Family Christmas

For all of my life, our family trip to Roanoke to visit relatives has been just as big a part of the season as Christmas itself. And this year, of course, we had an extra package to bring along with us (plus the diaper bag, the pack-n-play, the Cheerios and the bag of toys for the 3-hour car ride).

Madeline had a great time this weekend, and it seemed like everyone was happy to see her, too. It was the first time some of our relatives had ever seen her apart from pictures. Even though she didn't nap much because of all the excitement, she managed to put on her best attitude, soaking up the attention for two days.

By Monday afternoon she had used up her second wind (and her third and fourth) and was completely exhausted, as we all were. She was happy to get home and quietly play with all of her new acquisitions, from touch-and-feel books to stuffed animals to the band-in-a-box noisemaking kit. And the evening ended a little earlier than usual when she couldn't even make it to her regular bed time.