Family Feuds, Crotch Gate, and Travel Wish List Destinations

Have you heard of crotch gate ski jumpers in the Olympics have been enhancing their members to give them a better jump Messing it crosses first Stop, that doesn't even make sense I was wondering if you ever get mad at each other Marianne She's like, I want the tea I want the tea We just had our first conflict a couple weeks ago What we're planning is a granny trip Granny trip I love granny culture, I'm actually so excited to be a grandma I literally told Matt the other day, I was like, I'm going to be Lolly and you're going to be Pop. Morning flights with babies is always the way to go. You told me that and then I was like, she's so right about that. I did it wrong a lot of times. Well, you walked so we could run. I tripped it fast. Welcome back to Always Here. We are Abby Howard. And Abby Howard. We are here to share the hope and the heart with heart and humor. I feel like everyone's had kind of a lot going on recently. How do we feel? Addie's burnt out. I'm burnt out. Addie's back. I'm back and burnt out. She's back and she's burnt out. She's back from her vacation and you're tired. Yeah, just a great time. No, yes. I'm glad to be back. Was it a good trip? It was really good. It was the first time. I feel like we are building a team with everything, so it was really good for me to be able to step away for, like, actually just, like, log off, which was really fun. So, yeah, it was good to be away. But now we're getting into, like, almost six-month territory for Brielle, which means food, which means longer wake windows, which means longer, I don't know. Just a new transition. I feel like we had everything ready with her, and now it's, like, six months. Big shift. Everything changes. Totally. Six months is a big shift. It is. It's fun, though. Yeah. So I'm excited to spend time with her and learn more about her. I wonder what food she likes. She's going to love everything. She loves to eat that girl. She's so cute. Yeah. Chunky girl. Yeah. Yeah. It was like when you were talking to me about that this morning, I was like, wow, there's two different types of people because I feel like we both have had a lot of plans. We were like, I just need an afternoon where I don't have plans or like an evening. And I think that's actually my worst fear at this point in time. No big deal. I'm like looking to Wednesday. I'm like, Wednesday's our first day in like 14 days of nothing to do tonight. Wow. Yeah, so I'm ready to do nothing. Should we work backwards from what's going on? Sure. Okay, well, last night we all had the hibachi. Yes! And I think it was... Insert video. Insert picture. Seriously, guys, it was actually way more fun than Matt and I were both expecting. And I would say if you're wanting to host something that is actually pretty hands-off... And interactive at the same time. And interactive. I was like, wow, as a host, it was very easy to set up. and then um but it was like very fun and like silly you have to have a good group of people so i will say let me brag on our friends for a little bit but like everyone was a good fun lively group otherwise it could have been awkward if you have like maybe more like if it's a corporate setting it's probably not no it's probably uncomfortable but um we use let's hibachi and they have they have like a chain all over oh and um i would definitely rebook with them i'm already like we need this for your birthday mat like we got the big tables now so we need to do this more and more it was just so funny though because you guys i opened the door and i'm like trying to get things settled and then they're just at the door with like their little jackets on and he's like i'm chef ab and this is keith and we're here for hibachi and i was like they already were like a bit like a bit they say we're in character all night it's so great it was fun i love keith it's not just food you guys there's like a whole they have like little games and they're trying to throw some conversation starters out there sake everywhere even though we had like a total of like four people that were doing sake we were all get up Caleb and Matt he's like a one drink total guy and everyone's just like he'll take it him I feel like him and Matt were both just like getting each other on I feel like that's the only people that were like okay I'm comfortable because some people don't know each other like no one's gonna be like blake but he would take a socket but you know i was like we were talking about before afterwards i was a little bit experienced in some the gas was unbelievable there's a lot of salt i think oh my god happening it was very good every time i have teriyaki it's just game over for the night you describe as bubble it's bubble gut i just just turn in and turn and i'm like last night i went to bed matt's like playing with my hair which he does like most nights as i'm falling asleep and i'm just like literally like about to fall asleep and he goes did you just fart and you're like most likely i forgot i did but i did he forgot you did and i was like please take two i'm asleep the worst we were growing up because it was just we were all sisters my mom goes girls don't fart they fluff and i hate that it's a fluff yeah and i remember one time my uncle looked at me he goes abby you farted when i was little and i ran my mom crying i go i'm a boy fluff i've literally never heard that it's not yeah it was it's not a term it's not a thing you said it often though like it was you'd only let us call it a fluff never the minute i grew up was like i'm not calling it that i called it a toot a toot i was like i'm so sorry yeah no it's the worst no i don't shoot out far you do abby honestly sorry for the potty talk but i'm not embarrassed by that i'm not embarrassed no it was good food that was a really fun time and so great very unexpected also crazy for the monday night it was a crazy monday night crazy monday night kick off valentine's and it started seven we were like wow we're gonna be up late on a monday yeah no it was cool um they did at one point put the hat on abby and she looked exactly like her chad gpt picture this is the shot this is the shot that's so funny yep today if i talk like this it's because mom spent we had our super party on sunday and then hibachi on monday the super bowl party was super fun too i thought personally very fun thanks it was good time party thanks it wasn't i didn't feel stressed about it because everyone brought food so i didn't feel like i was in charge of anything except just providing a clean home and some sliders i made these hamburger sliders i know i almost set up on your dm and said if you have any more bring them i did but we bashed them yesterday for lunch sorry i should have saved one they were really good and really easy to make they're on the hawaiian roll so anything on a hawaiian roll is gonna slap but this it was such an easy recipe butter on those yeah you mix the butter like the glaze on top with brown sugar and dijon mustard and so it kind of caramelized on the top really good and it was a little bit of sweet and then inside the hamburger meat was barbecue sauce and a little bit of mayo would have never guessed there was barbecue sauce a little bit because i don't really like barbecue sauce that much i don't either that was so good It was like the perfect balance of sweet and savory. So. That was good. It was really good. I have it saved on my highlights on Instagram if you guys want to go find it. It was a fun party. I watched 0% of the game. Same. We had three TVs so no one could miss the game. It wasn't worth watching. And I didn't watch the scent of the game. It was so boring. Yeah, I kind of got the vibes that were a little boring. It was so boring. Yeah, I kind of seemed. The last few years have kind of been boring. I didn't even watch the halftime show. There's just so many children. There were a lot of children. So we kind of had it set up where our TV room, you know, there were people in there. And then we had a TV in our dining room where all the food was. And then outside we had a TV with all the moms and the kids. And there were a lot of kids. And they were all just like herded in the back. It was fun. It's the best. That's the way to do it. Really fun. Just let them go outside. You're like, get out. Totally. Do your thing. Our house isn't that big. And I didn't really take that into account when I invite. I was just like, invite everybody. Which I'm never going to invite less. It was packed. Yeah. I had Vivian in the back nursing when people were getting there. And I just kept hearing the door open and close and the volume raising. and I just sat thinking to myself, I go, how many people did we invite to this party? There's a lot of people. There's a lot of people. It was fun. It was great. Super fun. And Sunday morning, we went to Paw Patrol Live. Oh, my God. Kicked off the day with Paw Patrol Live. I took Griffin last year because Augie was, like, a little too little for it, and he didn't even really like Paw Patrol at the time. This year, we were kind of going back and forth because Paw Patrol Live has gotten a little out of touch. With what? Their pricing. Really? It's outrageous. What was it? do you don't have to say you don't have to say i'll say well i don't know i we we got like the cheapest seats on seat yeah and for our family to go is almost 500 can you imagine sitting in the front no oh who's sitting in the front they have a vip experience we're walking up and matt goes why didn't we do that i was like matt matt what do you do you know what this cost us he had no idea and i was like well i would have guessed like 30 for all four of us to go it was oh first of all Each ticket was over $100. We were in the back, essentially. And we got no souvenirs and we got no snacks. I packed my own snacks. I was like, this is crazy. That is crazy. Was it at the arena? No, it was at the Arizona Financial. So it was a little bit of a smaller theater? I mean, it's pretty big. It's not super small. No. And they did not sell out the tickets because who's paying for their family to go to that? You have to buy a ticket as soon as they're two. Yeah. I wonder if it's a lot of corporate. Like my dad, when we were kids growing up, we'd go to Disney Live and Disney on Ice. But we would always go through his radio station. Disney on Ice is so cheap, though. Oh. It's like $30 max. Like you can go cheap for Disney on Ice. Paw Patrol raking it in. It's a good show. It has impressive costumes. It has like good set and special effects. And like their cast is talented. But I was like, wowza. Wowza. I literally kept looking at them. I was like, you guys are having a great time. You guys are getting paid well. yeah no i was talking the kid i was like but they were sat for it they were very cute and they were very excited about it but i don't know i'm not sold that we'll do it again next year well we'll probably do that um maybe that theater was just more expensive too that's where it was the year before too oh well i don't know man there was a jump in prices i felt i mean gosh comment down below but that was crazy um yeah but that's they enjoyed it they did enjoy it they did enjoy it they did enjoy it it was a good time good um also it was saturday saturday we went to the spa really oh my god yes back weekend we had a packed oh saturday i also had a dance class back to that thing where you're doing something every day in february yeah i also made breakfast for the campers in our backyard saturday morning this is my day i made breakfast for the campers in the dark because if I turn on the light it was in their campground because they were camping in our backyard um and that was fun that you're gonna see a youtube video of that if you check out our youtube channel but Matt and some of his dad friends and their kids all set up tents in our really small turfed area of our backyard and camped overnight and I had so much confidence in my kids I was like they're gonna be the best camp or the best tent worst tent worst tent by far I could hear them cackling at 11 p.m from our bedroom upstairs I didn't think they were gonna make it they made it all night they did spoiler alert and matt made it all night matt made it all night he was beat the next morning i was like hey by the way you chose to do this and you chose to also book me a spa day today so thank you so we uh i got like several hours like just to recharge and relax which was really good and um came back which also when my massage ended i thought i was gonna cry because i was like was that good it was so good i was like please don't be wrapping up right now right what do i have to do i know and i actually felt like i was gonna fall asleep during that massage and i never feel that way like i feel like my thoughts are always like kind of racing a little not racing but like i'm i'm usually not that relaxed i was so relaxed i was literally about to fall asleep he was like what'd you guys do all day and i go we literally just sat by the pool and talked just hours it was needed and then we moved to this room and then we talked and then went to this room and then we talked to him i thought it was like two books and i was like you know what this is better this is better to like fill my cup i literally felt like so refreshed after that i did too you know i didn't like sleep or anything i just felt so so charged up good i went home did a dance class with matt and it was actually so fun we all need to do it you need to force blake somehow i'm actually gonna try to force my dad too because my mom really wants to do it i know that would be the way it's set up for beginners like they it's very simple no recordings no socials we'll work on that I think those would be their requirements the teacher wasn't recording so I don't know if you could really tell her she maybe could was it at the wave? it was at the wave but she also this lady does it in her own house too or she can come to anyone's house and she also charges just based on the hours she's like you can have as many couples as you want so I was like that would be fun to host have friends come over to dance it was really really a great way to connect because I feel like a lot of times Like, it's easy to just, like, go to dinner. But this was, like, we were, like, interacting a lot. And we were, like, it's new and fun. And also, we like to dance. So it was fun. It was very different and a great time. We're, like, we already can't wait to do it again. It was a great time. So what was the consensus of what kind of dance was it? There were several different types. She showed us, like, an intro to, like, country swing, the bachata. What's the one that starts with an R? Rumba? Maybe that. I don't know. We did, like, three or four different types. Cool. It was really fun. Was it Mel? No. she brought in an instructor oh sweet okay i was like mel is such a sweetie it'd be fun i also had a galentine's on thursday night which neither one of you came to i know we had bible study thursday so i couldn't oh yeah i was there i left early oh that's how i learned about myself this week when we're talking about like what type of person you are i will leave early i will go home at a certain time yeah that's my thing abby will be the last to leave yeah i'm like usually the last one to get there and the last one to leave me too though actually i'm first to get there first to leave yeah that's okay but yeah galentine's was fun i was bummed i missed candy salad i think i was just literally i don't know why i had it in my head because the next morning i was like both my sister-in-laws and then i just kind of stuck in my head sat next to you and i was cuddling with augie yeah he said he wanted to marry you oh yeah he told me he wanted to marry me i'm his best buddy that's so sweet he loves you so much sorry so sweet anyway so that was fun you guys did the chick chick flicks and chick-fil-a theme yeah we did it that was the movie had some mocktails no one watched the movie i watched the time that i was there i watched it i was actually down to watch it i was down to watch it too we'll have to finish it couldn't really hear it sure a bunch of all the chit chat a lot of chatter which is good which is good it is so good it was fun i love our girls nights that was everything yeah we've had a packed couple weeks i've been talking to my mom because she's been babysitting a lot and i was like sorry i've just been so popular because i think we even did a date night last week so we've really been out and about my mom's like yeah i am exhausted my mom said to me yesterday she goes something i learned about you is that you don't need downtime and i was like is that true and i was like it's true i don't i think i get recharged from things like that so when you were saying you were like burnt out from it i was like i do think that like kind of recharges me also if we're going to go into the hope and the hard that's kind of like for me like the quiet gaps i found even in february are when I start to get like really upset and like teary. So I'm fully aware that this is my coping mechanism and I'm actually okay with it. Like I'm like, well, you got to just do what we got to do to get through it. Sure. But like, even if I'm just like alone in the car driving to the next destination, I'm like, I get sad. So I'm like, this is just me jam packing my life out, which is probably what I'm going to have to do for the entire month of February. And it's the beginning. So who knows what else is going to happen this month? You've got a lot going on. we have a lot of we have a trip plan nice speaking of trips that's the main portion of today's episode we are not ready to transition yet we're not transitioning we'll go back that train um so that's my hard though is i just in general feel really fragile so like while i may appear to like be like doing all these things it's fully a coping mechanism so i'm just going to put that on the table i'm fragile i mean you're such a healthy coper normally that i think if this was anyone who wasn't a healthy coper be like hey i think you're distracting yourself but because you are such a healthy coper it's like let's distract her yeah how do we distract you more i feel like i felt everything i could possibly feel so like at this point it's like just wind me up and let me go totally totally so yeah that's my that's my heart thanks for sharing that i think that's always people really a lot to that thanks yeah you're doing a good job sister thank you and we're praying praying for you through this month thank you yeah love you um my heart i guess i could say sorry no it's also not like i mean i had to apologize to kaleb a lot last week it was just one of those weeks where i was why am i being so mean now we got in a couple fights and we don't fight all that often um and i was a little disappointed in myself for throwing some low blows that i need to apologize for hey that's honest that's humble i was like you know i think maybe some other women could relate to this and maybe You need to feel, remember to apologize when you go low. When you go low, it happens. It happens. The other day I had a say this, Blake, where I was just like, it was much after the fight. I said, by the way, about like two back and forths, I realized I was wrong. I couldn't get out. I know. I had to keep going deeper even though I knew I was wrong. It just went. We need a code word when that happens. I'm like, I know I'm wrong. I'm just not ready to admit it yet. I know. I know. I was right, actually. that's better um it was it felt great we did mediate at our bible study on thursday night and we had the other couples kind of hear both of our sides and yeah i'd be one i won in the end but not that we're keeping score but i did say some i was like you know what that was apparently uncalled for so will you forgive me for that yeah there were a couple things i feel like yeah maybe it's just it's a hard pattern like once you get in that pattern where you like feel like you're in opposition uh-huh it can be hard to break that one well also keel's so patient that sometimes i'm just like well let me get let me get a little you know what i mean i feel like you're so patient we're both very level and like i feel like yeah we're both pretty patient but we're also both strong-headed and so then sometimes it's like what can i do to make it crack i feel like you're strong he doesn't feel like that like i'm like oh i made him crack i don't know i went too far you know if i'm like oh i made him mad i'm like oh you went but keel still didn't crack He just kind of laughed at me. And I was like, that was actually mean. I know. I know. So we worked through it. It really wasn't a big deal. It was just about our party. Parties will bring out the worst. I know. Maybe I was stressed. But I just felt like I was in a mood last week. I was just feeling very critical. I should probably reflect on my own life at this point. But I'll save that for next week. No, I'm just kidding. I'll save that for the next couple days. Because actually, that's my hope. I'm really excited that Matt and I are going away, just the two of us, for a little bit. because um and it's actually it's a little bit for work a lot of times if we get away we like try to make it literally like 12 hours like jam pack it and then get back and it's still good because we get to like have one-on-one time but you also feel like productive like um but this one we're also going to a marriage conference so my i think that's also a really good thing to add into the month of february because like obviously loss and everything impacts your marriage a lot and um So, but this is my hope. I'm very excited for this and, like, to get to be one-on-one and also, like, have some dates. And they're just, yeah, just excited for that. And also navigating a little bit of mom guilt for getting away. But I know that it's good for us. And I know that it'll be, like, they're in great hands and, like, so excited to see both grandparents this weekend. Oh, my gosh. They're going to be so spoiled. So it'll be good. And I'm looking forward to like someone at one time, even just the flight. I'm like, we're just going to sit together and be alone on a plane, watch a movie and hold hands. That's crazy. You got the whole plane. It's crazy. I don't even know what we're going to do. I'm literally just like, we wouldn't say all the muscle. I don't need it. Cause we're like, it'll be so great. Like you, you really appreciate those moments after having kids, especially when one of them sleeps in your room with you. Yeah. I'm so happy for you. And I did warn the grandparents. I was like, he will need a sleeping bag next to you guys. They're going to love that. Yeah. We're really like looking forward to those like moments of just like reconnection. I feel like it's a good month for it. Top of the year. Get some good habits going. Yeah. I'm excited for it. That's really fun. And it's, can we say who the marriage conference is? Yeah. It's John Maloney. You love him. I do. You love his podcast and his advice. I love his podcast. I can't wait to hear the content. We did one marriage conference right before we got married. It was really fun. Really? Yeah. Yeah, but also part of that marriage conference was, I think it was for couples that were, I think, maybe going through like a challenging season. Oh, yeah. And so the one night they're like, you have to book a room and go and like be intimate. Like no big deal. And they talked a lot about it that day. Oh, you weren't married. We were engaged and we weren't having sex. So we were like we got to get out of here We can get here Oh my God It was so hard You like why is that so hard for you guys So they all going to go to the hotel room and we going to go to the Children Museum Got it Great times. Great times. You know, isn't that what it's called? No, the City Museum. Yeah, in St. Louis. Children's Museum Museum. That is fun, though. We're like, we've got to do something not sexy. Not sexy at all. It was really funny. That would be great. What is my hope? I feel like my hope, I just said party was great. so you have no anything honestly given the longest life update so much life has happened though yeah i have no idea what's happening the rest of this week john and theresa are coming in town so we'll be spending a lot of time with them and your boys which is so much fun it'll be fun yeah they're not you don't have mom guilt they're gonna be with us no i don't think i struggle with that too much but sometimes i just miss them a lot i know it's not guilt like genuinely just miss them i'm not worried about them either they're literally in the best hands and they're so comfortable with them i'm just sad yeah that's good it's good to love your children i do i literally love spending time with them um this is we can transition in a wow that's crazy i'm so excited for this one there's been so much hype around it matt was the one that recommended this well there's kind of two we were talking about the super bowl and did you see that karen kardashian and lewis hamilton hard launched their relationship um no no and i don't know who lewis i knew you were gonna say that i knew it oh my gosh she's one of the most like successful i thought kim kardashian was married well she has been a couple times like four times divorced for a little bit yeah a while now okay who was her who was she married to kanye yes yeah that's i know that's done that's in the dust yeah that's done that's i'm dumb no don't be hamilton he's one of the highly most successful f1 race car drivers of all time uh-huh yes kind cool i kind of like their vibe together super yeah i don't i didn't really know who he was you didn't no blake's not into f1 no we're really into f1 so well that's fun yeah then okay well we won't talk about it since you don't know anything don't keep up with the kardashians you don't care i watch their show but the kardashians they the keeping up with the kardashians and secret lives of mormon wives are the two reality shows i watch i didn't know you watch some mormon wives obsessed with it i think you never talk to me about it because i know you don't watch it yeah i know but i want you to okay this is the crazy that's really been crazy okay i was like is that the crazy crazy that was the crazy crazy no no no um have you heard of crotch gate no you guys thought i was gonna know about this you might have heard about it well matt kind of said he you he talked to you about it a little bit like he talked about you didn't believe him So there is an alleged rumor. There's a rumor. I told him this was not true. People are talking about it. So a German magazine called Build, I think, reported that some of the ski jumpers in the Olympics for the men have been. He told this to me. When I was in the shower the other day. They're members. Okay, ladies. The men's genitals with hyaluronic acid to have a bigger manhood to give them a better jump. is that not the craziest doping scandal you've ever heard that's crazy if that's true i had i actually watched a video about science why i would help yeah because it's the ski jumpers yeah so if it's giving them more to me drag i told i didn't know this was largely talked about i thought matt just found himself i had not heard about it until matt brought it up well caleb was talking about it too i guess they're all talking about it together and i'm like that actually is insane because so last year in 2025 there were two nordic ski jumpers that got in trouble with the governing body of ski jumping because they like they kind of switched their ski suits around in that area and adjusted the seams to help is that the first thing that crosses the line that was illegal because they adjusted their suits so everything is under regulation within their outfit their uniform their skis and so they cheated a little bit and like changed the seams in their but now they're changing their bodies so now they're changing their bodies which is a very interesting thought you know is that wrong does it make that big of a difference yes it does i was watching an in like a he was a physicist doctor i'm mortified i think physics and he was talking about if they can grow one to two centimeters in that region it significantly improves their jump one to two centimeters oh it makes their jump they're messing it crosses first no no no what it's so that they can stay in the air longer that's why i was like that can't be mad that's not it i was like that's not sticking out i could have misunderstood him but i thought that's what he was trying to say picture like the squirrels this plays a role in their jump yes because that region the crotch if they can make that a little bit bigger they get more it's like so it's a bigger parachute basically how they can stay in the air longer well it's just in the vents they're not competing against one another that's crazy isn't that crazy so they're making wait wait tell me one more time as a physicist right this is okay so picture a squirrel and you know when they do the ski jump they're in like a triangle yeah okay so picture their crotch is the center of gravity i really paid attention to this video because i wanted to be informed their crotch is the most like center one of the most center of gravities so when they're in the air that's providing the drag and the lift to keep them in the air as long as possible so if they can stay in the air longer they go farther in their jump and they can win so one to two centimeters difference makes a huge difference who's the first person that discovered this that's so that's where it's like is this true or not we don't know it's a rumor but also hyaluronic acid this guy was saying he's a doctor um you know that's what they put in like filler in your face they put it in your joints crazy that it's right you're kidding me they're injecting that straight in there yeah their weeniebies yeah sorry the sun so it was confirmed that in 2025 they were adjusting the stitching yes and they got in trouble for that and they got in trouble for that and so this the new rules were that there's microchip embedded suits and stricter pre and post jump inspections of everything to make sure that that doesn't happen again yeah and then but it is important to know none of this has been confirmed right and no olympic ski it's a little hard to yeah it's hard to confirm confirm it that's a violation but also it's so interesting because you know you think you get if you want to be stronger you get bigger muscles you know and you go to the gym and you work out to get bigger muscles so is it different if you're getting a bigger piece yeah yeah because you can't you're not allowed to use steroids if you're but technically it's a substance that it would be crazy if then it's like everyone has to do that to keep up to win yes i think about that you know if that becomes the new standard you have to inject your genitals with hyaluronic acid also this is just my feeling on things like this i hate when things are boiled down to such a small difference i'm like dude that this person is gold for their life and like a legend because of this tiny tiny margin i know that's what it comes down to but that's just kind of like i'm like i know it's that's like that i don't like that well that's why you're not an olympian no no that's not why i'm that's why i don't watch the olympians i'm just kidding there are several reasons why i'm not an olympian no it was interesting i was thinking about that too just the the lengths that they will go to put themselves over the edge just a little bit you know and the margins are so close when you're that top of an athlete it's like those small little things you have to be like a little crazy to be at the top like that you know i thought it was a vanity thing too like i was like maybe they just want to look good in their suits with all the cameras on totally you know spoiler alert no woman really it's not not tickling us it's not appealing but it's not tickling um wow i can see why matt wanted to sit in on that matt was like can i come sit in no i think he wants to be like see i was right because i was like matt that's bizarre that's not real that can't do anything i know but i also misunderstood his explanation of the story i always just think about these insane act like these athletes at the top they all have to be a little crazy you know you think about these people that do extreme ultra running marathons and even the best quarterbacks in the nfl i'm like you're a little nuts to be that dedicated you know so i'm like i'm not shocked that this would be something that they would potentially consider when you dedicate your life to being the best at something you'll do anything that's crazy i know do you guys remember do you guys have the we fit board and ever play that game uh-huh jump did the ski jump on the we fit board i don't remember that i think i played that game i did have the we fit board i think i just played like tennis and stuff my grandma i had winter olympics i had the game oh addy so you can relate to your peers yeah i was like i i did pretty good at that game so funny i loved we fit remember that's we convinced our parents to get us a we were like It's for health. That's what they marketed it. Yeah, they did. And that was crazy. That's a little manipulation. Yeah. I would do the step, like, the stepping dance classes. Like, you'd step on and off the board. That's fun. You could do that. It was fun. That's awesome. I don't know what game that was. I did that with my grandma. Oh, just. A fit for life class. You went to an actual class and did that. Dance revolution. That's what you're talking about, Addy. No. No. On the Wii Fit board. On the Wii Fit board. Do you guys remember DDR? Oh, yeah. I don't think I ever did that. You didn't? Oh, you didn't do that? just dance i didn't have it on a video game i had it where you literally plugged it into the tv the mat we had the mats too yeah that was exercise like i was breaking a sweat that and just dance blake too a million percent would get down on that thing oh yeah oh yeah gotta get him back into it gotta get him back into it i still remember the rasputin dance rah rah from just dance three i think yeah oh yeah i remember it we figured you know it's we're in february you're planning a spring break you're planning your summer trips now's the time that we're booking our flights or everything so we thought it'd be fun to do a travel episode yeah and talk about you know our favorite we kind of broke it down to three categories a girl's trip a family trip and a romantic getaway and then our dream trip yeah why don't you kick us off well i figured we'd start with our travel horror story oh i forgot about that to begin because um you know a lot of learning moments happen in some failed travel experiences that we have lived through and we're not going to we're going to try not to repeat them right when i think about worst travel experiences the first one that came top of mind was um you know kids humble you in a number of ways and we were we we were getting into a good groove with traveling with two kids right and we've gone to whitefish mountain the year before with the family and i will say i it didn't make it on my list but i would say that is a great travel option um i've never been in the spring or summer though so i didn't put it on for one of these but it is a great location for like a winter and i feel like the lift passes were not like they were reasonable the little town of whitefish is beautiful cute great place okay well this was where it became a nightmare for us first of all another good thing is that you can fly a legion there from where we are yeah so it's really it actually was a very good place for like if you're flying a whole family whitefish is montana correct that reminded me of your horror story in the airport i had a horror story with the legion oh yeah going to whitefish the first mrs grinch just give us the whole day this was that was a different day oh okay and that didn't make the list of the worst travel day so uh so here's the morning we had woken up early got the kids all ready we're packed um at this point we had a one and a two-year-old and oh that's tough no we were actually feeling like we were doing like the one year old is such a hard age to fly yeah well this isn't a super long flight and we also had done it a few times i wasn't like i was honestly feeling really confident this day and we were packed we like ready to go um it was an early morning flight and we had just given our youngest a packet of applesauce and um we're literally boarding the plane like boarding and he just throws up that whole packet of applesauce right odd for him but not entirely odd for a one-year-old sure they sometimes yak yeah i mean i was like oh buddy oh buddy he just went on about his life because that's how one-year-olds kind of are they they kind of throw up and they just kind of go they kind of are just confused for a second and they go on so it's like okay that was i didn't think too much of it flight takes off um within the first 15 minutes of being in the air he throws up again oh and i was like well that's odd because that's odd that wasn't it wasn't that was it must have been something he ate from the day before right i was like weird and he was like now he's starting to look a little uncomfortable and i was also covered in vomit this was just the prequel to the whole flight of literally getting yacked on the entire i think it's like a two and a half hour three hour flight oh my goodness smelled so bad i felt so bad i'm like trying to wash his like yeah stuff out we did not have enough clothes to change and change ourselves was there a random person sitting next to you we had the row like the three of us because he was still lap infant at this time yeah um but i mean the people around us could probably still i mean i felt so bad we're trying to keep it clean as much kept happening which was so weird because it's like no like all morning he wasn't showing any symptoms of anything and then he just starts getting sick and i was like okay that is so weird by the time we landed empty stomach for this guy and he actually seemed to be feeling like a little better that was the last of it from our youngest nice i was like okay well we we made it we made it we sanitized ourselves we like and we're like he's one like that we're not gonna like think too much into that yeah and obviously deep cleaned all of our clothes i mean my my bra was wet with oh vomit if that just tells you anything like it was so gross i was soaked in it and it was so sad for him was he still nursing no okay it was so so so so so sad for him so then we're like phew we're on we're in the clear next day whole next day we go skiing like we're having a great time everything's fine and great we had to ski in and ski out lodge it was so fun that evening right before bed our next our other son starts throwing up and this is weirder because he's two and a half and they don't throw up as much right and he definitely seems to not feel good oh i was like oh no and so he starts throwing up then i start yakking no everywhere and i am the worst with this because i am like fearing it so much so we were up all night the two of us taking turns and it was so sad because he like he had never had a stomach bug like this before he was so confused like what was going on and then sometimes i was throwing up and i like couldn't help him because he was throwing up and we were up all night throwing up the two of us Was he making it into the toilet? Oh, no. We had buckets, and we were just Lysol, like, trying to clean everything up. Yeah. My dad comes downstairs the next morning because my parents came with us, too. Uh-huh. And he's like, what's going on? And I am literally like, help me. He starts throwing up. My mom starts throwing up. No. Matt somehow got one throw up in there. everyone is puking this house reeked and it was a nice house i messaged the host afterwards i was like charge us whatever you have to charge please fumigate that place so the whole trip we spent we had the norovirus oh my goodness we were in blake and i were invited on that trip we didn't also invite on that trip i was i was pregnant and we didn't end up going and i was not upset yeah i was like dang that'd be fine yeah glad we didn't go sorry it was horrible it was like actually so bad like i haven't been that like wrecked like with a sickness since i was literally a kid totally it knocked us on our butts yeah and that's where you just keep going even though there's nothing in your stomach just wanted to be home i was literally like i don't want to throw up in this place anymore but honestly someone else got to clean it up you know what i mean i know you I feel bad about it, but at least you didn't have to disinfect your house. We had to wait a little because we had to, like, make sure. Oh, my gosh. And then I can't even. So many things went wrong on that trip. I don't have time for this whole podcast. That's when the car. Yeah. Yeah. That's just embarrassing. If you haven't seen that one, there is a video out there about it. Okay. A lot of things went wrong on this trip. And I think that was honestly the cherry on top. I was like, get us out of here. And then our car is not moving. I was like, no, we're going to miss our flight. i just want to leave so bad like i just want to leave so bad no man yeah anyway yeah parking break was on pretty horrible gotta check for that hey you guys had brain fog you were sick you didn't know mad that wasn't mad doing the most to get those tires going we had cardboard we had we were boiling water yeah of course that's my first thought i was literally like uh i remember that was like a we don't talk about that yeah it was like I still don't talk about it because we both still think we're right. You both are wrong because the parking brake was on. No, I am. Anyway. Bad trip. Bad, bad, bad trip. Good intentions. But gosh, horrible outcome. Okay. Don't get the norovirus on your family vacation. Don't get the norovirus with toddlers. With toddlers. My horror story is more funny and it's more. When we flew out to Hawaii to meet you guys, that whole day was just like a string of goofy, weird crazy things so we started off the morning kaleb and i were flying from kansas city had a layover in phoenix and then to hawaii we leave in the morning our flight is delayed taking off and we had a pretty close connection in phoenix so my mom is on the phone so we take off we know we're going to miss our connecting flight so first of all we're like already a little stressed i didn't know what to do i asked i remember asking the flight attendant just i just called over i was really really understanding like hey i know like obviously we're delayed we had a really close connecting flight that we're going to miss and she stopped me mid-sentence and goes ma'am everyone's stressed out right now and just walked away i was like that was actually the least helpful thing ever oh okay so i just had a question but was it american absolutely why are they known to be grouchy i really have the grouchiest flight attendant oh legion's kind of bad too i've always had really nice people on allegion that's good in the airport i've had a few grouchy encounters on American no slander but you know I give her the benefit of the doubt it was a high stress situation I'm sure but you know it was pretty rude and then we my mom was like working behind the scenes I texted her so I genuinely don't know what to do I honestly didn't she goes okay I've got it all covered for you my mom's a rock star she said I was on the phone with them we are gonna land they were gonna put us on a flight the next day so we're gonna miss a whole day in Hawaii my mom ended up getting us on a flight to LA and then from LA to Hawaii so we're just going to land later so it just kind of lengthened our day um we land in phoenix we get on our flight to la it was very short the girl next to me this is like a bridesmaids moment when they're on the plane okay sit down next to this girl she's at the window seat she is from phoenix la this is from phoenix la so you know you're gonna get some characters to go to california you know um she sits next to me she is like visibly anxious and she's like you know, she's like a little worked up. She falls asleep immediately. She's got the loudest scream of music going on in her ears. I'm like, my gosh, this girl is like really trying to distract herself. Um, the flight attendants are starting to do cart service. And at the same time, she kind of wakes up and she starts like panicking. She's going like grabbing her seat. She's like, can't breathe. And she's starting to freak out. And she started to mumble, um, a lot of things that were like a little weird and me i'm like i'm just trying i'm in the middle seat right next to her kilb's next to me i'm just trying to be still and like not set her off because i didn't know what was going to happen for me she starts cussing oh my god she starts like looking she pulls the little pamphlet out of the seat and starts trying to scroll it like a cell phone like she's really she's kind of losing her marbles a little and the flight attendant i make eye contact and we're just kind of like what's going on here and then she just falls back asleep oh okay so she must have been on medication or something for anxiety that's the only possible thing that i can conclude at the end of the flight so we're all kind of like a little on edge um she wakes back up and she can't get her seatbelt off and she starts to panic again she's just like pulling it she's like she's kind of cussing and i hey it's okay and then i just kind of showed her how to lift the flap to unbuckle herself and she goes oh thanks she gets up just walks off the flight so that was our first flight kind of a bridesmaid moment she was panicking she maybe thought there was a pioneer woman turning butter on the wing i don't know she was like i don't know this reference really no i'm sure that other people will you've never seen bridesmaids i think i have it's a very famous butter it's a very famous scene when they're like panicking and she's they're like next to it you'll have to go watch it okay um i really will i remember her looking out the window looking down and being like holy holy just like cussing like the heights she was just really freaked out Okay So that was just a little like we like whoa this is crazy so then we at the you know we have a layover for a little while we get on our next flight to go to hawaii okay we're excited we're jazzed up this is really you know we're finally getting to hawaii and i sit next to this girl she's really young i'm like oh my gosh she's flying alone as like an adolescent that's kind of scary so unaccompanied minor this is so bad by the way because i know this story so i'm like i'm gonna take care of her i'm gonna take care of her i'm gonna be really over i like you know i'm sorry i kept the giggles out of thinking about it so i'm sitting here i'm like i want to make her feel really comfortable she can talk to me if she needs me so i like i'm being really over the top oh my gosh are you so excited to fly to hawaii And she's like, yeah. And she's really like sweet and little and young and mousy. Okay. She's like a little girl. And I go, where's your mom? Is your mom with you? Her mom is actually in the aisle next to her. And I'm like, oh my gosh, like Hawaii is amazing. She goes, yeah, I'm from here. And I'm like, oh, you're going home. That's great. Where are you flying from? She's like, I'm flying from the East Coast. I said, that's amazing. What were you there for? and she goes college and in my head i'm like i'm sitting next to a child prodigy and i go you're still not convinced oh my god i go that's amazing college wow how old are you she goes she was 21 21 i'm speaking to her like in six years college should have been a really good hit she was so young looking i'm like she's a prodigy we're not convinced like she is she's gonna like cure cancer one day this kid is this kid is amazing amazing child i shut my mouth so fast i sat for it i didn't say another word i was so embarrassed i felt so bad mom was also still on that flight her mom was like wasn't with this crazy chick talking to my kid like this that was so embarrassing the most embarrassing moment of my life Well, you know what? Yeah, you know, we made to Hawaii. You're only going to do that once, Abby. Yeah. Yeah, you never. Yeah. I'm just going to assume everyone's older. I don't know if that's. No, it's actually the first question I ask. How old are you? Lead with that. Lead with that. So that was horrible. Well, let's try not to repeat those this season as we travel for spring break and summer. So let's start with family trip ideas. love that i okay when i think a family trip i just think of florida right honestly i feel like florida is a great place for uh a budget yeah depending obviously flying from here it that is going to be your probably most expensive thing but lots of perks if you're traveling with kiddos because once you're there it's generally affordable i would say they have so many large beach houses and actually this is what we are hoping to do with some friends this summer um is get a big beach house and if you're splitting it with other families it makes it very affordable sure you can stay right by the beach a lot of them a lot of these houses come with amenities come with golf carts yeah amenity like grills beach things beach things um and golf carts so then you could get to the beach easily the ocean is warm there and the and fairly calm like it's a great family-friendly atmosphere lots of sand and lots of other families there and family-friendly restaurants like it's just a great place to go with kids and i feel like i'm not telling you guys anything new but we're really excited to do this this summer with like a bunch of other friends with like little kids and we're just going to cook all of our meals at the house because a lot of these houses have like big kitchen already stocked right so we're just going to make the dad's grill we'll make some sides inside and everyone everyone's happy you know what i've seen to pop up i feel like specifically in florida are these businesses that you can hire them to come and stock your fridge you can hire them you know to oh that's nice i know you can rent all your baby equipment through them so you don't have to travel with all that stuff of those yeah i feel like i've seen a lot of those in florida specifically so you know if that's in the budget that's always a great option obviously a lot of theme parks and things you could do too yeah i'm thinking more of like a beach beach type of vibe because that's uh kind of like it doesn't require a lot of planning it's just kind of chill and fun and all the kids will entertain each other for sure that's really great very excited i feel like there's one other thing i was gonna say oh we also always do walmart delivery whenever we travel like wherever we go so then we get there we already have like their diapers they're like all the food and it's a hack it's a good sometimes you think about what people did before these delivery services like y'all you had to go out and plan that uh which these are new within the last few years so we did find a grocery store because you didn't have maps like i know my gosh we're so lucky we're so lucky you're so like i was born at this time period for a reason there's exactly a reason um what was oh mine was lake michigan we actually went this past summer with my family it was really really great for a family vacation similar vibes where the it feels like you're on the ocean because the lake is so massive but the waves it's it's not really wavy so it was really great for cj he was one and a half to go in the water and it just felt really it's probably freezing though huh it was not really no uh and We went in July. So it was warm. It was like 80 degrees. So nice. I know. Yeah, the lake was warmer than we were expecting. Okay. TJ loved it. One day the lake was really cold. One day it was warm. I don't know how that happened. But, you know. That's fun. Yeah, it was really great. And there are a lot of like, the towns are a little slower. They're not as packed. So it's really easy to get restaurants. Did you fly to Chicago? No, we flew into Grand Rapids. Okay. It depends on where you go on the lake. Okay. But we were on the east side of the lake, which was really nice. And there are a lot of great towns along there that you can go to and visit and walk through. You know, great food. We rented a big house with my family, cooked a lot of meals. You know, it was just – it was the good pace of slow. I feel like it wasn't – it's a little easier than Florida. Well, I feel like it's a little bit more budget than Florida because you can rent a house on the beach for cheaper if you don't want to do, like, a group thing. And then you can just walk back for naps, which is really nice. And then, you know, you're right there on the lake, which is really cool. So it was a great option too. I never think about Lake Michigan. I don't either, but it was drivable for my family in Missouri, and then it was easy for us to fly in. And they actually had Allegiant flights there. So you just had so many options. It was great. That's fun. Yeah. That's a good idea. I feel like a lot of people probably don't think about that. Can I give a runner-up one? Yeah. Okay. San Diego for a kids trip. A family trip was so fun because the zoo is amazing. Yeah. And then it's really easy to fly there. So many Airbnbs, so many hotels. You can go to the beach. You can go look at the – there were so many fun things to do as a family. When did you do that? We did that last fall. Oh, fun. In October. It was so fun. They also have Legoland there, which is, Legoland's actually really cheap. Ah, I know. We need to go, but CJ wasn't like, he wasn't old enough yet. But there are so many fun things for kids. It's very affordable. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. I like that. We've taken the kids to a couple different places in like Southern California. And I feel like it's hard to know the pockets as someone that's like not a resident of California. Sometimes we've taken them places. I'm like, I don't know. We need safer. this isn't or it's just not the right atmosphere yeah the vibe we were in la jolla and it was great yeah i think that would be a great area okay that's a good one yeah especially for people out here on the west yes our west coasts okay my girl's trip is a totally different vibe than you probably expecting all right let's see it because we're actually planning one of these hopefully down the line like soon um okay so this will speak let me preface this by the season of life that we're in us all of us all of our friends are having little babies toddlers pregnant postpartum breastfeeding your wants and desires change the idea of a good time can shift right now i do think there's a time and place to go all out go crazy i feel like you could take a really fun girls trip to vegas and do some fun stuff or what we're planning is a granny trip we did not come up with this i have a reel i can send but um this these friends created a reel they're like this is your sign or something to schedule a granny trip yeah it i was like this sounds like a great time for me they all they first really got matching like little nightgowns which i think you can get which is just funny that's cute but you could just get cozy jammies yeah they rented a house like basically in the middle of nowhere yeah and all drove up and they like were reading their kindles they had puzzles and board games they're eating snacks they like did fires and chats they watched movies they painted their nails they like and everyone i was like well you know what this might not have appealed to me or seemed exciting at one stage of my life but i feel like now this stage like honestly so fun and it just feels so feasible for everyone like to be able to just like drive somewhere in the middle of nowhere and just pack the car out with like board games like face masks Like just do all the things because it's just it's honestly just fun to like have a minute to just be a woman among other women and like just catch up like that and just have a like low expectations. Because I feel like there's so many expectations on us for sure at this stage of our life. Like there's always someone needing something for us. So then just to just get to be sounds really honestly kind of fun, more fun than like me trying to shave my legs, get self-tanner on, find a new outfit, shimmy into some things or whatever. like that sounds that there's a time and a place for that oh yeah but just for the season of life where i'm like that sounds pretty great uh-huh if i'm being totally on low-key girl time drink some tea yeah just have some popcorn like i don't know and so we're trying to plan a granny trip somewhere um yeah fun i love that i'll show you guys the real i'll send it to you okay that's fun because it's cute and i think it's really especially cute that they got little night gowns they really committed to the granny weekend we love a commit to the bit that reminds me one of the first times i ever met you actually was at conference for church oh my god and we were dressed we they had a dance party and we all dressed up as old people you guys have so many stories of being dressed up do you remember that and that night was also when the whole camp flooded and we everyone like went back early and stuff you don't remember i remember the camp flooding and us going back early i could totally find a picture of you but wait what was i wearing a great you probably had a wig or something granny i will find it funny you don't remember find it i'll come back later with the picture okay that's great that's great i love i love granny culture i'm actually so excited to be a grandma i talk about it a lot with matt i'm like i literally told matt the other day i was like you're gonna be low or i'm gonna be lolly and you're gonna be pop he's like okay for what and i was like we're grandparents i'm so excited i know it's i don't want it to come soon i just want i just but you can be excited about that it's gonna be fun it's gonna be fun my girls trip um i've actually done this a couple times and they were my favorite girls trips was Breckenridge. Oh my gosh. It's like the ultimate girly place because we would go, our friend's parents had a cabin or not a cabin. They had a really beautiful like ski house there. That's a good friend to have. I know. Yeah, I know. It's so fun. And they were so generous with it to let us all go. So every, we did this a couple, two winters and we would go and it's just really slow pace. It snows a lot there in the winter. So it's beautiful. It feels so refreshing. You know, you're in the cab, just a cabin in general is such a vibe. It makes you slow down and just rest, reset. And I think, I think there are so many good conversations had in a cabin, you know? So we would have slow days, slow mornings. One day we would go out and get a ski pass. A couple of times we'd ski people with snowboard, which is fun. I love skiing with girls. Caleb, I want to go skiing with Caleb, but I also know I won't see him the whole day. Like I want to go on a ski trip with him, but I'm so slow. I'm not that good of a skier. I just feel bad. I'm like holding them back. I don't think Caleb would wait for me. Oh, Matt does wait for me. I think Caleb would be nice for like a run and be like, so I'm going to go. I'm like, yeah, I'm going to put my headphones in. You know what I mean? It'd be like one run together and then the rest of the day apart. So I think it's great for a girls group where you have different levels of talent amongst each other. And you can partner. You can go in the hot tub together as girls. You can go, you know, go out to the town. breckenridge is such a beautiful ski town it's so fun they have good shopping good coffee shops great food everything about it is just such a fun fun vibe i want to go on a trip so bad i know i'm itchy i'm itchy i want to go that sounds so fun i've never been to breckenridge but i really want to go to colorado we've been a couple times we went to vale which i probably wouldn't go back to because it's really crazy yeah breckenridge isn't as pricey as it's very upscale and i was Like, I'm not really looking for that, you know. Breckenridge is still pricey, but it's not like. Upscale. Yeah, it's not celebrity. Yeah. I feel like Vail has known where a lot of celebrities go. Yeah, it was crazy. I mean, it's beautiful. It was beautiful. Yeah, it was. Not a good airport to go into, though. It's kind of hard to get to. It was hard to get to. I think they're all kind of hard to get to. Really? That's the downside of a mountain town. I was just, yeah. You have to drive far from an airport, usually. I was actually just messaging a friend that lives in Colorado. I was like, we need to go because if we just go to Denver, there's a lot of things for kids, too. Denver is so fun. Yeah. Maybe we'll have to do that. Yeah. Okay. The next category is romantic getaway. And this may be cheesy, but I love it. New York City is the ultimate place for romance. I really believe that. New York City is so – Matt and I have gone a couple times, just the two of us, and we always go really quick because New York is very expensive, and I feel like if you're going to do New York, you need to do it right. Sure. Like you've got to just – Yeah, you've got to go out. gotta dive head first totally and just know that it's going to be that way but just have a short time have a good time but a short time but a good time not there for a long time but be there for a good time right and um i really think you could go in any season obviously the winter time is like it's iconic for it's like romance but also there's just always so much to do and you can get any kind of trip in new york like walk around the park that's beautiful you could spend literally all day doing that and it doesn't get boring it's fun you can people watch there's um obviously amazing food in new york you could not ever eat all the different types of food that they have in new york um shows which we love for like the theater people there's just so much going on and it's shopping it's so it's so romantic yeah you just feel like you're living in all the movies that you watch like it's and it's like real and it's there and it's so exciting and so fun um It's such a shock from anywhere else in the U.S. Sure. Even Chicago, which I really do love Chicago too, but New York is just – there's something about it. Totally. And it's really fun. And you can do so many things. You could take a million weekend getaways to New York City and never, ever see the same thing. For sure. And, yeah, it's so romantic. There's something about it. You just always feel like we're living in a movie. I want to go so bad. Caleb's never been. I went when we were – my family went as a summer trip. and it was really fun in the summer. It's hot in the summer. It's great in the summer too. Yes. It's so walkable in all the parks. It's great. And I remember we went shopping and I saved up all my money and I bought my homecoming dress for freshman year in Soho and I just felt so bougie. Oh, that's really fancy. I was like, ah. I got in New York. I know. I felt so cool. I know. It's just so iconic. Everything about New York is iconic. It is. I want to take Caleb. It does smell like weed everywhere you go. I feel like that's everywhere. Oh, really? I was kind of shocked by it. I was like, what is that? It's a lot of people in that city, probably a lot of smells. There are many smells. And actually, one downside is I don't feel comfortable walking it by myself. Depending on the area, but even in the areas that people, it's just because I don't know it. But I left my Kindle in a building that we were in. And I, this is how bad I wanted that Kindle back. Matt had to stay somewhere. I can't even remember the circumstances. But he had to stay where he was. And he was like, Abby, we will get you another Kindle. I was like, no, but my book is downloaded on that Kindle. He's like, call me the entire time you're walking there. I did actually feel pretty scared, like walking by myself. So, i.e. romantic getaway. Go with your man, because it is. Sure. Yeah, there's a lot going on there. I don't know. Girls Trip of You may be a little spooky there. Unless you knew it. I feel like if you know New York, I don't know it well enough. I visited when my friend lived there, and it was just her and I, and I felt very safe when I was with her. Oh, good. Because she knew. She knew the areas. She knew where the people would be. She knew where to avoid. Like, she knew where to go. Totally. I didn't know it well enough, yeah. Right. From my romantic getaway, I said Hawaii. I was just thinking back to that trip. And that was, here's why specifically. Obviously, it's very romantic. You're at the beach. It's, like, sexy and fun and the sunshine. But Caleb and I felt like little kids again on that trip, which was such a fun thing to experience together. And there's adventure. There's leisure. There's luxury. There's, you know, it's got a little bit of everything. that it just felt really special to experience together. And yeah, I feel like Hawaii is one of those places where you could do different islands at different, you know, you could do it all across the board. It was so special. It was so romantic. We really felt like connected. And that trip was what made us want to move to Phoenix. It just was one of those trips that felt very pivoting in our life. And I think just that feeling of getting out of our comfort zone, being somewhere that felt so different, and doing things that were so new um was really really sweet and special so not like a like a leisurely i mean it can be but it was really sweet yeah you got to get out there uh you're going totally some hikes which is also very romantic because like you're literally just talking and like exploring together i was thinking about my dream date my dream date is going on a hike and then going on like a date or something or going to dinner because walking and just gets your brain flowing and the conversation is the best i feel like always so connected to caleb after the nature aspect too is like grounding for sure yes so yeah so that's a good one that was a great trip that was so much fun i loved it um okay now the next category is dream trip so uh trip we are just it's aspirational um my mind immediately went to international because we have not done any international travel as a family and that is something we definitely want to do um so i think like maybe this happened since the loss like we're like okay well we're gonna put international travel on hold when we were like expecting baby number three now it's like okay well that timeline is not what we looked what we like expected it to look like so it's fun to now just like rewrite it's like okay we can do this now like slip this in here it's kind of the same honestly thought pattern that happened with getting the dog like we were gonna get a dog at some point but like our timeline all got all shifted around not how we would have wanted but you have to make accommodations and so um now we are planning like international travel so that's like the dream to do but like specifically and nothing's on the books but we specifically would really like to take the kids to italy we've been we went when we were like one year married and i feel like there's a lot of things we would do differently and um i just think it feels like a really comfortable first international trip with the kids because i feel like europe in general is very like kid friendly totally i would say yeah i would agree but um also italy is like very um they're used to so much tourism so they're very accommodating everyone knows english which i'm like i should i think it's respectful whenever you go somewhere they like to learn just a little bit of the language yeah yeah but like i would never be able to like like communicate like so it's nice that like a lot of english the kids would love gelato and pizza they would love the food there and it's very walkable most places and i just think there's like a lot it feels very like doable with like two kids especially because we haven't traveled a ton like we haven't traveled out of the country at all with them and you get their passports that seems like such a hurdle doesn't it it's so overwhelming a kid's passport but i actually don't think it's hard and actually you can drive to tucson and get passports in a day same day that's really cool which i'm like i'm not gonna do that i'm i'm marking my words i really hope i don't do that i feel like you are on top of it you need to probably do it now do you think like maybe in the next week let's get that oh wow calendar it takes a few weeks to get it back yeah yeah well crap i don't think i don't feel like i'm very on top of it but thank you and i'm very excited for whatever's to come but i would love i would love for it to be italy but if anything we're just itching to do international travel as a family for yeah i feel like you're someone when it comes to travel you're very good at planning it like i remember because you guys you guys flew us out to hawaii and like i feel like you handled all those accommodations so well like i feel like you're very much like okay these are the flights the schedules the plans like you're very talented at that really i remember that i was like dang she's on top of this that's very nice yes i remember i have no memory of that really no i didn't remember that i mean i didn't have to think about anything you guys got our flights you sent us the dates and then we're like cool we'll sleep on your floor for a lot of people stayed on our pullout couch like we weren married yet so it was like toe to head yeah that was scary i feel like you you guys are good at planning travel thank you so much yeah well i also know addy does a lot of that like now nowadays but in the past you've been good thank you she does something she'll be like book these fights sometimes you'll pick the fights first wow it's good on me yeah you're good at that and you're very thoughtful about i was always impressed like when we um when i first said cj and you're like well i don't book around these naps and these things i was like maybe i should start i need to take some of that stuff into consideration oh cj was more accommodating than my kids were though i don't know i just was like oh i need to start thinking about these things yeah morning flights with babies is always the way to go you got to do the mornings if you have to wake them up early that's fine but don't play around if you can with the evening night flights were always worse nightmare you told me that and then i was like she's so right about that i had to learn i had i did it wrong a lot of times well you walked so we could run i tripped and fell okay my dream trip and i think caleb and i are really well i hope it happens this year i really it's gonna happen i know but then caleb came in with like well maybe i can compromise and i'm like that actually doesn't sound like compromise that's the hard thing about compromise i know it usually looks like one person i know i did see a side on it so i'm hoping it happens this year we both turned 30 this year and it's our seven-year marriage wedding anniversary so I think it'd be such a fun year to go, but if it happens closer to next year, that's also fine. But yeah, I really want to go back to Italy, but we did that for our honeymoon. So I think we kind of, we talked about wanting to go do something we haven't done before. And the flights. Just the two of you? I know. That was one of my goals from January 1st was to go on a trip just us two. And I wanted to do a big one. So yeah, still working on convincing Caleb on timeline of it. But I just think it'd be so fun. um i feel like greece is one of those places where you can go to the islands there's you know leisure there's also a lot of beauty there's also so much history that would be really cool and i feel like it's a good mix of like biblical history and not like you know just everything about it just seems so cool and fascinating um so i also think figuring out a timeline would be hard because i like i want to go for seven days kilb says 10 and i'm like that just seems like way too much time away from the kids but it does it is hard when you're planning on going so far yeah uh figuring out what's the best time we're like if we're gonna go to europe we're gonna go for 10 days yeah and then that was like three weeks i was like no even though we're taking the kids with us i'm like that feels crazy i know it just but 10 days i feel like we did a 10-day cruise and it was i mean every day was booked like there's so there's a lot to do there's so much to do so i'm gonna ask you guys for recommendations it was the best it literally looks like the postcards like the books like it looks exactly like that it seems so picturesque so i know i want to do it so much history that's the dream that's the dream we're putting them out there we hope it happens yes that's all for the trips comment down below any other ideas that come to mind because i'm itching to travel and i just honestly sometimes it just scratches the edge just to talk about it just to be like that would be a fun idea like let's think about that for the future but I like I said in my new year's resolutions like my goal was like to travel with friends more I want to do different types of travel like like girls trips like couples trips family trips like I just think that is so fun and exciting so I love all the hag worries yes me too that was good ask ask ask Abby now we are going to hear from you guys which this is probably my favorite part of every episode it's so nice of you guys to participate like this and it is vulnerable to like call in and leave a message right especially some of the questions you're asking like just i i'm so grateful seriously seriously and also from us like we don't know what we're talking about but no but thank you for letting me hear a thought yeah hi this is marianne um i was wondering if you ever get mad at each other if you ever do anything that annoys each other that would be a fun topic oh you did us too marianne she's like i want the tea i want the tea what did you say we just had our first conflict a couple weeks ago but i feel like we handle you know it's like good of course we're going to we spend so much time together and like we're so ingrained in each other's lives we're sisters we're best friends we're kids are like raising kids together and so I think of course everyone has moments yeah I think the the thing about like being like sis like sister-in-laws or sisters with people is that it's like you know the other person well hopefully you know your sister like so well it's like you know their heart so well so you're like okay like I don't feel like you're just tussling in your head back and forth especially it's like when you're as easy to get along with as Abby is it's like you're just tussling back and forth you're like do we bring is this really worth and I feel like you probably feel the same way like like is it really worth all this sure and so yeah obviously i would say that we never have had like explosive no no that would be very uncomfortable right if that happened yeah i think we're good about being like you're not even like that i couldn't even yeah i don't i could you're so mature like what whoa that's really kind that's kind of because i have actually been feeling really immature recently you know what it's our hormones i don't think you've been immature at all but i feel like in my head like even today i was like i've just been so critical of killed like i'm just being immature immature with each other like with conflict with like friends and stuff i feel like or like with each other oh that's that's sweet i would say you're very mature well thank you yeah um but yeah i feel like it's like you know them so you're like okay well like it's they i know that this isn't like how they're they are totally and it's like i know that there's some of my own stuff mixed in with this and so yeah i feel the same and it's also like we i think we both know that we have each other's best interests at heart and so when you have that perspective of like your friends and your sisters it's like you know i wouldn't say there's like it makes it it makes it easy to bring to the fourth when you know it's like yeah you're also like the least angry confrontational person oh that's really kind i feel like abby would abby would take a lot from like anybody i don't think you'd ever absolutely you would you know why because i have two sisters i'm not like oh my gosh i'm not scared of anybody in this world except my sisters and they know it they know it they're like that's right i think that's also unique too because what i was thinking about i'm like we don't ever really have conflict either and if we ever do it's usually business stuff we're just talking about business things and work but i'm like if i ever talk about something and i talked about it with blake he's coming as your brother and he's like she's not thinking about it that way or doing that way for you it's both of your spouses that are the brothers and not your guys's actual siblings yeah which that does play a role as well yeah that does play a role family you know can get gets layered yeah it does but i think that also makes it even better where it's like oh yeah you're like we're not going anywhere we're not going anywhere so if we have something it's like we just talk about it there right then and there yeah it makes it easy yeah hey i'm just wondering i have a friend who's having a baby in a couple months and i'd really like to make her some kind of care package i am not yet a mom i have not given birth and so i'm just wondering what your recommendations would be on some good budget friendly things to put in like a little package for mama thank you that's so thoughtful and that's a good question to ask because i do feel like the way i show up for other moms after they've had a baby changed dramatically once i became a mom myself for sure because the things that i like anticipated them wanting or needing i was like oh they don't probably necessarily want or need that so that's a good question to ask really that's very sweet what are some things that you would add i would and i'm putting together a basket okay trying to think through um some like electrolyte packets yeah that's good for breastfeeding that one's like feeling great physically so i'm trying i'm like i don't even know you can't take baths really right after postpartum so skip the bath stuff yeah skip the bath stuff yeah i feel like i hate to say it fuzzy socks cozy socks i don't say don't do it because you're so sweaty and hot that's gonna back you up a lot of them yeah i mean it's nice to give but i'm thinking of like this is a time of your life where it's like practically as practical really practical as possible yes because the fluff is actually overwhelming fluff is overwhelming and like so i think electrolyte packets is really good you can um make or purchase like lactation cookies i feel like that's like a good easy thing yeah um a gift card to a restaurant like uber eats or doordash is the best great can't go wrong and i just remember thinking like both times postpartum i was like i don't want to like i just remember the clothes dilemma really got me you can't wear normal stuff because you're breastfeeding and you also you don't really fit your pregnancy clothes anymore but you don't fit in your regular clothes and you want to feel put together but you want to be comfy so like a thing i really try to like if you can is get like a matching set you can get one even from target yeah just a matching comfy set that i actually got out of my favorite when you got me a couple weeks ago like one of the favorite things was just like having something i could wear just something to wear that makes you feel like yourself put together feminine but also comfortable and like just put together i don't know why that felt like such a need like i was like i just want to feel like a human again but like i can't wear anything and you just want to be cozy i think if you could do that or just like even just one from target um something that's a little different from pajamas pajamas would be a good idea too but also just like if you could kind of have a dual purpose there that'd be really good so you can get out too um yeah i think those are all do you think of anything more i'm trying to think of something little snackies snacks are really good just anything i feel like postpartum the hardest thing to remember is to eat which sounds silly but it's like especially when you have other kids you're nursing you're trying to feed your toddler you're trying to clean up after the meals and then by the time you know it's like 1 p.m and you haven't eaten anything so little convenient meals are the easiest and the best and i craved healthier like i kind of wanted something healthier at that point so like i feel like chomp sticks would be good or like just like little healthier bites and this was something else i was going to say if they have a toddler it i feel like it would mean the world to them if you could help meet some of their needs for their toddler because they're already probably feeling like transitioning that kid is probably harder than having a newborn and a stressor on their life so if you can get like toys or an activity like coloring books magnet tiles like anything for their toddler and then also like toddler snacks like one of my friends had a baby and i know that he like loves cake pops from starbucks cute so i got him and i was like for big brother because they're needing some attention too totally and honestly caring for this is what i've noticed within myself too caring for my kids is a way of showing me like deep love like i'm like that it's not like you're ignoring the mom like the mom will probably feel so loved if they have older kids if you're taking care of their kids that's how i felt like i was like gosh this person i just i i can't thank them enough yeah when they were doing stuff for like our kids yeah so sweet that's something else there's so many things you could do honestly yeah yeah you can't do it wrong no i don't i don't mean to say anything like that you literally cannot do it wrong you just showing care is great and also think about it especially if you don't have kids or like family of your own if you could just come and do one task for them like empty their dishwasher and reload it or like run a load of laundry just tidy up something i'm sure that they would you probably would want to be somewhat close to them if you're gonna come and do that but like that would also be really meaningful and doesn't cost you anything two other things i just thought of maybe like a dry if you wanted to put like a product in there for like self-care stuff a dry shampoo because claw clip and a claw clip and body wash oh yeah i took two showers a day i was gonna say lotion because like a lot of people are worried about stretch yeah body oil like body oil or something like that i was gonna say um it's not doesn't go in a basket but like breakfast item quick like a breakfast casserole yeah or like make some pancakes or muffins or because that's the meal i never ate because everyone brought dinner uh-huh everyone brought breakfast yes i felt the same yeah i was like and i don't have time to cook it no yeah so the nights are so hard that you wake up and you're exhausted so you don't want to like cook breakfast yeah yeah one more thing you could also just get them a new water bottle because they're probably very very thirsty and that'd be really fun to receive it's always fun to receive i know over consumption it's okay we love it just kidding they're gonna use they're gonna get a lot of use out of it yeah i really will yeah no that'd be fun so that'd be really fun to receive hi you both seem to have really amazing relationships with your mom i was wondering what something that both of your moms did to help cultivate those good relationships into adulthood i just had a daughter and i would like to implement some of those things now thanks that's so sweet it's true my mom also listens to this podcast so i did tell our team i was like let's edit the valentine's day episode with that in mind because i don't know what i said but i said something about lingerie oh oh which we're keeping in but i think that was kept in there that's okay i said it it's okay mom they know she's great no my mom is great and i like think about that a lot now as an adult like what did my mom do as i was growing up agreed that made her someone that i can come to and like ask questions about and like I genuinely want to spend time with same and I literally texted them the other day I was like I'm so glad I have parents I like actually really want to hang out with I know and so um some so I think about it a lot but uh I think it does boil down to like I knew my parents had high expectations of me but they were not overly strict on me so I felt very safe to approach them all the time and I think that's like the main thing especially as you go into like your teenage years like I feel like that's a pivotal moment in your adulthood relationship now I hear a lot of stories of like I went through a stage where I like hated my mom and then I came like and I really like it I never went through that but I think that's totally normal if you do go through that but I my mom was always very approachable there's nothing I was like I'm gonna I'm gonna mess up and if my mom finds out then it's going to be a like a bigger mess than it already is like I always felt like if I went to my mom like we were gonna it was gonna be better like the situation was going to be made better it didn't feel like I was going to get shamed or I was going to get like she was just so approachable and I think and very relational about everything and so I think that can start that starts at the beginning I think because like any relationship like as long as you like they you're kind of already setting patterns like with like okay am I someone that they can they can mess up around and I they still know that I have a high expectation but like i can see their flaws and they can still come to me and be loved and like we're gonna figure it out together totally oh that's just really long wind no that was great that was great you guys are your parents are so good at that i think with my with my mom i think back because obviously there's a shift right when you're young and they're your parent i think my parents did a good job of keeping a parent-child relationship and now we've transitioned into like peer a little bit more so you know and i was like what did work through that and i think when we were kids and like teens my mom and dad made the biggest effort to always show up they were a part of everything and not in an overbearing way where i feel like my mom crossed the line of like what's the drama what's the tea like it was never like that it was just like hey we're there for everything every volleyball game every practice every tournament everything my mom and my dad showed up and they were they wanted to know what was going on I feel like they just took a genuine care in our lives and like wanted to support us um and so now I even see that in my adulthood to where like my mom and dad snowboard here to spend time with us like they just take the extra mile to show up and be a part of our lives like it'd be very easy for them to not travel out here and not visit and just not really make the effort and it's so touching to me like i i'm like dang and this is for both of caleb and his parents like our parents make the most effort yeah to come out here your parents moved out here like just to be a part of our lives and i'm like dang that is just so that gives me such gratitude to where i also want to like i want to honor that and want them to be a part of my life yeah you know it kind of goes hand in hand that's really good for like adult parents of adult children like i feel like a lot of parents can fall into a trap like i don't want to bother them or i don't want to do and it's like no you like their season of life is probably a busier season so you like taking that first step and doing that means so much because it's like oh you still want to be a part like you're gonna you're gonna go out of your way to like still be a part of our lives and like our kids lives and so yeah yeah i could talk and ramble forever about it but like um yeah i think that's really it showing up is really really important i want to give my mom a shout out too because she definitely listened to this podcast too and she that's what I was gonna say was showing up as a kid growing up like always there every weekend I think one thing that you probably experienced this too and maybe you too is like I'd have weekends away with my mom for dance competitions and just getting that one-on-one time with her so fun so fun no it was gonna be her we'd do all the fun stuff she'd get the snacks she'd do the things she'd really like intentionally spend time with me during those like long weekends I never felt like work was in the way of like the time that she spent with me. And then as I've grown up in her, just being out here and making a plan and making it happen and getting to spend out here, it's just been the best. Like you said, people loving on your kids is the best way to love them. Like loving her so much has been like so touching. Yeah, for sure. And I think it's good that you said that because like your parents, your mom and dad, your mom's both worked full time. My mom was at home. It's like working or not, you can still make the effort. I think our parents just did such a good job of making effort and that is not lost on us yeah yeah one more thing is my mom was not overly reactive too and so I always felt like that like helped because I was like okay I could say something and she's not going to like it's not gonna throw her off like she felt steady and stable and I remember asking my dad one time now I'm talking about my dad but I remember this I was a kid and I was like dad what's up I'm gonna say it I'm gonna spell it i was like dad what's that p-u-s-s-y wagon i've never even heard that he's like he just quietly goes he's like where'd you hear that yeah yeah it was from greece the musical oh and i was like oh oh um i heard from greece and he was like okay he said yeah we let you watch that the fact that i approached him at age seven and asked him that question i'm pretty probably like We need to vet our movies a little bit more. But anyway, that's rambling. Okay, well, you guys, if you are listening to this and you're like, I would love to call in and ask a question or I have a curious question or a crazy question or just, I don't know, you want to engage, then you can call the phone number 602-456-9690. We'll also put that in the description. Just thank you guys so much for participating in that. It's so fun. It's like my favorite part of the episode. It's so fun. Thank you. And thank you guys for leaving reviews. and comments we actually have a review here that we can read i am then the username is bhdds ynkoh fxhj so thank you thank you um the title is my go-to car my go-to for car drives and pump sessions five stars love hearing these ladies and similar live stages chat about real things that a lot of us are going through my 3 a.m pump sessions appreciate the positivity and realness so thank you so much oh that's so sweet i always love hearing where you guys are listening to it like what you're doing as you listen to it because that's just i feel so connected to y'all oh sorry pump sessions i thought you were talking about like gym sessions but pumping girl we are in the same spot that's sweet okay well that wraps up today's episode remember the book club this is our last episode before we like club next week have book club next week still has not been delivered i will read it i will dedicate 16 hours in a row not take you to this book some people have been calling in leaving voicemails about the book which i think would be fun oh we should do one i was trying to review them and i was like ruining it don't tell me i think it might be a little bit of a weird book it is weird i don't have a lot to talk about are you guys how far into it yeah i haven't started it it's interesting i'm about 50 percent of the way through i don't get it i still don't understand it yet but i'm it'll connect oh shoot it'll be good it's good though so i can't wait to um if you want to be a part of the community in that way we'll put a link also to the book club and our this month's book is my husband's wife so you have a week now to read it before all the spoilers are coming yeah and um i'm excited to read it so thank you guys so much for rating reviewing all the things we have a big team working on this that you might not see all the time well we actually have a small team but we also have some members behind the scenes that it also means a lot to them too like these things all play a role in like our lives our ecosystem here at always here so um there's a lot of people that that means a lot to yeah everyone we all read their views and they're so grateful so thank you so much and remember we're always here .