Father's Day and Family Reunion in Indiana

Getting ready for the trip:


Ready to hit the open road:




Meeting Great-Grandpa for the first time:

I love the way they are looking at eachother here:

And here with Great Grandma:


Having fun with Nana

It takes a real man to ride a pink bike!
Hanging with Mommy in Indianapolis

Loves his Daddy

Watch that bracelet Michelle! :)

Three Generations: Steven Dale, Justin Dale, and Jackson Dale

It was great to see everyone!

I LOVE his face in this one!
Bright eyed in Indianapolis

Could they BE any cuter? I love Jackson's arm casually leaning on Daddy.

Before bath time in the hotel. I dont even think this picture looks like him. What a funny expression!
He's cool like that...
Having fun with mommy...what a silly picture!
Favorite.Picture.Ever. Got this picture while they were playing peek-a-boo under the covers!!

We're back from a great vacation to see family in Indiana! First off, Jackson did so well! We actually drove there and we were gone for a total of 7 days. In order to break up the trip a little bit, we started out by driving to Sevierville, TN for the first night, which is the perfect halfway point between home and Indiana. The trip took a little bit longer than anticipated because of several wrecks on the interstate and a portion of I-40 still closed down due to the rockslides. Jackson slept for 2 1/2 hours of the drive, which was wonderful! When he woke up, I moved to the back seat and we played with all of his toys. That kept him entertained for awhile. When he started to get just a little fussy while we were stuck on I-40, we pulled into a rest area located right in the middle of the mountians and spread out a blanket for him to stretch out and play on. That seemed to help. When we got to the hotel, we ordered take out and set up his pack and play and put him to bed. We were able to get suites for all of our hotel stays which was KEY in being able to put him down and still be able to watch TV, eat, and stay up without disturbing him.

The next morning we ate breakfast at the Applewood Farmhouse Grill in Pigeon Forge, which was delicious! Then we hit the open road bound for Indiana. It was supposed to take 5 hours, but we hit traffic again due to storms and wrecks. We still made decent time and arrived in the rockin town of Seymour IN that afternoon. We set up shop in the hotel again and ate dinner out at Chilis (our food options were limited!). The next day was Father's Day and Jackson gave Justin his gifts: A gift certificate for a massage, and a frame that said "Best Dad" with a photo of the two of them. Justin loves it and now has it sitting on his bedside table! Justin is an amazing dad to Jackson and Jackson really loves his daddy!! After opening Father's day gifts, we headed to North Vernon to see Justin's family. It was his grandparent's 58th (WOW!) anniversary and they have a family reunion every year. Jackson got to meet his great grandparents, several great aunts, cousins, and he got to see his Nana again. He really did well and I was so happy that stranger anxiety didn't come along for this trip! He is so funny though-He gave everyone his "squinty-eyed" smile at first and then after he warms up to them they would get the real smile. He did that to everyone this whole trip and it was so funny. He was charming everyone he came into contact with by giving that look! I don't know exactly what that look means, but do know that it is a happy face.

It was wonderful to be able to watch Jackson interact with his great grandparents. I wish I could tell his 10 1/2 month old self to soak in every moment that he has with them, but I know he wont understand it until many many years later. We did get some good pictures, though! What a special thing it is for Jackson to be able to meet and spend time with his family, especially those from that generation. I love that he has been able to meet almost 3 of his 4 sets of great grandparents. Jackson has been able to see both sets of my grandparents (minus my Grandad A) several times now and I am so thankful for that! Justins grandfather on his dad's side unfortunately passed away about a month ago. Justin's grandma on his dads side and my grandad on my dad's side have been gone for years. And on that note, I have been thinking a lot about my grandad Atchley lately and how it is just a darn shame that he is not here to see Jackson. When we were in Sevierville, I made sure to tell Jackson that this was where his great grandpa Atchley grew up. We were very close and I know he just would have loved Jackson to pieces. I think they would have had a really special relationship. He was just a wonderful man and I miss him all the time. I like to think that maybe he's already met Jackson, though! I also think hes probably a little proud of Jackson's strong will and stubborness, since that is surely a quality passed on from him (but in a good way!)

Anyway, back to our trip: I could tell how much Jackson's great grandparents love him and his great grandpa was so sweet by saying special prayers for Jackson while we were there. We had a great day visiting with everyone and Justin's Aunt Kathy made a delicious lunch for everyone. The next day we stopped back by their house before we headed to the outlet mall in Edinburgh. We ended up dropping some $$ on baby clothes for our very big trip in Feb (details to come later) but I did manage to buy a few shirts for myself. Then we got take out salads for dinner and ate them back at the hotel. The next day we stopped by Justin's grandparents again before setting out for Greenwood IN, which is where Justin grew up before moving to SC. We drove around and showed Jackson his daddy's old house and the street where he used to ride his bike. It is such a nice town, but Justin says it has really grown. We then headed to Indianapolis to meet Justin's Dad and Michelle and some family on his dad's side. We all went to dinner with many members of Justin's family on his dad's side and it was a great time. Jackson got to meet his third cousin Madison and she is such a cutie! They are a few months apart in age. Jackson did pretty well but started to get a little fussy, so we went back to the hotel and put him to bed. The next morning we ordered breakfast room service with Justin's dad and Michelle (we had adjoining rooms) and it was so nice for Jackson to get to spend some quality time with them! Jackson had a blast showing them all of his toys :) Then we headed out back to Justin's grandparents for a final visit and then drove to KY for the night. The next day we drove from KY to Asheville NC and spent some time in Asheville. I forgot was a beautiful city it is! We ended up eating dinner at The Fiddlin Pig, which is a bbq joint that has a live bluegrass band who performs during dinner. Jackson was a HIT with all of the waitresses there! Once the bluegrass music started, Jackson was digging it until the loud singing started. He started crying and I picked him up and danced a little with him until he calmed down. After that he was fine and by the end of the meal, he was smiling and pointing to the band. A couple of the band members saw him and started singing to him and becoming really animated for him, which he loved. It was a great place to go with him! I am so glad we stumbled upon that. The next day we hit the road back home for Charleston and he slept half the way there. Ahh, home sweet home.

It was really nice making the drive to IN this time, as we normally fly. We got to see so many gorgeous mountain views, farms, small towns, and cornfields. It was all very peaceful. Justin did a wonderful job driving us almost 2000 miles throughout the week. My big strong road warrior! HA! I am so glad we were able to make the trip and very happy at how well baby boy did during the trip. It feels good to be home, though. We had been planning this trip since before Jackson was born and I can't believe it's already gone and over. It was so much fun visiting family, but it was also a blast getting to spend so much quality time together with my boys!