A visit to Gramma Jill's

2900 miles and 7 state later, our vacation is over. While I am sad to to see it end, I would be lying if I said it wasn't good to be home.

Ryder did remarkably well, better than I thought he would do. We did have to stop in Sioux City, IA and invest in a DVD player but we kind of expected that to happen. That was more for my sanity than anything, as trying to play DVDs on the laptop just didn't work from the front seat. We also learned that he is a Baby Einstein kid - and one 30 minute video in particular. Do you have any idea how many times you listen to a 30 minute DVD in 2900 miles? "Hey, little turtle, would you like to take a swim with me"? Somewhere around Nebraska Trent was ready to choke that little turtle.

We stopped in Council Bluffs the first night and made it to Fergus Falls Sunday evening. We stayed with mom until Saturday morning when she had to go to work. Ryder took well to Gramma Jill, he even made off with a pink spatula to remember her and how well we ate while we were there.

Below are some photos from the week.

This is the first gas stop of the trip. He is all smiles as his car seat got turned around to be forward facing for the first time ever and he realized there was more to see than the back seat. That novelty wore off somewhere around the Oklahoma state line.

Gramma Jill has cookies. Yummy, yummy cookies - and they don't come in plastic that say Gerber on them.

Vacation = lots of naps for my boys

Ryder got a bike from Gramma Jill and he thought he was so cool. He legs aren't quite long enough to reach the pedals so he likes pushing it round ... right up until he fell on the driveway and got his first skinned up knee.

Feeding Gramma leaves off the trees. We all know how much Gramma loves her leaves!

We hauled an entire suitcase of toys for him to play with and this was how he spent the week. Apparently he has heard the rumors about Gramma's baking and wanted in on the action. That pink spatula never left his hand - in fact I had to pry it away from him this morning to get him into daycare. 

Gramma's famous sugar cookies for breakfast

He was obsessed with picking up the sticks and leaves from the driveway. Wonder where he gets that?!?

This is my highchair - which would now be considered an antique I guess. He seemed to enjoy eating out of it and the wooden back cut down on the after dinner fits where he typically throws his head back and screams.

Gramma got him a pool - and he went swimming for the first time. From the expression on the second photo you can tell it was just as hot in Minnesota as it is in Oklahoma. Can a boy not get any relief??

Watching TV (he wasn't sure that 19 inch thing was really a TV or just a big phone) in my old rocking chair.

We took in the Otter Tail County Fair and Ryder enjoyed the petting zoo where he got up and personal with a cow. I told him to give her a kiss, and this is what I got. I would love to know what both he and the cow are thinking in the top picture.

We had a great visit with mom, as always it was too short and I cried when it was time to leave. I hate having her so far away from us. She will be coming down for Christmas, so we will be looking forward to that.

We had to get back in the car and head for Minot for the next leg of our adventure ...