This past weekend, Patric and I, in our infinite wisdom, decided to take our not-yet-six-week-old son on a trip to IL that required a six hour car ride each way. We even decided to extend the trip by several hours both ways to make stops to see friends in DeWitt and Cedar Rapids, IA. Random, but both stops included wing places (pizza & wings in DeWitt and BBQ in Cedar Rapids). Luckily, James was pleasant for the majority of the car ride, and we only experienced one crying fit during the last 30 minutes to Rock Falls, IL on the way down (he was basically a perfect angel on the way back, and I'm sure this pleasant experience and my sharing of this pleasant experience will come back to haunt me soon enough!). Below are some pictures of our friends in DeWitt.
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| DeWitt friend S with daughter A (13 mo) and James |
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| DeWitt friend A with daughter A (13 mo) and Patric and James |
Our final destination was Rock Falls, IL, where most of Patric's family lives. We stayed with Patric's parents, who hosted a picnic for the rest of the family to meet James.
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| The Leuschke Family spread. What you don't know is that this is only about 1/3 of the counters covered in food! |
James is the sixth great-great-grandchild of Patric's Dad's Mom's Mom, so ofcourse a picture was in order! Great-Grandpa Ron took the picture. Below is a pic of the 5 of them getting organized.
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| Great-Grandma Pat, James, Great-Great-Grandma Darlene, Grandpa Brad and Patric |
There were a few highlights from the weekend. Patric and I did our first night out without James (Grandma Andy and Grandpa Brad babysat). We did Mexican (surprise, surprise) and board games with some friends around Rock Falls (J&A, J&L, and J). James also did 3 straight nights in his new Winnie the Pooh Pack'n'Play without major issue, and went without his swing for 3 days. It's nice to know that he's adaptable and travel-friendly :).
And here are some more pics of the family picnic.
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| J, Uncle M and M |
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| Great Aunt R, Great Grandma Lola, and M |
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| The other G-G-Grandchildren (B, E, S & C) and Great Uncle G |
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| J and James |
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| Grandpa Brad taking a trip out on the boat |
Good for you! We didn't attempt a car ride like that until Henry was about 3 months old, and it was very so-so. We are doing it again this weekend, and I am prepared for disaster. I think it is easier when they are really little and sleep most of the time anyway, but now that he is bigger and wants to crawl around and play, I don't think he is going to enjoy being stuck in his car seat all day...
ReplyDeleteOh, FYI, in case you ever need it, they make actual mattresses for pack & plays. We figured that part of the reason that Henry hates his p&p is that the "mattress" is really just some wooden slats with thin cotton "padding" on top, which doesn't sound comfortable at all. We ordered an actual mattress off Amazon, and he seems to like it better now. I think all p&p's fit a standard 24x38 inch portable crib mattress (2 or 3 inches thick), and it was only like $25, so it might be a good investment if you plan on taking many road trips. The only downside is that you can't fold it up like the rest of the pack & play.