Family Fun

Before Ella came along, Brannick and I used to take lots of weekend road trips exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest. And then we had Ella, and life changed in so many ways. But as summer was coming to an end this year, Brannick really wanted to go on a road trip to Washington to see Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier. So at the last minute we threw the baby and the dog in the car and headed north. Brannick and I learned many things on this little adventure: 1. Dogs are not really welcome in National Parks, so poor Tough spent a lot of time in the car. 2. Ella does not like being restrained in her car seat for long periods of time, nor does she like being alone in the back seat. She is a very smart little girl that needs social interaction and freedom to move. 3. Ella no longer has a sweet little baby cry...now its more of a piercing, make your ears bleed screech sound that you would never imagine coming out of such a sweet innocent looking baby. 4. Its very hard to find a hotel in small Washington towns that allow a dog over 50lbs, and when you finally do find such a hotel, it is the scariest looking collection of rooms an people ever! 5. And most importantly, our days of last minute road trip adventures are over. We are now a family that requires advanced notice and thorough pre-trip planning and research before such adventures.