Our First Solo Road Trip.......oh, my!

Well, it's official. Will and I successfully made our first road trip together. The funny thing is this was my first long road trip to make totally by myself as well. I know- I am 26, and that just sounds crazy that I've never driven longer than 2 hours on my own, but it is true! Why I decided to try it out with a 7 month old I'm not sure. I think it was pretty successful. I didn't get lost, and we both made it there and back in one piece. Will traveled like a rock star both ways until about the last hour. I will try and block those couple of hours from my memory forever:). Let's just say, we won't be doing that again for a LONG time!


However, the trip was TOTALLY worth it! We went to Lincoln, NE to see my mom's side of the family. My aunt and uncle, grandparents, and cousins all live there. Joe, Mandi, and their little boy Gabe will soon be moving to Florida, so this was one of the last times we would see them for a while. Also, my cousin Katie and her husband Ren came into town from KC, where they are both attending medical school. Will hadn't met any of them yet, so it was really important to me that everyone got to meet my little bundle of joy! Justin wasn't able to get off work, and I knew once school started back up, life would be completely crazy. Hence the fact that we made the trip by ourselves.

Mandi's son, Gabe and Will "playing" for the first time. I LOVE Gabe's face here! He wasn't too happy with Will taking his toys, but by the end of the weekend, Gabe was giving Will all kinds of love.

Will got to meet his Great Grandma for the first time. He was so sweet and calmly hung out on her lap.

I have always been so grateful for the relationship we have with our cousins. We can go so long without seeing each other, and when we get together, it feels like we haven't missed a beat. Mandi (middle of the pic) and I are the middle siblings, and we are both teachers and have little boys. Del and Katie are both the oldest siblings, are in medical school, and feel strongly about medical missions. We have always joked about how similar our life paths and goals have been!

Gabe is SO busy, and this picture captures that. He is pushing Will and Grandma around the room. Too cute!

Grandma and her two Great Grandsons

Will meeting Grandpa for the first time. Will LOVES getting noses, and Grandpa's was no exception to this. Grandpa suffered a stroke last summer, and has had some very serious complications from it. I'm so glad Will was able to meet and hang out with his Great Grandpa.

Saturday night we headed over to Omaha to celebrate Joe's birthday with my Aunt Mary's side of the family. Aunt Mary is one of 14 siblings, which means they have a lot of family! Now, I have a total of 8 cousins on both sides of my family, so I was shocked when an impromptu birthday party with family consisted of 30 people. It was great, though! They sure do know how to have a good time. We stayed up WAY too late, and around 1 am we had a fabulous dance party. I LOVE to dance for fun. I am not good, as most of my moves look like modified cheer moves, but if the music is pumping, I will be dancing. I think we, being my two cousins and one of theirs, danced a good hour and a half.

Here Katie and I are learning the "Hoe Down, Throw Down" dance. It only took us listening to that dumb song about 20 times to get it semi down. Ha. We were told by our teacher, Sam, that we didn't pick it up very quickly. Katie is obviously not doing the right move here. Ha!

We went swimming before the night got started. Will LOVED it and looked SO, SO sweet in his outfit!

After our great weekend trip to see family, it was time to head home. Will was posed and ready in his car seat for our long drive home. This is how Will rides in his car seat most of the time. He is totally relaxed and chilled!

Will was SO excited every time we took a break during the trip home. He may have been crying previously, but he was all smiles when I went in the back to talk and play with him on breaks. I could just eat that little face up. I love that I can tell Will is smiling by only looking at his eyes; they just light up. My in-laws always say Will smiles all over his face. I can't help but agree. Oh, how grateful I am that the Lord has entrusted this little guy into our care.