Family reunion 2013

Pretty much everyone who reads this is also my fb friend so I won't post many pics, just a few stories.

So we headed down to Mammoth Cave Kentucky on Friday to get together with most of mom's (7) siblings and several of their kids and their kids.  Ken decided he didn't want to stay in the park with everyone else (small room with 2 beds and 4 kids didn't sound that much fun) so he got us a suite in the Marriott in Bowling Green about 30 minutes away.  It's a good thing too because Leo would have woken everyone up if we weren't able to keep him separate.  Who knew HE was gonna be the difficult one on the trip?  I guess I should've had some suspicions.  I asked for 2 cribs and we had a bed in one room and a pull out couch in the other.  We put Sarah to bed in one of the pack n plays in the bedroom, then when she was asleep we put John Paul in the bed and instructed him to BE QUIET and if Sarah woke up he was in BIG TROUBLE.  (He did fabulous both nights with this set up - we totally wore him out!)  THEN..... we tried to put Leo in the pack n play in the little kitchenette where he could see us.  Wow that was not happening.  He freaked out so much he almost made himself throw up.  He was, for some reason, genuinely terrified to sleep in there.  Then we pulled the couch into a bed and tried to get him to lay down.  He would not. stop. talking.  I have never heard anything like it.  The kid who takes a 2 hour nap and is asleep by 8 every night wouldn't go to sleep both nights until after 11:30 when he crashed.  He was pretty cute with his talking though.
"Piwwow!  Right DERE."  "Hi Mommy!"  "Nice Mommy."  "Hi Daddy!"  "BIG bed!"  etc etc etc

And here's how he slept. With me.

His feet are on my pillow.  

Madeleine was in heaven.  She got to stay with Grandma and Papa and she caught frogs, caterpillars, inch worms and bugs to her heart's content.  We saw deer, wild turkeys, and all kinds of birds.  We went on trails, in a cave, saw waterfalls, played frisbee and catch with lots of cousins, and had a great picnic.  These are some of my favorite memories growing up and I hope the kids have that too.

2 pairs of little boy underwear got thrown in the dumpster.  

They had a great time taking a bath in a hotel.  

We went on an awesome hike on Sunday with Uncle B and Aunt F, and we couldn't have done it without them for sure :)

Leo kept saying, "Want Bob!  Shoulders!"  And he loved it up there.

And on the way home we stopped at this beautiful little church in Louisville just in time for 5:15 mass.  Leo was a hellion as usual and at one point ran out in the aisle and started running toward the altar.  Ken had taken John Paul to the bathroom and I had Sarah in the sling so I had to get out and chase him.  There were two sweet older ladies behind us who kept smiling at their antics, and at the end of mass they said they love seeing families like us, and we are so blessed.  That is for sure.