Summer Fun!

Whoa, where do I even begin....

Although I haven't been working this summer, I seem to be busier than ever! We have been traveling, putting in new floors, visiting friends, and having so much fun. I will try to summarize all of our adventures as best I can...

Michigan

Cory, Adilyn, and I all traveled to Michigan to visit my mom's side of the family in June. It was Adilyn's first flight, and we were both pretty nervous about how she would do. Besides the fact that she kept throwing all of her toys around, she did surprisingly well. We brought her favorite toy of the moment, the rubber duck, and we had to make a few strategic duck rescues when she decided to chunk it down. All in all, the first flight went well.

We stayed at my aunt's house on Lake Fenton, and we got to do so many fun things. Some of Adilyn's firsts...riding on a boat, wearing a life jacket, riding on a paddle boat, seeing real ducks, touching a fish, swimming in a lake, seeing horses, playing with her little cousins, and more. We had a great time, and she seemed to love every minute of it. I was worried about how she would sleep, but she took crazy long naps and slept through the night just fine. It was a great first family trip, and I feel so lucky to have such a great extended family that lets us come visit and have amazing experiences for us and for Adilyn.

Here are some pictures of her Michigan adventures:

ON THE BOAT

DRIVING THE BOAT WITH DADA

SWIMMING IN THE LAKE


Our plane trip home was even easier. She slept for a little while and was very chilled out. I did go to change her diaper, and she didn't like that too much. She was screaming in there, but I didn't think anything of it because I thought the planes were pretty loud. Anyway, I got back to the seat and I said to Cory, "That was traumatic!" He replied, "Yeah, I heard." We were on row 15...which means at least the whole back half of the plane heard. They probably thought that I was abusing her back there! =) The ride home in the car was a different story. We didn't get in until 10pm or so, and she screamed and screamed all the way home. We didn't mind too much, at least it was only us suffering, and not a whole plane full of people!

Leakey, TX - The Frio River

Our next adventure was going to Leakey to visit the Ruizs. We stayed at Jessica's grandparents' house. We try to get all the college roomies together there at least once a summer, and it was great that everyone could be there for the 4th of July. We had 6 kiddos age 4 and under there, so it was quite a crowd! It was beautiful chaos, though. I am so glad after all these years that we are still able to have such a great relationship. Heather, Jessica, Jackie, and I have been friends for 11 years now! That doesn't happen very often these days, and I feel blessed that it happened with us!

Thank goodness for Heather entertaining Adilyn in the backseat on the entire 4 hour ride up there! She just doesn't like being trapped in the car, I suppose. On the way home we smartened up and went back at night. Adilyn slept most of the way, which was much easier to deal with!

SWIMMING IN THE FRIO

The Baby Crew - Ella (22 months), Jace (almost 4), Olivia (almost 4), Sara Beth (7 months), Amber (2 1/2), Adilyn (13 months)

Adilyn looks so lonely with no siblings... =)

South Dakota

Our most recent adventure was going to South Dakota to visit some old friends - Kai, Justin, and their baby boy, Kadin. This time it was just Addy and I, the fearsome twosome. We had a two hour flight to Denver, a lay over, and then our final leg to Rapid City. I was a little nervous about the flight because when it was Cory and I, she just kind of went back and forth to both of us. Now, it was going to be just me and a stranger. We got on the flight and there were two super nice guys about my age next to us. I warned them that she may grab them or hit them (because that what she does these days), and I apologized ahead of time. Lo and behold, she did get a little grabby and a little restless. She cried a little bit, but I tried to keep her quite by continually shoving food in her mouth! I'm such a great mom. =) Anyway, the flight went well, we got to Denver, ate some food and had a little run around time. The flight to Rapid was super fast and again, we sat next to a really nice guy, so it went pretty easy.

Our week in South Dakota was filled with beautiful views, bike rides, walks in the mountains, site seeing, and hanging out. Again, we had an amazing time.

One funny thing was that Kai and I took the babies for a bike ride. I couldn't get clipped in the pedal, so we finally stopped to see what was wrong. Well, I finally got it in, but wasn't really ready for it and I fell over. Keep in mind, I was stopped on the side of the road, but fell over. Of course, I yelled and cussed, but was laughing too. Adilyn freaked out! She was in the bike trailer behind me, but she was completely fine. I just think it scared her to see me fall. We kept going because I thought she would be fine...well, ten minutes later I'm still dragging this screaming baby behind me. I was beginning to feel like I was torturing her, so we had to turn around. She eventually calmed down, and I must admit that I was kind of glad because that bike up the canyon was pretty much kicking my butt! =)

After the fall...

Addy and Kadin at Custer State Park

Adilyn and I in Spearfish Canyon

The last leg of our journey was not so happy. On the flight from Denver to Houston, she started out great. She fell asleep before we even took off. I thought I was golden...until we got about 45 minutes into the flight. Something startled her awake, and she was evidently NOT ready to wake up yet. She couldn't go back to sleep and proceded to make the next hour and a half a living hell for me! She screamed and was super grumpy, she wanted to touch everything she couldn't (the guy next to us, the guy's hair in front of us, the flight attendant call button, etc). She would throw little mini tantrums everytime I told her no. Finally she was entertained by putting vanilla wafers in a cup of water, getting them all super mushy, and then eating them or giving them to me or the guy next to us. By the time we landed I felt like I had nilla wafer mush all over me. It was a stressful end to a fun week, but I have to remember - she's just one and she's doing the best she can.