Family visits and car trips

We just got back from a great weekend at my parents house.  It was a special time because we were celebrating my dad's 60th birthday.  We had such a great time....I love being with my family.

My wonderful parents....getting ready to celebrate

 Being silly for his granddaughters

 Enjoying some birthday cake

Along with a birthday party, we loved being together and spending a lot of time outside in the beautiful weather.....

Troy playing a little corn hole

 And Kyla playing some ladder golf....she did great!

 Blowing bubbles....always a favorite

 Ashlyn was showing off her skills, like standing

 and taking some steps with her Great Grandma

 Snuggling with Aunt Kara, who Ashlyn happens to think is the best at singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"....she signed for Kara to sing it to her over and over. 

 Lots of playing

 Me and my love

We loved our time together with family and being able to celebrate with my Dad....I love him!  But, all good things have to come to an end, which for us means, packing everything up and loading two girls back into the car.  Car trips with a 4 year old and almost 2 year old can be rough....this particular trip proved to be just that.

 Things started off so well....right after this picture Ashlyn went right to sleep and Kyla entertained herself with books and a snack

Well, then Ashlyn woke up and things went down hill from there.  Ashlyn hates being in her car seat for long periods of time. Once you see her pushing her chest out to try to get out of her buckles you know it is going to get ugly.  As the ugliness started to intensify, we decided to make a stop for supper.....we picked Panera in Champaign, IL.  We knew we needed to be out of the car for awhile.  We made quite the entrance.....we walked into Panera with a screaming Ashlyn followed by a screaming Kyla who fell out of a chair while I was trying to calm down Ashlyn.  It is the moments where you feel the frustration rising but also kind of want to laugh.  What I love about my husband is.....he laughs.  As all of this was happening we looked at each other and started laughing....what else can you do?  Well, lots of other things, but this particular time we chose to laugh.

Here are the two road warriors loving a break from the car

Unfortunately, once that break was over, things got even worse in the car.  Ashlyn wanted out of her seat more than life itself

I moved to the back seat to try to calm things down....here is me singing to my screaming girl.  And, I love my husband for taking this picture.  Just capturing the moments from this season of our life.

 I decided to capture a moment too....Ashlyn was crying so hard we had to pull over and give her a little break.  Here she is being comforted by her daddy on the side of a country road about 25 minutes from home

For the record, tough car trips are always worth time spent with family.  A lot of little moments that add up to a really great life.