O-HI-O

My mom and I decided to take a trip to Dayton Ohio to surprise my little sister for her birthday!! She moved there the end of June last year, and has been feeling a bit homesick this last little while!! So we coordinated it all with her hubby, bought our plane tickets, and then did the waiting game until the big day arrived!!

Her birthday is on July 21, so that is the day we planned to arrive in Dayton. We had a couple days of travel before that actual day however!! So coming from Nampa, I wanted to break up the trip as much as possible!! The first leg of my trip was getting to Shelley. I packed up the kids and headed that way on Sunday 19th. Once there I was able to relax with my family for the rest of the day. Come Monday morning, I dropped the kids off with my in-laws!! They are just recently retired and able to watch my kids for a week, other wise this trip would not have come to pass so THANKS!! Then mom and I drove to SLC where we met up with more family. We ate dinner, played cards, and consequently learned a new phrase....RAM IT!!! We had great fun with that the whole rest of our trip!! We stayed in a hotel this night so we had a "free" place to park the car. Our departure time was a very early 7:15!! We figured we better hop on the hotel shuttle around 5:30. Unfortunately breakfast at our hotel didn't start until 6:00! Oh well, the Salt Lake airport was bound to have something we could nibble on!!

Sure enough!! After checking our bags and an uneventful trip through security we stumbled upon a Burger King! Now this would definitely not be my first choice for a well balanced breakfast, but when your hungry about anything will do.

Then our day truly began! We had a little bit of a wait before it was time to board the first plane of our trip. This plane would take us to DENVER!! I was really excited about this!! Why you may ask - well I am a Denver Broncos fan of course!! My husband has been since he was a little boy. I have only recently been converted however. To be honest, I never really saw the attraction when it came to football!! I know, I know - it IS pretty hard to believe! Anyways, I decided I could be a football widow, or I could join in the fun. I have been a football fan ever since!! Okay, back to the trip....so the 1 1/2 flight to Denver passed without complaint. We were all smiles for the anticipated reunion with daughter and sister. After a little reading, and a few intense games of cards we had finally arrived!

After getting off the plane, I ran a fade route straight to a "Broncos" gift shop!! I went in wanting to find something for my husband, or boys, but left with a cute pair of Broncos yoga pants! Yeah me - oh boy, I am starting to sound more like a cheerleader!!

One last 2 hr flight and we would find ourselves in the great state of Ohio!! My sister's husband graciously picked us up at the airport and taxied us to our home away from home for the next 4 days!! Now as I mentioned before, this was supposed to be a surprise, but a certain 6 yr old nephew of mine couldn't stand the anticipation a second longer!! No problem, at least we kept it a surprise until the actual day of her birthday. It was still a great present for her. We all acquired our mom's "high-water table" so the water works began as soon as we stepped out of the car and into my sister's waiting arms!! What a great day!!

After unloading our belongings from our "taxi" we had a few minutes to rest before we headed out for a "Yee-Ha" birthday dinner. My sister decided Texas Roadhouse was just the place!!

Of course we informed our waiter this was a special occasion. So he rounded up the posse, grabbed the saddle and they clapped their way through the restaurant ending at our table!! Sister dear was asked to climb on the saddle, sport the offical Roadhouse cowboy hat, and accept a vigorous YEE HA from the surrounding tables!! What a trooper!!

The rest of the pics show a few of the fun times we had together!!

Of course we had to get a picture of the 3 of us!! That doesn't happen very often, so a energetic friend of my sister stepped up to the challenge!!

The day after we got there it poured the whole day!! The kids were a little restless because they couldn't run off their pent-up energy outside, so we had a dance party!! I, being the nice person that I am, decided I would miss the fun and take the pictures!!

Those grandkids tuckered their grandma right out!! How many grandma's would get up and dance with her grandkids until near exhaustion?

Now, my sister and I cannot get together without being, well.....WEIRD!! We talked and laughed about a few memories we had as kids doing just that!! Namely grocery shopping, and a little poem called, "The Coconut"!! Good times!

Come Friday, my mom and I were just flat missing our husbands!! I know, I know how pathetic!! Well, when you have great husbands like we do, you tend to miss them a little when you are away!! I love you honey!! I also, if you can believe it, missed my kids!! Being around my nieces and nephews reminded me how much I love my kids. It's not that I have forgetten mind you, it's just.....sometimes I need to take a break and recharge my batteries!!

Our last day there we decided to go to the Air Force Museum!! This was a great place!! I wish we would have had more time to really explore the whole place, but we had 6 kids with us, and they didn't think spending all day there was a good choice. So we spent about 45 min. in the museum, and then headed out to the park to have a picnic!! It was a great day anyways!! Here are a couple of pics of me and the planes -

Well, Saturday came which marked the end of our visit. We were sad to leave, and had a long day of travel ahead of us. My sister and her family will be taking a trip to Shelley in September, so the farewells were not quite so tearful!! We said our goodbyes and headed into the airport to start our treck back to the home of the Russets!!

We arrived in SLC around 7:15 P.M. We gathered our belongings, and made our way to the hotel, and our waiting car!! Mom and I have the ability to gab, which made the drive to Shelley
seem short. Once there, we hauled in our stuff, and headed straight to bed. I, however, made sure to give my sleeping kids a kiss and an "I love you" before I retired to my bed and allowed the blackness to envelope me.

I obviously had one more leg to my trip.....the drive to Nampa. I popped in a DVD for my kids, made sure their headphones were up to the challenge, slipped in my earphones to my iPod, and sang my way home!! Consequently, my throat was rather soar once I reached my final destination! I was excited to see my husband, and equally excited to see MY bed!! What a great trip!!

I now had 2 days to prepare for my next adventure....Lucky Peak!! Ummm...I am almost ready for school to start so I can have a vacation from my summer.....Almost!!