Michigan Trip Part 1

This is a long trip (18 days!) so I'm sure there will be many blog posts about our adventures.

Two days before we left for our trip I decided to take the babes to the doctor since all had colds and I wanted to make sure that they didn't have ear infections since that would really bother them on the plane. This was the first time I took them to a doctor appointment by myself, but honestly it wasn't difficult. I put one baby in a carrier and pushed the stroller in the doctor's office and then I set up a Go Pod in the exam room. The nurse gave me a few minutes to get everyone situated so that I could bring one out to the scale at a time. Alexis, Jack, and Faith did great! And the best news was that no one had ear infections.

Alexis in the Go Pod, Faith in the stroller 

My friend Val gave the babes an early first birthday gift as she got sun hats and she wanted us to have them on our trip. They were too young at Christmas to really help with unwrapping, so this time opening gifts was a bit more interesting. Of course, the paper was just as exciting as the hats themselves.

L to R: F, J, A

Alexis LOVED the paper

Faith modeling her hat

Lexi with all three

Micah had a business trip Monday evening through Wednesday so I was going to be on my own for a few days leading up to our trip, but his mom graciously drove down to ABQ a day earlier than originally planned so that I would have some help with the babes as I tried to pack. I always find packing to be stressful and we were definitely busy working on it up until the last minute.

Our flight departed ABQ at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday which is WAY too early. We woke up at 3:30 a.m. to get ready, pack last minute things, and load up the car. We left our house around 4:15 a.m., picked up our friend Dan who agreed to drop us off at the airport (in fact, we borrowed his SUV the night before since it is much bigger than our 4Runner and we could fit 4 adults, 3 babes, and all of our stuff), we arrived at the airport around 4:45 a.m. and Dan helped us bring everything into the airport (two strollers, three car seats, three large bags, and four carry ons). I had read a lot about the potential damage to car seats from checking them, so we decided to bring them all the way to the gate with us to decrease the handling by the airline. This created a bit of extra work going through security, but it gave us peace of mind which was good. We were shocked by the line at security in ABQ for 6:00 a.m flights since it's a small airport and we have gotten through security in minutes in the past, but we ended up having to wait in a long line which made things stressful and we arrived at our gate when the flight was already boarding. We thought we would have plenty of time at the airport so we planned on changing the babes diapers and putting their clothes on before we got on the plane, but we had no time at all so we boarded the plane with extra wet diapers and PJ's!

Although we held up the line to gate check both strollers and all of the car seats, everyone was very nice and helpful and one lady actually held Lexi for me so I could collapse the strollers as Micah brought other stuff down the ramp. I think everyone was weary about having three babies on the plane, but for the most part people were very nice and sweet with the babes. We fed the babes right after take off to help with their ears and we planned on feeding all three on the way down but only Lexi was interested (Jack sucked his thumb and Faith had her paci). Jack cried for a little bit on the plane since he had a little trouble falling asleep, but other than that all three did great!

Lexi with Micah (left) and Faith with Grammy (right)

Jack was with me on the flight

We had a 3.5 hour layover in Minneapolis which gave us plenty of time to change the babes into their clothes, feed them solids, feed another bottle, eat lunch ourselves, play on the floor, and go for a walk. All three slept on the second flight which was a relief for all on the plane, and again we received many compliments.

We put one baby in a car seat in our double Snap n Go and piled the car seats in the other spot and underneath. Here Jack is riding in the car seat but all took turns.

Our set up. Jack is in the car seat and the girls are in the double umbrella stroller.

We found a very quiet and empty spot to play with and feed the babes. L to R: F, J, A

The perfect onesies for traveling "No Paparazzi Please." L to R: F, A

My parents took two cars to the Grand Rapids airport so that there was plenty of room for all of us plus our stuff. Although we were all tired from the early wake up, we wanted to make sure my grandma got to see the babes right away as she hasn't been able to make it out to ABQ to see them, so she came over for dinner. It was fun to introduce her to Alexis, Jack, and Faith!

My grandma, the babes great grandma, with Alexis

On Friday morning we took the booster seats out to the porch and we've been feeding the babes out there almost every meal since. Although my parents condo has plenty of room for two, keeping the boosters on the porch helps keep some of the baby clutter out of the house.

L to R: A, F, J

One big reason for coming to Michigan now was so that our grandparents could meet the babes. They are all in their 90's and no longer traveling so this was the first opportunity we had since we want to wait until after the sick season. Jack is the only Howard grandson so Micah's grandpa was really looking forward to meeting him. Friday mid-day we picked up Micah's grandpa and we all went to the nursing home to visit his grandma.

Micah and Jack with Grandpa Howard. Unfortunately Micah's dad wasn't able to come along for this trip.

Micah with Jack, Faith on the left, Alexis on the right, with Micah's grandparents (his dad's parents)

We are so thankful that my brother and his wife lent us their van for our stay since we can easily fit all three babes, four adults, and two strollers! Here we are coming home from visiting the grandparents.

Since the first part of our trip overlapped with the end of the Tulip Time Festival in our hometown (Holland, MI), we went downtown to see the Dutch Dancers on Friday evening. All three babes were very intrigued!

Watching the Dutch Dancers. I did this for one year in high school.

My cousin gave us the cutest Tulip Time shirts! L to R: A, J, F

Friday night we decided it was time for a bath after a long day of traveling the day before. Rub a dub dub, three babes in Grandma's tub!

On Saturday we watched about 30 minutes of the big parade. Since the parade coincided with the babes afternoon nap we only saw the very end, but that was probably enough for them anyway. They did seem very interested in all of the people and the music though!

Grammy with Lexi (yellow hat), Grandma with Faith (pink hat), Jack with me (blue hat)

Jack, Faith, and Alexis enjoying the parade

The sun hats definitely have room to grow, but the girls didn't seem to mind their obstructed view during the stroller ride after the parade

Micah and I got engaged by the lighthouse in Holland, Big Red, during a run almost 10 years ago, so we enjoy going back to the lighthouse whenever we are home. He had the idea that we should take photos by the lighthouse on Mother's Day, which was a great idea! Both my parents and his mom came out to the lighthouse with us and we were fortunate to have great weather.

L to R: F, J, A in front of Big Red

L to R: My mom with Jack, me with Faith, Karen with Alexis

My parents with A, J, F

My parents with A, F, J

L to R: A, F, J

L to R: F, J, A

Big Red

Lake Michigan. L to R: F, J, A

L to R: A, F, J

For lunch on Mother's Day my brothers and their families came over to my parents house as well. It was the first time that our entire family had been together since Alexis, Jack, and Faith were born (and since Micah and I were in Michigan 16 months ago)! It was a lot of fun being together, and Brayden and Adelle enjoyed feeding their baby cousins.

Brayden feeding Alexis

Adelle feeding Faith

Brayden and Adelle entertaining the babes

In the afternoon our extended family on my dad's side got together for a Mother's Day celebration and to meet the babes. Alexis and Faith were very tolerant of being passed around from relative to relative. Jack wasn't feeling 100% (teething and his cold) so he was much happier hanging out with someone he knew (me, Micah, grandma, grandpa, his aunt, or one of his uncles).

L to R: A, J, F

Grandma with all of her great grandchildren!

Micah left during the family party for his flight since he was only in town for the long weekend before going to Yosemite to climb. He flew out to Las Vegas where his climbing buddy picked him up. On Monday they drove the rest of the way to Yosemite and today they enjoyed their first climb. Alexis, Jack, Faith and I will continue to meet up with friends and family during our stay while also enjoying a change of pace and non-stop help from family (mostly my mom) while Micah has a much anticipated two-week climbing trip in Yosemite.