July 02, 2009

Good Friends

As mentioned in the previous post, we spent the last week vacationing with our dear friends from seminary. This year was our 5th summer vacationing together, and a lot has changed! Those of you who have followed us from the beginning may remember the post about our first vacation (where the girls had an amazing fish story to tell!), and may remember this picture. This was taken at the end of our first vacation together. As you can tell from this year's picture below, a lot has changed! Not only are there more children, but we noticed that all of us adults look a little older as well (though we certainly don't feel it...)! It has been a blessing to have such wonderful friends, and to not only have a friendship that has lasted and grown through many life changes, but to also have this cherished time every year with them!

The rest of our vacation was really wonderful. The twins continued to sleep! They also dipped their feet into the ocean for the first time (ok, so we may have helped...)! They seemed to enjoy their beach experiences. Some of our favorite moments were: when LJ (4yrs) & JJ (18mos.) danced for our babies - they didn't fuss when they big kids were dancing. Hearing JJ say Allie's name (with the L sound very drawn out - All-llie - so cute!). Ryan giggling when LJ hopped like a frog. Playing "Dolls Go Fishing" with LJ (which you will be able to view on YouTube soon!). Playing "Match Mate" with Josh & Kim. The Kims' afternoon off (the daddys held down the fort alone...and survived!). And resting and relaxing with good friends.

The drive home proved to be a bit rough. Both Allie & Ryan had let us know that they were pretty much done with vacation before we had left...yet, initially did very well on the trip home. But we kept hitting traffic - construction, holiday, accident, torrential rain - you name it and it somehow slowed us down. We ended up spending a cumulative 2 hours crawling along (or sitting still all together), and by the end the twins had had it. The last 2 hours of the trip one or both of them were screaming. However, when we got home we brought them into their room and set them down, and they both looked around so relieved. Ryan actually started giggling! Allie just smiled and smiled as she looked around. They were so excited to be home! And honestly, we were too. Vacation was wonderful, but there is no place like home.

2 comments:

the monkeys' mama said...

that bottom picture of all of you is classic, especially because of Ryan's lip. Hilarious we love it and we still want to come visit this summer!!! (and, i have to admit, i'm a little jealous of Kim and Josh and their vacay time with you...can we start this tradition with you all, too?)

Lauren and Jeff said...

Yay for a mom's afternoon off! Thanks for sharing the lovely memories of your vacation with all of us.