Category Archives: Travel
Out and about with mom and dad.
We went to the playground at Hanson Hills—which was really nice equipment but all sand (which Owen doesn’t care for).
He’s also getting really good at climbing!
Sliding, sand, and more climbing!
More climbing! And I don’t even get nervous!
Then we went to Camp Grayling to check it out since I haven’t been there since my 10-year reunion (in *cough* 2001 *cough*) and we stopped at the beach. I bet Tom that I’d be able to find a Petoskey stone and he didn’t think I would…I found the first one within about two minutes. 🙂
Owen had fun wading and trying to skip rocks like daddy (so, basically, just throwing them in the water).
Then it was off to the AuSable Park in downtown Grayling where he had fun running around, playing with other kids, and drinking from the water fountain by himself.
And it all wore him out…because he took a three-hour nap once we got home!
The Monkey Shirt
I remembered to get out the Monkey Shirt in plenty of time with Katie…and Gramma Jean dressed her in it while we were out and about with the boy.
This is a tee that Grauntie Marge made for me when I was little that says “Auntie Marge loves Jenny” on the belly…and it got saved all these years. I forgot about it/had it well put away for Owen, so he didn’t get to wear it until he was a little too big for it.
And Owen, from September 11, 2011 (which, interestingly, I SWORE I blogged about, but it’s nowhere to be found).
Owen and Gramma being silly
Yes, they’re wearing pool-toy squids on their faces. 🙂
Happy Early Birthday, Katie!
Her second first birthday onesie!
Her birthday balloon and bib at the hotel for her party!
Making faces with Papa.
Amazingly, she didn’t dive into the cake.
Singing Happy Birthday and big brother helping blow out the candle! (Yes, it’s a little blurry. I have a FAIL every now and again.)
Also amazingly, she didn’t make much of a mess. Yes, SHE got messy, but she ate the whole piece and none hit the floor!
Her new suit and coverup from Grauntie Rose!
Up and out completely on her own!
She would have dove in had Tom let her.
It was impossible to get all three looking at me at the same time.
She kept trying to drink the water!
She loved playing with Papa’s toes!
Drying off with Grandma Marsha.
Waiting to open presents!
A fun game Katie had with some grandparents…
Playing with the grandparents
I want to go outside, too!
Playing music!
I’m free!
No fear!
Papa and Grannie taught Owen croquet today!
And of course it turned into a gun!
Chilly sprinkler fun!
Owen heard the sprinklers going so of course wanted to go out and play in them. However…he didn’t realize that the water temperature is NOT the same as at home in North Carolina so he was a bit shocked at how cold it was. He still managed to get a little wet, though!
He likes the tractor now!
The last time we wanted Owen to sit on the tractor he was scared of it (May 2011). This time, he loved it and wanted to ride around with Tom.
And Katie didn’t mind it at all!
Katie’s first birthday shirt
Since we were on vacation with access to all the grandparents (and Uncle Rob and Grauntie Marge) we decided to celebrate Katie’s first birthday a little early (just three weeks!). She has a few “first birthday” shirts to wear so we started with the same onesie Owen wore for his first birthday:
With Gramma Jean…
Then hanging out and watching TV with Owen:
Then outside in the backyard with the really nice grass—one of my favorite shots of the day! 🙂
Bedtime story with Papa
Playing outside
Tom and Owen were playing outside at Gramma Jean’s…
Hotel fun with Papa and Grannie
We were on our way to the Ramada to go swimming with Papa and Grannie.
Tom (jokingly): We have to follow them—I don’t know where we’re going.
Owen: We’re going to the hotel, silly!
Tom taught him “time out!”
Playground at the hotel:
He climbed up all by himself! Grannie was a nervous wreck…me, not so much. 🙂
Daddy did most of the work but Owen understood the process.
Tom waiting to surprise owen!
In Grannie Lin’s socks to be more slippery for going down the slide!
Then in her sweatshirt so he could more easily go down head first!
Grandmas and kids
Katie’s Cookie
Papa gave Katie a cookie after lunch. I think she liked it.
Muffin time!
Burrito Baby
Sharing with Maggie
Gramma gets to see daily life.
Gramma Jean got to experience the full effect of sibling play today.
Sitting Pretty
We jokingly sat Katie up there just for a photo op, but then she sat there and sat there and sat there…for at least 20 minutes.
Katie playing in mama’s cup
Needless to say I didn’t want my water anymore. 🙂
The pool at gramma’s house!
Grandma knows the kids love water, so she got a pool for them! However…it’s a big pool and their ground water is COLD (a few gallons of boiling water didn’t even help much), so it was a very cold and brief play time…but they both loved it!
Road Trip, Day 2
Well, I had an awful night. The whole barking dog fiasco combined with a very sore back (a combination of having been to the chiropractor on Thursday and the passenger seat not being very comfortable since it’s tweaked to best fit Katie’s car seat) meant I tossed and turned all night…and was wide awake enough to see midnight, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5a on the clock. I gave up at 5 and caught up on email, Facebook, forums, Scrabble, the blog, etc. Tom woke up about 6, Owen was up about 6:15, then Katie woke up while Tom was showering. We were packed, breakfasted, and on the road by 7:30. Well, 7:40—as we were pulling out of the parking lot, Owen said “Where’s my B?!” EEK! He had had it in the room so I wasn’t paying attention…and he obviously set it down. Tom ran back in and got it. Phew!
The first sibling game of the day was sharing (that’s Owen’s B).
Then we stopped in Troy. I had to return some shoes to REI and we wanted to grab some sushi from our favorite place and take Owen to his old park stomping grounds.
First, Katie had some fries.
She usually offers to share.
Daddy and Katie sharing a fry, Lady & the Tramp style.
Owen was really excited about his fries on the way there, but once we got there he was way more excited about playing.
So off he went!
Katie after her first daddy-assisted trip down the slide.
And this is how she wanted to attempt it on her own.
Owen on his way up to the BIG curly slide!
He went down it about 10 times! He almost attempted a belly first (which we were going to allow) but then he changed his mind.
Katie’s first time on a real swing (and not just on one of our laps). SHE LOVED IT.
Owen would have stayed to play for another hour (and we hated to leave the memories as well), but we had to get on the road to Gramma Jean’s! Unfortunately, Katie had HAD it with the road trip and squawked for quite a bit. She did conk out for a few minutes, but about a half hour out she was JUST. DONE. Kicking and screeching and definitely not happy. I wanted to tell her I understood—I hate long road trips, too.
But then we were pulling in the driveway and Owen was so excited to be here and Katie was excited to be out of her car seat and the grandparents (including Grauntie Marge) were excited to see the kids…and then it was a flurry of activity as we unpacked, Tom’s mom and brother arrived, and we all ate dinner.
To officially start my vacation, I had a bottle of wine (yes, you read that right: bottle, not glass). And to make sure I slept that night (and didn’t get a headache from the wine!), I took two Excedrin PMs and a back pain pill.
WELCOME HOME!
Road Trip, Day 1
Amazingly we started off on schedule—and if you want to be technical about it, we were actually seven minutes early. And we didn’t think of anything we forgot…
The barrette lasted a whole hour—which doesn’t seem like much but her previous record was about three seconds.
Things went pretty well until Katie got a little screechy. But Owen was SO awesome—he’d start talking to her, singing the ABCs, playing peek-a-boo (which usually resulted in giggles), and clapping (at which point she’d clap in return). But then it turned into hunger screeches meaning she wanted her bottle—which sounds easy…but isn’t. She can physically hold the bottle—but can’t understand she has to tip it (she wants it to work like a straw cup). We tried putting her formula in the straw cup…and then she doesn’t really want it. And even though it’s attached to a strap so it can’t end up on the floor…it ends up hanging or upside down…dripping milk. Sigh. At this age, Owen was definitely holding his own bottle—great for road trips.
So I tried giving her a no-spill snack cup…which lasted all of five minutes until she a) figured out how to hold one flap open and tip most of it out and then b) got the entire lid off! Joy.
No-spill snack cup: 0
Katie: 1
So we figured our good little eater would snarf down some mac and cheese for lunch. Nah. Not interested today. REALLY?! Also not really interested in any of our foods, including one of her favorite baby foods. GRRR.
The good thing about lunch is that the owner—after chatting with Tom—comped our meal as a thank you for his service. So a nice shout out to Prissy Polly’s BBQ in Kernersville, NC.
Neither kid napped well. Katie got maybe an hour each before and after lunch and Owen got maybe an hour total with his catnaps.
Then there was a sibling sharing game, played with the lid to the snack container. Owen would hand it to Katie, she’d hand it back, lather rinse repeat. Owen kept saying “We’re sharing! We’re talking turns!” 🙂 He’s such an awesome big brother.
When we finally got to the hotel, Owen helped daddy with the cart (it was too bright for a good picture!).
And Maggie’s bag…which was about half his size.
Katie was having a blast crawling/zooming across the bed. Of course as soon as I tried to record her, she stopped.
Then she learned how to get off the bed. Just like that. (Just like she learned how to slide off the couch.) She’s a smart cookie.
Then it was off to dinner. We ate at the hotel just to make life easy. Katie ate seasoned curly fries, regular fries, and beef brisket (in addition to her cheese slices, green beans, and yogurt). Yes, BBQ beef brisket. Owen? The triple-decker PB&J and yogurt we packed from home.
Then it was FINALLY time for the pool—Owen had been asking most of the day but had really started asking when we got to the hotel. He was VERY excited!
Catching a ride and kicking it with daddy…
Watching daddy and Owen in the pool:
Then I took Katie outside for a stroll since it was REALLY warm in the pool area.
It took a minute to get a smile.
Then it was back to the pool, where daddy nommed some Katie toes.
I love when I get an unexpected shot. 🙂
Back at the room, we turned our backs for a minute…and this happened.
Yes, she opened the drawer AND got in by herself. And she was SO proud! Of course, she got out by herself, too.
Unfortunately, there were a few tiny snafus.
I thought I did really well by packing overnight bags so we didn’t have to haul everyone’s suitcases in…but I apparently forgot obvious stuff like jammies and Katie didn’t have her burp cloth.
I rolled the stroller through something in the hotel (they had some construction areas) and tracked it all over our carpet. It looked like putty, and thankfully it was still wet enough to easily wipe up.
Owen picked a scab and bled all over the white sheets. I had no band-aids…either on me or in our med bag. Tom had to get one from the front desk.
I haven’t had reflux in a month…so of course tonight was the night. And I forgot to take my nightly meds before putting Katie to bed, and I really didn’t want to get up because it took her 25 minutes of SCREAMING to fall asleep and hell if I was going to be the one to wake her up.
Also, the room next door has a bird and a yapping dog. Luckily it didn’t wake Katie up…but it woke me up about 10:30, and them continued to bark randomly until the owners SLAMMED back into their room around midnight.
Oh, we also got the last non-smoking room and it’s…not great. The bathroom smells, the bathroom counter is chipping, the toilet runs, and the sliding bathroom door (handicap accessible) is off the track so it can’t close. But we got a military discount!
I’m fishing!
Star Trek Patio Party
We headed to DC this weekend for another Patio Party (the last one was in 2008) with the TiVo peeps. The two main events were—obviously—a viewing of the new Star Trek movie and a party on a patio. 🙂
Tom cleaning off the patio:
Me at my first Coke Freestyle machine:
The best seats EVER at a movie theater—electric reclining leather seats (no flash on my self-taken photo because a lady two rows behind us threw a hissy fit that people were using their flashes…before the lights even dimmed and WAY before the movie was even close to starting):
Our group that saw the non-3D version of the movie:
One of our good friends, Andrew:
My obligatory self-portrait pose (taken specifically for Andrew because he gives me grief about taking those pictures):
A recreation of a 2008 Patio Party photo:
And that’s about all the photos. We take a lot less pics now for whatever reason…
The only bad thing about the weekend was that my drink of choice for the evening—vodka and Monster [energy drink]—apparently reacts completely different with my body than it used to and I did not get one wink of sleep Saturday night. 😐 This was NOT the best time or place to have to realize this…away from home with a 6-hour drive ahead of us and nighttime plans once we do get home.
Once we got on the road and grabbed a quick hot breakfast at Panera, it was off to Ikea for a quick visit to pick up Owen’s present (he always gets a present when we come back).
So overall it was a good—though short—weekend!
Six years ago this weekend…
It’s hard to believe my trip to Texas was six years ago…it seems like yesterday!
Road trip naps!
Katie napping on the way to Wilmington:
And on the way home:
I’m a big girl now!
We moved her into the big kid car seat and she loved it!
Vacation Owenisms
Owen said so many cute things while we’ve been on vacation, but of course I haven’t written them down immediately as they happened…so I only have a few from the last day or so.
Owen: Can we go down there? Pointing down through the floor. In the elevator? To G? To the pool?
Me, mini golfing: Owen, do you want to hit my ball in?
Owen: Sure!
Me: Owen, do you want peanut butter on your graham crackers?
Owen: Ooh! Yes! I’d like that.
Me: I might lay down and take a nap with you.
Owen: NO! You go out there with my dad.
People were shooting off fireworks on the beach that we could see from our living room and balcony.
Owen: Excuse me—excuse me! He pointed with all four fingers in a jabbing motion out towards the beach. There’s fireworks on the beach. Out there. In the sky! Come look!
Owen is pretending to sheath a sword at his side.
Owen: I’m Mike the Knight!
Me: You’re Mike the Knight?
Owen: No, I’m Owen!
Owen, carrying a square-ish toy of Katie’s to the table: Gramma Jean, I have to check my computer online!
After his bath…
Me: Owen, are you clean and snuffy?
Owen: Nooo.
Me: Are you…spiffy?
Owen: No! I’m Owen!
Skyping with Grandma Marsha:
Grandma: I hear you had a vacation.
Owen: Yes! I played with cousins and they’re far away now.
Heading out for dinner!
And the only family shot we got the entire time…but Tom was only here for two weekends of my two weeks! (Yeah, I should have moved the garbage or cropped it out, LOL.)
