A weekend away

We recently left our little boy for 3 whole days and 2 nights while we attended DMB concerts at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin. And guess what? We all survived. AND had fun. :)

Last winter, when my husband proposed we go to AV this year, I immediately said no. I had been a mother for, oh, three weeks at that point, and there was no way I was ever, ever, ever going to leave Carter's side and how dare he suggest I do. Ha. Fortunately, Jon had the good sense to know that I would have to at some point, and 7 months was surely a reasonable time to do so, and proceeded to buy tickets. He also arranged for his brother, sister-in-law, and friend to join us. He was super pumped. I was anxious. 

I took Friday off work to spend the day with Carter, knowing I would benefit from some quality time with him before having to leave him. I had high hopes of a lovely day together. Instead, teething and a cold got the better of him and I spent most of the day with a fussy, clingy baby. Even our run to Target was a grumpfest. Ah, such is life. I was still appreciative of that time with him, and managed to get a few happy moments out of him that day.

I wrote up a ridiculous list of notes for our parents (each side was taking one night's duty) that made me feel a little less anxious. I wasn't concerned about Carter's well-being; after all, who better besides mom and dad than grandparents? But, the misery from teething and having a cold made we worry he would miss me (or really, the nursing). And honestly? I was worried about missing him too much.

On Saturday, Carter seemed to be feeling much better, which was a huge relief. I put him down for his first nap just shortly before we left, which ended up being a perfect way to get out of the house. I had my teary moment with him as I laid him down, but then made a mad dash to get the rest of our stuff loaded and out the door and I could barely dwell on the fact that I was leaving my itty bitty baby.

The drive there was surprisingly refreshing - I sat in back and did nothing but watch The Walking Dead on my phone pretty much the whole time. And ate licorice. And pumped. Twice.

Oh, the pumping. Yeah, definitely the lowlight of the weekend. I'm thrilled that I am still nursing and providing for Carter, but pumping every 3-4 hours during the day while you're on a road trip and trying to have fun became a nuisance real fast. Nonetheless, I came home with 70 ounces and a supply still going strong.

The weekend at Alpine Valley included tailgating and concerts both Saturday and Sunday. We lucked out with beautiful weather and plenty of space by our vehicles to set up our stuff and hang out. (Sometimes they pack the cars in so close that it leaves very little room for quality tailgating).

We got ourselves situated and in no time were eating, drinking, playing bags, and chatting with neighbors. Jon and I have always gone just ourselves, so it was fun to be part of a group this time.

Both shows were really amazing. I've seen a fair number of them in the last 8 years, and these had to be two of the best I can recall. Over the course of both nights they played just about all of my (and fan) favorites, and the violinist was in rare form. These guys are amazing musicians and so fun to watch.

During the weekend, I texted our mothers once or twice, and we FaceTimed with Carter on Sunday morning. He of course was confused by the video chatting and frankly seemed more interested in the TV or my dad's face. Still, it was nice to see his little face. He was having a grand old time with both sets of grandparents.

All in all, I am glad that Jon convinced me to go on this trip. I admit that it was a refreshing break that my focus was on things like what I was going to wear and if I should have another cider or a Corona. Not diaper changes or doing everything one-handed with an 18-pound baby in my arm. I may be doing a bit of traveling for work in the coming months, so this time was excellent practice for me.

Of course, we couldn't get home soon enough in my opinion, and I raced into the house before the car was barely in park. I mean, how could I not miss this face??