I know movies and TV shows always talk about the “What I did on summer vacation” assignments when school starts, but I honestly don’t remember doing any of my own.
ANYWAY.
I-77 South seems to be closed from Ohio to North Carolina, so we loaded the trio and headed “up north” to introduce Toby, Eleanor and Callista to our extended family and friends back home in Northeast Ohio, where Rob and I were born and raised.
The trip went amazingly well. The babies did a fantastic job in the van and didn’t complain much until the return trip, when we were almost home and they were SO OVER being strapped into their seats for so long. We couldn’t blame them.
Lessons learned:
No amount of Purell can keep family germs away. I’m currently snuffling my way through this entry, having caught my first illness since the babies were born. I hung out in a hospital for 2.5 months and didn’t get sick. I spent two days with family and can’t breathe.
Awesome.
It’s really difficult to take enough photos when you’re wrangling three small busybodies. I’ll be assigning my camera to someone else, someone who is sitting and watching and not chasing around/propping up/soothing/passing/wiping babies.
Don’t forget the PumpEase. Let’s just say pumping in the backseat of a big van, sitting between two hungry babies while we bump down country roads … well, it certainly testes tested (holy hilarious typo, batman) my coordination and grip. I realized I had left it before we left our neighborhood, but I said, “Meh, I’ll be OK without it.” Ha.
Highlights:
The babies met a great
And two great-greats
(lighting changes were too much for me to keep up with)
(also, Eleanor is missing from the second set because she wasn’t in the visiting mood.)
Toby thinks sand on his toes is yucky and waves are scary.
Eleanor and Callista didn’t want to touch Lake Erie, but they thought watching it was pretty fun.
Lake Erie scared Toby to sleep on Daddy,
and it wound Callista up.
It wasn’t the same beach where Rob and I were married, but it was the same body of water. Putting the babies’ toes in Lake Erie – their first encounter with water other than their baths – was pretty special. They’ll grow up boating on Lake Norman, but their first was where we grew up.
Love this post! I am glad the trip was a success, but sorry you caught something from the family.
Oh my, that picture of Callista needs to be blown up and framed. I love it!
Your kids rock – looks like everyone had fun. Hope you feel better soon!
beautiful family shot!
Yay Lake Erie!
I’m glad your kiddos did well in the car… props to you for making the trek! Looks like everyone had fun.
I love your stories
I love C’s big ol’ grin!!!
I there, I’m not sure I’ve commented before (If I have it was a long time ago.) I tend to read from a feed reader and don’t often pop over to the actual blogs to comment. (I know, poor blog reading etiquette. Sorry.)
I just had to comment when I saw that you mentioned Lake Norman. I have two sisters in the Lake Norman area! One is in Huntersville and the other in Mooresville. My husband and I just started contemplating a move down to that are too. We currently live in Maryland between Baltimore and DC and we are starting to feel the need to get to a less expensive area. We want to buy a bigger home, with land so our kids can run and play outside. Up here where our taxes have taxes and real estate is sky high we just can’t do that. I’ve visited my sisters a few times and really love the area. Lucky for you getting to live near the lake! Who knows, maybe someday soon we’ll be “neighbors”, relatively speaking.
P.S. Loved the pictures from your vacation. Your kiddos are getting so big!
We live between Baltimore and DC, too, and are contemplating the same thing.
NE Ohio is where we’re from and the cost of living there is so cheap!
Mama, you look fabulous – what an adorable family.
Party on Lake Norman!
Great pictures!! Sorry we didn’t see you when you’re in the area, but I know you had lot’s of people to see and meet the terrific trio. It just gives us an excuse to head down to North Carolina to see you guys. Glad you made it back home safe.
Not sure why, but I just teared up looking at these wonderful photos. Maybe its the awesome generation ones~ I know those greats & holy-crap great-greats had the best days ever meeting your babies. Maybe it’s Toby’s owl overalls {you know I love a good owl outfit}. Or maybe it’s how happy & proud you & Rob look. I couldn’t be more happy for you.
Suz, I totally thought of you when I picked out Toby’s owl! <3
You guys look SO HAPPY! I love it
Hope the cold from hell is getting better!
aww. love the photos. and it’s funny how that highway is closed huh? hahaha. 😉 oh and your husband is hawttttt. 😉
back off, lady! xo
Looks like fun!! I didn’t know you were from NE Ohio, I am too
What great pics! Looks like you guys had a wonderful trip. Minus the cold.