We had a great time at my parents' house. Emma was a perfect angel on the trip there. The trip back was terrible, but that wasn't her fault. BAD traffic, an overheated car, and violent thunderstorms had more to do with it than little Emma did. She was a trooper through the whole ordeal.

While I was home my brother and I enjoyed watching some old home movies. We both agreed that we really had an idyllic childhood. I've often heard people say that they hope to be better parents than their own parents; they don't want to yell as much, be as punitive, as selfish, etc. I, on the other hand, have the opposite problem. I'm wondering how on earth I will ever measure up to my parents. I feel like my whole young life was filled with fun and interesting activities and trips. Add that to my mom's endless patience and my great relationships with my brothers, and that will be pretty hard to beat.

This morning we had to get up at 7:00 to return a rental car (Steve's car is getting fixed). That may not sound very early, but to us it is. When we got back to the house I was so tired and I couldn't get Emma to fall asleep - surprise - but sweet Steve offered to watch her while I slept. She came back a couple of times to nurse, but other than that I slept peacefully for three hours! That was so nice of him. For once it was him doing the watching and me doing the sleeping!