Road Trip, Cougars, and the Pregnant Girl on Campus

Early in April my mom, sister, Jemma, and I filled the van and made a 6 hour trek to Pullman, WA! It was Mom’s Weekend at Washington State University and we turned it into a girl’s weekend reunion with our dear Hannah. Jemma did extraordinary on the car ride – ten times better than I thought she would! She loved staying at our little motel (the same one Bing Crosby stayed at a few decades ago), but unfortunately hated her first experience in a large pool :(

To survive the car trip we timed our departure shortly after she woke up. She shared a breakfast burrito in the back seat with her Mimi and then kicked back for a little reading session. Once we started seeing the wind turbines, she was ready for a snooza-Palousa (the Palouse is what they call the rolling hills surrounding Pullman). She slept all the way to Tri-Cities where we took nice lunch break before completing the final 2 hour stretch. The ride home went just as well!

As far as car activities I packed:

Her favorite books … anything that has little flip open spots
New movies on my iPhone (a Sesame Street and Caillou)
Lots of snacks … Annie’s bunnies, apple slices, Oatmeal Squares, fruit leather, bananas, and sippy cups of almond milk and watered down orange juice
New toys … a small ball, some Little People, a mini car (she loves having it wheeled up and now her arms and over her head), and a small matching set similar to this one from Kat and Company

My mom can’t wait to take Jemma to Disneyland for the first time and she decided that for every hour Jemma was a champ in the car, she would earn one point towards her first Disneyland trip. It would take us 36 hours to drive to and from Disneyland so her goal is 36 points. This trip alone Jemma logged 12 hours/points towards her Disneyland adventure!!!

I don’t know if we’ll actually stick with this plan, but it was pretty fun thinking about packing up our whole family and making our way to So Cal for a Disney adventure!

Here’s the photo bomb of our weekend highlights! Not sure if I’ll make it back next year with two in tow … we shall see!

Only saw 2 other pregnant ladies the entire time we were at WSU

Jemma signing “more” at the weekend waffle bar

Jemma said “moo” for the first time when she saw this cow at the veterinary school open house

Taking a nap on the go with Aunt Kiki

The best bagel shop EVER – they steam their bagel sandwiches so they stay super soft until the last bite!

Jemma’s two minutes in the pool where she death gripped Aunt Hannah

The first dorm at WSU

All I think of when I see this is, “OMG … Jemma and I are 17 years away from taking a picture just like this!”

Sporting my crimson and grey from Striped Shirt (one of our fabulous sponsors from last fall), it’s not technically maternity, but Striped Shirt prides themselves on long tees and as you can see it totally works!