Our trip to Ohio on December 10th

Not that I begrudge my kids, but as of this past weekend my four year old's been to six states. Not driven through six states, mind you, but spent a decent amount of time in each.

I was twenty-one before I spent the night outside of Wisconsin.   Anyway, we decided to venture 7hrs east and visit my wife's brother, a long time member of the Air Force, in Ohio. We left in the middle of the night, loading the kids up while they were half asleep.    

Here's a pic proving that 10 years of dental work can erase any memory of how to smile - I swear, when I try to grin I look as natural as a toupee.    Our goal: get there in time to see Santa disembark from a plane at the base Christmas party.  

Alas, while we were prompt enough I didn't have the proper paperwork - insurance card, vehicle registration, yada yada - to get past the guards.   

 So, we scrapped that and headed back to my in-law's house. The ladies took the kids to the mall to see Santa, while my brother-in-law and I hunkered down to watch some action movies.

In the evening the ten of us had a great dinner at Carraba's, passing the hour wait for a table by perusing the Goodwill next door - and picking up a Reds helmet for Parker.  

 All the kids got along like great friends rather than relatives that see each other once a year at best. They certainly have a fascination with Princesses in common .. .

   One neat thing was that my nieces, who've lived only in Texas and Georgia before moving to Ohio this year, had never experienced a real winter.
So once we got home from dinner we took them sledding for the first time in their lives

 

 - and the grown-ups got into the act too.   After a great breakfast we were on the road again, this time joined by my mother-in-law,who'd injured her hip on a business trip in nearby Kentucky and asked for a ride home.   Some memorable sights on the way home: YaYa's first glimpse of the Sears Tower, a fireworks display (!!!) in southern Wisconsin, a truck accident in Indiana, an Auntie Annie's pretzel for the kids at the Lake Forest Oasis, with traffic flowing beneath us.

  And just for kicks, here's a pic of the just completed Christmas tree from the day after Thanksgiving. Thankfully, I successfully avoided having to do anything to decorate it by leaving it to the ladies.