Carter's Big Road Trip Adventure To Pennsylvania

After having been gone all week on a business trip, daddy was excited to be home and able to get Carter out of her crib Friday morning. Carter slept in a little later than usual which gave mommy and daddy extra time to pack some last minute things for our big trip. Even though we had talked about it with her multiple times, she had no clue just how long and far we would be going. 

Our route: South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York! 

Once we were packed and ready to go, it wasn't long before Carter fell asleep in the car. She napped like clockwork on her usual schedule.

Our first stop was at Cracker Barrel in Jonesville, NC.  Carter enjoyed playing the peg board game while we waited for our lunch. Then we were back on the road to Lambsburg, VA to see daddy's maternal grandparents. This was the first time they had ever seen Carter in person.  Before this they had always seen her through pictures.

An added bonus, Aunt Donna (Grammy's sister) was there too! Carter showed them her little people doll house, climbed their couch, and enjoyed looking at their dog. When it was time to go she got lots of kisses!

After a passing storm and a good visit with family, we were back on the road headed north. Carter napped and played with lots of different toys and then we made a quick stop for dinner. Then it was on to our hotel in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania (just south of Pittsburgh). This was Carter's first hotel experience and even though it was way past her usual bedtime, she was full of excitement. Not sure it was because she was happy to be out of the car or just somewhere new...but she enjoyed roaming around our suite and looking out the windows. After changing into pajamas and brushing her teeth, Carter went down (in her pack-n-play) without making a peep. She must have been exhausted after a long day of traveling!

Carter woke us up the next morning and must have been excited about the continental breakfast. When she saw all the food, she wanted everything. Lucky for her, she got some oatmeal, fruit, and some yogurt...plus a little taste of mommy and daddy's breakfast! She definitely had a full belly for the road! 

While daddy re-loaded up the car, mommy and Carter played outside in the grass. Carter rode on her car (did I forget to mention that we packed everything but the kitchen sink?) and waved at the cars that drove past us. Not too much later, we were packed and buckled in and ready to go. We stopped to visit our old neighbors who live less than an hour away from where we stayed. Carter enjoyed playing with their three sweet kids, and mommy and daddy were excited to talk about their plans for moving back to our neighborhood in a few months! 

After our visit we only had 2 hours to drive until we reached our final destination: Gramps and Grandma's house! Daddy planned our trip with Gramps but we wanted to keep it a surprise for Grandma. We were almost able to pull it off, but she got super suspicious about an hour before our arrival. Nonetheless, she was speechless and full of happy tears when we got there! Too bad we didn't take any pictures until the next day when we had another surprise for the great-grandparents! Carter's outfit consisted of a new big sister shirt! At first, they didn't catch on but after some hints and flat out telling them, there were more tears and cheers from both Grandma and Gramps! 

Later that afternoon, we went to visit Aunt Debbie (Carter's grandpa's sister). She saw Carter's shirt as soon as she greeted us and was excited to not only see us but also with the good news! Carter immediately took to Aunt Debbie! They had fun waving at cars going by and checking out all the chairs and hammock on her porch.

Carter, Daddy, and Gramps went on several walks out in the field together, while Grandma and mommy would watch and wait for them to come back to the house. 

 During almost every naptime and each night after Carter went to sleep, we would all stay up playing Liverpool. This picture was taken when Carter woke up early from her nap and she helped Grandma finish play her hand of cards. Grandma enjoyed every second of Laptime with Carter!

We had lots of fun and funny moments on our visit. Carter became fascinated with looking at things upside down on her head. She would giggle when she saw Grandma and Gramps peeking out from the kitchen. Another fun time was when Grandma pulled out this Highlights poster and stickers. Carter enjoyed putting the stickers on and coloring the poster.

Carter got to see lots of wildlife from the kitchen window. She saw deer, bunnies, birds, turkeys, and lots of chipmunks! When we would say we see --- Carter would come running from anywhere in the house to see. 

 

Grandma loved sharing her breakfast with Carter. Breakfast at their house is always the biggest meal of the day. Carter thoroughly enjoyed this! She eats so much all the time, but Grandma would share bananas, apples, and toast with Carter (especially if mommy and daddy weren't looking).

While we were there, Grandma made FOUR batches of her famous sticky buns and a huge batch of chex mix. While standing in a chair, Carter helped Grandma bake. We would hear them talking and laughing from the kitchen. Grandma enjoyed it just as much, if not more, than Carter did! Carter would get so excited to help stir and peek through the oven window to watch them bake. 

This shirtless cutie pie was fully clothed at the beginning of a fun morning playing outside but it got hot. Instead of going in to change, the shirt came off and the fun continued!

After lots of flower picking and running around outside, we came inside to have lunch and rest. Carter never sits still long enough to snuggle much less lay down with you. Mommy enjoyed this special moment!

Carter and Gramps enjoyed dancing to Polka together.

 Later that evening we went back outside to play. Carter loved being outside and picking more wild flowers!

After breakfast each morning we would go outside to swing and walk around in our pajamas!

One morning Carter came in to find Grandma rolling her hair. Everything Grandma did Carter wanted to try too! Grandma also had a favorite blue teddy bear Beanie Baby sitting out that Carter really feel in love with!

Aunt Debbie lives right around the corner from Grandma and Grandpa so we visited often. One night Aunt Debbie came over for dinner and another afternoon, we went over to take baths and showers. She lives in a nice log cabin and Carter enjoyed splashing around in her bathtub!

Of course we spent more time outside playing and picking wild flowers!

 Carter loved having Grandma and Gramps to play outside with her!

Before we knew it our week long vacation had come to an end. We packed up the car, said some teary eyed goodbyes and were on our way. The week went way too fast but we made a lot of memories and had loads of fun! As we were driving down their street, we could see the fog in the valley below; other than that we had great weather on the way home. We made a few stops along the way: shopped at the outlets, took a few potty breaks (one of which Carter got her first taste of chocolate milk...and of course she loved it!), and dinner at a Cracker Barrel. It was a long trip but we made in one day. It sure felt good to sleep in our own beds that night!