Laytons ladies in Louisville

The Layton ladies took a weekend road trip to Louisville, KY (a new state for all three of us!) to visit my long-lost cousin, Bratny. (For the record, her real name is Brittany, but when we were younger we called each other Moron and Bratny, and I just can't stop.) Bratny's husband goes to the Louisville School of Dentistry and I had never met her kids (ages 4.5 and 2)...it's been that long.  

As it turned out, my sister Kelli was visiting Louisville for her a gymnastics competition her niece was in, so I planned my visit at the same time. She was with her darling mother in law, another niece, her daughter Mackenzie, and her youngest son Nolan. I did miss the other boys, but was so excited to see at least part of her family after more than a year. 

Leah had just finished camp the day before, so I woke at 4:30 Saturday morning to pack the last minute items in the car and transfer my sleeping beauties to their car seats. My goal was to make it to Louisville by noon while the girls slept for most of the morning. 

Well, they were wide awake after I transferred them and then slept for only about 20 minutes (pictured below) the entire drive, but were still fabulous travelers. And construction on what should have been our last hour made it our last nearly three hours. We arrived at Bratny's around 2pm. 

First things first, they jumped right onto the tramp (no pun intended), while I unloaded a few things out of the car. 

Leah had a mini meltdown, so after we got her all settled, we headed to the zoo...which happened to be right across the street. Seriously. Right across the street. And not even a big, busy street. A tiny residential street. It was perfect. 

The girls had a fabulous time at the zoo, going on the "up down up down" (most people call it a carousel). I decided Leah might be a descendant of the giraffe. And we found Kate-a-potamus's namesake, the hippo. Kate and Blakely, Bratny's daughter, are two months apart in age and were so cute together. We heard "Mine!" "No Mine!" more times than I'd care to admit, but it really was fun to see them play. 

After a few fun-filled hours, we headed back across the street for dinner and then goodbyes to Kelli and company as they were headed back to Tucson early the next morning. A short but sweet visit. (And please pay no attention to my unkempt self...waking up at 4:30 and driving for almost nine hours doesn't bode well for me, apparently.)

Sunday we went to church together and mostly just relaxed. It was nice to spend the weekend with family rather than alone with the girls at home! 

Monday morning we headed to see the U of L School of Dentistry, which also happens to be Grandpa Hauley's alma mater. The girls made sure to find his picture in the hallway of past graduates. It was fun to get a sneak peak of the training they receive. 

We then headed to Calypso Cove, the YMCA waterpark in the area. Seriously, it was the most amazing Y I have ever seen! I'm definitely submitting a comment card to my local Y. We need this in Iowa! 

After swimming, I was so excited to go and visit with Ann Marie, who I first met on the Rett mom getaway I attended in 2010. I hadn't seen Ann Marie since, and I had never met her daughter, Abby, who always reminded me so much of Leah. They live about 10 minutes from my cousin and Ann Marie was so nice to let us come visit even though she had a one month old baby! It was so much fun to catch up, meet her husband, Abby and their two boys, and just watch Abby and Leah together. Their 5 year old son and Kate played like best buddies for two hours! It was such a fun afternoon. 

My plan was to leave late afternoon on Monday to make it back that night, but Bratny talked me into staying. So I put the girls down for bed and watched the Bachelorette finale with Bratny and some of her friends and then headed out the next morning. 

It was a whirlwind of a trip, but so much fun. We definitely can't go another five years before another Moron-Bratny reunion.