Our trip up North

Keith, Jacob and I took a trip up North two weeks ago to visit his family in Pennsylvania and my extended family, on my mom's side, in Western New York.

We left on a Monday morning, hoping to get out of the door by 10am, but it was more like 11am by the time we actually left (we have learned that traveling with a baby really messes up your plans!). We drove up to Indian Head, PA (which is southeast of Pittsburgh) where Keith's aunt and uncle live. We were able to see a lot of Keith's relatives and some neighbors that he has known most of his life. The house that his aunt and uncle live in is actually the house that Keith lived in with his grandmother when he was growing up. The ladies that live on either side of them, Retha & Dot, are close friends of the family and they were really excited to meet Jacob. He certainly got a lot of attention and got to meet a lot of new people.

Here is Jacob with Keith's cousin, Suzie

Keith's Uncle Barry loved talking to Jacob

Keith's Aunt Kay & his cousin's wife, Roxann, loved on Jacob

Keith's mom, Marge, was very happy to be able to spend time with Jacob

After spending Monday night and Tuesday morning with Keith's family, we left their house and headed north to NY. We made a stop at Allegheny College in Meadeville, PA. This is the college that Keith attended for his undergraduate degree. I had never been there before so he wanted to show me around. It was also a good stopping point for me to feed Jacob and for us to grab some lunch. An old college friend of Keith's works as a lawyer in Meadeville so he met us for lunch at a sub shop that Keith used to work at. It was nice to see Kevin and visit with him for a short time. After lunch, Kevin had to go back to work, but Keith, Jacob and I walked around the campus a bit. It was a beautiful summer day in PA, with the sun shining and low humidity. I really enjoyed seeing the buildings and area as Keith reminisced about his college days there.

We left Meadeville around 3:30pm and continued north along Lake Erie to the Buffalo area and then east to my grandparents' house in Spencerport, NY (which is a bit west of Rochester). We stayed with my grandparents from Tuesday evening to the following Monday morning. While we were in the Rochester area, Jacob got to meet more family members for the first time.

Here is Jacob with my Aunt Julie (my mom's sister)

And with my Aunt Kathy (my mom's other sister)

Nana (my grandma) really enjoyed spending time with Jacob.

He is her 4th great-grandchild!

Jacob also got to take a bath in my grandparents' kitchen sink.

Many babies, including me possibly, have been bathed in this sink!

Keith enjoyed playing Risk with my Uncle Rick and cousin Nicholas.

He loves to play that game but he doesn't get to play it very often.

One of the reasons that we made the trip up to Rochester at this particular time was for a surprise 30th birthday party for my cousin, Sissy. Her birthday isn't actually until December but my Aunt Kathy decided to throw the party now because it would be hard for everyone to get up there in the winter time. Also, there was a charity golf tournament and another surprise party for Sissy's grandmother (on her dad's side) happening that same weekend, so a lot of her relatives on both sides were in town.

Here are Sissy and her brother, AJ, blowing out the candles

(AJ's birthday was July 26th so we celebrated his birthday too)

Karen and Sierra flew to Rochester for the party also so we were able to spend some time with them at my grandparents' house. My parents were there too, although I didn't get any fun pictures of them.

Keith spent some time reading to Sierra

Sierra was having fun with Papa G (my grandpa)

Here are the four ladies (Nana, me, Karen & Sierra)

plus Jacob before we left to head back home.

We left Nana & Papa's house on Monday morning and headed back to Indian Head once again. We stopped in Meadeville again on our way home, but only for a brief time to feed Jacob and get fast-food lunch for ourselves. We also stopped in the Allegheny bookstore (it was closed when we were there the Monday before) and Keith got a nice coffee mug and a sweatshirt for Jacob. We spent Monday night in Indian Head and were able to spend some quality time with Keith's mom before heading back home on Tuesday.

It was great that we had the opportunity to take this trip and be gone from home so long (I was still on maternity leave and Keith was on paternity leave). I really enjoyed seeing everyone and was glad that Jacob was able to meet more of his family. I hope that we can make this a yearly tradition so that Jacob can see where his mom and dad grew up and he can become familiar with all of his extended family members. I was sad that the trip had to come to an end, although it was also nice to get back home.

Our travels are not over quite yet! We leave on Thursday to head south to Augusta, GA for my aunt & uncle's 40th anniversary party. This time it is my dad's side of the family and more people who have not met Jacob. It is sure to be a great time and I am sure I will have more pictures and stories to tell upon our return!