Ohio recap, September trip

Elle and I went to Ohio a few weeks ago - Tim was busy at work because of football, and this also gave him a few days to rest up before I started the new job and his new schedule of getting up with Elle every day commenced.

We flew in to Columbus because it was cheaper, a direct flight and a good way to maximize visiting time with my sister, who lives there. Marti picked us up from the airport and we met up with her husband for lunch. Then Marti had to go back to work, and Elle and I hung out with Uncle Jeff for the afternoon (we pretty much all took naps).

That night, we drove to meet my mom halfway between my parents' house and Columbus for a human handoff. We met for dinner, and Elle enjoyed the buffet immensely.

On Saturday, Elle stayed to play with my parents and Uncle Doug, and I went to the wedding of one of my dear college friends, Aimee. It was the first time my college roommates and I had been together since my own wedding almost three years ago, so it was great to celebrate Aimee's special day and catch up with some of my favorite ladies.

My sweet suitemates.

With the bride! I heart wedding photo booths :)

Catching up with Katie, who I hardly ever get to see.

My roomiemate! With her daughter, Joey, who entertained us all :)

It was a beautiful day, a touching ceremony and an amazing reception, complete with amazing little details that Aimee poured her heart and soul in to.

Seating assignments were written on window panes,
hung from the ceiling of the rustic lodge.

On Sunday, we drove across the state to meet up with Tim's mom, sister-in-law and nephews so they could visit with Elle. We met up for lunch, and Elle enjoyed showing them some of her new tricks, longer hair and reading prowess.

Giving cousin Sam the side eye.

A few hours later, Elle and I met with some of my high school friends for some pumpkin spice goodness at Starbucks. Soon after that, Aunt Marti arrived at our parents' house to spend a few days with us.

On Monday morning, my mom, Elle and I visited with my good friend Jen and her three-week-old son Maddox. He is so stinkin' adorable. It was the first time I'd been around such a young newborn since Elle was born, so it amazing to remember her being that age and look at her now. I loved getting a reminder of the newborn noises, stretches and expressions, and it was great to see Jen again :)

"Grams, excuse me - what are you doing?!"
asks a confused Elle.

Jen and her adorable little man.

"So. How's this life-outside-of-the-womb thing working for you?"

The rest of Monday was pretty low-key, which was nice after all of the driving around and general traveling we had done.

We even FaceTimed with my brother, sister-in-law and niece in Colorado, so almost all of the family was "together."

On Tuesday afternoon, Elle, Marti and I packed up, took some final photos and and headed back to Columbus, where our flight would leave on Wednesday morning.

We went out for dinner, and in a quiet corner of the restaurant, Elle provided the diners with some awesome sound effects ... as she strained and grunted (Elle's days of stealth pooping are over, by the way), I felt like all eyes were on us. Marti and I asked "Elle, what are you doing?" Elle responded, cheerfully at that point, with "Poopy?"

Post-"Poopy?"

The rest of the evening was spent with me going through some stuff I'd left at my sister's house after our wedding (I've scored a nice family discount on the "storage unit" for the last three years) and reading, watching TV and eating.

On Wednesday morning, we headed for the airport ... and got stuck in a massive traffic jam. Awesome. We finally made it to the airport and Elle slept the entire flight. Whee! Tim picked us up in Tampa and drove us home, and we spent the rest of the day recovering and preparing for the start of the new job. I'm not sure when our next trip back to Ohio will be, so it was nice to have one last 2011 trip under our belts :)