While we didn't make the trip in a woody, we did make a pretty fantastic voyage to visit family in Kentucky and Indiana, and had our first baby shower along the way.  My mom's extended family all lives in Louisville, KY so it's a trip we've made many times.  My dad's brother and mom, and my cousin live in Evansville, IN, which is about 2 hours away from mom's fam, and of course when we're already that close, we get a chance to see that crew too.  Best case, it's a 9 hour car trip to KY, then a couple hours more to IN.  On this particular trip, we got stuck in the perfect storm of a traffic jam 7 hours into the trip and spent 2 hours going 3 miles.  Not fun for anyone, and least of all the pregnant lady who was driving at the time.  Long story short, we made it (and really were lucky not to be one of the forty-some cars involved in the wrecks), and the extra car time really helped us narrow down the list of potential baby names..

First stop was Mom's side of the family in Kentucky and on day one, we had a family reunion.
(not actual family)

While I'm not directly related to this guy, he was there (my uncle raises buffalo as a hobby).  Yes, that is pretty cool and yes, he staged a feeding stampede for everyone that was also pretty cool.  We don't get to see these folks very often, so it was great to see everybody and catch up!

(actual family shot)

Day two of the trip brought a bunch of the crew together again for our first baby shower.  Again, fun times had by all, and I even knew what most of the things we got were.  A huge thanks to everybody for the great baby loot, and and extra special thanks to Brandy, Aimee and Lynda for hosting the shindig.  And extra-extra special thanks to Brandy and Damion for putting us up AND for being super-generous and letting us take home their PB changing table.

A perfect example of how RA looks great and my what-have-YOU-been-doing eyes tend to ruin pictures

Action shot!

My Aunt MADE this.

After the excitement of the shower (and some crafty packing of the non-woody travel vehicle), we were on our way to Evansville and Dad's side of the family for day three.  We went out and grabbed dinner with my grandma, aunt & uncle, and cousins (and scored more baby goods, thanks again, guys!).

Until a few years ago, Grandma lived waaaay out in Arizona.  It's a special treat to have her much closer now and it gives us the chance to see her more often.  She is probably the hippest 90 year-old you will meet.  She's sharp as a tack, loves football, has a Wii, and she owns the cornhole tournaments that they've started bringing to her apartment.


Our dogs don't do the kennel thing very well, so we had to cut the trip shorter than we would have liked to get home and rescue them.  Here's to hoping that everyone wants to come meet this baby in NC in a few months...