We got to Aunt Jennifer's house on Sunday evening. Anita, Nate and her kiddos arrived a few hours later and we all sat down to a late roast beef dinner...soooo good!
We just took it easy on Monday, letting the kids play together while we caught up on one another's lives. I couldn't believe how big my nieces and nephews were....it had been almost 3 years since I'd seen Josh, Caleb, Hannah and Jason, they seemed huge to me!
Tuesday morning we loaded up the cars and headed to West Virginia for a family reunion with some more relatives on Peter's mom's side. We met up with Peter's sister Stephanie and her kids, Poppy & Gong Gong, Peter's grandma, his Aunt & Uncle and their 2 kids, a cousin and his wife, and another Aunt & Uncle. It was a full cabin at meal times :-) I had met all but one of the Aunt and Uncle's before and it was good to see everyone! We all split up into different cabins for sleeping but spent lots of time together during the day chatting, eating, walking, swimming, golfing, etc. It was a beautiful setting and a fun time! We left to return to Ohio on Thursday morning after breakfast.
lots of great cousin time!
our growing family!
the whole reunion crew in the lodge! All 29 of us!!!
Steph's family and Peter's parents came back to Jennifer's house after the reunion so we had a full house of 11 kids and 9 adults!! We spent the next few days running errands, playing games, chasing kids, going to church and staying up until midnight for New Year's Eve. It was definitely a full house but Jennifer was the.most.amazing.hostess.ever and it was such a great time!
the power went out (seriously!) while I was playing a Christmas carol and everyone was singing. It stayed out for the next hour so we had a Christmas brought to us by flashlights and candles. Not ideal, but it worked and makes for a great memory!
the 2 youngest of the bunch, wondering how they're going to survive all the chaos :-)
celebrating Jen's 40th(I mean 28th) birthday!
inhaling some New Year's goodies!
ready to watch the ball drop ringing in 2012
Peter & his dad worked on a project most of the week putting in a floor in the attic above Josh & Caleb's room
family picture at Jen's church
Poppy, GongGong and all their grandkids
3 generations of Klinglers
Steph and her kids had to leave on Sunday afternoon which was super sad. Peter, Anita, Nate and Josh headed out to Cleveland that afternoon for a Browns game! I was planning on going until the last minute because I was afraid it would wipe me out too much with all that travel and sitting in the bleachers, etc. So Josh took my ticket and had a great time. It was a good game even though they lost.
The rest of the week was spent just enjoying each other's company, attending the kid's various school events, cooking, keeping our kids from breaking anything, staying up too late, and just enjoying time with each other. Unfortunately there was a bit of a flu bug going around and though it didn't seem to last long, its never fun to feel sick.
One of the days we headed toward Miamisburg, which is Peter's hometown, to visit the Air Force Museum, hit a few favorite food spots, and see his old stomping grounds/house. Anita and Nate took Katie with them, and we took Benjamin with us. We had a great time at the museum, it was hardly busy at all and Benjamin had THE BEST time just running around looking at all the airplanes, helicopters and rockets. He kept saying "LOOK UP!" "LOTS AND LOTS OF AIRPLANES!"
I didn't read much at the museum, but it was fun to watch it through his eyes.
Afterward we hit up an Esther Price chocolates store, ate at Frisch's Big Boy for lunch, then drove around Miamisburg taking in a few spots where Peter had so many memories from the 15 years he lived there. We also hit a Friendly's before we headed home.
wearing his super cool Captain Benjamin pin from Aunt Nita :-)
Benjamin got a 2 minute nap before lunch!
this is out of order but its my guys at the park Peter played at every day as a boy!
cousins at the museum!
my goal of the day was to make sure this little guy followed this rule! Ha :-)
he spent most of his time running from plane to plane
and pushing every button he could on the hands on sections!
The Jolly Green Giant that my dad flew in during the Vietnam War
standing in front of the Huey my dad flew in too!
it really is an awesome museum
swinging at Daddy's childhood park
a nostalgic Daddy telling his son the tales of his youth :-)
Benjamin was NOT HAPPY when we had to leave the park!
standing in front of his childhood home!
he stopped by his elementary school and the only teacher that remained from his time there just happened to be his favorite 4th grade teacher! How fun!!
we of course had to end the day by sharing a Reeses Pieces sundae at Friendly's! It's our vacation tradition and this time we got to have Benjamin there too!
he kept saying "this is soooo yummy, this is sooooo yummy"
The last couple days were spent hanging out and just enjoying being together. We had to leave on Friday morning and though we don't dread going back to Oregon, we really hate that we don't get to see all of our family more often. It was really sad to leave!
Travel day coming back was overall pretty smooth. Benjamin didn't sleep a minute on the plane, but took a 1/2 hour nap in the stroller during a layover while we ate lunch. He was a little high maintenance on the plane, but considering we were either driving in a car, at an airport or on a plane for nearly 10 1/2 hours, he did great. We were SO TIRED when we got home, but I got a second wind and we unpacked everything and gave Benjamin a bath then we headed to bed right after we put him down. We were SO excited to put Benjamin in his own room that night and sleep in our own bed. Most of the nights while we were in Ohio he got pulled into bed with us at some point because he slept in a playpen right next to our bed and once he realized this, there was no keeping him quiet once he woke up and wanted in with us. Being almost 9 months pregnant with a 2 year olds set of feet at your face most of the night is not exactly comfortable. I love our little guy to pieces, but he just needs his own bed :-)
Saturday we spent the day at home doing nothing. Benjamin played with all his new Christmas toys, we read and watched online shows and it was pure. bliss. It was really nice to relax and rest a little bit, because this pregnant mama was worn out from all that traveling. We ate spaghetti that night and called it another early night.
we literally spent all day in our pajamas, it was awesome
he is OBSESSED!
hooray for Thomas! (and hooray for trying to have an almost 2 year adjust back to the Pacific Time Zone....3 hour difference from Ohio!)
ending the day with a little bit of Finding Nemo. Life is good for this little boy!
Sunday we went back to our own church and it was great to see everyone. We ate lunch at Pizza Hut with friends, all took a nap, then played until Sunday night service. We went to bed fairly early again because we knew that Monday morning was coming all too quick.
We had such a great time in Ohio and will have such fun memories of our Christmas together! Sorry to write such a novel, but this is really my only form of scrapbooking and I want to remember everything! I'll probably update this with more pictures once I get some "missing parts of the trip" pictures from Anita.
