Another Road Trip!

So we came home from Florida...we actually got home on November 27. Well, David had mandatory time off from work in December so we had to do something exciting! So we got back in the car and headed south again. This time our final destination was Texas. I planned a lot of our Florida trip and David planned most of this trip. He had us strategically stopping at such great places so we were able to visit lots of family and friends. We left again on a Friday night and the first stop was Dayton, Ohio to visit my big brother. Conner absolutely adores him and thinks he's the coolest guy (don't know why!) so he was thrilled to get to have dinner with him and see his house. His favorite part was my brother's drums. Scott has several drum sets (don't ask) and Conner was so excited to get to play on them. These are the real deal. Conner was actually pretty good on them and honestly would have stayed up all night if we let him. He continued to talk about "Uncle Scott's drum set" the whole trip. The only other thing we did in Dayton was grab a really good cup of coffee in the morning...and we were on our way!

Our next stop was Jackson, Tennessee to visit some of the Larson family. We haven't been to Jackson since before we were married. So much has changed since then. We were so happy to see the whole family and meet those two sweet girls. Miles is already 5 and Maddie just turned 1 and this was our first time meeting them.  They are both so sweet and we absolutely loved meeting them and hanging out with Anna, Frank, Katy, Uncle Rusty and Aunt Caroline. Conner was excited to spend time with cousins and Brennan was just happy to see another little person and to be out of the car! We spent two days in Jackson and had some great weather. The big kids actually got to play on the playground. Miles was a great big cousin and helped Conner out on the playground...and Anna was a sport going down the slide in some heeled shoes! 

Conner and Maddie

Miles teaching Conner a cheer!

Trying and failing to get a good picture of the 4 of them looking at the camera

the coolest mama!

the little ones

Our next stop was Dallas. We spent a night at our good friend Ashlie's house and 2 nights at a hotel in Dallas. We got to see a bunch of good friends and visit our old stomping grounds. We got to meet a few of our friends kids for the first time and they aren't even babies any more. We have been away too long! We loved seeing everyone and visiting so many places that we love in Texas.

Conner loved his new friend Ava..she wasn't as convinced!

The last stop before heading home was Austin to visit the rest of David's family and my cousins. We got to stay at Andra, Michael, Cheryl and Cayla's house (sister, brother-in-law and nieces) for a few nights. Conner had a blast having his "friends" around all the time. They played with Barbies, American Girl Dolls and Legos. Conner added a little Lightning McQueen to the mix but honestly he didn't care. He was so excited to play with his older cousins and they gave him so much attention, he would have played with anything. He completely ignored David and me most of the time we were there! We were in Austin for a few nights of Chanukah so Andra and Michael hosted a party for the whole family. Conner and Brennan got to spend some time with their grandparents and other Aunt and Uncles and cousin too. We got to go to a few places that we like in Austin too. I loved all the special time we got to spend with Andra and the girls (while Michael worked!). We went to the mall and ran around town together. Wish we lived a little closer. I also got to see my cousins Bruce and Jenny. Conner loved them too (I don't think he met anyone he didn't like on this trip!) and Bruce became a buddy pretty quickly.

We headed home on Christmas Day and took a few days to get home. We stopped at my brother's again and Conner got to play the drums one last time before the final trip home. Not sure when our next road trip will be but these two last ones of 2011 were pretty successful. The kids were great, we saw lots of family and friends, and we had a safe drive and fun excursions. I only wish we could have seen some more friends along the way.