NY - 4th of July hike

While we were in NY, we stayed with Chris' aunt and uncle.  Chris' Uncle Jim loves to be outdoors and hike, he actually reminds me a lot of my dad.  Well, one morning he suggested a hike to the boys and Brayden and Logan were both eager to go.  Preston wanted to stay back and play in the lake with Isaac.

They really enjoyed the hike and said it was pretty, but Chris said at one point they asked, "when is it going to get steep?"  Haha - no mountains in NY, boys!

NY - Sadie

Yep, we're those crazy people who took our dog across the country on our family vacation!  But it actually went really well and we were glad to have her with us (most of the time!).  She had a blast in NY, she literally ran all day long and then practically fell down the minute she walked in the door at night and slept all night!  But she had so much fun and she was really well behaved both in the car ride and while we were there, barring a couple of dog fights!

These are the only pictures I got of Sadie while we were out there, but some of her favorite things to do were "chase" the boat when it was taking people tubing (i.e. run up and down the shore on the same side of the lake, "eat" the waves, chase the 4-wheelers (going top-speed I might add) around the lake, play with sticks, walk around in the lake (up to about chest deep), chase rabbits and other various creatures that were hiding in the trees and play with the other dogs there.  She did not enjoy swimming.  The first day she went out and tried and looked so pitiful trying to doggy-paddle herself back into shore.  She definitely is not a graceful swimmer and, while she loved the water, she never went back in so deep that she couldn't stand.

She also did great on the car ride, both there and back.  She was a little restless on the way there, but on the way home she literally slept the whole time, she was so exhausted from all her running and playing in the country!

NY - 4-wheelin'

In addition to the lake, there was fun to be had in NY for all the kids (and maybe even some adults) on all the various 4-wheelers and tractors that are out there.

Logan even got to drive the big blue tractor by himself (with supervision)!

NY - seeing family

Well pretty much the whole reason we went out to NY was to see Chris' relatives who we haven't seen for 4 years, since Ashten was a baby.  Since we've been married, we have been out every 5 summers, but we figured next summer could be busy with the adoption, so we wanted to make it a point to go this year instead of putting it off.  It is nice to see all of Chris' aunts, uncles and cousins that live around there, and of course, his grandma too.

We especially had a good time staying with Chris' Uncle Jim and Aunt Elaine while we were out there.  They made such a point of making us feeling comfortable and at-home-away-from-home.  Aunt Elaine spent hours before we even arrived getting out all her boys' old Legos so the kids would have something to play with there.  And the kids had such a blast building towns and houses and covering her whole basement floor with their creative villages.  And every morning she made us a delicious, homemade breakfast!  It was a fun place to stay and it was nice to get to know them a little better as well!

Chris' cousins who were in town (missing 4)

It's a little different going now than it was 14 years ago when we were newlyweds, but it's also more fun watching the kids have so much fun and build relationships with their extended family!

NY - The Lake

Probably the most fun thing about going to NY, at least for the kids, is the lake!  All of Chris' relatives live around this big lake and the kids got to fish, swim, tube, paddleboat and kayak.  They had a blast, they were totally exhausted by the end of each day!

All the kids got a chance to tube behind Chris' uncle Gerry's boat!  All the boys got flipped off at least once, but Ashten didn't.  I think getting flipped off would have ruined her for ever wanting to go on a boat again!!

Preston and Isaac

Brayden, Logan and Dakota

Brayden, Logan and Dakota

Me, Ashten and Cadence

Preston, Isaac and Logan

The kids also enjoyed using the paddleboat and the kayak when the big boat wasn't out.  I think Logan's favorite was the kayak, he spent all morning going around the lake one day.  I'm sure it was peaceful and quiet, and the scenery is pretty!  Actually, not a bad way to spend a morning!

Then there was fishing!  Logan's favorite by far.  And the lake was so full that even with all 7 kids, plus 3-4 adults, standing on the shore, not being quiet at all, every cast pretty much resulted in a fish.  We didn't keep any of them, just threw them back in, but the kids thought it was so cool!!  Well, all the kids except Ashten maybe (that's my girl!!)

And when all else failed and the little boats had lost their appeal and Uncle Gerry wasn't home to fish or boat with, the kids entertained themselves for hours just splashing and swimming and playing in the lake.  They invented all kinds of games to play in the water.  There were tons of floaties and rafts to play with too!

I'd say it was a successful, fun family vacation!

3400 miles, 8 states, 4 kids and a dog

We took a cross-country road trip to upstate New York this summer. (I will do separate posts about all the fun we had out there soon)  We hadn't been out to see Chris' relatives for 4 years, when Ashten was just a baby, so we figured we should go out and visit since when our little K comes home, we won't be doing any road-trippin' for awhile!

We were pretty nervous about how it was going to go in the car with all the kids and the dog, considering none of them have driven more than 1 day in the car at a time.  But they did awesome!!  They had a plethora of electronics and books and paper at their disposable to keep them occupied and the dog just slept most of the way.  One the way there, it took 3 9-hour days to get there.  One night we stopped at Chris' sister's house in NE and then we all caravaned the rest of the way.  The next night we stopped at a hotel in OH and the kids got to swim and let out some pent-up energy.

On the way home, we made the drive in 2 days instead of 3.  We figured if we were going to be doing long days, might as well make it 2 long days instead of 3!  Plus, we were all very motivated to get back home and sleep in our own beds!!  The kids were very exhausted on the way home from all the sleep they didn't get in NY because they were too busy having fun, so they all slept more on the way home.

Besides stops for gas or bathroom breaks (and the hotel at night), we didn't stop at all.  We ate lunch in the car (well really the kids just ate non-stop all day).  The kids did so good considering what we asked of them. 13+ hours per day in the car is hard for adults, let alone kids!  They really didn't fight or whine too much until the end of the second day, when we were about 4 hours from home.  At that point even Chris and I were whining!!

Chris and I joke that God must have wanted us to get some really good, close, quality family time this summer so He put us in the car together for 5 days!  I'm hoping next summer is going to be a lot crazier and hard to get family time (because of a newly adopted child and cocooning!) and God knew we needed this this summer in preparation. Time will tell.....