world travelers

Okay, so Caleb and Logan aren't exactly 'world' travelers, but they've now been in 5 states! Michigan (of course), Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia.

Last Wednesday afternoon we embarked on our first family trip. Up to that point the farthest we've been from home with the four of us was Benton Harbor, about an hour away. It was just a tad stressful getting packed and out the door, but we did it! Thankfully I have a very helpful and understanding husband. :) Having never travelled with kids before it was a little hard to make sure we had everything we needed. It all worked out great - I don't feel we overpacked and we didn't forget anything either. We switched vehicles with my parents so that we'd have enough room to pack what we needed - our Escape just doesn't have the necessary space to pack all the paraphanelia that two little babies need for 5 days away from home.


We drove until about 11pm Wednesday and made it to Youngstown, OH. That included two stops to feed the boys - and us. :) We had one funny moment at a service plaza along the toll road in Ohio. Of course going out in public with two babies you get lots of comments and looks from people. Well, Mike had Caleb in line with him to get some food and I had Logan with me to change his diaper. There were a couple ladies admiring Caleb and trying to get him to smile when I walked up with Logan and switched babies with Mike so I could then go change Caleb's diaper - you should have seen the look on the ladies' faces! We got attention from some other people then too - and Mike just eats it up. :)


We made good time driving on Thursday and made it to my sister's house by early afternoon. Actually, I saw that we were going to arrive right when she had a piano student coming, so we did a little scenic driving and stopped at a park to kill some time.
I showed Mike where some friends of the family used to live (a beautiful old farmhouse), and then also the teeny-tiny apartment in a cute little town where my sister and her husband lived when they were first married. Later on Thursday my sister's three oldest (Katie, Jenna, and Claire) got home from school, and boy were they excited to see Caleb and Logan! And Mike and I too, I hope. :) Really, we should have had triplets so that there would be plenty of babies to go around - I'd hate to see what it would be like if we only had one baby that they had to take turns holding!


Friday afternoon Mike and I and the boys, Michelle and her youngest (Micah) went to City Park in Hagerstown. It's a beautiful park, and we went on a tour of the Hager House which is in the park. It was the house that Jonathan Hager built when he settled in the area in the 1700's. I'm not sure that Micah, Caleb, and Logan got much out of the tour, but Michelle, Mike, and I sure found it interesting. We also walked around the park a little looking for potential photo spots. We then visited the girls at school at the end of the day - I think they enjoyed showing their twin cousins to their teachers. :) Then it was back to the park for our photo session. And afterwards we all went to Cici's Pizza for supper - Mike and I were rather excited about this because we've seen commercials for Cici's, but don't have them around here. It was good!


Saturday I did a photo session for a friend of Michelle's and her daughter in Chad and Michelle's backyard. It was closer for her to come there, and the weather was iffy, so we didn't want to drive all the way to the park only to be rained out. I photographed this mother and daughter a year and a half ago - it was nice to see them again! Chad's parents came for lunch so they could meet the boys. It's always a pleasure to see them, and Anita just finished jury duty on a very interesting case, so that was fun to hear about.


Sunday morning we hit the road to head back home! On the way out we were in a hurry to get there, so we wanted to leave with enough time to make it more enjoyable on the way back. We took more scenic routes, and stopped by early evening in Cleveland. We had a nice evening with the boys swimming, having supper, and just taking it easy in the hotel. Monday we again made good time - until we stopped at the outlets near Lansing. :) Okay, so we didn't do that much shopping, it was a good place to stop to feed the boys, have lunch, and there were just a few things we wanted to look for. So, we made it home by 3pm and then came the fun of unpacking, switching back vehicles, picking up the dogs...


Caleb and Logan did SO good in the car the whole time! We are very thankful for that. There were just a few fussy times, but nothing major and I never had to sit in the back with them. They usually either slept or played quietly with their toys. I certainly don't expect it to be that good as they get older, but I'll enjoy it for now. :)