The kids and I started 2023 out with a nearly week-long trip to Ohio to visit my family. My sister and her family also few in from Colorado and so the whole gang was together, including all seven grandkids/cousins. We mostly hung out together, but we also squeezed in two ice skating adventures, one trip to an awesome library, and neighborhood bike rides/walks. Our week culminated with the celebration of Baby B’s baptism at one of the church’s in which I grew up. Then, we returned to California and our work, school, and activity routine.
This trip to Ohio was my second cross-country flight alone with all four kids and my last flight with a lap infant. Irene turned two just days after we returned home from Ohio, so from now on, she’ll need a seat of her own. It was a bittersweet end to a travel era that consisted of many, many, many flights with a baby or toddler on my lap.
Coincidentally, our flight out of California also occurred on my 20th Californiaversary. While jetting away from the state, I quietly reminisced about arriving 20 years ago to the day in my 2001 Oldsmobile Alero with no money, a bunch of debt, no local friends or family, and a 4-month technical writing internship. I feel very lucky for the life and family I have made in this busy, expensive, crowded, but also beautiful, active, and opportunistic state.
The kids loved playing with their cousins in Ohio and they also loved ice skating at my undergraduate alma mater. This was such a fun, inexpensive activity that we will for sure be repeating it on future trips. On our first trip to the rink, only the big girls and I skated, but when we went back, William was ready to join in on the fun. One day, we followed our skating with a delicious pizza and pasta lunch at Campus Pollyeyes.
While we were waiting for my sister and her family to arrive from Colorado, my Mom and I took the kids to the Toledo Lucas County Public Library’s Main Branch. I’d been wanting to go here for years and I’m so glad that we finally made the trip. Their children’s library is the best children’s library that I’ve ever been to – great play areas, amazing themed exhibits, and plenty of space. We spent hours there. The kids played and read and I sat and read and watched them.
Like I said, most of our time in Ohio was spent just hanging out with family. My brother and his family drove up from central Ohio and my aunt and uncle drove down from northern Michigan. We celebrated the family’s January birthdays. And then on the morning that we left, we went to church to witness my nephew’s baptism. Dan and I are honored to be two of his godparents and I was thrilled to stand up in church for Baby B.
I’m sure we’ll be back in Ohio again this summer, like we normally are. This off-season trip was a great way to start the year and continue building on the relationships that my children have formed with my family.
The Chambers Family - A.D. 
I had to giggle at Vivian’s face peeking out in the baptism photo. It truly is a fulfilling feeling to revisit one’s home town and relive a lot of the memories from youth. In terms of libraries, if you ever are in Nashville, the children section of their library is worth a visit. Get a sneak peak of Nashville’s library near the tail end of my blog post http://wanderorponder.blogspot.com/2019/11/nashville-tues-downtown-library.html. I also was amazed with old and new images of my hometown library in Linden, NJ. A couple photos are in my post http://wanderorponder.blogspot.com/2019/08/ponder-library-book.html. Glad you had a great visit.