The week after Madeline’s birthday we took a trip to Ohio with Andre’s parents and his sister. This trip marked Madeline’s first trip on a big metal bird. She did very well. On the trip up, our flight was basically at naptime and food time. So, we gave her a bottle on take off and she was out not too long after we left the grown. She woke up a little due to cabin pressure, but quickly went back to sleep. As we made our approach in Ohio she awoke with a cry, so Jennifer held her as we came down and she looked out the window and watched the clouds.
Coming back was a slightly different story. The flight home was prior to naptime and just after a bottle. We also didn’t have the benefit of a delay to wear her out in the airport. So, she basically wanted to bounce the entire time. We kept her entertained with magazine pages (poor Sky Mall), food and funny faces. But she just wanted to climb on us. It wasn’t as peaceful as the trip up, but she proved once again how mellow her personality can be.
Our main purpose was to visit Andre’s grandfather and extended family. It had been years and years since Andre’ had seen this part of his family and it was great to have the opportunity to share Madeline with them. They’ve been following her life since this blog started (maybe before, but that’s when we became of aware of them following her).
We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast. Our particular suite was called Eagle’s Nest and had a downstairs living area and an upstairs bed and bath. The parents and Heather had their own themed suites as well. It was located in the middle of corn and soybean fields which created a nice relaxing environment.
While in Ohio, we did some sight seeing. One highlight was our visit to Lake Erie and the islands off of the coast. We saw these huge lily pads while driving near the bay. We also visited a President Harding memorial in Marion, which has been named one of the most beautiful presidential memorials outside of D.C. It was under construction so we couldn’t get near it, but it was quite pretty from afar. Oh and it’s made of Georgia marble.
In downtown Marion, it was quite common to see these large stars on the sides and fronts of the historic houses. We found out that these stars represent family who fought for the Union in the Civil War. If the star is gold, it indicates that the family member gave his life.
Our last night there we spent the night at a hotel in Columbus near the airport. We decided to go check out The Ohio State University. It was a beautiful campus – too bad the people who go there are a bunch of nuts! 🙂
We had a wonderful time in Ohio. The fields are gorgeous, the small towns comforting and the breeze off the lake soothing. And our family up there is very nice and loving. We enjoyed meeting all of you and hope we cross paths again sooner rather than later.
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| Going to the Airport |
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| Waiting for Her Plane |
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| We’re in Ohio – Corn! |
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| Relaxing at the B&B |
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| With Grandma Pearl |
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| Great Grandpa and Grandpa-pa-pa |
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| Everyone Seems to Have at Least One Toy |
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| Great Grandpa and Grandma |
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| Heather and Her Grandfather |
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| Meeting New Family is Tiring |
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| First White Castle (for Mommy and Madeline) |
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| Uncle Gene and Aunt Gayla (Grandma’s Sister) |
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| Aunt Debbie (Grandma’s Sister), Melissa (Grandma’s Sister-in-Law), Uncle Jerry (Grandma’s Brother) and Megan (daughter of one of Grandma’s brothers) |
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| “Uncle Jerry Thought He was Going to Convince Me to Come See Him” |
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| With Phyllis (Grandma Pearl’s Sister) |
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| Jim (Grandma Pearl’s Brother-in-Law) Trying to Get Madeline to Come See Him Using Munchie Mix |
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| Getting Closer |
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| And He Got Her |
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| Grandpa Decided to Use Munchie Mix Too |
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| Listening to Music |
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| “Nice Pony – You’re on My Team, Right?” |
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| “I Want to Move This One” |
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| It’s Windy at Lake Erie |
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| Watching the Waves |
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| Heading to the Family BBQ |
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| Getting Over Her Fear of Grass |
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| Great Grandpa with Madeline |
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| Then She Figured Out We Tricked Her |
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| In Columbus for the Evening |
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| Pretty Flowers from Our Waiter |
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| This Girl Loves Ice Cream |
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| “MMMMMM More!” |
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| Ready to Go Home |
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| Watching Her Plane Come In |
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| Secure and Ready for Take Off |
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| Videos |
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| Year Two |
| From July 30 – August 3 |
