Work trip. Sounds totally boring and has nothing to do with family, right? Not when you’re the Sorianos and mommy works for a great company that is family-friendly!

My company’s biannual meeting was held at headquarters in Madison this past week. Since we all work together virtually, I really wanted to go because I love to see my co-workers face-to-face. But it’s hard to go with a 5 month old baby who needs me because I am her only source of nutrition. I can’t just pump ahead and freeze it because I have high lipase issues with my milk. Basically, it means that the fat in my milk breaks down funny when thawed, but it’s fine fresh out of the tap. So all that makes the idea of a trip for work seem very hard. (Plus she’s just so darn cute! I would miss seeing her smiling face at 5 a.m.)

I talked to our CEO and he was more than willing to accommodate my arrival and departure times and get a room for my family! Rafa took the week off of work to take care of his littlest girl and spend some quality time with her. Mariel went swimming in the hotel pool and charmed the housekeeping staff.

And Giana? Well her energy is just a little too big to be contained in a hotel room for a week. She had lots of fun staying with Grandpa Rod and Grandma Lisa. Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Mike and Uncle Michael were also there to entertain (or be entertained by?) her. It was the longest we have ever been away from her. We missed her like crazy. I’m pretty sure she didn’t even notice we were gone! She did make us a very nice “welcome home” sign that made us feel very special.