Ioway

Pictures here. Ok, so we left Thursday morning. Prep time would have taken me about 15 minutes. Add in the FP Gal and we're looking at a half hour. 'Relia bumps this to an hour. It seems exponential so I'm guessing a family with five children (two of which we met with on Friday) would take 16 hours to get ready for an overnight. That's a sobering thought.
The weather was fine and we decided to bring musicals to sing along with. We opened with 'The Music Man' and followed that up with 'Les Mis'. Our guide to 'Les Mis'? Either she likes the song or I do and there's very little overlap.
We stopped for lunch in Mason City and discovered that 'Relia doesn't like to eat in the car. She did (eventually) and we ate lunch at Subway. They covered mine with onions but the FP Gal survived. Nothing else of note from the drive down except that there is very little good talk radio in central Iowa.
Then off to meet the in-laws and the FP Gal's grandmother and she got to see her great-granddaughter. There was much happiness. 'Relia dropped the average age at the nursing home quite a bit.
We went over to Marshaltown for one of the FP Gal's favorite traditions, a Maid Rite. Think of the Tendermaid in Austin and you've got it. Except they won't put cheese or ketchup on theirs. Just mustard, pickles and onions. 'Relia had her first visit (I'm sure of many) but they only thing she ended up with was hamburger in her hair.
Back to the hotel and I elected to stay and watch football with my daughter while everyone else went to play savage games of Upwards. It felt like the right choice. She fell very firmly asleep against my shoulder. It was very sweet.
The next morning brought a very long drive up to Austin. It was made longer by some construction and flagmen. Eventually we made it up there and got to spend some time with Dad and Grandma. It was so nice that we took a nap and left her in the care of her Grandfather. They looked very sweet together.
Then off to the HyVee deli for supper (only the fanciest for us!). We were joined by my Uncle and Aunt and my cousin Amy and 60% of her brood. Steve Bremner and his clan also swung by to say hello to us. We were given clothes and other assorted baby stuff, including an offer to become a Personal Penguin (song found here).
Then back home...