Indiana Days: Let the Traveling Begin!

At the end of May, we embarked on the road trip that was pretty much the beginning of the end of our Indiana Days. We were headed South, and I was very excited about that! All of my mom's family (her mom's side) lives in the South (minus a few that have scattered northward). I grew up visiting my grandparents in Florida twice a year (a drive that I should know like the back of my hand.. but being me, I pretty much only know landmarks.. but I still think I could get there :), and the summer visit typically included attending the family reunion at my great aunt's house in southern Alabama. This was my first opportunity to attend a family reunion in years. I actually don't remember the last time I was able to go.. It's been a while.

So, we loaded up the van, making sure there was room for Ian, who we would be picking up during our travels (yay!), and set off.

An early morning, so a breakfast on the go!

 

We drove and drove and drove and drove. It took us 15 hours to make that trip! Small children really change the time commitment of a road trip :). But they were troopers and happily got out of the car when we arrived at our hotel. The next morning, we took a short drive to make our reunion debut! It was great! Everything looked the same, it smelled the same, the food was good, and the catching-up was even better.

This isn't a great picture, but the two beauties behind the couch are my two great aunts.

I love the hand-holding.. there is always hand-holding going on with this bunch..
Also, please give some love to that shag carpet. It is even more amazing in person!

They started as eight, four boys, four girls. Though there are only two walking with us now, their family has left an incredible legacy of human beings on this earth. The family has grown and grown and grown, and is full of wonderful, caring, kind people.

The living room is always full (though fortunately, there are many other places around to gather.. I don't think we'd all fit in this little room!), but there is also quite a treasure in the pond down the lane. I have memories of go-cart rides, baby alligators, blueberry picking, games in the pond-house, all the kid-cousins making a whirlpool in the pool. Not to mention endless card games and nibbles of goodies not-so-well-hidden in the dining room. However awkward I may be, or may have been, the memories are sweet. The heart is thankful. 

I have many memories of listening to stories on this porch, and making various mud 'treats' just outside :).

And the kitchen, always busy, busy. It takes a lot of work to feed so many, and while the helping hands have changed over the years, the food is always amazing. 

We did lunch at a bigger home nearby (belonging to a cousin of my mom's), to accommodate the growing, growing, growing family, and the spread was impressive to say the least.

This was only the beginnings of what was laid out. I didn't even get a picture of the dessert selection, but you can imagine :)

Aed discovered a trampoline, and it turns out bouncing is one of his favorite things. It took a lot of coaxing to get him off of there.

Finally the time came.. for more driving! Yay! No. Not really. No one was excited. But, we were grateful to have had a chance to see so many people we'd not seen for years. And there is something special about introducing your children to people that have been important in your life (even when your children are dazed and confused :). Maybe someday they'll get to meet my husband, too! :)

So into the car we climbed. Tired and ready to rest.

 

We were on our way! First stop was the airport to pick up Daddy (a million yays!), and then to our cabin in the woods for a super-duper fun-filled week!

Indiana Days: Farewell for Now

As evidence of our abruptly changing plans grew, we had to stretch our flexibility muscles and really, truly go with the flow. After we found out about Ian's job and how quickly they wanted him there, we had a lot of decisions to make. We had already made plans to travel through most of the month of June, but if May 7th was their date, we needed to make it work. The decision was made that Ian would drive a van load of our stuff out to California, all by himself. He'd stay there for a month, and then fly into Georgia, where we'd pick him up on our way to a cabin in the woods for a family vacation.

That meant we had to organize - and do it quickly! We gathered up essentials and lovingly shoved them into the van, packed as tightly as we could manage. It was a genuine low-rider :) If you've ever wondered if a pillow-top queen-sized mattress will fit horizontally into a minivan.. We can tell you, with the right coaxing, it will.

This was the passenger's side..

And the driver's side..

Knowing we'd be paying for every pound we shipped, we crammed as much as we could into that trusty van.

This was Ian's comfy seat..

And, yes, the red strap and clamp were relocated during the actual driving! 

That drive was a serious challenge for Ian. Doing it by himself on top of the sudden change of circumstances he'd just had, on top of ending up in a completely unfamiliar place with the pressure of a new job and no one (and no furniture!) to come home to and experience and process it all with him.. It was a bit of a doozy. He persevered, grew an affinity (might be too generous?) for Motel 6es, and made it in one piece with only a few anxious phone calls (that were responded to with varying degrees of sympathy - ha!). He set up some boxes as a 'couch' and a few others as a 'table' and spent the next 3.5 weeks learning about the area a bit and learning about all his new responsibilities. And always missing his family..

Who were partying back in Indiana! J/k. We can't even help but miss Daddy when he just goes off to work for a day, and we most certainly missed him during that long month!

Fortunately, the time was passed much more easily for us this go-around. With sunshine and green grass, we had plenty to do! Aed ate most of his lunches outside (which we learned was a horrible temptation for poor Pippers). It pretty much always ended with him laying on the ground playing with some truck, but he especially liked this one..

We got tuckered out by a fun Mother's Day visit with extended family at a big park not too far away..

We stuffed our faces with avocados..

We changed recalled parts on the buggy and felt very handy about it all..

Note, even Asher was with us in monitor form! Can you find him? :)

We LOVED watching Papaw mow the lawn..

We enjoyed ice cream outings and days at the park. Playing in the nursery at church and running in and out of the doors on the gazebo. There was much to be thankful for during our time without Daddy, but goodness gracious we were glad when we were all together again! 

Indiana Days: Fun Footwear

While spending his days with his - originally uncle's, more recently - cousin's room as his own, Aed discovered that he has an affinity for footwear.

Being that my sister's family lived at my parents' house for a year before we did, a lot of their things still reside there. Including my nephew's shoes. Aed found a couple of pairs of black shoes in his closet that he would often be wearing we when retrieved him after his nap. Always pants-less too, of course. He'd slide those things on any old time of day, including right after waking up.

He also commandeered a pair of boots that were his cousin's and wore those things for all occasions!

My personal favorite, though, was when he'd shove them on over his footy pajamas and go for a walk in his pajamas and boots. He is ever the trendsetter.

Then, we went on a little vacation with our extended family, and my sister's family joined us. My niece had a super cute little pair of crocs that looked like Mary Jane's that Aed couldn't get enough of! Every time we turned around he was wearing these things.

After seeing what joy they brought him, we started searching high and low for a similar pair in a boy color, but couldn't even find the style! But I thought he still might like the ease with which the crocs can be put on and taken off independently, so we kept searching for crocs for him. My mom found these winners and we never looked back!

Nowadays, he mostly wears sandals or his 'racing shoes' (tennis shoes) because of the climate, but the Lightning McQueens still get pulled out pretty regularly to play with or wear. And, I have no doubt that as soon as he spots those boots at Nena and Papaw's house, they will be inseparable. 

I'm happy to say, his brother has joined him in his love for shoes. His current obsession is 'SHSHGHSHEHSHGHOOOOES?' Asher is constantly putting them on and taking them off, and heaven help us if you put on his shoes and aren't immediately ready to walk out the door! Love these boys!

Indiana Days: Feeling Big

Asher! How big are you?

  

Whoa there, buddy.. no need to take it so seriously.

Phew. There we go.

(Just for the record, that first picture up there really was his genuine SO BIG face.. best ever)

We knew you were getting bigger when you started joining Big Brother in his adventures.

And we almost died from cuteness.

We took you to the zoo with your brother, and had a wonderful time with lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins! Something we had missed during our time in Scotland.

Mama was even crazy enough to let you crawl around the dirty zoo so you could stretch your little limbs.

We saw seals..

Tigers..

Lions..

 

  

And elephants! (There was even a baby :)

And, if you crop the picture just right, you’d almost think we went straight to Africa to find that elephant! Right? No? 

Worth a shot.