Our Ohio Excursion
pamelamyers | July 13, 2010
This past weekend, we all trekked off to Ohio for Mark’s Uncle Joe’s wedding reception. Joe got married for the first time recently, and we are all so happy for him. Since the wedding was very small, a wedding reception was held this weekend in Boardman, Ohio, which is not far from the Pittsburgh area where he lives.
We left on Friday and were a little worried about the trip out there, since it’s a 6 hour drive, and Sam has never been stuck in the car for that long before. I am happy to say that she did really well! We stopped every 2 hours or so to let her eat, change her diaper, and so that she could stretch from being strapped into her car seat for so long. She seemed perfectly content each time, and she didn’t really fuss in the car. I did sit in the backseat with her for part of the ride so that I could attempt to amuse her while Mark drove. It seemed to work pretty well. She slept a little too, which also helped.
Our room was nice, but Sam did not like her crib at all! Poor baby. I think she wasn’t used to it, and without bumpers it didn’t seem very snug. The worst part, in my opinion, was that the crib had a waffle weave sheet in it, and she kept waking up with waffle print on her face each morning! She didn’t sleep all that well at night, waking up a lot, and having a hard time going down (we also were keeping her up later than normal, which messed her up). Overall though, she was still a happy baby.
At any rate, despite the tiring trip, and the crib issues, it was so nice seeing family. On Saturday night, we had a family dinner with Uncle Joe and Doris, his wife, Doris’s children and their families, and Mark’s Uncle Flavion and his family. Here are some pics.
This is Mark’s cousin (and godchild), Tia. Sam and Tia were getting along famously! Tia said Sam is giving her a kiss : )
I think this one is so cute. I am not sure what the expression on Sam’s face is, or why she is holding Tia’s chin, but it’s adorable.
Before dinner, we went to an amazing park right down the street from the hotel. It was so incredible! Not only were there regular park things like places to play sports, but there were trails through the trees, pavilions to have picnics, places for outdoor concerts and playgrounds for kids. There was a Tot Lot for kids under 5, and a Kids Lot for older kids. We took Sam to the Tot Lot a few times. It was so much fun. The whole playground was covered in mulch so the kids don’t get hurt, and it had bucket swings and small amusements for the tiniest of children. The best part was this one section they had that was full of about 10 riding toys for them to cruise around on.
Here is Sam on the giraffe, which she loved. We had to push her around since she’s not quite ready to move it herself yet (she did go backwards a few steps) but she didn’t mind.
Here she is on the swing. I really want to get her one for home to hang in one of our trees since she seems to enjoy it so much. I take her to the park by our house and she swings there but it would be nice to let her do it at home any time.
On a Big Wheel just like her Daddy had….
Krista and Adam also had Maddox at the playground. Here’s the big boy riding his John Deere!
And riding what I think is a fire truck….
The wedding reception was Sunday. We didn’t take a lot of pictures, but I did take one of Sam and her Daddy all dressed up. There was a violin, flute, cello group playing the music, and Sam was fascinated by them and the music. She took time out from watching to give me a grin.
We did have a nice time being with family, going to the park, and celebrating but we were glad to get home. It was so good to see everyone — we miss you all and hope we can see you again soon!