Can you believe my father-in-law took this photo with HIS PHONE?!
Andrew finished his first internship with Lynchburg Health & Rehab at the end of July. He worked really hard and was definitely due a nice, long vacation. His sister, Kelani, was getting married in Washington and the timing couldn't have been more perfect for a week and a half for the Mitchells to all be together.
I was definitely a crazy, nervous wreck about Cambria's first flight. Not only were we flying at night during her "witching hour" (don't mess with this girl's sleep!) but we would be dealing with jet lag from a three hour time difference.
Why did I even worry? She was a dream! We took a quick prop plane from Lynchburg to Charlotte, North Carolina and then had a long flight from Charlotte to Seattle. The plane was packed with little kids and it didn't help that it was delayed an hour. Meltdowns were happening right and left. Thankfully, Cambria remained chill and slept through most of it. I just nursed her to sleep every time she would wake up.
{Really? You have to loudly announce *every time* the drink cart is coming down the aisle?! And did you take lessons on using a microphone from a kid in Primary?!}
We got in to Washington early Sunday morning and pretty much went straight to bed. The power had randomly gone out on the island and since Andrew's parents' well is powered by an electric pump, we had no electricity and no water. Good thing we were all too tired to care and went right to sleep!
Andrew and I were able to meet Kelani's fiance, Caleb, the next day at Church and Cambria got to meet her two Mitchell cousins as well as her Mitchell aunts and uncles. Oh, and Grandpa and Grandma GG had also flown in from Hawaii, too! Cambria always had someone new to hold and entertain her. So much for my dreams that she would learn to roll over while we were on vacation!
Sunday night, some of the family played croquet in the backyard while the rest of us just hung out on the beach.
Andrew was so eager to get on the water the next day! Grandpa GG, Devin, and he all took the paddle boards out.
We ended the night with s'mores around the fire pit.
Cutest cousins! It's so fun to get everyone together!
During the week, we were able to visit Papa at work a few times. We even got our eyes checked!
We spent as much time as we could out on the lake. It was heaven! Paddleboarding, canoeing, tubing, boating, swimming, wake surfing--so much fun!
This photo of Caleb's family canoeing is for my Mom--nesting osprey on the raised platform! One down in the books for my "Big Year"!
Grandma GG was Cambria's special friend on this trip. She sweetly watched Cambria for Andrew and I so that we could go out together. Poor Grandma GG didn't know that that would include disaster recovery from two crazy naptime blowouts.
There was lots and lots of time to spend with family and lots of snuggles to be shared with all.
Cambria was a big fan of Nana's ball popper. Looks like we know what Santa needs to bring her for Christmas!
Cambria also liked showing off her new skills drinking out of a plastic cup. Such a hit!
Plenty of wake surfing to be had by Devin and Andrew (with a boatload of willing spectators/wake makers):
And even more when Kim and Tyler Sanders got into town! It always feels like everything is right in the world when we can get together with Kim and Tyler's family.
Tyler, remember what I said about taking a thousand photos and then deleting them all? This one made the cut! Someone caption this for me, please!
Yup. That's my husband. Wake surfing like a boss. On Lake Tapps. At sunset. With Mt. Ranier in the background. And the moon--cherry on top.
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Our days were spent on Papa and Nana's beach, soaking up the sun and enjoying the fresh air. Andrew's aunt's family--the Woos--arrived in the middle of the week and Andrew's cousins, Katrina and Miranda, were so sweet with Cambria. You can tell they are used to babies in their family because they were pros!
Andrew thought it would be super fun to take the family paddle boarding. He was trying to convince me that he could stand up and paddle board while Cambria and I sat in front of him. He was insistent! When he suggested that we try without Cambria to "see how it goes," I finally gave in. I don't want to be the fun-killer all the time. Just the crazy-killer. Here is Andrew showing me how good he has gotten at stand up paddle boarding:
Thankfully I didn't ask anyone to take photos for us because within thirty seconds of being on the water, we were both *in* the water. It was some pretty hilarious entertainment for the beach-watchers.
Did I mention that Laurie rented a soft serve ice cream machine for the wedding? We pretty much ate ice cream around the clock.that week.
We are on a roll with family photos this summer. Kelani's wedding photographer, Sanae James, did family photos for us the same night she did Kelani and Caleb's groomal pictures. I hope to post them as soon as I see them. Someone snapped a quick photo on Tom's phone as we were all sitting for the session. I will share the official ones when I get them.
Unfortunately, Cambria was in meltdown mode this night. As hard as we tried to do the photos early enough in the evening, she just didn't want to cooperate. Poor thing! And this night became a catalyst for a lot of crankiness and very little sleeping for the rest of the trip--Cambria and Mommy! We thought perhaps she was teething but that wasn't the case. Just an overly tired girl off her schedule and consequently off her rocker.
We knew a storm was brewing as we got Cambria dressed for pictures. She was so slap happy! At least this video is proof that she started the night off in a good mood:
Kelani and Caleb were married on Saturday, August 9th. Sanae took some beautiful wedding photos. I snagged this one off of Facebook and will post more if I can.
The backyard looked exquisite! Laurie really has a knack for decor. It was beautiful!
It was a beautiful wedding and we are so happy to see our family grow and grow!
With the festivities over, it was time to say goodbye to everyone and head back to Virginia. What a blessing to be able to be together as a family and an even greater blessing that families can be together forever!
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