A Weekend Away

 A week ago, I had the opportunity to take a quick trip to Neenah, WI to meet my new niece Ruby.  I left with my parents Saturday morning and first drove down to Taylor University (3 1/2 hours) to pick up my younger sister, Kelsey, and her boyfriend, Caleb, who by the way, we were meeting for the first time.  Nothing says "welcome to the family" like a good ol' fashioned road trip!  He was a great sport, though, and it was a perfect chance for us to grill him, I mean, get to know him.  Anyways, we then headed up to Wisconsin (7 hours) to visit with my sister and her family.  It was well worth the drive to see them and of course, to meet this little bundle of love ::  

Miss Ruby Jean Waurio

I just fell in love with that face.

Ruby and Auntie Kelsey

And Caleb too.

Me and Aaliyah

Mom and her girls.

I wanted to make sure I captured this moment on film - yes, that is Ruby's spit up running down my shirt.  Apparently she rarely spits up, but I must hold a special place in her heart.  Henry still spits up on me several times a day, so I'm guessing Ruby just wanted to make sure I felt right at home.

Grandpa in his glory.

After dinner and a nice visit, we sadly said good-bye.  We went to a hotel where we slept for about 4 hours, then woke up early to get back on the road again.   

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, Joe was on Daddy Duty for the weekend.  I told him to keep track of everything they did, everywhere they went, and pretty much every new or cute thing the kids said or did.  I didn't want to miss a thing.  So being the wonderful husband that he is, he took lots of pictures to document their weekend activities.

Naturally, the first thing on Joe's list was to take the kids to the Michigan Vietnam Memorial, which really isn't surprising if you know Joe and how much he loves history.  And he was offering his students extra credit to go, so he too, wanted to visit. 

Claire liked all the tanks and army gear.

Here she sits in front of the memorial.

Afterwards they took a quick trip to the park.

Back at home, they played for a bit. 

Claire's been obsessed with the Berenstein Bears lately.

I think Joe took this picture to show that he did, in fact, feed the kids lunch.

And here's Claire feeding Henry, which she often enjoys doing,

though Henry's not always so sure.

I got a kick out of this picture of nap time.

After naps they went out to dinner with Grandpa and Grandma Rosen, and then came back to the house to visit for a bit.  Sorry, no pictures.  I think they must have been too busy playing!

Sunday morning Joe and the kids went to Church.  Here they are getting ready.

And this picture of the clock is Joe's proof that they did indeed make it to the 8:30 service.  That's impressive!

After church, they visited the Puplises.  And Grandpa and Grandma even made them breakfast.

I love this picture of Henry.  He just looks so happy.

And finally, this is the picture Joe snapped of me as I arrived home. 

It was fun to break away for a bit, but it was great to see my husband and kids again.  It's amazing how much I missed them after only 2 short days.  As a stay-at-home mom, it's good for me to have a chance to miss my family.  It rarely happens, but I'm realizing, it's good for all of us!