Vacation Week 1: Maryland

The highlight of our year has come and gone! We had been looking forward to going back east for just over two weeks to see each of our families- and we had a great trip! The first week we visited with my family, and it was great to see everyone since we all haven't been together for about 5 years.

Luckily all four of us were flying together this time so it made travelling much easier. We got Jacob tons of new toys to play with and Blake took a little nap which helped us get through the long flight. Since our flight left at 6am we thought for sure Jacob would be tired, but no. He didn't sleep, but he still did really well.

Once we got to Maryland Luke first wanted to try a new barbecue place he heard of, so a few of us went for lunch after we got in and I was able to leave the kids at home for a nap. Everyone seemed to try something new and cool, except me because I'm lame and leery of bbq places, but Luke loved his ribs so that's all that matters, haha.

That night all 13 of us piled in our 12 seater van (that also has broken AC, haha) and went to an Orioles baseball game. The best part of this night was when my dad dropped us off right in front of the stadium by just stopping in the middle of the road and we all jumped out like clowns at a circus. My brother even opened the back door and rolled out backwards. We got a lot of stares and words from the traffic director but it was pretty hilarious.

We also got these Orioles hats free at the gate. And our seats were all the way at the top, just the way my parents like it so you can feel the breeze on the those amazingly hot nights.

I really didn't pay attention to the game at all. Me, Luke and the kids were still pretty exhausted from waking up at 3:30 that morning. Finally Erika and I took the kids down to this kids center where they had a playground, a jumping house, and other fun stuff. So I think they had a good time but we were ready to go when it was finally over!

The next morning, my parents, me & Luke, Tyler & Erika, James & Tammy, and Daniel were able to go to the DC temple together- yay, I always love going there, especially together with family.

On the way home we picked up Jerry's pizza for lunch! I love getting food out east we can't get back in Colorado! Later we did a little shopping and hung around the house Saturday night. The kids loved spending time with their aunts, and here's Jacob getting some trampoline time with Grandpa.

Sunday we went to church together, and took some family pictures- which I'll post later. Then we packed up and the next morning we left for Deep Creek! One of our favorite spots to go as a family, and so we got a house there from Monday-Friday.

Here is the house we stayed in. It was nice and fit us real well with plenty of space. We were a couple miles away from the lake so no view of the water, but of beautiful countryside.

We had a good set up for a room too- Luke and I got a queen bed with a bunk bed next to it, so Jacob had fun playing and sleeping on that, and we still had good room for Blake in his pack n play- perfect!

All week we had to deal on and off with rain, but we were still able to manage fitting in everything we wanted to do. On Tuesday and Wednesday we rented jet-ski's which we always love to do. We would've done it for two hours straight on Tuesday but after the first hour a huge storm hit so it was actually nice to break it down in to two days. And this was Jacob's first time and we were so glad he liked it!

We all had so much fun switching turns and riding with everyone between the two jet-ski's. Poor Julia was the only driver who tipped people off, including herself haha. And Jacob had a fun time just playing in the sand and on the docks.

Luke kept telling everyone he was going to swim across Deep Creek but it was actually really busy with boats and all, so he did swim a really far distance along the docks and back. You'd think he was preparing for a triathlon with all the swimming and running 4-5 miles along our hilly countryside every morning. Crazy. Here he got the other "in-laws" Tyler and Tammy to do a little synchronized swim with him.

Since we all took turns out on the water everyone also helped watch Blake who did really good with everyone. Also if you noticed- yes he is taking a pacifier! I started giving him one a week or two before vacation due to bad teething and now he takes it all the time- and I love it!

Anyway, we all had a lot of fun jet-skiing those two days! Since the weather was still nice Wednesday, we headed to the little beach on the lake and we all got a good little swim. It was perfect for Jacob since he could walk and swim around on his own too and was excited to make sandcastles though all I had was a bowl, cup, and plastic spoon.

We got about an hour of swimming until it started raining hard and we had to leave, but we still had good times hanging around the house and in our hot tub.

The rain soon cleared up so after dinner at the house we headed over to the county fair.

Jacob immediately wanted to do some car rides and I also took the boys to see the farm animals.

Then we all did some rides together and that was a lot of fun too!

We took Jacob on lots of the kids rides and I was glad to see him have so much fun. Luke and I also took him on his first Ferris Wheel ride. We got so lucky with the weather, it was a fun night!

Thursday all of us (minus my mom and my boys) went white water rafting! It was the first time for some people, including Luke, and though I had been when I was 16, I actually got really nervous right before getting in the water! I felt so unprepared and that I had no idea what I was doing, but once we got out on the water it was really a lot of fun! In my boat it was me and Erika in the front, Luke and Daniel in the middle, and Tyler was the captain in the back. The other boat my dad was the captain, Julia and Tammy in the middle, and James and Andrea in front. It was an all day event and we stopped in the middle of the ride for lunch in the woods. We were with a really large group and the guides helped us along the way so we stopped a lot to allow everyone to catch up, and we were doing size 3-4 rapids. But I was so glad I was able to go and was sooo grateful to my mom who was brave enough to watch the boys all on her own all day! Here's all of us after our long day on the water.

Thursday night was our last night at the house so we did a little bonfire, and played cards while watching the Olympics that night.

After checking out of our house Friday morning, we stopped by Swallow Falls on our way out of town. Luke was wishing he had brought his swimming suit.

On our drive home we stopped at Golden Corral for lunch. Then the rest of the drive home Erika rode with us, which was nice to have her help with the boys. She just wanted to get every minute in she could because as soon as we got home that afternoon Luke and I had to leave to drive down to his parents house. Our week with my family was already over!

Buuut, after a week at the beach with Luke's family, we came back the next week for one more day just to see everyone one more time before we flew home!

Jacob got to play with his aunts some more...

and Blake got spoiled by everyone- here he was sitting on the table stealing ice cream from everyone!

We had such a fun time with my family! It was nice to be together with everyone and have all the new additions to our family there as well. I love how much my family adores our boys too and how they always help out with them when I could really use a break! Jacob already misses everyone and we're looking forward to the next time we can all get together again!