Washington 2017 - Ben's reflections

Infants change so much in a year. Last year for our trip to visit family, Arden was barely able to sit up on her own, had only recently started eating solid food and her babbling was very infrequent. The trip was also really hard on her as she was overwhelmed with meeting so many new people who wanted to hold and snuggle her, and as we wrote about last year, had the unfortunate reaction of bursting into tears when certain people laughed.

This year I was so excited to bring Arden back to Washington and for my family to see her at this age. Candice and I were talking a couple months ago about how one weekend Arden seemed to become a little girl before our eyes. Suddenly she was inventing little games to play with us, her personality and sense of humour were becoming more defined and her desire to do more things on her own was increasing. She is at an age where she loves running around, bossing us around (especially telling us to lay down so she can jump on us or play airplane) and singing constantly. I couldn't wait for my family to see this fun, energetic and loving side of her in person.

For the first few days of the trip we headed down to the Pacific Ocean to stay in our favourite beach town, Seabrook. The traffic was terrible and it took us 8 hours to get there, but thankfully Arden did really well in her car seat. The weather was excellent and it was so nice to be surrounded by Mom's family for the weekend. With both my sisters Saralyn and Lindsay having kids of their own, finding a time when we can all connect is challenging, so the trip was a perfect opportunity to ensure we had lots of family time while enjoying the beauty of the ocean. Arden was a bit slow to warm up to most of the family, but she really loved her Uncle Ryan and even let him hold her a few times. She also loved her older cousins Caiden and Amare, and gave them lots of hugs throughout the trip.

family group photo at Seabrook

Arden and her cousins

a rare cuddle with 3-year old Hudson

The next week we spent a day in Everett visiting our good friends Abbie and Darren and their energetic kids, and also made a stop at the brand new Funko headquarters. It was amazing, full of so many cool pop figures, t-shirts, toys, backpacks and other novelty items. I loved the different themed areas, from the Marvel section, to Star Wars and Disney Princesses to Harry Potter. For all our Washington friends it's definitely worth a visit.

The rest of the week we spent with Arden's Grandpa (whom she called "Gramma" for basically the entire trip) and her Bubbe. Arden warmed to my dad and stepmother immediately, and was so comfortable at their house. She would happily walk around chasing their puppy, Romeo, playing ball or pulling her little toy puppy she got from my stepsister Somer. We also had a great day out on the boat, visited Arden's great-grandparents and had a big family party/dinner, which was a blast. One of our highlights of the trip was when Dad and Sarri offered to watch Arden for the evening so Candice and I could go out for a nice dinner. We had an excellent dinner at Saltwater in Langley and are so thankful for them giving us a little date night. We even came home to find they had put her to sleep too, which almost never happens when we go out.

all dressed up for boating!

Arden took her dog-walking job very seriously.

three-generation hug.

family dinner at Dad's

Towards the end of the trip we spent a relaxing day on Whidbey with Mom, Saralyn, Ryan and Amare and took the opportunity to do a small memorial for my Grandma Sally (Arden's Gigi). Mom purchased a beautiful niche for her ashes at a cemetery in Coupeville that's up on a hill overlooking rolling farmland with the Cascade Mountains in the background. We miss you Gigi but know you are smiling down on us and are so thankful Arden was able to meet you last year.

The last few days of our trip were spent connecting with friends and visiting a few places we miss, like Green Lake and the UW area. We had a big friend gathering (a huge thanks to Tara & Nathanael for hosting) and it was a reminder of how much things have changed as so many of our friends have kids now too. It also reminded us of how the best friendships continue on despite the many miles that separate us, and how an evening spent together can make it feel as if no time has passed since we were all together over a year ago.

walking along Green Lake

Our last night we had a nice family dinner at Lindsay's house. By that point Arden was fully settled in and finally let Lindsay hold her, which was really special, as most of the trip all she wanted were her Uncle Ryans. It was sad to say goodbye but we are so thankful for such a wonderful trip and a great time reconnecting with family and friends.

Arden and her aunties!

Thank you to our families for hosting us, for all the laughs, hugs and for making all the time for us. Thank you to our friends for making the effort to travel to see us. It was so fun to see Arden warm up well to family during this visit, and for everyone to get to see her fun personality. She really loved the time with family and we can't wait for our next trip to visit again.

-BK