A Little Getaway

 The end of June meant we were coming up on another anniversary! I know, five years, and they said we would never make it. I don't know who "they" would be in this scenario, but every anniversary that is the Shania Twain song lyric running through my head all day and it always makes me laugh. 

We were hoping to cruise for our anniversary, the same cruise as we did for our honeymoon, as we would also be celebrating Stephen being promoted to Manager at KPMG (and potentially finding a new job that he likes much, much more), but, you know, Corona. 

So instead, we headed back to our favorite getaway Sr George, where the food and accommodations are free and the babysitters are a-plenty. 

On a previous drive we discovered that if we covered Ada's carseat with a blanket then it would be dark enough for her to sleep. On this drive we discovered that Ada has learned how to play peekaboo. 

The first stop at Grandma and Poppop's is always the pool! Rory was swimming like a little fish after her swim lessons and she seriously could not wait to show off her skills to her cousins. We typically swim once Ada goes down for a nap, but when she is able to join us she is a pretty big fan. 

The Sunday after we arrived we headed up to Rockville for irrigation. Stephen and the men worked hard outside, Lucina and Linne provided dinner for everyone, and I ignored my children for at least an hour so that I could paint this s'more rock. Rory and Tanner were little adventuring best friends, and while I'm not entirely sure what their mission was, I know they took it extremely seriously. 

In the middle of the week, Stephen and I sneaked away to officially celebrate our anniversary. We left the kids with his parents and stayed at Inn on the Cliff, where we also spent our two year anniversary. It was just as beautiful as we remembered and this time we were able to have Bekah and Steve join us for dinner for a double anniversary date celebration. Nothing is more luxurious than going to sleep knowing that there won't be a baby crying in the middle of the night. We didn't get to visit the temple on this visit, but we did go check out the construction they have going on. 

Since the world is shut down, Bekah and Steve drove out from Virginia and decided to stay for the summer, which meant that once John and Ashleigh joined us for the fourth we had all the Marsh cousins in one place. The moms quickly put together these sharpie-d number shirts for a picture that I'm sure we will make them replicate in years to come. It is tough to get a picture of 11 smiling kiddos, but number 11 was not the problem! Ada smiled and laughed the entire time and thought the whole photo shoot was awesome. Does this mean she will be less impossible to take pictures of than Rory is?? Only time will tell. 

The fourth of July is always a good time at the Marshes. We kicked off the day with some family pool time, after the men had celebrated their freedom with a round of golf. Kenzie was the ultimate pool MVP on this trip and was always happy to swim with the little kids so we could keep track of everybody. She even gave Jackson, Mara, and Rory some swim lessons! It was a great pool day and I probably went down the slide no less than 20 times. 

After some yummy food we donned our patriotic apparel before heading over to Linnate's to continue the festivities. The older girls set up a sno cone, lemonade, and cupcake stand and spent the evening trying to hustle neighbors into tipping them. Covid really tanked their profits this year. Because no one was able to meet in large crowds to watch fireworks, everyone all over St George decided to do their own personal fireworks show. From up on the hill we could watch fireworks the entire night. There was literally a show going everywhere you could turn your head, it was hard to decide which one to watch! Finally when it got dark for real the city ones started and they did not hold back. Ada LOVED them and got to enjoy the whole spectacle from the comfort of Aunt Bekah's lap. When we made our way back to John and Lucina's around eleven at night, Rory quickly passed out whereas Ada looked like she was ready to hit up the after party. 

On Sunday, we were able to celebrate John John's birthday with presents, steak, and Just Dance before we headed back home. 

Then it was back to business as usual, like Rory spending most of her time dressed up as Elsa, begging to put on makeup, or pretending to be someone or something else. 

My friend Sarah had a birthday and she let me make her a cake as a gift this year. I made a triple chocolate banana cake that was to die for and I only stuck my finger in it accidentally on once. It is probably also worth noting that the new cake carrier I purchased in St George was not, in fact, tall enough to transport this cake and I about lost my mind- a fact that Stephen will not let me forget any time soon. 

But the fun didn't stop with dress ups and birthday cakes. My freshman roommate Brianne was driving through Arizona on her back to Texas from California. The brave soul drove her very pregnant self and two girls, Caroline (5) and Rose (almost 4), all the way out to California and that added a day onto their trip home to stop and see me. True friendship right there. We drove up on a Monday night to meet them at an Air BNB in Flagstaff. Our first stop was dinner at Chick-fil-a, which we stopped to eat in a park. The park toys were closed, but there was plenty of little walking paths and the girls loved it. Caroline, Rose, and Rory acted as though they had known each other forever and I was a little teary eyed at seeing them all play together. Brianne's girls are so sweet, so funny, and have a little bit of strong willed sass that made me wished they lived right next door and could rub off on my children for forever. 

At one point I was feeding Ada a bottle and Rory and Caroline hid under the bed in the room pretending it was a fort so I got to overhear this conversation. 

Caroline: I wish I was a mom. 

Rory: Me too. 

Caroline: Because when you're a mom you can tell people what to do. And if they don't do it you can say RIGHT NOW. 

Rory: Yeah

Caroline: And if you hit your sister, then they put you in time out. But I don't hit Rosie. 

Rory: Sometimes I got to time out because I hit Ada. 

Caroline: You hit a baby?! You should not do that. 

Rory: I know, just sometimes it's hard for me to be good. And then my mom gives me pinches. 

Caroline: Like this? 

Rory: No. HARDER. 

Caroline: Woah! I would never pinch you hard. I would only pinch you soft like this, because you're my best friend. 

The next morning we braved taking the kids out for brunch at a local place. The food was decent and they let our children be loud and make a total mess, so that's always a win in my book. After stopping by Wal-mart to buy Rory shoes (because I had inexplicably lost one of hers) and Ada Tylenol (because girlfriend was teething hard), we headed back to the hotel to change for the pool. It was pretty warm outside and the pool was even warmer, but the girls didn't mind it one bit and swam happily for a nice long time. Afterwards we picked up a dinner of tacos that was too fancy and spicy for the children, which was awesome because it was also very expensive. Then it was time to pack the car back up and make it home before bed time. Even after just 24 hours together, the girls were so sad to say goodbye and my heart about burst when Rory opened her arms wide and said, "Come here!" so they could all come in for a group hug. Is there anything sweeter than reuniting old friends while simultaneously creating new friends. Also, I just want to cherish these toddler days when they are so open to new people and new friendships and they love everything so deeply. It's just magic.