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We just got back from your second road trip up the coast. Last year when we traveled up to Washington for Daddy’s yearly Travis meetings, you were only about 5 Months old. You weren’t even sitting up yet! This year, you’re a little girl with an attitude, into everything, amazing us daily with the new things you can do. You did amazingly well in the car. We found we could take you on about 3 hour stretches without stopping as long as we helped keep you entertained. But when that 3 hour mark neared, you usually got pretty antsy. So we’d stop and have a picnic lunch at whatever park or rest stop we could find. Here we are at Fort Lewis having a picnic lunch. You spent the majority of the time we there feeding yourself and us blueberries. But you also helped me out with the above family self-portrait. You’re smiling at the camera (even though no one is behind it) because you were helping me make sure we *got it* after every take, running with me to take a look at the LCD and then running back to Daddy before the timer went. It was fun. 🙂
Just another cute one of you showing off your modeling skills at another rest stop. You can check out pics of you enjoying the sprinklers at another rest stop in another post. These little respites were definitely highlights of our vacation. Even rest stops are fun with an 18-month-old.
As is hanging out in a hotel We were on our own – just us girls – for 3 days while Daddy had to work. We made our own fun.
We ran up and down the halls (quietly)of the Extended Stay,…
We played dress up,…
….went out to lunch (here you’re eating an egg salad sandwich with a fork, hehe),…
…spent a day on the Mukilteo waterfront where we chased pigeons and seagulls, ate ice cream, put our feet in Puget Sound and got our toes all sandy,…
…and drove out to Kerry Park to get a view of Seattle where we hung out for an hour or so in the warm rain.
And when we got Daddy back, it was off to Oroville to visit Granny, Grandpa and Auntie Steph! The trip over was a bit of a challenge since you ended up with the stomach flu and made quite the mess multiple times on the way over the mountains. Poor thing! Daddy too. I was driving, so Daddy was on puke watch in the backseat with you. He handled it like a champ.
Once we arrived, you felt better within 24 hours or so. And they have such a beautiful backyard where you ran around in the grass, picked flowers, climbed stairs, ran in sprinklers (Sprinkler Time with Auntie Steph),…
…took your first “tractor ride” on Grandpa’s lawn mower,…
…got cake every night for dessert,…
…and watched fireworks with the family.
After a fun week with the family, we headed home. On day 2 we decided to stay an extra night in Reno to rest Daddy’s poor hurt back. We took advantage of one evening out on the town (Daddy hobbling along slowly with his cane) and took you to Circus Circus. You danced, played, drove, rode and generally had some wide-eyed fun.
And here you are… almost home. You were such a good girl in your car seat. We kept you entertained with books, toys, snacks, rolling down the window (below left) and a DVD player which we zip-tied to the back of the headrest for entertainment emergencies (below right.)
Road Trip 2011! That’s a wrap!