Thurs/Fri in Illinois

If I thought traveling was hard before, I had no idea what I was getting myself into with a baby.

Chris and Alexa loaned us this nifty contraption. We added the wheeled-cart to the back of Aiden's car seat so we could get through the airport without a baby on our hip. Though getting through security was a horror show. We had to take this apart so it would fit through the x-ray conveyor belt. Then we had to take all the liquids out of Aiden's diaper bag (I had prepared for this by putting it all in a ziplock), take our and Aiden's shoes off, take our laptop out of the bag and empty our pockets, all at the security gate. Add to that, 50 irritable travelers waiting in line behind us, constantly pushing our stuff forward, and you get a LOT OF STRESS.

Aiden did pretty good on the plane. We took everyone's recommendation to feed Aiden a bottle during take off and landing to help his ears pop during the pressure changes. The only bump in the road was when nap time arrived and Aiden decided it would be more fun to be awake than to go to sleep. After 30 minutes of a cranky baby, Ariel asked if she could let him listen to her MP3 player. I was unsure that Aiden would allow us to put ear buds in his ears, but he didn't even seem to notice. He went STRAIGHT to sleep while I listened through the other bud to make sure it didn't get too loud for him. I will definitely be trading out the laptop (Aiden preferred to hit the keyboard over watching the show) for our i-Pod next time.

When we arrived in Chicago, we took a shuttle to rent a car. We chose a mid-size this time and ended up with a 2010 Chevy Malibu. It was a nice little car that thankfully fit all our luggage. Our driving time to central Illinois was fairly short since we landed in Midway, which is on the south side of Chicago. We dropped Ariel off at my mom's and then we headed over to Travis' grandparents' house to meet them and Travis' mom and step-dad for dinner. We hung out for a minute a their house so everyone could get some time with Aiden, especially since this was the first time Travis' grandparents had met him.

For dinner, we chose a local pizza restaurant that I make sure to hit up every time we are in town. It is THE BEST thin crust pizza I have ever had. I can't get enough of it. After dinner, we sat in the yard for a few minutes so Aiden could see what nice grass is like. We have nothing but rough, itchy St. Augustine grass here in this part of Texas. It hurts me to sit in it, so I'm sure it would be rough on Aiden's skin. The Kentucky bluegrass that covers most lawns in Illinois is far more enjoyable to lay in.

That night we stayed at Brenda and Rich's house in the country. We got to watch a good old fashioned thunderstorm roll in across the corn fields. The rain is softer there, and the lack of humidity is amazing. Brenda and Rich have a great porch that runs across the entire back side of their house, along with comfy chairs for us to rest in while we watched the live nature show. I miss that.

Friday morning, I dropped Travis off at his favorite burrito place in Champaign. He met our friend Jordan (Chrissie's husband) for a relaxing day of golf and beer, while Aiden and I were off to meet Chrissie for lunch. It was hilarious trying to get out of the U of I campus. It's been so long since I have driven around the area that I lost my bearings for a moment and had to get directions from Travis.

Chrissie was ecstatic to meet Aiden, but lunch was short. She had to get back to work. After that, we met Alex and my dad "for lunch" at Monical's (different location than the night before). I put quotations there because I didn't eat but a couple bites of pizza since we had already had our meal. I just had some time to kill and it happened to fall during Alex' lunch hour.

Papa G and Aiden

My brother Alex and my dad's bunny ears

After the lunches, I ran a couple errands for Chrissie (so she could get home quicker after work) around St. Joseph, the town I grew up in. It was surreal to see all the places I used to go as a kid. So much has changed. I have seen some of the changes before, but I always forget about them until I am back in town. There are different restaurants, which is always a big deal when you grow up in a town that is so small it is actually considered a village. I saw a couple people I went to high school with, but none that I was good friends with.

To be continued...