My brother drove down for a day to spend some time with the kids. Samantha really enjoyed having him here and it was a big help to be able to run some quick errands while he stayed with the kids. It wasn't the most exciting trip for him but hopefully we can have more fun next time he's down.
We made our first (mostly successful) trip with the kids. We headed to Columbus to celebrate our niece's graduation from high school. In order to make the most of our trip, we headed up Thursday evening and stayed with Chris' parents.
Friday morning we drove the remaining distance and spent some time at COSI (the science center) and had a nice walk and lunch in German Village. Samantha enjoyed the science center and both kids were pretty well behaved.
Our hosts were very gracious and allowed us to stay in the apartment attached to their house - it made nap/night time a lot easier this way.
With all the family in town I was able to spend some quality time with Josh without Samantha trying to love him to death at the same time.
Samantha really enjoyed spending time with the whole family. There was a lot of bouncing on the trampoline. Here is a picture of her with Anna (the soon-to-be graduate) and another of pure silliness.
She got her first "big kid" bike and did a pretty decent job pedaling it around the driveway.
Her favorite cousin of the weekend was Isabelle - poor Isabelle never got a break!
She did enjoy the additional dogs too and Lucy and Leo were very gentle.
Saturday morning we walked around the Ohio State campus to see where Anna will be attending in the fall. Even though Chris spent his college years there, the campus has had a lot of renovations and additions since then. Being a Penn State graduate, I begrudgingly allowed my picture to be taken in front of the Ohio State sign (I tried to give a thumbs down with a frown-y face but I was chastised).
While walking, Samantha kept stepping off the path when people were near to let them pass...this is something we make the kids do on the path around the lake at home when there are runners/bikers. I tried to explain that these sidewalks and paths were wider but she still insisted (at least she was trying to be polite).
The family party was on Saturday evening (for some reason we're missing many pictures of the rest of the family). It was great seeing everyone! Plus I got a break from holding Josh the whole time so my arms are nice and rested today.
On Sunday, before the actual graduation ceremony, we had a big family brunch at the Scioto Country Club. It was fantastic food - as evidenced by Samantha's three full plates!
The private balcony overlooking the golf course was a nice place for taking pictures too.
Unfortunately, only about half of the cousins made it so here is a photo of 8 of the 14.
As with every family gathering, people start to question which parent the children resemble. So for comparison sake, here are photos of the kids with Mommy and Daddy at about the same age - what do you think?
We weren't able to make it to the graduation so we headed home. We broke up the trip by meeting my parents for a late lunch/early dinner. After we left them, we had to drive through some storms and very slow traffic. The plus side was the beautiful rainbow (always hard to photograph!).
This week we hope to get some more work accomplished on the patio - especially before the full summer weather hits!
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