Road Trip 2013- Onto NY & MI

After visiting with my Aunt in New Hampshire, we headed to Michigan to visit with her daughter and her family.  I was very excited cause I hadn’t seen my cousin in 18 months.  In that time we’d each had a baby and they moved to Michigan.  We had a lot of catching up to do.

We left New Hampshire later than we planned as my mom let me sleep in because she knew I was tired.  We finally got on the road and drove through New Hampshire, Vermont and most of New York in one day.  We probably could have driven further but didn’t want a super long day in the car with Munchkin.  So we spend the night in West Seneca, NY.  The next day went well in the car and we were super happy to arrive in Michigan (a new state for me, YAY!)

We planned to stay for two days so we could visit and relax.  The first day we stayed home and relaxed.  Though with 7 kids running around, I’m not sure relaxing is the right word!  It was great to love on the kids and catch up with each other.  Munchkin’s cousins were so excited to meet her!  They had a great time playing together.  Munchkin loved all the attention and the new to her toys!  We tried to get a photo of all the kids together and you can see how well that turned out!  All the kids but my own were smiling.  Munchkin was done by that point and was not a happy camper`

In addition to spending time with family, I was also able to meet up with some friends.  My first friend, Kim,  was my team leader during my year in China in 2002-2003.  I had last seen her in Chicago in 2006 when several of us got together.  Kim is home for a  year from China and lives about an hour from my cousin so she drove down.  We went out for lunch and it was great to catch up.  It had been 7 years since I had seen her but it didn’t feel like it.  We were able to talk, share and laugh.  It was wonderful to see her!

 

My second friend is a bloggy friend who I had not yet met.  Cat of Cartwheels & Windmills and her daughter Cora drove two hours to meet us and hang out.  We just stayed at my cousin’s house (who notices one more kid when there are already 7?) and talked.  It felt like we've known each other for years.  We figured it out and we have known each other online for 3-4 years so yeah, I guess we have known each other for years!  It was nice to finally meet in person.  It’s too bad we don’t live closer together otherwise we could hang out more!

It was a great two days.  While I was sad to leave as I have no idea when we’ll see our family again, I was also excited to get to our next destination…The Mall of America!