We're home! We've been home since Tuesday afternoon around 2:30. Everything is back to normal again now. We had a wonderful time, as always, with my family in Potter. We got there on Thursday afternoon just in time to have lunch with everyone. That afternoon we went swimming in the creek...just like old times. :) Lydia very much enjoyed walking around in the water and throwing stones to make splashes. Jake and Matthew also threw stones to make splashes...stones so big it took both of them to lift them...boys! haha. Every evening we had a campfire and just sat around and talked and laughed after the girls were in bed. When we got there MaCayla was just starting to get over a case of pink eye so we didn't get to cuddle with her to much at first which was very sad. By Saturday evening her eyes looked fine so we were all able to play with her then. Lydia enjoyed her very much! On Friday evening we headed out on a bike ride on the Pine Creek Trail. Our goal was a waterfall which my parents had ridden to in the past. They couldn't remember how far it was to the waterfall so we just kept riding and riding. Finally after 4 miles we made it! It was worth the ride though, not just for the waterfall but just before we got to it myself, Dad and Jake saw a bear in the river next to the trail!! We were riding and talking when we heard a big splash. I looked over and said "its a bear!!". Sure enough there was a black bear climbing up out of the river...heading in the opposite direction of us. Dad says he weighed maybe 150 pounds but he was wet so that made him look smaller than he really was probably. I don't have any bear knowledge at all but we looked at some pictures of bear in the newspaper the next day and he did look like he was bigger than some of the others that have been seen around there lately. It was very exciting to see a bear!! :) Saturday Grammy and Grandbuddy took us on a train ride. It was Lydia's very first train ride, and Jake's too I think. I don't have any pictures of that right now but I should be getting some off of Grammy and Grandbuddy's camera card sometime soon. Sunday we just relaxed mostly. I took naps almost every day which was really nice...that is what vacation is for, right!? Monday we were going to take Lydia to the beach at Lyman Run Lake but it was raining so we spent most of the day just lazying around and packing up to come home. Other than Monday we had perfect weather the entire time. On Monday evening after the girls were in bed we all played a game of Balderdash. That game is so much fun...not really because of the game itself but because of how funny people are when they are trying to read things without laughing, or how they can't read it at all because they are laughing so hard. I don't think I ever saw Dad laugh that hard in my life. It was great! :) It was time to go home way too quickly. It is so sad how time seems to just fly by when we're with my family. Grammy and Grandbuddy were so sad to see Lydia come back to Vermont. They enjoy her so much! But I think its probably a good thing we don't live nearer to them or she'd be spoiled rotten...even more than she is! Lydia learned two new things (that I can think of at the moment) while we were in Potter. Grammy taught her how to do stickers. Now she is obsessed with stickers! She is very good at taking them and putting them on paper then patting them down. Grammy also taught her how to say the word "watch". It is very cute. :) Oh, yeah, and another thing Grandbuddy taught her was how to get water in a cup then dump it out. He brought a big plastic tub along just for her to play with water in. She spent a lot of her time outside throwing stones into the water in the tub and using her cup to take water and dump it other places. So, Tuesday morning around 5:30 we headed home. I have to say it was probably the most miserable trip I've ever taken. I threw up once before we even left then three or four more times on the way home. Lydia did fairly well for the long car ride, only making a fuss that we had to stop once because she needed to get out of her car seat. I, on the other hand, thought I was about to die by the time we got home. UGH. I have no idea why I got that sick, I had only been throwing up once a day or not even that often lately. Since we've been home I've not felt the best either but it is so much nicer to be sick at home than in the car. I'm thinking the nausea and puking should let up within the next few weeks though. Missy did bring her doppler along so we could hear Two's heartbeat. I couldn't find him/her very easily and really we only thought we heard it once in the first four days but it wasn't strong or long enough to tell for sure. Then on Monday I tried one last time and was able to pick it up pretty well for a little while. The rate was 165, which is what Lydia's was early on too. Mostly it was very faint though. I don't know why we couldn't pick it up strong but we have an appt on Monday for the doctor to see if he can find it. If they can't find it then we'll get an ultrasound. I almost doubt they will be able to find it since their doppler isn't much different from the one I was using. We'll see. I am almost glad to be sick, its the only indication I have that Two is even in there!
So, that was our vacation. Here are some pictures (I'm not sure why they are a little blurry):
Lydia with her cheerios on the bike ride:
She looks like a boy with her outfit but she has her baby doll:
Learning about stickers with Grammy:
Swinging with Grandbuddy:
Grammy reading to the grand daughters:
Cousins! MaCayla and Lydia:
Waving and eating watermelon:
Ready for a hike:
This is Lydia on Labor Day last year!:
And her this year in the same chair...well, no the other one is green and this one is blue they are the same size. Look how much she has changed!!:
And that is it.
Now I'm going to see about making some sweet rolls. Mmmm! It's a new recipe so hopefully they will be Mmm! :)