Minnesota Trip

We got back from our trip to northern Minnesota late Saturday night. My step-dad Tom has a beautiful lake house on Pelican Lake, so my mom and Tom live there from May-October. We have been every year for the last 6 years, except last year because we were moving and I was pregnant. Jonathan stayed in Waco this year because he had to work, so I took the boys along with my sister and her two little girls. Here is a little recap of our trip.

I came down with strep throat AGAIN three days before we were set to leave, so I went to the doctor on Wednesday and she gave me an antibiotic. Thursday I had to take Logan back to the doctor to get his ear infection looked at before we left and luckily everything was cleared up. Friday we drove to Houston to spend the night at my sister's house. Saturday we flew to Minneapolis and then it's a three hour drive to the lake house. We stayed for a week and flew back this past Saturday. We landed in Houston around 6pm and then I decided to go ahead and drive home that night because the boys were so exhausted and just needed to get home.

We had a great time, William loved every minute of it. He did great on the plane ride going to Minnesota, but we had some issues on the airplane coming home...coloring with marker on the wall of the plane, splattering Logan's baby food (green beans) all over the place, having a complete mental breakdown/tantrum because he wanted to stand on the seat resulting in me physically restraining him in a headlock, he then crawled on the floor of the plane (I know, yuck!) and fell asleep so he stayed there for the last 20 minutes of the flight until we touched down. Luckily my sister was there to hold Logan for me while I had to tend to William. I knew he would be a ticking time bomb on the plane...no nap, couped up for 3 hours in the car on the way to the airport, missing his daddy, too much sugar that day and just a long trip led up to the self destruction. It was so funny, after we landed and he woke up he just got up, sat in his seat and buckled himself in without saying a word. I leaned over and said you are in big trouble Mr. He just muttered a sad sorry. It was definitely a classic family moment.

Here are the kids getting ready for their plane ride...

One day we took the kids to Paul Bunyan Land (Paul Bunyan is very popular in Minnesota). It's this cute little amusement park that has been around since the 50's. They still have all the original rides that Tom use to ride as a kid. William had a blast! It's so cute, when you buy your tickets you give the attendant the names of the kids and where they are from. Then Paul Bunyan talks to them as they walk in the park.

Logan was a huge trooper. I think he picked up a little virus from the doctor's office right before we left because he had a little cold the whole time we were there. I thought he was just teething, but his yucky nose didn't go away and then his eyes were yucky too. I am happy to report that he is feeling much better now that we are home, but he has been ultra clingy and only wants me to hold him. I'm thinking it's teething again, but who knows. I'm hoping it passes in a day or two.

Here we are hanging out at a nearby touristy town called Nisswa. We played at the park (Minnesota has the nicest parks I've ever seen), ate at a local pizza place and then hit up the candy store where William downed some cotton candy ice cream...

We spent the rest of the time swimming in the lake, swimming in the hot tub, going on boat rides, hiking through the woods, we had a camp fire one night and just enjoyed the nice weather. At night it gets down into the 60's and then heats up into the high 70's-low 80's.

Well, I think that about covered everything. We had so much fun and now we are just working on getting back into the swing of things at home.

6 Months

I'm a little behind on this post because Logan was 6 months old on June 28th, but better late than never. :)

We have come a long way from those first 3 months of little sleep and colic problems. I can't complain anymore, he sleeps straight from 7pm-7am without any problems. He also takes two good naps a day and loves his little routine. I am almost done weaning him, so life has gotten a lot easier for me. He is super strong...he can roll all over the place, sit up by himself, has a crazy death grip and tries with all his might to crawl. I think he is just dying to keep up with William. Logan is kind of a contradiction, he comes across as really laid back, but then he goes into wiggle mode and it seems like he will just take off running if he could. He loves his baby food, except peas, and also enjoys cold watermelon in his teether feeder (who doesn't love cold watermelon?!)

We went to the pediatrician yesterday and I am convinced Logan has a crazy high threshold for pain. As the doctor was checking him out, he asked me if Logan had been acting fussy lately or any sign of fever. I was really confused and said no because he was as happy as ever. Come to find out he has an ear infection. The doctor was just going to let him ride it out, but I mentioned we would be flying to Minnesota in about a week and he went ahead and gave him an antibiotic (infant + ear infection + airplane = trouble). Last time he got his immunization shots he didn't cry until the third shot. This time he just raised his eyebrows on the first shot and then cried a little on the second before really wailing on the third. He is one tough little booger. Other than that, he got a clean bill of health...so thankful as always!

Logan loves playing with William. They already kind of wrestle together on the floor. Today in the car William was hollering at Logan and laughing all crazy and Logan would just die laughing in response. It was too cute.

I know I always say this, but he is just such a joy. I can't wait to see him grow and change over the next 6 months.

Happy 4th of July

Every year we go to Rockport for the 4th of July, but this year we decided to stay put due to Jonathan's work schedule and the 5 + hour drive. It was a little sad to miss out on the family fun down in Rockport, but we have a plan for next year...I will drive down early in the week with the kids and Jonathan will fly into Corpus when he can.

Saturday we drove down to Austin for the day to see Angie, Ben and their sweet dog Lucy. Angie and Ben just bought a new house in southwest Austin. We checked out the new digs, went to lunch and then Angie and I went shopping while the kids napped and the guys watched the World Cup. William had a blast, he LOVES Ben and couldn't get enough of Lucy. When we left he hugged Lucy around the neck and said, "I love you Lucy." I asked him what his favorite part of the day was and he said playing with Ben. :)

Sunday (the 4th) we went to church, cooked hot dogs for lunch, went to the Waco 4th of July celebration on the Brazos in downtown and ate BBQ for dinner. Then the guys went to buy sparklers while I put Logan down. William loved hearing all the random fireworks going off around the neighborhood.


Here are the boys in their 4th of July outfits before church...

Here are a few pics from the 4th of July on the Brazos in downtown Waco. We didn't get to stay as long as we would have liked to because it was just too hot for little Logan...

Jonathan and William got the most bootleg sparklers. They were so pitiful, after they would burn down the hot ashes would fall to the ground in big chunks. What happened to the normal metal sparklers that look really cool?

We decided to wait until it got dark before trying the sparklers again. As we all walked outside barefoot to do sparklers, Jonathan goes, "we need to put on shoes before we do this." First, William and I walk down the sidewalk to watch some fireworks in the distance. Jonathan decided to go ahead and light the sparklers (without shoes on). A few moments later I start to snap pictures when Jonathan yells out in pain. He stepped on a burning chunk of the sparkler that had fallen off. After that we went inside and put shoes on! William and I finished burning all the horrible sparklers while Jonathan soaked his foot in cold water. (He was fine by the next day) I happened to get a picture of the incident, too funny....

I had the boys on the floor trying to get a few pictures before we left for downtown Waco. Just watch the progression of the pictures...

Just as I was snapping a picture of William, Logan lunged over on all fours and spit up all over William and the floor. Good times!!