Spring Break- part 1

{Please forgive the horrible spacing... I tried to fix it but blogger wasn't having any of that. Did I mention I tried to post this earlier but the pictures weren't working? Well, I did, before Pa had a chance to complain. :) }

Packing comes first! When I was finished, I had to give Hubby a hard time because my suitcase had less in it than his (and I felt like I took too much)!

And we’re off….. We left around 6 on Friday night. I am lucky enough to have a Daddy that loves his granddog and was willing to drive over to pick her up and watch her for the week. We got to St. Louis (halfway to our Ohio destination) around midnight and called it a night at the Drury Inn. The driving resumed on Saturday morning. We are officially Ohio bound and not stopping until we get there! [By the way, Nina, our Cyber Monday purchase worked nicely the whole trip.]

On the road to St. Louis

We're almost there!

We spent Saturday night with Cody and Jessica. We had dinner and then went home where the boys indulged in a few beverages.



Two peas in a pod. They have missed each other so much!



Sunday, we got up and met my brother and niece at the Blueberry Café. I got a strawberry cheesecake one to take home. Talk about a yummy muffin! The Muffin Man would even come out to entice into buying one of his muffins. Later, we went with Cody and Jessica to The Green for a little shopping and a movie. If you like dirty humor, Hall Pass is a great movie for it! If you see it, please call Hubby afterwards. He is dying to laugh and make jokes about it with someone other than me.



Doesn't this just look like sparkly trouble?! It was.

 Monday, we went to an outlet mall to exchange a shirt for Jessica. Preston isn’t much of a shopper; however, if Missy had been with me, we may not have made it to see Claire that evening. We went with my brother to pick her up from pre-school. When he walked in to get her, she got this pathetic, “I don’t want to go” cry face until I poked my head around Jeffrey. Then she got smiley and shy all at once. As soon as we got to the car she was chatting with us. We headed out to her grandparents house for dinner. While eating, Preston was threatened with being turned in to the ‘Peeking Control’ for peeking around me to see her. Apparently, leaning around a person is not acceptable in Ohio. I guess Uncle Preston is lucky he wasn’t sent packing to OK, where the Peeking Control is. We headed back to Jeffrey’s for the night and did a tiny bit of playing before going to bed. Claire said, “Can Aunt Jennie spend the night?”



Coloring with Uncle Preston



Tuesday was a day full of playing. We had a tea party with lots of customers, played school, rode a roller coaster and even had a brief visit from a pirate… all before lunch with Dana. 

Claire with all of our tea party customers

 



Riding the roller coaster



Pirate attack!



After lunch, we had a tour of Oakwood. There are some HUGE homes there! Later, we played some more and crafted with her craft kit. After a spaghetti dinner we headed out for ice cream. We came back home and played some more. [Do you see what we did a lot of when we were together? I loved every bit of the time I got to spend with that little cutie!]

 Wednesday morning, you will never guess it, but we played some more. And crafted. The teacher in me was teaching over spring break so we learned a new word: mural.


Our mural: Claire made the fish on the left, mine is on the right and Uncle Preston made the start and the rocket

Around 12:30, we went out for lunch with Dana while Jeffrey was at work. I love riding with her in the backseat! We had a good time.



Claire and her spider, Barbie



After lunch we did a little more playing before the dreaded good-bye. (Claire was heading to her grandparents before they left for vacation and we were heading to Cody and Jessica’s to watch American Idol and head back home on Thursday morning.) Holy cow. It broke my heart. I had to leave the room because I did not want her to see me upset but I also wanted to snuggle her to pieces. Poor thing got a double dose since she had to say bye to us and then her grandparents. I did my best to keep it together for her but had my own little cry in the car. [It makes me sad thinking about a week later too!]

Stay tuned for part 2!