Road Trip 2013 (Iowa part 1)

Recently we took a road trip to Iowa to visit family.  We had a great time and did not tire (too much) of the car--which was such a blessing!

 

We started the trip just G and I for the first week, and then David flew up to meet us in Iowa. I think Gavin and I were equally excited and relieved to all be together again. The whole shebang is full of lots of great memories and pictures too!

 

Over the span of 2 weeks we stayed with both sets of Gavin's grandparents and my grandparents too!  We were in a different place basically every other night and drove lots of miles in between.  But, with the help of a cooler of milk (for G), a couple bags of pretzels (also for G) and many stops at Starbucks (for me) we made the trip in one piece!

Our first stop was in Oklahoma to stay with Gran, Grandad, and Anna.  We spent the evening with Great Grandma and Grandpa Smith and G had lots of fun playing with Smith cousins.  We had a super yummy Lebanese meal that evening and Gavin ate every bite of his eggplant and tomatoes dish.  I thought it was so good too.  When I told David about it, his eyes twinkled from his familiarity of how good that dish is!

The next evening we made our way to Tulsa to meet up with my parents for the road trip to Iowa.

 

Gavin lucked out and got to open his birthday gifts from my mom and dad a week early.  He received balls and play food that is so adorable. (I have a slight obsession with how cute play food is!)  He was super excited to see a 'peach' and 'ap-ppple' in the set!

 

  Sis and her kiddos met us all in Tulsa and we spent the day at the park and a splash pad.

The next day we drove to Kansas City and stopped for dinner at an Italian restaurant where G enjoyed a delicious spaghetti dinner.  Watching him eat pasta is one of my most favorite things.  This stop also marked the beginning of G's next bad habit to break...throwing toys... this time it was a napkin that made it all the way down the table.

After dinner we stopped for the night and played a game of "na-min-os".

Also known as, opportunity #2 to throw things. Followed by (hands in the air) jubilation.  I think he has watched too much football in his life.

After the stop in Kansas City we made our way to Iowa.  Little dude was getting lots of fun time with Grandma and Grandpa.

We stopped and enjoyed a nice lunch.  He was showing off knowing his body parts -- this is what he did when I asked him where his cheeks were!  LOVE!  Notice he is sitting by Jackson "baby".  Every place we went to, this was G's request.  He loves 'baby' so much!

Later we stopped for a short break that included a diaper change that resulted in a loss of his pants.  Yes, we did get some funny looks... Note to self, always keep a change of clothes in the diaper bag--even when traveling!  Don't worry, he was only pant-less from the bathroom to the car.  But, all these buttons on the way back to the car were too exciting to ignore.

At this point we arrived in Iowa to visit the Fer side of the family.  A following post will have those pics.

A few days later we stopped at the airport to pick up Daddy.

Cousins all rode in the same van for this leg of the trip!

On our way to the airport we had happy meals at McDonald's.

It'd been 7 days since G had seen Daddy so the excitement was huge!  Gavin has a dorky finger dance he does when he is excited... I may have taught it to him.  Think Steve Urkel and you'll know the dance. ; )

Next up, we spent time with the Gent side of the family.  Pictures of that visit to come in an upcoming post!

After all the fun with family in Iowa, we were back on the road heading towards Oklahoma.

When Pops wasn't driving he was playing with G in the back seat.

I'm grateful for his doodle board and all the hours of fun he soaked up on it.

Same with the cookie sheet and magnets!

After a night of rest at my parents we returned to Gran and Grandad's  for our final installment of the trip.  While at D's parents' little man turned 2!!!  Ahhh!

We had lunch at Panera and to G's great fortune, he got to eat his (favorite) "Wow!" sugar cookie as a treat!

He was a little embarrassed by all the singing though ; )

But loved his stickers, stacking cups and new color sorting/pattern making set!

And of course his own birthday cupcake!!

It was super special that we got to celebrate his birthday with both of our families again this year.

Later that day we finished the last leg of the trip with just the 3 of us on our way back to Texas.

In total, our road trip up to Iowa, around Iowa and back down to Oklahoma and finally Texas was done in 10 parts over 13 days. It was a good to visit family we rarely get to spend time with, and even still wish we'd had more time to spend with.  We look forward to our next chance to be with them all again : )

Oh, and not only does he now call me mommy and 'an do wah' now.  He also has a new name for himself.  It's Double G, as in "dub a G".  Literally.  Completely audible and we have no idea where he got it from.  Try him out... he will call himself Double G.  It's nuts, and sooooo crazy funny to me at the same time.