Grandma Meets Liya

After much waiting and anticipation the weekend of our big trip to Phoenix to visit Grandma Gilbert arrived. After bailing from work on Thursday afternoon, we loaded up the car and headed out of the city in an attempt to miss most of the evening traffic. Our plan went fairly well, but the 91-West was horrible (as usual) and we lost about 40-minutes sitting in stop and go traffic because we were too cheap to take the toll road (and didn't think traffic would be so bad so early in the day). Lesson learned.

We stopped once to refuel and once for dinner at McDonalds (a very rare occasion for this health-conscious family). The 383-mile drive took us right at 7-hours including both stops. Liya was a roadtrip champ, sleeping and playing most of the trip. Upon our arrival we were greeted by Grandma who was ecstatic to see her first and only grandchild. Liya seemed equally excited to be out of the car and see Grandma for the first time.We also got together with Uncle Matt and Aunt Beth for dinner several nights. Fortunately, Liya was in a great mood the entire visit. Everyone who saw her had to squeeze her chubby legs and ask all about her. Liya almost always greeted these inquisitive faces with smiles and her excited kicking.

We had a wonderful time visiting Grandma, Matt, and Beth and can't wait to see them again soon. Though after another 7-hour drive home...we'll look into flying next time!