Family Trip, Part II

It was about a 2 hour drive from Massachusetts to New York. The GPS really came in handy! We checked in at the hotel in Poughkeepsie and met up with my parents and brother. We went to dinner that night with my aunt, uncle, Grandma, and parents. The next day was my Grandpa's Memorial Service at the church where he was pastor for 10 years. It was a beautiful service: my brother put together a slideshow, my mom played the piano, and my uncle gave the eulogy. I'm sad that Ethan never got to meet his great-grandpa. After the service, we wll went to dinner at this great restaurant on the Hudson River. That night after we put Ethan down, we stayed up late and hung out in the hotel lobby. Ethan did not sleep well in the crib-it was all metal with no bumper and he was way too big for it!


Reading books in the car on the way to NY


View from the restaurant

Hudson River

Dinner with lots of family!


Crashed out in the hotel crib

Family Trip, Part I

We took our first family trip to New York for my grandpa's Memorial Service last Thursday. Our flight left from Houston at 6:50am-and we never really caught up on sleep the whole time. Taking a toddler on a trip was not the best idea in the world, but we tried to make the most of it and still had fun visiting with relatives and trying to see the sights.

Ethan did very well on the plane-surprised us actually! We had to keep him entertained, but he did really well reading books, playing toys, eating snacks, and watching cartoons on the plane TV. We had a layover in Cleveland and once we got on the next plane, Ethan slept all the way to Hartford-yippee!!! That night, we stayed with some of Jake's family friends from when he lived in Connecticut so we drove to their house in Blanford, Massachusetts. They have a 10-month old baby, Paige, so it was a nice stay. They had a high chair, pack-n-play, and lots of baby toys to play with. Ethan even got to take his first bath with a girl! The next morning, Jake played golf while we let the babies nap. I met him at the golf course and we were then on our way to Poughkeepsie, New York to meet up with my parents and relatives.

At the golf course in Southwick, Mass with Paige and her mommy, Kate

Bath time!

Asleep on the plane

Watching cartoons on the plane

First Beach Trip!

On Friday, we went with Jake's family and took Ethan to the beach---Mommy took the day off for the special outing!!

We went to Galveston for the day. Although not very pretty, Ethan LOVED it! He enjoyed the water and sitting in the sand getting dirty. Surprisingly, he didn't eat as much sand as we thought he might. Ethan isn't afraid of the water at all...he kept putting his face under and tasting the salty water.

Playing with my cousin, Ava

I love to get dirty!
Splashing in the water with Grandpa!

I love it here!!

Me and my Daddy

My Favorite Way to Sleep

Lately...

Ethan is about 13 1/2 months now-what a fun age! He has gotten really good at walking and even tries to run too-he sure does keep us busy. He says lots of words: "ca-ca" for cracker, mama and dada, "mmmm" for milk, and "nana" for banana. He LOVES the water and throws a huge fit when it's time to go inside. He also loves to take walks around the neighborhood and "drive" around in his Cozy Coupe.

Mommy is counting down the days (26!!) until summer vacation. We signed Ethan up for swim lessons and we will continue doing classes at The Little Gym too. We will be taking E on his first plane ride to New York in June-I'll be sure to post how that goes (I'm nervous)!!

Here are some recent pics-enjoy!

Cruisin'

Ok, Mommy-that's enough pictures!

Probably dialing China on Daddy's blackberry!

Easter 2010

Wow, we can't believe Ethan just celebrated his second Easter! This time last year, he was only a month old; a little blob not able to do much of anything. Check out the post last year here. Next year he will get to hunt for Easter eggs! We spent some time with both sides of the family on Sunday. Ethan got his first set of golf clubs from Nonnie and Pop and some Easter treats from Grandma and Grandpa. He had a great time playing with his cousins. We even let him swim in the baby pool since it was so hot!
Checking out their loot!

My first golf club!

A Day in the Park

With 3 kids in tow, we quickly learned "a day in the park" is really no day in the park! Jake and I along with Jake's brother, Seth, took the kids to Stephen F. Austin State Park on Saturday to enjoy the beautiful weather and hopefully to take some pictures in the bluebonnets. Sadly, we couldn't find any good patches along the way or at the park, but we managed to get some cute pics anyway. We had a little picnic and walked one of the nature trails. Ethan was determined to ingest something other than food! Everytime we turned around, he had a rock, stick, or flower in his mouth. Fun day, but hard to keep up with all the little ones!

Ethan got a lot of practice walking!

Sweet cousins! Ethan, Casey, and Ava

Hiking the trails with Daddy

Sweet Ava! Notice E in the background munching on a stick....

I'm ready to go!!