July 4-8 we headed over to Sandpoint, ID for Darrell’s Grandma’s 80th birthday party and family reunion. We were a little apprehensive because it was going to be Edwards first big trip. We have taken him a few places in the car and he always did well there, so we were hoping he would be good to go the 6 hour drive there and 6 hours back. At the last minute, we decided to leave on the evening of the 3rd and drive through the night. It worked out great. Darrell drove and stopped when we needed to feed Edward and then Darrell napped while I changed, fed, and got him back in the carseat and ready to go again. Our normal 6 hour drive ended up only taking us about 8 hours. Not to shabby with a newborn. 🙂
We decided to stay with Darrell’s Uncle Adam and Aunt Linda. They have a changing table and a bassinet so it was stuff we wouldn’t have to bring. Plus there was only one other family member staying there, so it wasn’t too overwhelming for Edward. It was nice being able to pass him off to someone else so we could get a break (even though I never went far).
Overall it was a great weekend. Edward went to his first fireworks show and slept through 95% of it (then he started stirring so I went inside the host’s house so the noise would be muffled). We got to meet and spend time with a lot of the family and it was nice that Grandma Lorna got to see how much bigger Edward has gotten in the 3 weeks since she saw him last. Plus we got photos of Edward and her that we forgot to get when she was here. We took Edward down to the river and were going to dip his toes in, but he decided he was going to stay awake all day (8-4) and then he fell asleep just before we left so he slept the whole time we were at the river.
We were going to come back on the Sunday, but decided to stay an extra day so we would miss all of the holiday traffic. Darrell worked there on Monday and after he finished, we headed home. Unfortunately, Edward slept most of the day on Monday and when we got to Spokane, he decided to start waking up. After that, he was fussy and didn’t want to stay in the carseat. We had to stop a little more often than we would have liked, but he was a happy baby when we took him out of the carseat. We stopped for dinner in Ellensburg and it was the first time I had to nurse him in a restaurant. Definitely a little different, but we did it! 🙂
Best part of the whole weekend: Edward slept for 4 hours at a time the whole weekend except for Saturday night. Saturday was the birthday party and that night, Edward slept for a whole 6 hours. I woke up after 5 hours and was a little worried he hadn’t woken us up yet, but he was fine, so I let him sleep. I felt great that I had gotten so much sleep. It only lasted for the one night, but it gives me something to look forward to. 🙂
The only downside we found from the weekend was a little overstimulation for Edward. He was use to a lot of people paying attention to him and playing with him that Tuesday was rough since he wouldn’t allow us to leave him alone to do anything. He constantly wanted attention and to be near someone. It was a slow process to get him back to being ok with being on his own and we will have to figure something out for next time we visit family.
Allen/Ednie Family Reunion Dinner on Schweitzer Mountain:
Being loved on:
<–Uncle Bruce; Uncle Adam–>
<– Aunt Linda; Great Grandma Natalie–>
<–Cousin-to-be Kasey; Wanda (Linda’s Mom)–>
Grandma Lorna
Random Edward from the Weekend:
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| At the River with Adam & Linda: |
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Rest Stop on the way home:
 
Kisses from Mommy & Daddy:
 
On the way home:
 
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