At the end of July/beginning of August we traveled up to Rylan's hometown for a little family reunion. We traveled by Allegiant air which flies out of Phx/Mesa Gateway. It was such a pleasant flight and experience getting right through check-in, security, and boarding. Our flight attendant was a "flight attendant Nazi." Addy was trying to pick up a grape that had fallen on the floor. Just as she was picking up the grape, the flight attendant announced (not so subtlely), "Babies on the floor are a definite no-no!" Now, let me preface this by saying that we were just boarding the plane, we were not moving, not in flight, and not even doing anything of significance. We attempted to explain, but it fell on deaf ears. So the flight attendant then procedes to announce to the ENTIRE cabin, "no kids on the floor - big no-no!!!" Are you freakin' kidding me??? So in case you are wondering what happened to the grapes that Addy picked up - well, they are now back on the ground firmly entrenched into the rug of the plane courtesy of my shoe. Have fun cleaning
that up! Other than that, the flight was wonderful. We flew into Great Falls, MT and rented a car and drove up to Canada. It was a 2.5 hr car ride and we just had a great time traveling.
It was great to see the family again! The girls had a wonderful time with cousins and finally, FINALLY being able to play for extended periods of time outside! The temperature was a balmy 70-80 degrees. The kids had fun at a really fun park, went swimming, pretended to be Shamu with Uncle Byron, played at more parks, watched movies, played with cousins, jumped on the trampoline, and swung on the swings -- again, again, and again! The sun set after 9pm and the kids just had a blast playing with cousins. We had a fun time at the reunion that actually spread out over 3 days. It was actually an educational experience learning about my extended family and their histories.
One really interesting thing was the genealogy that my dad had been doing. He contacted someone who had an extensive line of genealogy. We found out that we are actually descendants of the eldest son of Chen Hui who is a descendant of Huang Di - or the Yellow Emperor. Huang Di is often credited with being the individual who instituted the first principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Martial arts!!! So Aubrey and Addy are literally Princesses!
We had a great time, but wish we could have stayed longer. Molly had a great time serving Chinese food at Heritage Days and it was fun tasting food from different cultures. I had African food and the girls had Chinese.
We barely made it back home. There was absolutely NO traffic on the freeway to the border, but once we got there - it was grid-lock! We were starting to get a bit nervous since we were not moving at all and we were still 2 hrs from the airport. Fortunately, it was divine Providence that two more lanes opened up and we got to the front of one of them. Molly prayed that we would make it on time without being pulled over and we flew down the freeway with as much care, but as fast as possible. We made it to the airport with about 10 minutes to spare and made it safely on to our flight. It was good to be heading home, but we sure had a great time.
Here are the cousins with Grammy and Grampy. It's hard getting everyone to cooperate at the same time as you can probably tell.
Addy spending some time with Uncle Mike.
This is actually one of the better pics we have with the kids actually being quite good all together.
Here's our little family!
The cousins with Great Grandma who is turning 90 next year!
Molly giving the thumbs up while serving at Heritage Days.
More cousins (not all) hanging out at Henderson Lake park.
Addy is sad, but still so cute.
Celebrating the birthdays again!
Addy trying to roast her marshmallow.
Addy enjoying her Smore.
Trying to get the best spot for roasting.
Addy playing in the grass.
