Eily's 2009 World Tour (Part 1)

Okay, perhaps the title is a bit hyperbolic. Eily didn't exactly tour the "world," but I think the northern half of the eastern seaboard is pretty darn close when you're only three and a half months old! So here it is, the post you've all been waiting for (though I hope you weren't holding your breaths in the process).

We embarked upon our adventure on Friday, October 9. Eily, as usual, was a perfect traveler. Unfortunately, traffic held us up a bit. We made a quick stop in Stafford to introduce Eily to her Great-great-auntie Ellie before zipping up to Ashford to spend the night at Dad & Kathy's. This gave Eily a break from the carseat and Jesse a break from driving. (Side note - I LOVE the Honda Fit, but the rear-facing infant carseat takes up a ton of space in there. As a result, the passenger seat remains in what I like to call the "Look, I can lick the windshield!" position. Needless to say, I'm the lucky one who gets to sit there all of the time. On a positive note, I never have to drive when the three of us travel. Score!)

Saturday morning found us waking at an obscene hour, something I'm sure Kathy agrees to. But hey, we had an 11 a.m. wedding to get to in Maine (or should I say, northern New Hampshire?). Contrary to popular belief, some new parents can and do make it places on time, and we wanted to make sure that was known. We arrived in plenty of time and had a heel-clicking good time at the nuptials of Rich & Amy, where Eily made her rounds on the dance floor and flirted with her future husband, Liam. The day's highlight? I'll have to say it was the surprise of hearing Enter the Haggis piping through the speakers and the immediate storm of dancers hitting the floor, whether they knew the song or not. Rich & Amy, you guys rock!

Now, those of you who know my track record for weddings, you're probably asking, "Where's the picture of Jessa catching the bouquet and the picture of Jesse's face looking on in horror?" Well, I'll admit it. I didn't partake in the bouquet toss. Not that I wouldn't have enjoyed marching out on the floor and sticking with tradition. But the life of a mother is not always conducive to keeping some traditions alive. Sure enough, Eily decided just minutes before the bouquet toss that it was time to eat. Nicole even ran into the ladies' sitting room to tell me to get out there. Something about catching the bouquet with Eily latched on just didn't seem right to me, though, so I stayed put. (I wonder now, however, would anyone have fought me for it? Probably not!)

The crazy fun of the wedding was followed up by an after party at the home of Amy's parents. This would have been tons of fun, had Eily not decided it was suddenly tantrum time. I spent the majority of the time there trying to convince her to go to sleep. Apparently, I'm not very convincing. She decided crying was a better idea, so we left early and made it back to the hotel by 9p.m., along with our roommates for the night: Nicole, Andy, and Liam (who quickly became the source of Jesse and Andy's entertainment, as you can see here).




So here's a riddle for you: What do you get when you cross two sets of parents and two babies with a long day of partying?

Any guesses?

Okay, I'll tell you. You get six people in bed before 10p.m. On a Saturday night. At least we had the decency to recognize the fact at the time and admit to our complete and utter lameness. We made up for this the following day, however, with a trip into Ogunquit where we walked the Marginal Way.

(And here's the spot in the blog where a
picture should be, but for some reason,
I don't see one in the folder Jesse created
for our pictures from this trip. Grrr!!!)

After parting ways with the Shillidays, it was back in the car to make the trek north to Bangor. But not without a pit stop in Freeport for some shopping, of course!

And here is where I leave you for now. Coming up in the next blog: Do we make it through the wilderness of Maine to Bangor? Does Eily survive her first climbing trip? And what happens when a recently fed Eily is played with by Curtis? Tune in next time to find out!