Old Friends.. New Friends

Flash back... Remember Ryder's best friend from Arizona, Page? And my best friend out there, her mom, Miss Tricia? Well saying good-bye when we left there after Derrik's rehab on his arm for two years was awful. Usually good-bye is more of a "see ya later" because we know we'll be back at some point, but we all knew our good-bye was a forever because nothing was ever bringing us back to Arizona and it's not like you can make a weekend trip to go visit each other when it's thousands of miles away. We were definitely heartbroken. Tricia and I have stayed in extremely close contact the past two years, but two years in an old five year old life is a LONG time and sadly Ryder didn't remember Page anymore. 

Well, we'd have to fix that problem because Page's daddy got a job in Syracuse, New York... FOUR hours away from us!!! Four hours might seem like a lot, but to a girl who doesn't have too many friends in Pennsylvania this is beyond exciting!! They had been making the cross country trek from Arizona to New York and made thing last stay before the final leg of their journey at our house in Hershey, PA. It was a really quick visit because they have lots of stuff to do to get settled up in Syracuse, but we are so excited we will be able to see each other quite often now!! 

A walk with dad...

Sometimes Derrik likes to cut up a plate of apples at his mom's and take the kids to feed the horses. We went over after a big storm the other night and it was so gorgeous out!

And a little instavideo... Love this new feature on instagram!!

Turbo

After the flu stuck our house and ruined what was supposed to be Landon's first movie seeing Monster University before vacation, we came up with a Plan B... The boys were so excited to see Turbo!!

Ryder posed by the sign to document Landon's first movie, but Landon opted not to :(

They did pose by the Planes sign inside the theatre though!

A seasoned veteran right here!

 Figuring out what this kiddie pack this is all about

 Still not wanting a picture... butt head

 Daddy was asleep before the movie even started...

And he made us wait until two days after it came out so he could go with us!! 

Landon did great, stayed in his seat the whole time. Our only problem was he wanted to talk to us about the whole movie in a regular speaking voice. Luckily the theatre wasn't very full, and it was nothing a quick trip back up to the refreshment counter to purchase some candy couldn't fix :)

Big Boy Bed!!

Ahhh the big boy bed! We've been talking about it for a while. His bedding was actually purchased as a birthday present (thank you Nini!). The biggest hold up was the fact that we had to actually go and buy a mattress. We just kept putting it off because there was always something more important to do then go to the mattress store and buy a mattress :) We finally buckled down and did it because I knew my family was coming and they needed the bed to have a place to sleep. It arrived just days before vacation so we just let it sit there for a few days. After family was done breaking it in it was time for the big boy himself to sleep in it. 

He looks SO tiny in there!

 Not really sure he's digging this big boy bed thing!!

 After about an hour of crying, he never did get off the bed or anything, it finally got quiet. 

I went upstairs and found this :) 

 Later in the night when I brought Ryder up to bed I found him like this all tucked in...

Such a big boy :)

 Nap the next day only involved about twenty minutes of crying until I found him like this...

 I love that he puts his own blanket on!

 And he let me tuck him in the next night :)

It's going great... He still tells me he doesn't want to go to bed every night "I don't like a bed mommy", won't let me tuck him in, and cries until I hit the bottom of the stairs, but then he stops almost immediately and settles himself down. It was a pretty easy process... NOW I have to let go of my crib and sell it... that might be the hard part for me!!

A few videos from vacation

Two instavideos from the pond

A video from our first night in PA

A video I made at the farm in Amish country

and one of Ally's... Listen for Ryder when he says, "and i'll name it... Sweet Love"! Melt my heart!!

and one last video from our cookout at MeMaw and Poppy's

PA with the family!

After our trip to Cape Cod my mom and sisters stayed in PA with us for a week!! My dad also flew up from Wednesday until Sunday. I love when my dad comes to visit here because he is truly on vacation and it is SOOO nice to see him enjoy himself!! 

What else would we start our week off with but ice cream... 

Mint Chocolate Chip shakes all around please!!

 An evening walk to the park

 My mom challenged Ally and I to get a picture of a lightning bug... 

Challenge fulfilled :)

 We also headed back to our favorite farm in Amish Country

AND they had LOTS of kittens!!

And we did the Indian Echo Caverns

Celebrated JR's birthday with a cookout and corn hole... which was moved inside because of rain

 Ally and I playing around with tattoo ideas with a sharpie

 My mom HAD to get corn on the cob from an Amish kids off a farm.. 

Mission accomplished.. and it was amazing!

 We also did a night at Hershey Park

 Derrik found a free pair of shades on one of the rides

 and our last pictures of vacation.. 

Hundreds of pictures taken, countless memories made, and another summer vacation in the books

We are so blessed to be able to make these special memories every summer!!

Can't wait for fall to make some more :)