A Sweet Little Vacation!

Carter's favorite auntie :) lol

We left Tuesday night right after Jason got off work and made our way to great-grandma’s house. The car was packed and ready by 10am, but of course with a dedicated husband… we had to wait until he got home from work. It was at great-grandma’s house that we put a very sleepy Carter to sleep, and we got some sleep ourselves. It felt like Christmas and I really didn’t sleep that well because I could hardly wait to be home.

Riding in the car

As soon as we arrived in the Tri Cities we were whisked off on an adventure floating the Yakima River. Last year Jason, Kira, and I had quite the experience kayaking down the river. It began with a rescue mission to rescue Kira, and ended with me getting sucked under a tree and Jason rescuing both of us without his kayak. This time we survived without any casualties, lots of water fights, switching floating devices, and Dyelan floating with a life jacket the entire time. When we finally got out of the water, a planned 2 hour trip ended 4 hours later with Dyelan being majorly late for work. I must say however, this time the floating adventure was definitely a success.  

Going for a walk... had to add this picture because it's so cute!

Thursday was a definite girl’s day. All the ladies set out on an expedition to find a cute little swim suit for our sweet little Carter. After looking at all the babies clothes, taking Kira to get a haircut, and getting sad about not buying any school supplies this year, we ended up at a nail salon. It was there the Ballantyne girls got their girl on and got pedicures! I love my toes!

After relieving the boys of a sweet sleepy baby, we all got ready to go to the rope swing. There is an awesome rope swing in Benton City, and it was there everyone jumped out of a tree, except for me. Carter was even routing me on, but after 1 attempt and contemplating my life… I decided heights and rope swings in trees just weren’t my cup of tea. I went swimming instead J

Headed to the rope swing

He is falling kinda funny

Jason going off the rope swing

Siehara landed pretty funny too :)

Friday was a wonderful day. We got up early and headed off to the Farmer’s market in Richland. I love farmer’s markets and looking at all the things people make and grow. We ended up with giant zucchini (2 for $1!), a jar of jalapeños (for Jason of course), corn, honey, tomatoes, and a delicious fresh fruit smoothie. I think Siehara, Kira, Dyelan, and Andres got some snow cones too. Just in case you were wondering, our visit was a success.

What do you do after going to a farmer’s market? You got to Costco of course! There we tried lots of samples, got some awesome deals on diapers and wipes, got all the food for our river adventure on Saturday, and bought ourselves some delicious pizza for lunch. Yep… basically way awesome!

As soon as we got home we gobbled up our pizza and got dressed for the temple. Kira watched little baby Carter for us while all the adults attended the temple. It was so interesting to attend a session in the Columbia River Temple, because it is so tiny! Jason and I are used to all the big temples that we have had so close every time we’ve moved, but it was pretty special to be in that temple again. In fact, we attempted a re-enactment of our exit the day we were married. I’m pretty sure we just looked like huge dorks, but oh well.

His life Jacket is a little too big, but he's still a cutie!

The big party started right about 10pm when Siehara, Kira, Dyelan, and Jason returned with supplies to make Ballantyne shirts! We stayed up until the wee hours of the morning spray painting awesome designs on T-shirts to remember our long weekend together. They all turned out pretty sweet!

Saturday was the Mark Ballantyne Olympics with the biggest and only event being tubing. We headed out early morn and claimed a spot on the beach for Grandma and Carter to chill. For this event, my dad drove the boat as crazy as he could and try his hardest to have us wipe out on the tube. We were all timed and went up against each other to see who could get the best time. My best time was 3min 25 seconds, but I was de-throned when Dyelan went up against me and got 1min 49 sec and I only stayed on for 1 min 3 sec. Kira and Siehara even beat my second time! It was a blast though, and I loved taking breaks and jumping off of the boat into the water. Best day ever!!!

The t-shirt I made :)

Hanging out at the river

Carter in his Ballantyne onesie at the river

The most intense ride ever!!!

I'm a gonner!

We stayed at the river until early evening, and decided we were all too wiped out to continue any longer. It was then we took the winner of the Olympics (Dyelan) out for dinner and ice cream. Where did we go? Well… DQ of course! We were all so exhausted however, that once we got back Carter had a bath and everyone went to bed. We thought a movie might have been a good idea, but I’m pretty sure it would have had all of us sleeping by 5 min in.

My sleepy boys <3

Sunday was a sad day. It was the day that Jason, Carter, and I had to say goodbye to return to our little home in the middle of nowhere Nevada. I almost decided to stay while Jason continued on by himself, but 2 weeks without your best friend or daddy is a very long time. That’s why I am home now, bored out of my mind and getting excited to get started on Carter’s bedroom.

Even though we had to say goodbye, Carter was still a happy boy

On our way home however, we did have a very nice visit with Carter’s great grandma and grandpa. They fed us delicious food and sent us on our way. Oh man, I love getting together with family. It is always so hard to say goodbye too, I’m pretty sure there were tears as we went over the bridge into Oregon…. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family, and blessed with a countdown of 2 weeks until we see each other again. Until that fantastic adventure… have a wonderful 2 weeks of summer!!!

Tuckerd out and headed home :)