Last week was Rodney's spring break and we planned a trip to Michigan to visit my family (my dad had not seen Eva in person yet). It was our first official long car trip since Eva's birth and it was an overall success. We have learned from our summer travels with Will last year that driving through the night is the only way to do it and this time was no different.

We left Monday night after a great weekend with the whole Malone clan here in STL. Despite the fact that we had a fun weekend, it left us with no time to pack until the day of the trip. Our ETD (estimated time of departure) was 7pm and after a lot of scurrying we made it in the car with everyone in their places by 7:40.

We were a little nervous about Eva sleeping because, being the great little baby that she is, she slept almost the entire time we packed. But, she completely blew us away when she feel asleep without fussing about 15 minutes into the drive and stayed that way until midnight, at which time we gave her a bottle and she fell right back to sleep until 9 am. William took a little more coaxing, but we were ready to help the little man out. Soccer ball in hand, he quietly listened to his favorite cd on the IPod through the car stereo and was asleep by the second to last song. Wish we would have had something like this last summer (we spent hours during our huge road trip trying to get him to forget the fact that he was in his carseat and not his crib).

Excited for the Trip

Tight Quarters

Just Another Road Trip?

By driving through the night we made the trip in 7 1/2 hours, just 1/2 hour longer than a childless trip. Compare that to the 9 hours it took my sister and brother-in-law (+2 kids) with their day drive to STL this Christmas. Yeah, through the night is the way to go.

We arrived at my sister's house by about 3 am and got, well, some sleep. William awoke in the middle of the night and slept with us until daybreak, at which point the bright sun lit up the cozy basement (where our blow-up mattress was) and he could not resist playing with all of his cousins' toys. Rodney and I decided to let him play while we attempted to get some shut-eye and this worked until Will put a Barbi car on my head with the lousdest freakin' music blasting in my ear. So much for sleep recovery. *Sigh*

We had a great breakfast with Earon, Mia and Evan and headed to the aiport to pick up Papa and Nana around 11:30. We are such dorks for two reasons. 1. Earon and I both forgot our cameras to capture the reunion in the airport and 2. As we excitedly watched for my parents to get off the plane (they had one of the stair thingys that unloads people right onto the tarmac) we failed to see that they were also unloading from the back of the plane. We were all staring out of the window (waiting to go crazy with flailing arms when they got off) when mom and dad suddenly said from 2 feet away, "what are you guys looking at?" It was very anti-climatic and gave us lots to laugh about (poor Papa and Nana).

In Love

Papa and Eva

Birthday Meal (Nana's: March 23, Mine: March 4)

Getting Ready for Dance Class

Eva Meets Nonna Eva, Her Namesake

The rest of the week was wonderful. Will took a little while to warm up to his Papa and Nana, but by the end of the trip, he was asking to hold Nana's hand while we walked down the hallways at Marc's school (where he is a band director). This touched her more than anything. He also greeted them when they came back from having dinner with old friends one evening. "Hi," he said with his hand up in a wave. He did this to our neighbor the other day and to kids and people in the park yesterday. Looks like we may have an extrovert on our hands.

Rockin' Out on the Timpani

Proud Grandparents

Where's Evan?

The trip was so good, but I will have to say that it is nice to be home. Will did not sleep fantatastically and has been making up for it ever since we got back. Eva actually did sleep alright, but the interesting thing is that since we've been home, she's started to sleep even longer at night. Rodney and I commented on how we thought they appreciated being home and are thanking us by sleeping well. You're very welcome, children ;).