On Friday, we loaded up and ventured out on our very first road trip as a family of four. We drove to Grandma Helen's house in Columbus Junction, Iowa to introduce Adrienne to most of the Howe family (we missed you, Angela and Uncle Kent!). Matt and I both had nasty colds, and we began the trip as two sick parents, a screaming baby, and a 2 1/2 year old refusing to nap. After about 20 minutes, things in the backseat settled and both girls napped away for nearly 3 hours. We stopped once just south of Cedar Rapids at a rest stop so that I could feed Adrienne and Jillian could run around, and made it to Grandma Helen's house just in time for dinner. I was shocked to wake the next morning and discover that Adrienne had slept all night (10:30-5:30), and pleased that Jillian hadn't put up much of a fuss about going to bed, either. I also discovered this tuckered out guy....
Jillian quickly bonded with Aunt Diana (visiting from Colorado), and quickly declared to her, "you are my new best friend!" She kindly watched over both girls so I could shower on Saturday morning.
Grandpa and Debbie traveled from Kansas City to meet A, and both got in their fair share of snuggles.
My best shot at a four generation picture...Great Grandma Helen, Grandpa, Daddy, and the girls
Jillian enjoyed lots of fun activities during our visit. Here she tries her hand at walking Grandma Helen's dog, Abbie.
Daddy and Grandpa took her to a spot where both spent lots of time fishing and playing in years past. Jillian loved the chance to wade and try her hand at fishing with her Dora pole in the Iowa River.
Jillian also enjoyed a surprise early birthday party for Mommy. She was excited to come upstairs shouting, "We have a birthday cake!" after dinner on Saturday evening. She giggled as everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me. We all enjoyed the yummy cake, and I was touched by the surprise.
We had another successful trip today, with only 1 stop for gas/lunch/bathroom break and made it home in just under 5 hours (about an hour longer than it took us pre-Adrienne). Not too bad for a first attempt!
Congratulations! that is quite a feat-glad your first attempt was a success.
ReplyDeleteMatt is going to kill you for that picture. Jillian looks like a clone of you in the picture of her sitting on Diana's lap. I had to do a double take.
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