Deeeeeeeee-troit!

At the Game...

Early morning in the hotel


My Family :)
Oh my goodness we had such a good time. Its as simple as that! Everything was perfecto and wonderful :) I have become an expert at traveling with a bottle fed baby so one night in Detroit was very easy to do. Although last time Ryan and I went to the Westin we had ONE bag- this time, we had a pack and play, Maeves diaper bag, Maeve & I's bag and Ryan's bag... oh and a stroller and the glorious baby bjorn (my fave. baby item). So it probably looked like we were traveling to some far off place as we made our way through the terminal to the hotel, but nope! Just one night at the airport hotel :)
We had planned on leaving the house around 3, getting to the Westin at 4:30-ish, check in, change and drive to Comerica Park. It *kind* of worked out like that :) We left around 3:30 and had to stop to change a blow out diaper in Ann Arbor- we also got a quick something to eat. We got to the Westin around 5:15- the game started at 7 so we needed to high tail it through the airport to our room to change and back through the terminal to the car. We also realized that MaeMae hadn't eaten dinner yet and we didn't want to do the baby food thing at the game so we fed her in the hotel room- interesting... we didn't have a high chair so we tried to sit her down on a couch... hahahaha. Needless to say, Maeve had to have a bath afterwards and we figured out a better way to feed her when there isn't a high chair. We changed into our Detroit stuff and actually made it to the game on time- well, we were walking in while the opening pitch was being thrown. Now on the way up to the game, I had made sure that Ryan knew very well that this wasn't going to be his typical game- that Maeve was in NO WAY going to sit through hours of baseball. He said he knew that :)
We got in and I got a snow cone- partly for me, partly for Maeve... she loved it and made a complete mess :) Anyways we sat down for maybe 45 minutes to an hour- she did really like the lights and the noises. She also like clapping when everyone else did. But right around the 4th inning or so she started to get fussy so we decided to go on a walk around the stadium. We took her on a baseball ferris wheel which she HATED. It was so embarrassing- we were in the cart with some people we didn't know and she was screaming and squirming the whole time... It wasn't very enjoyable... so shortly after the ride we went home. Plus we decided we didn't want to be walking around downtown Detroit in the dark.
We got back to the hotel around 9 and let Maeve go crazy- there is something about kids and hotel rooms- I did it when I was a kid, Ryan said he did it too- but when you let a kid loose in the room, they go nuts! It was so funny- she was crawling like a mad woman, back and forth, under the bed, in the bathroom, everywhere. There was this huge mirror that she was in love with too- she kept standing up in front of it and yelling at the "baby in the mirror"... It was funny. Around 10, the time came to put the wild thing to bed- we knew this was going to be an issue because for months now she has been falling asleep in her room BY HERSELF. We started the whole bedtime ritual- bathtime, bottle, and then laid her down in her pack & play- hahahahahaha. She stood up immediately and started talking away. We were like "crap... what to do?" SO we pretended like the bathroom was a separate room- we tucked Maeve in again, and then said goodnight and walked into the bathroom. It worked! :) She was out in like 5 minutes. And she slept till about 5- woke up for a bottle and then went back to sleep till 9ish. Wonderful :)
We ordered our "traditional" breakfast in bed and then hung out in the hotel room till about 11:30- check out was at 12. We let Maeve be crazy again and we just sat back and watched the madness. The poor hotel maids- Maeve unfolded every towel, shredded all the paper products and threw her cheerios EVERYWHERE. I tried to pick them up but those things were smashed into the floor... oops.
After checking out, we drove to Great Lakes Crossing- my fave. mall in the world :) We took Maeve to eat at Rainforest- she loved it even more than last time- we're hoping by Disney World (October) that she will love it EVEN MORE (we always go to the downtown Disney Rainforest Cafe...) Then I shopped for some fall stuff for Maeve- got some AWESOME deals at the Carters and Gap outlet!!! And then we found the GIANT play area for kids. Maeve was in love :) She probably would've played in there ALL day if we would've let her! For our sanity though, we only stayed there for about 30 minutes.
Then it was off again, this time to Rochester to visit Ryans grandparents. It was really nice- they're wonderful people and they crack me up. Both are hard of hearing so its a lot of shouting back and forth... its funny. Maeve enjoyed playing with the ancient toys (I was scared some of them were antiques) and she also liked their two Havaneese? dogs. Around 5 we decided it was time to go... Maeve instantly zonked out in her car seat, as did I...
We got home around 7 and both of us were SO tired that we didn't eat dinner... we just fed Maeve hers, hung around till about 9 and then put Maeve to sleep.

So all in all, it was an incredibly fun and enjoyable weekend. I love my little family soooooooo much. And I am anticipating all the fun we're going to have over the next (hopefully) many, many years together.