From 4 to 94: Remi's SoCal Tour

I thought it was supposed to be soooo easy to travel with a baby. That they sleep all the time, no problem taking a long drive, blah, blah, blah. I don't know -- i guess it's all relative. Like, it's much easier at 2-1/2 months than it will be at 1 year. And it wasn't so bad, it's just that of course Remi didn't want to sit in a car seat for 7 hours straight. Who can blame her?

But we made it from Oakland to LA with minimal pain, just in time to attend cousin Emlyn's 4th birthday party. What a great time! All the family was in attendance, plus pre-school and neighborhood friends. While Emlyn enjoyed her bouncy house, Remi made the rounds of available arms to hold her, transport her, and cater to her every wish and desire. A good time was had by all, until...

Illness struck the Frederick household, spreading quickly from one family member to another. As Head Servant to the Grand Poobah I cared for her, washed my hands incessantly, and somehow managed to keep her happy and healthy. Thank god. But it did slow our trip down, as we thought it prudent to delay our visit to the Great Grandmas until good health had been re-established.

But visit we did, albeit a day late. First stop: Great-Grandma Deane. She'd been anticipating our visit for months, and was thrilled to meet her latest grandchild. After they got to know each other, on we went to Joshua Tree. We spent the night with Chris, then traveled over to Indio to meet Great Grandma Vivian (also known as GiGi). At 94, she's the oldest to Remi's youngest. What a Kodak moment!

Unfortunately for us, we packed ourselves up the very next morning for a 12 hour drive back to Oakland, making it back just in time for Halloween trick or treaters -- Remi's very first Halloween! But that's a-whole-nother subject...

(Photos in this post from top to bottom: Angie, David and Remi; G-Grandma Deane, Dylan and Remi; Chris, G-Grandma Vivian and Remi. View all pics from Emlyn's B-day trip.)