So we flew to Oregon on Nov 18th and to say I was anxious for this trip would be an understatement. I've never flown with the kids alone and our flight was super long.
Check out the kids travel bags. They were loaded down with so many things to keep the kids busy.
Our flight left at 12:50 and we got to the airport an hour early. I must say, I love the Bentonville airport. It's 12 minutes from our house and everyone was so nice and helpful. The moment we got through security, a lady asked if she could give us a ride to our gate. Of course we accepted and the kids loved it. She even let me get a picture of the kids on the cart. We were off to a great start.
Then we waited at our gate for a while and ate lunch. Then hopped on our plane for a short flight to Chicago. It was about 1 1/2 hours. The kids did great. They didn't sleep but they were happy.
Then we ran to our connecting flight and boarded after a short potty break. This flight was 4 1/2 hours and felt like an eternity. Honestly, the kids were phenomenal. The each took a nap (not at the same time of course) and they played with almost every activity I packed for them.
When we finally landed in Portland, I was so ready to get off that plane. With the help from a kind stranger, we got our luggage and met "Mimi" outside.
I have such awesome little travelers!
The next morning we met Aunt Stephanie, Chase and Conner at the "Wacky Bounce House" in Corvallis. The kids had such a blast.
Considering we haven't seen these cousins since May, the kids all got along really well. They played and played.
On Wednesday we ran errands and did a Wal-Mart run. Then we met Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Phillip, Chase and Conner for lunch with Mimi.
Then it was home for naps and just playing at Mimi's the rest of the day. Bailey really loved helping Grandpa with the chickens and other farm chores. It was pretty funny to see the two of them together.
On Thursday we just hung out at Mimi's house. Tanner absolutely loved all of Mimi's trains. Each morning he would put the train track together in a different way and watch the "Thomas" train go around and around.
Love this girl. She happily played while Tanner spent the whole morning doing trains.
Aunt Stephanie, Chase and Conner came over for awhile too and we played and ate lunch together.
Then at nap time they went home and we all took naps.
Taking care of the kids alone at my in-laws house was hard and exhausting. Both my kids were fighting colds for the first 4 days or so and there wasn't much relief for me without Chris. But thankfully, Thursday night, Chris flew in. YAY!!!!
The kids were so happy to find Daddy sleeping the next morning.
We spent Friday playing with Daddy and of course- doing more trains.
We also celebrated Daddy's arrival with some cake at 9 am. lol
Then Daddy helped the kids play on Great- Grandpa's steel guitar. This was hysterical to watch. Tanner even favored us with his rendition of "If you're happy and you know it" I was cracking up.
Friday afternoon we met Grandpa for lunch with Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Phillip, Chase and Conner. Then it was home for naps.
Friday evening we went to "Splash" water park. Stephanie had scored passes for us and it was super fun.
These two thoroughly enjoyed the kiddie pool together
While the "big" boys played in the wave pool with the daddies.
Bailey loved playing with the tubes but was not a fan of the waves.
Tanner loved the tube slide. He is getting so big. He climbed all the stairs by himself and went down the slide without fear. Once Bailey saw Tanner doing the slide, she wanted Daddy to take her down the slide.
They both loved the slides. It was cute to watch their little excited faces as the came down the slide. When did my kids get so big???
We had a blast at the water park and after getting showered and dried off, we went to eat at iHOP. You wouldn't believe the obscene amount of food the kids ate. It was so funny. We had to order an extra order of pancakes just to satisfy them.
Saturday we drove over to Hood River, OR to do the "Polar Express" with everyone. I have tons of pictures but I think that event deserves it's own blog post. More on that later.
Sunday we went to Sacrament and then home because Chris was feeling sick. (On the bright side, the kids were doing better)
After naps, Daddy, Uncle Brad and Grandpa took the kids for rides on one of the horses. Tanner was hesitant at first, but eventually he got on that horse and I was so proud!
Love this picture because of his little expression
Then Bailey got her turn and she was pretty excited. I think she was a little nervous because of the size of the horse, but she was a champ.
Bailey also got to meet her only girl cousin, Maureen. They met when they were 7 months old, but this was the first time they met and would actually remember each other.
They kind of hit it off. So cute!
Monday we just hung out again and relaxed. Monday evening Chris took the kids on a 4-wheeler ride. They kind of loved it. Having Chris around for the second half of the trip made my life so much easier.
On Tuesday, we followed Uncle Phillip, Aunt Stephanie and the boys up to Salem, OR and went to the "Children's Museum".
This place was pretty awesome. It was made up of three restored homes and each had different theme rooms. The first house had a little grocery store inside. Tanner was immediately drawn to the cash register. lol
Bailey spent most her time wheeling grocery carts around and shopping for food. It was so adorable.
Love all these cousins.
And we loved this massive rocking chair.
Inside the second house was a farm themed room. The kids loved milking the cow and playing in the garden.
Then a play room with a slide and stuff like that.
But upstairs was a shadow room, a submarine room and a veterinarian's office.
The last house was train themed. Oh how the boys loved this.
How cool is that dome? Tanner loved watching the trains go all around him.
Then we went over to the "Riverside Carousel" and played.
It was a pretty fun day with the family.
Wednesday night we made thanksgiving cookies.
I tried really hard to let the kids do their own thing and decorate their turkey hand print cookies all by themselves.
But after they went to bed, I made these for place settings the next day
Thanksgiving morning consisted of the kids playing with Daddy while the women-folk cleaned and cooked. I did manage to snag a few pictures of the kids in their cute thanksgiving outfits.
And a couple of family shots.
Oh and the traditional shotgun shooting with all the Herbs.
Tanner loved helping Daddy load the gun
Bailey enjoyed loading the gun too, but not so much the actual shooting part.
Don't you love her concentration in this picture.
After shooting the kids worked on these little thanksgiving activity booklets while we finished the last minute meal prep.
I fed the kids lunch and then put them down for naps. After they went down for naps we ate our Thanksgiving meal. I'm not going to lie, eating while the kids slept was genius. We got to enjoy our entire meal without dealing with mess cleanups or spills or the inevitable kid whining about having to eat certain food. Everything tasted so good while it was still hot. LOL.
After their naps the kids ate their thanksgiving dinners. They LOVED the turkey legs. Seriously- they ate so much right off the bone. I was cracking up.
Then we snagged a picture of all the kids together. Our one and only picture of all 6 grandkids together. Love all these crazy kids.
After all the cousins went home, we got the kids dressed in their thanksgiving pajamas and put them down for the night. We had an early flight in the morning.
We had to wake up at 3 am to make our 5:40 am flight on the 29th. The kids were still troopers on the trip home. We arrived home at 1 pm and everyone went to sleep. We all took nice long naps and felt much better after that.
I can't believe how fast the trip went (especially after Chris arrived in Oregon). We had blast and it will be hard to not see that side of the family for a long time. Maybe Mimi and Grandpa will come out for a visit when this baby comes.
Thanksgiving was wonderful. I have so much to be thankful for. I have an amazing family and great friends. The gospel blesses my life every single day and my husband has job that allows him to take care of us. Oh and our house is under contract- maybe we will get that house sold after all.
Like I said, so many blessings and I'm so grateful.
I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving.
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