weekend trip to Ohio!

Last weekend we took a quick trip to Ohio to celebrate (Adam's) Grandma Dips' 80th birthday. It was a surprise party and we actually surprised her - who would have thought that was possible with an 80 year old lady? We left on Friday morning and spent 9 hours in the car. Wow. Caleigh kept saying, "Yaya ride in the car all day" and "Yaya watch Elmo's world in the car all day." Yes that is true. Caleigh did watch Elmo's world in the car all day long on the way up there. Adam's parents rented a van and rode with us which was super helpful with the kids. The ride up to Ohio was pretty bad - we stopped 5 times in the first 3.5 hours - none of which was for the kids! Andrew (who usually sleeps about 3 hours worth of naps during the day) slept only 30 minutes out of the entire 9 hours on the way up there but otherwise he was actually pretty happy - I would pump when it was time to feed him and Gammy would give him his bottle in his car seat - pretty efficient! Caleigh was going berserk by the time 5 o'clock rolled around (after 8.5 hours in the car) - I can't blame her because I was too - she was banging her head from side to side in her car seat and just screaming/moaning/crying. The poor thing who didn't sleep at all fell asleep when we were getting off the exit for our hotel. I decided that the song, "Ironic" could have been written about this trip. When we got to Ohio we were greeted with this...

Over 13 inches of snow! Yikes. It was FREEZING up there - I kept telling Adam I was so glad it wasn't that cold in Charlotte. After letting Caleigh sleep for about 20 minutes while we unloaded the car we got right back in the car and headed over to an Ohio favorite - Marion's Pizza to surprise Grandma Dips. She really was so surprised and started crying when she saw us (absolutely precious and the highlight of the trip). This was her first time in seeing Andrew. This is the only picture I got of her (taken at her house)...

After the kids finally went to sleep that night (after 8 pm) - we got up and hit the road bright and early Saturday morning to see the rest of the family. We headed about 20 minutes south to see Adam's Grandpa Dyer and Grandma Mabel (his grandparents were divorced and Grandma Mabel I guess is actually his step-grandma). The kids actually did so great on this trip - we asked so much of them - riding forever in the car, sleeping in unfamiliar places, staying up late, sitting in people's laps' that they had never met... This was the first time Grandpa Dyer and Grandma Mabel met either of the kids (though their house was a shrine of pictures to them - so sweet!). Caleigh was bribed with peanut M&Ms for this picture - and Andrew is just trying to make a quick getaway...

I love how Mabel looks so smitten with Caleigh. Adam and his brother... Bampa and Grandpa Dyer... 4 generations of Dyer men! And all the girls... Later on Saturday at Grandma Dips' Caleigh played in the snow briefly. with Bampa... A sweet video that we took with Caleigh (I didn't know it was being filmed!) - you can hear Grandma Dips giving some commentary - On Sunday morning we woke up bright and early and did the 9 hours again - the kids did so so good on the way back - they both slept - Andrew for about 30 min in AM and 30 min in afternoon and Caleigh for about 1 hr and 15 min in the afternoon. We were exhausted after a long weekend at a hectic pace but it was so fun to see the extended family and to spend time with the Dyers'. We really appreciated all of their help! It really was so much better than I thought it was going to be and the kids really did do well.