Virginia in July

The tradition of escaping Texas in the heat continues. Especially when that hot, HOT Texas heat is accompanying a third trimester pregnancy. Get Us To The WATER! Specifically, the east coast water. With Family. Because that really is the best kind.

Jon had to miss out on the fun as we were saving his vacation days for the new baby's birth. The rest of my family assembled at my parent's river house in the Northern Neck, and we celebrated the lasting health of my mom and the future growth of our family with the addition of Courtney and Peityn (she said yes! Wedding to come...).

We had some additional Texas visitors join us for the Forth of July at the river, cousin J'Vette and her family jumped in to the action. They folded right in to the mix and made our vacation more special as Julia and Justice built even closer friendships with their cousins.

Crazy Face!

I love kayaking with my little guy. Even if my arms barely reach around us both. 

Throwing snails!!

Peas and Carrots, these two. 

Uncle Chris is training future fire fighters on that pole.

We love watching fireworks on my parent's boat. The family directly across the river put on an incredible fireworks show each year, and we are along for the ride. I love not having to commute anywhere for a nighttime show, and after the fireworks complete, we walk right up into bed!

Unless we take some time for sparklers, which make for the best pictures! The shocked look, the pretty fire, the relative safety of it all. Uncle Chris provided this wonderful new entertainment, and the kids were in heaven!

Alex is in that space of out-of-a-crib but not-able-to-sleep-in-a-railless-bed, so he sleeps on the floor of my room. I surround him with pillows and walls (and, apparently - electrical cords) but he rolls around the whole time he sleeps, so he ends up in a different position each time I check on him. He has the least amount of head on his pillow, and his body is mostly on the carpet. Whatever works.

Just a girl, 2.5 babies and a beautiful view

On the other side of Virginia, and the other side of our family, we visited Gran and Poppa and MORE cousins. This time our cousins were in visiting from Canada, again, the kids fell right in step with each other. 

We read books, caught fireflies, learned all about Pokemon Go! from cousin Josh (who knew Gran and Poppa's yard was infested with Pokemon?!?) and enjoyed really lovely summer weather. Another great summer getaway, returning to Texas just in time to venture to the next new frontier: ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

The Grand Canyon & Sedona

After enjoying Arizona from a local perspective, we met up with my parents to see the tourist side of the state. My parents very rarely are interested in travel "just to see something", however my mom has been actively fighting cancer for a few years now and she has always wanted to see the Grand Canyon. I am so very glad that she voiced that wish - it was a really miraculous sight to see.

We spent two days at the Grand Canyon itself, both of which were beautiful and pleasant - though a little warmer than usual for this time of the year. Even with two days of exploring, we didn't see all that much of the canyon, it is just so, very, GRAND. Also, we had two small children with us, the smallest of which really enjoyed throwing stones over the side - which had me convinced he was going to fall over the edge. It was incredible and terrifying.

So beautiful. So colorful. So much natural awesomeness. And also, so many ways to get hurt.

Even though we have traveled with children since they were born, and Alex and Gretchen are incredibly good travelers, this was not the ideal trip for children who prefer to walk on their own. While we tried to revel in the views and the seemingly endless stunning nature, they were much more concerned about if there were snacks. Or movies. Or somewhere to buy ice cream. In general, our kids are not the "silent reflection" type, so this wasn't their favorite destination.

My sweet Mom and Dad

Another place we wanted to see was Jerome. Rumor has it that Jerome was a great shopping spot and a nice, quiet place to spend a day. This quite possibly was the case 10-15 years ago, but since then it seems that Jerome has fallen asleep entirely and there was not much to see or do. 

Throwing rocks off the side. Never gets old. 

The views were still awesome. And very unlike our flat Texas landscape.

The southwest is such a unique part of the US, and a place that we have not spent much time. The Grand Canyon was incredible, and just driving through the different areas of the state were so interesting to think back on what this land looked like thousands of years ago. I am so glad that we got to visit - and that we have a Phoenix family-springboard in case we are interested in future trips!

Phoenix: Meeting the Newest Gill

Jon's brother and his family live in Phoenix, AZ and we have never been to visit. In case we needed an additional reason, they also had a second little girl that we have yet to meet. So, in the spirit of seeing America and reconnecting with family - Phoenix: we're coming for you! 

Ya'll, Houston is hot. Phoenix is HOT. Yeah, yeah, dry heat and all, but when it is 112 degrees (as it was when our plane landed at 6:00pm) that goes beyond wet or dry and is just plain HEAT. In places that experience extreme weather like this, it becomes a game changer in your day to day life. Similar to traffic - you know how to avoid it, when to stay away and whether or not you adapt to it, there is an element of weather in your daily plans. 

Which is why we go outside to play between wakeup and 10am. It's still a very warm day, but not oppressive (yet), there are nice long shadows to help, and you can take precious pictures of cousins without them looking sweat-drenched and exhausted like they will later in the day. 

This great basket swing is in their front yard, and it was a big hit for the kids. Daddy and Uncle Dan took turns pushing, swinging and laying underneath the swing. Unfortunately for Daddy, he didn't realize that the trees surrounding him were plum trees. In full bloom. Leaving plums all over the yard as landmines for his clothes. He lay right on top of a ripe, juicy one. 

Look at this pure joy!!

Our beautiful baby girl

Cousins taking a break from the sun

And once the magic heat-time begins, we head toward water. The walkways at this lovely outdoor mall were covered in shade screens and misters to help keep us cool. And what kid doesn't like a fountain you can play in?!

And now to meet our newest niece/cousin, Halle. With her thick, black enviable head of hair and her wide princess eyes, this baby is docile and sweet and very patient with the long line of new relatives that wanted to hold her.

Just so Alex didn't feel left out

We enjoyed spending our collective birthdaversaries together, especially since they involved a mini-mom's getaway to an incredible luxury spa right around the corner. We learned about things like cold brew coffee and delivery to your car restaurant food. We picked fresh lemons from their backyard to make homemade lemonade and got to experience air-drying a shirt from the laundry in under 5 minutes outside. We were shown the best of Phoenix and we had some of our favorite people as tour guides.