Where Have We Been These Last 10 Days?

The Swans have been on vacation! Aaron's family was having a reunion (just parents and siblings, plus kids) in Vancouver, WA. On Monday the 16th Aaron worked from home and Lincoln and I (well mostly me, while Lincoln found his own methods of "helping" like getting into the fireplace and spreading ash all over the place) cleaned, did laundry, and packed. That sounds like a short list, but it seriously took ALL day! Then Aaron drove Lincoln and I to the airport and the two of us flew to Portland, OR (15 minute drive from Vancouver, WA). Lincoln was pretty good on the four hour plane ride. It was past his bedtime, so he was a little edgy and squirmy but over all did really well sitting on my lap for so long. Aaron flew in on Tuesday night. So mostly Tuesday and Wednesday we all just chilled at either Aaron's parents house, or Aaron's sister Lisa's house, while someone or other (mostly Aaron's parents) ran back and forth to the airport to collect all the family members who were flying in at different times on different days. Seriously, we could have started a Swan Family Airport Shuttle.

Wednesday night, Aaron, Linc, and I went with Chuck and Debbie (Aaron's dad & mom) to their lake house to stay the night. Thursday the rest of the family came up, including Ryan's (Aaron's older brother) "friend" Jamie, but minus Lisa's husband Jared who had to work.

At the lake, the grandkids went swimming in the canal. The younger ones played in a blow-up kiddy pool. This is a picture of Lincoln eating a piece of grass and wearing his cool shades that got passed down to him from his cousin Zac.

This is Lincoln wearing his shades and Zac's hat. Linc doesn't usually like to wear hats, and pulls them off immediately, but of course I mentioned this to Sydni while she was putting it on him, and he left it on the whole time we were outside, just to prove me wrong!

We tried to take Lincoln out in the canoe, but he didn't like the life jacket much. Grandma Swan kindly offered to watch him so we could go for a ride. This is Kelly (Aaron's twin brother), me, and Aaron returning from our canoe ride.

We had a lot of fun on Thursday up at the lake. We distributed the Swan Family Cook Book that Aaron and I have been working so hard on. Kelly made a cover for it that looks really professional. Everyone loved them. I can't wait to start getting feedback on how they like the recipes. We also had a little mini baby shower for Stacey (Aaron's sister) who is having a baby boy in October. Then Sydni (Aaron's sister) asked everyone if we had seen Zac's (Syd's son) new shirt. She pulled off what he was wearing over it, and Zac had on a blue shirt that said "I'm gonna be a big brother". We were all so excited for Sydni! She's due on February 22nd (my birthday). There was shish-kabobs and chicken for dinner and chocolate chip zucchini cake for dessert. Then everyone packed up to go home, except Chuck and Debbie, and Ryan and Jamie, who stayed over Thursday night.

Friday morning all the guys were going to go help Rob (Stacey's husband) pack all the stuff Stacey and Rob had been storing at Rob's brother's house into a Uhaul so Rob could drive it back to Arizona, where they live now. Sydni brought Zac over so that I wouldn't have to be at Chuck and Debbie's house all by myself. This is a picture of Lincoln and Zac playing on the floor together. Zac is the closest cousin to Lincoln's age on Aaron's side of the family. They are about 10 months apart.

Originally, when the boys got done, the plan was to take the whole family to the beach. But the weather was supposed to be kind of crumby, so instead we went to a park. Which turned out to be a lot of fun. This picture is of Zac, Lincoln, and Audrey playing on the ropes on the playground. We tried to take pictures of all the grandkids together, and man oh man, was it hard to not only get them to all hold still at the same time, but to look at the camera while holding still at the same time. I didn't get any decent ones on my camera of all of them, but Kelly got some, so I'll have to get them from him later.

I like this picture a lot because it looks like Lincoln is going really fast because of his facial expression. But really he was hardly moving at all. This is a chair and it spins around, lot of the adults had fun playing on it too, including Grandpa Swan.

And here is the whole entire Swan side of the family (thanks to some excellent photo-shopping by Kelly. Can you guess which kid is photo shopped in?). I'll start on the back row and go left to right: Audrey Bailey, Aneya Goff, Grandma Swan, Grandpa Swan, Carter Goff, Spencer Goff, Stacey Bailey. Middle Row: Jake Yoshioka, Aaron Swan, Lisa Goff, Ryan Swan, Bennett Bailey. Front Row: Zac Yoshioka, Sydni Yoshioka, Lincoln Swan, Krystal Swan, Jared Goff, Kelly Swan, and Rob Bailey. All the grandkids are wearing shirts that say "My mom is a Swan" So cute!

Shortly after pictures, Lisa, Stacey, Sydni, and I left the kids with their dads, loaded up into Lisa's Pathfinder, and drove to the Oregon Coast for a girls' overnighter! It was a much needed little break from the kids and the guys. Me and Stacey at Sea Side, one of the beaches along the Oregon Coast.

Sydni and Lisa at Sea Side. We did take a pic of all four of us together, but it was on Stacey's camera because mine was having battery issues.

On Friday evening we had some good sea food at a little restaurant, and then hit the outlet shops. But to our dismay everything closed down by 8:00pm. So we headed back to our hotel room, turned on the "What Not to Wear" marathon, and chatted and painted our toes and snacked. It was so great to be just the girls. I love Aaron's sisters, and have pretty much adopted them as my own.

Saturday morning Lisa got us all up so we could get the continental breakfast. Then we got ready, checked out of our hotel, and went shopping! Shopping instantly becomes 400 times better when #1 you have no kids with you, and #2 You are with other women. We had a really good time at the outlet malls, and probably spent a little too much. But the girl bonding time was so wonderful. At lunch time we drove to Cannon Beach and ate lunch at a quirky little restaurant, and the food was to die for! We split a garden salad and pininies. Then we found a kite store. I bought a kite for Aaron as a surprise/thank you for watching Lincoln all day gift. Stacey bought a kite too, and we took it to the beach and flew it for awhile. Then we looked in the galleries, made a stop for ice cream and home made salt water taffy, and then headed home to rescue our husbands.

Sunday was Debbie's birthday! I was so glad that the majority of the family (Rob and Kelly had driven to Utah by then) was there to celebrate with her. It always makes a birthday so much better when you have your family around to celebrate with you.

This is Lincoln and Grandma Swan on her birthday. She was born at 2:22 on the 22nd in Walla Walla, Walla Walla, Washington.

Monday was our last day in Vancouver. In the morning we went down and had a nice walk on the green belt.

This is Lisa, Sydni, Debbie, Aaron, Stacey, Zac, and Lincoln, as we were walking along the green belt. The other kids, and Ryan and Mo (Debbie's dog) were all up ahead and didn't stop for the picture.

Our cute family on the green belt.

After our walk we all headed back to Lisa's so Debbie could take Stacey and kids to the airport. We got one last picture with all the girls on the Swan side. Left to Right: Stacey, Sydni, Aneya, Debbie, me, Audrey, and Lisa.

Aaron and I packed like lightning and caught our plane to Salt Lake City, Utah. My mom and step dad Kerry, and my little brother Tanner picked us up from the airport. We put Lincoln to bed and stayed up late talking to my family.

This is Lincoln and my mom at the house in Hooper, UT.

On Tuesday some of our plans got thwarted because my brother Jackson cut his thumb open at work, so my mom spent the good part of the day with him in the emergency room. No fun! That night we fixed my hair (it was a little too orange for my liking, so now it's brown!) and then had hobo dinners and roasted marshmallows and had s'mores. Yum! I have missed having a fire pit in the backyard. This is Lincoln and my little brother Tanner.

Wednesday went by way too quickly. We went and saw Granny Jan (my grandma) and then drove to Provo to visit Aaron's Uncle Richard and Aunt Debby. Kelly met us there for lunch too. Then we drove to Springville to see my step-brother Bryan's wife Emily and their baby Penelope, whom I hadn't seen yet. She is darling! She has crazy black hair, lots of it, that sticks out every which way. It's so cute!

Then off to the airport. Our flight from Salt Lake to Albuquerque was great, there was even an extra seat so we got to put Lincoln in the car seat. Then in Albuquerque we had to check the car seat because the flight was full. Once we were over Dallas there was a thunderstorm so we couldn't land. We circled for a half hour and then the pilot decided to go refuel in Austin. So we landed in Austin, waited about an hour and a half, then finally took off. This time we landed in Dallas. By the time we got our bags, found our car, got out of the parking lot, and found our way home to our apartment it was 12:30am. Needless to say, we were exhausted. Luckily Lincoln (and Aaron and I) slept in until 10:00am this morning. (Before you think we are super lazy, remember that all week we've been in the Pacific Time Zone, two hours behind us.) And that's the end of our vacation. We will resume activities like normal, as soon as we get unpacked!