A Long Overdue Visit

It's hard to believe it had been since the summer of '08 since we had paid a visit to the home in which I grew up. Nathan was 4 months old the last time we were there!!! Graduate school/limited travel budget kept us home for the holidays for a few years, but this year we were determined to be with my family once again. After Laura got out of school on Friday the 16th, we made the drive up to Ohio (stopping to sleep in KY on the way). When we arrived at noon on Saturday, it was just Mom & Dad. Maria and family came soon after, followed by my niece Alyssa, my brother Craig, and soon after, everyone else. From quiet to crazy in just a few hours! Our kids have never experienced gift opening with 16 people in one house. At one point, Laura was so overcome with the excitement of it all, that she jumped around shouting "This is SO NEAT!!!"

Laura and Vanessa tearing into gifts during the present-opening craziness; Brenda in the background just trying to keep up with the mountain of wrapping paper:


New dress-up clothes for the little girls:

All 6 cousins in one room for the first time ever:

The 7 of us; first family photo in a long time!

The whole crew! Dad had just gotten us all situated and was ready to hit the camera timer and jump in and join the picture when my nephew Owen said "Mom, it came out!" "It" being his first loose tooth! Photo session delayed until bleeding stopped.......pretty great picture despite the delay!


"Tooth fairy money" from Aunt Brenda:


After gifts on Saturday with everyone and playing most of Sunday with Owen & Vanessa, the house seemed very quiet Sunday night when everyone left. Periodically during the week, Laura would ask "When is Mike or Bill or Craig or someone coming over??" I guess she thought Grandma & Grandpa's house was always as busy and bustling as it had been the day we arrived! As it turned out, we had a wonderful 4 days of quality "Grandma & Grandpa" time. Here are some of the things that went down those four days......

Reading a chapter book to Grandma:

Tractor rides with Grandpa in the back yard:


A visit to the Allen County History Museum in Lima-a museum that surpassed all of our expectations! The kids liked the one room school house room:

Pondering what a road trip in covered wagon must have been like; a far cry from the comfort of the back seat of the van!

Elaborate Ring-a-ma-Jigs constructions with Grandma:
Puzzles with Grandpa:

Also on the hit list:
-bowling and pizza with Grandma & Grandpa
-visiting the McDonald's Playplace in Van Wert
-air hockey, ping pong and pool in the Grandma & Grandpa's basement
-lunch out at Applebee's
-morning Fruit Loops and Disney Jr. at the breakfast bar with Grandma
-Grandma's sugar cookies and tray of holiday colored York Peppermint Patties (which Nathan called Peppermint Lily Pads)

In addition to all this fun, I got to visit with 2 old friends, which was very, very nice. Cliff and I got in plenty of relaxation, a few ping pong matches, 2 games of Hearts with my parents and plenty of catching up. A good trip was had by all!

Gina