Homecoming

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to pack up the little man and travel with Josh and the Alabama volleyball team to Iowa City, Iowa.

The team was traveling because they were competing in the first tournament of the season at the University of Iowa. I was traveling because I am addicted to cheering on the team and my husband... but also because I claim Iowa City as my hometown. My parents moved to Michigan many years ago and I don't often have the opportunity to visit the town of my youth and had never had the chance to show Josh around my old hood.

Eli was an angel on the two flights on the way to Iowa. He snuggled in with dad and caught some z's. And during the layover in Minneapolis, he got plenty of attention from the girls on the team - they spoil him rotten.

After arriving in Iowa City, Eli and I explored the hotel. He crawled and crawled and crawled some more.

He also spent some quality time with my iPhone....

here he is excited to play

then he checked to see if I was watching

and then he made his move

After drying off my phone, we headed over to the Carver-Hawkeye Arena with the team for practice. Can you find my handsome husband doing his thing?

Eli also had a little face time with the media...

Sleeping in a hotel is not a skill that the E-man has mastered yet. He simply loves his crib at home. After several attempts at sleeping in the hotel crib, Eli convinced us that he really needed to sleep with us in the uber-comfortable Marriott bed. Can't say I blame him.

Perhaps the best part of the trip for me was the chance to catch up with my two best friends from high school, Erin and Rachel. I hadn't seen Erin (far right) since 2001 and Rachel (middle) since 1998. Crazy.

We met out at Rachel's farm house... the weather was gorgeous, the conversation refreshing, and the kids adorable. Such a good time. You know your friendship is true when you can pick up after 10 years as though you had only been apart a day.

Erin's little boy Christian wasn't too sure about sharing his mama's lap with Eli...

Rachel's youngest little girl was a picture waiting to happen as she wandered around the fence and flowers.

And I stepped out from behind my camera for a minute to get my picture taken with my favorite little boy.

I spent a lot of time driving around and visiting old haunts... I won't bore you with all the pictures I took of my schools and houses. But I will leave you with this perplexing shot... this is the mailbox in front of our old house. Really?