Surprise visit to Cleveland

By Jason

No one thought we were going to make it to Gram’s 80th birthday. We’ve taken Athena to Cleveland, Chicago, Washington D.C. and even Las Vegas this year, and we are planning another couple trips before the end of the year. But it was Gram’s birthday, and family were coming from all over the country, so we decided to fly out and surprise everyone.

Unfortunately Ann couldn’t get time off of work (this is the clinic’s busiest time of year), so we just had Labor Day weekend. Traveling so much in one weekend with a baby is pretty exhausting, which is part of the reason this post is late – when we got back, Athena and I got colds (hers lasting longer than mine) and last week Ann got sick.

We had a great time, though, and got to see a lot of people we haven’t seen in a while. Gram was definitely surprised – the only people we told beforehand were Joe and Michelle Delly, who thoughtfully lent us a Pack-n-Play for Athena to sleep in. Oh, and my Aunt Cindy guessed it.

I’ve got way too many photos to post, so check out the gallery in Flickr. You can also see more photos in Laura’s Picasa Album.

We got in pretty late on Saturday and had some rental car issues (the door wouldn’t close, and that seemed important somehow). Our plan was to leave Athena on my parents’ doorstep, knock, and then hide, but they were in the backyard so it didn’t quite work out. It’s safe to say they were surprised. In all the excitement their dog Zack got loose so Dad and I spent a good 20 minutes searching the neighborhood before I found him chasing a cat.

Dad is surprised:

Athena and my mom:

The party was at Casa D’Angelo in Macedonia. Here’s Ryan with Luke:

My cousin Casey and uncle Marty. I hadn’t seen them since Aaron’s wedding, but this photo shows that nothing ever changes with my family.

Athena and Luke:

My cousin Ron and Luke:

Athena wishing Gram a happy birthday:

Athena enjoying Luke’s swing – we’ll have to get her one, once we get a tree, and a yard to put it in:

The two babies almost match my mom in height:

The cousins with our kids:

We also got a little time to visit with Ryan and Jessie and their baby, Asher. Here’s Ryan walking with Athena, making him look enormously tall:

Asher sleeping:

Mom with Athena:

The flight back had a stop, so we were pretty worn out by the time we hit SFO. It was all worth it, but we need to convince everyone to come out here more often. We’ll even make breakfast.