Evie's Carolina Adventure!

We had the busiest week and there was not much energy left for blogging. Traveling with a 15 month old is a lot more challenging than any of the other ages. Mostly, because she is so mobile and pretty much goes in the opposite direction of her mother.

   Wednesday morning, we went to visit my grandmother and aunt. Evie was very clingy but finally warmed up right before we left. They enjoyed seeing her and she had fun looking at a garbage truck on their street. We came back to my parents house to eat lunch, play outside a bit and pack for our trip to see the Horton's.  Evie was fabulous and slept the entire trip to Belton. She was very interested in Baby James stopping to kiss him on his sweet head while playing with all of his fun toys. Lindsay was impressed that Evie ate her pepper cream cheese dip. It was so yummy that Evie preferred the dip to the crackers. Evie also took a bite out of one of their coasters. OOPS! I am sure it was an eye-opening experience for Mac to see what Baby James will be up to in just a few short months. Evie and James are nine months apart so it was pretty crazy but so much fun. She loved playing with their dogs, Jumper and Phyllis and they loved playing with her too. James was quite enthralled with Evie wondering about this wild blonde haired girl running around his house. Lindsay made a delicious dinner! Evie was exhausted and went right to sleep. It was so much fun to see Lindsay. Now, that we are Mama's, it's so much harder to spend time together. I hadn't spent that much time with Lindsay in a LONG time so it was so nice to chat with my sweet friend. Evie woke up bright and early the next morning. This is about where my tune started to change and I was ready to get my wild thing home. She was so tired. Her short naps, time change and constant motion caught up with her and she was D.O.N.E.!  So, I packed everything up and we hit the road. She was sound asleep within 5 minutes of leaving Lindsay's house and slept for an 1 hour and 15 minutes until we hit a horrible traffic accident. This woke her right up! She did okay for awhile but then Mr. Nabisco had to lend a hand. She was so happy to get back to Nana and Ipop's house and see her doggies and her swing. Ipop would bring the swing in when she was not outside and she was quick to notice that it was not hanging from the tree. She had fun playing with everyone. Her favorite thing to do was to go in and out of the door on the screened porch. She thought that was so entertaining! Evie really mastered the steps this week and even progressed to walking up the stairs backwards. That kid is a ball of energy!

   Friday, I woke Evie up about 6 to go to Greensboro. My mom had a meeting there and we thought this would be a good way to spend some time with her since she had been so busy with work. Evie was not overly cooperative on the way there and she is a bit of a princess when it comes to the backseat. Evie refuses to sleep if someone is sitting in the backseat with her so she was so tired and so cranky!Ben and I dropped Nana off at her conference and then we headed to the zoo. Evie liked it but the children were more interesting to her than the animals. The Asheboro Zoo was so big and had way more animals than the Nashville Zoo. Evie and I were so glad that Uncle Ben came with us because Evie likes to walk at the zoo so someone has to be with her while someone else pushes the stroller. Evie is going to be in for a rude awakening when it's just me and her at the zoo because she will have to remain in her stroller.  It was getting hot so we left to go find the Children's Museum. Evie caught a quick nap on the way while she had the backseat to herself. Ben has a good sense of direction and got us there. It was so fun! I cannot wait to take Evie to the one in Greenville. We had so much fun watching Evie play. They have done a great job with it! We were all exhausted by the time we returned to Gastonia. Evie woke up in the night which has not happened since Easter. She does that when she does not get good sleep during the day. Crazy but true! We watched Evie play this morning and then she took a short nap before we headed to the airport.

 Our flight only had thirty people on it so we had so much room to stretch out. It was fabulous. Extensive flooding has created tourism problems in our area since people are holding off on visiting the area. Evie and I sat by the window and she waved bye-bye for a long time. I am so glad that Evie is a good traveler but it's still exhausting! Be thankful if you live near your family. It was well worth the effort.  Evie and I had a fabulous visit and had so much fun. Evie really enjoyed her week with her grandparents and uncle. Her Nana got her all of her favorites like oranges and yogurt. She also developed a fondness for strawberry newtons and even had an oreo for the first time! Nana kept all of Evie's clothes in tip-top shape since every outfit was splattered with all of the fun from her day. Evie loved all of the extra attention and had so much fun with the dogs. Evie loved her new swing and slide so much.

  She was thrilled to see her Daddy at the airport. Carl brought me Chick fil A at the airport so he got some major points for that! Evie slept for a LONG time this afternoon but woke up on the wrong side of the crib. She has been such a little trooper and is still totally exhausted. We did way too much on our little adventure so hopefully this week will be pretty low-key! Thanks for having us Nana and Ipop.