We went to New York for Tyler & Mckenzie's wedding reception back there. It was so good to see all the family! We don't get to see them near enough! And the reception was beautiful! Great job at decorating mom and all who helped!
The Bride & Groom with Jayden & Jennilyn. Of course Jayden wouldn't cooperate!
Jayden met Josiah, he is the son of Vicky, Chris' moms friend. He is such a cute little guy. The 2 of them were instant friends. It was cute! They look like they could get in a lot of trouble together don't they? haha!
Jayden & Josiah in the rocking chairs!
Jayden did lots of swinging!
He loves to swing every way possible!! :)
Another of Jayden's friends was the dog, Nadia! Although this one was not an instant friendship, they did end up getting along, as long as Jayden was nice! (sadly I didn't get their first meeting on video! It was so funny! Jayden freaked out! But as you can see he quickly got over that.)
The girls taught him how to pet her tummy!
4 Generations! Nana Hess, John Hess, Chris Hess, Jayden Hess, & Jennilyn Hess
Jennilyn was so happy to have a few days rest before traveling all day again!
Flying with 2 kids was very different then with 1. We got a seat for Jayden because we just knew it would be too much for him and it would have been! And too hard for each of us to have a kid on our lap the whole flight. And the poor person who would have sat by us. haha! but we didn't have that problem. Our flight left at midnight, which wasn't the best idea on our part, but we had to have a layover that was longer than 45 minutes or we wouldn't be able to catch our second flight. And we didn't want to be stranded! So we took the red eye flight. Jennilyn did super good on all of the flights. She just went right to sleep every time. Jayden was a little too excited to sleep at first. So we walked onto the plane very last and we're each carrying and kid and we had Jayden's carseat. Well for Jayden never being on a plane, and not liking big crowds or confined spaces, this was the WRONG place for him. (Oh we were last getting on the plane, what happened to letting those with kids get on first? I don't know) So we start walking down the isle and Jayden is kinda starting to freak out, because there is not a ton of space and all these people. So he starts crying and Jennilyn starts crying because Jayden was crying. LOL! I just laughed as I looked at all the faces that said "Are you seriously on my flight?" "Why did I get stuck on the flight with the screaming children" LOL and I just thought to myself wow, I hope they all don't hate us by the end of this flight! So it took Jayden a few minutes to settle down, but he was as happy as could be by the time we took off. Wonderful! But he was wide awake. He finally did sleep about an hour or 2 into the flight. We caught an amazing sunrise. I always LOVE them from the air! But overall it went really well. No screaming kids the whole night long! We had a layover in JFK for 2 hours and then got on a smaller plane up to Syracuse. This time Jayden found that the seats were closer and he could kick the seat in front of him. Not the greatest idea. The poor guy in front of him was on our all night flight too. I felt so bad!! But that flight was only about an hour! We made it. We were all exhausted, but we did it. Now we only had to do it once more to get home! So we started home and on our first flight I sat in front of Jayden so he could kick my seat the whole way! Wonderful, I didn't stress about him kicking someone else, and Chris sat next to Jayden and held Jennilyn, so I got to just enjoy it. Although my mind started playing games with me about what would happen if we were to crash! I hate that! This time we had a 3 hour layover at JFK. So we got us some food and tried to entertain a 2 year old in an airport. WOW, by the time we were ready to get on the plane I was so done. I told Chris I am NEVER doing this again! It is so stressful on me. I don't like all the looks I get. I don't like being the odd one out, and sticking out like a sore thumb. I'm a sit in the back and mind my own business kind of girl. Well that can't happen if we keep flying with our children. I know we'll do it again, but I'm shooting for driving all the way!! Anyway the last flight was great! The kids did fine again, but it is just so much work to travel with kids. I'm learning, and it's not quite as much fun. But I do love to be with my kids and with family, so we'll keep doing it. Good thing I find joy in packing or I'd say it so wasn't worth it! haha!
Here's Jayden and Jennilyn chillin at the airport!
We had such good flight attendents on all our flights. They even gave us extra cookies and won Jayden's heart!
He was tired and needed to take a nap, but of course didn't want to, so Chris showed him how his pillow case could work as sleeping bag. He loved it and did it again on the way home to sleep!
I made these glasses out of Pipe Cleaners. He loved them until he pulled them apart! But has anyway seen UP?
Jennilyn wanted to try them out too! She was so good for the ride. It was hard for her to not get good naps, so by the end of each day she was really done and just wanted to lay down and not be held, but she did great!
It's amazing how much fun one can have with pillows!
The Beautiful Lake Tahoe!
Us up Eagle Falls with the lake in the background
Jayden LOVES the water and the sand. He had tons of fun. He would play in the sand and then rub his eyes! haha!
Chris, Jayden & I on the tube! We rode the tube from California to Nevada and then back! Thanks Uncle Steve!
Me, Uncle Steve, Chris, & Jayden on Steve's boat
Hanging out on the beach
We had to get some pictures with the bears! They are everywhere up there!
Me & Jennilyn and the bears!
Thanks for showing us your part of the world Steve and Rita. It was so much fun!
