Our Trip to the East Coast

Well July has been a busy month for the Grimms. We decided to escape from the heat of Arizona and headed to the east coast for a few weeks. The weather was perfect...rain, clouds, only in the 70s, and even some sunshine from time to time. Shaun's good friend, Doug, was getting married in Maryland so that was the initial reason for our trip, but we decided to enjoy some time up east so we spent a week in Vermont with family first! What a wonderful time we had. Shaun's sister and her family (that is one husband and four kids, yep four kids) even drove up from Kansas City to surprise us and spend the week with us. Larkin got to meet all of her cousins and her wonderful Aunt Tara and Uncle Dan. She also got to meet her Great Gramp and see her other aunts, uncles, and cousins again. Here are some highlights from our trip.

Our Week in Vermont!

Meet the family! There is of course Gramp, Shaun's Aunt Paula, Uncle Mark, and Uncle Gary, their spouses, 8 grandkids and their others, and 5 great grandkids. This is the whole clan, except one cousin who couldn't make it. It had been quite a while since everyone was able to all get together. What a fun family!!!!!

Here is Larkin with all of her first cousins: Garrett (4), Carson (8), Phoenix (11), and Kaycee (6).

Larkin with Daddy, Aunt Tara, and Great Gramp

The Vermont Teddy Bear Factory

All the adults having fun!

Look at those cute cousins!

Getting ready to go on the Teddy Bear Factory tour.

Family Fun

Larkin learned how to play Connect Four on game night at Aunt Mary and Uncle Mark's house. She was quite impressed with herself!

At the arcade Larkin got tired of her turn on the school bus, so Uncle Mark decided to go for a spin!

Shaun and Uncle Gary playing a mean game of horseshoes at the camp where Tara stayed. For all of you who don't know what a camp is, it is like a cabin or summer house by the lake. Those Vermonters have crazy terms. Sometime ask Shaun to tell you about kreemees, hamburg, and fried dough if you want to learn some other Vermont lingo!

Smore making time

Uncle Gary busy at the grill making dinner for more than 20 of us and Shaun, Uncle Mark, and Phoenix trying to help out.

Fun at the Farm

We had to stop by Uncle Jeff and Aunt Paula's farm while we were in Vermont. It is the PERFECT farmhouse and just screams Vermont. It is absolutely beautiful and they have done so much to fix it up and make it super cozy.

Shaun and Tara by Uncle Jeff''s awesome Model T Ford!

Larkin hanging around on the old wheelbarrow.

It's picture time

Larkin and Daddy having a little fun!


A Day with the Family

We stopped at a little malt shop for lunch and tried to get all of the cousins to cooperate for a few photos. This is about as good as it got.

Mommy, Larkin, and Cousin Kaycee ready for lunch.

Uncle Mark and Garrett getting ready to go down the Alpine Slide. This was awesome! You ride up ski lifts to the top of the mountain, get on these sleds, and then race down this concrete curvy course. This time Kaycee and I raced Uncle Mark and Garrett. It was neck and neck the whole way down, but the girls won in the end!

Meet the Cousins

Garrett: four years old, running with sparklers, all boy. Don't need to really say anything else. Garrett is such a blast!

Kaycee: six years old and sweet as can be. She is surrounded by her brothers at home so I think she loved having a little girl cousin to play with. Larkin loved it too!

Carson: eight years old and so helpful. He always wanted to make sure Larkin was doing okay. Here they are taking a little nap together!

Phoenix: 11 years old, and really good at sports. He took some time out though to read to Larkin and helped keep an eye on her!

Brother and sister and their two little girls!

Larkin's First Parade

Here we are at the big parade in Milton, Vermont. It really was a lot of fun! Larkin loved the horses and all the candy that was being thrown. I think all the adults liked the riding lawn mowers the best:)

Getting ready for the parade to begin!

Fireworks Over The Lake

Here we are all bundled up for the big fireworks show on the lake. People come from all around to Burlington to see them put on quite an impressive show. In fact, it is so crowded that you might end up spending about an hour and a half trying to get out of a parking garage after the big show. It was worth it though! It was a little cool and rainy, but the fireworks were great and Larkin loved all the lights!

Doug's Wedding in Annapolis

Shaun and BJ all dressed up for the big celebration!

Doug and Emma's sword ceremony after the wedding

All the fellas hanging out at the rehearsal dinner.

The dinner was at the Naval Academy Football stadium so of course everyone ended up out on the field by the end of the night horsing around. Everyone had a great time and Larkin loved being able to fun free with the other little kiddos!

Larkin practicing on the football field

Finally it was time to call it a night!