Another trip!

Oh my goodness, the fun just keeps coming - and mom is getting worn out. But two of our big trips of the summer are completed. Just one more to go! You know you're a mom when you are counting down until the fun is over :-)

Not that we haven't had fun. We have. It's just that all this fun and people mingling, mixed with lack of good naps and sleep, bad eating habits (I've stuck with my recent dietary changes even though its been hard but that has at times meant I'm pretty much living off of apples and lara bars) and general schedule upheaval has us all feeling a bit cranky today. But we have a little bit of time to recuperate.

But enough about the downside of traveling, on the fun part. Pictures! We started with a trip to our local art museum. This may seem like an odd way to start a trip but Craig and I both wanted to see the special exhibit, French Impressionists, and this was the only free friday we could make it. On our way out we found our first cake!

It worked well because by the time we were done, both kids were ready for lunch in the car and then Jonah napped almost all the way there. We didn't have to stop once on the 4 hour trip!

My dad and Cindy got married New Years Eve so this was just the reception. I'd share pictures but I was too busy catching up with family while cleaning up the biggest cupcake mess you have ever seen courtesy of Jonah and helping Lucy keep track of her new butterfly cracker friends, Sally and Windsor. Aunt Windsor (no relation to the butterfly) and I got to spend the evening hearing about Sally and Windsors adventures and we were both pretty sure the crackers were going to meet an unfortunately end and cause a meltdown but I am relieved to say that they made it out of the party, all through the weekend and the drive home intact. They are sitting on my kitchen counter until she forgets about them and I can finally throw them away :-) But the party was obviously a success when I was dressed and ready to go but Jonah still looked like this

The craziest part of the trip was probably our big trip to the aquarium. It was the one place the whole weekend were the kids could actually run around. Normally a dark crowded aquarium is not the best place to let them loose but since it was me and 17 of my relatives in there, there were enough eyes and hands that I knew someone had them at all times.

Craig and I snuck away with the kids (while all the less fortunate family members were able to take a nap :-) and visited Truman's home. Lucy said she liked it better than Carl Sandburg's but I'm pretty sure that is because the tour was shorter.

And those are the highlights. Well, that and the fact that the backstreet boys were staying in our hotel. That started as a highlight but ended as an annoyance because their tour bus hogged the valet lane and made our departure a little less smooth than I would have liked. It seemed a little rude of them but I guess they just think they are Larger Than Life or something.