Tuesday, July 8, 2008

We're Back!

We are officially back from our last trip of the 2008 summer. We headed north to New Albany, Ohio to Kit's sister, Sydnee's house. The drive was absolutely beautiful! We made our way up through Tennessee then Kentucky into Ohio. Whew, what beautiful rolling hills. I haven't been through that horse country since we moved away when I was 11 years old. I loved it! The drive wasn't as bad as it could have been-we made it in 15 hours. I kept busy, however, with repeating the few lines of "Black Water Hattie" I remembered from my dad's telling, playing the "Animal Game", the "Letter Game" and sticking my rear up in the air as I retrieved fallen paraphernalia.

We celebrated Ellee's baptism with the Edman family then headed to Lafayette, Indiana to spend time with Kit's sister, Ashlee, her husband-Greg, their darling little boy-Michael and Kit's parents. We were able to take it easy there and the boys loved playing with their new little boy cousin. It was the first time we have seen him since he was born last October. He is so adorable! I just couldn't kiss his little round cheeks enough! We went to an enormous dairy farm, Fair Oaks Farms. We had an absolute blast!!! It brought me back to beautiful Logan, Utah and the times I went with my dad on his dairy rounds. We were able to taste delectable cheeses and ice cream, tour the facilities and watch the birth of a calf! My boys were mesmerized...yes, baby Gunner was born kind of like that, but without the pulls...by far that was the high-light of the outing for my boys!


Gavin navigating a tractor obstacle course at Fair Oaks Farm


Gunner enjoying a taste (gulp more like) of my ice cream cone

My sweet brother-in-law is the assistant golf coach at Purdue University so we were able to go practice putting and distance hitting (sorry, I still can't remember the correct term). We all cringed with each swing of the club if it was it was in the hands of 2 particular little boys. I think we were just waiting for the conking sound of it bouncing off of the other's head. We got lucky with no injuries in that endeavor. I truly appreciated the hospitality the Robertsons gave us. Having your beautiful, quiet house invaded by a troop can't be easy, but they made it look painless and made us feel so welcome!


My little pro-hahaAshlee and Baby Michael (isn't he squeezable!)Isn't he cute!

We headed back to New Albany to spend more time with Sydnee, Dale, Parker and Ellee. My boys loved the extra playmates (as did I) and spent many hours battling in pillow fights, acting out adventures, reading books and watching movies together. We went to Wall-E, the Columbus Zoo, the New Albany Pool, the botanical conservatory and simply enjoyed spending time together. The zoo was amazing! We got to see everything from a komodo dragon to a koala bear. It was so fun! Another highlight was the pool. I have never been to a more fabulous city pool! The kiddie pool was a park in water with slides, enormous water guns and more! My boys had a blast playing with their cousins and their daddy in the water. We went to the botanical conservatory later that evening and were able to admire butterflies as they flittered around us and the breathtaking work of Dale Chihuly. The Fourth of July was spent together relaxing and gorging ourselves on delicious food. Hmmm, it truly was a well-spent vacation. My sister-in-laws were wonderful hostesses and really put me at ease (which is saying something these days). Thank you for a wonderful summer break!!

Wonder which is the monkey?

Parker, Ellee and Jos enjoying the viewChihuly-absolutely breathtaking

14 comments:

Andrea said...

I'm so glad that you had an AWESOME time. It sounds like so much fun! However, I am VERY HAPPY to see you back. I have been going through withdrawals, as I love your blog. I almost commented again on your previous post saying: "Liberty were are you and when are you coming back?" LOL...
But I am glad that ya'll had a great time. I loved hearing about all your adventures (and how it brought back memories of you with your dad--very sweet).

Grammy said...

Liberty, I loved reading your blog! My heart swelled and my throat got tight as I read it and the memories are so fresh. I'm so glad you had a good time. We miss you all so much already! My arms ache to hold Gunner and kiss all my little redheads! The most precious time for Dad and I are when we are all togehter. I love you!

Ann said...

I am so glad you are home! I enjoy seeing your smiling face and your precious red-heads at church. I won't get to see you as often after this month, but we will keep in touch.

Ann B

Ashlee said...

Lib, we had a blast! Thanks so much for coming! I love your family. Those little boys are the cutest! I just love listening to them talk. Their little minds are going all of time.

You should really check into getting Jos and Gav into hockey lessons. It looks like they have a much more natural hockey swing, then golf swing! ;) It reminded me of Happy Gilmore - minus the profanity! ;)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your wonderful post! I too have been going through withdrawls w/o them!!
It sounds as if you had a wonderful time and I am so happy to hear that you were able to have fun and relax. What wonderful memories you have helped create for your sweet little boys. They will love those times you spent w/ your family forever. I love you and miss you horribly.

Anonymous said...

PS...I WILL be looking back for those pics!! ;) (not to stress you out, or anything)

Mamapierce said...

Ohio is SUCH a beautiful place! I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Aside from missing family - we love living here. Such cute pictures! I love the one of you & Gunner - so adorable!

Haylee Munk Brown said...

Wow! Looks like you had a great time! Welcome back!

Coty said...

gosh that chihuly er whatevera IS amazing...
I'm so glad you enjoyed yourself.
You seriously are my hero for being so optimistic while dragging three boys everywhere...I esteem you on the highest level ;)

Jules said...

Looks like a very fun trip! It's always fun to see family and make great memories together. Your kids are cute:)

Jenny said...

I'm totally jealous! You've made me want to get out and explore Salt Lake more in hopes of finding such fun things to do. You look nice and tan! Glad to have you back in the blogging world

Sandy said...

Great post. I am glad you are back because I love to read your blog.

Maria said...

I love all the pics - especially the one of you and Gunner! Beautiful pouch!

whitney said...

I don't know how I missed this post!?! So glad I found it! I loved all the pics of your boys-that one w/Jos and the monkey was so Jos-like ;). You're looking so cute in the bottom one w/you and Gunner. Sounds like you had loads of fun and glad all the traveling wasn't too rough on you.