Visiting We Go

So we finally made the trip to Illinois to go see family.We spent close to 24 hours in the car, with a baby that really still does not like to ride in a car. On a fun note we rented a car and when we picked it only had 5 miles on it. Hehehe! By the time we returned it 4 days later there was close to 1500 miles on it.
We stopped Friday in Kankakee to visit with some friends of Vance's that he hadn't seen in years. It was really nice for me to finally be able to meet Dean and Monica, absolutely wonderful people! Dean's son Larry and Larry's wife Kelly were there too which made the day even better. Like a bunch of dummy's we left the camera in the car and didn't think to take a single picture. We were having such a good visit we just forgot. Oh well. Kelly took a bunch, I'm sure I can bum some off of her.

I finally got to meet my nephew Aidan. What a doll. I have trouble coming up with adjectives for him that don't include pretty. But he really is a pretty little boy. Shy too. He let me hold him, but was a little unsure. Blake had no such reserves about his Aunt Jamie. He was like, looks almost like my mama, sounds about like mama, okay I'll be your kid for the day.



Great Grandma and Great Grandpa also got to meet Blake for the first time. That alone made the whole trip worth it.


I love this one. Obviously something was very funny!


Such a ham, Blake warmed right up to Great Grandma.

Actually he was just buttering her up so she'd let him user her walker. He knew it would go and was pretty determine to make it go. He kept grabbing onto it and shaking it. So finally I let him take it for a spin. He was very focused, and determined, and he could really make it scoot.


Blake and his Great Grandpa! I sure love to see them together.


Saturday night Mimi hosted a party. We had a lot to celebrate between Jamie's Birthday and it also being Father's Day weekend.


This was hysterical. Three wound up little boys trying to pose for a picture. Hunter could barely contain himself. I think this was after Blake bonked Aiden on the head with a plastic hammer. Poor Aiden. He'd just started to warm up to Blake too.


Amazingly they are all sitting still. I never realized how much they look alike until they were all together. I can definitely tell they are cousins.


Hunter LOVED Blake. He brought Blake toys, he wanted to hug him, and when we sat down for pictures he just couldn't resist giving Blake a big old kiss. I'd have thought Blake would have been a little overwhelmed by all the attention, but he just reveled in it.


We had so much fun! Blake did not want to see his cousins go home. He watched them pull out of the drive way and when we came back in to Mi and Pa's house he kept looking around for the boys. I was pretty proud of my little guy for doing so good considering it was the first time he'd really played with kids his age.


Blake also got to visit his Great Granny and Great Gramps.






Blake was desperately short on sleep and missing several naps. So we pulled out all the stops to keep him happy. A bucket of water for my little water bug always does the trick.



Aunt Kelly surprised us and stopped by while we were there. Blake loves to have raspberries blown on his palm, always makes him laugh and laugh.


Blake and Dad, I sure love my boys!


I could go on and on about how much fun we had. We didn't have nearly enough time to visit. I wish we could have stayed longer and seen even more friends and family. Seems like visits always go way too fast. Made me wish we lived closer.