"St. Patrick's Day, Pie Face, & Cousin Hugs...yeah, I'd say it was a good trip to Ohio."

We wanted all of our Ohio family to get to see Rowan one more time before he leaves for transplant this Summer, so I drove the boys to Ohio for Spring Break.  The drive was crazy since I was the only one who could do the driving (2 of the driving days we did 14+ hours straight).  However, Rowan summed it up pretty well today, "St. Patrick's Day, Pie Face & Cousin Hugs...yeah, I'd say it was a good trip to Ohio."

St. Patrick's Day

I started the Irish stew, potatoes and leeks at 7 am...

Meghan decorated...

Everyone got their green on...

Then we headed to meet Grandpa at O'Connor's...early in the morning.

Our little leprechaun...

Yummy Irish Buffet at O'Connor's Pub...

(It was just too early for Rowan.)

But everyone else had a blast...

 

Great music...

including an Ozzy & Bagpipe mash up...

And a few of Rowan's FB followers (old friends of mine) got to meet Rowan for the first time and take a picture with him, once he woke up...

Then we headed back to the house for the family St. Patrick's Day Party...

The real fun started when I hosted a blind-fold green food taste test contest with the kids...

The tie breakers had 3 green foods each, and they had to identify all 3:)  The first spoon was a slice of tomatillo, topped with key lime yogurt, and sweet pickle relish (ewww I know).  The second spoon was a serrano, with mint apple jelly and wasabi mustard :). 

 Don't worry, they got me back! 

Pie Face

Another fun family night with the kiddos...playing Pie Face.

Cousin Hugs

The last night, as everyone was leaving, one of the youngest cousins ran into the room and yelled "Cousin Hug!"  A few were missing here but this was such a good picture!

Here are some more of my favorite family pictures from the trip.  It really was nice to see my parents, and my sisters and nieces, and to get all the little kids together too.  They only see each other every couple years usually.  We were sure missing Zoe though. 

Remi was pretty keen on Ian:)

And Rowan sure loves his Avery:)

But truth be told, they all love each other very much and all get along so well:)

Pictured in this photo: Ian, Rowan, Aidan, Avery, Alec, Aris, Cameron, Dylan, and Remi.

Not pictured in this photo: Meghan, Olivia, Veronica, Zoe, Bryles, Harbour, & Maverick...AND the two new babies due in July!!!!

We made sure to hit some of the old standbys why we were in Ohio...

And got to see some other old friends too...

I cooked A LOT of food...

(Yes, that is seven different pans of enchiladas that I made last night:)

But I always had help cleaning up...

It was a jam packed week of fun and craziness!  Being with our family always is:)

The boys slept the first 5 hours or so hours we were on the road, they were so wiped out.

I know it will be quite a while before we get back there, but I'm so glad we got the chance to this week.  "Yeah, I'd say it was a good trip to Ohio" too.

Love you all!!!!

Until next time....