We're Ba-ack!

It always takes me at least three weeks to take a vacation--a week to prep, a week to be gone, and a week to recover. We went to see my family on the East Coast a couple weeks ago. Consequently, although my life did not stop this past month, my blogging did. But here we are again. Alive and kicking and happier than ever. Our trip East to see my fam was a success. Kate turned five months, we saw family and some friends, my little sister Rachel turned eight and was baptized, and we celebrated Maggie's second birthday a couple days early. (We flew home the day before Maggie turned two to optimize our plane ticket expenditure.)

Somehow we made it through the airport with two lap children, two carry-ons, a diaper bag, a Strawberry Shortcake backpack, a carseat, and a double stroller. Actually the sit 'n' stand stroller made it all work. Thank goodness for gate checking strollers. Though I don't think anyone wanted to be behind us at security. And the girls were unbelievably good on the plane.

We rented a Dodge Calibur during our trip--our first rental! yay for Mike being over 25--and it was fun to have a bit of independence.

One of our first stops was the small, family friendly, and free(!) Cohanzick Zoo. We took my sister Cat with us. It got freezing cold and started to drizzle just as we got there, but we still enjoyed seeing the white tiger, peacocks, and wallaby, among other animals, and we had the zoo to ourselves! Cat took a rather funny picture of Mike and I reenacting the bear statue. I asked her why she didn't take it from the other direction so that the statue would appear closer to us. Apparently, she was trying to get Kate (covered in the far-away stroller) in the picture as well. And, since Maggie wanted us to hold her, the bear imitation wasn't coming off well anyway...haha.

Another fun day, my parents took a day off work and we went to the beach to take a walk on the boardwalk and feel the sand through our toes. How I miss having the ocean near! It was a little cool and breezy, but beautiful nonetheless. And Maggie LOVED it! No surprise. That girl loves to be outside.

Mike, the girls, and I stayed at a fairly inexpensive hotel near the shore that night, mainly for its indoor pool. It ended up being new and very nice. My family hung out there with us after our beach excursion. Then the next day we got to see my old roommate Jenny and her darling kiddos. (That's three wonderful college friends I've gotten to see in one year--Amy and her fiance, now husband, dropped in back in October and Julie and her fun fam came in February.) Jenny and I enjoyed catching up and our kids enjoyed the park. Mike was nice enough to be on kid duty most of the time. =)

The majority of the trip was low-key, just spent visiting with family or playing at the park. We went over to my cousins one afternoon, my grandma gave me an impromptu cello lesson (my first!), my sisters enjoyed holding Kate, and we made sure to get Philly cheesesteaks since we were in the area.

One of my favorite un-pictured memories is singing a trio at church on Mother's Day with my mother and sister Cat, composed and accompanied by my sister Rebecca. My family is amazing. And it was fun to be with my mom on Mother's Day for the first time since I was nineteen.

And of course there was Rachel's birthday and baptism. Rachel's birthday was a fun day. We ate cake, played games, opened presents, and...the lights went out, luckily, just long enough to be fun (hence, the flashlight). And Rachel's baptism was beautiful. She looked radiant and I was so happy to be there. It was neat because she was baptized on our Grandmother Mayse's birthday and I was baptized on my Grandfather Wanlass's birthday. I am sure both those grandparents, though they are now passed on to the other side, are honored and pleased with Rachel's decision to be baptized. I was honored to give a talk on baptism. It sure brought back memories of my own special day and how clean and new I felt. It's wonderful to know I can still feel that way each week as I partake of the sacrament and renew that covenant to take upon me the name of Christ, that through him and his miraculous atonement I can continually repent, be made clean, and eventually perfected.

And, before we left, we celebrated Maggie's 2nd birthday a couple days early and my 25th birthday a couple months early. My mom got me my favorite pistachio and vanilla ice cream cake. Mmmm. And Maggie got some sweet goggles and pool blocks from my parents for her birthday. When we went swimming together, Mag was all about the goggles and kept calling them "eyes," so she was thrilled to get her own pink, "Hello Kitty" pair.