...and Back Again

The Great Midwestern Trek of 2016!  Part Dos.

So returning East from Chicago, we first stopped at South Bend to visit cousins.  The great thing about big families is that when you get just two of them together, you have an instant party!

The South Bend cousins had recently moved into a gorgeous big new house with an awesome swingset in their backyard.  We couldn't stay for long, just a few hours, but it was a good visit.  We always have great conversations when we hang with them, as you would expect from a lawyer, a mathematician, and two homeschooling mothers!  It's also encouraging spending time with other people who are in the same stage of life and trying to do this big, Catholic family thing well.  When you feel freakishly different from the rest of society, with all eyes watching and critiquing your every move, it's comforting to be with others who are struggling with similar challenges -- and appreciating the same joys.



Speaking of family joys, after we left their house we surprised the kids by driving to a hotel with a water park inside, thereby earning ourselves major parent brownie points.

Mr. Pickles and I took turns hanging out with the littles while the bigger kids went on the larger slides.

Andy spent HOURS playing in these baby fountains

no bath needed tonight!

you had to keep a hand on this one at all times as he kept trying to drown himself.

I wish I had gotten a picture of the Swirling Vortex of Terror -- it's the only slide I personally wasn't brave enough to try.  The slide dumped you out into a giant funnel which eventually dropped you down into a whirlpool where you had to swim for your life to get out again.  Miriam went twice EDITED: five times, she informs me!!  Katie went once and came out fake-hyperventilating, swearing "never again".

After a beautiful Sunday Mass in a cute little town with our traditional Sunday donuts afterward, our next stop was in Cleveland to visit the other Aunt Katieeeee!

Once again, we only had a short visit, but it was good just to see each other and catch up.  I took an adorable picture of our boys playing together outside, but the camera ate it. :(

After we left Aunt Katie and her family, we stayed with dear friends near Akron.  Greg and Sara were fellow parishioners and one of the founders of our homeschool group.  Sara is one of my mentor moms -- an older sister from whom I learned so much about mothering and Catholic family life and hospitality.  And much to my surprise, we arrived at their house to see that they had invited some old college friends of ours to dinner as well!  Gretchen is one of my Household sisters, and I've known her husband Bob since freshman year.  They had gotten to know our friends through their local parish life.  What an awesome small Catholic world!

why do we always wait until the end of the party for pictures?

It was such a fun evening, spending time with friends we had known in our carefree youth but hadn't seen in ages.  *Insert here deep insightful comment about aging on the outside yet still being the same people on the inside.*

Greg and Sara are so hospitable.  We spent a very comfortable night in their big, beautiful old house.  At least, the grown-ups did -- our kids slept in their deluxe guest quarters in the basement, a room with bunk beds in it which their children had charmingly dubbed "the orphanage". :)  (Their kids were envious that OUR kids got to sleep there -- we would have let them have a sleepover party if we hadn't wanted them actually to sleep!)  And oh, their house has a secret staircase!  The kids (and I) thought that was SO cool.

Aaaaand of course I have no decent pictures of our hosts.

The next day we all went to a nearby lake for a picnic.

on your mark.... get set.....

GO!

the one who goes the farthest before falling over wins!

The lake was great for little people -- no giant waves.

our friend Greg being mobbed by his small people.  Daddies are the best

And this day was actually Nicky's birthday!  Not a bad way to spend your first birthday.

He spent most of the time trying to eat pebbles.

...and was mad that we wouldn't let him.

aw, big meanies!

Next stop: Steubenville for more cousin time!  After some hilarious wrong turns trying to get off the turnpike (looking at you, Youngstown!), we finally made it.

Katie and Lucy, joyfully reunited!

We split ourselves up amongst two hosts: the girls stayed with the cousins, while the rest of us slept at Aunt Terri and Uncle Jim's.  We spent most of our time at the cousins' house, though, as well as going swimming and mall shopping.

this was a great pool -- in addition to a huge baby pool it also had a pretty awesome splash pad which the little guys loved, and a snack bar which the bigger guys loved!

Yet another picture I didn't get was of a pile of kids crowded on the couch watching a video game of Max's.

Dominic also got an OFFICIAL first birthday party.

I don't understand what's happening here....

oh, okay.  I get cake.

birthdays are all right, I guess

AND I get presents that blink and make noise??  birthdays are AWESOME!!

We spent a couple days in Steubenville, and then dragged ourselves home, stopping at the requisite fast food joint with play place.

Dominic got LOTS of help from siblings going down the itty bitty slide!

It's always a relief to come home from a long trip and find the house still standing.

The ants in the walls were busy while we were gone, though:

as far as I could tell, those looked like grains of coarse sand.  I'm not sure I want to know what they were tunneling through

And then it was laundry, and back to work, and school planning, and myriads of end-of-summer doctor appointments, and planning for the NEXT trip!