Uncle Aaron rode up with us, and the boys provided plenty of entertainment. They laughed and giggled for the first part of the trip as Uncle was tickling them from the back seat, or "scaring them" by saying boo! They eventually settled in for the ride, and started singing songs for Uncle...multiple rounds of the A-B-C's and the unending version of Old MacDonald (I think he had a zoo, not a farm Friday night).
Around 8:30, we stopped at McDonald's in Van Wert to change the boys diapers, and for the rest of us to use the restroom. Uncle bought a Rolo McFlurry, and made the mistake of giving the boys a taste. He ended up sharing it with both of them!
Once back in the van, the boys drank their milk, and went to sleep for the rest of the drive.
A few minutes after arriving at my parents, I was informed that the boys weren't the only ones providing entertainment that night. Somewhere along the way on Friday, the seam of my jeans (the one right up the crack of your butt) had freyed out! Who knows how long the full moon was out on Friday....and I greatly apologize to the man that I bent over in front of at McDonalds!
It was a full house...and camper at my parent's. RJ and Lyn were there with their kids, and RJ's parents rented a camper for the weekend as well. We visited for a bit, then put the boys to bed, drank a few beers, and stayed up till 2:30 in the morning. Typical Friday night with my parents.
Saturday, the boys were up about 6:30. Brian fed them breakfast and got them ready for the day while mommy slept a while longer. Pawpaw took the boys on a gator ride to see the moo cows, but most of the day was just visiting. We met Miss Quinn for the first time, and caught up with her mommy Carrie. Aunt Shirley and Uncle Larry came over to visit with us as well. A beautiful Saturday afternoon.
The boys fell asleep watching TV, so Brian and I snuck out to church with my parents at 4:00. We would have been fine, but we needed to go to the store afterward to get some beer. When we were walking into the house, Dick asked me if I'd been drinking yet...and if not, I might want to as my son had just thrown up.
Not good. It seems Jackson woke up from his nap, and got himself a little bit worked up over the fact that mommy and daddy weren't there. Luckily, he threw up on the blanket, and Uncle RJ was there to save the day (as Uncle Aaron doesn't do puke).
The rest of the night was our usual trip to mom and dads...good food, great friends, and of course, drinks. RJ's friend Joe and his girlfriend Caryn joined the party and stayed the night. Uncle Bill joined us for dinner too. We watched football and baseball, and just enjoyed the evening.
Sunday was the main attraction for the weekend - the 28th annual Lil' Chicago Canoe run. I believe this is the 8th year that Lyn and RJ have participated.
The day starts with breakfast at 8:00 a.m. - sausage gravy and biscuits, scrambled eggs, coffee, juice, etc. for any and all who want to join. Around 9:00, everyone heads to Sodam Grange. This is the start of the canoe run. The participants and canoes go in the water, filled with beer, jello shots, Jagur-bombs, toilet paper, trash bags, and whatever anyone may need for their ride down the river. It's a beautiful ride...check it out.
The canoe trip starts at Sodam Grange, and ends at a campsite located on my parents neighbors land. It takes most of the participants a few hours to get to the campsite, so after the boat launch, we went back to the house and Pawpaw took my boys and Knox to go see the moo cows again. When they returned, we went to visit Great Grandma and Pete for a bit, and were surprised to also find Aunt Ree and Uncle Jim there too. The boys had a lot of fun playing with Aunt Ree, and singing their ABC's for Great Grandma. We couldn't stay long, as it was getting to be lunch time, so we headed back to the campsite for lunch.
The boys had been looking forward to playing in the woods all week long. So, when we arrived for lunch, they were more excited about running around and checking everything out. We found some canoes that had already arrived, and we had to check the river out to see if there were any boats coming. Getting them to settle down and eat was a bit challenging, and I'm so grateful for Aunt Lyn's Mac-N-Cheese. They each also ate 1 1/2 hot dogs, and a cupcake. Thank goodness we were outside as the cupcake was messy!
After eating, the boys ran around and played with other kids, and we visited with the other people at the campsite. Around 2:00, I suggested we get on the Gator and go see if we could find where Aunt Lyn and Uncle RJ were, so mom and dad crawled on the front, then Brian and I sat in the back of the gator with our 2 kids and Lyn's 3 kids. It was a full ride!
Baby Nash was so excited to be on the gator. He waved bye-bye to all the people at the camp site, and continued waving his arms and bouncing up and down! The boys were loving being on the gator again, and just being outside!
We found a few boats along the river, but they weren't part of our crew. I believe there were about 24 or so boats this year. I was about to give up and tell dad to head back to the campsite so we could head home when we heard someone. Dad shut the gator off, and here came Lyn running through the woods toward us! RJ was right behind her. We visited with them for a few minutes, and then Lylah decided she had to go potty. Lyn took her potty, and then Knox decided he should go too. Wanting to be a big boy like Knox, Lincoln says "I need to go potty in the woods!" There was no talking him out of it, so we dropped his pants, unhooked his diaper, and let him try. Unfortunately, he hadn't had his milk yet, so as hard as he tried, he just couldn't go. He was very disappointed!
We piled back in the gator, found the other 2 boats full of our crew, enjoyed a few of their jello shots, then headed back to the campsite.
We were saying our goodbyes and getting ready to leave when the last boats (full of our people) came into shore. The bottle of Jagur was nearly gone (and it wasn't a small bottle), so the boaters had a great day. After a few more hugs and goodbyes, we packed up the van and headed back to Cincinnati. Just as we were pulling away from the campsite, it started pouring, so we left at the right time!
Thanks to all our visitors, the Willingers, and my family for making it such a great weekend! We'll definitely be back again for the canoe trip!
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