{ Ohio Bound... }

Usually we all go to Ohio to see Kelly's family every summer for a couple weeks. Last year most of them came to see us since I just had Wyatt. The year before we all went to see them. This year we were all planning on going to Ohio. To be honest, Jordan and I weren't sure if we were going to be able to go. One for work purposes it was looking like it might be a little tricky. Second, plane tickets are EXPENSIVE! Now that we're trying to buy or build a home everything is looking more and more expensive. But, we thought about it and since this would be the last year that we wouldn't have to buy a ticket for Wyatt (next year he'll be 2 years-old so we'd have to buy a ticket) we decided we'd better find a way to go this year since we're really not sure when we'll all be able to go again.

So after a couple uncertainties about it we would even be able to go we were on our way to Salt Lake City to catch our 6:00 am flight. Sunday came around an Kelly, Kendra, Macie, Jordan, Wyatt, and myself headed down to Salt Lake Sunday afternoon. I think we got to about Downey area when Kelly's car started to overheat. Oh joy...NOT! She ended up pulling over on the side of the freeway where one young sherriff with his two little kids stopped to help. He had a nearly full case of water in his car that he gave to Kelly to fill up her radiator and the reserve. They found out that her reserve was cracked and that's why everything was leaking out. But then the young sherriff said his dad was close behind him so he called his dad, told him the situation, his dad stopped and bought another case of water and two bottles of fluid for Kelly! His dad got there, they determined there was no way Kelly's car was going anywhere. He asked her where they were heading. She replied, "Salt Lake City. We have a early morning flight we have to catch to Ohio." The sherriff's dad said, "Oh we're heading straight through there. You all can just ride with us." We all couldn't believe it. This random older gentleman and his son stopped to help Kelly, Kendra, and Macie then the older gentleman offers them all a ride to Salt Lake! So the sherriff called a tow company to get Kelly's car to a mechanic in Downey, loaded up all their suitcases into the older gentleman's truck and headed to Salt Lake. How amazing is that?! Two complete strangers go out of their way to help Kelly, Kendra, and Macie! I think it's actually pretty comforting. Comforting to know tha there really are some genuinely good people in the world. We all hear pretty frequently of horrible things that happen in the world to the point that it makes us scared about the future but knowing that there are some pretty wonderful people out there I find to be a great comfort. Anyways, back to the main story...

We all finally arrived to our hotel in Salt Lake City. Wyatt actually did amazing on the car ride down. Even when we had to stop at the rest area to wait on word from Kelly and them it was blazing hot but Wyatt was still his happy little self through the whole thing. Unfortunately our hotel really wasn't the greatest hotel. The room wasn't the nicest and the AC definetly couldn't keep up with how many of us we packed in that room. First we went across the street (since we only had one car that couldn't fit us all) for dinner which was super tasty then headed back to our room to head to bed early. Well, easier said than done. Wyatt was just not gonna have it after being in a car and on the road for 5+ hours. Then with the AC not keeping up with us it was pretty hot and uncomfortable in the room so even after he settled down he still tossed and turned. Basically Jordan and I didn't get much sleep that night but had to wake up by 3:30 to get ready to catch the shuttle to the airport.

We finally made it to the airport and were on our way! Jordan and I were definetly nervous about how Wyatt would do on the airplanes but I came prepared...

thank you Pinterest via Kristen for this awesome idea...not only some tasty snacks for Wyatt but a really good source of entertainment on the plane ride

Wyatt couldn't resist doing a little gambling in the Las Vegas airport during our layover : )

One of the first things we all did when we got to Ohio was go to the Columbus Zoo. And I'm sorry to say but it puts Tauphaus Park Zoo to utter shame. It was amazing! This is the second time I'd ever been and honestly the first time was better. It wasn't nearly as hot so all the animals were a lot more active but this year their theme was Out of Africa so they had giraffes, lions, zebras, and other African animals. They even did a cheetah run with a fake animal tied to a rope to show how fast a cheetah can run and how fast they can get to that top speed. That was pretty impressive!

Wyatt and Jordan at the cheetah demonstration

group picture

ridin' in style

chillin' with Grandma Kelly

Wyatt found a friend : )

I absolutely loved just being able to spend time with family. Especially being able to meet family that we hadn't even seen yet. Jordan's cousin Rosie had her baby, Jax, in March so he was only a few months old when we were there but between Jax, Kasyn, and Wyatt it was so fun to see all these cute little boys playing and interacting with one another. Then there's Nick and Bridgette's little boy, Kasyn. Who has such a cute smile and laugh! He loved playing chase with anyone that would play. That may be where Wyatt discovered his own love for chase? Seeing these cute little guys play together made the trip even more worth it.

 

Of course us girls did tons of shopping as well. Within those first few days of being in Ohio we made our way to the Columbus Mall and spent most of the day shopping. One place we had to go, the Victoria's Secret Sport store. Yes, I did say sport! Probably Kendra's favorite place on earth. j/k But seriously, it's awesome! And...we hit it during their semi-annual sale! Bonus! Kendra got 5 bras regularly priced at like $60 for $16. Plus all their clearance was an extra 50% off! Wahoo! And Gap also had their clearance an extra 50% off so I got some super cute things for Wyatt and myself. They had another great store called Crazy 8 too. It might be one of my new favorites for Wyatt. I'd never heard of it before but it has Gap style of clothes but much cheaper. Awesome! And there was no way I could leave without going to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Gotta get my Apple Pie Caramel Apple. Oh, and while we were all waiting for Kelly I discoverd an all natural homemade soap store. Well that ended up being a bad idea because I spent more money! Everything smelled so good we all wanted to eat it. But that did solve the dilema I had of what to get my mom for her birthday so I guess it was still a good thing. Anyone that is interested you can order from them online. It's called The Oil Bar and click here for their website.

 

Kelly's family knows another family that owns this super pretty pond nearby so we all decided to go fish a little. My little man even grabbed a pole with daddy! It was super cute too. Shortly after I took the second picture he grabbed that little blue gill fish and made a face like, "What in the world did I just touch?" So after that he just looked at it : )

natural born fisherman I tell ya

 

 

 

this boy loves 4 wheeler rides...apparently he was just too tired : )

there is an amazingly tasty frozen custard place called Whit's, so that being Wyatt's nickname (courtesy of Uncle Dane) we just had to make a stop and try some delicious Whit's...thanks Tracy...it was SO good!

And of course there was lots and lots of swimming! Like daily and nightly swimming!

giggly little boy!

he loved blowing bubbles

loved my underwater camera!

daddy and Aunt Kendra teaching Wyatt how to kick his legs to swim

can you tell Macie and Kendra loved my underwater camera too?

 

Wyatt with his swimming buddies

 

this is what Wyatt loved the most...climbing in and out of the pool

 

oh and Wyatt likes to dance in the swimming pool too

Macie night swimming with Kasyn

I sure love my little fishy!

Of course we had to do a couple pictures before we left...

 

The plane rides home went just as smoothly as the ones to Ohio. Our first flight was from Columbus, OH to Phoenix, AZ lasting about 4 hours then the next was from Phoenix, AZ to Salt Lake City, UT only about 1 1/2 hours but Wyatt slept almost the entire time that we were flying...

 

just like this...all lounged out on my lap

Jordan and I were a little nervous when we got to Phoenix, AZ because the flight we boarded was pretty hot. Even with every vent on in the plane it was hot and stuffy. Two things that do not work well with Wyatt and his sleep. Thankfully he did fall asleep and stay asleep almost the whole time.

 

Wyatt wasn't the happiest of campers on the drive home but we finally got back to Rexburg at 11:00 pm on the 23rd and just wanted to crash. Unfortunately that only happened for Wyatt. Even more unfortunate, Jordan, Kelly, and myself all had to work the next day. So we all got to bed around midnight then woke up the next day to get back to reality...ugh! That part was way harder than I thought it would be but the trip was completely worth it. We miss all our Ohio family so much already! Can't wait 'til next time!