July Travels

Whew. After 12 days of traveling, we are finally home! We had wonderful visits, though, both in northeastern Ohio with Ben's family and in Seattle, Washington with my family.

Here are the summaries of our trips with a few snapshots.

Northeastern Ohio

The 4th of July is a big event for Ben's family. Not only do they celebrate Independence Day, but also they celebrate birthdays for five people: Ben's grandmother, Ben's siblings, and two of Ben's cousins! This year the clan added another event--they surprised me with a baby shower! The women in Ben's family are phenomenal party-givers. It was the most creative baby shower that I have ever attended. When I entered the room of the shower, I looked up to see multitudes of hand-decorated onesies hanging from a clothesline!

 

Even the food was creative. The fruit salad was a beautiful baby!

 

 

I wish that I had pictures of the "diaper" games. Ben's cousins microwaved several different candy bars and then deposited each one into its own diaper. We had to pass around the "dirty diapers" and guess the kind of candy bar. It was absolutely disgusting and hilarious at the same time! Then we divided into teams and competed to see which team could design the best diaper out of toilet paper. I had to join the little girls as one of the diaper models! Haha.

 

Other highlights of the weekend were attending a baby shower for Ben's cousin on the other side of the family (whose baby is due one week after mine!) and enjoying a night ride in my father-in-law's pontoon boat. It was a great weekend!

 

Seattle, Washington

 

One day after driving home from Ohio, we flew to Washington! For Ben and me, it was our first visit to the state. I loved the mild climate, as well as the natural beauties of the mountains and the water. We visited my Uncle Dale and Aunt Nancy, who were fabulous hosts. Aunt Nancy is the kind of hostess who leaves a basket of fruit and Ghiradelli chocolate in your bedroom and plans the activities of each day with the finesse of a professional tour guide! We saw my cousin Phil, and I was thrilled to finally meet his wife Heidi and daughter Emi. My parents and brothers came, too, so it was a special family reunion.