Monday, April 18, 2016

OUR TRIP AND CLAIRE'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!


So much has happened in the last week it seems as if several weeks have passed since I last posted, lol.  I am hoping to catch things up today with this post, and then get around visiting most of you to see what you all have been up to as well. In between I hope to catch my laundry up, water all of my plants thoroughly, and probably spend some time on the phone catching up with my other kids and grandkids.   Oh, and sometime in there I will have to swing by the grocery store and pick up a few things there too.  But honestly I am VERY tired and would love to spend the day not doing much of anything at all....maybe tomorrow, and maybe even the next day too, lol.

So let's see.... Last Mon and Tues. were spent finishing up last minute sewing things for Claire, doing laundry, packing, AND picking up a rental car.  We decided to rent a car for this trip for a few reasons, and let me just say this....it was DEFINITELY one of our smarter decisions, lol.  And believe it or not we decided to go with a mini van...a Toyota Sienna to be exact.  I have driven MANY different makes and models of cars over the years to include a Mercedes and a Lexus for many years, and yet I have never driven a car I liked as well as the two different Siennas we owned many years ago.We bought the Sienna at the time as we were knee deep in sports with Melody, and not only drove all over the country to softball tournaments, but also usually loading many other girls in our car as well. They have BIG roomy seats [a must for this large bottomed gal] are super easy to handle and steer and get around in, your up a little higher, barely ever "if ever" feel the road or the bounces and such, the air conditioner practically freezes you [another must for me] and just generally made all of our road trips back then [and there were SOO many!] truly no big deals at all.  Of course I am sure part of that was being in my thirty's and forty's at the time lol, but still.  Another BIG bonus for me this time was sooo much more leg room [stretching out these arthritic knees is a real necessity] and a seat that reclined sooo fully [as there was nothing crammed behind it] that a few naps were grabbed for me as well, lol.  We brought our lap top and watched most of season 7 of Heartland...I have LOVED that series.  Or I guess I watched and hubby listened.  We usually drive our Honda Accord and honestly it is a nice, comfortable car, but we have had it almost six years now and it has a lot of miles on it and it just didn't even compare to the Sienna on a long, LONG drive.  Don't think I will make that long drive again without renting one of those.  Now for all I know ALL mini vans would have worked just as well, but I kind of insisted, threw a fit, requested this particular mini van and my hubby searched till he found one available...and to sweeten the whole thing even more we got it for a really REALLY good deal.  Trust me, worth every single little penny.  All of this to tell you we left here about 3:30 am on Wed morning and drove straight through to the dairy.  We were pulling in there about eight thirty that night their time [it would have been about 7:30 here] and as you can imagine it was a long LONG seventeen hours in the car.  We did stop for about an hour for breakfast, but the rest of the day we brought food and ate in the car and stopped only for gas and quick bathroom breaks. We have made this trip soo often though that we really do have it down as to what makes it easier to do and where the good places are to stop etc.  But adding the mini van to our list REALLY helped. Anyway, back to the story.  The kids were all in bed, eagerly anticipating seeing us in the morning lol, and so we visited a while with Mike and Mel and headed off to bed and slept like logs, lol.  The next 3 days were jammed packed with visiting, and loving on those babies.  Poor little Claire was sick for the first time in her little life and was just not herself at all according to Melody.  It really is a miracle in many ways that she had never been sick before considering she has two older brothers who are also young, and one them is in pre school!  lol  But she has been really blessed with that.  She really didn't have any symptoms at all other then a fever and just kind of clingy and not hungry so it was kind of weird. No cold symptoms or anything else to speak of.  It had started the day we were traveling there so Melody had run her to the docs to have her checked and she "looked" great, lol, so he said it was just a little virus that would just need to run it's course.  She was a little bit better each day and by party day the fever was completely gone and she was starting to be more herself.  As we were driving home yesterday Melody said she was finally 100 percent better and acting like her usual happy little self.  It was a little disappointing not to see her at her best when I get to see her soo seldom, but it is what it is and I still got to hold her and love on her etc.  And Sam and Luke were great!  How I love those two would be hard to describe.  They are both truly sooo sweet and are getting soo big sooo fast.  I will never be able to tell you all the sweet, BRILLIANT things they said and did so I will not even try, lol. Mike's grandmother, Aunt, sister and her husband and baby had all made the trip out for Claire's first birthday too, so we had quite the crowd.  They all stayed in a hotel or their RV though so we didn't all actually sleep there, [with 3 children there is only one guest room now, lol] but of course they were at their house the majority of their time.  Truthfully I probably will not make many more trips though when anyone else is there as well as it is bad enough having to always "share" our time with Mike's family when they are in California, but I really kind of prefer to have them to ourselves when we take the time to drive clear out there.  I am trying really hard not to sound selfish and whiny as honestly we ALL made the best of things and get a long really well, but I just want them, like I said, all to myself.  I did get to see Sam's preschool and meet his teacher which he was very pleased and excited over, and it was good too to see all of the recent face lifts and make overs and remodeling they have done in the last several months as well.  Melody was very excited for me to see it all, and honestly it was just beautiful! How in the world she managed all of that when her hands are SOO full with those 3 babies I honestly don't know, lol.   We enjoyed meals in and out, and I was glad to be able to help Melody get ready for Claire's party. She had gotten some pretty cute little decorations, and built the whole theme of the party around a spring time, sunshine type of feel and it was all just precious! They had around 30 people altogether [counting all of us] so it was a pretty good sized crowd with LOTS of little ones as well, lol.  The kids just had a ball.  They rented a bouncy house [which Luke hates for some reason, lol, poor little thing] and she got sooo many nice, cute little things.  She was WAY more into the bags they came in that's for sure, but hey that's the way it usually goes with a one year old isn't it?  She looked positively adorable in her tutu, but she hated it lol, which did not surprise me at all.  She doesn't really like bows on her head anymore either, but Melody still manages to make that work most of the time anyway, lol.  Now for me she is almost a positive clone of her mama which I love, but it also includes her almost exclusive LOVE of balls. She has a few baby dolls, and "girly" type toys, but honestly all she really got excited about was any kind of a ball completely like her mama did as well at that age.  This love of balls lasted ALL the way through ALL of the years Melody grew up and I am thinking it might just be the same for miss Claire.  Melody hated most "girly" type things [though trust me after 3 boys I tried HARD] and was just a god given tomboy so I went with it as what choice did I really have anyway, lol?  The trip was a good one, but over before we knew it, and  we crammed MUCH MUCH activity into 3 days.  The drive home was uneventful yesterday, and was I ever glad to be home by 7:30 or so our time, and before it was dark. I hate those trips when we leave BEFORE the sun comes up, and arrive home LONG after it has set. I will show you the pictures I got now, though I know a few of you have seen the ones I did post on Instagram and Facebook.

THEIR KITCHEN WAS PROBABLY THE BIGGEST CHANGE OF ALL, THOUGH THEY DID PUT BEAUTIFUL HARD WOOD FLOORS EVERYWHERE WHICH CHANGED THINGS A LOT TOO.  THE TOP PIC IS THE BEFORE, AND THE BOTTOM  IS OF COURSE THE AFTER.  EVERYTHING IS IS WAY LIGHTER, AND THEY TOOK DOWN THE BIG POSTS AS WELL WHICH OPENED UP THE WHOLE THING AND MADE EVERYTHING SEEM MUCH BIGGER.  THEY STILL HAVE A NEW BACK SPLASH TO PUT ON, THOUGH IT DOESN'T SHOW IN THESE PICS, AND A FEW LITTLE DECORATOR CHANGES AS WELL, BUT FOR THE MOST PART THEY WERE ALL DONE.

THE BOYS ARE ENJOYING THE NEW LITTLE MONSTER TRUCK SETS WE BROUGHT FOR THEM HERE...THAT'S ME IN THE BACKGROUND ENJOYING A SNACK WHILE I WATCHED THEM, LOL  THIS IS ABOUT THE EXTENT OF THE PHOTOS I GOT OF THEIR NEW THINGS WHICH I KIND OF REGRET NOW, BUT AS YOU CAN IMAGINE I WAS A LOT MORE PREOCCUPIED WITH THE KIDS.  YOU CAN KIND OF SEE THE FLOORING IN FRONT OF THE FIRE PLACE, AND THIS GORGEOUS NEW AREA RUG, AND THEIR NEW COUCHES.  THE COFFEE TABLE THEY ARE PLAYING ON THOUGH BELONGED TO MIKE'S GREAT GRANDFATHER AND HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN TO THEM.  IT IS SOOOO HEAVY AND NICE AND HONESTLY I  DON'T THINK YOU COULD SCRATCH IT OR HURT IT IF YOU TRIED.  THEY JUST DON'T MAKE THINGS LIKE THIS ANYMORE!
 
MISS CLAIRE IN HER PERSONAL CHAIR AND MORNING JAMMIES

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HARD IT WAS TO GET EVEN A HALF WAY GOOD PIC OF ALL OF THEM AT THE SAME TIME.  I WAS LOOKING AT MELODY'S CAMERA SO EVEN THIS ONE WASN'T ALL THAT GOOD, LOL.  LITTLE CLAIRE WAS WEARING ONE OF THE LITTLE OUTFITS I MADE FOR HER.  EVERYTHING FIT HER REALLY, REALLY WELL WHICH MADE ME VERY HAPPY NEEDLESS TO SAY!

HERE'S BOTH GRANDPA AND I....THE LOOK ON HUBBY'S FACE WAS MOST AMUSING, LOL.
                                                                                                                         
JUST HAD TO SHOW YOU HOW THE CUTE THE LITTLE BACK OF THAT TOP WAS ON HER
WE HAD A LITTLE PHOTO SESSION BEFORE THE PARTY STARTED WHICH WAS PRETTY MUCH THE ONLY TIME SHE WORE THE TUTU, LOL.  SHE REALLY DID HATE IT.  MELODY ANTICIPATING THIS HAD ANOTHER CUTE LITTLE OUTFIT FOR HER TO WEAR THOUGH.  WE TRIED TO GET ALL 3 OF THEM OF COURSE AS WELL.  THE BOYS WERE WEARING CUTE LITTLE MATCHING YELLOW AND WHITE STRIPED SHIRTS BUT THERE WERE MANY CAMERAS GOING OFF AND THESE WERE ABOUT THE BEST WE GOT, BUT YOU GET THE GENERAL IDEA, LOL

LOOK AT THOSE LITTLE TIP TOES!

YOU CAN SEE HOW FULL THIS IS IN THIS PIC AND A CLOSER LOOK AT THOSE DARLING LITTLE SANDALS

MY TUTU DOESN'T FIT IN THIS CHAIR GUYS!  LOL

MUCH MORE COMFY OUTFIT....LOOK AT HER LITTLE BRACELET  WE WERE BRIBING THEM TO SIT THERE WITH LEFT OVER SUCKERS FROM THE SHOWER, LOL

PRETTY CUTE

YEP, THEY LOVE HER.  SHE WAS MORE INTERESTED IN THE SUCKER IN THIS ONE!  LOL

I DID MANAGE TO GRAB A FEW PICS OF THE DESSERT TABLE...,MELODY HAD BOUGHT A REALLY PRETTY FLOWERED TABLE CLOTH WHICH WAS REALLY CUTE

AND SHE HAD GOTTEN THOSE LITTLE PURPLE MASON JARS WHICH SHE PUT THE SILVERWARE IN AND THE ADULTS DRANK OUT OF....REALLY CUTE.  SHE GOT THOSE LITTLE CARDBOARD CUPCAKE HOLDERS ONLINE WHICH WERE REALLY INEXPENSIVE AND I PUT THEM TOGETHER THEY WERE SOO EASY, LOL  EVENTUALLY THERE WAS PINK LEMONADE IN THAT PITCHER

LITTLE BANNER

HER LITTLE SMASH CAKE WAS ADORABLE

ANOTHER VIEW

THE CUPCAKES WERE JUST SOOOOO ADORABLE.  I REALLY LOVED THEM!

PRETTY YELLOW ROSES
HER LITTLE EATING AREA!

BEFORE EVERYONE GOT THERE I ASKED SAM [ONLY 4!] TO GO OUTSIDE AND TAKE A PIC OF THE BOUNCY HOUSE FOR ME AND ONE OF CLAIRE'S NEW SWING.  HERE IS WHAT HE GOT!  PRETTY GOOD DON'T YA THINK? LOL

CLAIRE LOVED THE BOUNCY HOUSE

AND HER NEW SWING!

GETTING READY TO DIG INTO HER CAKE

SHE HATED THE FROSTING STUCK TO HER FINGERS, LOL.  SHE WAS MUCH HAPPIER LATER WHEN WE FED HER SOME BITES OF THE CAKE, AND SHE ESPECIALLY LOVED THE ICE CREAM

MELODY SENT ME OVER THIS PIC THIS MORNING WEARING ONE OF HER NEW LITTLE OUTFITS I MADE HER..SOO CUTE ON HER!
Well guess that's it for now.  How grateful I am that we were able to make this trip even though hubby didn't have the days coming what with just having started that new job a little while ago.  But he kept in touch via phone and emails and it worked out just fine.  I was grateful I felt really well the whole time we were gone, and that my knees were really not too bad at all either.  I miss them all sooo much already though and I guess I will have to go through my usual withdrawals.  I will get busy in a day or two as I want to make some skirts for Capri, and then I intend to make some quilts. One for sure for Melody for her upcoming 30th birthday in July, and then maybe one for each of my daughter in laws for their birthdays as well.  May be to energetic, lol, but I intend to try.  Hope you all have a good week!  Blessings to you all!  Debbie

8 comments:

  1. she is beyond precious, happy birthday to her.

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  2. My goodness,that was a jam packed 3 days for sure and such a long drive but that's what we do. 18 hours makes our 8 hour drive seem short. They are adorable children.

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  3. Too bad Claire didn't like the tutu because she sure makes one adorable ballerina. Sam really does take great pictures! So glad that the trip was as comfortable and easy as you could make it. The vehicle that you rented sounds perfect for such trips. Yes, you must make plans for the next time so the withdrawals won't be too bad. The quilts should go a long way toward keeping you busy!

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  4. Seems like that little one was just born! Time really does fly with these youngsters. Love the birthday theme. That's a favorite song of mine. She looks do darling in the outfits you made her. Just darling.

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  5. Wow, you were able to pack a lot of loving into those 3 days. We have a minivan and I love traveling in, but we don't because or sedan gets 48 mpg on the highway ... so our fuel costs are almost double with the minivan. Since DH does all the driving, I let him choose whatever he'd like to drive.

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  6. What a sweet party...sweet theme...all for a super sweet little one-year-old!! I know I've said it before, but it seems crazy that Claire could be ONE already! Love the pictures of you and your hubby with all of the kids.

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  7. Precious, precious, precious! Every photo. So glad you got to go in comfort and enjoy this special time with your family!!
    xo Kris

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  8. What we don't do to see our kids, right? We drove over 14 hours yesterday to get to Northern Indiana for a couple week visit with our son and his family. Loved seeing all the happy pictures of Miss Claire's birthday party. They are all growing so fast. So glad you had this special time with them. Nothing like it, is there!

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I am so glad that you would take the time to comment on my thoughts and feelings, it is such a blessing to me!