We left home at 6:30 a.m. on Friday, July 13th (a 1/2 hour ahead of schedule) - but then we lost a 1/2 hour waiting at Dunkin' Donuts because they couldn't figure out how to cash someone's 100.00 bill! (I then put mine away and took out the debit card!) Our first destination was Avon, Ohio to visit our friends Dayna & Mike and their 2 girls. The kids were doing great - reading books, playing with their stuffed animals, eating snacks and telling us when they had to go to the bathroom. We even bought a little potty for the car so we could pull over quickly - toss out the bio-degradable bag and keep moving! We made it to Ohio in just over 10 hours.
After our arrival at Dayna & Mike's we freshened up a bit and then went to a bbq at their friends house. I wasn't feeling 100% so I didn't really eat much. Around 9pm we headed back to their house after a very long day! My day ended up being MUCH longer as I was up throwing up ALL night. I thought it may have been food poisoning, but after David got sick, Ari got sick later in the week and Matthew ended up sick as we were getting off the highway (15 miles from home!) So turns out I had a bug! David let me sleep in the next morning, but I still didn't feel 100% but I knew I had to push through it! Dayna and I went to her Alumni sorority meeting and the guys stayed with the kids. They took them to the playground and then got them all down for naps. Later that night, they made reservations at a nice Italian restaurant in "Little Italy" which I compare to Boston's North End. It was within the Cleveland Area. After dinner, we did decide that next time we will get a sitter so we can actually enjoy our dinner! LOL We then headed to a small Italian bakery where we each got an Italian treat! Yummmmm
The next morning we got up and left Ohio around 8:30. We left a little later than we had hoped, but had a great time! We had 12 hours left to drive and turns out this drive seemed to take forever! We did many stops at rest-areas for potty breaks, stopped for a quick bite to eat and we even stopped at I80 Truck Stop which is the largest truck stop in the world. Matthew loved seeing the BIG trucks!
We drove by LOTS of farmland and the kids started counting the cows! We even saw amazing fields with these HUGE windmills! They were so cool!
We arrived in Lincoln shortly before 10:30 p.m. and the kids were excited to see Nana and Papa! It was hard to get them to settle down to sleep because they had been cooped up the car for so long! Nana read them a bedtime story and they were out so fast!
The entire week we were there the heat was unreal! It was above 100 every day and the day before we left it was 107! We spent a lot of time going to the pool and playing in the sprinkler. I was very fortunate to see all of my cousins and grandparents while we were there too! It was great for them to meet the kids and the kids had a blast playing with all of them!
We did go to the Omaha Zoo on a VERY hot day! Luckily they had sprinklers around for us to run through to cool off! David has the photos from the zoo trip on his camera - so that will be a different post!
We also took the kids to the state capitol one day. They loved taking the BIG scary elevator to the top and looking out over the city of Lincoln.
David and I even got a night out with my cousin and her fiance. We took dad's convertible and went to a nice restaurant. It was fun to spend time together without the kids!
At the end of the week we celebrated Dad's 60th birthday. David and Dad went golfing in the a.m. and I baked a ton of cupcakes! We had a big party that night!
The next morning we headed home on our long journey! The kids ended up getting their first hotel stay in Ohio and then the 2nd day we made 2 side trips. We went to Lake Erie in Erie, PA and then made a spur of the moment decision to go to Niagara Falls! We stayed over night in Niagara and ended up coming home on Wednesday.
We arrived home shortly after 4pm on Wednesday! We were all excited to get home and be out of the car! The kids were happy to play with their toys and sleep in their own beds. We all went to bed pretty early! The next two days, the kids were at school and Mommy redid their rooms. (photos to come soon!) We spent the last 3 days putting our house back together since all of the construction is finally done! All 3 kids have their own space!
On Sunday, Grammie and Mommy surprised Arianna for a girls outing. We took her to see the play Annie at the North Shore Music Theater. She was so excited and the play was GREAT! Matthew was bummed out he couldn't go, but we told him the next adventure would be just him!
Now it's back to work and back to the grind. We're in the process of finding new childcare and both mom and dad are crazy busy now that we are back at work! I am already missing vacation!
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