Getting the kids adjusted to new sleeping arrangements had its challenges. I would put Bentley down in one room and then go lay with Kiley in the other room and then after she fell asleep, Presley would go sleep with her and I would go in with Bentley. One night I came out after laying with Kiley and Uncle Paul had laid down with Presley. This picture is priceless and there are more to come!
I took this cute picture at Grandma's one day. She lives on the same street as Karen and Paul, so we did plenty of walking back and forth.
We stayed with Uncle Paul and Aunt Karen for the entire month and they are saints for putting up with us for that long! Bentley sure kept busy getting into things he shouldn't...I believe these were a pair of their reading glasses....
Most everyone worked during the day, so I needed to get creative to keep the kids busy. We found a wagon and I took them all 3 to the dollar store to get some toys to play with.
It took Dad and I quite a while to put this thing together, but we finished it.
My cousin saw this bear in the street while we were there!
We spent one Saturday afternoon at my Aunt Kathy's house by the lake. They had a lot of rain and flooding so the water was cloudier than normal. It was also pretty cold, 64 degrees, but that didn't phase Bentley!
My Aunt Pat always has a big 4th of July picnic, so Guy and the kids and I went to spend time with Mom's side of the family!
The kids went for a swim.
Towards the end of the afternoon, a big rain storm came through so we ended the evening in the garage.
We had dinner over at Hannah and Preston's house one night. They made a great dinner. Bentley had so much fun hanging outside with the boys. Once it got late, we put the kids jammies on and they rested on the couch.
We went back over to Aunt Pat's to swim one day and Presley got some splinters in her foot!
Aunt Pat had to come over on her day off to get them out. What would we do without her???
Bentley wanted to take a bath in the sink and Aunt Kare Kare couldn't say no to him.
When Bentley would disappear, this is where we would find him...on Uncle Paul's tractors.
Presley helped Aunt Kare Kare make jumbalaya one night. It was delicious!!
So Uncle Paul has to mow their property at least once a week. It was Bentley's favorite day of the week. Unfortunately, the tractor that he uses has the hand controls, so Bentley couldn't ride with him. Bentley would get his push mower out and help every time. Their yard is quite a lot bigger than ours.
Once Paul got towards the end, he would let Bentley get up and ride with him.
Dad and I took the kids over to the school playground a few times. They played with a friend one day. Bentley pushed the girls on the Merry Go Round.
One day, Dad and I took the kids to a beach on one of the lakes to swim. This lake was warmer than the 64 degree one.
Pres and I took a selfie laying by the lake.
After swimming in the lake we went over to Nonie's for lunch!
At Grandma's, we set up a little mini water park. The kids had the sprinkler going, a blowup pool to swim in and a slip n slide to play on. Presley had fun making up dance routines while Guy played his banjo. The kids had a picnic dinner outside after playing in the water.
I not only had to lay with Kiley each night before bed, I also had to lay with her during naps too.
Our cousin, Mason also lived on the same street. Bentley would go visit Jack while Mason was at work.
Bentley giving Daddie a kiss over FaceTime one night.
One evening, Hannah and Preston took Bentley over to Mason's new house to do some excavating!
The kids golfing with Guy.
Uncle Paul got his big tractor out to do some work. Bentley was in heaven!
Serious face.
Kiley got to ride too!
Even after all of the work was done, Bentley couldn't take himself away from the tractor.
I don't even remember how Bentley ended up in this bed one morning.
My cousin, Heather, whose wedding I was Matron of Honor in last summer now has a 3 month old baby named Madison Grace. Presley could not get enough of her!
Kiley loving on her too!
Even Bentley wanted to love on her!
Mikey sent Aunt Karen and I both flowers one day thanking Karen for taking care of us and telling me he missed me. 5 more days until he would be there!
After Mom came, we all went to another beach on the lake. Cousin Geoff met us there. Bentley kept asking for his gatorade and Geoff wouldn't let him have it. He ended up leaving it and Bentley was so proud that he ended up with it!
I tried to get a few workouts in while I was up there. One day, I took all 3 kids to the track while I worked out. They were building restrooms by the football field and Bentley stood there the entire time and watched.
The girls hung out in the shade. It looks like Presley is doing some yoga on the wagon. She could start a new trend!
We took pizza over to Aunt Pat's for dinner one night and Marmee got to hold Madison Grace.
Bentley wanted to ride the 4Wheeler and Geoff told him it was out of gas, so the girls pushed him...
Bentley ended up in bed with me quite a few times...
Marmee, Presley and I went downtown to a few shops during naptime. Presley found this cool mask and wanted her picture taken in it.
One day when Paul was mowing, Bentley got his push mower out to help. All of a sudden Paul went back to his shop and this is what he was doing. He couldn't stand it any longer. He wanted Bentley to be able to ride on the tractor with him. Uncle Paul won Uncle of the Year for this. It made Bentley's entire vacation.
Don't worry, this was completely safe. The car seat was secured so tight! Bentley had the time of his life on this tractor!
This was a cute picture of Kiley and Bentley walking from Grandma's to Karen's.
Finally, Daddie arrived. He came our last week. The first full day that he was in New York, we went to Watkins Glen State Park. We hiked all the way to the top!
We saw a lot of pretty waterfalls!
Notice Bentley in the background.
We stopped for a few snack breaks along the way!
After we got to the top, we played on the playground while Guy took the shuttle back down to get the car. Then we went over to the pool and had lunch and swam.
On Friday, we went to get ice cream at our favorite place!!
And then we went by Nonie's to see how her yard sale was doing. Daddie and Bentley played in the hammock!
Bentley took a picture with his Great, Great Uncle Bill.
The kids got these poker chips from the yard sale and they played with them for hours. We brought them all the way back home with us!
Bentley was ready for the fire!
The guys would use an excavator to put logs on the fire and Bentley thought it was the coolest thing!
Bentley loving on Jack.
On Saturday morning, Mikey and I made breakfast for everyone!
Bentley loving on Max.
On Saturday evening, we went to Uncle Scott and Aunt Deb's house for dinner.
On Sunday morning, we went to Baby Madison's Baptism. She was baptized in the same church I was and also the same church that her Mommy and Daddy were married in a year ago! She also wore the gown that Kiley, Presley and I all wore that Nonie made! We took the kids picture outside the church before the service.
Trying to take a picture with the kids and the baby was quite entertaining.
So then we tried sitting down with them and that wasn't any better....
Presley wanted her own picture and by this time, Madison was done.
After the baptism, we went out to lunch as a family of 5 for the first time in a long time!
Not a bad view....
We spent Monday on the lake at Aunt Kathy and Uncle John's and then stayed for dinner!
Guy and Daddie golfed on Tuesday, so we spent one last day with Heather and Madison.
Tuesday night was Bentley's last night to snuggle and watch TV before bed with Uncle Paul. Bentley still asks to sit with Uncle Paul before bed.
We packed up and flew home on Wednesday. The trip home was quite an experience, but we survived. This was actually a picture right when we got on the plane and right before they told us there was bad weather in Detroit and that we were delayed. We got off of the plane.
We sat in the airport for a 3 hour delay. We missed our connection and barely made the last flight from Detroit to Dallas. We ran through the airport like crazy people. We had 5 minutes to go 60+ gates. No AC on the last plane until we were up in the air and we landed about 3 hours after our original flight. Delta treated us very well through the whole process and we even miraculously got our bags. It was a rough day with the kids, but well worth the trip. We were privileged to get to spend a month in New York with our family. We can't thank everyone enough for their unconditional love and hospitality and putting up with us for so long! We miss everyone like crazy.
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