Hawaii

We got the opportunity to go to Hawaii (Again), we are so fortunate that with my job and occasionally Jared's we get to travel to nice places.  My basketball team was playing two games in Hawaii and of course there was some fun time or "down time".  We left on Dec. 16 and came home on Dec. 24 morning.  The boys stayed with grandma and grandpa Bodammer for the week.  They did very well this time, we even FaceTimed them and showed them the ocean and they LOVED it and didn't cry this time.  Last time we left them we couldn't FaceTime and call as they got too upset.
We got in early evening on Dec. 17 as we had a delay out of Dallas airport.  Once we got in we went to the ocean and did a little workout mostly stretching and just getting the girls to move.  Then out to dinner and after that Jared and i walked around a bit, I was tired and really for bed as it was a long day up early and to the airport by 4:00am.
Dec. 18 we got up and had practice at 8 am which forced us to get up early and moving which was a good thing.
Dec. 19 we got up and hiked Diamond Head with Sue, it was awesome, Jared and I do it every time we go, the view is AMAZING!  This time was a bit different I had to take more breaks because of baby. 

NEWS

Guess what…we are adding another little one to our family!

First Day if Pre School…Can this really be happening?

I think I asked myself this many times this week, can this really be happening? Can my baby boys really be in pre school already.  Since many told me yes it can I started to believe it.  Man where does the time go?  I think why it was so hard (as I know it is hard for all moms for all ages) but for me this one as the first.  But, so many moms young and old tell me the school age years go sooo fast, even faster…faster I feel the last three years went by like a blink.  I think some of it goes with how busy Jared and I are with our jobs, our life, how much we run with the boys and ourselves so i guess here goes. 

Nice Picture...

With every nice picture comes a silly in our house (Tristan, will always ask mom can we do a silly one).  Of Course

Off they go and they wanted to carry their lunch, drinks, backpacks…independent already YIKES

After this Jared says are you ready?  I look at him and say no I need a min.  As you can see below boys went right off to the play dough station and meeting new friends.

So today I called two people I knew that could help me get through this, my dad and my mother-in-law.  You all know I would have called my mom first if I could have called and asked her for advice to help me through but with my tears I knew that would not be good and she would just be worried and confused.  My dad answered first(he always does man he is so good at answering his phone), I told him and the first thing he said, "Well why did you send them so early."  As I did think about it for a half of second I answered quickly with they are so ready it is just me as a mom.  He meant it in the sweetest way, he was not being rude just honest as he probably heard his wife say that many years ago with her kiddos.  Then we talked about how they did and such.  Then he says, you know I know someone else that cried every day of their first day and many of the first days and second days and so on.  He always knows how to get his baby girl to laugh, yep he was referring to me:).   Love him more than he knows! Next was Janet, she had to call back and by then I had settled down.  She just talked me through it and said some very nice things like they will do so good, I am so proud of them. She mentioned how I was really good at enjoying every minute with them.  how they were lucky to have me as a mom and plenty more years of great moments and memories.  Your heart will be so full an treasure each day. How She made me cry again for all the kind words it made me realize all the good too.

So as they start their first day(week) of school and we let them spread their wings and fly I wish them luck and pray they do well and enjoy it all because it will go way too fast for them too.

Pennsylvania…Sure Why Not Drive!

Yes that title is correct... We went to Pennsylvania and we DROVE…in an RV!  Crazy I know right, oh and it was not just us four there were 11 of us in the RV, even crazier huh?  To be honest, it actually went very well!

We started the journey on June 27 at about 9:45, leaving Omaha and heading east. I really was unsure of how it would go and what to all expect. but I just prayed and tried to stay calm in such a small area.  The boys LOVED it, every part of it.  They took their naps great and slept through the night.  On the way out, Landon slept almost 3 hours for nap, I was impressed.   I barely slept with the worry of Jared driving, the old RV, boys falling off beds and the fact that it was very bumpy in the back but all was well.  On the way out Jared drove a couple times with his longest stint from 9:30 pm until 4:30 am (Long huh?) He did great and I was glad we just kept driving and made up good ground while the kids were sleeping.  I brought many activities and crafts for the three 3-year olds (Jared's niece is 3 too:)).  I felt I was busy with the three little ones the entire time we were in the RV so didn't get to sit and relax and catch up much, but that was okay.  We got there about noon on June 28, yep 26 hours(map quest said 18 hours, I figured 24 so 26 was not too bad).  Once we were there the vacation got even better!

I will let the pictures do much of the talking, but we stayed at Central House in Beach Lake, PA, a resort with homestyle meals, a lake, a pool and many activities for the kids.  Janet (Jared's mom) and her family used to go there for their family vacation years ago so it was fun for them to be back.  Oh maybe I should tell you this was a family reunion for Jared's moms side.  Many people I have never met and many Jared had not seen since 1988 were there.  There was 40 of us in all, which was so awesome!  We all had our own room/place which was really nice.  Janet, Rich, Jared, the boy and I had a little cottage down by the lake.  It was real nice and nice to have our own place.  The boys had their own room as did Jared and I upstairs with our own bathroom...very nice.  Most of our days consisted of pool/lake time, FOOD, activities, nap time, MORE FOOD, and some fun activities at nights sometimes with kids sometimes without.  There was meal time and if you missed it you didn't eat so that is why I say FOOD, I felt like I was always eating! Meal times were 8:00 am, 12:30, and 5:30.  Which the 5:30 was a bit early after just finishing at 1:30ish.  The other hard part was 8:00 am as the boys were usually still asleep and we had to wake them.  At meal time we would sit at a round table with eight other family members and pass the food.  The boys enjoyed this as well, they liked to dish their own food on their plate.

Paddle boat fun!

Lake time with all the cousins

Pool time,  boys love jumping in the pool

Little soccer with new cousin Ethan and their buddy Braeden which the boys especially Landon wanted to always go with Braeden.

Landon and one if his many frogs he held, he loved them

Jared's uncle Jeff and boys jumping in hot tub, what a good sport

Dance, boys stayed up for a bit of it

Pet rock

Camp Fire at the resort

These following pictures I told them lets take some pictures and they were just so cute,  just wonder their conversation is here.  They are so fun to sit back and watch them interact and listen to their converstation.

They are so affectionate, don't get me wrong they are all boy and love to wrestle, shoot guns, throw balls but deep down they can't stand to be apart.

BIG STEP Tristan went all the way under a lot we were all so proud (even him:)) Landon did it a little too

Pet Rocks sleep over

Tristan had it and ready for nap

Bell Ringers for the evening meal (Every meal they had bell ringers for people to know that the food was ready)

Story time before bed, trying to keep some normalcy while on vacation can be hard but we did pretty good was nice to have our own little cabin.

Karaoke night…"We Are a Family"

Tequila shots anyone…why not??

Scavenger Hunt for the little ones around the resort

The whole group

Egg Toss CHAMPIONS, what does that mean they get a trophy and their name up on a wall at the resort, pretty big stuff!

Last Picture before we leave

Good Byes are so hard…when family is so far away Janet hugging her sister, I was a mess!

Our stay was supposed to end Saturday, July 5th at 10:00 am so we pulled away around 11.  However, instead of heading to Omaha and then to Sioux City we went to….New York City.  Tara really really wanted to (I didn't care either way).  So we decided to head there with a quick pit stop at Walmart to get umbrella strollers because there was no way I was taking two (three) 3 year olds into New York City to have them walk the whole time or to have us carry them.  So we headed to a train station in Jersey and then into the city.  We left the RV and Rich (he hurt his knee and does not like big crowds anyways) at the train station and off we went.  The boys were really excited about the train.

"The RV"

Story time in RV before nap on the way to New York

Like I said it was a quick trip.  We got to the train station about 3:30 and on the train and back to the RV about 11 pm.  We came right into Penn Station and we walked up the stairs to Madison Square Garden, which was nice to see but we couldn't go in.  Then we just stayed around midtown and saw as much as we could (or as much as time allowed) - Times Square, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Saks Fifths Ave, CBS Studios - Today Show building, David Letterman Theater, Radio City Music Hall, etc... A decent amount in a little amount of time!  I could not believe the number of people…. I knew there was a lot, but wow!  I also could not get over the roads and how small they seemed.

Train

Madison Square Garden

I can dream right….

Nathans Hot dogs

Times square

M & M world

Rockefeller Center

This is made of baby crocs…too cute

Empire State Building

So we got back to the RV about 11 and on our way. Dave drove us out of New Jersey until about 1:30 and then Jared drove from 1:30-7:30 am.  Another tough shift, but he did great!  I stayed up with him until about 4:30 then woke up Hunter. (Hunter stayed up with him almost the whole way out…he did great)  Then, I tried to sleep, but of course I couldn't so went back up with him about 6:00.  The trip went well on way home.  I feel it went a lot faster, but it was a little warm in the RV as the air struggled to keep it cool on the way back.  We arrived in Omaha about 10:00 pm and then we showered quick and got on road and got back to Sioux City at about midnight.  I had to work on Monday morning.

Last nap on the RV

I have been asked if I would do again and I said yes I would if I can guarantee no break down with the RV and if the the air could keep up the entire trip.  Oh and maybe once the boys are potty trained through the night…just one less thing to worry about!  But I would like that even if I wasn't traveling in an RV for a day or more at a time.  What I continued to tell myself is that it was an adventure and that we were making memories even if things didn't go exactly as planned.