5 posts tagged “vacation”
It feels like 2009 has been one big count down: Count down to March weekend get-away, to baby's ultrasound, to Will's 2nd bday, to June Cape May get-away, to "The Great Gregg Demolition" and finally, countdown to baby!" Even after that I have family vacation to look forward to, then many new milestones with baby number two. I often measure my life in forward glances, always looking ahead to the next big thing. I often caution myself that this is a dangerous posture because I risk missing all the special moments now if I'm too focused on then. And there may not always be something special to look forward to, though with kids, there's always something on the horizon. This is how I've always been though, so I'll continue to look forward to the next big thing, while being mindful that NOW is special, too.
This past weekend Sean and I enjoyed a relaxing time together in Cape May. My parents graciously took Will for the weekend and we enjoyed sleeping in and planning meals whenever we felt. We did lots of reading and walking, took in sunsets and dodged rain drops. Sean reigned victorious at Skipbo. I finished a book. We had ice cream every day. We started our christmas shopping at the cute little shops. We caught a movie Sat afternoon since the rain clouds stubbornly refused to clear away. It was a nice last fling before our family gets a little bit bigger, and before craziness starts in our house.
The craziness of which I speak refers not only to the coming of a new baby, but to the event to which we affectionately refer to as "The Great Gregg Demoltion." Our tenants move out of the first floor June 30 and we're completely redoing the space to make is a livingroom-dining room space for us. We also plan to gut the kitchen and redo that. Sean is planning to make the cabinents for that. It's been an interesting and frustrating process getting the building permits, but we learned to be thankful we don't live a few school districts over. Apparently the town where I grew up has strict ordinances agains DIY work. You can't even change a faucet without a registered plumber on the job. That would really cramp our DIY, frugal style.
Much of our conversation surrounds our remodeling plans and excitement about having the whole house to ourselves. Some of the things that excite me the most are: taking laundry through the house and the kitchen to the basement, rather than down the steps-out the front door - down the porch steps - around to the back - down the basement steps to the laundry. I also look forward to going from the kitchen strait out to the back to grill, rather than a process similar to that for laundry, and also to being able to let the dog out the back door. Sean and I wonder how long it will take Will and Libby to get used to coming in the front door and being home - rather than having to come in and climb a full flight of stairs to the door to our house. I will look forward to carrying groceries in and not having to lug them up the stairs, and also to bringing in baby in the baby carrier without having to climb all those stairs.
Forward thinking and lots of excitement in my days!
It seems like distant past, but it was only a month ago. We had a great time on vacation vising with family and friends and doing some sight seeing and hiking. The vacation started out strong with two great flights. I was positively giddy when we landed in Omaha and Will was still happy and obliging. I truely expected the worst from our boy who likes to wiggle and doesn't really understand quiet. He's verbal! He's 16 months! But honestly, he really did well. We were fortunate to have room for him to play with his train and he seemed uneffected by the changes in altitude. Even the rough descent into Omaha which turned mommy's stomach severely didn't ruffle his cheery demeanor.
We stayed with Sean's Aunt Ellen in Iowa and were blessed by her warm hospitality. Will loved having so much room to run around in her home. He seemed to really enjoy laughing and running and throwing himself on her comfy couches. While we were staying with her he developed a new way of entertaining us. He would squint his eyes and laugh, but then start bobbing his head while making a "Z" sound as he continued laughing. While in Sheldon we got to spend some good quality time with cousins and 2nd cousins. We spent some time with sean's college roommates and attended the first ever varsity football game at Dordt College, Sean's alma mater. It was a blow out, and Dordt didn't win, but Sean had a great time, and Will seemed to enjoy the cheers with the rest of the crowd when they had something to cheer about. We spent an afternoon with Aunt Mary and Uncle Harold in MN and got to visit with some old friends at Sean's old church.
Sean added two state high points to his list while on vacation. First, Iowa's "Hawkeye point" - literally a clearing in the midst of a corn field. I was underwhelmed. South Dakota's highpoint Harney Peak was a little more impressive at over 7000 feet and a 3.5 mile hike one way. We enjoyed that one and felt like we really earned the view. After our expedition to Hawkeye Point we shared a picnic lunch with Aunt Ellen at a nice park in Sibley, IA. They had a really nice playground there and Will seemed to enjoy himself on the swings and in the tunnel. After spending some time with familiy in IA we headed out to western South Dakota and toured The Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Jewel Cave and Custer State Park. We saw wild bison and burrows that came right up to our car. Will points to all wildlife and crinkles his nose and breathes in and out quickly in his little "oink-oink" imitation. While on our hike he picked out the mule deer in the woods and pointed them out to us most of the time. Maybe he will be daddy's little hunter after all. We camped with friends and their daughter near Rushmore. Little Kendra was so excited to give Will hugs. Will unfortunately was not so excited and after a few vice grips around the neck by the end of the week he would turn and run when he saw her coming. They did seem to enjoy the scenery together however, and they were both great travelers through all the driving we did throughout the week.
We're glad to be back home with our puppy and to sleep in our own beds. Will is balking a little at sliding back into his routine though. Still on mountain time, he's been sleeping later in the mornings and only taking one daily nap. After 10 days of constant mommy and daddy time, he gets a little bent out of shape if he discovers he's in a room all by himself. He's been more clingy this week and his fuse is oh-so-short. But we'll work it all out.
I have a to do list as long as the Mississippi so when I make a dent in that I'll tell all about our travels and post some pictorials. We enjoyed some spectacular scenery and enjoyed spending quality time with friends and family. We're grateful for all the hospitality they showed to us and will miss them.
We're just back from a weekend with my siblings in the mountains. We had a nice time and I think my sister especially enjoyed spending quality time with the babies. We did a miniature hike, and by mini I mean more of a two minute walk in the woods before turning around for home because the toddler (not baby!), Will was tired and hungry. We walked to the lake expecting a chilly day and were pleasantly surprised by glorious sunshine, sandy beach and calm water. Unprepared for water fun, we let the kiddos wade to their knees trying to avoid the inevitable soaking and swelling of a non-swimmer diaper. They both plopped down on their bums and lots of splashing, smiling and diaper-swelling ensued. Will was obsessed with the foam football which the daddies were tossing in the water. It must've been the perfect chewing consistency because that's all he wanted to do. He didn't try to eat the sand, and that was a miracle in itself.
In the week preceding the vacation I was nervous, anticipating sleepless nights in a new place and nonexistent naps. On the contrary, he slept fine at night, and though he missed naps, the drama I expected presented itself in only muted colors. Though I did need a day of napping yesterday to recover from the weekend of chasing a toddler around a new place at early morning hours trying to keep him safe.
When naps fail to happen and the day falls apart, there is truth in this: nothing lasts forever, and tomorrow will be a better day. I keep telling this to dada who continues to fight this awful flu that had him sacked on the couch for 4 days straight and now plagues him with a terrible, relentless, hacking cough. He was sad after his doctor's visit yesterday not to receive a scrip for codeine.
Now we're looking forward to the next vacation. This one will be a camping trip with Grandma and Grandpa. We're bracing ourselves for camping witha one-year-old. Any tips? We've got ourselves a "family-sized" tent, and plan to sleep him in the port-a-crib in the tent with us. We've never coslept, so I don't think this camping trip is the time to start. I'm glad we'll have two extra set of hands to keep track of our curious and exuberant one.
We've been having a great time here at Chez Gregg.
Here's a quick recap of the last two weeks since I've had time to post:
-We threw Kristine a beautiful
bridal shower
-We vacationed in DE at the beach.
(That deserves a post all its own with some great pictures of Will.)
-Cousin Kirsten came to visit.
-Sean celebrated his 30th birthday. We threw him a redneck-themed 30th birthday party. People came in costume. It was fantastic.
-We celebrated our third wedding anniversary.
We spent the day together with Kirsten, picnicked at Valley Forge Nat'l park, spent the afternoon enjoying the perfect weather on a blanket under the trees and played a few rounds of Carcassone. Sean and I kicked back and watched "The Guardian" in the evening. It was a great day.
Sean started his paternity leave and made some serious headway on the crib.
(He needs to get it built asap since Mr Will is quickly getting too big for the cradle!)
Will seems to have been enjoying himself too. Here's a review of some things he's been doing. Every time he does something new I want to blog about it since that is the purpose of this blog - so that we can look back when he's older and remember these times. I almost can't keep up!
Last Sunday at 12 weeks old. he giggled for the first time. I was bouncing him over my head and he graced me with a full mouth smile and let out the most beautiful giggle. There is no way to keep yourself from smiling when you hear that sound.
He is sleeping upwards of 7 hours... and more frequently through the night - three times now!
My shoulder must taste good because he has taken to sucking it. He also likes to suck on the burp cloth and his fist. No thumb sucking yet.
He still loves his animals on the changing table. No matter how cranky he is, he will always turn his heat towards them and give a great big smile.
He is doing a very good mini push up. No more Mr Lazy laying on his tummy sucking his thumb during tummy time.
He has been in the nursery at church twice now - first time was at 11 weeks. We did that to allow him to get his usual morning nap. Last week Betty put him in the exersaucer. She said he loved it! So I've begun to brouse the exersaucer selection on ebay.
Will is stretching out his voice with multi-syllabic cooes and gurgles. He has begun to add in facial expressions and gestures. We have an expressive son!
I must step away from the computer now. Dinner calls and Will slept through his 4:00 feeding. It is now 6:10. He'll be up any minute wanting to eat - so I'd better use this time to make some headway with dinner, and get the laundry folded. I've discovered that life with baby is all about multi-tasking.
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