We Did It!!

Walker Family Vacation- Part 1

So I was very skeptical about making a 10 day, 2,000 mile, 40+ hour trip, with a 2 1/2 year old and 2- 3 month old twins. However I have to say I'm so glad we did it! It was so much fun and my kids are CHAMPS! They were so good in the car, in fact I think they were probably better than Jake and I. Granted we had alot of help from fam, without which, it literally would have been impossible. But I can count the total number of meltdowns on one hand. After this trip we feel like we can do just about anything! (: I wanted to break down the trip into different parts because I have lots of fun pictures and stories and I will get overwhelmed if I try to do it all at once.

We left on a Friday afternoon and drove as far as Ogden where we stayed at our friends house. Got up the next morning to cold, wet rain and hit the road again. Things were going well until it started to get really windy and then we hit a full blown snow storm. We had really bad wipers so it was pretty scary and I know we recieved lots of help through our prayers. We saw a HUGE wreck in the opposite lane with several semi's and at least 15-20 cars. It's the kind of thing that makes you sick to your stomach. We finally get to Cedar City where we are able to buy new wiper blades and of course didn't see another speck of rain or snow for the rest of the trip. We got to Vegas later that night, it was pretty cool to be driving in the dark through the middle of nowhere and then come around a bend and suddenly see all the lights of Vegas. We were very happy to be there!

We stayed in some condos that Jake's Dad has through his timeshare. We got in and got settled. Every night of our trip looked like this, Owen passed out in the middle of our bed, legs and arms sprawled everywhere and one or both of Jake and I taking an elbow or leg to the face at some point in the night. Ali and Avery are squished into one pack 'n play. Yes they were probably too big but we didn't have room to bring two beds. Their pack 'n play is pushed right up to my side of the bed so that when they stir I can lean over, give them their binki, and pray they will go back to sleep so I don't have to wake up and feed them. Sounds nuts but it was actually kind of fun to have all of us together like that. (:

The chickies in their bed.

 

Our stay in Vegas was pretty short but lots of fun. The best part was the pool! Owen was in heaven. It was a little chilly but we decided we could tough it out. There were several different pools, we mostly stuck to the heated ones. My fave was the lazy river. Owen just curled up on me and we floated around and around. So fun!

Chillin in the lazy river.

On Monday we did some great shopping and got some killer deals. I'm loving the outlet mall there. In the afternoon the boys all went golfing while the girls watched the kiddos. And then we switched that night and the girls all got to go to Phantom!! Due to some construction that we were unaware of we missed the first part of the show. But Aubrey was our Nascar driver and manuevered in and out of traffic to get us there asap. We only got dirty looks and honked at a few times! When we finally got to the Venetian we were at a dead sprint with some of the girls in heels (seriously don't know how we made it down the stairs without someone breaking their ankle)! Anyway, we got there just in time for my favorite song and the rest of the show was awesome! It was such a great night and we made some really fun memories. I still don't know how you missed that construction barrel Aubrey (:

The next morning we packed up and headed out to California! So this kind of what it looked like in our van. Yes I am a minivan mom at 24, it's kind of sad but after that trip the van is part of the family and I'm so glad we have it!

As long as O had his movie player he was good to go!

Ali and Avery catching a snooze in the car.

Stopping to burp and change the girls. Jake would pull over hop in the back and take one of the girls.

This is where I spent the majority of my vacation. Squished between the girls making dumb faces, singing annoying songs, and just trying to entertain the troops.

Double Blessings!

On February 21 Ali and Avery were blessed by their Daddy. My mom made them the most BEAUTIFUL dresses and they were so sweet during the whole thing. They had lots of family there to love and snuggle them. My fam stayed with us and we had a full house! It was so much fun but my poor little Owen was sick and struggled most of the weekend. He sure was a trooper for feeling so yucky though.

This is a 5 generation pic with Jake's Great Grandma, Grandpa, and Dad. How cool is that!

The girls getting adored by their cousins. Notice the looks of adoration and the cameras (:

Owie with his Aunt Em

Jack and Ali and Zack and Avery

Aunt Nat with the chuba-bubs

Am I Crazy?

So we have a dilemma in the Walker household. Jake's family has been planning a trip to Disneyland in March for over a year. We were really excited about it and then we found out we were having the twins in December so we thought that trip was out for sure..or is it? Do I need to check myself into a loony bin for even considering it?! Ali and Avery will be a little over 3 months and Owen is 2. Do we really want to drive 13 hours one way with 3 kids, 2.5 and under? (That doesn't even include stops for feeding and changing babies, potty breaks, or "if we don't stop for a break I'm going to pull my hair out!") The plan would be to drive to Utah and stay overnight, then drive to Vegas where we would stay for about 3 days and then keep going to California for the rest of the week. I keep trying to think through everything and ask myself, can we seriously do this? Yeah, we might survive but will we just be paying for a whole bunch of gas and food and park tickets just to go and torture ourselves? I don't know! I'd like to think it would be a really fun adventure and Owen would love it, especially Mickey Mouse, and the girls are such good babies that they would be pretty easy, but I don't want to be naive either! What to do, what to do? I've never been to Disneyland so I don't even know what to expect. I would love any advice or even a reality check if I'm just being a crazy person. (:

Avery and Ali snuggling at 7 weeks

This is how Jake found Owen one afternoon. He had been in playing with his blocks and fell asleep with the lid on his head! Too funny (:

My beautiful baby girls! Fatty Patty and Chunky Monkey

Owie chilling with his sisters. I absolutely love my kiddos.

Pics, pics, pics

Life at our house still feels like survival mode! My mom went home a week ago...I got to keep her for 6 weeks and it was so amazing to have her. She is so good to us and we loved having her. We made so many good memories and that time we had together will always be one of my favorites. Avery and Ali are 7 weeks old now. Chunkin out and yummy as ever! Owen is starting to realize that they are around for good and has really started taking to them. (: He is pretty cute with them and likes to help burp them. I put lots of pics in this post and I don't have the time to go through and sort them so they are in a crazy order with just a little caption explaining them.

Ali snugglin with Grandma. This was her very favorite spot to nap (:

Avery bundled up and ready to go!

Avery kinda has Uncle Simon's haircut because she lost some of her hair but its really starting to make a comeback (:

Ali's has so much hair and it sticks straight up

Cuddle buddies

Owen checking on his sisters

Peekaboo!

Owen got blocks for Christmas and he absolutely loves them. All day long, "Mommy play blocks?"

Aves getting snuggles from Kenadee. Ken said she felt like she was wearing a diaper on her face (:

Em and Avery

Wow, ok I promise Ali gets held too but for some reason all the pics I used

are with Avery. This time she is getting loves from her cousin Brooklyn

Owen with his buddy Aiden. Tyler and Kaydee came to visit a few days after Christmas and it was so fun to see them!

Owen with his other buddy (and someday wife) Mia. Its not like Amber and I have plans for them or anything (: We love it when our friends are in town!

I think this is our first family picture all together.

I don't know why this turned sideways but this is the girls in their Christmas jammies!

Owen playing in the wreckage. He LOVES his McQueen jammies and it is not easy getting them off him in the mornings!

Look at that smile...I knew I hit the jackpot with this one

I just think this is funny.

Grandma with her little bear cubs

Christmas Eve dinner! I got to steal my parents and have them to myself for Christmas this year! My fam is pretty sure I planned the twins just for this reason (:

Owen making it hard for his daddy to sleep

Both my girls in the bouncer!

I had to put this on here because even though life is so crazy right now, times like this make it so worth it. Seriously, how many people get to do this.

Thanks so much Mom and Dad for everything!

My life is pretty much feeding babies, changing bums (3 of them!), and playing blocks. Getting a shower in can be tricky and sometimes I feel like I'm spread so thin. But when I get a smile or a sweet little coo or when Owen asks me if I went potty and then says, "Good job mommy, good job!" it makes all the tough moments seem not so tough. Love my little fam.