Family Travels

In the past week, our family has traversed 2 countries, 4 great lakes, 4 states, and 1 province.  Sadly, it began with a trip to Ontario due to two deaths in Eric's extended family.  We left our house bright and early Wednesday morning for a 1:00 p.m. Memorial Service in Hamilton, and spent the day with many Plantinga relatives who hadn't yet met Emily.  I think she was a bright spot in an otherwise somber day.

We left Canada early in the evening and began our five hour drive to my parents' home in Beaver, PA.  Emily, who was thoroughly exhausted due to very poor napping during the day, slept pretty much the entire way.  We then spent a few fun filled, beautiful days in Beaver where my mom and sister were able to properly dote over Emily.



Eric and I managed to sneak away for a day and went to Kennywood, one of my favorite childhood pastimes, with our good friends Peter and Susan.  We also enjoyed a Pirates game complete with fireworks afterwards.  Sadly, the Pirates could not really make the game competitive, so the fireworks were the highlight of the evening.

We also enjoyed taking Emily to a swimming pool for the first time, eating dinner out with her, and playing with a bunch of new toys at grandma's house.

On Sunday, many of my aunts and one of my cousins came over from Ohio to meet Emily, and once again she was lavished with attention. In the afternoon, we left for home again, stopping briefly in Ann Arbor at Eric's parents' house.

We had a lovely time, and Emily was almost a perfect baby the entire trip, once again confirming her great love of people and her extraverted personality.  Today it's just been Emily and me again, and I think we're both a little lonely.  Eric and I love the life we've built in Grand Rapids, but we often miss being near our families.  Perhaps that will change someday, but until then, we'll try not be be frustrated and pull our hair out (at least some of us will).