Georgia or Bust!

This year was Great Grandma & Grandpa Struck's (California Grandma's Parents) 60th Wedding Anniversary! What an incredible accomplishment! Our trip started June 10th, departing Edwardsville at 8:20pm. Then the rain came!!! Stopped about 25 minutes into the trip to upgrade the wipers and from there, all went really well! Drove through the night so Riley could sleep, which worked out nicely! Upon arrival to the rental house, we were greeted by Amy, Cory, Brooklyn, Griffin, Candon, Taylyn, Beth, Rob & Baron, & Riley's Great Aunts Nancy & Elaine & Second Cousin Mandy. We spent our evenings at Great Grandma & Grandpa's with Grandpa Dick in charge of all the BBQing for the family & had a special Anniversary Celebration on Saturday afternoon including a beautiful cake & steaks, all after a fun filled day of family photographs at a look out point and a waterfall. Friday, we went to a beach where the kids soaked up some sun & really showed their love for the water!!!! I am going backwards, but on Thursday evening, it was "Ladies Night Out!," which was a hysterical time & included the Daddy's staying home watching the babes and the Girls, Great Grandma Struck, Grandma Jackson, Great Aunt Nancy, Great Aunt Elaine, Cousin Mandy, Aunt Beth, Aunt Amy & myself all went to a local establishment and had a few cocktails. By the end of the evening, my face hurt from laughing and stories galore were shared! Aunt Beth was attacked my a fish in the process as well! Our arrival back to the mountain high home was greeted with all the Papa's relaxing peacefully after putting the babies to bed! So nice! The trip in it's entirety was an incredible, memorable one, with lots & lots & lots of pictures. The kids really enjoyed the apple tree at Great Grandma & Grandpa's! Who knew that the simplest of things could provide such entertainment! The trip came to a close on Saturday evening, when we headed back to Illinois, arriving home before the sun rose. It was obvious that the love the family shares was in existence during the entire trip & I continue to Thank God for being a part of such a special family!

Side note: Riley had an accident falling literally on her face, or nose, the night before we left, as you can see in the pictures! It was just a scrape, but, go figure, today, there is no sign of any booboo.