We headed west earlier this month to meet up with the whole Merrick crew in California and I understand now more than ever why it is such a populated state. Why would anyone ever want to leave?
Kellie and Robert found the most amazing house to rent right in the middle of the Santa Ynez wine country. It was unbelievable. See...
An early morning dip in the hot tub with Nana kicked things off right.
We explored the property on our first day
and someone needed a potty break. :)
Kendall thought her cousin Ike was pretty fun.
The rental house was about 45 minutes from Matthew and Lauren's house so we got to go see it and the life they have built there. It was beautiful and fits them just perfectly.
Their neighbor has two horses that cross over to their yard sometimes. Langley Grace wasn't so sure about feeding them,
so Luke stepped right up and took over.
Not a bit scared of Lucy either.
Eggs!
Hugs for Nanny and Nana
Langley thought Tucker was a hoot
and was Aunt Sandra's shadow when it was time to change or feed Ike
That night we had dinner at an awesome restaurant right by Lauren and Matthew's house and Nanny helped keep the kids entertained. ;)
The next day we headed blueberry picking
The girls thought it was pretty awesome!
Langley Grace developed her first crush on Uncle Matthew over the course of the week and hardly left his side.
I'm pretty sure we ate more berries off the vine than we took home. They loved it!
Happy boy with Nana.
The SILs (Sister-in-loves:)
Luke sure had fun with Uncle Jordan
The whole crew.
The guys out for some early Father's Day golf
I tagged along for part of it.
Another afternoon the girls got to head out to do some wine tasting at the vineyards that we were basically neighbors with for the week. Sunstone was our favorite!
Since I don't know how to braid to save my life we had Aunt Lauren do some pretty hairdos for Langley while we were there.
The infatuation continues
Grandad and Ike have a sweet bond
The almost three year old loved the infant floatie
a little brotherly swim competition
Ike's first swim caught on camera
:)
Papa is so fun!
It's killing me that I can't get this iPhone picture to show up bigger but how sweet is this little chat?
We packed up and headed to the beach one afternoon.
This was our futile effort at getting a beach picture of all four cousins.
Ike's paparazzi caught in action
Nana and Luke found some awesome shells
the boys played some beach football
and the rest of us just soaked it all in
Later in the week we headed to Lauren's Uncle Al's ranch and the boys got the royal tour around the property.
It was breathtaking
The vacation was capped off with a very special party to celebrate the gender reveal of Lauren and Matthew's baby...
Team Blue and Team Pink
It's pink!!! So so excited for a niece and a girl cousin for Langley and Kendall.
Jono, the baby whisperer, on our last night.
What an awesome week and what a blessing it is to have married into such a wonderful family.
Oh and here's one last picture documenting the peaceful four hour flight on the way home. It was worth every second of crazy.
Oh and here's one last picture documenting the peaceful four hour flight on the way home. It was worth every second of crazy.
