Washington DC and Ohio trip! July 2009

We had a great 10 day vacation visiting with Kelly's family in DC and Ohio. Jill and her family were there, and so were Mom and Dad and little brother, Nathan. Then, Eric and his family met us in Ohio! We had such a great time seeing everyone and letting all the 9 cousins play together! I can't believe I'm posting a blog on this before Jill, but I guess since I took only about 10 pictures and she took 1000, I'll give her some time to sort through them all! :)

We stayed in a guest house on the Air Force Base that was about 1/4 mile from Mom and Dad's house. The kids loved walking there in the mornings. And Nathan got this cute picture of Grandpa with his Johnson girls.

7 of the 9 cousins in their tye-dye shirts that Uncle Nathan made them. This was taken before our Pirate Ship ride and impromptu magic show that Kevin got to take part in!

Mom and Dad had a birthday party for Chloe while we were there. There were chocolate cupcakes that Chloe clearly loved. Clayton labeled this picture "Hitler", and I think you can see why! :)

And here's a picture of Chloe displaying just one of her gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Stenner...her Princess PJ's! She loved putting those on!

We also got to sit along the Potomac River and watch the downtown DC fireworks. The kids enjoyed that, but I think they liked running around the grassy area and playing with the glow stick even better! We visited the Smithsonian Museum of American History, which was very cool.


And this is what Chloe learned at the museum...how to nap in her stroller!

And we visited the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

One morning we all went to the movie Up and enjoyed watching it together. I think Kevin and Conner laughed the loudest of anyone in that theatre! Chloe, once again, fell asleep!

Eating outside at Johnny Rocket's after the movie. Chloe, still asleep.

Nathan got the "pleasure" of riding in our van on the way to Ohio, and Chloe was acting sleepy (surprise, surprise). So I told her to close her eyes, and this is the snapshot Nathan got of her. It was just one of the many funny faces she was making!

And this is pretty much where I stopped taking pictures altogether and just let others take over! I'm definitely not the photographer in the family, but we had a great time in Ohio. We swam at the hotel a few times. We got to see Grandma Vonnie, Aunt Denny & Uncle Richard, Aunt Debbie & Uncle Ray, Uncle Bill & Aunt Deb, and Great-Uncle John! And we got to see Great Grandma and Great Grandma Stenner! Thanks to everyone for all the great food and even better company! We loved seeing all of you and look forward to our next get-together!

End of June and Chloe's 2nd birthday!

Grandma Johnson came for a week long visit and we loved having her here! We kept her busy on her "vacation" though! Clayton and Kevin took her kayaking at Stone Mountain. The next day, Clayton took her mountain biking on the tandem.

While Clayton and I were out running errands, Grandma and the kids made Chloe's birthday cake. Grandma then let them go crazy with the frosting...they loved it!!

Grandma helping Chloe read her birthday cards.

Chloe's birthday balloons.

Daddy found a cute little frog while working out in the yard. Kevin was the only one brave enough to hold it!

We built wooden pirate ships at a Lowe's Build and Grow workshop. There was a lot of hammering going on by all the kids, and it was LOUD. But they had fun and were proud of their ships they built!