Road Trip

My mother in law was kind to take the first leg driving so that I could let it all out & not worry about trying to see the road. :) Such an emotional day that May 15th was for me. I never would have thought that leaving Buffalo would have been such a difficult thing to do. It wasn't until we were probably in Pennsylvania that I was actually able to relax a  little bit. 

 This is what my view was for like 23 hours of driving. Ugh!

 But this was my view when I turned around. I love sleeping children. So cute!

The only thing that could really put a smile on my face was knowing I was going to be seeing my brother & his cute family at the end of the day at our first stop in Gainsville, Virginia.

Anne had the most delicious meal prepared & waiting for us when we arrived. Norah had her birthday coming up so we celebrated a little early with a yummy oreo cheesecake. Yum!

 

 Anne & Norah

 Sophie, Anne & Norah

Gavin was in heaven playing with his cousins! He had a hard time keeping their names straight, but they didn't seem to mind. Gavin & Sophie had a sleepover in her room boy was that a chore trying to get them to go to sleep. Doug & I enjoyed just laying around & talking with Hyrum & Anne & catching up. We even got to go see the home that they are buying that was just down the road. We only stayed one night with them as we had a lot of road ahead of us. And traveling with two small children is no joy ride. So after we woke up & ate breakfast we said our goodbyes & hit the road. Thank you Hy & Anne for letting us stay in your home. We love & miss you already!

Next stop: Atlanta, Georgia

We really lucked out in the case that I have two brother's that live along the way down to Florida. Pretty awesome huh? So we drove over 10 hours the second day which was SOOO hard! You wouldn't think adding only 3 hours would be such a big deal, but it was. 

 

{a water tower we saw that reminded me of James & the Giant Peach}

The drive itself was quite pretty. Everything was so green & plush. It was fun driving through the small towns. I just wish they didn't slow you down as much as they do.

 So I hate to admit this because I know there are probably a lot of people out there who would be very upset at me for this, but a few times it was absolutely necessary to get Liam out of his car seat. He was happy, we were happy & we even got a few laughs during the process. Isn't our little zebra baby cute?! Gavin got quite a kick out of him wearing it.

Because we had driven over 10 hours & it was another 11 hours to get to Fort Lauderdale, we decided that we would stay 2 days with my brother Jason & his family. It was so nice to be able to relax & just not be in the car. Gavin could not stop running around their house. It was so fun to watch him interact with his cousins.

We were lucky & were able to be at their home when little Savannah had her birthday. (perfect timing I'd say with these May birthdays in my fam) She was turning 6 was SOOOO excited that we were there to celebrate with her. The night we got there was the night before her bday & when her mom was tucking her into bed she pulled her moms face in & said, "Go ahead Mom, wish me a Happy Birthday! You know you want to!" :) I about died. She is the cutest thing ever! She had to go to school on her bday so it wasn't until afterwards that we got the party started. We of course had to go to Chuck E Cheese which was a big hit with my little guy.

 The birthday girl Savannah

 Trying to get a group shot of all the kids was no easy task. Okay, their kids were fine, it was Gavin that was having a hard time. I can't even remember why he screamed out, but I think this picture is hilarious.

 Much better!

{Gavin, Hailey, McKay, Ashley, Carson, Logan, Savannah & friend}

After the we put my boys to bed we decided we needed a date night so we doubled with Jason & Becki. They took us to a fun Mexican place called Tijuana Joes.

 

 It was great being able to talk & catch up with them & not have to worry about any kids.

It was so fun being able to see & stay with my two brothers on our journey down south. I so wish that we could have stayed longer at both places. As much as we were not looking forward to driving another 11 hours, we were also getting pretty excited about getting to our place. The kids did surprisingly very well even though I ended up sitting between them for most of the journey. It was a lot of fun driving through so many states in such a short time. The best one though is when we crossed the state line into the Sunshine State of Florida.

  We made it! We have finally arrived in our new state, city & home.