Wisconsin

I don't know why everyone talks about traveling with infants being hard.  Sara Beth was an angel on the plane flight.  Sara Beth played around in my lap, and then fell asleep while eating an apple on the flight out to Wisconsin.  On the flight back, Sara Beth slept for most of the way.  Easy as pie.  Now, granted, we did use the Benadryl trick.  And, of course, by declaring that it is easy, I am almost guaranteed to have a much rougher time when we fly to Colorado in two weeks.

We all had a great time visiting with my Aunt and Grandma.  Sara Beth soaked up all the attention that she was given like a sponge.   

We packed only the bare essentials for the trip, so Sara Beth did not have any toys from home to play with (aside from a stuffed animal and a few books).  To compensate, we took advantage of her ability to entertain herself with common household items, including, but not limited to: plastic meat containers, pieces of cardboard, wooden spoons, drink coasters, and the below mini pink soap dish. 

 In addition, every day friends and family brought more gifts for her.  It was a tight fit going up there with only carry on bags, but packing for the return flight was complicated by everyone's generosity and kindness.  I was able to fit it all into the two bags without any zippers bursting, but me suitcase was now too tall to fit into the overhead compartment and ended up being strapped into a spare seat at the back of the plane.  In addition to new puzzles and books, she received Verna, her great grandmother's 88 year old doll.

Each time Sara Beth found something new, she had to examine it using her "grumpy face," the face she makes when she concentrates.  Aunt Sue loved to see Sara Beth make that face.  We were able to get them both to make it by introducing a back massager to the below scene at the last second.

Sara Beth also got to meet her second cousin Landon on Mother's day.  We all got together to celebrate all the new mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmothers.  He is three months younger than Sara Beth which means that when Gretchen held Sara Beth, Landon was as happy as a clam, but when Heather held Landon, Sara Beth became noticeably agitated and crawled over to them to intervene.