Vacation #1 OH MI!

Posted by kara

Our first vacation of summer was a big one. We flew to Ohio for Paul’s parents’ 40th anniversary party. It was so good to see everyone and Toshi had a blast dancing with her cousins.

Then Paul flew back to Seattle. The girls and I drove down to Cincinnati to visit two of my favorites. First we stopped at Ariana’s. She is still pretty tall. AND I got to meet Lily. She is super adorable, but I don’t have any pics… I really need to get a respectable camera phone. Toshi introduced them to Pingu, while Ariana and I tried to have a conversation. It was hard with two babies around. We’ll have to meet up again for reals.

Then we headed to Jamus’ house. I hadn’t been to her house for a couple of years, and it was so different! Everything looked like a real cozy, well planned home. I really liked how everything was set up. I felt at home right away, and I think Toshi did too. She started searching for treasures and putting Jamie’s trinkets in a basket. Jamie was pretty cool with that, which is good because Toshi wasn’t about to stop. Mark (and Jamie) made the most fabulous brenner I’ve ever had. If you ever visit with them, request the brenner. Again, my chats with Jamus were limited (Marf kept wanting to climb the stairs), but it was so good to hang out with her. (Must really get that camera phone.)

Then I took the girls up to my parents’ house to stay for the rest of the week. My mom had lots of ideas. I thought it was pretty hot outside, so I tried to encourage the indoor (air conditioned) activities. We ended up going to the children’s museum, the zoo, and a few restaurants. My mom took Toshi out with her friends and their granddaughters. It was Toshi’s first time going to the movie theater! My mom said that the little girls kept getting folded up in the movie chairs so they had to sit on their grandma’s laps. That made me laugh. [I don’t have any of my mom’s pics because she made a book for the girls instead of sending me the photos.]

Paul flew back to Ohio. Paul’s parents picked us up and we drove to Michigan for a big family vacation. It was a lot of people, some air conditioning and power failures, lots of food, lots of fudge for me, lots of kid music, a puzzle, and good times. Toshi was attached to GiGi (Paul’s mom) and Uncle Leg was a big hit with both girls. Although, they loved all their uncles/aunts/cousins. And we got to meet Joshua, who slept all day (but maybe not so much at night). I’ll let the pics speak for themselves. Luckily everyone shared their pics. I really didn’t take very many.