Burning Up the Highway

Last month I traveled to Vicksburg, MS with Reid, Zach, and Kira to meet my mom. She drove in from Georgia and we stayed in the Quality Inn. It was a great weekend. We shopped at the outlet mall, drove all around Vicksburg, visited the downtown Coca Cola museum, and hung out at the hotel. It was a great, relaxing weekend.

The drive there was a little tough. Kira melted down about 30 minutes before we got there and we just had to power through it. She just wanted to stop and be held by her mother. The drive home was significantly better. She slept for a good ways and then was happy the rest of the way, so I never stopped. The boys weren't too thrilled about that, but I know I made the best decision. If Kira's happy, we're all happy. :)

Mom and I plan to do these meetings twice a year. We'll meet again in Vicksburg in the fall and then we'll start looking into other places to meet after that. Maybe along I-40 or in a more rural setting...

And then last week I flew up to Las Vegas and was picked up by John and Judy and they drove me up to their house in Cedar City. The airport in Las Vegas shouldn't have surprised me, but it seems a bit silly that there were slot machines right outside all of the gates. I mean, just because you *can*, doesn't mean you *should*. Kira did really great on the flight. She was happy and quiet for most of it. Then she started getting fussy when we were landing in Las Vegas. She fell asleep while we were taxing to the gate after we landed. That was probably the most inconvenient time she could have fallen asleep... she could have slept during the flight, or during the drive, but no... she wanted to sleep for 20 minutes and then wake up. But actually she did sleep for about an hour of the two and a half hour drive up to Cedar City.

I really enjoyed the scenery. I've never been to Arizona, Nevada, or southern Utah, so it was nice for me to admire the mountains and countryside. I even learned why Andy's wallpaper in Toy Story is blue sky with puffy clouds. I never knew that was a "western sky" until the drive back down to Las Vegas when John pointed it out to me.

Kira and I really enjoyed our visit. It was just the right length, I think. Long enough to really feel like you're part of that world, but not so long that you feel homesick. Just right.

We enjoyed a visit from Mike's brother, Joe, and his family. Their two boys (5 1/2 and 3) were really nice to Kira. She was so happy to get to play with them. It was really cute. And it was really nice to see them. They are some of my favorite people in the whole world and it's always nice to catch up in person.

One goal I had for when we were visiting was to help Kira learn to go to sleep on her own. I took my Dr. Ferber book and had my timer and was ready to be consistent. The first night I put her to bed after a bath and stories and she cried for about 15 minutes before falling asleep. Most of the other nights, she went to sleep without crying. She usually cried for about 10 minutes for naps. The middle of the night was a little rougher. The best night she had was 25 minutes. One night it was an hour. It was nice to know that I didn't have so many demands on my time and energy and so I didn't get so stressed out about her crying and keeping me awake.

So overall I was really pleased with how that worked. She's been doing great since we got home. She had some trouble last night, but we're just taking it one day at a time. It's a totally different lifestyle when you can just lay your baby down for a nap or bed. No more trying to get them to go to sleep and feeling frustrated when they won't even though you know they're exhausted. I think she's happier for it.

So besides the great cousin visit, we drove around Cedar City a good bit. John and Judy showed me all the sights. (Okay, there aren't many, but it's a nice little city.) I really, really liked the old church building and some of the older homes closer in downtown. The mountains are beautiful. I remember that from my trip to Joe's three years ago. The vast contrast between the flat plains and the towering mountains. I'm used to rolling hill/mountain country. But this is quite beautiful.

Kira had lots of great grandparent interaction. She'd hardly let them sit for long. She was always grabbing their fingers taking them to the room where the toys were. I'm sure she wore them out, but it sure was cute. She's had to adjust a bit to more normal levels of adult interaction since she's been home. Poor thing.

On the last full day we were there, I cut Judy's hair. She's been wanting to have it be shorter for quite a while, so I cut it to her shoulders. It's been about 40 years, I think, since she has had her hair this short. I was (and still am) nervous about the cut. I think I did a pretty decent job, but I still fret over it a bit. It was a big move for her. But it will be so much easier to manage and I know she'll enjoy that. I wouldn't grow my hair as long anymore except that I like to donate it. That shoulder length is just perfect to me. Long enough to pull back and tuck behind your ears, but not so long that caring for it is a pain.

Then the night before we were going to leave, it snowed about an inch or so. It was so fun to wake up to snow. And it was well behaved snow, because the roads were clear by the time we left to drive to the airport.

The trip home was long, but good. Kira did great and slept for 11 hours straight that night after we got home. She was as exhausted as I was!

Now I am getting ready for John and Judy to come here to visit John's family and us. Then in early June I'll head out to California to visit Mike's sister, Ann, and her family with Cole and Kira. And then at the end of June all of us will make a trip out to Georgia and North Carolina.

I think this will go down as "the year of travels".