the east coast

July 29 - August 8. NJ & NY. Fun memories!

Wednesday was going to be a long day buckled in our seats in the minivan. We were a little worried when we were about 15 minutes down the road when Dorian asked if he could have a different vacation. :) Thankfully shortly therafter, we saw a pond and some cows which were entertaining to him.

I'm so thankful that we were able to stay at Brian and Katherine's house for a few nights. I told them that it would sure be nice if they would move closer to us so we could see them more, but that I wasn't willing to make the move to the east coast. I'm a midwest girl. Mikayla is growing up so fast. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I guess I was anyway, that she has changed so much even since we last saw her in June. Dorian and Levi loved playing with Uncle Brian and Aunt Katherine and Mikayla...and they loved having all new toys to play with.

On Thursday we drove over to Grandpa and Grandma Tintle's house. Grandma made a delicious lunch for us. Mom Tintle came as well. Dorian was thrilled to get a little ride in the moving truck and to see great grandpa's trains. The boys were great which was a huge blessing since we were only able to be there for such a short time and it was right over nap time. Around 4:30 we left to drive into NYC to have dinner with Suzanne. Dinner was a little crazy...the boys really needed to get down and play but we were trying to eat and enjoy some time together. We did take a short walk over to Central Park after dinner so Dorian could run around a little bit. Suzanne seems to be happy with med school and her new boyfriend. It was great to see her even though our visit was short.







On Friday Nathan flew to Washington DC for a 2 day conference. I drove down to see Danielle and meet Sammy for the first time. What a blessing to spend some time with Danielle again. I miss friendships like hers. Our conversations certainly weren't the same with 3 little children as they were during the college years...many more interuptions, changing diapers, feeding babies, etc. She reminded me that during the stress and business of our first year of teaching we would often wish to be married with children so we didn't have to work full time. :) Now that we're at that stage in our lives, I knew what she meant without saying anything else. We agreed that next time we got together we'd take our husbands along to help with childcare. :)

Katherine and I spent Saturday morning getting ourselves and the little ones ready for the day. Brian was around in the afternoon. After naptime, the kids played outside and Brian helped me get our van packed up. When Nathan arrived around 6:00 we headed out and drove up to the lake house. We didn't arrive until 11:30. I was very tired.





In a way, it was nice that it was gray and rainy on Sunday. It was nice to unpack our bags, relax, and not have anywhere to go. Most of us had naps in the afternoon. After settling in I was ready for our week at the lake house.





Monday was a beautiful, sunny day! The lake was calm. It was Mom Tintle's birthday. We took the boat over to eat out for breakfast overlooking the lake. Jillian, Cara, and Drew were with us. The view was absolutely beautiful! Breakfast was delicious. Boating was a lot of fun! When we got back to the house, we swam, ate lunch outside, and then took turns tubing.








Tuesday through Friday included: a day trip to Ausable Chasm, a day trip to an aquarium in Burlington, VT, a date night, a canoe ride, & swimming.








I was sitting next to Dorian when we were driving in the van one evening, and I said as I often do "you're a good boy Dorian". Most times when I say this he has no reaction. But I'll never forget what he matter-of-factly said back to me that night. "Yes, I is." My heart melted.

Dorian's favorite activity while on vacation was throwing rocks, one by one, into the water. We'd get a bucketfull of rocks, look at each one as if it was the most special rock ever, and then throw it into the water and watch it splash. It brought about hours of fun.





Levi was taking a lot of steps on his own on our vacation. I think I can say that he is officially walking now. He's definitely not steady, but he likes to be on his feet.






It was a good vacation. Dorian agreed. And now it's good to be back home.