I Promised The Grandparents

I got scolded recently for not having more kids' pictures and videos. And here I thought you all were tired of seeing my amazing kiddos! Well, if you insist...

I realized that I haven't shared any of our traveling photos. Remember, we went to Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago? It was such a nice little getaway from every day life. The travel was an... adventure... though. I wrote all about it. In case you didn't read about it (or you blocked it out of your memory like me), you can read about it HERE and HERE and my personal favorite, HERE.

Alright, here's the low-down on our trip:

We looked out the window, and Ben exclaimed "On TOP of the clouds?! It's like we're in Heaven!"

Well, my son...it's actually United Airlines. If you think this is Heaven...boy oh boy, are you in for a treat when you see the real thing!

But I can sorta see his point. It was really beautiful.

I didn't know about it until this past trip, but the dreaded Chicago airport actually has a nice little play area for kids...which is nice of them since you'll probably be there for oh, roughly eternity plus a day.

I love this picture. This is a great shot of Ben and Clara's backs...but look...look how they're standing exactly the same!

Here's Sammy at the play center. Notice the bright orange top we have her in? It's bright for a reason...so that we can keep an eye on her busy little body. She's two ya know.

I mean, really. Does it get any cuter than this?

Oh, my little man. Isn't he handsome?

We *Finally* made it to Wisconsin! One of the first days we were there, we went to my sister's newly remodeled home for a good old fashioned brat fry (bratwurst). Here you see my grandma on the right, sister in the middle, and then Tony and Samantha on the left. Tony is Megan's hubby...a great guy, who can, by the way, bowl a perfect game (or 6!)

See how we're all sorta sitting around looking at each other over our empty plates? You do that after a brat fry. You sorta sit there in a "my belly's gonna burst" type coma. There's nothing like a brat fry :)

Here's Uncle Tony reading to my little Samantha Ruth.

And here's my Grandma Ruth. She's my mom's mom, and will be turning 90 years old in a couple of months. I love this spunky little chick-a-dee :)

One of the highlights of the trip for me was seeing my Grandma with Thomas for the first time. My Grandma had 6 kids of her own (my Mom is her baby).

"Lemme look at ya!"

"Look at those toes!"

One day we drove into Sheboygan (that word makes my friend, Becky, giggle hysterically) to go to THIS indoor water park. What a blast! Thomas got to wear swim trunks for the very first time....he loved the water.

Hey Becky...SHEBOYGAN!

SHEBOYGAN, SHEBOYGAN, SHEBOYGAN!!!

Here's Thomas playing with Papa (my Dad)

Me with Grandma and Thomas

My little Clara is such a snuggler. She soaks it up with Great Grandma....

And Yaya (my Mom)

Thomas needed a quick bath while we were there, and instead of filling up the big tub, I just washed him up in the kitchen sink. He enjoyed it :)

"Hey look! A finger! Must...try...to...chew..."

Before we knew it, it was time to head back home again. Here are Ben and Clara in the Minneapolis airport.

If you happened to be in a certain lady's room in the airport that day, you probably heard me cackling with laughter! Look! The walls of the stalls are plastic, and look what happened to Clara's hair the moment she walked in the stall! Leave it to me to have a camera with me in the bathroom...

Despite the humor found in the airport bathroom with Clara's hair, this was my favorite part of our trip. It was about 1 in the morning, and the kids and I were waiting for Daddy to get our luggage so we could head home. Clara was sitting in her booster on the airport floor, and Sammy was padding around in her jammies. She walked over to Clara, but her arm around her neck, gave her a squeeze, and said, "I wub you, sissy". Awww...

Ben was not impressed.

I just have one more thing to share...the video of my Grandma meeting Thomas for the first time. I love it because it's so...Grandma. Do you know what I mean? Some people just have a certain way of talking and being...Oh, I just want to always have this little memory of my Grandma tucked away in my mind and heart. I love how she says "schpeck" :)

I lied, I had two more things to say. Here's the second thing:

SHEBOYGAN!

(Do you think my beautifully pregnant friend Becky has peed her pants yet? If she's anything like I was when I was prego, she has ;) Love ya, Beck.)