I think I'm STILL tired from our little vacation. We packed so much stuff into only a few days and I'm surprised we all survived!
My family (Mom, Dad, Matthew, Emilie & Ricky) all came in on Thursday. It was sort of unexpected. They called one day and said they're taking an epic road trip and we're a stop along the way. They went from Colorado to Wisconsin, where my dad and Matthew dropped the other three. Matt and Dad continued on to Michigan, then back to Wisconsin to pick up their crew. Then they all went to Cedar Point where they spent a few days enjoying roller coasters and water parks. They headed here after that where they spent a few days, then up to New York, back to Maryland, up to Michigan then home! (They aren't home yet..) WHEW! I'm tired just thinking about it!
We really only had one full day with them here before we all went to New York. My mom, Emilie and I went shopping for some things for my sister, Melanie. Jonathon and I took the three kids to a movie in a town about 45 minutes away (ended up being a lot longer because of traffic). My parents kept Jackson. We saw "Salt" which was a lot better than I expected.
Matthew spent the night at my house the first night - my parents got a hotel room - and it was SO much fun to hang out with him again. Jonathon was working, so we just watched tv and laughed. We had to get up really early to go to New York. It took about 4-5 hours to get there. My Jackson Lane was SO good. Everyone was so impressed with our guy. Then again, when isn't he perfect?!
We saw Melanie and she looks amazing. She seems like she's doing super well and getting the most out of the experience. We're so proud of her! She got a 3 day pass, so she was able to stay with us and do all sorts of activities. We had a little picnic on the grounds of her place where Jackson thought pizza crust was the coolest thing ever. The second day we went to Bear Mountain where we spent the entire day. There was a ton to do. The little kids painted little plaster animals while the rest of us walked around and enjoyed the amazing weather. They had a zoo (where I fell in love with this little coyote) to walk through and tons of wonderful scenery. Jackson also rode a carousel for the first time. At the hotel, Jackson experienced a pool (which seemed to be salt water - WEIRD) and loved it!
On Monday we visited the Vanderbilt Mansion. It was absolutely crazy to walk through. They didn't allow photography inside, but it was so much fun to look at all the old things they had. Jonathon's highlight of the trip was visiting Orange County Choppers. I'm pretty sure he could have stayed there all day. He and my dad were in Heaven. They were really cool bike, I'll admit.
J basically cruised through the whole vacation. He really took to Matthew, and Emilie was such a huge help. It didn't take him long to warm up to everyone, however there were some times he just wanted his mom. He was terrific sleeping in the hotel - Jonathon and I were SO thankful for that. We were worried, but he had his blankets with him, so those helped 100%.
We were all pooped by Tuesday, so we didn't do much. Jonathon worked, but had time to show my dad around base which my dad loved. Thanks to Grammie and Papa for the awesome trip!!
