New Jersey

My 35th and Baby A's 1st annual trip to the Jersey Shore, included lots of quality Aunt, Uncle, and Grandparent time.

As well as reading/napping on the beach:

And probably the only "Mermaid Christmas" store in existence:

Vermont

After multiple Massachusetts locations and one in Maine, the Archambault-Wegrzyn Annual Vacation continued our New England tour and brought us to Vermont this year. In addition to a new State we had two new people, bringing the total count to 7 children aged 5 and under, and 4 adults. Last year Xander was 8 months in utero, and baby A was two months out but 9 months before she would find her way to us. We also celebrated two adoptions and three dedications this year! 

Being near water and finding a house that can hold us have been the priorities.

Sophia caught her very first fish with Mama Danielle.

I imagine a similar scene ten years from now of Danielle and Sophia conversations.

Our youngest sons doing what the grown ups did a lot.

The oldest four in the lake with their Dads.

Unplanned critter towel coordination.

Baby A helped, but the girls are still outnumbered.

She's a good one to imitate.

Hiking a former railroad line.

Pajama walk down to the lily pad docks.

Spontaneous frozen pizza dinner at the beach because we didn't want to leave.

This year was no exception of wonderful.

Jason's 3rd Birthday Letter

Dear Jason (nicknames include JB Jammers, JB, J-Man, and JJ),

Your third year has been full of wide mouthed toothy grins, enthusiastic yelling at the top of your lungs, and rain boots no matter the weather.

We were thrilled to legally welcome you into the Archambault clan in March, but your belonging has felt natural from the beginning.

You routinely charm the adults in your life. From the childcare workers at the Y, people at the library, strangers on the street and especially your mother. You love to flash a mischievous grin as you test boundaries, but you put your whole self into a high five for following directions.

People often remark how affectionate you are.  You love to give hugs and kisses while taking loops through the house, or at random intervals while playing.

You don’t want to miss a moment if someone is going out, and always ask to join in the car regardless of the location and want to bring along your beloved guitar. You spend hours each day strumming on the floor of the living room or in your car seat, or in the backyard, or anywhere we will let you bring it along. One of those places this year was family camp in New Hampshire, which led to a memorable moment. You were invited up front by the band leader and welcomed the chance to stand next to him with your little guitar playing along. We pray that your love for music and worship grows in concert.

While your words are still limited, it certainly does not stop you. If you don’t have the word yet, you make up a sign, act out a whole scene or point to a picture in a book until your mother or I can guess what you want to communicate. You are clear and to the point.

Your interests have remained consistent this year, with trains being a favorite. Almost anything has become a train for you including a drinking straw, pool noodle, pencil, small box, and pieces of food. We love to see your creativity as you play.

A newer interest of late has been bugs. You will stop in the middle of the sidewalk, get down as low as you can, and watch intently for as long as we will let you. You are fully immersed in the bug's world for a few minutes.

This upcoming year is a big one as you start preschool, we are praying for a love of learning to grow at Campus Kinder Haus as you join Sophia there, and you continue to show kindness to others as you join the Bear class.

We are optimistic because you love your older sister, and our newest foster addition little A. You delight in helping them out, even if your hugs can look more like wrestling some days. Sophia's birthday prayer for you was, "Dear God, Thank that Jason's birthday is so good. Thank you that everything is gooder than it was supposed to be. Amen." We are grateful for the many ways you enrich our lives.

Love,

Dada

Road Trip Part Four: Ohio & Indiana

We arrived at the Seattle Airport to board a plane for Pittsburgh. It wouldn't quite get us home but we were headed East!

The best advice we can offer for flying with kids aged 5 and under is to feed them snacks continuously from take off to landing.

When we landed in Pittsburgh we drove about an hour and a half to arrive at our Ohio hotel at midnight. Getting everyone to sleep that night did not go well.

We made this detour on our way back to Massachusetts because we wouldn't want to miss the annual family reunion of my Mom's side.

There were many introductions to be made for the newest/littlest one.

Another highlight was the "slip and slide" provided by nature.

Our final flight departed from the Indianapolis airport so that we could visit Mary and Stan before returning home.

Each year we visit they dedicate their time to what delights our kids.

Fortunately they enjoy many of the same things.

Road Trip Part 3: Washington

Portland to Seattle was one of our shorter drives on the trip. While we didn't spend much time in any of them, Seattle was my favorite of the three major cities we visited.

For our one full day there, we got up early and went to a Bakery for a sampler of sweets and sandwiches to go.

We walked the city and enjoyed the sculptures.

Pike Place Market was my favorite part.

Pike Place Chowder lured me in by asserting that it had better New England Chowder than New England, but it was so good that I was tourist trapped twice to stand in line for it during our short stay.

Jason's favorite part of the city was the monorail.

Sophia loved trying out different careers at the Seattle Children's Museum.

And a highlight for all of us was a visit from Joshua's close friend from high school Karl.

Road Trip Part 2: Oregon

After 5 days in California we crossed the border into Oregon.

Jason's tendency to get carsick made me want to keep driving while he was napping but Joshua had the wisdom to pull off the highway at the entrance to "The Hobbit Trail".

We spent our first night in Oregon in a cabin in Florence. 

Below was the view from the porch for our 11th Wedding Anniversary (plus two more children).

When we arrived in Portland we immediately went to Powell's City of Books which claims to be the largest independent bookstore in the world. About a week after we returned from our trip, Sophia asked if we could go back to it.

The highlight of our Portland visit however was visiting with one of my dearest college friends Nicole and her family.

Sophia & Mary, and Jason & Isabelle match up in age and had a lot of fun together in the Rose Gardens and Children's Museum.

Road Trip Part 1: California

Since I visited the Oregon Coast in 2005, I have wanted to drive along the Pacific from San Francisco to Seattle. When a work conference was scheduled in San Francisco this summer, we decided to go for it, partially motivated by the fact that we only had two children and were planning to grow our family. We thought it would be simpler this way, but then were happily surprised by #3.

Since I was already in California, we asked the children's Godmother Carolyn if we could fly her out with Joshua and our 5, 2, and 1 year old. She made the trip possible and visited a college roommate for a few days before flying back home. 

We spent the first day of our trip walking the city of San Francisco.

We made a stop to see the Sea Lions, which Sophia observed had "mermaid tails".

And the site of the first public playground in the United States.

We stayed in 8 different accommodations on our adventure and Sophia loved the royal theme of our second one, which was located in Glenhaven, CA.

We continued to drive North to Fort Bragg, CA where we explored the glass beach.

It is known for having a high concentration of sea glass. Similar to searching for seashells, we were able to bring home many different colors.

 We veered off the coast to drive through the Avenue of the Giants. The Redwoods seemed even more immense in comparison to our little ones.

 Our last stop before crossing the California border was Eureka where we stayed with our friends Jill and Dale Maples. Sophia was thrilled to have more children to play with and we enjoyed talking with them about foster care ministry as they represent The Forgotten Initiative in their region.