Visiting Family Out East

It's been awhile since I've posted. I'm finally starting to feel more normal. It took until 18 weeks with this baby, which is a bit longer than with the others.

Over Spring Break, our family took a road trip out East. We logged 1900 miles on the van in just a week. We were amazed at how well the boys traveled. They had good attitudes even though we spent two 12-hour days in the car. They also adapted well when they didn't get nap time and went to bed late.

On Thursday night, we drove from Grand Rapids to Auburn Hills to pick up Elbert's mom. We left bright and early Friday morning and drove all the way to Potomac, MD. We stayed the night with Elbert's Uncle Herbert and Aunt Flora.

On Saturday, we went to the nursing home to introduce Elbert's grandpa to the boys. His grandma had met the boys last summer, but his grandpa had never met them. Although he can't speak English, we knew he was excited to see the kids. He had a huge smile on his face when the boys came up to give him a hug.


We also visited Elbert's grandma at her apartment. It was fun for me to see some pictures she had of Elbert's mom when she was in elementary, middle and high school.


While in Potomac, we stayed with Uncle Herbert and Aunt Flora. Elbert's cousin, Jessica, came home from college to see us. His cousin Aric joined us for lunch one day.


On Easter, we took a drive from Williamsburg (where we were staying with friends) to Virginia Beach to visit my Aunt Mary, cousins Alyssa and Zach and my grandma. Zach had hid Easter eggs around the front yard for the boys to find. They loved hunting and finding them. They also enjoyed the Easter baskets that Aunt Mary and family had made for them. It had been awhile since we had seen Aunt Mary, so it was fun to catch up.


Andrew and Nathan were in awe when they found out that Alyssa was in the army. The first question that they asked was if she had her gun. Andrew sat next to Alyssa during dinner and peppered her with questions about boot camp and life in the army. She was a great sport and taught us many things. It was fun to hear about her adventures jumping out of airplanes.

Zach taught us about CERT. He and his mom are neighborhood first-responders. It was interesting to hear their stories about training.


It had been 2 years since the boys had seen their Great-grandma. They loved giving her hugs.