Michigan Trip

We took a four day trip to Michigan last weekend. We wanted to visit Kyle's grandfather who has been sick, and Kyle's brother Adam was home from Iraq to visit too, so we thought it would be a perfect time to take a trip up there. It was the first time that we got to meet our niece Hailey and the first time that all seven of the cousins were together.

We hit the road Friday morning around 8:00. We bought a DVD player so that Peyton could watch movies in the car, and we also packed lots of books, a Magna Doodle and some snacks to keep him occupied on the long trip. We drove and drove and stopped for lunch a little before noon. After lunch, Peyton took a brief hour-and-a-half nap. We continued to drive and made it to the hotel in Michigan around 6:00. Ten hours is about average for the trip, so it wasn't too bad. Peyton did surprisingly well in the car, much to my relief.

After we checked into the hotel and carried our things inside, we turned right back around and headed out to meet Ryan, Becky, Lindsey, Sara, Adam, Suzie, Adam, Branden, Hailey, and Grandma at Chuck E. Cheese. They saved us some pizza to eat since we were all starving. After we ate, we played some games. Peyton got some free tokens because he had his birthday coupon.

Peyton talked to Chuck on the phone

Lindsey played in the tubes

Peyton rode a horse (isn't this picture adorable?!)
And he played some skee-ball (sort of)

He "drove" the car too

The Chuck E. Cheese was pretty ghetto, but the kids had fun. Peyton got some energy out after sitting in the car for so long, so that was good too. We got back to the hotel a little after 8:00 and tried to put Peyton to bed. We only had one room for the three of us. We put Peyton in his pack-and-play and left the room (we were going to stand in the hallway for a few minutes so that he could fall asleep). But as soon as we left, he started to cry, so we went back in. He had a really tough time falling asleep. We tried to let him sleep in bed with us too (a few times) but that wasn't working out either. Peyton eventually fell asleep almost two hours later, around 10:00 which is way past his bed time. During the night, he woke up crying about 3 or 4 times, which is really unusual for him.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early (thanks Peyton!). We got dressed and headed down to the lobby for free breakfast. We planned to meet everyone at the Flint Children's Museum around noon, so we had a little time to waste. Peyton was bored in the hotel room and was acting crazy, so we went to the mall for a little while. We ate an early lunch and headed over to the museum after that.

The kids had a ton of fun playing together in the museum. There were tons of exhibits and fun things to do. I took over 70 pictures at the museum, so I'm only going to include a select few here.

Peyton and Branden

Grandma and Adam
Sara
Noah just chillin'

Peyton loved playing drums on the trash

He also liked all of the other instruments

Fireman Peyton

Peyton took Noah for a ride in the helicopter

Peyton stopped for a snack of apples

And rode a horse

Peyton and Branden playing ball

We spent about 3 hours at the museum. Next, we went to the rehab facility to visit Grandpa. Grandma reserved a room so that we could all hang out with Grandpa. They ordered pizza and everyone chatted while the kids colored and played together.

Peyton talking with Grandpa

Grandma playing ring-around-the-rosie with the kids

Peyton got some birthday presents from Uncle Adam's family and Uncle Ryan's family. From Uncle Ryan's family, he got the Little People airplane and a Mickey Mouse monster truck. From Uncle Adam's family, he got the Mickey Mouse Choo-Choo train. He loved all three gifts!

After we left the rehab center, we went back to the hotel to put Peyton in his pajamas and to pack up his pack-and-play. We went over to Grandma and Grandpa Moreau's house. Kate, Dave, and Noah were already there, and Ryan and Becky came over after they put their girls to bed. We were going to lay Peyton down there, but Kyle's dad and his wife came over and everyone was playing with Peyton, so he wasn't sleepy. We just chatted while Peyton impressed everyone with his singing abilities and showed them how smart he is.

Peyton only slept for about 15 minutes between the museum and the rehab facility and he didn't sleep well the night before, so we had to leave around 9:00 to head back to the hotel to put him to bed. We had the same problems as the night before. It took a little while for him to fall asleep and then he woke up a few times during the night.

Sunday morning we went to Old Country Buffet for brunch. Kyle's grandmother reserved a room and invited everyone from Kyle's dad's side of the family. A bunch of his aunts, uncles and cousins were there. It was nice to see everyone. Peyton got to eat a lot of food, so he had a good time. We left the camera in the car, so we don't have any pictures. Oops.

After brunch, we headed over to JCPenney to get a picture of all of the cousins together. That was an interesting experience, since there are 7 kids under the age of 6, and 6 of them are under 3! But the picture turned out surprisingly well. The kids were all spent after that, so we went back to the hotel and Peyton took a good two-hour nap. We watched some football on mute while Peyton slept and I finally got to eat some Sonic!

Sunday evening we visited with one of Kyle's old friends and then went to dinner at Applebee's. Adam, his family, and Linda met us there. They already ate dinner, so they had dessert while we ate dinner. After dinner, we went to Linda's house for a little while. Adam, Branden, Hailey, and Peyton played together. We left around 8:00 and went back to the hotel to go to bed.

We left Michigan around 8:00 on Monday morning and made really good time getting home. We made the whole trip, including stopping to get some dinner, in 9 1/2 hours. It was a crazy busy and exhausting weekend, but it was tons of fun too!