Jordyn's First Trip to Vermont

My aunt Ilana lives in Vermont. Jordyn and I went up to visit her this past weekend, from Friday until Monday. It was Jordyn's first trip to Vermont, and it was kinda sentimental for me, because that's where I was when I found out I was pregnant (on Thanksgiving Day 2011 - wow, that seems SO long ago!), and I hadn't been there since.

Jordyn did pretty well in the car. I put in her big girl (convertible) carseat the day before we left, thinking she'd maybe like it better than the infant bucket seat, and/or that it would at least be novel and therefore she'd do better in it. She's really not much of a fan of car rides, especially long ones. She slept for 2.5 hours on the way there, and for almost 2 hours on the way back. The thing is, it's a 3.5 hour ride, give or take. I did a lot of singing! It's not enough to put music on, even kids music - I have to actually sing to her. I have a horrible singing voice, but obviously she doesn't care. We made one stop each way. On the way there, I timed it so we left right after lunch, and then she was just getting hungry when we got there. She cried the last few minutes, but was pretty good otherwise. On the way back, she was hungry for lunch, so we stopped at a rest area and I gave her a bottle and a baby food pouch sitting in the car, since it was raining. She got really bored (I think), and really cried the last 15-20 minutes or so, but we were so close, I didn't really want to stop again. I thought maybe she was hungry since she hadn't had a big lunch, but the second I took her out of the car, she was all smiles and totally fine. I'd been singing, but that wore off, and I kept tossing toys on her lap (I can't really reach her from the driver's seat), and she'd sort of quiet and play with each one for a few minutes, but then start to cry again. All in all, I guess it could've been much worse - she could have not slept in the car at all!

The trip itself was great! Here are some pictures:

 We went to a Morgan horse farm. My aunt is holding her in this pic.

 She'd seen horses once before, on Father's Day, when we took a hike with my dad. But this was the first time she pet one.

We went to a river that has a little beach section. I took this pic before I realized I needed to clean off my phone's camera lens.

 This pic and the next one were taken after I cleaned the camera lens. What a difference!

 Ilana's boyfriend, Craig, really liked Jordyn (neither Ilana nor Craig have any kids of their own). He was zooming her towards the ground and then up again, and she loved it!

 Craig playing the guitar on the front porch of Ilana's house. Jordyn was enthralled.

 I took this one myself. :)