Over the river and through the woods - Part 2

The visit to Grandma and Grandpa McKinstry's wasn't our only destination on this Midwest trip. Since Grandma Swan couldn't make it up to visit with us as a result of the snow, we slid the kids into their carseats and headed down to Southern Illinois to spend a few days with her.

Grandma Swan and Hadley meet. (I planned this shot because 

I have a similar picture of the first time Caleb met her.What special pictures!)

Hadley made her smiley self right at home. Not only was she happy to be out of that carseat and have a place to roam, she'd found another grandparent to dote on her.

Caleb warmed up to Grandma Swan again pretty quickly too. Though she didn't chase him around the house like his cousin Luke, she still made a pretty good playmate for trying out all the new Christmas toys.

Serving a few of the desserts that came with Hadley's tea set

Grandma Swan was pretty good at holding the tractor book too.

Caleb took the monkeys out of the barrel and 

kept filling it with the alphabet "pillows."

Hadley and Grandma Swan had their own games. Hadley thought it was particularly funny to bump heads together. 

The following day we spent another low key day relaxing and playing around the house. We all tried to get caught up on sleep but Caleb especially needed the rest, which was still apparent as he got very upset about things that normally aren't such a big deal. Hadley, who had really developed an interest in trying to walk right after Christmas, was a busy body girl and wanted us to hold her hands and let her explore. I'm surprised she didn't wear those busy little legs off!

Later in the day, Grandma Swan's sister (Aunt Lotella) and her husband (Uncle Phil) dropped by to see us. Our boy, who is rarely shy, was a bit bashful when they arrived. Aunt Lotella uses an oxygen tank, which may have made him more cautious, but usually if he notices something different he'll just ask about it, so I'm not quite sure why he felt the need to hide in Grandma's bedroom. Pretty soon though, he made an appearance and became quick friends with his great-great aunt and uncle who were wonderful at engaging him and making him feel comfortable with them. The next thing we knew, he had Hadley's teapot and was serving Uncle Phil a cup of tea. Aunt Lotella eventually was offered a cup as well. They didn't stay long, but for such a short visit, I'd say they bonded pretty quickly.

Our last morning there the kids played a few hours before we had to load up for the long trip home. Even if it was a short visit, I was glad they got to have even a short time to see what a special lady their Grandma Swan is and that she got to experience a little bit of their sweet personalities and uniqueness (minus the meltdowns of course :)).

We made much better time on the way back and the kids did very well. We stopped for dinner in Kentucky at a Steak N Shake, a 24 hr diner/fast food restaurant chain found in the Midwest that is a bit nostalgic for Dave. Our waitress had such a thick southern accent you'd have thought she was faking it. We enjoyed listening to and watching her call everyone "pretty lady" and telling the guys that worked there that they were "a may-yess, a hot may-yess." She was especially smitten with Hadley and brought Caleb a free cookie. Caleb's favorite part seemed to be putting the stickers they gave him on the cardboard car Daddy assembled. Hadley loved the stickers too until Mommy confiscated them.

 

 

 

Later we took a break at a Walmart and played in the toy aisle for a bit to stretch our legs before putting the kids back in the car to sleep for the night. We had a little bit of a scare there though because, while feeding Hadley baby food at a table in the Walmart's Subway restaurant area, one of the employees walked up to Dave and told him to be cautious because he saw a man staring at him and the baby strangely. When I came out of the bathroom from changing Caleb, Dave told me about the convo. Needless to say, we decided to hightail it to the car, lock the doors, and get out of there, praying all the way.

Somewhat later than scheduled but not too long past our expected arrival time, we made it home! I worked hard to get things organized and well cleaned before we left so it felt nice walking into our house and being able to rest. It was the early morning hours and the house was pretty frigid from where we turned the heat back while we were gone. We all piled in the bed together to keep warm and dozed until morning.