Let's Get Together (In Mesa)

For the first year since we've been married we've made it to one of Ben's family reunions! Which sounds pretty bad, but it wasn't my schedule getting in the way... Anyways, with it being so expensive to travel to Rexburg I figured we could see Ben's parents in Mesa, finally attend one of the family reunions, and get to spend less on travel. So, bright an early we headed to the airport. This may have been the trip where we were leaving around 5 am for the airport and Ben didn't get home from doing notes and other tasks at the hospital until 4 am. It wasn't a night shift, he'd worked all day and had just been doing a bunch of stuff after his shift. He got home, packed a bag, and then had to get on a flight with two children. Poor boy. 

Because of our early flight and the time change we arrived in Arizona way earlier than the airbnb was available. Although we did get to kill a little bit of time because they lost Riley's carseat. They told us it was coming on the later flight which would arrive in about an hour. Well I was dying trying to contain Riley and keep Nelson happy in this airport so I said, let's not wait, let's just take their carseat and have them mail them ours to the house. Well it turns out that was a bad choice for multiple reasons. We get the loaner carseat and head to Ben's Uncle's house to wait until our house is open, but as we leave he gets a call that his Uncle is at the store and they will be home in an hour or so. Great. We were starving so we look around and find a Whataburger (a hamburger joint from our Texas days that I never tried because it sounds like Waterburger when you say it and that just sounds gross!) about 3/4ths of a mile from his Uncle's house. So, we have the uber driver drop Me, Ben, Riley, Nelson, two carseats, a stroller, three carryon bags, a few backpacks, and a boppy off at Whataburger. It was not a spacious place, but we manage to kind of tuck ourselves away as best we can in a little corner booth. When we arrived in the Uber Riley and Nelson were both asleep and we got them in the stroller without waking either so Ben and I did get to enjoy a quiet little meal. Riley woke up at some point and Ben helped get her some fries while I tried to feed Nelson in a less than ideal sitting situation. Once we heard that his Uncle was home we packed up all our belongings and headed outside. Now a .75 mile walk isn't much, but in Arizona, in July...it wasn't gonna be pretty, but I was sure we could do it. We didn't want to ask his Uncle to pick us up and it felt like a waste of an uber. So we walked. I'm already a sweaty person so when I tell you we arrived to their house in quite a state don't think I'm exaggerating. We were using Nelson's baby blanket as a sweat towel. It was horrible. This is also the first time I'm meeting these people outside our wedding day....so making a great impression. 

I was sure there wouldn't be much for Riley to do in this house because they don't have young kids anymore. What I'd forgotten is that Uncle Matt has grandkids that live nearby, well of course a grandpa is gonna have a fun room for his grandkids! Riley was immediately whisked away to a room full of toys (some to play with, some to look at. Uncle Matt also collects things to sell on ebay.) She had the best time, and was asking the whole rest of the trip when we'd get to go back to Uncle Matt's house. He was even so kind as to gift her a little Minnie doll to keep. 

When Ben's parent's arrived we all headed over to the airbnb. When we were choosing rooms we wanted one with a big closet so Nelson could be put in there. (Not sure why we didn't do that at the Messerly reunion...oh wait that's where Britt was sleeping. Haha) It also needed enough space to put Riley on a mattress on the floor. By default we were assigned the master bedroom. :) Ben felt a deep amount of guilt to be getting the best room, after also getting one of the best rooms at the Messerly reunion. He kept going back and forth about if we could be okay in another room. I felt zero guilt at all. If I'm traveling with a 4 month old baby to get here then I deserve any amount of pampering I can get! Also, I'm the one spending the most time in their room because I'm breastfeeding constantly. 

The best part about doing airbnb in Arizona is that it's really not hard to find one with a pool. (It had a large gate around it for safety.) The first day there was some question about the cleanliness of the pool, but after contacting the owner and having a pool guy come by we got the okay and we spent time out there every day! Riley absolutely LOVED it. She's only really done splash pads before this, I guess she also went in the ocean, but she just stayed at ankle height. She had the best time paddling around in her floaty, playing with the noodles, and beach balls. At one point I asked if she wanted to jump into the pool. I told her she could only jump in because she had her floaty and that I'd be in the water too, but the floaty would keep her afloat. I didn't really realize until she was already midair that even with the floaty there would be a moment where her whole head would go under the water if I wasn't catching her. Annnnd there she went. I helped her re-surface quickly and when she got above the water she said with shock in her voice, "I sank!" Poor girl, I hope she felt me there and didn't feel afraid of sinking for more than a moment. We talked about how I knew she wouldn't actually sink, but she decided she didn't want her head to go under at all. The next times she jumped in I caught her and she liked that much better. Her favorite game was when Ben and I would throw her back and forth. 

As for group activities we manly just hung out and played games. The Rollins are all big on games and we were happy to have a pretty chill scheduled. We did all go to a science museum one day. The cost was like $30 a person. When we found out Ben's military status got us and 3 other people in for free that became my highlight of the trip! There were a lot of fun little things to do in the museum, but when we were walking in with a passed out 3 yr old I was skeptical of how it was all going to go. We spent the first 15 minutes of the trip trying to wake her up and interest her in anything. Eventually she finally got enough out of her funk that she realized she was in a pretty cool place. She had lots of fun blowing up giant bubbles with Dad. 

They also had a fun little science display and they were playing around with liquid nitrogen. She made a joke with the liquid nitrogen that ended in her asking, "Is anyone a doctor?" Riley looks at her dad and says, "My dad is!" Later in the presentation they asked which is the coldest planet and Riley says, "Probably Neptune or Uranus." I'm so proud of the things her love of books has taught her. She loves her space books!

In this video Riley was delighted to see a bunch of "Fuzzbert dancing", this is what Fuzzbert looks like, you can see the similarities. :)

One day Riley walked in the room and said, "Look at what they're wearing!!" We were a little confused because no one seemed to be wearing anything strange. We eventually realized she was talking about Julia's red bandana. Then Riley said, "She's wearing Christmas!" Haha I have no idea why that bandana made her think of Christmas, but it cracked me up.

A fun thing all Rollin's reunions have is a "birthday party". Everyone brings five things (usually the same thing or similar) to give as gifts that also have to do with something they enjoyed doing the past year or an accomplishment they made. It's real hard coming up with something that's not gonna break the bank and also be cool, but it is fun to hear everything people bring. Then each person picks 5 names out of a hat and you get to go home with those gifts. So everyone leaves with 5 presents. 

It is always exhausting to travel with kids and traveling to a time zone with a big time difference is even worse, but I was so glad we went. It was fun to have more time with Ben's extended family and to discover a bunch of new board games that we enjoy!

And just to finish on a fun note here is a cute video of Nelson. :)