Family Road Trip Part I ~ TN

This year for our annual vacation to NY to see Donna's family we decided to do something a little different. I have been dying to go see my aunt & my uncle that live in TN, they had both bought new houses (they are siblings not husband & wife, just in case you were wondering) & we hadn't been since my uncle passed away almost 2 years ago now. The drive to NY is a 2 day drive, while TN isn't necessarily on the way it was a one day drive & the drive from there to NY was a looong... one day drive, so we thought we'd kill 2 birds with one stone & go both places over the course of 2 weeks.

Garren playing at McDonalds

We started out at 5 am on a Saturday morning, we woke the boys who normally sleep until 7:30 or 8 at 4:30, changed their diapers, dressed them, put them in the van with a cup of fruit loops & hit the road. They did fantastic! I think is was the fruit loops, lol... They ate 2 cups & had a cup of milk, watched a video & snoozed for a while. About 9 am we stopped for an official breakfast & to let the boys play a bit... McDonalds it was! The boys had a blast playing while Donna & took turns using the restroom & got fresh drinks for the road. At this point I think the boys ate granola bars & some fruit, maybe a squeeze pack of breakfast cereal? Garren & Caden too another short nap & we arrived at my aunts at 1 pm, before Kellan got a nap. All 3 boys could have really used a real nap upon arrival but they were too interested in where we were & my aunts boys, to be still long enough to nap so we went grocery shopping with my aunt & then hung out at her house & had dinner. The boys were deliriously tired & cranky to boot so we finally got their beds set up & got them down about 7pm. Donna laid in the  room with them until they settled down... Well, they all fell asleep including Donna & I didn't hear from any of them until morning :)

Kellan & Mom-Mom hanging out upstairs

Sunday my aunt had a cook-out at her place with my uncle & his family & all of us. My aunts house is way more space than the boys are use to & they just couldn't stay in any one place for long. She has a huge back yard but they ran in & out over & over again. Their was a loft upstairs with games, toys & a tv but the stairs were just too fun to not go up & down & give us all heart attacks! They just couldn't stop moving or focus on any one thing so they kept us on our toes until we finally threw a gate up blocking them upstairs. They were not happy about that & of course one of us needed to be with them too, so our visiting was a bit limited. 

Our cousins Braelyn & Blakely

Monday we attempted to do a little shopping but the boys again just weren't having it. So we fed them lunch & headed back to my aunts to put them down for what would hopefully be a nice long nap. My aunt offered to watch them if we wanted to go finish the shopping we had wanted to do, so we took her up on it & ran to Target & Toys R Us. The boys woke up & we got back just in time to change everyone & head to my uncles for dinner.

Garren playing air hockey

I loved seeing everyone & especially loved watching the boys play with their cousins. Garren really enjoyed playing air hockey at my aunts & was pretty good for a 2 year old who had never even seen an air hockey table before. Kellan enjoyed climbing up & down onto the trampoline & zipping it open & closed over & over again with the occasional jump here & there. Caden played bashful for quite a while & engrossed himself in his trains but also enjoyed running in my aunts HUGE backyard.