Road trip

We headed over to visit the family last week. The kids did well in the car, though Helena struggled with her straps for many miles. She can't be convinced that it doesn't do any good to strain against them. We had a nice time visiting and catching up with everyone and the children had a fabulous time playing with their cousins.
We stopped and had dinner with Grandma Irene on the way there. The lasagna was great and it was good to be out of the car for a while.Thursday is story time at the library so we joined Emily and Rachel on their outing. The theme this week was "Cars, planes, and trains," perfect for Henry.We stopped to see the fishes on our way in. Here are the two sets of cousins.
Grandma's toys are always a highlight, Helena developed a hugging game with this big bear.
Getting a jump start for the van. After two mornings of this we decided to get a new battery.
Lowe's puts on kid workshops on Saturdays so everyone met there for some car building. The recommended age is 6-13, so it was good that we had lots of adults on hand to help. It was fun to pound nails with the child-size hammers.
After we finished our cars we went to get our battery tested and replaced. We met friends for lunch. Next time we hope Leah will be able to join us!We ended Saturday with a big dinner and more playing with cousins. Cindy and Elijah and two of Mark's cousins, Alex and Fallon, joined us. There were two kinds of cake for Mark's birthday celebration, but most of the kids didn't have any difficulty choosing. Here everyone watches the candle lighting. Our rendition of "Happy Birthday" was pretty weak, we could have used the voices of Ben and Maryann.