liam and i went on a 32-day trip covering every time zone in the USA, five states and visited multiple friends and family members. it was pretty much the best thing ever. and i can't wait to tell you all about it! {disclaimer: many, many photos ahead!}
the first stop on our trip was st. louis, missouri.
on this leg of the trip, john, liam and i flew from DC to st. louis to visit his parents for five days. i am so happy that john was able to come with us for this part of the trip. we had a blast! our visit included: an urgent care visit for an ear infection (joy!), helping grandma fryhoff sweep the driveway, the official turn of the car seat (woot woot!), a visit to sunrise beach to visit john's grandpa at his beautiful lake house, a trip to a sprinkler park, the magic house, and to the incredible zach's park in o'fallon, missouri. in addition, john and i got to go on a fun date! we visited a sculpture park and ate delicious BBQ at sugarfire smokehouse. nothing better than spending time with your hubby!
yay for missouri! it's always so fun to visit.
our second leg of the trip was to olympia, washington to spend time with mi familia!
one of the hardest things i've ever done was leaving john in the st. louis airport by himself while liam and i walked onto the plane to seattle alone. i was nervous, scared, emotional, anxious for the flight, and wishing he was with us for the rest of our trip.
thankfully, this was liam the entire flight:
it made things a little easier.
i packed a backpack full of new dollar store toys, yummy food, and we were the only row on the airplane with an open middle seat. and the lady sitting next to me was an angel. the airplane travel gods were on my side that day! the four hours flew by with no problems. we landed in seattle, and the biggest leg of our mega trip began!
many awesome events happened on this leg of the trip: my sister's high school graduation, little brother's elementary school graduation, older sister's baby shower, and the list goes on and on! from spending time with family at home, visiting friends, and dealing with a rash-covered, teething baby- to say that we had an incredible time at home is a total understatement.
here's a photo dump to prove it!
after having the best time at home, the third leg of our trip was to my childhood vacation spot and my favorite place in the world: our family cabin in idaho/montana.
seclusion from the world in the most beautiful place in the world is complete heaven- no phones, no television, no communication to the outside world. after a long 12 hour drive, we enjoyed our time at the cabin for a week swimming, fishing, playing games, reading books, and liam's favorite thing...throwing rocks. the only downside to this was the fact that i couldn't talk to john for a week, and i would've done anything to have him there with us...but we are making a family trip to the cabin a top priority for next year with our two little boys.
enjoy this photo dump of our tranquil experience at the cabin!
{all picture credit: Hannah Fine Photography, except for a few iphone pictures}
gosh, i love the cabin so much. can't wait until the next time we can go!
after an incredible week at our cabin, my mom, sisters hannah and sharlee, liam and i took a trip to visit my grandparent's house in blackfoot, idaho where we got to visit them and my uncle matt, aunt kaelyn, and three of my little cousins. we had a great couple of days together!
to end off this incredible trip, i said an emotional good-bye to my mom, and sisters and spent a few days with my best friend, shamis, her awesome hubby nick and their adorable daughter and liam's best friend, maya in salt lake city, utah! it had been over a decade since i visited the beautiful state of utah, and we had a blast together visiting temple square, the salt lake city farmer's market, the sprinklers at the gateway mall, and nick even babysat the kiddos while we had a girl's night out. in addition, i got to meet up and visit with a lot of john's family and one of my best friends from college, cammie and her adorable family. it was the perfect way to end our mega trip! and i don't know how this is possible, but shamis and i have been best friends for two years, and we have never taken a picture together! insanity. nonetheless, we had a fabulous time.
one of my favorite things about this mega trip is the fact that liam and i got to see every single one of my living grandparents, and john's living grandparents. to be able to talk to each of them was an incredible treat for me! plus, not all of them had been able to meet liam yet! definitely a major added bonus to this trip.
after saying another sad good-bye to shamis, nick and maya, we were on our way back home to DC!
after having a magical flight experience at the beginning of this trip, to say my expectations were high was a complete understatement.
this was us at the beginning of the flight:
this was us at the end of the flight:
long story short: liam screamed the entire flight. yes, the ENTIRE flight. and of course, he fell asleep as we were landing. i'm pretty sure every person on that flight wanted to throw us off the plane, and i tried everything i could do to keep my composure and not bursting into tears. but the second we landed, i just started crying and crying. thankfully, people around me were willing to help me, but i was so tired and just ready to see john.
our reunion was perfect.
i'm so thankful that we were able to see so many family members, and friends while on this trip. it was definitely hard being away from john for that extended period of time, and i'm not sure i'll ever do that again in my lifetime. but the memories i made on this trip will stick with me forever, and i'm thankful that i was able to share it with my little guy.
where will we travel to next? can't wait to find out.
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