Visiting the New England Greats

In February we made a weekend visit to see my maternal grandparents in New Hampshire. It's about a seven and half hour drive and it was Everett's first long car ride. Prior to that the longest he had been in the car was about two hours. We weren't sure how he would do but he ended up doing pretty well. It helped that he was able to sit between his Uncle Marcus and Aunt Keandra who very happily kept him entertained. They did a great job too!

We survived the trip and made it for a laid back and relaxing weekend spent with my grandparents, uncle, aunt and cousins. We didn't do too much but we made sure to make homemade ice cream. This is a favorite childhood memory of mine. Growing up this was something we always did when we visited my grandparents and even now is something I really look forward to and enjoy. There is nothing better than homemade ice cream, specifically, my grandparent's cherry vanilla ice cream. This time Everett got to get in on the action.

He also had his first taste of homemade ice cream given to him by his Great Grandpa Howe. The ice cream takes awhile to make and he had fallen asleep during the cranking process. Needless to say there was a determined consensus to make sure he tried some. He did and I'd say he liked it though we gave him way too much!

Be forewarned, this video is four minutes long.

The other thing we made sure to do was visit my Great Grandparents and Everett's Great Great Grandparents. Everett is their second Great Great Grandchild with my niece Jaliyah being their first. When we first saw my Great Grandmother she reached for Everett right away despite the fact that I was trying for a hug first. :) My Great Grandfather has dementia and we weren't sure how he would be but he was having a pretty good day and for the most part knew who we were. He seemed to enjoy meeting Everett though he did mention he thought he needed to "get tanned up".

Everett with Great Great Grandpa & Grandma Portigue

Five Generations

We had a nice visit with them, it's not often that you have five generations together and it's something I cherish and don't want to forget. I am glad we were able to make the time to go, when people age and live far away you often wonder if each visit will be your last. I want to make the most of each opportunity I have to spend with them.

Though it was a short visit to New Hampshire it was an enjoyable one. I love that we were able to spend quality time with family and it was pretty neat to pass on childhood traditions and memories to my son and introduce to him to more people who love him.