Evan’s Trip to Illinois

December 20, 2012: Tonight I was brought to Grandma Schumacher’s house-we were planning to drive half way to Illinois and stay in Des Moines, but there was a bad winter storm that went through Iowa, so we decided we would leave the next day.  I was a bit spoiled with all the attention I got from Aunt Rachel, Uncle Kyle, and Grandma Linda.  I got to stay up a little past my bedtime and play-which was a good thing because the next day proved to be a long day! 

December 21, 2012:
Aunt Rachel got me up at 7:45am-I was still sleeping but I guess everyone wanted to get on the road.  I think that when Uncle Kyle and Grandma packed the car they almost forgot to leave room for me-I honestly don’t know what they thought I needed-I mean I am only one-year-old, but the car was packed for me to be able to live for one month without needing a thing (Grandma packed oranges, puffs, strawberry jam, milk, Christmas treats, peaches-you name it, Grandma packed it!).  Luckily, I am little and I didn’t require a lot of room-just a lot of entertainment.  Our day started off well-the roads were clear and the sun was out.  Uncle Kyle drove and Grandma sat in back with me-I guess it was her job to keep me busy and happy.  I honestly was very good. Then we started to get closer to Des Moines-well, I thought we were getting closer.  Then Uncle Kyle started to drive slower, and slower, and slower.  When I was looking out the windows, I started to see the strangest things-cars, trucks, and semi’s in the ditch-oh my!  I could tell Grandma Linda was nervous because she kept telling Uncle Kyle it was okay for him to take his time (I can’t say I was thinking the same thing. The only thing I wanted was to get out of the vehicle and move around!).  We finally made it to Des Moines at 2:15pm and Uncle Kyle and Aunt Rachel dropped me off at Matt and Amy’s with Grandma and then left to get food.  While I waited, I crawled all over their house and went up and down the stairs-boy was it good to be out of my car seat!  When they came back, I ate some bread with ketchup and mayonnaise-boy did I like that!  I also enjoyed fries-mmm, delicious! I need to tell my mom about these foods!

Before I knew it, Uncle Kyle was putting me back in my car seat-I was not happy and I let him know it!  When we got back on the road, I couldn’t believe we were going even slower!  At this rate, Uncle Kyle told us that we wouldn’t get home until 10:00pm! The hardest part is that Uncle Kyle does not listen to Nursery Songs so that left my trusted toy radio and tv controller.  Grandma tried to keep me happy but by 7:00pm I had enough.  Of course everyone in the car kept saying “we are almost there!” But I already know what that means-it means we are still a long ways away but I have to be patient (I’m not quite sure what patient means though!).  At 7:15pm we pulled into the ‘World’s Largest Truck Stop’ and ate supper at Denny’s.  Boy was I happy to be out of my car seat.  I ate lots of hash browns and fruit-I would not touch my pancake though. I also made lots of faces at the waitresses-they thought I was ‘sooo cute!’  Once I was able to sit in Grandma’s chair-I accidently stuck my feet through the back of the chair and got stuck-I was not happy about this!  When we were eating, I got the best news ever-we were going to get a hotel room instead of traveling anymore-YEAH! 

We drove across the street to a hotel-and once we were settled into the room, I got hyper (hey-you would too if you had been in a car seat since 8:00am in the morning!).  I jumped into pillows, laughed a lot, got tickled, bounced on the bed with Uncle Kyle, and Facetimed mom and dad. Before I knew it, everyone said it was time for bed-but it was only 9:45pm! I slept in a special crib that the hotel provided-it had bars that I could put my bottle through-I had fun doing this.  I had trouble falling asleep, so Grandma Linda gave me a hug, and then I went right to sleep.

December 22, 2012: I woke up around 7:30am and Uncle Kyle brought me down for a delicious breakfast-I ate a lot!  Then guess what-it was time for the car seat again!  The good news is that we were able to drive faster than yesterday-the bad news was that I did not want to be in my car seat anymore, and I was going to let everyone know it!  It only took two and half hours to get home, but that was long enough. I was so happy when we pulled into our driveway, and the best part was mommy was there to get me out of the car seat.  I was sooo happy to see her!  I was so glad to be back home with mom and dad and my little brother Jaden! Although the trip was long, I did have fun with Grandma Linda, Aunt Rachel and Uncle Kyle. 

Jaden tackling me in the red blanket! I guess that's his welcome-home-hug!