Jim and I decided to make the trip over to Muskegon for Thanksgiving this year. I was quite nervous, as this would be our first car ride with the babies that would last longer than 20-30 minutes. The drive normally takes about 2.5-3 hours, so I was nervous about how long it would take to get there with two babies that may or may not sleep during the trip.
But to my surprise, the drive went off without a hitch. I got the babies up when they first started fussing, around 5:30, fed them and got them all bundled up in their car seats hoping they would fall right back to sleep. After loading up the last minute stuff in the Jeep (OMG- travelling with two babies and all their stuff is quite amazing), we were off to pick up Jim at work. We decided it was best to pick him up from work (since he worked the overnight shift of 11pm-7am) since it would save him from driving 45 minutes back home, just to turn around and drive 45 minutes back in that direction later.
When I got to the hospital, Jim was almost ready to go. But not quite yet, so to give him more time to get ready (showered and changed), I decided to drive around Brighton a little bit to help prevent the babies from waking up (it's awesome how well they sleep in the car right now). Well, within the first 3 minutes of my drive on Grand River, I was stopped by a Police Officer. HA! I wasn't actually pulled over, but as I was turning around in a shopping complex, the officer noticed and pulled in behind me. Oh man, I was nervous (weird I know, since I am a LEO myself...but my tabs were expiring at the end of the month and I hadn't replaced the sticker yet! Oops). All the officer wanted (ha!) was to know if I was lost and needed directions (hmmmm...). So I explained that I was picking up Jim and was driving around since I didn't want the babies in the backseat to wake up. She bought it. HAHAHA (j/k).
So after looping back around and waiting for Jim in the parking lot (so not to get stopped by the Police again), we were off within 20 minutes or so. The drive was awesome. Jim napped a little bit in the car and the babies napped ALOT in the car. I snacked on puppy chow (ha - I know it was only 9am, but it was a holiday!) and rocked out to my newly created playlist on my IPOD. So long story short - the trip out there (and back for that matter) was a success!
When we got to Muskegon, we checked in the hotel, unloaded the massive amount of baby stuff we had to bring and fed the babies. And wouldn't you know it, they played a little bit on the bed after eating and then passed out! They certainly have the eat/pass out Thanksgiving thing down already! But when Abby was falling asleep, she did this:
OMG - how precious! Abby grabbed on to Jimmy's hand and held it though part of her nap. Jimmy fell asleep shortly there after too.
Here are a couple more... I just couldn't stop taking pictures of it - it was adorable!
After the babies woke from their naps, we headed on over to Jim's Dad's house for Thanksgiving. It was a great day and so fun introducing the babies to the family they haven't met yet. Abby and Jimmy loved spending time with everyone, so much so that they missed out on most of their naps. Which as I am learning, led to extremely fussy babies. But overall, they were very calm and relaxed and enjoyed all the attention they received.
Spending time with their cousin CJ was probably their favorite part (yes, I know because they told me!). CJ was such a great cousin and would hold them, help change them and bring them toys to play with. He loves his new cousins so much, you can absolutely tell.
So, in true Balow fashion, I busted out the camera to take a ton of pictures. I don't think Jim's family is used to having so many pictures taken of them at one time, but it is something I am sure they are expecting from me! I have to take pictures, it is a horrible habit to take a million of the same shot too (cause really, you never know how it is going to turn out once it is uploaded on the computer!).
Anyway, here are a couple pictures from Thanksgiving day. Please ignore the babies outfits (though their shirts are super cute), I didn't have the motivation to dress them up since they would probably spit up on their outfits within the first few minutes!
Here is Abby hanging out with her cousin CJ (again, ignore the pants):
Grandma holding on to Jimmy (sorry so dark, in the other picture, every one's eyes are closed):
Aunt Jenny cuddling with Abby:
Aunt Lynn, cousin CJ and Jimmy hanging out on the couch:
Since our hosts, Jim's Dad and step mom Carol, were so busy with Thanksgiving preparations, we weren't able to get pictures of them with Abby and Jimmy....on that day! :-) We stopped by on Friday before heading back home to spend some more time with the family. Here are some more pictures!
Grandpa spending time with Jimmy:
Carol hanging out with Abby (the faces on Abby are priceless in these pictures!
Uncle Paul and Kelly hanging out with Abby:
The babies first Thanksgiving was a hit! We had such a great time seeing everyone and the babies did great. We are very much looking forward to the next gathering! Miss you all Frybarger clan!
Hey Frybargers - we Balows are big on pictures - be warned and tolerant - we love pictures and one day you will love them too, hopefully - as they do make for cute blogs and Christmas books, cards etc....
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