We had another great trip to Pennsylvania back in June and I'm just now getting around to posting about it! I really didn't think I would be able to say that after a 17 hour trip one way with 2 babies and a 1 year old that doesn't usually sit still long enough to take her bottle. But we made it and it went surprisingly well! We didn't hardly hear a peep out of Ansley. She was content watching movies, lounging, singing, or telling stories. The only accident we almost had was after the adults in the vehicle tried to push the limits of a 3 year old bladder. Guess who won? Not US! That ended in a stop on the interstate with Daddy holding her mid-air as she peed in 2 ft tall grass. That's right...we're from Missouri. Charli was so sweet too. She cooed, slept, watched her sister, played with her travel toys, threw them on the floorboard...said "uh oh" 587,000 times (in the sweetest voice ever, I will add!), squealed, ate a lot of puffs, and learned how to make a clicking sound with her tongue. You know, the stuff of scholars! :) We stayed the night at Youngstown, Ohio to split up the trip a bit and then did the other 4 hours on Friday. When we got to the hotel, Charli took off in the fastest crawl I've ever seen her do (I'm sure she was looking for a new set of parents. Ones that didn't confine her for 14 hours straight) and Ansley headed straight for the pool. It was so nice to get a break from the car!
On Friday, we drove the rest of the way and then arrived at my Gram's house just in time to go to my cousin, Nate's rehearsal dinner. My aunt Sarah planned and crafted all the details. She is seriously so talented. It had a sweet rustic feel overlooking the most beautiful view of Pennsylvania (well, there are a lot of beautiful views in PA, but this hit high on the list for sure). The most precious time was the lantern lighting at the end of the night. Ansley kept saying, "Mommy, this is like Rapunzel's birthday." It was so magical as we all set our lanterns free into the Pennsylvania mountains and humorous because we all almost set ourselves on fire. It was quite a sight to see us juggling our own lantern, Ansley's and making sure no accidentally got too close to Charli. Whew!
Here's a picture of the tables
And some of the sweets
Charli was so glad to be able to crawl around finally
The girls were so excited to have little friends there! However, Ansley couldn't quite understand that they were her cousins also. :)
Some last minute flower arranging. I love that the guys were involved and somewhat enjoying it :)
My beautiful Gram with Maddy and Ansley
Laura and I
The hubs and I
The next day we had the wedding and reception. It was such a gorgeous day. Look at the beautiful bride and handsome groom!
Then it was bubble time
:)
We TRIED to get a family pic....
And these two girls romped around outside together
My beautiful cousin, Becky
The men and little Charli
Our breathtaking view from the church
We tried to get a big family shot. Almost....
The reception was a lot of fun too. They had a photo booth (what Booth family wedding doesn't need a photo booth?!) and Ansley practically camped out there! She loved the fact that she could interchange her outfits and her hats. She was in heaven!
She also got her dance on with some of her newly found, older friends. Glad she didn't get a neck cramp after this one. :)
The next day we went to Colissa's mom and dad's house to eat and watch them open presents. Just another reason to celebrate. These boys clearly weren't wanting to be serious for the picture.
Charli was wheeled around everywhere in this and she loved it. She didn't have to do any work, but was still in on all the action. Ha!
My dad and Uncle Eric
The next day was a rainy one, but that doesn't stop us! The kids played in the trailer and found all kinds of bugs, dirt, and mud.
After getting real good and dirty, we took the kids to Knoebbels. It's an amusement park really geared towards kids. It was supposed to rain all day, but we didn't want to make the kids sit around the house, so we went for it! I'm so glad we did because they loved it! The rain wasn't even a big deal and only drizzled here and there. They rode all kinds of kid rides and ate popcorn, ice cream, and fudge all day. They were a little more spoiled after leaving that place.
She loved the bumper cars
And the airplanes were fun because Jansen liked them.
The ice cream was a big hit! This was Charli's first ever lick of ice cream as far as I know. I'm sure the grandparents have beat me too it actually.
Don't laugh at us and our hats. We were all a mess. As you can see, the kids were ready to hit the road at this point!
That evening, we went with some of our family to the Watsontown Inn for dinner. As we were waiting for our food, we noticed a pet parade going by. Of course, the kids were thrilled. We've never seen anything like it and to have front row seats was really fun! After dinner, the pig was walking by, so Charli got a ride and Ansley got to pet her.
She couldn't believe that people actually had a pig for a pet!
How cute are these two?!
That evening we packed up and unfortunately had to say goodbye to most of our family.
The next morning as we were leaving, I snapped a quick picture right before we hit the road back to Missouri. It's one of my favorites.
On our way home we stopped at Paducah to celebrate Laura's birthday at the Pink Flamingo restaurant.
Almost home and still smiling! I wish I had gotten some pics of Ansley riding because she was as content as she could be too. This little turkey got the view of the back, which was US!
We always miss our PA family and it seems like we NEVER have enough time with them. So thankful that we try to make an intentional effort to see each other every year. It's so hard to have 1000 miles separating us!
