Road trip number four! We're getting good at this. The kids are becoming better travelers (although decidely not better at sleeping away from home). This trip was a doozy - we slept in five places in 11 days. But, that means we got to see LOTS of different people and have tons of fun. Let's get started.
In early August, we took off again. Our final destination, and the purpose of our trip, was Uncle Caleb's wedding!! But we made a few stops along the way first. In order to break up the long trip a bit, the kids and I went to Grandma and Grandpa's house a few days early. Highlights: I got to run some kid-free errands, we swam in the hot tub (and neither of my kids threw up - yay!), Iowa sweet corn!! (it's just not the same in Kansas), and a little reprieve from the Kansas heat.
Brandon drove up to Des Moines after work on Friday (arriving around midnight, yuck), and we all took off bright and early Saturday morning. We made it all of 20 minutes before Cora piped up from the back seat, "Poopy...change it!" We ended up making so many stops on this leg of the journey. But all in all, it wasn't a bad day of travel. We spent Saturday night in Grand Rapids, MI with some good friends from college. On Sunday, a bunch more college friends who live in the area came over for dinner. It is so nice to reconnect with these friends! And the Johnsons (our hosts) always do such a wonderful job throwing together these dinners when we invite ourselves to stay ;)
Our group continues to grow, as we all keep having children at about the same rate. As frequently seems to be the case, Jonah was seriously out numbered. In this group we had nine kids, and eight of them were girls!
There was lots of dress up, a dance party and general goofiness. What a refreshing evening.
Jonah and Kate got a little wild with their dancing and almost took a few people out. Olivia is a little cautious and tends to hang close to mom, but she took a break to show us her dance moves - what a sweetheart!
We spent the next couple of days relaxing at Bibi and Babu's house. They had a pretty nice set up in the back yard - an enormous slip and slide, a little pool, swings and tons of space to run around.
On Tuesday, we got to celebrate Aunt Erin's birthday with lunch at the Chinese buffet. We also went up to the school and met some of Bibi's coworkers. And then somehow, on our last night, this happened:
In early August, we took off again. Our final destination, and the purpose of our trip, was Uncle Caleb's wedding!! But we made a few stops along the way first. In order to break up the long trip a bit, the kids and I went to Grandma and Grandpa's house a few days early. Highlights: I got to run some kid-free errands, we swam in the hot tub (and neither of my kids threw up - yay!), Iowa sweet corn!! (it's just not the same in Kansas), and a little reprieve from the Kansas heat.
Brandon drove up to Des Moines after work on Friday (arriving around midnight, yuck), and we all took off bright and early Saturday morning. We made it all of 20 minutes before Cora piped up from the back seat, "Poopy...change it!" We ended up making so many stops on this leg of the journey. But all in all, it wasn't a bad day of travel. We spent Saturday night in Grand Rapids, MI with some good friends from college. On Sunday, a bunch more college friends who live in the area came over for dinner. It is so nice to reconnect with these friends! And the Johnsons (our hosts) always do such a wonderful job throwing together these dinners when we invite ourselves to stay ;)
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| Cal and Kyle (who were missing their wives, haha), Mark, Brandon, Neal and Sara Matt and Laura, Allison, & me |
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| Abigail, Grace and Hannah - Olivia and Kate - Jonah and Cora - Haven and Ellory |
Jonah felt left out when all the girls were playing dress up - as the Johnsons only have girls, there wasn't much in the way of "boy" dress up clothes. Since they were playing "Frozen", Allison came up with this Olaf get-up for Jonah. Haha! Jonah seemed pleased. (I guess his imagination is better than mine). Cora was in heaven - she loves to play dress up. We don't have any formal "dress up" clothes, so usually she just puts on whatever items of mine she finds lying around.
Jonah and Kate got a little wild with their dancing and almost took a few people out. Olivia is a little cautious and tends to hang close to mom, but she took a break to show us her dance moves - what a sweetheart!
Eventually, we said our goodbyes, and drove to Bibi and Babu's house. They were eagerly awaiting our arrival! After a rough first night of sleep, we made our way to the Shiawassee County Fair. I've done the Iowa State Fair, but I have never been to a county fair. It was sort of the same....on a much smaller scale :)
There were lots of animals to see, and Bibi and Babu were kind of like celebrities. I guess when you live in a small town (and teach at the local schools), you tend to run into lots of people you know. Cora was exhausted and soon fell alseep in Dad's arms. She rode the rest of the time in the wagon, and didn't seem to mind the bumpy ride.
The weather was wonderfully cool! Michigan in the summer is just a beautiful place to be. Cora kept waking early from her naps (and both kids were waking earlier than normal in the morning), but she was usually able to sneak in a few more minutes of sleep. Life at Babu's house is good :)
On Tuesday, we got to celebrate Aunt Erin's birthday with lunch at the Chinese buffet. We also went up to the school and met some of Bibi's coworkers. And then somehow, on our last night, this happened:
I'm not sure who's idea it was to let Jonah get on a 4-wheeler with Andy at the controls, but he seemed to have a good time. I just had to look the other way.
On Thursday, we loaded up the van again and made our way to Vicksburg, MI to get ready for the wedding!! But we'll leave that part of the trip for another post, another day.
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