We loaded these babies up for a long road trip to Indiana for labor day weekend. Most of my mom's family was headed into the town that my grandfather lives in to celebrate his 77th birthday. It was a long drive for a short trip but we had a ton of fun seeing family that we don't see very often. Originally we had planned to leave really early in the morning and get a good chunk of driving underway while the kids slept but they scheduled preschool orientation (for preschool #1) the Friday morning before labor day so we didn't get out of town until 12:45. My mom drove up with us and my Dad met us up there. My sisters weren't able to come because of their work schedules and we missed hanging out with them!
Our first stop (one hour outside of Charlotte) was Cracker Barrel for lunch. You can't road trip with my family without stopping at Cracker Barrel.
this girl LOVES sweet tea like her Daddy!
A look back at the packed car. We bought the new car just in time for this trip! Jay had a bit of a fit because my mom gave the kids crackers! Haha, there went his clean car!
this DVD player is old, like from back in the day when I used to be a passenger on my parent's road trips and we didn't have a DVD player built into the car. My Dad suggested we use them for the kids to keep them entertained. We don't normally let the kids watch a ton of TV but all the rules go out of the window on vacations. They watched movies the entire way there and back (when they weren't asleep). It was GREAT! Thanks Dad for the recommendation!
After a stop at the Ohio border (where I left a bag of dirty cloth diapers! UGH!) we continued traveling and ate a late dinner at Bob Evan's (another mid-west travel favorite). The kids needed a little release and the restaurant was pretty empty so I let them run around barefoot for a little (ew gross, I know). We finally arrived in Indiana at mid-night and after some playtime with their cousins, we got the twins to bed at 1.
The next morning we met everyone for breakfast and all went out separate ways. My mom is one of 5 and they all decided to get my Grandpa a new lazy boy for his birthday and all of the siblings went to the store to pick it out with him. Jay, my cousin Erin, the kids, and I headed to a park in my Grandparent's old neighborhood (where we would visit for 4 weeks each summer). I couldn't believe all the old playground equipment was still there 23 years later. You can't find slides like these anymore!
"Rocket Park" Arlington Neighborhood, Fort Wayne, Indiana
This teeter totter was so fun!
I don't think they make these anymore (my 16 year old cousin had never seen one). I have tons of memories of my sister and I spinning each other so fast around this thing!
They added some new equipment too
slide faces
We all met back up for a huge celebration lunch for my Grandfather at Triangle Park restaurant. My mom has all these pictures as I was busy taking care of the kids (we were there for 3 hours!). There were 19 of us total and everyone took turns walking the kids outside to feed the ducks at the nearby pond.
After lunch we headed back to my Grandpa's house (he lives way out in the country with his girlfriend Susan) for ice cream and cupcakes. Shortly after we packed up and headed back into town for the Tin Caps (their minor league team) game. These lawn seats were awesome and the kids had a blast running around and dancing (they are turning into dancing machines). Emma Cate sat on my Uncle Scott's lap for the majority of the game. The game ended with the loudest fireworks show I have ever seen but the kids LOVED it. They were troopers and stayed up past 10 with no afternoon nap.
Part of the family on the lawn
we teased my uncle scott and dad about being a "couple", especially when Scott had EC on his lap and the couple kiss cam came on!
EC's new buddy
Cousin Erin (Scott's daughter) and EC
Gigi and a tired Holdy (and yes, we borrowed blankets from the Hotel to use for the game!)
loving the fireworks
tuckered out babies
Sunday morning before heading home we all went to brunch and took a bunch of family pictures (I don't have any of them though!) We packed up and headed south to Columbus Ohio with my mom's sister Barbara, her husband, my Dad, Jay and the babies. We checked in and had a little playtime before heading to lunch at Skyline Chili (another mid-west treat). The babies were a disaster but LOVED it!
Jay and I enjoyed (for a little while at least) the drive through all of the small farming towns and corn fields. We were both pretty intrigued by these large windmill farms.
The babies were obsessed with the luggage cart!
double bibbing it at skyline.
We took a little driving tour of Columbus (my aunt and uncle used to live there) and Jay, the babies, and I headed back to the hotel for some playtime while the rest of the adults went shopping. We ended the night with room service cocktails and Donatos pizza ordered in! We were all pretty pooped by this point!
We left early the next morning and had a pretty uneventful ride back! The babies are SUCH awesome car riders and made the trip so easy! We're already planning a long drive up to Traverse City, Michigan to stay at my Aunt and Uncle's lake house next 4th of July! We had such a fun visit with family :)
