Team i6 Takes on Week 124

And we're back.  From Cleveland that is.  We had yet another fantastic trip to visit the fam.  It was filled with, meals at fun restaurants, a bridal shower, a train ride, casinos, a trip to what will ALWAYS be known & referred to as Jellystone (even though technically it is called Round-up Lake now), and a shopping venture to Costco (duh, like what weekend is complete with out a family trip to a buy-it-in-bulk store, we live it up yo).  As always Cleveland did not disappoint.

We rolled into town around lunch time and made our first stop at Grandpa & Grandma's, got to say hi/bye to G-pa i6 as he headed off to work, dropped the dogs off (yep they made the trip with us), and headed to Aunt Jaime's house to see her and cousin James.  Lincoln had a fun time trying on Aunt Jaime's high-tech motorcycle helmet, though I think he would have preferred in it a more manly color. 

Then we headed to Melt so that we could all meet up with Uncle Nadu, while we enjoyed some grilled cheese deliciousness.  Linc approved.

And then we met up with Grammy Sparks and played with some cool trucks Grandpa bought and waited for the rest of the family to show up at the house for Shabbat dinner.  Linc loves him some matzo balls and brisket (he may or may not have gained 5lbs this visit).

Saturday I headed with all the girls (I have the best sister-in-laws ever, btw, I am not sure how I got so lucky) to a bridal shower for our cousin-to-be Nicole, while Daddy, Linc, Grandpa i6, and Grammy Sparks went to go meet Thomas the Train.  After we all had lovely afternoons we reconvened at the original Chez i6, got cleaned up, and went out to spend the evening dinning at The Melting Pot.  Amazingly enough Lincoln survived the 2.5 hr long meal and was a champ about it.  And not only that but he did it in a booster seat with no straps, someone kept trying to touch the controls to the burners while in the highchair at the end of the table so we had to go to plan B.  I have to give credit where credit is due and say my iPhone was an integral part in helping us survive (and enjoy immensly) dinner, and Linc had a good time watching a few episodes of Team Umi Zoomi.  There might have been some bribing him with marshmallows dipped in chocolate probably helped as well, if you want to know the real secret.

Sunday we said our goodbyes to Grammy Sparks and then the rest of us headed to Jellystone for a day of good old fashioned camp style fun.  Linc enjoyed some of his most favorite activities: golfcarting, playing in sand/water, seeing his cousins, riding his bike, hauling rocks with toy trucks, and eating lots of freshly grilled hot dogs.  He also warmed up to his cousin Miranda quite a bit and was her little shadow most of the time.  She told him he could call her "Mandy" which came out of him as "Manny" but adorable none the less.  They were definitely pals and had lots of fun hanging out and building sandcastles.

Then it was time for some dinner and some more fun.  Uncle Brant and Linc decided that the weather was great for a nice evening ride on their bikes.

Linc was loving Uncle Brant & Aunt Jaime's motorcycles.  I think I might have my hands full when he gets old enough to drive.

Monday was mostly a blur of packing, a trip to Costco, more packing, and a trip to Sonic for lunch.  We hit the road around 2:30pm and with a little rain here and there & a couple of stops we made it home by 8:00pm.  Linc was in bed and asleep by like 8:10pm and we were too not long after that!  Like I said, Cleveland did not disappoint!