Sheboygan! (Road trip)

We spent the long Memorial Day weekend in Sheboygan, WI, visiting our friends the Holmeses. At the end of the car trip back, William and Evie said it was just a short car ride. (We've taken much longer trips to Utah and Texas.)

Right before we entered Minnesota, we stopped and turned Johanna's car seat around to face forward. She could now see Mama much better. (She had been freeing both arms from the straps and grabbing the side of the car seat with her two hands and wrenching her neck around to look forward before we turned it around.)

She was very excited about this new development. She stopped whining and crying (she was tired, it was late), and instead she happily waved her legs and feet now that they were free. She kept asking for books (saying "buu, buu" while clapping her hands together to make the book sign). She also held her feet in her hands and slapped them together while saying "sh, sh" the sign and sound for shoes. (Before, her feet didn't have nearly the same freedom, as they were up against the seat-back that her previously backwards-facing car seat was facing.)

In the Subway at the gas station, she saw a rack full of stuffed bears and puppies. While we were eating at the table, she made the sign for bear (fingers scratching at your chest) while making the uuuh-uuuh "I want" whine. She can communicate so well now, with her signs. She can also make the sign (and panting noise) for puppy. Any time she sees or hears a dog (stuffed or real), she pats her leg and starts panting. It's adorable. She also looked out the window and saw flags and banners for a fireworks store across the street, and she kept saying "woooow!"

When we got home, William and Evie helped clean up everything out of the minivan. They were great travelers, fun play-friends for the other kids, and good helpers. It was a good road trip.