Memorial Day Weekend

We went to visit Greg’s family for Memorial Day. It was Adrianna’s first road trip. 500 miles is a long trip with a newborn. She did really well. To save time so we wouldn’t have to stop for feedings, I had some pumped milk on hand for the trip, so she could be fed while still strapped in her carseat. We arrived at Grammy and Grandpy’s house at about 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Both Marilyn (Grammy) and Dave (Grandpy) were so excited to see Adrianna that they got up to greet us when we got in.

On Saturday, we went and visited Adrianna’s Great-Grandparents. It was their first time meeting her. She is their first great-grandchild. It was really sweet to see their reaction. Later that evening, Grammy, Grampy, and Aunt Kristi watched Adrianna for us so Greg and I could have a “date”. Our first time to get out alone together. I had been looking forward to this date for quite some time. We went to Ryan’s Steakhouse. Ryan’s offers a great buffet. I know, I know, not a very romantic setting for our first date post-baby. But it was my choice to go there, so don’t worry. I really enjoy eating there and was also looking forward to being able to eat as much as I wanted now that my stomach was no longer smushed by a pregnant belly. I was able to order a coke for the first time in probably 10 months. (I avoided it during pregnancy due to caffeine and then later due to my gestational diabetes as well.) Oh, it was delicious. Heaven in a glass. *sigh*

After our date, we met Kristi and the three of us went to see Star Wars – Revenge of the Sith. I really liked it. It was really sad to see Anakin’s fall and everything, but cool to get those questions answered as to how it all happened and how he came about to have to wear that black suit and breathing apparatus.

Sunday morning was Adrianna’s first visit to church. We previously had not taken her out due to our doctor’s advice to avoid crowds for her first 6 weeks. Since she was just shy of 6 weeks, we thought it was safe for her to make her debut. After the praise and worship and before Dave started the sermon (he is the pastor there), he came out and got Adrianna and then brought her up to the stage so he could introduce his granddaughter to everyone. It was a sweet moment and met by applause from the congregation – I think they had all heard about this first grandchild and knew how excited our family was. Then, Dave asked Greg or I to come up and retrieve Adrianna. As Greg started to stand up to make his way up front Grandpa Reimer, who was sitting behind us, literally shoved him out of the way and then he made his way up to get his great-granddaughter. We all thought that was pretty funny.

After a nap on Sunday afternoon, we made our way out to Marion Reservoir to have a picnic and make hobo dinners* with some friends of the family; Steve and Bobbi Friesen and John and Marynell Francis. Unfortunately it began to pour rain. So we took our picnic over to Steve’s parents’ house which wasn’t far away and we ended up having a great time on their closed-in porch. Our hobo dinners and smores were cooked on a grill instead of in a firepit, but they tasted just as yummy. One pro to the pouring rain was a beautiful rainbow that we saw. It was a low rainbow, and really bright – we could see the whole arch. Marilyn made the observation that the 2nd rainbow above the first had its colors inverted. I had never noticed that before. Pretty neat. Dave took a great picture of the rainbow which I will post later. Once the rain stopped, Greg got out his boomerang and threw it around awhile.

We were supposed to drive back to Colorado on Monday afternoon, but Greg got pretty sick on Sunday evening and it lasted through Monday. Poor guy. He had a fever, the chills, and a sore throat. That is no fun at all. I know this, as he passed it along to me and I had it last night and today. Thanks Greg. hehe. One benefit to this though was that we got to spend an extra day in Kansas with his family, so that ended up being a good thing.

We drove back to Colorado on Tuesday once Greg was feeling a little better. Adrianna wasn’t as patient coming home as she was on the drive out to Kansas, but overall she did pretty well. I pumped during the trip and also had some formula on hand so we could feed her again without having to stop. She managed to mess 2 different outfits, so thankfully I had plenty of spares packed. I was glad that she didn’t mess her carseat though. We got back pretty late, about 11:30 p.m.

*Hobo Dinners are a great camping/picnic dinner. We make ours with ground beef, onions, sliced potatoes, carrots, salt, and pepper (some family members also use cabbage). All ingredients are mixed together and wrapped in two layers of aluminum foil and then laid on the hot coals to cook. After removing, serve with any additional seasoning and/or ketchup. Yum! The beauty of hobo dinners though is that you can really use whatever ingredients you want (i.e. substitute the ground beef for sausage or chicken).