Home Again

We had a super fun vacation this past weekend! It was great to spend time with our family and friends and revisit some of our favorite places in Coeur d'Alene. The weather was perfectly fall - crisp and sunny. Erika and Laurel did really well with all the driving and visiting we did. They were off their schedule for four days so we are still somewhat recuperating, but it could have been a lot worse!

We arrived in Yakima Thursday night and spent the evening with my grandparents. The girls were really excited to get out of the car and quickly ran/crawled off their energy in Grandma and Grandpa's spacious house. We spent the night with them that night and Friday morning as well. We tried to time our driving adventures to coincide with naptime so we left for CdA shortly after lunch. The girls actually slept for about 2 hours and were only awake for the last little bit of the trip, which made it nice for me and Matt! After checking into our hotel, we drove to the park down by the lake to let the girls again stretch their legs after being in the car for so long. When we lived in CdA, we would take Erika to the park often we had to stay right with her as she climbed because she wasn't totally stable. This time, however, she was able to run around all on her own! Laurel also loved the swings and slides at the park.

Erika at the park.





Laurel loves to swing!

That night, we had a bit of trouble putting the girls to sleep since we were in the same hotel room with them. Matt made Laurel a little tent-like structure around her pak-and-play to reduce the light and noise we were making. Erika got to sleep in her own bed, but would not go to sleep unless Matt and I were silent and pretending to sleep as well. So, the entire family was in bed by 9pm. Kind of different from previous vacations pre-children, but still nice!

Inside her tent structure.

Laurel's tent/cave.

Erika reading a book before bed.

On Saturday morning, Erika and I went shopping while Matt stayed with napping Laurel in the hotel room. Then, we took the girls to the fun toy store downtown and walked around. After lunch at McDonalds and playing at their playplace, the girls took a really good nap in the hotel room while Matt and I watched football. That night, we stopped by the house that we still own to check in with our renters. We are so blessed that they are taking such good care of it! It looked great! The rest of the evening was spent at our good friends house where our old church Life Group all met so we could visit with everyone. It was so good to get together with our friends and let the girls play with all their kids. They really enjoyed it! We have greatly missed our friends from CdA so it was nice to catch up.

Sunday was spent going to church and showing off our girls to our friends there. After church, we drove back to Yakima to spend the night with my grandparents again.* About 30 minutes into our trip, I got a call from my friend, Alyson, letting me know that I-90, the freeway we were on, was closed between CdA and Yakima due to blowing dust with white-out conditions. Fortunately, we received her phone call before we were out of Spokane so we detoured south toward Colfax and tried a different highway to get back west. We had to take a second detour about halfway to Yakima because the highway we were on was closed as well! What a nightmare! But, we only added on about an hour and a half to our drive, so it wasn't too bad. The girls weren't happy with it, though. It is tough to ask a 2.5 year old and a 9 month old to sit still for 5 hours in their car seats! They were really excited to get out at Grandpa and Grandma's! Laurel had a little cold when we left Newberg and it got progressively worse while we traveled. So, she went to sleep pretty early that night while Erika and I went to visit my aunt and uncle for a while.

Laurel loved the little shelf that she could climb on.

With great-grandpa and great-grandma.

Making Laurel laugh.



Erika with the tail end of Spike. She loved him!

We came home Monday and our 4 day vacation felt a lot longer than that. It was fun and I loved it, but I am really glad to be home! It's nice to be in our own beds on our set schedule. The next extended vacation we are taking will involve an airplane instead of a car which I am hoping will make it a lot nicer!

Erika celebrated coming home by eating some ice cream.

*Funny story from the weekend:

After church on Sunday, we went to Pita Pit for lunch. We ate in the restaurant and on our way out the door, Erika had a bit of a head-on collision. Matt had Laurel in her car seat and was holding the door open for Erika and I to walk through. I was walking behind Erika and noticed that she was walking toward the window next to the open door instead of the open door itself. My hands were full and she was walking pretty quickly so I couldn't grab her in time to pull her toward the door. Just as I said, "Erika!" she walked directly into the window! It was hilarious! She didn't slow her stride at all, just walked right into the window. I have never seen anything that funny! She was fine, a little stunned, and maybe a little embarrassed, but she didn't even get a bruise on her head. I wish I was filming it because then I could relive it over and over!