Family Feuds, Crotch Gate, and Travel Wish List Destinations

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Always Here – Family Feuds, Crotch Gate, and Travel Wish List Destinations

Host(s): Abby Howard & Abbie Howard | Daylight Media
Guest: Addie
Date: February 20, 2026

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Main Theme

This episode is a classic “Always Here” blend of heart, humor, and real-life sister-in-law (and best friend) banter, with a focus on family feuds (and how to apologize), viral Olympic rumors (“Crotch Gate”), and the sisters’ top travel ideas for families, couples, and friends. Listeners also get honest talk about coping with stress, the reality of relationship “hard zones,” motherhood, and practical listener Q&A.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Life Updates, Burnout & Coping Styles

[02:01-04:43]

• Abby, Abbie, and Addie catch up on a busy week, sharing stories of burnout and cherishing downtime. — Quote [03:35, Abbie]: “You walked so we could run. I tripped and fell.”
• Addie reflects on a restorative vacation and her baby’s upcoming transitions.
• Abby & Abbie compare their energy styles (Abbie packs her schedule to stay upbeat, Abby needs downtime). — Quote [03:13, Addie]: “I’m ready to do nothing.”

2. Recent Events: Hibachi Night, Parties, and Parenting

[03:32-09:15]

• The crew hosts a hibachi night at home (“Let’s Hibachi” chef, games, sake everywhere). — Memorable Moment [04:16, Abbie]: “I opened the door, and they’re just at the door with their little jackets on…They already were in character.”
• Honest talk about post-hibachi GI upset (farting, “fluffing” vs “tooting”).
• Super Bowl party breakdown (balancing fun, food, and a house packed with children). — Quote [08:56, Abby]: “Our house isn't that big, and I didn’t take that into account…It was packed.”
• Paw Patrol Live (“outrageous” price for tickets, packing their own snacks, nostalgia for Disney on Ice).

3. Coping With Stress & “The Hope in the Hard”

[16:04-17:57]

• Abbie shares about feeling fragile lately and using a packed social schedule as a coping strategy. — Quote [16:28, Abbie]: “The quiet gaps, I found even in February, are when I start to get really upset…So I’m fully aware this is my coping mechanism.”
• Abby confesses to being “mean” and apologizing to her spouse, Caleb—advocates for humility in relationships. — Quote [18:06, Abby]: “I was disappointed in myself for throwing some low blows that I need to apologize for.”

4. Family Feuds & Communication

[18:50-20:10]

• The sisters share about conflict with their husbands, recognizing patterns of arguing even when knowing they’re at fault. — Memorable Moment [18:56, Addie]: “I realized I was wrong. I couldn’t get out. I know, I had to keep going deeper.”
• Use of couple’s Bible study as a place to mediate and find resolution.
• A peek into how parties (and other stressors) surface relationship friction.

5. Romantic Getaways & Mom Guilt

[21:18-22:58]

• Abby is excited for a marriage conference trip with Matt (hosted by John Deloney, whom Abbie recommends), and discusses the natural mom guilt that arises when planning adult getaways. — Quote [21:29, Abby]: “I’m literally just like…you really appreciate those moments after having kids, especially when one of them sleeps in your room.”
• Talk of “forgiving yourself” and recognizing the value of investing in marriage.

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"Wow, That’s Crazy": Crotch Gate & Viral News

[24:45-30:25]

Kim Kardashian and Lewis Hamilton

• Brief gossip about Kim Kardashian “hard launching” a relationship with F1 driver Lewis Hamilton.

CROTCH GATE: Olympic Ski Jumping Scandal

• The infamous rumor: some male Olympic ski jumpers allegedly inject hyaluronic acid into their genitals to create more aero-drag, thus increasing ski-jump distance. — Quote [25:43, Abby]: “They’re injecting that straight in there into their weenies…Is that not the craziest doping scandal?”
• Discussion of the rules, past suit-altering scandals, and the odd physics behind “1–2 centimeters” making all the difference. — Quote [27:50, Abby]: “Picture their crotch as the center of gravity…when they’re in the air, that’s providing the drag and the lift…So if they can stay in the air longer, they go farther in their jump.”
• Memorable, irreverent banter about sports science, vanity, and the lengths top athletes will go to.

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Travel Wish Lists — Family, Girls, Couples, and Dream Trips

[33:00-69:14]

Travel Horror Stories

• Abbie’s family trip to Whitefish, Montana: kids vomiting, norovirus sweeps the house, parking brake story, “just get us out of here.” — Quote [39:05, Abbie]: “I haven’t been that wrecked, like, with a sickness since I was a kid…it knocked us on our butts.”
• Abby’s comedic disaster en route to Hawaii: delayed flights, a panicking seatmate, and accidentally assuming a 21-year-old was a child prodigy. — Quote [46:13, Abby]: “I go, that’s amazing, college…How old are you? She goes, 21.”

Family Trip Ideas

[47:15-52:07]

• Florida: Budget-friendly, great for renting houses with other families, warm ocean, amenities.
• Lake Michigan: Affordable, beautiful, less crowded, perfect for all ages.
• San Diego: Great zoo, beaches, Legoland, lots of family activities.
• Travel tips: Walmart delivery for groceries, stock rental houses, renting baby equipment locally.

Girls Trip Ideas

[52:11-58:03]

• The “Granny Trip” Trend: Comfy jammies, out-of-the-way rental, Kindles, games, snacks, fires, pampering—zero pressure, lots of rest. — Quote [54:19, Abbie]: “Just get to be a woman among other women and just catch up…low expectations…just be.”
• Mountain Cabin Retreat (Breckenridge, CO): Cozy, scenic, skiing, hot tubbing, shopping, perfect for slow mornings and deep chats.

Romantic Getaways

[58:04-62:56]

• New York City: Always vibrant and romantic, good for every season, culinary and entertainment adventures, living the “movie” life.
• Hawaii: Adventure, connection, “play like kids again,” combination of luxury & relaxation.

Dream Trips

[62:56-68:51]

• Italy with Kids: Dream of international travel after family tragedy; reasons Italy is welcoming, walkable, culture-rich, and kid-friendly.
• Greece: A top contender for Abby & Caleb’s milestone anniversary: “It literally looks like the postcards.”
• Reflections on the logistics (passports, travel planning) and balancing timelines with mom-guilt.

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Listener Q&A Highlights ([69:50-78:59])

1. Do Abby & Abbie Ever Get Mad at Each Other?

• Marianne asks if the sisters-in-law ever feud—both say not really; any annoyances are handled maturely and with love. — Quote [71:20, Abbie]: “Obviously, things happen…but we’ve never had an explosive fight. That would be very uncomfortable.”

2. Best Postpartum Care Package Items

• Hydration packets, lactation cookies, Uber Eats/Doordash gift cards, comfy matching lounge sets (Target), toddler snacks and toys (for moms with older kids), help/tidying around the house, dry shampoo & body wash, breakfast/lunch snack items, new water bottle.

3. Cultivating Good Mother-Daughter Relationships

• Balance of high expectations and personal safety/openness; “showing up” physically and emotionally for kids (even into adulthood); making intentional time, and being approachable without being overbearing. — Quote [80:03, Abby]: “I’m so glad I have parents I actually want to hang out with.”
• Addie chimes in to shout out her mom’s presence at childhood activities and now with grandkids.

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Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• [04:16, Abbie]: “I opened the door, and they’re just at the door with their little jackets on…They already were in character.”
• [16:28, Abbie]: “The quiet gaps…I start to get really upset and teary. So I’m fully aware this is my coping mechanism.”
• [18:06, Abby]: “I had to apologize to Caleb a lot last week…I was being so mean.”
• [27:50, Abby]: “Picture their crotch as the center of gravity…providing the drag and the lift…”
• [39:05, Abbie]: “I haven’t been that wrecked, like, with a sickness since I was a kid…it knocked us on our butts.”
• [46:13, Abby]: “How old are you? She goes, 21.”
• [54:19, Abbie]: “This might not have appealed to me or seemed exciting at one stage of my life, but honestly now this stage, it sounds so fun…to just be a woman among other women…”

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Structure & Flow

• Main section and transitions are smooth and natural; the rapport is quick and loving, with plenty of self-deprecating humor.
• Each co-host brings in personal experience, vulnerability (“the hope and the hard”) and blends practical tips with lighthearted tangents.
• The “Wow, That’s Crazy” segment offers a viral, timely, and hilarious break before diving into travel advice.
• Listener questions add warmth, community, and actionable advice.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Life Updates & Burnout – 02:01–04:43
• Hibachi Night & Party Talk – 03:32–09:15
• Coping with Stress – 16:04–17:57
• Conflict & Apologies – 18:06–20:10
• Romantic Getaway Plans – 21:18–22:58
• Crotch Gate Deep Dive – 24:45–30:25
• Travel Horror Stories – 33:00–41:33
• Travel Recommendations (Family) – 47:15–52:07
• Girls Trip & Granny Trip – 52:11–58:03
• Romantic Trips (NYC & Hawaii) – 58:04–62:56
• Dream Trips (Italy, Greece) – 62:56–68:51
• Listener Q&A – 69:50–78:59

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Tone & Language

Always upbeat, open, and relatable—with a candid "mom and sisterhood" warmth. The hosts are funny, sometimes irreverent, but always thoughtful. They model vulnerability by sharing struggles, relationship tips, and real-life mishaps (with zero shame about “bubble gut”).

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Final Thoughts

This episode of "Always Here" captures why listeners tune in: heartful humor in everyday life, frank relationship chat, the joys and disasters of parenting and travel, and encouragement for tuning into both hope and hardship. From international itineraries to “Crotch Gate,” Abby and Abbie keep it real and keep listeners laughing.

Transcript

[Abby]

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[Abby]

That's why you rack. Have you heard of Crotch gate? Ski jumpers in the Olympics have been enhancing their members to give them a better jump.

[Abbie]

Messing it crosses first. No. Does that even make sense? I was wondering if you ever get mad at each other. Marianne, she's like, I want the tea.

[Abby]

I want the tea. We just had our first conflict a couple weeks ago.

[Abbie]

What we're planning is a granny trip.

[Abby]

Granny trip.

[Abbie]

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 gonna be Lolly and you're gonn. Morning flights with babies is always the way to go.

[Abby]

You told me that. And then I was like, she's so right about that.

[Abbie]

I did it wrong a lot of times.

[Abby]

Well, you walked so we could run. I tripped and fell.

[Abbie]

Welcome back to Always. Here we are, Abbey Howard and Abby Howard. And we are here to share the hope in the hard with heart and humor. I feel like everyone's had kind of a lot going on recently.

[Addie]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

How we feel. Addie's burnt out. Addy's back.

[Addie]

Burnt out.

[Abbie]

Addy's back.

[Addie]

I'm back.

[Abbie]

She's back and she's burnt out.

[Abby]

She's back from her vacation. And you tired.

[Addie]

Just a great time. No. Yes. I'm glad to be back.

[Abby]

Was it a good trip?

[Addie]

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.

[Abby]

Big shift.

[Addie]

Everything changes totally.

[Abbie]

So six months is a big shift.

[Abby]

It is. It's fun, though.

[Addie]

Yeah. So I'm excited to spend time with her and learn more about her, learn

[Abbie]

what food she likes.

[Abby]

She's gonna love everything she loves to eat, that girl. She's so cute. Yeah.

[Abbie]

Chunky girl. Yeah. We were. 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.

[Addie]

I'm, like, looking to Wednesday. I'm like, Wednesday's our first day in, like, 14 days of nothing to do tonight.

[Abby]

Wow.

[Addie]

Yeah. So I'm ready to do nothing.

[Abbie]

Should we work backwards from what's going on?

[Abby]

Sure.

[Abbie]

Okay. Well, last night, we all had the hibachi night, and I think it's a video.

[Addie]

It's a picture.

[Abbie]

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

[Abby]

hands off and interactive at the same time.

[Abbie]

And interactive. Like, it. I was like, wow. As a host, it was, like, very easy to set up and then. 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, upset.

[Abby]

If it's a corporate setting, it's probably not.

[Abbie]

No, it's probably uncomfortable. Donate to that. But we use let's hibachi, and they have, like, a chain all over, and I would definitely rebook with them. I'm already like, we do this for your birthday, Matt. 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 character, like, a bit.

[Abby]

They say, we're in character all night. They did so great.

[Addie]

Keith.

[Abby]

Fun. I loved Keith.

[Abbie]

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

[Abby]

of like four people that were. During getting saki, we were all like,

[Abbie]

Caleb, Caleb and Matt.

[Abby]

Caleb. He's like a one drink, total guy. And everyone's just like, he'll take it.

[Abbie]

Him. I feel like him and Matt were both just like each other.

[Addie]

I feel like it'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 when he would take a sake.

[Abbie]

But, you know, we were talking about before. Afterwards, I was a little bit experienced in some.

[Abby]

The gas was unbelievable gas.

[Abbie]

There was a lot of salt, I think.

[Abby]

Oh, my gosh.

[Abbie]

Happening. It was very good.

[Abby]

Every time I have teriyaki, it's just game over for the night.

[Abbie]

You describe it as bubble gut.

[Abby]

It's bubble gut. I just. Just turning and churning. And I'm like.

[Abbie]

And we went to bed. Matt's like, play 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 then he goes, did you just fart?

[Abby]

You're like, I'm not likely.

[Abbie]

I forgot I did, but I did.

[Abby]

You forgot you did.

[Abbie]

And I was like, please say I'm asleep. The worst one.

[Abby]

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.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

And I remember one time my uncle looked at me, he goes, Abby, you 40? When I was little, and I ran to my mom crying, and I go, I'm a boy

[Abbie]

fluff. I've literally never heard that.

[Abby]

It's not. Yeah, it was. It's not a term. It's not a thing.

[Abbie]

Said it often, though. Like, it was.

[Abby]

She would only let us call it a fluff. Never. The minute I grew up, I was like, I'm not calling it that.

[Abbie]

I call it a toot.

[Abby]

A toot.

[Abbie]

I was like, I'm so sorry.

[Abby]

Are you dainty toot.

[Abbie]

Yeah. No, it's the worst.

[Abby]

No, I don't shoot a far.

[Abbie]

I was like, you do. Abby, honestly, let him know.

[Abby]

Sorry for the potty talk, but I'm not embarrassed by that.

[Abbie]

I'm not embarrassed by that. No, it was good food. That Was a really fun time and so great. Very unexpected. Also crazy for the Monday night.

[Abby]

It was a crazy Monday night.

[Addie]

Crazy Monday night.

[Abbie]

Kick off Valentine's.

[Abby]

And it started at seven. We were like, wow, we're gonna be up late on a Monday.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

No, it was cool. They did at one point put the hat on Abby and she looked exactly like her Chai GPT picture.

[Addie]

This is the shot.

[Abby]

This is the shot. That was kind of funny. Yep. Today, if I talk like this, it's because I'm spent. We had our super bowl party on Sunday and then Hawaii on Monday. The super bowl party was super fun too.

[Abbie]

I thought, personally, very fun.

[Abby]

Thanks. It was good time party. Thanks.

[Abbie]

I wasn't.

[Abby]

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. You missed out.

[Addie]

I know. I almost slid up on your DM and said, if you have any more, bring them to.

[Abby]

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 rolls, so anything on a Hawaiian roll is gonna slap. But this, it was such an easy recipe.

[Abbie]

Was there butter on those?

[Abby]

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.

[Abbie]

Never guess there's barbecue sauce a little bit. Because I don't really like barbecue sauce that much. I don't either.

[Abby]

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.

[Abbie]

It was a fun party. I watched 0% of the game.

[Abby]

Same. We had three TVs, so no one could miss the game. It wasn't worth watching of the game.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

It kind of seemed. The last few years have kind of been boring.

[Abbie]

I didn't even watch the half time show. There's just so many children.

[Abby]

There were a lot of children. So we kind of had it set up 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.

[Abbie]

Like, she. It was fun. It's the best. That's the way to do it. Just let them go outside. You're like, get out. Totally do your thing.

[Abby]

Our house isn't that big. And I didn't really take that into account when I was just, like, invite everybody. Which I'm never gonna invite. Less like, it was packed. Yeah. When I was. I had Vivi in the back nursing when people were getting there, and I just kept hearing the door open and closed and the volume raising, and I just sat thinking to myself, go. How many people did we invite to this party? There's a lot of people. A lot of people.

[Abbie]

It was fun.

[Abby]

It was great.

[Abbie]

Super fun. And Sunday morning, we went to Paw Patrol Live.

[Abby]

Oh, my gosh.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

What was it? You don't have to say. You don't have to say.

[Abbie]

I'll say.

[Addie]

I want to know.

[Abbie]

We got, like, the cheapest seats on SeatGeek, and for our family to go, it was almost $500.

[Abby]

Can you imagine sitting in the front? No.

[Abbie]

Oh, who's sitting in the front? No, no, no. They have a VIP experience. We were walking up, and Matt goes, why didn't we do that? I was like, matt, Matt, what do you.

[Abby]

Do?

[Abbie]

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. First of all, each ticket was over $100. We were in the back, essentially, and we. We got no souvenirs, and we got no snacks. I packed my own snacks. I was like, this is crazy.

[Abby]

That's crazy. Was it at the arena?

[Abbie]

It was. No, it's at the Arizona Financial.

[Abby]

So it's a little bit of a smaller theater.

[Abbie]

I mean, it's pretty big. It's not super small. No. And they can't 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.

[Abby]

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.

[Abbie]

Ice is so cheap, though. Oh, it's like $30 max. Like, you can go cheap for Disney on Ice Paw Patrol.

[Addie]

Reagan.

[Abbie]

It is. It's a good show. It has impressive costum. It has, like, good set and special effects. And, like, their. Their cast is talented. But I was like, wowza.

[Abby]

Wowza.

[Abbie]

I was. I literally kept looking at them. I was like, you guys are having a great time.

[Abby]

You guys are getting paid.

[Abbie]

Well, yeah. No, I was talking to the kid. I was like.

[Abby]

But they really.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Well, we'll. We'll touch back.

[Abbie]

We'll probably be back.

[Abby]

Yeah, we'll be back. Maybe that theater was just more expensive. Expensive, too.

[Abbie]

That's where it was the year before, too.

[Abby]

Oh, well, I don't know.

[Abbie]

There was a jump in prices, I felt. I mean, gosh. Comment down below, but that was crazy. Yeah, but that's.

[Abby]

They enjoyed it.

[Abbie]

They did enjoy it. They did enjoy it. It was a good time.

[Abby]

Good. Also, it was Saturday.

[Abbie]

Saturday, we went to the spa. Really? Oh, my gosh.

[Abby]

We had a packed weekend.

[Abbie]

We had a packed week. Oh, Saturday, I also. We had a dance class.

[Abby]

Back to that thing where you're doing something every day in February.

[Abbie]

Yeah. I also made breakfast for the campers in our backyard Saturday morning. This was my Saturday. Made breakfast for the campers in the dark. Because if I turn on the light, it was in their campground. Cause they were camping in our backyard. And that was fun. 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. It's really sweet, 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. Worst tent by far. I could hear them cackling at 11pm from our bedroom upstairs. I didn't think they were gonna make it. They made it all night. They did. Spoiler alert.

[Abby]

And Matt made it all night.

[Abbie]

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. I got, like, several hours, like, just to recharge and relax, which was really good. And came back, which also when my massage ended, I thought I was gonna Cry.

[Abby]

Cause I was like, was that good? It was so good.

[Abbie]

I was like, please don't be wrapping up right now.

[Abby]

Right.

[Abbie]

What do I have to do?

[Abby]

I know.

[Abbie]

And I actually felt like I was gonna fall asleep during that massage, and I never feel that way. I feel like my thoughts are always kind of racing. Not racing, but I'm usually not that relaxed. I was so relaxed. I was literally about to fall asleep.

[Abby]

Gail was like, what'd you guys do all day? And I go, we literally just sat by the pool for hours.

[Abbie]

It was needed.

[Abby]

And then we moved to this room, and then we talked, and then went to this room, and then we talked.

[Abbie]

I thought I was gonna read, like, two books, And I was like, you know what? This is better. This is better to fill my cup. I literally felt, like, so refreshed after that. I did, too. Even though I didn't, like, sleep or anything. I just felt so, so charged up.

[Abby]

Good. Me too.

[Abbie]

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 to, because my mom really wants to do it. That would be the way if they both. I know. That would be the way it's set up for beginners. Like, they. It's very simple.

[Addie]

No recordings, no social.

[Abbie]

We'll work on that.

[Addie]

Those are the. I think those would be their requirements.

[Abbie]

Well, like, the teacher was recording, so I don't know if you could really tell her. She maybe could.

[Abby]

Was it at the wave?

[Abbie]

It was at the wave. 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. Like, 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 you 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.

[Abby]

So what was the consensus? What kind of dance was it?

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Was it Mel?

[Abbie]

No, she brought in an instructor.

[Abby]

Sweet. Okay. I was like, mel is such a sweetie. It'd be fun.

[Abbie]

I also had a Galentine's on Thursday night, which neither one of you came

[Abby]

to, but I know we did Bible study Thursday, so I couldn't.

[Addie]

I left early.

[Abbie]

Oh, that's kind of good.

[Addie]

That's what I learned about myself this week when we were talking about, like, what type of person you are. I will leave early. I will go home at a certain time.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Addie]

That's my thing.

[Abbie]

Abby will be the last to leave.

[Abby]

Yeah. I'm like, usually the last one to get there and the last one to leave.

[Abbie]

Me too, though, actually, I'm first to

[Addie]

get there, first to leave. Yeah.

[Abby]

If that's okay.

[Addie]

But yeah, Galentine's was fun.

[Abby]

I was bummed. I missed.

[Addie]

I'm so Candy salad.

[Abbie]

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 got it stuck in my head.

[Addie]

I literally sat next to you and I was kind of like, with Augie?

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

He wanted to marry you.

[Addie]

Yeah, he told me he wanted to marry me. I was best, buddy.

[Abby]

It's so sweet. He loves you so much.

[Addie]

It was so sweet.

[Abbie]

Anyway, so that was fun.

[Abby]

You guys did the chick chick flicks and Chick fil a theme.

[Abbie]

Yeah, we did it.

[Abby]

How was the movie?

[Abbie]

We had some mocktails. No one watched the movie.

[Addie]

I watched. The time that I was there, I watched it. It was.

[Abbie]

I was actually down to watch it.

[Addie]

I was down to watch it, too. We'll have to finish it.

[Abbie]

Couldn't really hear it.

[Abby]

Watch it. Sure, a bunch.

[Abbie]

All the chit, chitchat, a lot of chatter. Which is good.

[Abby]

Which is good. It is so good. So fun. I love our girls nights.

[Abbie]

That was everything.

[Abby]

Yeah. We've had a packed a packed couple of weeks. I've been talking to my mom because she's been babysitting a lot. And I was like, sorry, it's just been so popular because I think we even had did a date night last week. So we've really been out and about. My mom's like, yeah, I'm exhausted.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

I don't.

[Abbie]

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 hardest, 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 gotta just do what we gotta do to get through it.

[Abby]

Sure.

[Abbie]

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 have to do for the entire month of February. And it's the beginning, so who knows what else is going to happen this

[Addie]

month you've got going on. We have flags.

[Abby]

We have a lot.

[Abbie]

We have a trip planned.

[Abby]

Nice.

[Abbie]

Speaking of trips, that's the main portion of today's episode. We are not ready to transition yet.

[Abby]

We're not transitioning.

[Addie]

We'll go back.

[Abbie]

So that's my hard, though, is I just in general feel really fragile. So, like, Walleyes may appear to, like, be, like, doing all these things. It's fully a coping mechanism. So I'm just gonna put that on the table. I'm fragile.

[Abby]

I mean, you're such a healthy coper normally that I think if this was anyone who wasn't a healthy coper, I'd be like, hey, I think you're distracting yourself. But because it. You are such a healthy coper, it's like, let's distract her.

[Addie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

How do we distract you more?

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Totally, totally.

[Abbie]

So, yeah, that's my. That's my hard.

[Abby]

Thanks for sharing that. I think that's always. People relate a lot to that.

[Abbie]

Thanks.

[Abby]

Yeah. You're doing a good job, sister.

[Abbie]

Thank you.

[Abby]

And we're praying, praying for you through this month.

[Abbie]

Thank you. Yeah.

[Abby]

Love you. My heart. I guess I could say sorry. No, it's also not like. I mean, I had to apologize to Caleb 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. And I was a little disappointed in myself for throwing some low blows that I need to apologize for.

[Abbie]

Hey, that's Honest.

[Abby]

That's humble.

[Abbie]

I was like, you know what?

[Abby]

I think maybe some other women could relate to this and maybe need to feel remember to apologize. When you go low.

[Abbie]

When you go low, it happens.

[Abby]

It happens.

[Addie]

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.

[Abby]

I could.

[Addie]

I couldn't get out. I know I had to keep going deeper. Even though I knew I was wrong,

[Abbie]

it just went, wait, we need a code word when that happens.

[Addie]

I'm like, I know I'm wrong. I'm not ready to admit it yet.

[Abby]

I know, I know. I was right, actually. So

[Abbie]

that's better.

[Abby]

It was. It felt great. We did mediate at our Bible study on Thursday night, and we had the other couples kind of hear on both of our sides.

[Abbie]

And yeah, Abby won.

[Abby]

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 probably uncalled for, so will you forgive me for that was kind of you?

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

There were a couple things I feel like, Yeah, I don't.

[Addie]

Maybe it's just.

[Abbie]

It's a hard pattern. Like once you get in that pattern where you, like, feel like you're in opposition.

[Abby]

Huh.

[Abbie]

It can be hard to break that one.

[Abby]

Well, also, Caleb's so patient that sometimes I'm just like, well, let me get. Let me get a little. You know what I mean? 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?

[Abbie]

I feel like you're strong.

[Abby]

He doesn't feel like.

[Addie]

I'm like, oh, I made him crack. Oh, no, I went too far. You know, if I'm like, oh, I made him mad, I'm like, oh, you went.

[Abby]

But Caleb still didn't crack. He just kind of laughed at me. And then 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.

[Abbie]

But parties will bring out the worst.

[Abby]

I know. Maybe I was stressed, but I just felt like I was in a mood. Last week. I was just feeling very critical.

[Abbie]

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 of 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. 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. Have one on one time. But you also feel like productive. Like, 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 so I'm. 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 they're both, both grandparents this weekend.

[Abby]

Like, they're literally like so spoiled.

[Abbie]

So it'll be good. And I'm looking forward to like someone on one time, even just the flight. I'm like, we're just gonna sit together and be alone on a plane, watch

[Abby]

a movie and hold hands. That's crazy. Last time you got the whole hands on the plane.

[Abbie]

Crazy. I don't even know what we're gonna do. I'm literally just like, we've been saying of myself, I don't need anyone because 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.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Addie]

I'm so happy for you.

[Abbie]

And I did warn the grandparents. I was like, he will need a sleeping bag next to you guys.

[Abby]

They're gonna love that.

[Abbie]

Yeah, we're really, like, looking forward to those like, moments of just like reconnection. I feel like it's a good month for top of the year. Get some good habits going. Yeah, I'm excited for it.

[Abby]

That's really fun.

[Addie]

And it's.

[Abby]

Can we say who the marriage conference is? Yeah, it's John Deloney. You love him.

[Abbie]

I do.

[Abby]

You love his podcast and his advice.

[Abbie]

I love his podcast.

[Abby]

I can't wait to hear the content. We did one marriage conference right before we got married. It was really fun.

[Abbie]

Really?

[Abby]

Yeah. But also part of that marriage conference was I think it was for couples that were. I Think for about maybe going through, like a challenging season. 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 were married. We were engaged. And we weren't having sex. So we were like, we gotta get out of here.

[Addie]

We can't keep.

[Abby]

Oh, my God, it was so hard.

[Abbie]

You're like, why is that so hard for you?

[Abby]

So they're all gonna go to the hotel room and we're gonna go to the children's museum.

[Abbie]

Got it. Great times.

[Abby]

Great times. You know, children. Isn't that what it's called in the. No, the City museum. Yeah. In St. Louis.

[Abbie]

Children.

[Abby]

We're like, we got actually never went sexy.

[Abbie]

Not sexy at all. It was really funny.

[Abby]

That'll be great. What is my hope? I feel like my hope. I just said party was great.

[Abbie]

So you haven't anything, honestly, given the longest life update. So much life has happened, though. We have.

[Abby]

I have no idea what's happening the rest of this week. John and Teresa are coming in town, so we'll be spending a lot of time with them and your boys, which

[Abbie]

is so much fun. It'll be fun.

[Abby]

Yeah. They're not. You don't have mom guilt. They're with us.

[Abbie]

No, I don't think I struggle with that too much, but sometimes I just miss them a lot.

[Abby]

I know it's not guilt.

[Abbie]

I 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.

[Abby]

Yeah, that's good. It's good to love your children.

[Abbie]

I do. I literally love spending time with them.

[Abby]

We can transition to. Wow, that's crazy.

[Abbie]

Wow, that's crazy. Wow, that's crazy. That crazy. I'm so excited for this one. There's been so much hype around it.

[Abby]

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 Kim Kardashian and Lewis Hamilton hard launched their relationship?

[Abbie]

No, no. And I don't know who. Lewis Hamilton. I knew you were going to say that. I knew it.

[Abby]

Oh, my gosh. He's one of the most, like, successful.

[Abbie]

I thought Kim Kardashian was married.

[Abby]

Well, she has been a couple times, like four times.

[Addie]

Divorced for a little bit.

[Abbie]

For a while now.

[Addie]

Okay, who was her. Who was she married to?

[Abbie]

Kanye.

[Addie]

Yes.

[Abby]

Yeah, that's.

[Abbie]

I know. That's done.

[Abby]

That's in the dust.

[Abbie]

Yeah, that's done.

[Abby]

That's.

[Abbie]

I'm dumb. No, Hamilton.

[Abby]

He is one of the highly most successful F1 race car drivers of all time. Huh? Yes. Kind of cool. I kind of like their vibe together. Super. Yeah, I don't.

[Addie]

I didn't really know who he was.

[Abby]

You didn't?

[Addie]

No.

[Abby]

Blake's not into F1.

[Addie]

No.

[Abby]

Or really an F1, so.

[Abbie]

Well, that's fun.

[Abby]

Yeah. Okay, well, we won't talk about it since you don't know anything about it.

[Abbie]

Don't keep up with the Kardashians.

[Abby]

You don't care.

[Addie]

I want to keep up with the Kardashians.

[Abby]

They. The. Keeping up with the Kardashians and Secret Lives of Mormon Wives are the two reality shows I watch.

[Abbie]

I didn't know you watched them. Mormon wives obsessed with it. I mean, never talk to me about

[Abby]

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.

[Abbie]

Okay. I was like, is that the crazy crazy?

[Abby]

That was the crazy crazy. No, no, no. Have you heard of crotch gate?

[Abbie]

No. You guys thought I was gonna know about this?

[Addie]

You might have heard about it.

[Abby]

Matt kind of said he.

[Addie]

You.

[Abby]

He talked to you about it a little bit. You talked about it, and you didn't believe him. So there are. Yes, there is an alleged rumor. There's a rumor.

[Abbie]

I told him this was not true.

[Abby]

People are talking about it, so they're. A German magazine called Build, I think, reported that some of the ski jumpers in the Olympics for the men have been.

[Abbie]

He told this to me, their members.

[Abby]

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 it would help.

[Addie]

Yeah. Because it's the ski jumpers.

[Abbie]

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.

[Addie]

I had not heard about it until Matt brought it up.

[Abby]

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

[Abbie]

is that the first thing that crosses the line.

[Abby]

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 there.

[Abbie]

But now they're changing their bodies.

[Abby]

So now they're changing their bodies, which is a very interesting thought, you know, Is that wrong?

[Abbie]

Does it make that big of a difference?

[Abby]

Yes, it does. I was watching an. In like a. He was a physicist, doctor. Mortifying physics, and he was talking about if they can grow 1-2 cm in that region, it significantly improves their jump. 1-2 cm jump better.

[Abbie]

Messing. It crosses first.

[Addie]

No, no, no, no.

[Abbie]

What did you say?

[Addie]

It's so that they can stay in the air longer.

[Abbie]

That even makes sense. That's why I was like, that can't. Matt.

[Abby]

That's not it.

[Abbie]

I was like, that's not sticking out.

[Abby]

Ew.

[Abbie]

I. I could have misunderstood him. No, I thought that's what he was trying to say. Picture like, this plays a role in their jump.

[Abby]

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.

[Abbie]

That's crazy.

[Abby]

Isn't that crazy? So they're making.

[Abbie]

Wait, wait, wait. Tell me one more time, as a physicist, why this is.

[Abby]

Okay, so picture a squirrel. And, you know, when they do the ski jump, they're in, like a triangle.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

Okay. So you 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 gravity. 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 1-2cm difference makes a huge difference.

[Abbie]

Who's the first person that discovered this?

[Abby]

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. You know, that's what they put in, like, filler in your face. They put it in your joints.

[Addie]

Crazy that. It's crazy.

[Abbie]

They're injecting that straight in there into their weenies.

[Abby]

Yeah, sorry.

[Abbie]

The sun.

[Addie]

So it was confirmed that in 2025. They were adjusting the stitching.

[Abbie]

Yes.

[Abby]

And they got in trouble for that.

[Addie]

And they got in trouble for that. And so this. The new rules were that there's microchip embedded stuff suits, and stricter pre and post jump inspections of everything to make sure that that doesn't happen again. And then. But it is important to note none of this has been confirmed.

[Abbie]

Right.

[Addie]

And no Olympic ski jumps.

[Abbie]

A little hard to.

[Abby]

Yeah, it's hard to confirm.

[Addie]

Confirm it.

[Abbie]

That's a violation.

[Abby]

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?

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Addie]

Yeah. Because you can't.

[Abbie]

You're not allowed to use steroids if you're.

[Abby]

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.

[Addie]

Yes.

[Abby]

I think about that. You know, if that becomes the new standard. Oh, you have to inject your genitals with hyaluronic acid also.

[Abbie]

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, 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.

[Addie]

It's.

[Abbie]

That's it. I don't like that.

[Abby]

Well, that's why you're not an Olympian.

[Abbie]

No, that's. No, that's not why I'm Olympia. That's why I don't watch.

[Abby]

I'm just kidding.

[Abbie]

There are several reasons why I'm not an Olympian.

[Abby]

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.

[Abbie]

You know, I thought it was a vanity thing, too. Like, I was like, maybe I just want to look good in their suits with all the cameras on.

[Abby]

Totally.

[Abbie]

You know, spoiler alert. No woman. Really?

[Abby]

It's not. Not tickling us.

[Abbie]

Not appealing. It's not tickling us. Wow. I can see why Matt wanted to sit in on that.

[Abby]

Matt was like, can I come sit in?

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

I know.

[Abbie]

I also misunderstood his explanation of the story.

[Abby]

I always just think about these insane, like, these athletes at the top. They all have to be a little crazy. You know, you think about these people that do extremely 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.

[Abbie]

That's crazy.

[Abby]

I know.

[Addie]

Do you guys remember? Do you guys have the Wii FIT board and ever play that game Jump? Did the ski jump on the Wii Fit board?

[Abby]

I don't remember that.

[Abbie]

I don't think I played that game.

[Abby]

I did have the Wii FIT board, but I think I just played, like, tennis and stuff.

[Abbie]

My grandma.

[Addie]

I had Winter Olympics. I had the game.

[Abby]

Oh, Addie. So you can relate to your peers.

[Addie]

Yeah. I was like, I. I did pretty

[Abby]

good at that game. So funny. I loved We Fit. Remember? That's what we convinced our parents to get us a Wii. We're like, it's for health. That's what they marketed it.

[Abbie]

Yeah, they did. And that was crazy.

[Abby]

That's a little manipulation.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Addie]

I would do the step. Like the stepping dance classes. Like, you'd step on and off the board. You could do that. It was fun. That's cool. I don't know what game that was.

[Abbie]

I did that with my grandma. Oh, just Fit for Life class. You went to an Act Revolution?

[Abby]

That's what you're talking about, Addie.

[Addie]

No, no.

[Abbie]

On the Wii Fit.

[Addie]

On the Wii Fit board.

[Abby]

Do you guys remember DDR?

[Abbie]

Oh, yeah.

[Addie]

You didn't.

[Abby]

You didn't do that before your time?

[Addie]

I did Just Dance.

[Abbie]

I didn't have it on a video game. I had it where you literally plugged it into the tv. The mattress.

[Abby]

We had the mats, too.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

That was exercise, let me tell you.

[Abbie]

Breaking a sweat.

[Abby]

That and Just Dance.

[Abbie]

Blake, too.

[Abby]

A million percent.

[Abbie]

Blake would get down on that thing.

[Abby]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Addie]

Gotta get him back into it.

[Abbie]

Gotta get him back into it.

[Abby]

I still remember the Rasputin dance. Rah rah. Rasputin from Just Dance 3, I think. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I remember it. We figured, you know, it's. We're in February, you're planning spring break, you're planning your summer trips. Now's the Time that we're booking our flights are 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 girls trip, a family trip, and a romantic getaway. And then our dream trip.

[Abbie]

Yes.

[Abby]

Why don't you kick us off?

[Abbie]

Well, I figured we'd start with our travel horror story. Oh, I forgot about that to begin because, you know, a lot of learning moments happen in some failed travel experiences that we have lived through, and we're not gonna. We're gonna try not to repeat them. Right. When I think about worst travel experiences, the first one that came top of mind was, 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'd gone to Whitefish Mountain the year before with the family. And I will say it didn't make it on my list, but I would say that is a great travel option. 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 Allegiant there from where we are.

[Abby]

Yeah. So it's really.

[Abbie]

It actually was a very good place for, like, if you're flying a whole family life.

[Abby]

Ish. Is Montana correct?

[Addie]

That reminded me of your horror story in the airport.

[Abbie]

I had a horror story with allegiant.

[Abby]

Oh, yeah.

[Addie]

Going to whitefish.

[Abbie]

The first Mrs. Grinch just give us the whole day. This was. That was a different day.

[Abby]

Oh, okay.

[Abbie]

And that didn't make the list of the worst travel day.

[Abby]

No.

[Abbie]

So here's the morning. We had woken up early, got the kids all ready. We're packed at this point. We had a one and a two year old, and it's tough. No, we were actually feeling like we

[Abby]

were like, the one year old is such a hard age to fly.

[Abbie]

Yeah. Well, this isn't a super long flight. And we also had done it a few times. I wasn't, like, necessary. I was honestly feeling really confident this day. And we were packed. We were, like, ready to go. It was an early morning flight, and we had just given our youngest a packet of applesauce. And 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.

[Abby]

Sure.

[Abbie]

They sometimes yak.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

I mean, I was like, oh, buddy.

[Abby]

Oh, buddy.

[Abbie]

He just went on about his life. Cause that's how one year olds kind of are. 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 I was like, okay. That was. I didn't think too much of it. Flight takes off within the first 15 minutes of being in the air. He throws up again.

[Abby]

Oh.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Right.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Oh, my goodness.

[Abbie]

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 in, change ourselves.

[Abby]

Was there a random person sitting next to you?

[Abbie]

We had the row, like the three of us. Because he was still a lap infant at this time.

[Abby]

Yep.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Nice.

[Abbie]

I was like, okay, well, we.

[Abby]

We made it.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Was he still nursing?

[Abbie]

No.

[Abby]

Okay.

[Abbie]

It was so, so, so, so, so sad for him. So then we're like, phew. We're in the clear. Next day, whole next day, we go skiing. 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 other son starts throwing up. And this is weirder because he's two and a half, and they don't throw up as much.

[Abby]

Right.

[Abbie]

And he definitely seems to not feel good. Oh. I was like, oh, no. And so he starts throwing up. Then I start yakking 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.

[Abby]

Was he making it into the toilet? Oh, no, no.

[Abbie]

We had buckets, and we were just Lysol, like, trying to clean everything up.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

My dad comes downstairs next morning because my parents came with us, too, and he's like, what's going on? And I am literally like, help. He starts throwing up. My mom started throwing up. Matt somehow got one throw up in there. Everyone is puking. This house reeks. And it was a nice house. I messaged the host afterwards. I was like, charge us whatever you have to charge, please. Fumigate that, please. So the whole trip we spent. We had the norovirus.

[Abby]

Oh, my goodness.

[Addie]

We were in. Blake and I were invited on that trip.

[Abby]

We were also invited on that trip.

[Addie]

I was pregnant, and we didn't end up going. And I was not upset about.

[Abby]

Yeah, I went fomo, too. I was like, dang. That'd be fun. Glad we did go. I'm sorry.

[Abbie]

It was horrible. It was, like, actually so bad.

[Abby]

Like, Yeah.

[Abbie]

I haven't been that, like, wrecked, like, with a sickness since I was literally a kid.

[Abby]

Totally.

[Abbie]

It knocked us on our butts. Yeah.

[Abby]

And that's where you just keep going, even though there's nothing in your stomach.

[Abbie]

I just wanted to be home. I was literally like, I don't want to throw up in this place anymore.

[Abby]

But honestly, someone else got to clean it up. You know what I mean? I know you feel bad about it, but at least you didn't have to disinfect your house.

[Abbie]

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, but I don't have time for this whole podcast.

[Abby]

That's when the. The car.

[Addie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

Yeah, that's. That's just embarrassing if you haven't seen that one.

[Addie]

There is a video out there.

[Abbie]

Okay. A lot of things went wrong on this trip. And I think that was honestly the cherry on top where I was like, get us out of here. And then our car is not moving. I was like, no, we're gonna miss our flight. I just want to leave so bad. Like, so bad. No, man. Yeah. Anyway, yeah, parking brake was on. Pretty horrible. Gotta check for that.

[Abby]

Hey, you guys had brain fog. You were sick. You didn't know Matt. I wasn't mad. Doing the most to get those tires going.

[Abbie]

We had cardboard.

[Addie]

We had.

[Abbie]

We were boiling water.

[Abby]

Yeah, of course. That's my first thought.

[Abbie]

I was literally like.

[Addie]

I remember that was like a. We don't talk about that for a long time.

[Abbie]

Yeah, it was like, don't talk about it because we both still think we're right.

[Addie]

You're both wrong because the parking brake was on.

[Abbie]

No, I. Anyway, bad trip. Bad.

[Abby]

Bad trip.

[Abbie]

Good intentions, but horror story, horrible outcome.

[Abby]

Okay.

[Abbie]

Don't get the norovirus on your family vacation.

[Abby]

Norovirus with toddlers.

[Abbie]

With toddlers.

[Abby]

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. Caleb and are 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.

[Abbie]

Oh, okay.

[Abby]

So I just had a question, but was it American? Absolutely it was. Why are they known to be grouchy?

[Abbie]

I really have the grouchiest flight attendant.

[Addie]

Oh, allegiant's kind of bad too.

[Abby]

I've always had really nice people on allegiant.

[Abbie]

That's good in the airport.

[Abby]

I've had a few grouchy encounters on American. No slander. But, you know, I. 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 is, like, working behind the scenes. I text her and said, I genuinely

[Abbie]

don't know what to do.

[Abby]

I honestly didn't. She goes, okay, I've got it all covered for you. My mom's such 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 gonna land later. So it just kind of lengthened our day. 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.

[Abbie]

She is from Phoenix to la.

[Abby]

This is from Phoenix to la. So, you know, you're gonna get some characters. You go to California, you know, 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, oh, my gosh. This girl is, like, really trying to distract herself. The. 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's starting to mumble 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. Caleb'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. She starts cussing. 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. She wakes back up and she can't get her seat belt off. And she starts to panic again. She's just, like, pulling it. She's like. She's kind of cussing, and I. Hey, 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.

[Abbie]

She was like, I don't know this reference.

[Abby]

Really?

[Abbie]

No.

[Abby]

I'm sure the other people will. You've never seen Bridesmaids?

[Abbie]

I think I have.

[Abby]

It's a very famous butter. It's a very famous scene when they're, like, panicking.

[Abbie]

Okay. She's.

[Abby]

They're like, next to. It's. You'll have to go watch it.

[Abbie]

Okay, I really will.

[Abby]

I remember her looking out the window, looking down, and being like, holy. Who? Just, like, cussing, like, the heights. She was just really freaked out.

[Abbie]

Okay.

[Abby]

So that was just a little. We're like, whoa, this is crazy. So then we're 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.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

I'm gonna take care of her. I'm gonna be really over. I like, you know, I'm sorry. I get the giggles now thinking about it. So I'm sitting next to her. 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.

[Abbie]

Oh, my gosh.

[Abby]

Are you so excited to fly to Hawaii like this? And she's like, yeah, she's really mouth, 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.

[Abbie]

And I'm like, oh, my gosh.

[Abby]

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

[Abbie]

I go, you're still not convinced? Oh my God.

[Abby]

I go, that's amazing. College.

[Abbie]

Wow.

[Abby]

How old are you? She goes, 21.

[Abbie]

Oh my gosh. 21.

[Abby]

She was 21. 21. I'm speaking to her like a six year old.

[Abbie]

College should have been a really good hit.

[Abby]

She was so young looking like she's good.

[Abbie]

A really prodigious. Were not convinced.

[Abby]

Like she is. She's gonna like cure cancer one day. This kid is.

[Abbie]

This kid is amazing. Amazing child.

[Abby]

I shut my mouth so fast. I sat for it. I didn't say another word. I was so embarrassed. I felt so embarrassed.

[Abbie]

Her mom was also still on that flight.

[Abby]

Her mom was like, was it with this crazy chick talking to my kid like this? That was so embarrassing. The most embarrassing moment of my life. Well, one of them.

[Abbie]

Well, you know what?

[Abby]

Yeah. You know we made to Hawaii.

[Abbie]

You're only gonna do that once, Abby.

[Abby]

Yeah. Yeah. You never.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

I'm just going to assume everyone's older at this point.

[Abbie]

I don't know if that's.

[Abby]

No, it's actually the first question I ask. How old are you? I'm just kidding.

[Abbie]

Lead with that.

[Abby]

Lead with that. So that was horrible.

[Abbie]

Well, let's try not to repeat those this season as we travel for spring break in summer. So let's start with family trip ideas.

[Abby]

Let's love that.

[Abbie]

I. Okay. When I think of family trip, I just think of Florida. Right. Honestly, I feel like Florida is a great place, but for a budget.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

Depending obviously flying from here, 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 is get a big beach house. And if you're splitting it with other families, it makes it very affordable. 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.

[Abby]

Like grills, beach things.

[Abbie]

Beach things and golf carts. So then you could get to the beach easily. The ocean is warm there and the 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. 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 gonna cook all of our meals at the house because a lot of these houses have like big kitchens already stocked. Right. So we're just gonna make the dad's grill. We'll make some sides inside and everyone. Everyone's happy.

[Abby]

You know what I've seen too 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.

[Abbie]

Oh, that's nice.

[Abby]

I know you can rent all your baby equipment through them so you don't have to travel with all that stuff.

[Abbie]

I've seen some of those.

[Abby]

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.

[Abbie]

There's also 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 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.

[Abby]

That's really great.

[Abbie]

Very excited. I feel like there's one other thing I was gonna say.

[Addie]

Oh.

[Abbie]

We also always do Walmart delivery whenever we travel, like wherever we go. So then we get there, we have like their diapers, their, like all the food. And it's a hack. It's a good hack.

[Abby]

Sometimes you think about what people did before these delivery services. Like, y', all, you had to go out and plan that.

[Abbie]

Which.

[Abby]

These are new within the last few years. So we did find a grocery store.

[Abbie]

Cuz you didn't have maps, like.

[Abby]

I know.

[Abbie]

My gosh, we're so lucky.

[Abby]

We're so lucky.

[Abbie]

We're so lucky. I was born at this time period for a reason.

[Abby]

There's exactly a reason. 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.

[Abbie]

It's probably freezing though, huh?

[Abby]

It was not really, no. And we went in July, so it was warm. It was like 80 degrees.

[Abbie]

So nice.

[Abby]

I know.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

The lake was warmer than we were expecting.

[Abbie]

Okay.

[Abby]

TJ Loved it. One day the lake was really cold. One day was warm. I don't know how that happened, but yeah. Yeah, it was really great. And they're a lot of, like, the towns are a little slower. They're not as packed, so it's really easy to get restaurants.

[Abbie]

Did you walk around?

[Abby]

No, we flew into Grand Rapids.

[Abbie]

Okay.

[Abby]

It depends on where you go on the lake, 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. 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.

[Abbie]

I never think about Lake Michigan.

[Abby]

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 he just had so many. So many options. It was great.

[Abbie]

That's fun. Yeah, that's a good idea. I feel like a lot of people probably don't think about that.

[Abby]

Can I. Can I give a. A runner up one?

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

Okay. San Diego for a kids trip. A family trip is so fun because the zoo is amazing.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

And then it's really easy to fly there. So many Airbnb, so many hotels. You can go to the beach. You can go.

[Abbie]

Look at this.

[Abby]

I thought there were so many fun things to do as a family. We did that last fall.

[Abbie]

Oh, fun.

[Abby]

In October. It was so fun.

[Abbie]

They also have Legoland there, which is. Legoland's actually really cheap.

[Abby]

Ah, I know. We need to go, but TJ wasn't like, yeah, he wasn't old enough yet. But there's so many fun things for kids.

[Abbie]

It's very affordable. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good one.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

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 you're taking them places. I'm like,

[Abby]

we need safer.

[Abbie]

This isn't. Or it's just not the right atmosphere.

[Abby]

Yeah. The vibe. We were in La Jolla, and it was great.

[Abbie]

Yeah, I think that would be a great area. Okay. That's a good one.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

Especially for people out here on the West.

[Abby]

Yes. Our West Coasters. East Coasters.

[Abbie]

Okay. My girls trip is a totally different vibe than you're probably expecting.

[Abby]

All right, let's see it.

[Abbie]

Because we're actually planning one of these hopefully down the line, like, soon. 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. A granny trip. I have a reel I can send, but this. These friends created a reel. They're like, this is your sign or something to schedule a granny trip.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Addie]

It.

[Abbie]

I was like, this sounds like a great time for me. They all. They. First of all, they got matching, like, little nightgowns, which I think you can get, which is just funny.

[Abby]

That's cute.

[Abbie]

But you could just get cozy jammies.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

They rented a house, like, basically in the middle of nowhere.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

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, it sounds 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. Cause 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 banks or whatever. Like that sounds that there's a time and a place for that. But just for the season of life run. I'm like, that sounds pretty great if I'm being totally honest.

[Abby]

Low key girl time.

[Abbie]

Drink some tea.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

Just have some popcorn. Like I don't know. And so we're trying to plan a granny trip somewhere. Yeah.

[Abby]

Fun. I love that.

[Abbie]

I'll show you guys the real. I'll send it to you guys.

[Abby]

Okay.

[Abbie]

That's fun because it's cute. And I think it was really especially cute that they got little nightgowns. They really committed to the granny weekend.

[Abby]

We love a. Commit to the bit that reminds me.

[Addie]

One of the first times I ever met you actually was at conference for church.

[Abbie]

Oh my God.

[Addie]

And we were dressed. We. They had a dance party and we all dressed up as old people.

[Abby]

You guys have so many stories of being dressed up.

[Abbie]

Do you remember that?

[Addie]

And that night was also when the whole camp flooded and we. Everyone like went back early and stuff. You don't remember any.

[Abbie]

I remember the camp flooding and us going back early.

[Addie]

Totally fine picture of you.

[Abbie]

But wait, what was I wearing?

[Addie]

A grant. You probably had a wig or something. Granny.

[Abbie]

I will find it funny. Find it.

[Addie]

Okay, I'll come back later with the picture.

[Abby]

Okay, that's great. That's great.

[Abbie]

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 lol. Or I'm gonna be like lolly and you're gonna be pop. He's like, okay, for what? And I was like, bring my grandparents. I'm so excited. I know it's. I don't want it to come soon. I just wanna. I just.

[Abby]

But you could be excited about that. It's gonna be fun. It's gonna be fun. My girls trip, 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 and. Or not a cabin. They had a really beautiful like ski house there. And so. I know.

[Abbie]

Yeah, I know.

[Abby]

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 times we'd ski. People would 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.

[Abbie]

Like, I want to go on a

[Abby]

ski trip with him, but I'm so slow. I'm not that good of a skier.

[Abbie]

I just feel bad. I'm, like, holding them back.

[Abby]

I don't think Caleb would wait for me.

[Abbie]

Oh, that does wait for me.

[Abby]

I think hill would be nice for, like, a run. And they'd be like, so I'm gonna go. I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna put my headphones in.

[Abbie]

You know what I mean?

[Abby]

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. Yeah, 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.

[Abbie]

I want to go on a trip so bad.

[Abby]

I know. I'm itchy. I'm itchy. I want to go.

[Abbie]

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 Vail, which I probably wouldn't go back to because it was really crazy.

[Abby]

Yeah. Breckenridge isn't as pricey as.

[Abbie]

It was 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.

[Abby]

Yeah. It's not celebrity.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

I feel like Vail is known where a lot of celebrities go.

[Abbie]

Yeah, it was crazy.

[Abby]

I mean, it's beautiful.

[Abbie]

It was beautiful.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

It was not a good airport to go into, though.

[Abby]

It's kind of hard to get to. It was Hard to get all kind of hard to get to really. That's the. That's the downside of a mountain town.

[Abbie]

I was just.

[Abby]

Yeah, you have to drive from far. From an airport usually.

[Abbie]

I was actually just messaging one of our friend that lives in Colorado and I was like, we need to go. Because if we just go to Denver, there's a lot of things for kids too.

[Abby]

Denver's. So.

[Abbie]

Yeah, maybe we'll have to do that.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Sure.

[Abbie]

Like you gotta.

[Abby]

Yeah, you gotta go.

[Abbie]

Gotta dive head first.

[Abby]

Totally.

[Abbie]

And just know that it's gonna 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.

[Abby]

Right.

[Abbie]

And I really think you could go in any season. Obviously the wintertime is like. It's iconic for its, 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 obviously amazing food in New York. You could not ever eat all the different types of food that they have in New York. 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.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

So fun.

[Abbie]

It's so. It's such a shock from like anywhere else in the US like, it is even Chicago, which I really do love Chicago too. But New York is just. There's something about it.

[Abby]

Totally.

[Abbie]

And it's really fun. And you can do so many things. You could take a million, like, weekend getaways to New York City and never ever do the same thing. Yeah, for sure. And yeah, it's so romantic. There's something about it. We just always feel like we're living in a movie.

[Abby]

Oh, I want to go so bad. Caleb's never been. I went when we were. My family went as a summer trip. It was really fun in the summer. It's hot in the summer.

[Abbie]

It's great in the summer too.

[Abby]

Yes, there was. It's so walkable in all the parks.

[Abbie]

It's great.

[Abby]

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.

[Abbie]

Oh, that's really fancy. I was like, I got a New York.

[Abby]

I know. I felt so cool. I know. It's just so iconic. Everything about New York is iconic.

[Addie]

It is.

[Abby]

I want to take Caleb.

[Abbie]

It does smell like weed. Everywhere you go.

[Abby]

I feel like that's everywhere.

[Abbie]

Oh really? I was kind of shocked by it. I was like, yeah, is that.

[Abby]

It's a lot of people in that city. Probably a lot of smells.

[Abbie]

There are many smells. And actually one downside is I don't. I don't feel comfortable walking it by myself. Depending on the area, but even in the areas that people. It's just cuz I don't know it.

[Abby]

Right.

[Abbie]

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 remember the circumstances. But you 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. I E. Romantic getaway. Go with your man. Because it is.

[Addie]

Sure.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

There's that going on there.

[Abbie]

I don't know. Girls trip would be maybe a little

[Abby]

spooky there unless you knew it. I feel like if you know New

[Abbie]

York, I don't know well enough.

[Addie]

Yeah, I visited when my friend lived there and it was just her and I. And I felt very safe when I was with her.

[Abby]

Like because she knew, she knew the area.

[Addie]

She knew where the people would be. She knew where to avoid. Like she knew where to go.

[Abby]

Totally.

[Abbie]

I didn't know it well enough.

[Abby]

Yeah, right. For my roommate to get away. 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 in 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. 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 pivot, like, pivoting in our life. And I think just that feeling of getting out of our comfort zone, being somewhere that felt so different, doing things that were so new was really, really sweet and special. So not like a. Like a leisurely. I mean, it can be, but it was really sweet.

[Abbie]

Yeah, you got to get out there if you're going to totally do some hikes, which is also very romantic because, like, you're literally just talking and, like, exploring together.

[Abby]

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.

[Abbie]

And the nature aspect, too, is, like, I don't know, grounding for sure.

[Abby]

Yes. So Hawaii.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

So nice.

[Abbie]

That's a good one.

[Abby]

That was a great trip.

[Abbie]

That was so much fun.

[Abby]

I loved it.

[Abbie]

Okay, now the next category is Dreamtrip. So trip. We are just. It's aspirational. 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. 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 got all shifted around not how we would have wanted, but you have to make accommodations. And so 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 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.

[Abby]

Yeah, I would agree.

[Abbie]

But also, Italy is, like, very. 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 that you like to learn just a little bit of keyword language. Yeah.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

But, like, I would never be able to, like, 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. 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.

[Abby]

That seems like such a. A hurdle, doesn't it? It's so overwhelming, a kid's passport.

[Abbie]

But I actually don't think it's hard. And actually, you can drive to Tucson and get passports in a day, same day.

[Abby]

That's really cool.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

I feel like you are on top of it.

[Addie]

You need to probably do it now.

[Abbie]

Do you think maybe in the next week?

[Addie]

Let's get that oh, wow calendar.

[Abby]

It takes a few weeks to get it back.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Four.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

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 schedule, the plans. Like, you're very talented at that.

[Abbie]

Really?

[Abby]

I remember that. I was like, dang, she's on top of this.

[Abbie]

That's very nice.

[Abby]

Yes, I remember.

[Abbie]

I have no memory of that.

[Abby]

Really?

[Abbie]

No, I didn't remember that.

[Abby]

I mean, I didn't have to think about anything. We got our Flights. You guys got our flights. You sent us the dates. And then we're like, cool, we'll sleep on your floor for.

[Abbie]

A lot of people stayed on our pull out couch. Blake and Addie stayed on our pullout couch.

[Addie]

We haven't yet, so it was like toe to head.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

That was scandi.

[Abby]

I feel like you. You guys are good at planning travel.

[Abbie]

Thank you so much. Yeah.

[Abby]

Well, I also know Addie does a lot of that nowadays, but in the past, you've been good.

[Abbie]

Thank you.

[Addie]

She does something, she'll be like, book these fights sometimes you'll pick the fights first.

[Abby]

Wow.

[Abbie]

Good on me.

[Abby]

Yeah, you're good at that. And you're very thoughtful about. I was always impressed, like when we. 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.

[Abbie]

Oh, C.J. was more accommodating than my kids were, though.

[Abby]

I don't know. I just was like, oh, I need to start thinking about these things.

[Abbie]

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. That's fine. But don't play around if you can with the evening.

[Abby]

Night fights were always worse.

[Abbie]

Nightmare.

[Abby]

You told me that. And then I was like, she's so right about that.

[Abbie]

I had to learn. I had. I did it wrong a lot of times.

[Abby]

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 want to. 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.

[Abbie]

That's the hard thing about compromise.

[Abby]

I know.

[Abbie]

It usually looks like one person.

[Abby]

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, the two of you. I know that was one of my goals, January 1st was to go on a trip. Just us too. 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. I feel like Greece is one of those places where you can go 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 think it's a good mix of like biblical history and not like, you know, just everything about it just seems so cool and fascinating. So I also think figuring out a timeline would be hard because I, like, I want to go for seven days. Caleb 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.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

Figuring out what's the best time.

[Abbie]

We say, 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.

[Abby]

I know, it just.

[Abbie]

But 10 days, I feel like we

[Addie]

did a 10 day cruise and it was. I mean, every day was booked.

[Abbie]

Like, there's a lot to do.

[Abby]

There's so much to do. So I'm gonna ask you guys for recommendations.

[Addie]

It was the best.

[Abbie]

It literally looks like the postcards, like the books, like, it looks exactly like that.

[Abby]

It seems so picturesque. So I know I want to do it.

[Abbie]

So much history.

[Abby]

That's the dream.

[Abbie]

That's a dream. We're putting them out there. We hope it happens.

[Abby]

Yes.

[Abbie]

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 itch 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 like I said in my New Year's resolutions, my goal was to travel with friends more. I want to do different types of travel, like girls trips, couples trips, family trips. I just think that is so fun and exciting. I love all the categories.

[Abby]

Yes, me too. That was good. Ask, ask, ask Abby.

[Abbie]

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. Especially some of the questions you're asking. Like, just, I. I'm so grateful.

[Abby]

Seriously, Seriously.

[Abbie]

And also from us, like, we don't

[Abby]

know what we're talking about, but. No, but thank you for letting your thoughts.

[Abbie]

Yeah. Hi, this is Marianne. 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. Marianne. She's like, I want the tea.

[Abby]

I want the tea.

[Abbie]

What would you say, abhi.

[Abby]

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.

[Abbie]

Yeah. I think the thing about like being 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. Cause it's like when you're as easy to get along with as Abbie is, it's like you're tussling back and forth. You're like, 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?

[Abby]

Sure.

[Abbie]

And so, yeah, obviously things I would say we never have had like an explosive fight. That would be very uncomfortable.

[Abby]

Right.

[Abbie]

If that happens.

[Abby]

Yeah. I feel like we're good about being

[Abbie]

like, you're not even like that. I couldn't even.

[Abby]

Yeah, I don't.

[Abbie]

I.

[Addie]

Those are so mature.

[Abbie]

Like, what?

[Addie]

Yes.

[Abby]

That's really kind, daddy.

[Abbie]

That's kind. Because I have actually been feeling really immature recently.

[Abby]

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 kill. Like I'm just being immature with each

[Addie]

other, like with conflict with like friends and stuff. I feel like. Or like with each other.

[Abbie]

Oh, that's nice.

[Abby]

That's sweet. I would say you're very mature.

[Abbie]

Well, thank you.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

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,

[Abbie]

it's like, you know, I wouldn't say there's, like, it makes it.

[Abby]

It makes it easy to bring to the fourth when, you know, it's like,

[Abbie]

you know, you're also, like, the least angry, confrontational person.

[Abby]

Oh, that's really kind.

[Abbie]

I feel like Abby would. Abby would take a lot from, like, anybody. I don't think you'd ever.

[Addie]

Absolutely, you would.

[Abby]

You know why? Because I have two sisters that I'm

[Abbie]

like, I. Gosh, I'm not scared of

[Abby]

anybody in this world except my sisters. And they know it.

[Abbie]

They know it. They're like, that's right.

[Addie]

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 talk 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. Whereas for you, it's both of your spouses that are the brothers and not your guys's actual stuff.

[Abbie]

Yeah. Which that does play a role as well. Yeah, that does play well. Family, you know, can get. Gets layered.

[Abby]

Yeah, it does. But I think that also makes it even better where it's like, oh, yeah,

[Abbie]

we're not going anywhere.

[Abby]

No, we're not going anywhere. So if we have something, it's like, we just talk about it there right then and there.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

It makes it easy.

[Abbie]

Yeah. Hey, I'm just wondering. I have a friend who's having a baby in a couple of months, and I'd really like to make her some kind of care package. I am not yet a mom, 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 care package for mama. Thank you.

[Abby]

That's so thoughtful.

[Abbie]

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. That's very sweet.

[Abby]

What are some things that you would add. I would if I'm putting together a basket.

[Abbie]

Okay.

[Abby]

Trying to think through some, like, electrolyte packets.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

That's good for breastfeeding. No 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.

[Abbie]

Yeah, Skip the bath stuff.

[Abby]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

I feel like. I hate to say it. Fuzzy socks.

[Abby]

Cozy socks.

[Abbie]

I was gonna say don't do it

[Abby]

because you're so sweaty and hot.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Really practical as possible. Yes. Because the fluff is actually overwhelming.

[Abbie]

Fluff is overwhelming. And, like, so I think electrolyte packets is really good. You can make or purchase, like, lactation cookies. I feel like that's, like. That's a good, easy thing.

[Abby]

Yeah. A gift card to a restaurant, like Uber Eats or doordash.

[Abbie]

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 in 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

[Abby]

when you got me a couple weeks ago.

[Addie]

Like, one of the favorite things was just, like, having something I could wear.

[Abbie]

Just something to wear. Like yourself. Put together, feminine, but also comfortable. And like. 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, 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 get out too. Yeah, I think those are all do. Can you think of anything more?

[Abby]

I'm trying to think of something.

[Abbie]

Little snackies.

[Abby]

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, it's like 1pm and you haven't eaten anything. So little convenient meals are the easiest and the best.

[Abbie]

And I craved healthier. Like I kind of wanted something healthier at that point. So like I feel like chopsticks would be good or like just little healthier bites. And this was something else I was gonna say if they have a toddler, 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 toys or an activity like coloring books, Magna tiles, anything for their toddler. And then also toddler snacks. One of my friends had a baby and I know that he loves cake pops from Starbucks.

[Abby]

Cute.

[Abbie]

So I got him and I was like for Big Brother. Because they're need 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. 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 can't thank them enough when they were doing stuff for like our kids. Yeah, that's something else. There's so many things you could do, honestly.

[Abby]

Yeah, yeah.

[Abbie]

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're 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.

[Abby]

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 and a claw clip and body wash. Oh yeah. I took two showers a day.

[Addie]

I was gonna say lotion because, like, a lot of people are worried about stretch marks.

[Abby]

Yeah. Body oil.

[Addie]

Just, like, body oil or something like that. I was gonna say it's not. Doesn't go in a basket, but, like, breakfast item quick. Like a breakfast casserole or, like, make some pancakes or muffins or. Because that's the meal I never ate. Because everyone brought dinner. No one brought breakfast.

[Abby]

Yes, Addie. I felt the same. Yeah.

[Addie]

So I was like. And I don't have time to cook it.

[Abby]

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.

[Addie]

Yeah.

[Abbie]

Yeah. Let's just do one more thing. You could also just get them a new water bottle because they're probably very, very thirsty, and that would be really fun to receive. It's always fun to receive. I know. Over consumption. Ah, it's okay.

[Abby]

We love it. I'm just kidding.

[Abbie]

They're gonna use. They're gonna get a lot of use out of it. Yeah, I really will.

[Addie]

Yeah. No, that'd be fun.

[Abbie]

So that'll be really fun to receive. Hi. You both seem to have really amazing relationships with your mom. I was wondering what something that both

[Abby]

of your moms did to help cultivate those good relationships into adulthood.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Oh.

[Abbie]

Which we're keeping in.

[Abby]

But I think that was kept in there.

[Abbie]

That's okay. I said it.

[Abby]

I mean, it's okay. Mom.

[Abbie]

They know.

[Abby]

They live in Berkeley.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Same.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

Out with. I know.

[Abbie]

And so some. So I think about it a lot, but 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, like, hated my mom, and then I came, like, and I really. It liked, I never went through that, but I think that's totally normal if you do go through that. But my mom was always very approachable. There was nothing. I was like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna mess up, and if my mom finds out, then it's going to be, 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 gonna be made better. It didn't feel like I was gonna get shamed or I was gonna 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. 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.

[Abby]

Totally.

[Abbie]

Oh, that's really long winded.

[Abby]

No, that was great. That was great. You guys are. Your parents are so good at that. I think 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'm just 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. And so now I even see that in my adulthood to where, like, my mom and dad snowbird here to spend time with us, like, they just take the extra mile to show up and be a part of our lives. It could 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 like, dang. And this is for both of Caleb and I experience, like, our parents make the most effort.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

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 life.

[Abbie]

Yeah.

[Abby]

You know, it kind of goes hand in hand.

[Abbie]

That's really good for, like, adult parents have 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, like lives. And so.

[Abby]

Yes.

[Abbie]

Yeah. I could talk and ramble forever about it, but like, yeah, I think that's really good. Showing up is really, really.

[Addie]

I want to give my mom a shout out too, because she definitely listens 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.

[Abby]

So fun.

[Addie]

So fun. No, it was going to be her. We do all the fun stuff. She'd get the snacks, she'd do the thing. 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 and 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 you and them, like, loving her so much has been, like, so touching.

[Abby]

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 a day. 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.

[Abbie]

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. Like, it's not gonna throw her off. Like, she felt steady and stable. Like, 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. I'm gonna say. I'm spell it. I was like, dad, what's up? P U S S Y wagon.

[Abby]

I've never even heard that.

[Abbie]

He's like. He just quietly goes. He's like, where'd you hear that? Yeah, yeah. It was from Greece, the musical.

[Abby]

Oh.

[Abbie]

And I was like, oh, oh, I heard it from Greece. And he was like, okay. He said, yeah, we let you watch that.

[Addie]

He's like.

[Abbie]

And so he's like. The fact that I approached him at age 7 and asked him that question,

[Abby]

he was probably like, yeah, we need to bet our movies a little bit more.

[Abbie]

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.

[Abby]

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 B H D D S Y N K O H F A.

[Abbie]

Next.

[Abby]

Hj.

[Abbie]

So thank you.

[Abby]

Thank you. The title is My Go to Car. My Go to for Car Drives and pump sessions. 5 stars. Love hearing these ladies in similar life stages chat about real things that a lot of us are going through. My 3am pump sessions. Appreciate the positivity and realness.

[Abbie]

So sweet.

[Abby]

Thank you so much. Oh, that's so sweet.

[Abbie]

I always love hearing where you guys are listening to it or, like, what you're doing as you listen to it, because that's just. I feel so connected to y'.

[Addie]

All.

[Abby]

Oh, sorry. Pump Sessions. I thought you were talking about like gym sessions but pumping. Girl, we are in the same spot.

[Abbie]

That's sweet. Okay, well, that wraps up today's episode. Remember the book club? This is our last episode before we like book club next week. Have book club next week.

[Abby]

Book still has not been delivered. I will read it. I will dedicate 16 hours in a row.

[Abbie]

It should not take you 16 hours.

[Addie]

Some people have been calling in, leaving voicemails about the book, which I think would be fun.

[Abby]

We should do one next.

[Addie]

I was trying to review them and I was like, don't tell me.

[Abbie]

I think it might be a little bit of a weird book.

[Addie]

It is weird.

[Abbie]

I have a lot to talk about.

[Abby]

Are you guys how far into it?

[Abbie]

Haven't started it.

[Addie]

It's interesting. I'm about 50 of the way through.

[Abby]

I don't care.

[Addie]

I still don't understand it yet, but it'll connect, you know.

[Abby]

Oh, shoot.

[Abbie]

It'll be good.

[Addie]

It's good though.

[Abbie]

So I can't wait to. If you want to be a part of the community in that way, we'll put a link also to the book club. And this month's book is my husband's Wife. So you have a week now to read it before all the spoilers are coming out. Yeah, 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, actually we have a small team, but we also have some members behind the scenes that it also means a lot to them too. These things all play a role in our lives, our ecosystem here at Always Here. So. So there's a lot of people that that means a lot to.

[Abby]

Yeah, everyone. We all read their views and they're so grateful.

[Abbie]

So thank you so much. And remember, we're always here. Close your eyes.

[Abby]

Exhale.

[Abbie]

Feel your body relax.

[Abby]

And let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh, my gosh. They're so fast.

[Abbie]

And breathe. Oh, sorry.

[Abby]

I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order.

[Abbie]

1-800-contacts.