy baby.  It was so funny because Po would always comment how you almost forget that Emrey is in the room because she's always so quiet!  She's such a little angel!  Look at her smile!

Poppy & Grandma Kathy

 Next stop on our trip to MD was to visit with Poppy & Grandma Kathy.  They hadn't met Hadley or Emrey in person yet, only through skype.  I knew Riley wouldn't be shy because she recognizes most everyone from talking to them on skype.  And I figured Hadley would quickly warm up, especially because they have dogs!  Riley was totally outgoing and not a bit shy.  Hadley was extremely shy and totally freaked out by the dogs which really surprised me.  It was funny to see Hadley freak out over the dogs.  So Riley stayed downstairs with Poppy and the dogs, while Hadley stayed upstairs with me, Emrey & Grandma Kathy.  It was nice to have the girls spend time with their grandparents.  Of course, they tend to get a little too spoiled!

A Long Time Coming

 Trey, the girls, and I made a trip to Maryland last month.  The main reason for our visit there was to see my brother, Justin, sister-in-law, Sara, and our nieces, Addie and Bella.  They have been living in the Philippines for the last three years and are moving to Ethiopia soon for the next two years.  This was our chance to have our nieces meet our daughters!  It didn't take long for Riley and Addie to start playing together.  They had to feel each other out, but became friendly rather quickly.  Bella and Hadley were both all over the place!  That's what you get with two year olds!  Both Addie and Bella were amused with Emrey.  It was so nice to see how loving they were with her, especially since they have a new sister on the way!  

I was super excited to introduce Emrey to her Uncle Justin and Aunt Sara.  Emrey was all smiles with both of them!  It made me so happy to see her in both of their arms.  It's hard sometimes being so far away from your family when you have babies.  You just want them to know all of their family.  Thank goodness for skype!

I had a great day getting to know Addie and Bella!  They are the best nieces an aunt could ask for!  It really was priceless to see all of the girls together.  Finally, the cousins get to play together!!!

Birthday Getaway

I celebrated the big 3---0 on August 28th.  I can seriously not believe that my twenties are now behind me.  I'm not depressed about entering my thirties at all.  I'm excited for my thirties because I don't plan on being pregnant and/or breastfeeding like I was for the last half of my twenties!!  It's funny, I said I wanted to have all my kids by the time I was 30 and poof, I've got three beautiful and healthy girls.  I guess my wish was granted!  

On my birthday we went out to lunch and enjoyed a delicious meal at Gordon Biersch.  All of the girls were in a good mood so it was a successful outing with all five of us!  Later that afternoon we went to a bbq at our neighbors house.  So it was a pretty perfect birthday because I didn't have to cook at all!  Score!  

This past weekend we traveled up to the North Shore to spend a couple of nights at Turtle Bay.  This was my big birthday present from Trey and the girls.  I was thinking how spectacular it would be to escape away from everyday life and just enjoy a couple of days relaxing on the beach.  I've always heard such nice things about Turtle Bay and was really looking forward to our little mini getaway!  We left right after Riley's gymnastics class.  We thought we'd get there early, chill out on the beach for a bit, and then check into our room.  Forgetting that it was Labor Day we didn't account for the massive amount of traffic we got stuck in on the way there.  Needless to say by the time we got to Turtle Bay it was too late to hit up the beach because it was practically dinner time.  And anyone with little kids knows you can't feed them late unless you want to experience major meltdowns.  We checked in and then walked around to check out the area.  We ate dinner at an Italian Restaurant and enjoyed every bite!  We made it back to our room to witness a gorgeous sunset.  I wouldn't mind a view like that everyday.

The next morning we got up and grabbed some breakfast, then off to the beach we went.  I was expecting much more when we got to the beach.  First of all, we couldn't even get beach chairs because they weren't open yet.  I was annoyed.  Second, there were sand fleas all over the place.  It was driving me bonkers.  I kept swatting them off of me, Emrey, and Hadley.  Thirdly, it wasn't even a private beach.  The beach was open to the public which I thought was awful.  We paid a pretty penny to stay at this resort and anyone is welcome to use the beach.  Ridiculous!  I thought it would be so great to not have to pack up the car and drive to the beach, and we could spend the entire day on the beach.  It definitely didn't work that way.  After an hour, Hadley was ready for a nap.  Trey took her up to the room and I stayed at the beach with Emrey and Riley.  About twenty minutes later Riley was ready to go back to the room.  She didn't want to be at the beach anymore.  I thought I was in a nightmare.  This was not how I was anticipating our little getaway.  

Once Hadley woke up from her nap we headed to the pool.  Trey bought the girls some floats and they were in heaven.  Trey was teaching Riley how to swim and our little fish wasn't getting out of the water for anything.  We were all relaxed and enjoying ourselves.  We ordered food while we were there because the girls didn't want to leave.  I was amazed that Riley & Hadley were having more fun at the pool than the beach.  But then again, there weren't any sand fleas at the pool!  

Turtle Bay definitely wasn't what I had anticipated it to be.  Trying to get away with three kids all ages three and under wasn't the best idea.  Jamming all of us into one hotel room wasn't the best idea I've ever had!  However, once everyone started having fun at the pool I was able to start enjoying myself.  Turtle Bay was a disappointment though.  I think next time we'll go to the new Disney resort at Ko'Olina or just rent a cabin at the Bellows.  Those are our favorite spots on the island anyway.  Here's to my next thirty years!!