2011 Good Family Road-trip - Part 3

On our way back home we first stopped in Little Rock, Arkansas to stay and visit with the Halfhill family. Andy and I go way back to high school but also reconnected at summer camp and then we lived down the block from each other in Ohio after college. Crazy, huh?! Andy has a lovely wife, Hannah, and two beautiful kids Micah and Selah. Sam and Micah hit it off right away and loved playing together! We drove around the city, took a big walk over the Big Dam Bridge and ate some awesome BBQ. We loved spending time with them!
Next we stopped and stayed in Nashville, TN. We walked around town and enjoyed seeing all of the little honky tonk bars. The best part of the day was touring the Country Music Hall of Fame. The kids didn't think it was great, but we did. We didn't have nearly enough time and can't wait to go back...it was the best museum I have ever been to...so beautiful and had really interesting stuff!
Finally, we stopped in Cincinnati again and was treated to a home-cooked meal by my friend Michelle. We stayed overnight and the next morning went to her friend's house (who lives in an AMAZING old house that was once a school/camp in the late 1800's) to go swimming. From there we left and stopped at Skyline Chili (our most favorite place) for dinner and then arrived home that evening.

We had such a great time seeing that part of the country, spending time together and connecting with old friends! We are thinking that this might become a yearly event :)Sam was running on the bridge in LR and fell...ouch!

2011 Good Family Road-trip - Part 2

Levi (13 months), Sam (3.5 yrs), Owen (34 months), Garrett (1 yr), Eli (34 months)

We arrived at my friend (and college roomie) Beth's house in Dallas in the early morning hours of Wednesday. We got a few hours of sleep and then Luke was off to his conference. That left Beth, me and our 5 boys under 4 (!) to spend three fun-filled days together. Unfortunately it was over 100 degrees every day that we were there which made sight-seeing a bit difficult. We ended up going to the pool, a gym for indoor play time and a local farm where the kids got to do all kinds of fun things. We also got to meet up with my friend Janice. Janice and I were friends in Pittsburgh and then she moved to Dallas. When Beth told me she was moving to Dallas, I told her to look Janice up and now they are friends! Small world! We also celebrated Garrett's birthday, went out to eat at some great places (Babe's chicken...YUM) and spent lots of time talking and catching up. Luke returned on Friday and on Saturday we went to visit his Aunt and Uncle who lived nearby. We got to see their horse farm and I even got to ride for a bit. It was a really fun week and it was nice to catch up with Beth and see our boys play together! Monday morning we left for Little Rock, Arkansas and to begin the trip home!

2011 Good Family Road-trip - Part 1

Luke has a work conference every summer in Dallas, TX and this year we decided to go along and make it one big road-trip. People thought we were crazy for driving that far with two young kids, but it actually was a lot of fun and the kids behaved the best in the car!

We left Sunday after church and drove to my friend Michelle's house in Cincinnati, Ohio. We spent the night and then headed to Jackson, TN...but first we made a stop at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. We didn't realize we had crossed over into the central time zone so we had to kill over an hour before our tour time. It was freezing down in cave (54 degrees and everyone in shorts and t-shirts...oops) and Sam asked where the exit was the whole time (don't think he liked being underground). Luckily both kids did not have a meltdown and it was a neat experience.

Next we were driving through Nashville on our way to our hotel in Jackson. I was determined to eat at fun places the whole trip (we did not eat fast food once!) so we went in search for the Loveless Cafe...a famous restaurant outside of Nashville. We arrived at 7pm with very hungry and cranky kids but really enjoyed their famous biscuits!

We stayed overnight in Jackson, TN right next to the Casey Jones train museum. I never knew anything about Casey Jones, but I guess he is a famous engineer (my parents knew who he was and could sing the song about him). It was a nice museum with a train that Sam could board and ring the bell. They also had a large Thomas section in the gift shop that Sam loved of course. Then we were off for a brief visit in Little Rock before continuing on to Dallas where we would stay for about 5 days.

Scooter

Levi doesn't crawl (or walk yet) but he does love to scoot. This is how he gets around...he does laps around the house and he is very quick. It is adorable!

Levi's 1st Party

We had a beautiful day to celebrate Levi's 1st Birthday with our family. He had a great time scooting all over the yard, splashing in his new water (sand) table and being loved on by everyone!

Levi - 1 Year

My baby boy is ONE today! This time last year I was waiting to get my epidural and was so anxious to know if it was a boy or girl. God blessed us with the most beautiful baby boy and he has been the perfect addition to our family. It has been so amazing to be a mom to two boys and watch them grow into their own little people. Levi is a happy baby who loves his mama and likes to be held and talked to. He is not interested in standing and walking but still loves to scoot everywhere on his bum and he is super fast. Levi LOVES his brother Sam and lights up when he walks into a room. Right now he likes to play in the bath (or baby pool) and likes to knock down block towers. He is starting to babble a lot more and I think some words are soon to follow. He loves to wave and do the sign for all done. Boy can Levi eat! He eats anything we give him and sometimes too quickly as we have had to scoop things out of his mouth before he chokes (which gives me a mini heart attack). We can't wait to see what God has in store for us this next year with Levi! We love our little man! Happy, Happy Birthday!

Levi 12 Month Stats:
20 lbs, 15.5 oz
29 inches

Kennywood 2011

I grew up going to Kennywood Park and it is one of my favorite places to go in the summer. I have so many good memories there and couldn't wait to share them with my kids. This year was Sam's (and Levi's) first time there. I think he was at the perfect age...SO SO excited to go but didn't know enough yet to be scared of the rides. I showed him the park map on the website and we talked and talked about the rides he could go on...so much that he memorized the names of them. Gram and Pap came too and were a big help and Luke and I even got to ride a few things by ourselves. The first ride we did was the Kangaroo...Sam loved squishing me and Pap! Then we did Garfield's Nightmare (we called it Garfield's Dream) and even Levi got to ride it too! Sam rode everything in Kiddieland, did the Auto Race with Gram and then rode both the Log Jammer and the Pittsburgh Plunge. He loved getting wet and stood near the Pittsburgh Plunge spray zone for almost an hour. His last ride of the night was the Jack Rabbit! I was a bit nervous for him, but he was so brave and just loved it. It was a long day too...we got there at 11:30am and left around 8:30pm! I can't wait for many more years of Kennywood fun. Soon Levi will be big enough so they can ride together...now THAT will be cute!