Grandpa Al's 92nd Birthday

We made a trip down to the Rio Grande Valley to see my Grandpa Al on his 92nd Birthday. We knew that the drive would be really long for the kids so we decided to add a day to spread out those long car rides. Mom picked me and the kids up on Thursday morning and we headed off to the Valley. Dad and Jeremy came the next day. We picked Wendy up in San Antonio and she rode with us the rest of the way. So we left our house at about 8:30 Thursday morning and got to my grandpa's house about 7:45 that night. A VERY long day.

Friday we stayed at the hotel all morning the then went to Target to get a few things we forgot. Of course, I forgot a few things in my hurry to get all our stuff and the kids in the car. Then we hung out at Grandpa's house for a while and went swimming that evening at the hotel.

Saturday we had Grandpa's Birthday party at my Uncle Herman and Aunt Edna's house. The kids loved playing with their older cousins on the Wii and playing outside (even thought it was about 99 degrees outside - I stayed in with Brenna).

We headed back Sunday morning about 8:45 and got home about 7:30 that evening, another long day. We did get to see my cousin, Leta, and her hubby, Kevin, and their daughter, Emily, in San Antonio. They were nice enough to let us eat lunch at their house and relax a little bit before heading on. Emily is only 4 days older then Gracie and they always have fun playing together.

I have to say, for the kids being 4 years, 2 years and 4 months old, they did pretty well. We did have to stop every couple of hours to let them stretch thier legs which added a few hours to the trip. But, that was kind of nice for me, too. I'm not a huge fan of sitting in one place for a long time.

Thanks again for the duel screen DVD player! That was a life saver for the older kiddos!! I'm not sure how many movies they watched, but I didn't care as long as they were entertained! I don't think it was ever turned off for very long!

I did get some pictures of our adventure that I want to share.

Leaving San Antonio. At this point I'm thinking "what have I gotten myself into?"

Mom, trapped in the back with Brenna!

We moved things around. Wendy and Gracie in the back, Caden and Brenna in the middle, me and mom in the front.

At Uncle Herman and Aunt Edna's house. He loved the stairs, of course.

My cousin Nick and Brenna.

Me and Aunt Edna

Playing Wii with the big kids

The birthday boy with his favorite - German chocolate cake!

Make a wish!

Me and Jeremy

My cousins Olivia and David

Wendy and cousin Issac, AKA muscle man.

Dad and Grandpa Al

Aunt Malinda and cousin Chris

Brenna and Uncle Herman. Looks like they are both thinking "who are you?"

Grandpa Al and most of his grandkids and his great-grandkids. We missed Christy. She wasn't able to make it down there.

4 generations

Grandpa likes babies

They slept on the pull-out couch bed. Notice who had all the covers? That was a battle every night.

We took Brenna's crib mattress so it would feel more like home. I'm SO glad we did because she slept great! I think it was worth the hassel of hauling it down there.

Overall it was a good trip. Very hard at times, but it was great to see my mom's side of the family!