melted smoosh

stunning Hope, BC read part 1 here this year's family reunion was strategically planned around my cousin's wedding! we were so happy to be a part of their wedding weekend. they live in Washington state but chose to get married in beautiful Hope, British Columbia, a three-hour drive north from my parents' house.  the wedding weekend was adults-only, so we planned for all seven of the kids to stay back at my parents' house while my brother-in-law Colin's parents flew up from California to watch my three nephews, and my superhero Auntie Kris would fly out from Boston to watch my four girls. unfortunately, Auntie Kris got horribly sick on her way to the airport and after several conversations we decided to have her stay home (both for her own sake, and also because we didn't want to take a chance of sickness spreading throughout the house!). Nick and I both were discussing which one of us should stay home with the kids, when my mom graciously offered to stay with th...

seasoned travelers in August, we once again flew across the country for our annual Geigerpalooza meet-up with my side of the family. this was going to be the first time my girls would meet their newest cousins, and we were so excited to spend time the whole Geiger gang! there are two nonstop Alaska flights from Pittsburgh to Seattle, one that departs at 7 AM and one that departs in the evening. last year I opted for the early morning flight so we wouldn't be landing so late in Seattle, but it was painful to wake up and hustle the kids out the door in the wee hours. this time, I changed tactics and booked the evening departure so we had all day at home to pack and prepare. our flight was delayed an hour (due to a delay on the inbound aircraft) but once we actually got to the airport, everything went swimmingly. there was no line to check our bags and we were the only ones in the TSA precheck line. we got Chick-Fil-A dinner while watching planes take off and then boarded. my strategy...