A quick, soggy NC weekend.

We're gradually getting better at this "travel with Finley thing." We may even have it down to "painless" by the time she leaves for college.

Now that we've gotten the basics of air travel figured out, we've decided to tackle road trips. It's a tad counterintuitive, but those are way worse. Finley HATES her car seat. The key seems to be to stay up all hours of the day and night to drive while she sleeps, and to attempt no more than two hours at a stretch because even in the wee hours of the morning that's about as far as you can get before her little subconscious registers her imprisonment in the offending car seat/ baby torture device.

We left at her bedtime Friday night, with all of our fingers and toes crossed that Hurricane Joaquin and DC traffic wouldn't combine to make it a horrific trip. (We got half lucky and, oddly, managed to miss traffic both ways.) We made it a couple hours before we heard wailing from the backseat, and Finley- decked out in her PJs with a monster cowlick- scored herself a late night truckstop McDonald's run. We definitely felt like the parents of the year.

Finley and I both dozed off afterwards, while a gallant Seth white-knuckled the rest of the drive in a torrential downpour. It was the first time I've been really grateful for the monster truck with stupid offroad tires that gets 12.5- no kidding- miles per gallon.

We were a little less than enthusiastic about the quick trip in horrendous weather that meant we were basically spending the weekend on the road or in a hotel room with Finley. Finley, however, is easier to please. She loves vacation.

Thanks to the impending hurricane, we skipped the outdoor bluegrass festival we had been excited to take her to on Saturday, and instead made a nostalgic trip to the Flying Saucer- a bar Seth and I had hung out at when we were first dating. We cracked up about how far we've come (as demonstrated by this picture)...!

Carrie and Josh's wedding was lovely, although we were bummed that Nicole and Michael had gotten flooded in at the beach and couldn't make it. At least ol' dirty Joe made an appearance!

We had left Finley with the babysitters Carrie and Josh had provided, and were a little nervous as it was our first time leaving her with strangers. I made Seth leave the party following a text that said she was being fussy, although of course it turned out to be attributable to our current bottle-to-sippy-cup endeavor and she was fine (and snoring) by the time we arrived to pick her up. She woke up on our way up to our room, and scored some bluegrass after all! (One of the bands was playing in the hotel lobby post-show, and Finley got- and loved- her own personal concert.)

Then, of course, her Dad let her have animal crackers in bed.

Sunday morning it was my turn to drive, as a hungover Seth and a sleepy Finley snoozed in the backseat.

This time we did the two-hour rest stop in style. We took Finley to lunch at an amazing Richmond brunch spot I had been dying to try, and then to the Richmond Children's Museum to play her way into exhaustion (and another nap). Children's museums are a new travel must.

 My original photo of the week was this funny one, of Finley's progress mastering utensils.

But then I took this series waiting on a table at brunch, and it's my new favorite.She seems to be saying:

1) "Oh, I just LOVE brunch!" 2) "Hmmmm... everything looks delicious." 3) "CHICKEN AND WAFFLES!?!"