We had quite an adventure on the road to Kansas. This was Mari's very first road trip and we weren't quite sure what she'd need. I spent too much time obsessing over packing the wrong things. It was cold as hell up there and while I packed warm clothes for the baby, I clearly didn't pack enough of those things. Anyway, the car was overloaded with things we needed to take up there for the rest of the family. Poor Maggie Honda chugged along, despite being weighed down more than she's ever been. My strategy was to wake up super duper early, chug a Starbucks and the next time I nursed, maybe the bit of caffeine would pass on to baby and she'd stay awake the entire day, thus wanting to sleep the whole night. Well, I was wrong!! She slept the entire day and was up a good portion of the night. Of course, she did a terrific job on the road trip. The only time she fussed was when she was hungry. Thanks to the car adapter, I could pump and feed her. We got quite good at it and by the end of the trip, we were old pros. We got in just after midnight and Grandma Carol was eagerly awake to meet her granddaughter. She was able to spend the next several days in her arms and hanging out.
Anyway, we went to celebrate our Grandma Wiggins' 80th birthday. It was great seeing everyone in the family. I'm glad we took the time to get as many pictures as we could. Unfortunately, there were several little ones running around with sniffling noses, coughs, and one cousin in particular was knocking on the door with the flu. I was concerned that Mari would pick up a cold and sure enough she did. (BIG FROWN!!) Of course she had to get her first cold some time, right? Fortunately, it was just a bit of a cough, lots of phlegm, and a good dose of sneezing. I was the one battling a full on cold, but more to come with that one later. Here is Mari meeting her great grandmother Wiggins for the first time. 
That evening, we took the baby to meet another great grandma: Great Grandma Skip. I absolutely love this woman! Don't get me wrong, I have love for all of my in-laws, but I have a special fondness for Skip. She's such an incredible woman and from the first time I met her, I knew she was one of those treasure troves of wisdom and life. This night in particular was very special. It was one of those handful of nights that you are blessed with having only every now and again. The hours flew by and Don and I were so impressed with her stories. I didn't want it to end, but it was getting late, I was exhausted from the day, and I felt a small tickle in the back of my throat (I'm allergic to her cat, Lucky.) Mari was really good in her arms and I think she had a great time that night too. She recently got hooked up to the internet and has email. I love that she signs her emails "g.g. skip." I think we'll teach Mari to call her GiGi Skip in that regard.The rest of our trip there was difficult because it was so cold. I didn't bring enough warm clothes for myself, but we made to. The really great thing, though, is that we took some family pictures in the park. Also, we discovered an incredible taqueria! And Mari got to meet a lot of her family, and her Grandpa Pete, who was freshly returned from his trip to Africa. The really cool thing was that he held her, albeit, with a slightly uncomfortable look on his face, but his arms said a different tale. I would've guessed he'd held thousands of infants.
Anyway, we made it back to Plano and time to do a quick turnaround to head to Vegas!
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