Trips and Milestones

When Bryce was a baby, my parents lived four hours north of us. The first time we visited them, I spent two days packing and the night before we got in the car I couldn't sleep because I was so nervous about how the trip would go. He cried. A lot. Over the next half decade, I got used to the fact that whenever we drove for more than 30 minutes, the baby in the back seat would scream, whine, wail, barf, etc... Car trips were something to be endured, not enjoyed.

Because I have a sadistic streak a mile wide, I decided that I'd reward us all for a great end to the school year by taking a trip from Salt Lake City to Vancouver, British Columbia, with a bunch of stops in between. We drove more than 3,000 miles through five states (and Canada!) stopping in six hotels along the way. I knew that if we brought enough books, crayons, DVDs, and devices beginning with the letter "i," the older kids would pretty much leave us alone in the front of the van. They'd pop on their wireless headphones (the best purchase ever!) and watch The Muppets all the way to Canada. But Rose might hate the car. And if she did, we'd all be miserable.

Once again, Wonderbaby came through. With a sister on either side, Rose loved the van. They talked to her and played games with her, and she endured even our fourteen hour deathmarch home with little more than the occasional whimper. The only time she really lost it and screamed was when we sat in rush hour traffic at the border crossing on the way back from Vancouver, and honestly, I felt like crying and screaming then too (not because of her, just because it had been a REALLY long day).

Here's a quick photo recap of our visit:

Friday- Salt Lake to Winnemucca

Pretty sky

 Saturday- Winnemucca to Monterey to San Francisco

Notice Maren is wearing her PJs for the Ghirardelli outing

Too tired to share!

Sunday- San Francisco to Ukiah

Annie and I ate here for breakfast and lunch

Breaking free from the Rock

Isaac loved the Sea Lions

I REALLY wanted to run across the bridge, but settled for riding shotgun

Monday- Ukiah to Eugene along the California Coast (the day it rained ALL day)

Picking her nose and covering herself with cookie crumbs proved very entertaining

Some fancy mansion in Eureka that is now a "gentlemen's club." Don't be fooled by the blue sky.

Rain in the Redwoods

Rain along the coast

Rain at the border (my 49th state!)

Tuesday- Eugene to Portland

We took the kids for "nasty" donuts. Too rainy to get pictures in the many gardens we trudged them through before they got their sugar.

Wednesday- Portland to Seattle along the Oregon Coast

Thursday- Seattle to Vancouver, BC and back (sigh)

Not sure where we are here.

Bryce said coming to Canada was "the only" reason why he consented to join us on the trip

Still sorta smiling, but not exactly happy.

Friday- Seattle (no driving!)

Top of the Space Needle for lunch and this dessert (Maren seems a little scared of it!)

Bryce's future employer

 Saturday- Seattle to Salt Lake (we'd planned to stop in Boise, but decided to soldier on through and get home)

We stopped in Weiser, ID to check on Grandma and Grandpa's graves

Home!

And in other news, we've now had Rose for three months. She's made so much progress. Last week, despite spending hours every day in a car, she started scooting (mostly backwards) and once we got home, we moved her to her crib, where she discovered that she can pull herself up to standing. She looks like she'll start crawling any day now. I'm not fooling myself-- at fourteen months, she still has a long way to go to be completely caught up with her peers (there was a thirteen-month old Chinese girl at one of our hotels who ran into the breakfast room screaming for "Baba"), but she does seem to be catching up. Our PT said this morning that she can really see the difference in the weeks that pass between her visits. I hadn't spent too much time looking at our pictures from China since we got home, but as I was putting this post together I ran across some of the original pictures on the photostream and was shocked at how different she looks.

Exactly three months ago.

Baking cookies with me this morning

And eating as much dough as she can sink her fists into.