Southern Belle

There have been a lack of Ella posts for a simple reason, we were out of town. On Thursday afternoon, we left to visit good friends in North Carolina.

Ella was a great little girl on the flights, no problems whatsoever. She was a little "jubilant" on the way down and was shrieking out of joy. But, upon arrival, we did have several compliments on what a good baby she was.

We arrived in Matthews, North Carolina around midnight after driving from the airport in our rented minivan. We secretly liked having the van. Shhh... We said our hellos to Dillon and Amy and then were off to bed.

Ella and her boys - Zach and Matthew

On Friday, Dillon and Amy had to work so we were on our own. Ella took her first big girl bath in the whole bathtub, so that was exciting. We motored around in our van to Target and the grocery store and stopped at a nearby park for some swinging. We made dinner for the entire clan and had a great time catching up and meeting their youngest, Matthew.

Post Bath Hair!

Saturday we went to this awesome park, the US National Whitewater Training Center. It's used by the Olympians, but anyone can use it. It was a great park to walk around and watch kayaks and rafts go on the man-made courses. That evening, we saw another old friend from Connecticut and had a great dinner, lots of wine and played Apples to Apples. The babies were all quite well behaved. Ella liked getting to play with new toys and seemed to enjoy her surroundings and being able to watch 2 1/2 year old Zachary and 6 mo. Matthew.

Part of the training course

Dillon and Amy with Zach and Matthew

Ella is ready for dinner!

Sunday was church and we had to bring Amy to the airport for a business trip to Chicago. We stopped at Independence Park in Charlotte to play for a bit. We decided rather than try to go out to eat with three adults/three babies, we'd eat in so the boys ran into the store for taco fixings while I manned the van. Everything was going well, Zach and I were talking when Matthew woke up hungry, who then woke up Ella which started pandemonium in screaming babies. The guys felt really bad when then arrived back to the van to screaming kids.

Before Church

Independence Park

The boys load their kids into the van.

Minutes before chaos erupts... (ignore Ella's tipping car seat)

Monday was an early-up day of traveling. We had a smooth flight back and decided to go out to lunch before dropping Loran off at work. We stopped at Famous Daves and Ella had her first BBQ meal. I was impressed that she ate everything since it definitely had a little kick to it, but she devoured it without making a face. I must say though that the Famous Dave's induced diaper I got to change later was not at all pleasant. Disgusting.



So, we're back to cold and snow after spending a glorious weekend away enjoying 70 degrees and peak color. Ella and I even got a good portion of Christmas shopping done yesterday. Ella got her second flu shot today and once again, took it like a champ. She didn't make a peep. Gotta love her!

Reasons we should all move to North Carolina:
- Everyone's really nice!
- Duh, it's warm.
- Good family values.
- Neighborhood boys still run around the streets with fake machine guns.
- You buy groceries from a store called Harris Teeter - that's just fun to say!