Summer Family Trips!

For almost two weeks, we went on a couple of road trips.  One was to visit Sam's family in Foley, Alabama, and another to visit Emily's family in Massachusetts.  For the trip to Massachusetts, we took a road trip up over four days.  Not a whole lot of pictures got taken, but here are a few...

Playing mini golf with Bill (grandfather)

Building some sandcastles on the beach.

Playing one of Andrew's favorite things in Foley: stomp rockets.

On the way up to Massachusetts, we stopped at Dinosaur Land,
the same place Emily and Andrew stopped a year ago.
This is about the best picture of Andrew we got.

Playing with Sam at the Crayola Experience.

Playing in a miniature river play area at the Crayola Experience.

We ran into Clifford the Big Red Dog outside
of The Crayola Experience.

Riding a dolphin outside of the Pirate Museum.

Swinging with cousin Nate.

A little driveway chalk with the cousins.

Playing with Chief the dog.  Andrew went back
and forth from loving to play ball with Chief, to
being terrified of him.

Dinner with cousin Magnolia and cousin Chris.

Just hanging around with the cousins at the old Myers' house.  

Having fun with cousin Riley.

Andrew was worn out during the whale watching trip.
He has never fallen asleep on one of us out in public.

Playing with cousin Magnolia on the whale watching trip.

I thought I got pictures of Andrew looking at whales, but apparently, I didn't.

Summer Road Trip!! Part Three!

All good things must come to an end.  Fortunately for us, we got to extend the fun for another three days on the drive home.

Except it wasn't all fun.  The first day was MISERABLE.  Andrew was very sad about leaving his family behind, so the day got off to a rocky start.  And, as it turns out, the entire United States of America was driving south from New Hampshire that day.  We skipped all of our planned stops because traffic was just too bad.  It took us three hours longer to get to our destination, and we only got there because Sam guided us through the back roads over the phone.

We stopped for some ice cream to try and
cheer up, but even that didn't help.

A nice long nap helped a bit, though.

We stopped for pizza slices as big as our heads,
and got to watch some soccer.  Things were starting
to look up, but we were both happy to end the first day.

Day Two!!  Bethlehem, PA to Wythville, VA.  SO much better than Day One.

We started in Hershey, PA.  When you're three years
old, there is NOTHING better than a trolley ride with
singing and free chocolate!

Singing cows told us how chocolate is made.  

Too much sugar and it wasn't even lunch time!

Next stop?  Dinosaurland in Virginia!  This place was amazing.

Capturing his new friends.

Don't forget to kiss your dinosaurs.

Obviously, they had more than dinosaurs.

Day Three!!!  Virginia to HOME!!  Andrew woke up asking to go see dinosaurs again.  Unfortunately, we were far away from Dinosaurland.  But, we were in luck!  We stopped in Pigeon Forge, TN and I saw this!

Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride?  Sounds great!  Andrew
loves dinosaurs!  And boats!  And rides!

Waiting for the ride to start.  So excited!

Friendly animatronic dinosaur! What could go wrong?

That was the last picture I have from that ride.  It got very scary very quickly.  Velociraptors coming out from the shadows and spitting at you, T-rexes chasing you, even a pterodactyl flying off with a fake child.  Andrew screamed and cried the entire time.  You'd think they'd warn you that it might be scary for three year olds.  I am now taking up a fund for Andrew's future therapy needs.

We left Pigeon Forge for home.  But when you've been on the road for ten days, why go home?  A friend was having a pizza and pool party, so we stopped there!  Kind of fun to bookend the entire trip with pool parties - one with new friends and one with old.

Pizza at the boy's table.

All in all, the trip was fantastic.  Andrew did great in the car, slept well in all the different houses and hotels, and kept up a good attitude throughout the whole chaotic trip.  I'm already planning our next adventure!

Summer Road Trip! Part Two!!

Hopefully I'll be updating this page with more pictures.  I actually had to fly back to Atlanta in the middle of the trip, so Andrew stayed with the family and they had a blast!  Santa's Village, river tubing, sparklers, and lots of time with all the cousins, aunts, and uncles!

The first day was pretty rainy.  We just played
inside with the family, and got some good
puddle jumping in.

Day two!  We went to Santa's Village amusement park.  Last
year, Andrew wanted nothing to do with the rides.  This year,
he surprised me with how much he wanted to do!

He even handled some of the rides better
than the adults.

Loving the views from the top of the ferris wheel.

They even had a huge hill that you could
go tubing down.

On days three and four, I was back in Atlanta.  The fun didn't stop there, though.  Andrew got to go tubing with the whole family!

His favorite activity - throwing rocks into the river.

Ice cream date with Magnolia.

Swim time for the three year olds.

And story time!  This time, Andrew let Nancy read it.

 I got back into town late on July 4th.  The family decided against fireworks, but that didn't keep the kids from getting to play with sparklers!

Uncle Dave, keeping the kids from lighting
themselves on fire.  Luckily, nobody was hurt.

Then, the time in New Hampshire was over just as fast as it started.  No worries, though, because we still had three days of adventures in the car on our way back to Atlanta!

Summer Road Trip!! Part One!

Yes, we've been horrible about updating.  Sorry.  We'll try to get better about that.  

Andrew and I went on a road trip!  I really didn't feel like spending the money to fly the two of us up to New Hampshire for a couple of days, so we decided to pack up the Kia and head out on the open road.

Yes.  That's right.  I willingly went on a very long car trip with my three year old.  And it was great.

DAY ONE!
It was an easy day.  We went from Atlanta to Charlotte.  We stayed with some new friends, had a toddler pool party, and just took it easy.

Packed up and ready to go!

First stop-  Gainseville, GA.  The poultry capital capital
of the world!  (This is Andrew pretending to be a chicken)

Second stop - Gaffney, SC.  The world's
largest peach!

We made it to Charlotte!  Pool party and pizza with some new friends!  This
was our stop for the first night.

Day Two!!!  Charlotte, NC to Newark, DE.

First stop - The world's largest dresser!

Seriously.  This thing was huge.  Thanks NC!

The world's largest bass in VA!  

Some quality time with Jim Henson and Kermit in Maryland.

We made it to Jenn's house!  Yay for cousin time!

Double bath time.

Oh, come on!  It should be illegal
to be this cute.

Day Three!!  Newark, DE to Bethlehem, NH!  Our destination!  Traffic, long naps, and bad weather kept our stops to a minimum today.  

PEZ Factory in CT!  Andrew could
have spent all day here!

He slept through MA, VT, and all the way to
our destination in NH!