Travels – The Learning Momma

Return to CYO Camp

September 19, 2019 by Ki Galvan

I was the weird kid who dreamed of boarding school and summer camps; the kinds of adventures that would be worthy of a childhood novel. But I did neither (well, one week of camp when I was eleven, which I loved!). So it’s no surprise that I sought out my own adventures when I was an adult, starting with summer camp.

I had the privilege of working at a nearby summer camp the summer I turned 19.

I met a lot of amazing people that summer. Both peers and kids. Shared a lot of laughs and late night chats. Sang more songs than I would have ever dreamt my off-key voice could belt.

I grew as a person. Got a little broken. Got a little wiser.

I wouldn’t change it for anything.

So when Miss H had a class field trip to CYO Camp, I knew I had to go.

Fortunately J is in town so he was able to take the day off work to stay home with the three littles. I really didn’t want to schlep them around camp all day, and really, I wanted to spend time with my big girl. I want her to know she’s oh-so important to me, even if the little ones tend to take more of my time and attention these days. It doesn’t diminish my love and adoration of her.

Also, it’s kind of surprising how easy it is for me to say “toodles!” to the toddlers and baby. Avellana is only 10 weeks old and I didn’t hesitate to leave her for the day. I 100% would not have done that with Miss H at 10 months old, let alone 10 weeks. Nor Mr. B. But it gets a little easier with each one, to know that they are perfectly safe and loved and well cared for even if I’m not around. Obviously I don’t question their father’s ability to care for them at all, so that also makes it way easier. If it had been a sitter for the whole day that may have been another story.

Anyway. It was such a joy to return to my old stomping grounds and to be surrounded by Miss H and her classmates. You genuinely could not ask for more fun kids to be around. But I also really like kids. Clearly. No one has five kids if they don’t like them. Or they probably shouldn’t anyway.

So much has changed. So much. And yet it is so very much the same.

It’s crazy how much smell makes you remember things. The smell of bat scat brought back so many memories. What a super weird, yet welcoming smell.

The smell of the soap in the bathrooms. The same soap from 12 years ago that kids used too much of, and too little of, all summer long.

Such a reminder of how brief childhood is. Even the youngest of campers who would have attended the summer I worked there are 19 now. The same age I was then. Their childhoods passed so quickly. My own youth slipping away with each passing year. My own babies growing faster than I sometimes feel I can keep up with. It’s all so fast.

And yet so slow.

Miss H spent the day gathering information and creating plans of returning to camp next summer. She wants to go for a week and enjoy all the beauty and wonder that it holds. And while it all ready hurts a little to let her go – she’ll be double digits by then! – I also want that experience for her because I know she’ll love it and flourish.

They still tell kids there is a hippo in the lake. There is still archery – my favorite. They still play Gold Rush. The food is still oddly amazing. It’s still a little too hot, and the cabins a little musty. It’s still a world outside of my element that I find a wee bit overwhelming and uncomfortable, but a whole lot of fun and worth it.

When our day there was done Miss H told me she was glad I got to go with her and spend the day with her. I told her I was glad, too.

And I am.

I’m glad I got that time with my ever-growing firstborn. That I got to be there the first time she walked through CYO camp all bright eyed at how amazing it all is. That she knows she matters so, so much to me. In 10 short years she will be the same age I was when I worked at that camp. And while 10 years may seem like a long time for some, I all ready know how quickly that time will slip by.

Minnesota State Fair

September 10, 2019September 10, 2019 by Ki Galvan

One of J’s favorite things is the Minnesota State Fair. If you know J at all, you know how…interesting…this is.

He doesn’t like large crowds, lots of noise, or any setting where he feels like he might lose a kiddo (he’s super malleable, but he still isn’t quite a free-range as his counterpart, but he’s good at stifling his worries for the most part).

Regardless, the state fair does it for him. In Minnesota anyways (ours is rather lame).

Last year I trekked the kids up to Minnesota sans J because he was in Hawaii (boo hoo, right?) and it was pretty fabulous. The weather was perfect, the kids were easy, it was a good time for all of us. J was super bummed he missed it though, and I spent nearly a year hearing about it. I mean, in fairness, we had deep friend cookie dough for the time ever, and he missed it. I guess I likely would have sulked about that forever, too.

A huge portion of my family lives in Minnesota, including my dad, step-mom, sister, and two of my brothers, so any excuse to visit is always a good one. Plus, adventures with extra, helpful hands are always a wonderful added bonus.

J was really determined we make it up there this year, even though we had a newborn. I thought he was slightly insane (I mean, he is, but whatevs), but I loved him too much to say no. And I’m glad that I didn’t because it worked out really well and was pretty smooth-sailing.

Plus, who says no to deep fried cookie dough? For reals.

It was so nice to get to enjoy my sweet big kids and ride a few rides with them while my parents loved on baby. And she’s so chill that I could leave her for a bit and she not mind. You have no idea what a blessing that is unless you’ve ever had a baby you couldn’t be separated from for one single second without catastrophic results.

The weather was grand again, and everyone was on their A-game. We ate too much food, rode too many rides, and the kids were totally immersed in the STEAM booths set up. It was a super fun, sunshiney day.

Florida Vacay Pt. 2

June 8, 2019June 10, 2019 by Ki Galvan

So I’m not going to lie, when people say things like “it’s not really a vacation with kids” I’ve never truly related to that. Like, for sure it’s different. In one scenario you are solely responsible for entertaining and keeping yourself alive, and in the other you are responsible for a lot of people.

Maybe because I’ve never been a partier or a drinker really, and don’t find that to be “fun” or even a little bit relaxing, being responsible for other humans doesn’t typically feel that tedious or as if it’s taking from the vacation. I genuinely enjoy being with my kiddos, as terribly crazy as they often are. And fortunately J does, too. I wouldn’t say we’d never do a totally kid-free vacation, because maybe some day, in the future, we will. Who knows? But for now, we enjoy having them with us, and we are super fortunate that we’ve built a relationship where neither of us feels underappreciated or whatever if we don’t have constant (or if we are being honest, like any) one on one time with each other.

All that said. This vacation was exhausting. Oh my gosh. It wasn’t even the kids, ha. I think it was my rotund stomach and the extreme sleepies of third trimester pregnancy. I was lucky enough to get several naps in, to sit on the beach or in the water and take a load off while J primarily care for the littles, but still. It was exhausting. But no more exhausting than if we’d been at home.

The kids were so happy to be on the beach. It’s really all that Sweet M and Bean remember, and they talk about it daily. Bean even squealed, “I love da beach!” while M inquired, “Shouldn’t we be living here always?” I told him I’m working on it. I’m not sure how many more years, or even months, of cold I can withstand. I thought I wasn’t bothered by cold and snow. And then we lived in Hawaii and I realized I was wrong. So, so, so very wrong.

There is a completely different sort of vibe and atmosphere to being near the water. Life is just more mellow and calm. Everyone is more chill. It’s the way life is supposed to be. Or at least mine anyway. I am not cut out for the hustle and bustle of busy life.

Anyway, here’s a bunch of photos of beach life. I’ll write later about H’s fun surprise. Well, both of them!

Florida Vacay Pt. 1

June 5, 2019June 6, 2019 by Ki Galvan

We just got home for our last hurrah vacay before baby Fimito makes his appearance in a full short weeks (WHAT!?)

But our drive down is getting a post in itself. As well as our time there because I’m a busy lady and need to get some stuff done theoretically (but I’m also exhausted, so it’s nice to have an excuse to sit!).

Anyway, we decided to drive down and split the drive into two days, stopping at the McWane Science Center in Birmingham, which we get into for free with our Wonderlab pass – woot woot! And then traveled another hour or so south and stayed the night in Montgomery, before finishing an easy drive the next day to our destination in Panama City Beach.

We departed on a Sunday, and two days prior the air conditioning went out on the van. For serious. It needed something specific and they couldn’t get the part in until Wednesday (three days after we were set to depart) so we made the drive with no air conditioning. 35 weeks pregnant. With four kids. Yep, we are cray cray. I would not have been cut out for the Oregon Trail, that’s for sure!

But the kids were stellar. We left at around 6:30am, and made it to Birmingham at 1ish. And everyone was mostly happy and amenable. We stopped a few times to stretch and run around, but they’re mostly pros at this point, even though Bean is still not a fan of the car at all (she wasn’t such an agreeable traveler on our way back…).

I made J listen to all the Janet Lansbury under the sun with me. Literally hours. The whole way. He is such an amazing human, haha. Because he even actually listened. No ear plugs or anything, bahaha. And would stop it to ask questions or discuss things that we agreed with or had concerns about. I still marvel at what a good man I married sometimes.

The McWane Science Center was totally worth it. We spent about 3.5 hours there and definitely did not get through it all. It was so nice to get the kids out of the car for the afternoon and play. And they thoroughly enjoyed it.

It’s all very hands on and fosters lots of thought and imagination. And they have a huge section for the under 6 crowd that the babies loved! (Although, I guess they’re toddlers +. I should stop calling them babies all ready).

After that we loaded up again, let the kids enjoy some Wendy’s for dinner, where when asked what she would like Bean replied, “ketchup.” I turned around to look at her and she furrowed her little toddler eyebrows at me and sighed. Yes, she sighed. Pray for me, guys. And then said, “Chicken nuggets.”

And then we unloaded in Montgomery for the night, where we woke up to this sweetness before heading to PCB.

To be continued…

Legoland!

April 4, 2019 by Ki Galvan

So I knew we couldn’t venture to Florida and not do a theme park. It seems kind of sacrilegious or something.

The big kids really wanted to go to Universal for Harry Potter World, but I was steadfastly adamant that I would not go while pregnant because I wanted to ride the rides, or without J and someone else who could help with the toddlers who obviously couldn’t ride all the big rides we’d want to ride. Eventually we will get there, but this was just not the time.

I kinda leaned toward Disney because I know it is so super toddler and pregnant-momma friendly, but I also suspect Disney will be in our future again for a longer duration since J typically attends a conference there each year.

Which landed us with Legoland. We’d been there once before and super loved it, but it wasn’t during water park season, so it sounded like a really fun and exciting adventure. Plus, we’d be going with M’s godmother and her two boys, so extra hands for riding the bigger rides that Sweet M and Bean couldn’t ride (or their pregnant momma!).

It was a mega hit and I am so glad it’s the choice we made for this trip! It was low key enough to not be too stressful, but exciting enough to keep six kiddos under the age of 9 thoroughly engaged all day.

55869057_434535727350566_2580467302633832448_n — She’s got the leg pop down…

Also, it was Bean’s very first theme park so that was exciting. And she got there at opening and left at close and didn’t take a nap because she’s a wild party animal like that!

All M wanted was to ride this ride. We did not have enough adult:child ratio and this awesome employee stepped up to the plate to be his riding buddy. I was so genuinely appreciative and thrilled that he made this sweet boy’s whole trip!

It was so much fun to spend the day with our dear friends and watch our little loves play in the water and ride rides until their hearts were content. And I super loved that Legoland had play areas all over the place and within lines of bigger rides, for the younger tykes who weren’t quite big enough for some rides. They had so much fun playing and never felt like they were missing out on the excitement and thrills that their big siblings were partaking.

Savannah and Tybee Island

March 28, 2019March 28, 2019 by Ki Galvan

I’d never been to Savannah before. It was just one of those places I’ve always wanted to visit for it’s historic beauty and charm. J and I had planned to venture down their for my 29th birthday, but then we learned we were headed to Hawaii, so those plans got postponed (not sad about that).

So when I decided I was going to take the kids to visit M’s godmother in Jacksonville, FL, I decided to make Savannah a short getaway before hand.

We got super lucky because the kids’ Grandpa J was all ready in FL, and wanted to join us, so we got to vacation with him for a few days; no one was sad about that!

Grandpa J stopped and picked up this awesome Chicco travel playard for Bean, which I cannot recommend to the world enough. It’s so easy to set up and take down. It comes in an easy to carry and transport travel bag, and as an added bonus has a bassinet attachment. I haven’t thought too much about what we even need for baby Fimito, but we don’t have a bassinet or cosleeper yet, so this is great (albeit it will fit in the small space of our room – I haven’t tried that yet, ha!).

We officially stayed on Tybee Island. Apparently Savannah is all St. Patrick’s Day – who knew? – and Tybee Island does a huge parade the weekend before St. Patty’s Day since Savannah has a huge one the following week. Our condo was a block from where the parade ended, and we all showed up hungry. So we had primo seats at our restaurant for parade watching, and then we went outside when we were finsihed eating to get more up close and personal. The floats were fantastic and the kids had a lot of fun.

Then I took the kiddos over to the beach because they were itching to get their toes in that water! The water was freezing so I didn’t think they’d make it too far, but I ended up walking back to the condo with four very wet kiddos. They certainly didn’t mind though.

We grabbed coffee and smoothies at a nearby little restaurant the next morning before heading to Wormsloe Historic Site.

55615923_2038550153114160_1762298697288253440_n — Sweet M teaching Bean how to hear the ocean in the big conch shells.

It was one of the few things on my “must see” list of Savannah. Basically it encapsulates so much southern beauty; everyone should see it. We walked around the grounds and enjoyed the little historic village area and footpaths. It was definitely Georgia heat though – I’m not sure I can imagine being there in the middle of summer!

Afterwards we were all hungry and decided to try out the Pirate’s House. I’m always leery about restaurants that are well highlighted. I’m afraid there is a lot of hype and maybe won’t actually be so great. J and I typically veer off the beaten path when it comes to eating on travels. But oh my goodness. The Pirate’s House did not disappoint.

The food was so good. Which can be said for all the food we ate while in Savannah and on Tybee Island. And since my life basically revolves around three things things: my kids, traveling, and food – it’s always a good thing when the food is delicious!

Then we headed back to the beach. Because as awesome as my kids are with traveling and doing and seeing all the things their Momma wants – the beach was right there. And they’re all such water babies, that it’s hardly fair to deny them that salve to their souls.

54799044_390278005097252_8769344257946288128_n — Me: I want one picture of the four of you. Bean: But the water is right there!

55457253_997200980670742_820029679099445248_n — These adorable Tea Collection matching swimsuits I snagged at our local baby boutique before vacation when their other suits didn’t arrive in time. Not sad about it at all!

55557095_540169183138763_1222354981001101312_n — There is SAND on my hands, Ma!

55802390_617459172013174_5872410961645666304_n — Let me help you into this hole, sister dear.

55837903_366852710574757_7728007936424804352_n — All my sweet babies in their natural habitat.

55939759_2203609786388410_6057613438962630656_n — Clearly she hates it.

We had hoped to take a trolley tour of Savannah the next day, but it was sold out. Instead we ventured to the University of Georgia Marine Education Center and Aquarium. The kids all especially loved the touch tank. Bean may or may not have put a live hermit crab in her mouth…they’re both doing fine.

It was a super cute and kid-friendly, and the kids seemed to really enjoy it. Outside there was even a little walking path where you could see some of the historic buildings from before it had become a part of the university.

Then we headed over to Forsyth Park for some play. Sweet M desperately wanted a playground and I’d promised him I’d provide him with one before we left Savannah. Forsyth Park was for sure where it was at. I would have loved to venture the park past the playground, but it just wasn’t in the cards for us that day.

We did get to venture to a nearby cafe called Fork & Dagger that had amazing food – can you say pork belly cheese steak? And has began a love affair with iced Cuban coffee for me. All in all, I call it a win!

It was a trip little jaunt in Savannah and on Tybee Island, but oh-so much fun and completely worth it. I cannot wait to return in the future. But the next morning we were off to more excitement…

Driving to Savannah

March 27, 2019 by Ki Galvan

The kids and I managed our first actual vacation without J, and while we all dearly missed him (but that’s whether it’s us traveling without him or he traveling for work without us), I think it was incredibly successful. Not too shabby for four kids and being obviously preggo at this point.

This trip is going to get broken up into a few posts because I’m pressed on time and it’s taken me this long to sit down and write. And maaaaaybe we’ve had a string of illnesses and unfortunate events that has prolonged it all as well, ha. That’s for another day.

I decided to break up our drive to Savannah by staying over in Asheville, NC. The distance to Savannah wasn’t too shabby, but I figured it’d be nice to break it up a wee bit. And I really wanted to go through Knoxville because I’d read an article somewhere about Yassin Falafel House and it being rated the friendliest restaurant in the U.S. Add on top that the owners are apparently Syrian refugees and there is falafel – it made perfect sense that we should create an entire route in order to stop there.

Our first stop of the morning was Starbucks because I left home early enough that I still needed more coffee, and kids were ready to get out to stretch and go potty. I was pretty happy that we made it to Franklin, KY before needing to stop. We are becoming champion travelers. And I was worried about Bean and Sweet M a little bit, because although they’ve done a few big drives all ready, they’re still Hawaiian babies at heart, and don’t understand being in the car for more than an hour. Or the cold. Or dismal weather. Or all the things we shouldn’t understand anyway because they’re not what makes us happy (can you tell I’m over winter over here?).

56140453_2036934163273298_4572494944362561536_n

The kids played Hungry Hippo at Starbucks (another perk – Starbucks typically has games to play!) and we took our time. I really didn’t want to have to hurry at all or feel stressed on this trip. I wanted it to be smooth sailing. And really, I totally understand that it’s basically me setting that tone with everyone, so again, lots of coffee makes the world go round.

We were all eager for falafel though. Okay, maybe the boys weren’t totally excited, but Miss H was sharing my enthusiasm because I was really talking it up and she loves to indulge me because she likes her status as favorite oldest child.

Guys. Yassin Falafel House did not disappoint. I will find a reason to go through there again some day with J because I know he’d love it too. The kids all loved everything they ate. The employees were so friendly, not mention just the customers as well. So many commented on how sweet my kids were (and I’d agree, no one was screaming!), and how blessed I am (I am, I know). One employee even offered to help me out to my car (other than babies I just had a small bag of pita and hummus to go, and was definitely not struggling – they’re just that nice.) Seriously. If you’re in Knoxville. Or Tennessee in general. Or like even the midwest, find a reason to stop in. And no one is paying me to say this. For real. You’ll be happy you went.

54169373_2417912348437703_5525352762038026240_n — I swear B really was happy here.

We didn’t make it too far out of Knoxville before M declared he had to poop. Kids are fun. So we stopped for gas and then went into Wendy’s for frosties so he could do his business. No kids were sad about an impromptu ice cream break. Promise.

56255503_2025397967558596_6016249072791322624_n — I can also tell you, that looking at this onesie makes me want to sob a little bit, because I weaned Bean on this trip, totally on a whim. She didn’t mind, but omg. I’ve never weaned a kid before – they all did it themselves.

We made it to our hotel in Asheville around dinner/bedtime (my kids go to bed early – most people’s dinner time!). I could not for the life of me get Bean’s pack n play to set up. I was literally in tears. So I finally threw her in bed with me, so needless to say I got zero sleep because as much as she loves me, she does not love sleeping with me. I’m not sure where we got this baby, because all the other kids would still sleep on top of me if I let them (well, one still does). She woke up about every hour (she typically sleeps 11-13 hours straight – eep!), and would kick me and tell me “off now!”

Anyway, the next morning while Sweet M, Bean and I were cuddled in bed watching cartoons – hadn’t even gotten up to pee yet! – our hotel room phone rang and scared the bejeezus out of me. I rushed to answer it (the big kids were still sleeping) and it was the lobby telling me that someone had called because of a noise complaint from our room for jumping. I let them know we weren’t even up yet, but the gentleman was pretty dismissive.

In all of our years of traveling, we’ve never had a complaint, noise or otherwise, against us, so I was a little shaken. I woke the big kids up and rushed everyone out of the hotel asap, forgetting that piece of shit pack n play in the process. I was flustered.

I was trying so hard to let it go, but it was really gnawing on me. Like, there are for sure times when my kids are level 10 cray cray and we probably should have someone complain about us, but this was not it. Like not even almost. So I finally called J pretty upset and told him what happened, and he promptly called the hotel. Turns out that over an hour after we’d left, the same person called complaining about us again. Except we hadn’t been there for over an hour, so…they either weren’t complaining about us, or had simply seen kids go into that room the night before and assumed it’d be a problem and were sour patches. Either way, the hotel fully reimbursed us for our stay there, which was very unexpected but nice of them.

And then we were almost to the beach, so it was all behind us…

Out West for the Holidays

January 8, 2019February 27, 2019 by Ki Galvan

I’m really embarrassed to admit that most of J’s family hadn’t met Bean or Sweet M. Okay, I will give us some slack on Bean, since she was born in Hawaii and we haven’t been back on the mainland that long, but Sweet M is nearly 3. Eep.

I guess in fairness, that road does travel two ways, but we’ve always known that we are pretty much the ones responsible for maintaining relationships with both sides of our families, and we are okay with that because family is important to us. But it definitely gets harder the more kids we add, haha.

Which I guess leads me to our first part of this.

The Galvans are adding to their brood! We officially hit second trimester during this trip. But I was still in the fairly exhausted stage regardless. I’d been hoping to be more peppy, but in the end it didn’t matter since everyone passed the plague around – we will get there in a bit, ha.

We are super excited to add the last little member to our family (yes, yes, for real! And I originally wrote “exhausted” as opposed to “excited,” so that easily sums up why this baby truly is Finito). We discussed a 5th. We wanted a 5th. But we didn’t exactly plan for a 5th. But it’s safe to say that God always has better plans than we do. But really, we are over the moon. We haven’t had a kiddo yet that we haven’t adored to pieces.

Anyway, we left for Dallas at about 8pm, after our big kids’ Winter Follies performance and drove straight through the night, arriving the next morning. We’d planned to stop if needed, and J and I both assumed we would need to, but he was full of energy (probably siphoning it from me like our kids are) and made it straight through. Though in fairness, he did pass out for hours once we got to his sister’s house, ha.

It was so nice to have some sunny Texas weather. It was chilly, but nothing compared to back in the Midwest, so we weren’t complaining. The kids were in love with the dogs there, and were happy to have a little cousin to play with and to spend time with their tia and tio.

I’d really wanted and planned on getting up early the following morning and driving to Waco to eat at the Magnolia Table, but pregnancy and travel, dude. It hit me hard. So I ended up vetoing it and just relaxing with family.

52774224_373550853376660_1600523956605943808_n — She is becoming *such* a lady. I love watching her bloom, but oh my goodness. I swear she was a baby yesterday!

52788181_2209300402719652_34579503254601728_n — This may be my favorite pic from the whole trip. Bean is really starting to smile for the camera these days! But really, she was smiling because of her papa here.

53018042_261196318134878_387971632867573760_n — One of the best sights in all the world is watching all my babies together, happy.

After a few days in Dallas, we headed over to Las Cruces to visit J’s mama and some of his other siblings. His mom was super excited to meet crazy Sweet M and always-hungry Bean, who by the way, also loves beans like they’re going out of style, haha.

Jaime got put to work in the kitchen per his usual daily life (probably why I married him. Or maybe because he’s so good looking? Or makes pretty babies? Or is such an amazing papa and partner. I don’t know, take your pick. He’s an all around stellar human if I may so myself).

The kids were happy to play and explore outside, although it was fairly nippy for NM standards. But it didn’t keep them from collecting sacks full of pecans for us to take home, and they happily cracked them open and fed them to me, so I wasn’t complaining.

We spent Christmas day in J’s childhood home, and I know he especially enjoyed that. The kids loved being surrounded by so many people and it wasn’t even a fraction of them all (J does have 12 siblings….). The introvert in me survived. It’s funny how much I love and need to constantly travel, and also how mentally and emotionally exhausting it for me because, well, people.

We also visited with J’s good friends and it was nice to catch up and see so many people who we love.

Then we headed up to Albuquerque to visit the kids’ godparents. This was the part of the trip the kids were most looking forward to, and the part where they all got sick. Of course.

It started with H and then got passed around. Fever. Snot. Cough. General lethargy. As much as it sucked, I will say I am so thankful it wasn’t puke. I just cannot deal with puke. Ugh.

But we still got to visit, and the kids had a pretty good time. They loved the lizard and the dogs and their godparents and their kiddos. B was stoked to play video games (he’s deprived and doesn’t have any gaming systems). J was super happy to just hang out and be with his friends. I know he really misses those connections in his day to day life. Which I didn’t fully understand until we left Hawaii and I realized how much I miss those people (I swear some day I will stop talking about Hawaii and all the lovely people. May not be until I’m dead, but it will happen).

I did get some pepperoni and green chili pizza, so despite the pregnancy exhaustion and sick kiddos, I can’t say it was a bust. And of course the company was great. And I mean, there were some amazing views. But don’t tell J I said that because he’s been trying to move me out there for years, haha.

We cut our trip short though to return home with our brood of sickies, instead of sallying forth up to Colorado for some snow boarding as we’d planned. And it turned out to be a wise choice because the plague continued for another week.

But really, two weeks of friends and family was worth it all.

Musgrave Orchards

October 28, 2018 by Ki Galvan

I have driven by the signs for Musgrave Orchards countless times over the past ten years. Always coming or going, but never stopping to check it out.

Finally, I decided to round up the munchkins up one weekend and check out this little gem of an orchard that is right in our backyard (figuratively speaking), along with my baby sister and her family.

It’s not a you-pick orchard like some of the larger ones further away, but that’s doesn’t mean it isn’t charming and completely worth the stop!

You can walk about the property, and if you’re a dog-owner, pups are allowed on a leash. It’s great for a stroll, a picnic, or some fun fall photos.

Inside the store you can purchase apples that are grown there at the orchard, homemade apple cider, local honey, chapsticks, and other great goodies!

You can also purchase apples slices and caramel to munch on while hanging out on the veranda where there is often local bands playing music.

It’s not a big hoorah orchard, but it’s worth your time for sure! We will definitely be back in the future.

England

September 25, 2018 by Ki Galvan

We finished Europe in England. Primarily London, but we did venture to Windsor one day. We intentionally chose our last week in England because we knew we’d want some place where we could just be chill and not feel like we needed to see and do too much.

Basically, if J told me to pack my bags because we were moving to England tomorrow, I probably wouldn’t even bother packing. I’d just go without batting an eyelash. London is my favorite city in the world. I know J would prefer Spain if we were doing Europe, and I’d be okay with that too. But a little piece of my heart will always be in England.

We stayed at an amazing Air BnB for the week – it was the home of a family on holiday and it was so nice to explode and decompress and make our own meals and do laundry and just basically live for a week.

We met up with one of my good university friends at St. James Park one day. The kids loved exploring the grounds and the birds and ducks. And of course, the amazing playground. And it was nice to catch up with my friend and feel like a real human who has relationships outside of my children. I mean, they’re cute kids, but sometimes it’s easy to feel a little lost with who I am apart from them.

Of course, being at St. James Park meant that we were right by Buckingham Palace, so we knocked out some sight-seeing as well. We are pretty good multi-taskers.

We took lots of naps and explored the nearby parks and ponds where we were staying. It kept things real and everyone happy.

This fox just walked right up to this lady and drank the water from her water bottle. Like no big deal.

She’d take a lot of steps for over a month, but London is where she truly started walking like the boss she is.

We also enjoyed walking around London City. We took the kids to Tower Bridge and the Globe Theatre. We will for sure go back again one day when the babies are big enough to sit through shows and we will just go go go and watch a million shows. The plays and musicals in London are better than any I’ve seen anywhere else. And I’ve seen quite a bit. I mean, I don’t have a theatre degree, but I know what I enjoy watching. And London is where it is at. And I’d love to watch Shakespeare at the Globe since it’s something I’ve yet to do.

But we’ve got plenty of time for all of that. I want them to enjoy their travels age-appropriately. The big kids love the theatre, but so do J and I and neither of us wanted to be the one to stay behind, haha.

We trekked over to Windsor for a day and visited another friend. That was so lovely and fun. The kids enjoyed seeing the castle (one of my favorites!) and the town of Windsor. The heat wave was breaking around this time, thank god, so it was a bit cooler and more enjoyable.

Don’t mind Freja’s look of pure terror. She’s used to being that deeply loved. We are working on toning down the love though, because people should only be touched if they consent. And yes, even a 2 year old can learn that.

We hit up the Natural History Museum one day. We didn’t even see everything there was to see and we spent most of the day there. It was an absolute blast and I would not be opposed to returning there again. And we wanted to go to the Science Museum as well, but just not time.

Our last day of London was an epic trip to Hamley’s. I’d been telling the kids about Hamley’s loooong before we even went to Europe, and it did not disappoint. I mean, what kid does not love a toy store? I enjoyed Hamley’s all those years ago when I was studying in England, and I was long past the age of playing. We had so much fun exploring each floor and all the gems they held. And the kids were so awesome about choosing just one toy to take home with us. As crazy as they drive me sometimes (oftentimes?) I really do have to give them all credit for being pretty much the best humans I know.

It was also pretty entertaining that none of them picked anything “new.” It was all the things they love most. H got Calico Critters. B got Legos. M got Duplos. And baby F got a stuffie with an “I Love Bean” shirt (which was just kinda perfect since we call her Bean). But I love that I know those kids inside and out. I grabbed a few fun books for them because books always have my heart, and you can simply never have too many.

And then that was it. We were off. Back to the mainland where we hadn’t been for a year. Back to our house that we hadn’t lived in for a year. Back to resume lives that, for a year, we had disappeared from while being island dwellers. But more on all of that later.