New Bern, NC or Bust!!

Another first for our family of FOUR......an eight hour road trip!!

Aaron's cousin, Kristin, got married and before the birth of Caroline we knew for certain he and Cannon would attend the wedding which was taking place in New Bern, North Carolina.  Soon after Caroline was born I made a VERY quick decision that we would all four pack up, buckle up and head north!  I say it was a quick decision because we had never gone on a road trip more than three hours with Cannon and now we have an additional child too....not to mention, she is a fresh out of the womb newborn!

Preparation for the trip was tense.  I had checklists in my head and checklists written down and finally I had to just take a deep breath and realize that if I forgot something then we would pick it up along the way or buy it when we got there.  To my amazement, I forgot nothing BUT that doesn't mean that I kept on schedule and did things exactly the way they would have been done if at home which is sometimes a problem with me.  I like my kids to sleep in their own beds for their naps and stay in their "comfort zone" plus having a schedule with the kids makes life a little (just little) bit easier.  Again I had to throw those schedules out the window and enjoy this new adventure we were about to be on and the moments we were about to have with Kristin and the family.

So come along and enjoy our trip!

We set out on Friday afternoon and hoping Cannon would enjoy the portable DVD player we bought for him.  This picture truly captures the amount of time he spent watching the movie Happy Feet.  The rest of the trip was spent looking out the window at the trees passing by, cows and horses in the pastures and big trucks next to us on the highway.  Cannon was a good passenger and we were so proud of him for enduring the long drive strapped down his car seat.  I think he enjoyed having Orie (his best buddy) make the trip with us!

First stop - BOJANGLES!!!  Yummy!!!

Aaron and I are obsessed with this place and since we don't have one in Bluffton we stopped the moment we saw the sign on the highway.

Cannon showed off  his driving skills while at the gas station.

And after eight hours, two eating/feeding/bathroom stops, we finally arrived at the hotel!!
Cannon made a bee-line for the room!
Little did we know that once in the room..........

....he was like a monkey jumping on the bed. 

Seriously?  Could this kid have this much energy at 8:00pm after the what I thought was forever drive from South Carolina to North Carolina.  But he did and we enjoyed seeing that smile and hearing him laugh the entire time he was getting out the last of his energy before going to bed.  What you don't see is Grandma having just has much fun with him!  He loves his Grandma W!!

Cousins, Luke and Lindsey hadn't seen Cannon since he was 4 months old so they didn't waste any time reintroducing themselves to him.  Cannon took his usual moment to warm up.

Miss Caroline got cozy in her pj's and said goodnight once arriving at the hotel, the trip wore this little one out.  It would me too if I was stuck in a car seat riding backwards for eight hours!  Hang in there girl, one day you will be calling "shotgun" in an attempt to gain front seat access from your big brother.

And look who was back at it on Saturday morning!! 

Cannon was up and VERY ready to be a monkey again jumping on the bed. 

No wonder there is a song about this!

Lindsey holding her new baby cousin for the first time.

Luke was waiting his turn to hold Caroline and sat "practicing" the baby hold.

The handoff was seamless.....

.....and baby Caroline now enjoyed being in the arms of her big cousin Luke.

Of course I didn't pass up a picture with my sweet baby girl before heading out to go shopping in downtown New Bern.

Cannon ran around the lobby like it was a new playground and tried to escape a couple of times.....

....but Luke and Lindsey were always there to corral him back!

We see you and those cheeks sweet Caroline!

Did you know New Bern, North Carolina was the birthplace of Pepsi? 

We didn't either until we saw this!

Time for the wedding and while waiting for the bride to walk down the isle, Daddy kept Cannon's attention with some yummy snacks.

It was a beautiful day at a beautiful place for two beautiful people named Kristin and Alan to get married!!!  We are so happy for them and pray for lots of love and happiness in their journey of marriage!

Look....more cousins!!! 

We loved being able to see Uncle Brian and cousins Jake, Megan, Kelly, Katie and Tracey.  They are all growing up so fast and are such good kids.  We miss them all so much.

Cannon takes any opportunity to help out with his baby sister these days.....but this time I wasn't sure if he was helping or pushing her back out to the car so HE could get all the attention?

Grandma was LOVING the time with her grand babies.

Cannon had a blast with Aunt Blanche.  

Who knew banging on chairs could be so much fun?

Caroline got to have a Kodak moment with the bride and groom.  I think she was telling Kristin that she wanted a baby cousin to play with! :)

By the end of Saturday, my little man was t-i-r-e-d!!

Sunday morning came and before we got back in our car seats and seat belts to head back home, Cannon got to be loved on one more time from his cousins......

......and Grandma of course!

Having fun with his Grandma, aunts, uncles and lots and lots of cousins is exhausting!  Can you tell?  We weren't even a couple of minutes on the highway before I looked back and noticed he was OUT!  Even Orie was put aside so he could settle in for a good car nap.

The only stop we made on the way home was for some good 'ol country cookin at Cracker Barrel....and of course some front porch rockin in the rocking chairs!

Well, I'm happy to report that our first long car trip as a family of four was a success!  It had it's moments where we thought we were driving to New York instead of North Carolina but I can honestly say it wasn't too bad.  I'm not scared to to it again. 

After all, a trip where you get to see the ones you love are the best trips of all!