O-HI-O

When we received an invitation for the Mister's cousin's wedding in Ohio, I made some comment about how I was pretty sure it took our friend from Ohio only 6 hours to get home from Washington, DC, by car.  And just like that, we were signed on for our first-ever major road trip with children.

Ignore Buddy Boy's yawn, Baby Girl's grimace, and Little Guy's stubborn absence.
I was determined to get a family picture that day.

As it turns out, there are--shockingly--several different cities in Ohio.  As it also turns out, our destination city is a wee bit farther away than our friend's hometown.  But when you only discover information like that the night before you embark, it's best to just chuckle and keep on packing.

We put the children in their pajamas and hit the road in the late afternoon, as soon as the Mister could leave work.  A couple stops and a few tears later, we pulled up to the hotel at two minutes 'til midnight.

They found a worm.

We spent the following morning feasting at the hotel breakfast buffet.  Truly, nobody does hotel breakfast like the Hampton Inn.  Well, except maybe the Embassy Suites.  But I'm still partial to the pour-your-own waffles at the good ol' HI.

The Mister's family is one of the nicest collections of folks I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.  They are warm and friendly, laid-back and casual, interesting and interested, midwestern nice.  I really love getting to spend time with them.  We chatted over many a cup of coffee and self-poured waffle that weekend.

 And while celebrating the new couple!

 Instead of a guest book at the wedding, they had this thumbprint tree.  Isn't that the cutest?!

 Grandma got lots of snuggles with her namesake.

 I got lots of  snuggles with Buddy Boy.

And we stuck Little Guy on a row of chairs.  Ha!

How fondly I remember dozing off to sleep at big family events, with the thrum of happy voices around me.  I want my children to have those same comfortable memories, even though we're far from both our families.  If that means we have to drive 15 hours for a 36-hour stay, with three children in car seats, with my seat permanently positioned just shy of a 90 degree angle, with suitcases and baby gear piled to the roof, and the Mister driving late into the night, then so be it.  You gotta keep on living.

And live we did!

We finished out the weekend with a lovely brunch at the bride's parents' home.

Also the cutest?  Bride and groom scarecrows!

 After one last visit with Great-Grandma, we were on the road again.

Where we soon discovered that I had left the portable DVD player on all weekend.  No, we didn't have the charger.

In penance, I read {selectively, improvisationally at times} from the Brothers Grimm the whole way home.  And miracle of all miracles, nobody cried.

It was a very good road trip.