Trip to IA

This weekend Matthew, Abby and I went to IA for my cousins' graduation party in Des Moines. Jason and Sam stayed in MN. I was a little concerned about the drive as sometimes Abby isn't the best in the car, but we gave it a go anyhow and it went pretty well. On the drive down both kids took short naps and with about an hour to go, Abby was making things very lively so we had to stop at a rest area and take a break. Matthew enjoyed the opportunity to walk around and play some and Abby enjoyed her freedom from the car seat and being with Mommy.

Matthew especially liked being in IA and when we drove in Grandpa and Grandma's yard he yelled, "We're in Iowa!" We played with kitties and tractors, petted Dee (the dog), ran around outside and took a trip down to Des Moines on Saturday for the graduation festivities. Abby was in usual form, only happy (i.e. not crying/screaming) when being held by Mommy. She's in that phase these days and has been for some time. And she's got two teeth coming in so that's making her more crabby than usual. Seriously, she's really a calm and fun kid when she's not surrounded by people she doesn't know. Really, she is.

We headed home Sunday afternoon and Matthew quickly fell asleep while Abby was sometimes quiet and sometimes not until about Medford, then unfortunately she just lost it and I had to take a break at the Medford Outlet Mall. After she calmed down and we walked around for about a half hour we continued on our way. A half hour later Abby again was having difficulty so we had to take another break. Now, if you think I stop whenever Abby makes a peep, you would be wrong. I give her maybe 10 or 15 minutes to calm down, but if she's continuously crying for that duration I pull over. Believe me, it seems like the longest 10 or 15 minutes ever. Poor Matthew, he's used to her outbursts, but it still must be trying for him too.

So we stopped again, hung out in the car and went to Target. Then after a 10 minute break we were back on the road. The last 40 minutes of the drive were mostly uneventful. Abby cried out every so often, but nothing major. Most of her outbursts occurred after Matthew would scream, "Look, big buildings!" And he frequently screamed that as we were driving into and through Minneapolis. And I mean scream. Or maybe screech. Either way, it was difficult to hear, made me cringe and admonish and made Abby cry. To calm Matthew I put on the Muppets movie soundtrack and then he would yell, "Ma nah, ma nah!" as he wanted to hear the "Mahna mahna" song. Occasionally he would yell about whatever vehicles he would see and I would sometimes correct him when he said the wrong color or something like that. To which he would reply, "It's naw ot! It's naw ot" (it's not), turning "not" into a drawn out two syllable word. He is quite opinionated about things these days and will really fight you if he thinks his interpretation of the situation is correct. Anyway, we had a fun trip, everyone slept well and the driving was really not too bad. Here are some pictures of the weekend.

Matthew refused to wear both a bib and clothing other than a diaper for breakfast, so he was well covered with syrup from his pancakes which required a bath.

Abby, during one of her better moments of the trip, fascinated by a spinning top.

Matthew, although he loves tractors, still takes some time warming up once inside them. He had fun after awhile but none of the pictures where he was smiling and enjoying himself turned out. 

Here's a baby kitten which lives in the bean head for the combine. I suppose it will vacate it's home well before the fall comes around, but for now it's a cozy, dry place to call home. We saw 10 kittens on the farm this weekend, all black and white.

Grandpa Don got the kitten out so we could see it up close. Matthew is more of a dog person than a cat person (he laid on Dee and gave her a big hug more than once), but he still had fun with the kittens.