Our trip back to the US was all about family. The main disadvantage of living in NZ is not the lack of retail shopping or the lousy housing options; it’s the distance from family. So here we are, soaking up the relatives.

Ah yes, Omi and Abi grinning with the baby at the Indiana Dunes.

Omi and Abi live just around the corner from Omi’s parents, so we dropped by regularly to shoot the breeze with the Great Grands.

Bubbles! Grandma sits by enjoying the noisy action.

A weekend trip to Lancaster PA gave us a chance to see another set of Great Grands, Mommom and Poppop (Abi’s parents). Poppop’s health has been precarious this past year, and I particularly wanted to bring the kids for them to meet. They have been a huge wonderful influence in our lives. Here’s a tribute to godly loving grandparents, and the tremendous blessing they are.

Naomi’s happy to sit with other people so long as Mommy isn’t within view….so here I am hiding while Mommom gives her a cuddle.

It’s pretty rare that all four of us sisters are in the same place at the same time. This time it happened in Lancaster PA where we all joined up to see Mommom and Poppop. Left to right: Kelsey, Susanna, Molly (Naomi), Rebecca.

Our cousin Bethany came up for the weekend too, meaning all the granddaughters had congregated. She’s self-reportedly no cook, but she can flip grilled veggies….just don’t ask her to shuck the corn!

Moriah joined us, Jeremiah’s youngest sister, rounding out the entourage of girls (well ok, I guess we’re all women now), and sharing the photos of her new wedding dress as well as the latest family news.

Back in Chicago, Rebecca good-naturedly provides the bottom layer of the kid sandwich. Her appetite for play almost never ran out, and she had scoped out all the playgrounds in a 5 mile radius before we arrived.

“I Winned!” Aunt Becky crows….or at least “I got the ball in!” Mini golf with Milo was a hoot, bringing back memories of Cape Cod fun as kids.

Here’s Omi in her element. I admittedly haven’t got much patience for kids’ shenanigans when it comes to bed time. I want to put them down in their bed, sing them one song, and exit. No last drinks of water. No prolonged bedtime stories. No whinging. Needless to say that takes a bit of training, and we haven’t gotten Naomi up to speed yet. Omi became the appointed bedtime walker, dosing her with a soporific combination of song and rhythm that even Naomi couldn’t resist.

Milo likes trains, and so does Abi. Fortunately, the house is just one row back from the busy train lines. Whenever the railroad crossing bell dinged Milo shouted “Train!” and hustled his favorite train vantage point. He liked to try and distinguish the roar of a commuter from the rattle of a freight train.  In a boy’s world you can never have too many trains, so they both enjoyed the elaborate model at the Chicago museum of Science and Technology.

Yes family, we love you!