A Midwest Vacation

We returned home a few weeks ago from a highly anticipated trip to the midwest. It was a big deal - Henry got to meet his cousins and a few aunts for the first time, and we got to travel across the country with a toddler (cue noisemakers!).

We flew into Chicago, spent the night at a hotel near the airport, then Pete's brother picked us up to drive over to Michigan where their parents live.

Hotel dinner

Waiting for our ride and watching planes

Just slightly excited...

It was a lot of fun and as vacations go, it flew by. Pete's parents live on a lake, which makes for easy entertainment. Our little fish jumped into the water the second we let him loose.

We also took the boat out on to the sand bar in the middle of the lake a few times, which was great because the bottom was sandy, shallow and clear. It made it easy for the kids to walk and swim around without us having to worry too much.

There was plenty of cousin time,

diaper parties, and group hugs.

Pete's mom pulled out this old shirt of Pete's that fit Henry just perfectly.

Three generations of Moe boys

In the evenings, we did early dinners for the kiddos and then had a more relaxed adult meal around 8:30 p.m. once they were fast asleep. It was made for some fun downtime to have a drink on the deck and talk as dinner was finishing up and then go inside for food and more chatting. And the sunsets weren't bad either.

Our whole trip the humidity was at least 90%, so even early mornings when I expected it to be just a bit cool out, felt warm and damp. 

On the final morning at the lake, I headed out for a little walk/run and at least a mile from the house it started dumping on me, so my walk quickly turned into a run, carrying my phone under my shirt and taking off my glasses as they were pretty much pointless. 

#waterlogged

We were able to get a photo of most of the group, minus Pete's sister and partner before we hit the road. 

After five days at the lake, we drove back to Chicago for one last night at Pete's brothers and had fun letting the cousins play for a few more hours. 

Our flight home left us with a layover in Phoenix, AZ, which was not my favorite. Next time, I'd spend the extra few hundred $ to get us home pronto. 

I was especially annoyed that a) I forgot to pack a PB&J for the little man for the trip home and b) that airport food not only stinks for adults, but it REALLY stinks for little ones. 

Right before our trip, I realized that Henry has a bit of a sensitivity/allergy to dairy, so trying to find foods that were filling, not junk food and did not have dairy or some kind of sketchy meat in them was nearly impossible. The winner was this cup of Sabra hummus with some Life is Good chips. 

Love you, hummus face

We had a serious win when he decided to nap for nearly two hours on one of the flights home. And the only major bummer was his 15 minutes of screaming at the end of our last flight to Portland because of the pressure in his ears.

While I had been nervous about the flights before we left, Henry handled them pretty well. I did pull out some of the toys I had bought special for the trip, but the only one that really seemed to be a hit was a coloring book and crayons. Otherwise, he spent time looking at people around us, looking at the airplane magazine with me, eating, and napping. 

The trip was definitely worth the trouble of traveling with a toddler. Our next big trip will be to Hawaii at the end of November, so I'm crossing my fingers that Henry is equally as cooperative. 

Happy Fall! 

Things I'm ready for: pumpkins, leaves changing on the trails and the hills around us, sweaters, sweatshirts, puffy vests & jackets, long(er) runs, training for something, fall foods, yoga, college football. What about you?