We just got back from our first
big road trip with the kids. And when I say "big," I'm talking 2200+ miles! Take a look at the map to see where our travels took us!
We started out in Nashville (of course). First, we drove to Parkersburg, WV to spend the night with some dear friends and to break up a long leg of our journey. Then we drove to upstate NY to spend some time with Grandma and Bob (Gigi and Bobby to the kids) at their house on Canandaigua Lake. From there, we went to visit Jeff's parents in NJ. Then we trekked home, with an overnight stop with Jeff's aunt and uncle in Columbus, OH. Whew! We were SO glad to see the "Welcome to TN" sign and even more excited when we rounded the corner and saw our beloved home. We didn't get back in the van for three days!!
I was a little anxious about how the kids would do on such a long trip. But I have to say that they far exceeded my expectations. Sure, there were bouts of whining, bickering, and fatigue on our long driving days, but overall they did really well. We learned a few things from our medium-sized road trip to NC/SC last year. This time, we scheduled a stop every 2 - 3 hours at a playground to let them burn off some energy. Jeff, our intrepid tour guide, had researched where all the fast-food restaurant play areas were along the way. [Fun Fact: did you know that the Chick-Fil-A website actually has a "plan your trip" service that locates all the nearby CFA's along the way? Yet
another reason to love that company!!] In addition to the play areas, I was armed with an arsenal of arts and crafts activities, portable games, new books from the library and a lot of CDs and DVDs. I also packed a cooler full of fresh fruit and healthy snacks so that we wouldn't have to eat junk all day while we were driving. But I think all of those things helped to make the long hours in the car bearable. And I'd even like to do it again someday :)
Warning: this blog post may win an award for "longest post ever." But we did a lot of things and spent time with special people, so I want to remember all of these details!
Our first stop was in Parkersburg, WV to visit Jeff's long-time friend Dave and his family. Not only did we have a blast visiting with Dave and Stacie, but our kids fell in love with their kids. Specifically, Kaitlyn simply adored Meredith and tagged along right behind her the entire time we were there. And Alexis is quite the little mommy, and Ethan loved it when she doted on him.
We didn't have much time in WV, but we did manage to get in one outing while we were there. We all went up to Fort Boreman, which is a scenic overlook of Parkersburg, Ohio and the river. There's also a neat playground there too. (Thanks to Stacie for taking these pictures!)
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| Mullers and Krinks at Ft. Boreman |
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| The kids at Ft. Boreman (minus Hayden who was at home) |
As I mentioned, Kaitlyn thought Meredith was the coolest thing ever, so she was SO excited when she found out that she was going to get to sleep by her BFF!! It was the kids' first slumber party and they loved every second of it. And they actually slept too!
The next morning, the kids got to eat breakfast while watching cartoons with their new favorite friends. For a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old, it doesn't get much better than that! I think they would've been happy to stay there all week!!
On Day 2, we sadly said goodbye to WV and set off for Gigi and Bobby's house in Canandaigua, NY! Jeff spent much time there as a kid and has fond memories of his time at the lake. So he was excited to get to share some of these experiences with his kids now that they're a little bit older (they were 3 and 1.5 the last time we were there).
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| Jeff and the kids on the row boat |
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| Ethan couldn't resist testing the water. |
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| Ethan trying his hand at rowing. As if on cue, he started singing, "Row, Row, Row your Boat." |
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| Sweet times with Kaitlyn and Gigi. She couldn't wait for Gigi to help her find "treasures" on the lake beach. |
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| Sunset at the lake |
Day 3 was a day of boating and playing in the water. The kids were quite content to play around on the shore of the lake. It's amazing how much fun kids can have with a few plastic toys and a large body of water.
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| It started off as "rinsing their feet," and then it turned into wading into waist-deep water. |
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| The kids on the boat |
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| Gigi and Bobby on the boat |
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| Kaitlyn "driving" the boat |
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| Like father, like son (and like grandfather!) |
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| Building a fire for s'mores |
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| Waiting patiently for s'mores |
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| Ethan wasn't fond of going fast in the boat. He insisted on sitting in my lap and covering his ears whenever we went moderately fast. |
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| Of course, I was more than happy to snuggle with my sweet boy on the boat!! |
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| Hunting for treasures on the beach |
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| Lowering the TN flag before we leave |
After spending a few days at the lake, we drove to Mimi and Papa's house in NJ. Unfortunately, we hit Philly right at rush hour at the start of Memorial Day weekend when half the city was heading east to the shore. It took us over an hour to get across the city. Ugh. But nevertheless, we went back to Philadelphia the next day to get in some sight-seeing with the kids.
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| Historical section of Philly--cobblestone streets |
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| Ethan "in jail" |
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| Kaitlyn was fascinated with Ben Franklin's grave. She asked a million questions about how he died, what his body looked like now, if she could open his grave and look. You know, all those questions that have easy answers! Ha! She settled for tossing pennies onto his grave to commemorate "A penny saved is a penny earned." |
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| Race St. Pier under the Ben Franklin bridge |
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| Center City in the background |
And we couldn't come to NJ without going "down the shore." We went to Ocean City on Tuesday (after the holiday crowds had left!!). We had pizza and frozen custard on the boardwalk...quintessential Jersey shore (minus Snooki)!
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| Kailtyn loved this dog statue for some reason |
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| And she loved the water! |
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| Ethan, on the other hand, wasn't fond of the water. At least he didn't mind the sand this year!! |
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| The joy of a child is infectious |
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| No clue what he's doing here, but he's loving life at this moment. |
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| Sweet picture of daddy and daughter. Holding Daddy's hand always makes things a little less scary. |
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| Ethan was quite happy to dig in his big sand hole--until a large wave surprised him and turned his hole into a wading pool! |
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| Kids with Mimi and Papa |
