Mom came down here for a conference, so we spent a couple of days together, then she flew to Dallas and back. William and I met her at the airport, and we were off. It was my first time having a seat for W, and I knew I wanted to use the car seat on the plane. My adorable child simply cannot sit still without being strapped into something for more than a minute or two. He is very busy, inquisitive, and antsy. The idea of trying to get him to sit in his seat just with the seat belt is laughable. He would seriously slide under it and try to escape the row. My mom had the task of installing the seat on both planes we took. She said it was a pain to install...I believe her and am thankful she did it. I don't know what I would have done if I was traveling by myself with William. We would have befriended flight attendants, I suppose. The flights went surprisingly well. We came armed with snacks, a DVD player, lollipops, and a good sense of humor. I had a few fleeting moments of stress when he was tough to console, but I always stayed one step ahead of him and knew what trick I was going to pull out next.
Little did we know that the toughest part of the journey there would be installing the &#(@ car seat in my mom's car! We arrived in Providence around 9, and I don't think we left the airport until 9:45. We figured out later that the straps for the LATCH system had been moved around during all the travel that day, which explained why there was simply no way to tighten them. I thought I had lost my mind. So William had his first and (so far) only forward-facing car ride once we had had enough and switched tactics. I don't think he really noticed the difference since it was so late, and we'd had such a long day. I don't think the poor guy even got to sleep that night until after 11. He was a trooper!
One of our first excursions was to the beach. William couldn't get enough of the sand, but he wanted absolutely nothing to do with the water. He's proven to be a pool baby but not yet an open water baby. Must take after his mama.
It's summertime, and you know what that means in the Mann household - baseball! We went to a couple of games while we were there, and Michael did a lot of practicing, both at home and at school. He had been called up to varsity right before we got there, so he wanted to keep those skills sharp.
My family lives just a few hundred yards from a Morgan horse farm. They happened to be having an open house while we were there. We could pretend like we took William so he could see the horses, but the reality is that Mom and I really wanted to go! Their horses are gorgeous - and expensive!
The neighbors have a little boy and twin girls. They are sweet kids, and of course William just liked to keep an eye on them and see what cool things they were up to. Because big kids are just plain cool.
We spent a lot of time hanging around the house and taking advantage of the giant front and back yards. William is obsessed with Bubba the Newfoundland. He could be found at this window all the time, calling Bubba in the hopes that the dog would come barreling (albeit slowly) around the corner. Words don't come quickly or all that easily to William, but "Bubba" was instantly added to his vocabulary.
Now doesn't this look peaceful...
...until someone comes back from a trip to the treehouse with PawPaw!
Time for a little bubble fun. Who doesn't love playing with giant bubbles?
My 30th birthday was just a few days after I returned home, so we celebrated while I was up there. We ate lunch outdoors at a restaurant Mikey and I really enjoyed during our winter trip up there. The birthday celebration continued that night with a cookout and yet another outdoor meal. It felt incredible to spend so much time in the fresh air. Homemade cupcakes were an unexpected treat! Of course William was happy to indulge in one of those.
Memorial Day brought gorgeous weather and the cutest, most quaint parade I have ever seen. I thoroughly enjoyed the small-town charm of the Old Lyme parade. William was entranced by the whole thing, especially the dogs that people brought along with them. Michael brought Bubba to the parade, and I really think he should be the grand marshal next year. He was such a hit! People wanted to take pictures of him - one couple even wanted their picture taken with him. I heard kids exclaim "It looks like a bear!" and "It's Clifford!" This was the first time that William was completely, 100% overshadowed by another cute creature in public. Good thing he didn't mind a bit.
In addition to the parade, there is a Memorial Day car show. Michael was in heaven checking out all the sweet rides. It was pretty cool, although I didn't need to linger and peer under the hood and pretend like it meant something to me. The only way I could describe my favorite car is that it was a really pretty blue color. This was William's first car show. You'll notice that he was so distracted that he couldn't even look at the camera. What a boy.
What started off as this...
Soon turned into this...
I simply could not resist. I swear I didn't tell him to do anything with the star.
As much as William adores the ladies in his life, he is a guy's guy. He would tolerate playing with my mom or me on the swingset, but he just loved it when PawPaw came out to play.
Mom's garden is AMAZING. I heard it grew even more large and lush after we left. I couldn't go home without capturing just a bit of the beauty.
Michael's baseball team had a playoff game on our last day there. William actually did really well sitting in and around his chair. He was enthralled by the big kids sitting behind us. The good guys didn't win this game, but it was fun nonetheless.
No need to lower the basket when you can get a lift!
I told Michael I have to get a picture of him and William every time they get together. After all, they are the only two who look any different month to month!
Home again, home again, jiggity jig. Thank goodness Neil flew back with us. I don't know what I would have done without him!
1 comment:
Sounds like an incredible trip!
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