Ohio

The day school was out, the boys and I packed up & headed out to Ohio for Jason's sister, Keli's wedding and to visit family. Unfortunately, Jason's shift changed the week we planned the trip, so he was not able to go. That means me... by myself... with both boys... for 6-days...
It was wonderful to see everyone and to be a part of Keli & Sean's beautiful wedding.

Traveling with both boys by myself really was as difficult as it sounds though. The boys did great on the plane, but Owen screamed from the time we arrived and really didn't stop. He had moments of calm, but he really is a boy who likes his home & his routine.

I took hundreds of pictures, but here are a few of my favorites that sum up the trip:

During the rehersal dinner, a tornado came through. The power went off and we had to run into the bahtroom & hide under the sinks! Luckily, I had my laptop, so I threw "Finding Nemo" on so the kids wouldn't be scared. It worked perfectly- they just though we were going in the bathroom to watch the movie!

Me with Serena (friend from Germany) and Rochelle (Jason's middle sister) Keli with handsome James.

Poor Owen was so hot & unhappy! There was no air conditioning in the church and it was in the upper 90's with high humidity. Oh yeah, did I mention it was a full Catholic mass??? Poor baby was so hot!
Finally at the reception, we stripped Owen's shirts off and he was much happier! He loved dancing with Keli & the other girls!

Keli was a beautiful bride! Callie (Brian's daughter) and Allie (Jen's daughter) loved sitting with her.
The head table & kid table were so pretty with all the candlelight!

Meleani and Ari are friends from Brazil. They LOVED spending time with the boys. Ari doesn't speak much Engligh, but that didn't stop James from chatting her ear off for hours on end. He had no idea she couldn't understand most of what he was saying to her!Grandpa Kevin gives James a squeeze!Owen LOVED the cake! He had several pieces....Caught in a rare moment of happiness....
James with Cindy's mom and Great-Grandma Evelyn at the rehersal.James was so proud that he gained the courage to get all the way to the bottom steop of Grandpa Kecin's pool! It took him a long time, but he did it!
Owen loved driving Grandpa Kevin's boat!
A fun boat ride (notice the dark clouds in the sky... scary!).

We drove to Defiance to visit Grandpa Curt and the whole Behlke family one afternoon. We bar-b-qued and visited for quite a while. We were sad the weather was so bad, I really wanted to take the boys out to the Behlke's ranch to show them where their daddy grew up.

Great-Grandpa Rodell showing Owen the pond.

It is so green & beautiful in Ohio. Every lawn looks like this. I can't imagine the time they must spend mowing all this grass!!

Tickle-Time!
Curt & Shirley brought a cake for the boys. They were thrilled!
On the way home, our plane was delayed for over 2 hours. Entertaining these two in Detroit Airport for two extra hours (we were already there 2 hours early...) made for a very interesting evening....

We climbed, pushed the strolled loaded with all our junk around, ran, and made pretend calls to everyone we know... James kept saying, "Mom, they said I need to insert a coin!!!"

Finally on the plane and time for a snack!

Very soon after take-off, the boys were snoozing soundly. I thought it was adorable how Owen leaned over to fall asleep on his brother's lap!