Taking a vacation is apparently not an acceptable excuse for a blog hiatus. For her birthday today, my sister requested only one thing: update the blog!

We had a great time and the trip went more smoothly than we had a right to expect. With one glaring exception, Ed was a champion road tripper. My brother's wedding (east of Pittsburgh--about a 12 hour drive!) was a great occasion to have the whole family together--a rarity these days as we now officially number 19. Most of the siblings and cousins were able to stay in a house adjacent to the inn where the wedding reception was held, so that was definitely an experience in togetherness! The kids really had a good time playing together and the adults did too...after the kiddie bedtimes!

After the wedding we took a few extra days coming home, stopping one night/day in Cleveland and three nights in Three Rivers, MI, where we stayed in a rustic cabin on a small lake. At both the wedding inn and the lake cabin we could not get cell phone reception so we really felt like we were able to unplug and unwind. We were definitely ready to come home after a week though and glad we planned it so we arrived home Thursday leaving a few more days off before heading back to work on Monday.

Edward used the occasion of his second wedding reception in as many months to show off some of his latest dance moves:


He also cemented his status as band groupie by walking right up to the band as they began setting up and watching every move. They appreciated his attention so much they gave him the tambourine to try out. He liked it, but got a bit too creative in his method.

(Side note: we have taken Ed to two of the free, outdoor concerts downtown this summer and both times he walked right up to the stage to get up close and personal with the band!)

Edward also spent the wedding weekend basking in the attention of his adoring cousin Colleen. She's such a big Ed fan that she even sent him a letter as part of a first grade lesson this spring. She and her sisters and cousin were lovely as the flower girls and ring bearers at the wedding. After the ceremony, Ed and Sean helped the girls pick up the flower petals in the aisle and then had a tremendous amount of fun throwing them over the back of the pew and making Colleen pick them up again to start the game all over.

Colleen is so cute and charming she even got John out on the dance floor, but to avoid the dissolution of my marriage I'll refrain from posting photographic evidence.

After leaving the wedding festivities late Sunday afternoon, we drove only as far as Cleveland (about three hours) and stopped for the night. John has always wanted to see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and it's unlikely we'll be in the area again anytime soon, so we built it into the itinerary. While he did that on Monday, Ed and I went to the Cleveland Zoo, where he was a boy after his grandma's own heart--a fan of the giraffes. Much to my chagrin, we was also fascinated by the flamingos, as they came right up to the fence separating their area from the humans. Luckily, flamingos are flightless or we'd have been in a world of hurt, and you might have read a dateline Cleveland AP item headlined "Terrified Mother Flees Flamingos, Leaves Toddler To Fend For Self." He also liked the elephants and anything else large enough to see from a distance. He couldn't focus too much on the smaller animals, even monkeys crawling around on a big rock.

After driving through a driving rainstorm that included several "Hail Mary" moments of near-blind following the hazard lights of the car ahead, we arrived in Michigan for three days of "nothing." No schedule, no plans, just see where the day takes us. Ed continued his animal adventures there with the resident ducks and cats. There was also a petting zoo in the town where he discovered how funny it is to stick your finger in a goat's nose. Not so funny for the goat, but for the boy, hilarious. He also got a big kick out of the bird room. I abstained, leaving John to explore that with him. As you can see, it was a bit chilly there--sweatshirt weather. No complaints though--we had packed our jeans and sweatshirts and had no need to be hot!

All in all, it was a great trip, but we're happy to be home. I would not recommend 25+ hours in the car with a toddler over the course of a week, but if you can break it up in to small chunks and get him to sleep while you drive (which Ed did about 80 percent of the time) it can be done. Next year though, I think we'll look for somewhere a little closer to home!