after a 6 month ban on travel due to a toddler who refused to sleep while traveling (neither in the car nor once we arrived), we bit the bullet and tried again last weekend. thankfully, it was a success!
we went to chicago for a reception to celebrate our friend drew's recent nuptials. we planned everything out with some other friends, blair and melissa, so that we could get the most out of our travel. the four (well, 6 if you count the babies) of us stayed in a suites-style hotel in skokie, which is near our alma mater and lots of other activities we'd be interested in doing. we were gone 3 nights, and i found myself actually sad that the trip was ending rather than anxious to get home and back to normal! we borrowed an in-car dvd player for emmy for the drive, which was a HUGE help. of course, on a normal day i rarely even turn on tv for her, so to have it on for almost 6 hours killed a part of me, but as a parent i've learned sometimes you just have to do whatever it takes! miraculously, she also slept well in the hotel itself. i think it helped a ton for her to have her own room. she actually slept through the night all 3 nights, which she rarely even does at home! her naps were a little erratic because we were out doing stuff a lot of the time, and she got to bed a little late every night and was up early every morning, but even though she was tired, she didn't get too cranky either. we had a great time catching up with old friends, visiting campus and our old church (and getting to see our mentor couple for the first time in 5 years!), swimming in the hotel pool, and eating lots of yummy food! now, *hopefully,* our little anti-traveler has turned a corner and will be much better in the future!
