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Tuesday, October 16, 2007

A Little Road Trip

This past weekend we took a little road trip to visit Olivia's Great Grandma...otherwise known as Nana Cleo. She lives in Muskegon, Michigan and hasn't seen Olivia since April. She has changed quite a bit since then, so needless to say she was anxious to get her hands on her great granddaughter. It has been almost one year since my Grandfather passed away. He died one week before Olivia was born. For those of you who keep up with my blog you probably remember how I went into labor the day after attending his funeral in Michigan. It was the perfect example of the circle of life. My Grandpa lived a long and happy life and left this world to make room for Olivia. She picked up right where he left off by taking on a larger than life personality...just like her Great Grandpa George! My Grandma has been a little lonely since Grandpa passed but she has taken great joy in watching Olivia grow. She had such fun watching all of Olivia's tricks and talents!

Now usually when we go away we have to deal with difficulties sleeping and uncharacteristic fussiness, simply because of the change in our normal routine. Well not this time! Olivia was a perfect little angel all weekend! We arrived Friday evening and enjoyed the perfect fall dinner...cheese toasties and tomato soup! It is a tradition that whenever it starts to get cold we have that meal. It was quite chilly in Muskegon and even colder near my Grandmother's house because she lives on Lake Michigan. So the comfort food hit the spot, and Olivia even had her first bites of a cheese toastie! Big surprise...she liked it!

The next morning we went out for a nice family breakfast. And later in the day we went to the Vikings which is where my Uncle spends a great deal of time. The drinks are super cheap and in Michigan you can bring babies into bars! After spending only a short time at the bar Olivia quickly developed a drinking problem and a gambling habit! We couldn't pry the pull tabs from her little fingers! What to do?
We then visited a small local candy shop that carries all of the old fashion candy that is hard to find. It was such a cute place and we had a blast filling up a basket of goodies. As we walked around the store Olivia held on to a big lolly pop that we were going to purchase. As we were getting ready to pay for our candy I looked over at her to see that she had started to chew through the plastic and was enjoying the sweetness of the lolly. I tried to take it away and she immediately through a fit. So we rushed back to Grandma's, threw a bib on her and allowed her to enjoy more of her very first lolly pop. After awhile she started breaking off pieces with her teeth and it was time to take the lolly away. She was not happy but we distracted her by throwing her in the bath tub, which was very much needed as you can tell...

That night we had a very nice family dinner. My Mom's best friend from high school, who still lives in Muskegon, joined us as well. We were celebrating my Grandma's Birthday and after dinner Olivia helped her Nana Cleo blow out her candles. In a few short weeks Olivia's will be blowing out her own candles...or should I say candle?

The next morning we packed up and got ready to head back to Indiana. We had to wait for Olivia to wake up from her nap before leaving. As many of you know Olivia is a very active little girl. There are few moments during the day when she isn't on the move. Olivia is also a big baby so it is hard for my Grandma to pick her up. She would rock Olivia, but Olivia will have no such thing. She just can't sit still that long...there is too much to do! The only time she is truly calm is right after waking up from a nap. So Nana Cleo took advantage of this time and enjoyed some cuddles with Olivia before we left. She knew this was a rare occasion so she savored every second!
It was a fun but quick weekend. Nana Cleo enjoyed her time with Olivia and she is looking forward to seeing her again at Thanksgiving. Now we are preparing to leave for Arizona this weekend. I am attending a week long conference for my job and Todd and Livie get to come too! We are looking forward to the trip. Olivia sure is one well traveled baby!

4 comments:

Tiffany Leininger said...

It sounds like you had a great time! I bet it was fun! Love the pictures and Olivia is getting so big. It is hard to believe she will be a year here soon! Wow! Glad you a good time. Have fun in Arizona. I think Olivia has been more places in her first year than I have in my 30 years! Ha ha!

Anonymous said...

Okay, I just realized that it posted my comment as made by Tim. That's b/c our Blog is under his name. Just incase you didn't know, it is from me...

Tiffany :)

Anonymous said...

Olivia looks drugged in the lollipop picture, too funny. I enjoyed hearing the story of her first sweets. Great Grandma sure had a great time and loved Olivia so much, she bragged and bragged about her. In about a month I will be able to get my hands on her and everyone else better WATCH OUT!! Aunt Sue Sue

Wormie said...

Sounds like a fabulous weekend! I'm sure Great Grandma just loves her time with Olivia! And that photo of her after her lolly is amazing!!!

Can't wait to finally meet her - soon!!!

Love,
Aunt Delia