Mamaw generously invited the kids and I to come to Ohio with her again this summer. We had things all planned out-and then I realized that I had completely forgotten about JumpStart, a summer school program for the kids. Sure enough, it coincided exactly with our trip. So I called my mom and said, "Hey, how do you feel about leaving for Ohio tomorrow?" listened to dead silence for a minute, then she laughed and asked if I was serious. I explained the problem and she then proceeded to rearrange everything. Luckily she was able to reschedule the trip so we could go with her, and we left just a few days after that conversation. The kids do AMAZING on road trips. The secret for us is that they get to watch movies. This is a huge treat in our household because I would say they watch an average of one movie a month generally. So, when we put them in the car for 15-24 hours, we give them unlimited access to their own DVD player and a basket of movies, and we are all in heaven! I have never been asked the infamous "Are we there yet?" questions and I truly don't care that they zone out for that long. My mom persists in taking games and books and other diversions for them-but once the movies come on the kids check out! They have been to Ohio twice and Wisconsin twice and between Ohio and Wisconsin once and they just love it! I love my grandparents and their home and since we spent many summers there when I was a child, it is great to revisit familiar things and find new things as an adult. We spent just under two weeks there this summer and it was so great. We were away from Cori for far too long-and unlike last summer, he couldn't get off work to fly out and spend some time there with us. While we were there, we went to two family reunions, experienced flooding the extent of which my grandparents had not seen before, and basically just had a ball. We watched the BEST fireworks display in Johnstown on the 4th of July and were so close to them. They easily beat out the fireworks we usually watch back home. There were some rough spots-Lizzy in particular has had a rough few months, but all in all the kids were super well-behaved and I would say I was too! *Warning: HUGE picture dump to follow!
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| The kids helped me dye coffee filters as part of the prep work for hosting Ashley's bridal shower. |
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| Zoned out watching tv. They aren't related are they?! |
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| Learning to drive the golf cart. |
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| Driving and driving and driving. |
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| Mamaw with the kids at 4th of July Fireworks |
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| This very sketchy hotel we stayed at and also where Lizzy threw a giant fit and I took her out the car, only hoping that someone would end my misery by stabbing me! |
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| Paul with Great Uncle Rick and my mom's bio. father Dick. |
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| The car was a bit full :) |
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| Mom and I watching fireworks. |
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| Paul and Gramps on a mission. |
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| The many faces of Lizzy while watching movies. |
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| The ONE picture I got of Lizzy and Gramps. The kids love fishing in their pond. |
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| Fun times with cousins. |
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| Cori helping to make trail mix to take on the trip. |
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| Lizzy packed her own bag-for two weeks she took a couple of books, a doll, a bike helmet and two pairs of shoes. |
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| Cousins |
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| Zoned out watching movies |
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| Gram and Gramps' new roof on their underground house-this used to be grass for 30+ years prior! |
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| Paul got to go with great great Uncle Andy on an actual fire call! |
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| Lizzy and I playing cards outside. |
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| Paul LOVES great great aunt Diane's miniature/toy poodles-she has 5! |
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| The wonder of lightning bugs! |
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| Paul caught a fish-and looks worried! |
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| In theory this was my bed too :) |
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| Flooding at Gram and Gramps-there was a foot of water running through their yard and multiple tree branches down due to the storm. It took all of us a couple hours to pick them up the next day. |
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| The kids had a blast exploring the flood water and were so amazed and excited-they had never seen anything like this. |
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| I LOVE this picture. |
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| The county came by within an hour and had all the branches removed from the road. That in itself was amazing! |
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| Related much? |
