O H I O!

We are home from an amazing family trip.

We had a great time catching up with friends and meeting/catching up with John's dad's side of the family. I knew his uncle and aunt and had met most of his cousin's 8 years ago at his grandmother's funeral, but of course we don't remember each other (me and the cousins). It took all of about 5 minutes with his family to feel like we had known each other forever. They are so loving, kind, and have a great sense of humor! :)

I'm SO glad we took this trip with the kids being a bit older -they can remember this trip and the memories made!

They did GREAT for the whole trip -changing time zones, staying up late, traveling ALOT...and with very few meltdowns!

here we are last Wednesday night flying from home to Chicago to spend the night cuz we couldn't make it all the way to Columbus that night...when you fly for free, you take what you can get!

We landed in Columbus Thursday morning, had lunch with John's aunt and uncle and a cousin and her son....then drove down to see Robin and family . After dinner, they showed us how to make buckeye necklaces so we could be official Buckeye fans on game day!

Friday, Robin and Marty gave us the run of their house so we were able to sleep in late and not rush around getting ready. Thank you SO much for that!!! We grabbed a quick bite to eat on the road and headed back into Columbus to stay at John's cousin's house.

Here we are on Saturday before the big game in our Buckeye garb!


2 of John's cousins and his aunt watched the kids for us (HUGE thank you for that!!!) while John and I went to the OSU football game.

Did I mention that it was drizzling rain from the time we landed in Columbus on Thursday morning 'till around lunch on Saturday? We were SO hoping the rain had stopped....but we bought 2 OSU ponchos and I bought a hat just in case. glad I did.........

getting off the bus about a block away from the stadium!

the sea of scarlet and gray is amazing. as far as you can see.....a bit overwhelming!

the band entering the stadium...incredible!

and the team about to take the field

thank God for ponchos and baseball caps.

I'm not kidding, right before kick off, the drizzle came back. It drizzled harder and harder until a few times during the 1st half, it was a downright downpour. The guys next to us started cheering for it to HAIL! I silently prayed that God would keep the hail away..cuz the downpour of rain was about all I could handle! :)

Right around 1/2 time the rain let up...thank God! It drizzled a tiny bit off and on throughout the rest of the game, but nothing like the 1st half.

Sunday afternoon we went out to John's other cousin's house. The family affectionately calls it "Green * Acres". :)

It was AMAZING! All 5 of us had a blast there!

They have 5 acres of land -about 3 acres for their house and yard and then 2 more acres for pasture for their horses.

The back yard had a trampoline, a zip line, and a ton of grass to run around in...and -it was a clear sunny day!!!

can you see who zip-lined all by herself with no fear?!

Becca and Elizabeth LOVED the horses. Elizabeth has no fear and so just couldn't understand why she couldn't go play with them. :)

here she is trying to get a better look!...or maybe escaping.

gotta play a little c*ornhole when in Ohio right?!

after dinner, one of the cousin's sons saddled up the horse and took the kids on little rides around the pasture...as you can imagine, that was a BIG hit!!

besides their big horses, they have 2 miniature horses, Four and Snickers. Can you tell which one is "Four"?!....look at the one Becca is brushing -it has a "4" in white on his coat.

They brought the minis into their "yard" and let Becca "walk" them around like dogs. She was in heaven with all of these animals!!

Monday we were to drive up north to visit John's other uncle -he lives on an island in Lake Erie, but another bad storm blew in and the ferries shut down. So, we decided to make the best of the change in plans and head into Amish country -about 2 hours away.

The scenery of the Ohio countryside is breathtaking, especially for us desert rats. The leaves were just starting to change, the rolling green hills.....SO tempting to just pack up and move there!

yeah!!! we spotted a buggy...we MUST be in Amish country!!

We found an Amish farm that was set up for tours (noone lives there anymore)...so we decided to take the farm/house tour...could have taken a buggy ride and toured their school house too.

As you might expect, animals were EVERYWHERE. again, Beca was in heaven. :)

VERY friendly barn cats were all over

if you click on this picture you can see their shed and several horse and buggies tied up

another family on a buggy ride at the farm

just so you believe I was actually there. :) I think there are only 4 pics of me for our entire week!

Becca got to hold this 10day old bunny.

We also got to pet a 3 day old lamb and something like a week old donkey colt, and lots of horses and donkeys and dogs and cats. :)

We left Columbus for home Tuesday afternoon, finally arriving home at 10pm our time, 1am Columbus time. The kids were a bit cranky and really dopey, but they did AMAZINGLY well for being so tired.

Today has been an onslaught of laundry, unpacking, re-organizing, and getting ourselves back into the swing of things. The kids and I all took naps today and I'm hoping we all sleep really well tonight too.

I already miss Ohio. It was 1 of the best trips we've ever taken as a family. We loved every minute of our time there. :)

AND WE'RE OFF!!

I can't believe we are FINALLY leaving for Ohio today!!

We are ALL so excited. :)

John and I have wanted to take the kids back to Ohio to visit his family for quite some time now -and to be able to go in the Fall is just perfect (especially since we're still having 100 degree temps out here in the desert!).

What makes this trip even more perfect is that we get to spend Thursday night with a very dear friend of mine. Robin was one of my very first bloggy friends I met while we were paperchasing for Elizabeth. She and her family have graciously offered their home to us for the night (actually she offered it for the whole week but we're only staying the night! :) ). I haven't seen Robin and Maddy for nearly 18months so it will be GREAT to see them again!!

And the icing on the cake is that Saturday, John and I get to go to the OSU football game.
I'm just beyone excited that John FINALLY gets to see his Buckeyes play in person. :)

I'm sure there will be lots of pictures to share....I might even be able to blog while on vacation :)....so check back soon!