Trains, planes and automobiles

The O'Rourkes have finally landed! We are home in Minnesota after a wonderful trip to New Jersey to spend a week with the Causeys. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed every moment with the cousins and were able to get in a little sightseeing as well. There is way too much to put everything into one post, so I will break it up over a few posts. This post will focus on the travel and our time with the Causeys. And yes, we did manage to use all three methods of transportation during our travels, and you could even add the subway (if you consider that different than the train, we did both).

For a while we were worried that we might not make it out of Minnesota as planned. There was a pretty bad snowstorm that hit on December 30, the day we left. Our flight was delayed, and then we sat on the plane on the runway for a long time as they de-iced the plane and cleared the runway, but we finally were able to take off. Ava and Luke really did great, we had our moments, and Ava nearly melted down before we boarded the plane, but overall no complaints. The picture doesn't do the storm justice, usually you can see buildings and trees across the runway, and there were times we couldn't even see the runway. Kind of scary they let planes take off and land in weather like that!

We arrived in Philadelphia, Aunt Lauri, Maddie and Hannah were waiting, and it was off to New Jersey! Ava was a little confused that we didn't actually land in New Jersey. She keeps telling people that we got lost in Pennsylvania, but Philadelphia is the closest airport. The cousins had gotten the video game Rockband for Christmas, so there was lots of singing and guitar playing, and Luke was in love with the drums. I have a feeling the Causeys never thought their house would be quiet again!
The kids played, went to the park, built things with legos, and just really had a great time together. Ava and Luke absolutely love their big cousins, and Nick, Maddie, Hannah and Isaiah are so great to them. Maddie got up with Luke almost every morning and got him breakfast (Andy honestly said that was his favorite part of vacation) and Hannah got Ava through bathtime almost every night. Nick and Isaiah loved taking Luke to the park and playing legos and trains with him. The adults played a few hands of Rook (of course) and just enjoyed visiting and catching up. Charles had us watch "Elf" (funny) and "Napoleon Dynamite" (painful for Sara, Andy says it is growing on him). The last night we were there we had a little birthday celebration for Ava and Luke, complete with an umbrella cake (Ava's choice).
And of course we had to see Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base. Charles gave us a tour and we saw his new office, the airfield, and hopefully where they will be living in a couple of months in a brand new house!And then it was over. Time flies when you are having fun, and it was time for the O'Rourkes to head home. The flight home was uneventful, Ava even took a nap. We are looking forward to sleeping in our own beds! Thanks for the wonderful week Causeys! We miss you all so much already!

Stay tuned to hear about our trips to Philadelphia and New York City...