Road Trip

A few weekends ago, me, Brandon, Ella, and my parents headed out of town to visit extended family. My cousin Tara and her husband and kids had flown into Rockford for a visit, so we made the trek there to see everyone. We almost weren't able to go because Ella got the flu Thursday of that week. It was her first illness, and it was a rough one. She couldn't keep anything down, and was of course starving, plus Brandon was on the road for work so it was just her and I. She recovered by Friday night so we were able to still make the trip.

It is the longest Ella has been in the car (about 3.5 hours) and she did great! She napped for about an hour each way, but mostly sat in back with my mom and I and played, babbled, and smiled. She had fun kicking her leg up in the air, as you can see....



Once we got down there, she got to see both Great Grandma's. Great Grandma Bliven let her chew on a box of Raisin Bran, which I think was Ella's favorite part of the weekend!





She got to meet her 2nd cousins, or 2nd cousins once removed....no idea how that all works, but they are my cousin Tara's kids Kinsale and Callon. It was tough to get all of them looking at the camera at the same time, but we did our best.




She got to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa.




And she loved playing with Great Grandma's dog, Ellie. She was absolutely in love with Ellie. Ella and Ellie....people were getting confused!