Chicago Roadtrip

Nick and I just got back from a roadtrip to Chicago with the girls.  We had the opportunity to visit some family there and decided that it was time to try a longer trip with both girls.  It was also the first time that many of them had gotten to meet Victoria, so it was a trip we really wanted to take.  It went pretty well!  We left early Wednesday morning (5am) and made the trip in 10.5 hours.  It's usually around a 9 hour trip when just Nick and I used to drive it (which we used to do a lot in college), so another 1.5 hours seemed pretty good considering we had to stop for stretches, feedings, and diaper changes.  We made it to Gram Margaret's around 3:30 that afternoon and had a great visit with her, Bernie, Rosa, Marc & Michelle, and Bernice that evening.  On Thursday, we took it easy and had a relaxing day at Gram's house, took Ellie to the pool, had a good nap in the afternoon, and then met Michelle, Phyl, and Aunt Wilma for dinner.  It was a really good night!

Aunt Wilma and Victoria

Grandma Margaret, Victoria, Nick, and Ellie

Grandma Margaret and Ellie having fun!

Phyl getting in some V-time

Ellie found a new buddy in Michelle!

The Marcus daddies and their beautiful baby girls

On Friday morning, we packed up our stuff from Gram's house, and drove to Mokena, IL where Curt and Kara live.  We had talked about going to downtown Chicago, but Nick and I have been there several times before, and I felt it was just too hot and exhausting to try and do that with the girls.  So we were happy that Kara and Gracie were home and we had a great visit with them until Curt got home from work.  That evening, we had a nice dinner, and then went to the park for awhile where Ellie sure enjoyed running around and climbing on the playground equipment.  We completed the day with a stop for ice cream.  Yum!

Kara and Ellie hanging out (oh, and Ernie!)

Hard to believe that Victoria and Gracie are only 3 months apart!  Such happy cousins...

Saturday was a busy day - the girls and I attended Kara and Grace's baby shower while Nick and Curt played Frisbee Golf.  Nick and Curt took the girls back to their house for afternoon naps while Kara and I finished up at the shower.  Then we all headed over to Chuck and Cheryl's for visiting and pizza that night!  It was a great visit and of course, went way too fast.  Before we knew it, it was time to pack up and make the long drive back home again.

The drive home went pretty well up until we got about one hour from the WI-MN border.  From there on, Victoria had decided that she had had enough of her carseat and was done traveling.  She screamed for the next 3 hours.  We did try to pull over several times to get her to calm down, only to have her start up again as soon as we got back in the car.  We even made a 1 hour pitstop in the Twin Cities at Amanda and Steve's to let her stretch out for awhile.  She wore herself out about a half hour from home and finally passed out for the night.  Needless to say, we were glad to get home!  (Though we did have a great trip!)