Catch-up, Finale

Following the reception Saturday night, the original plan had the kids and I leaving Utah early Sunday morning for the long drive (around 12 hours) "home" to California with my dad and my two younger brothers. However, after Bryce's hours of screaming while driving the previous day, we decided it might be better if I went home with my mom at a later date when we had more flexibility in our driving timeline. Mark flew back to Florida Monday morning (boo-hoo) to return to work. Aubree, Bryce, my mom, and I stayed a few extra days in Utah with Kira and Stew and their new baby, Kylee. It was extremely generous of them to let us stay at their home so soon after having a baby, so we tried hard to be more "help" than hindrance. We even got to celebrate Kira's 25th birthday with her. Colleen and Andrew came down Monday night and Colleen made one of her famous ice-cream cakes. Unfortunately, there wasn't room in the freezer, so the cake was relegated to the fridge where it promptly melted. Fortunately, Colleen's cakes taste even better melted!

Mom and I left Utah late Tuesday afternoon, planning to complete most of the drive during the night when *hopefully* both kids would be sleeping. Before we left we took pictures of the kids. The best part of the photo session was when Bryce tried to eat Kylee alive. At first she didn't seem to mind, but she soon voiced her concern that no one would save her from her cannibal cousin. :) It will be so fun for Bryce that he has two cousins (Kylee and Killian) that are so close to his age. They will even be in the same grade at school. Too bad they live in three different states!

Grandma Graff with Kylee, Bryce, & Aubree

Amazingly, the drive to California went very smoothly. Both kids slept most of the trip (tender mercy!) and we didn't hit any traffic or road delays. We built in a number of pit stops to try to avoid any major meltdowns and that seemed to work well. Our biggest stop was in Cedar City where we drove around town till we found a park (with a bathroom). Aubree played on the swings and slides while I fed Bryce and we enjoyed the beautiful red-rock surroundings before reluctantly returning to the confines of the car. We ultimately arrived at my parent's home around 3:30 am.
We didn't have much time to recover from the trip, though. The next morning was the first day of school for my brothers and, of course, Aubree and Bryce were up at their regular time. We also had to jump right in to preparing for Colleen's California reception. There were a number of friends and family both in California and Utah that I really wanted to see, but just didn't have a chance to meet up with. So sad.
One difference about going "home" this time is that now my grandma (my dad's mother) is living with my parents. She totally adored Bryce and always wanted to hold him. She's not at all steady (she uses a walker) and is getting a bit senile, so that made things interesting. She thought Aubree was cute enough, but had a very strong preference for Bryce (that didn't surprise me, she's always preferred boys and since Aubree didn't notice or care, I didn't mind too much either).
That Saturday was Colleen and Andrew's California reception. That meant lots of work setting things up and preparing for the evening, but it also meant that lots of family and friends came to help and celebrate with us. We tried to plan well enough that we had plenty of time to play and enjoy each other's company, while still getting the work done with minimal stress. We also learned from our previous mistakes and made sure we had lots of food (besides candy, cake, and ice-cream) on hand to help keep everyone happy. Overall it was a fun, successful day.
Aubree attached herself to Uncle Ian and I didn't see her for most of the reception. The reception was held in the garden of a very generous family in my parent's ward. This family had a number of small dogs. Wonder of all wonders, Aubree loved these little dogs! Normally Aubree is terrified of dogs, but she and Ian spent a large percentage of the evening following the dogs around and petting and holding them. Wow.
The final test of our vacation came on the flight home. I had really been dreading flying all day (6am-6pm) alone with two little ones. Other than one TOTAL meltdown from Bryce that lasted about 15 minutes (that felt more like 3 hours), the flights went far better than expected. During Bryce's meltdown a kind woman sitting near us came over and asked to hold Bryce suggesting, "my heartbeat will calm him down." I tried not to laugh out loud and said, "sure, have a try." When that expectedly failed, I asked if she would sit with Aubree for a few minutes while I got up and walked around with Bryce (which is what he wanted). Thankfully, she really was a God-send and talked and stayed with Aubree for 10 minutes while I walked the aisles of the plane until Bryce finally fell asleep. Most people were extremely kind and understanding and once Bryce fell asleep both he and Aubree slept the remainder of the flight.
We had a great, if hectic, vacation and loved getting to see family and friends. Still, it's always wonderful to be home and to be back with Mark.