Road TRIP!

On Wednesday, March 12th, mommy and daddy loaded up the car with all of our suitcases and Clare and myself and we were off to Kansas City, MO so mommy could attend a Women's Health Care Symposium (whatever that is) and daddy could spend time with me and Clare. It was a LONG trip. We stopped in Columbia to grab a bite to eat at Wendy's before arriving mid afternoon at our hotel. Mommy and Daddy were exhausted but not ME! I wanted to play after being in the car all day. After mommy (!) got all the luggage in (who knew being gone for 3 days and 2 nights required so much stuff--I'm sure mommy wishes she would have taken pictures of the bellhop thing loaded with 3 suitcases, a pack n play, and at least 3 other bags!), Daddy called his friend from KC, Jim. After talking to him for awhile while Clare and I watched Einsteins, we headed down to the hotel restaurant. Did you know that I have decided that I am too big for a highchair AND a booster seat? It has made life quite interesting for mommy and daddy but FUN for me...hehe. Mommy ended up taking me on multiple walks around the lobby while we were waiting on my food. I LOVED my mac and cheese though. After dinner, we headed back up to our room where daddy gave me a bath while mommy got Clare ready for bed. I loved splashing in the tub and getting water everywhere! Once I was done in the tub, I climbed up on the bed with mommy and daddy and watched my Word World DVD and my Einsteins DVD. Mommy and Daddy had to lay with me until I fell asleep, then they padded me in since I was sleeping in a queen bed ALL BY MYSELF!. Mommy hardly slept since she was so worried about me falling off the bed. I did just fine though.

On Thursday we got up bright and early so mommy could get to her conference. She left Clare and me with daddy while she hopped on the hotel shuttle and headed to Crown Center. Once daddy got Clare and I dressed, we ordered room service since daddy was NOT going to attempt breakfast in the restaurant again by himself. After breakfast, daddy packed Clare and I in our stroller and headed outside to walk to the library for story time. We arrived late so we missed story time but we got to explore the cool library. I had fun looking at the cow and the cityscape the was set up. After the library, we headed over to Winstead's for some yummy burgers and cherry limeaid. After lunch it was back to the hotel for naptime. I of course did not want to take a nap but did manage a little snooze next to daddy. It was then off to meet up with mommy so she could feed Clare, however Daddy managed to get lost in Crown Center or maybe it was mommy who was lost, so Clare missed out on a feeding. Oops. When we finally found the hotel where mommy was at, mommy was almost done for the day, so daddy and I got to play some hoops since everything was set up for the Big 10 conference games that was in town that weekend. When mommy did come down to meet us, I did not want to leave, but mommy told me we were going to the Crayon cafe and store. A whole store of crayons...wow! After walking over all the covered bridges, we arrived back at Crown Center. We found the Crayola store and I was amazed at all the things there, but alas I was tired and hungry so mommy and daddy decided to cut our visit short and grab some food at the cafe. Daddy decided to get me some cheese sticks but I had more fun eating daddy's onion rings and the ice cream that mommy and daddy got me for dessert. After dinner and a trip to the Hallmark store, we attempted to find our car in the garage. Once we found it we headed back to the hotel for bedtime. Mommy got Clare ready and Daddy got me ready. Once I was out of the tub, mommy left. She had a conference call to make for school so daddy was left in charge of getting me to sleep in the bed all by myself. He did a good job and after a couple of Einsteins and WordWorlds, I was out.

In the morning, we were up bright and early again thanks to Clare this time. Daddy started loading the car while mommy got us dressed then mommy was off to her conference. Daddy, Clare and I stayed at the hotel for a bit but then met up with daddy's friend Jim at Winstead's again for lunch. After lunch where I was a complete MONKEY, we headed to pick out mommy and head home. I fell asleep in the car but woke up when we stopped to get mommy some lunch. We had to make 2 stops on the way home, once so mommy could feed Clare and then again for dinner. I wasn't happy about not being able to get out of the car the first time so I was THRILLED when we stopped for dinner. I was so happy when we got home and I'm sure mommy and daddy were too. In fact, I think daddy may have even carried me off to bed and I didn't wake up once!

It was a long 3 days but I can't wait until next year. I hear that we are going to take the train!

I wanted to include pictures BUT instead of having multiple pictures, I'm adding a slide show, so enjoy!