This never gets old, right?

Poolside

Yummy water

My favorite swimming pool shot

Splish Splash

Grandma set up the kiddie pool in the backyard and it has been a huge hit every afternoon (she sweetly fills it with warm water each time).

Seen here: crazy splashing time.

Sightseeing

Miles was not okay with the fish locks

(we gave him a minute to warm up and tried again with a bit more success-unfortunately, there weren't many fish running today. You're looking at the only one there in the corner)

The main attraction in the dam visitor center...why the lights of course!

Outside view of the McNary Dam

Four Generations

Grandma Julie, Miles, Great-grandma Lucy and Craig

Grandma Julie

She has lots of great books!

R & R 101

We arrived safe and sound in Oregon early Saturday morning (4:30 am to be exact). Craig drove the whole time and Miles and I tried to sleep in the backseat. Miles did pretty well, only one short scream fest and a brief waking period at a rest stop. The rest of the time, he slept pretty soundly. Although, I think he was a little over the car seat. He's quite a wiggler in his sleep now and he seemed a little restless at times in the car, being contained and all. Thankfully, once we arrived, everyone was able to get a couple more hours of shut eye before the day truly began. Our vacation is in full swing now and we've been doing a lot of the following:





It's great having nowhere to go and nothing to do. We just lay around and play with Miles all day. Then, when it's nap time, we either sleep, watch TV, knit or read. No house to clean, job to do, chores awaiting or animals to take care of-pure heaven!

Parting shot

We're about to leave on another summertime adventure. This time...a car trip to Oregon. We'll be spending a week with Craig's family. I doubt I'll have access to post updates, so watch for a slew when we return.

This is Miles enjoying Leah's swing at our playdate on Thursday.

Clapping

I suggest stopping the video after the clapping at the very beginning. The rest shows his ridiculous parents trying to get him to do it again, with no success. Well, at least you've been warned.

Bubbles

I tried to choose the shortest video on this topic. I think it's pretty cute though-he'll just sit and make bubbles with his never ending supply of drool. At least he's resourceful!

Party in the park

It was a fun get together, the temperatures didn't seem to affect anyone's spirits. Well, maybe the pitcher of margaritas helped a little.

New hand gesture

Haven't quite figured out what this new hand gesture means, other than "I want something." Not too clear on the specifics yet. Oh, and you also get a peak at him practicing the pincer grasp. Still not interested in putting the food in his mouth, but he's having fun picking it up.

Mittens

This may be one of those things only I find amusing.

Dallas again

Last photo op with Aunt Stephanie

A few words about the trip back: notice how few pictures/videos there are this time. Well, I think that sums it up. We were all exhausted. Bone tired. It was a hard week of sweating, sorting, shuffling, packing, researching, sweating, selling and then more sweating. Both Stephanie and Miles slept for almost the entire first flight. Thank goodness, because the second leg of the journey was a little rough. They overbooked the flight, so we were packed like sardines. The air conditioning didn't work until we were in the air-which had me edging toward hysteria. All those people sitting in a little metal box-roasting alive. Miles did great until a little bit into the flight. Some arching of the back and crying ensued (this was really fun when the people in front of us decided to put their seats back). Fortunately, I discovered that as long as Miles was facing backward and bouncing, he was a happy camper. So, add muscle fatigue to my list of woes. Oh well, happy baby trumps it all! He did fall asleep for the last 30-ish minutes of the flight, which was great. Actually, I couldn't have asked for a better traveler. Next up....a nine hour car ride to Oregon!

Tampa airport

Getting organized before walking to the gate. I love how tiny and adorable he looks in this chair, especially in his 'big boy' shirt.

Florida Part Two

On the day of our departure, we finally managed to get a few family photos.

Aunt Connie and Nana

Miles is far more interested in the piece of tape he's holding, but we got everyone else looking the right direction!

Watch out Michael Phelps

All this play is exhausting

No, he didn't fall asleep while playing. I wish. He's been on a crazy sleep schedule- with the time change, new environment, weird sleep arrangements. Well, we're doing the best we can. Weirdly, I've been pretty mellow about it all. He even got up the other night around 8 something and was up until 10-ish and then back to bed. I figure, hey, we're on vacation right??? Here's what I'm looking forward to....coming home and having him wake up at 4:30 am for the day because it's 6:30 in Florida. It's a good thing they look so angelic when they're sleeping.

Not for the faint of heart

****WARNING: the last picture in this post is a huge, ginormous spider. Seriously. It's huge.****


A little snapshot of the bug life found here in Florida. These were taken on/in/around the screen surrounding my mom's pool. Just consider how well they show up on film. They grow 'em big out here.

And here it is. This guy was as big as Miles' ear. Thankfully, it was on the outside of the screen.

Rain, rain

I'm starting to wonder why I packed our bathing suits. Forgot about the rainy season-oops. And, as you can see, Florida takes its rainy season very seriously. Nice change of pace from the dry, dry heat of Utah. Except for the side effect of humidity. Humidity...bleck....yuck.

Oh, and I know you hear a bit of crying. Don't worry, we hurried back inside and there doesn't seem to be any lasting effects. We've certainly had lots more thunder to test it out. Poor guy, Florida is really testing his limits!

Seasoned traveler

See, I know how to work this thing. Now, all I need is a TV.

Time for stretching.

I remember this lady, it's going to be all right.

We made it! I'm about to get my first taste of humidity. oh boy.

So, the first airplane trip with Miles was okay. Thankfully, both legs of the journey we ended up with a row to ourselves. This made a huge difference I think. Miles could sit and/or lay down to play. He really handled the whole day so well. He didn't nap too much, so by the end of the day, he was a little overtired. Remarkably he still had a cheerful demeanor....until.....

as you may or may not know, we surprised my mom by showing up with my sister (she knew Stephanie was coming). So, my mom just pulled up outside baggage claim to pick her up. Okay, no problem. I run outside into steamy, rainy jungle weather and lo and behold, she was surprised. Now for OUR surprise. She brought her dog with her, a big furry, bearlike German Shepherd. Well, I start to put Miles in the car and Angel decides to stay hello. She inches over to the car seat to sniff-so picture a giant dog head poking into the carseat. Suddenly, a scream I haven't heard before came flying out of Miles. It was terror, pure unadulterated terror. Poor tired guy. I whisked him out of the car, ran back inside to regroup with Stephanie. Back outside. Have I mentioned the rainy, steamy jungle weather. We're sticky and sweaty, not to mention exhausted. I tried the carseat again, keeping a hand up to push the dog back. No way. More terror. More whisking out of the car. In the meantime, both the suitcases won't fit. Although, they tried really hard, it's just not happening. So, at this point, I did what any sane person would do, I rented a car. Problem solved. No German Shepherd. Suitcases fit and we're back in business. I GPS'd my way home and ended the ride with Miles screaming-overtired and didn't fall asleep in the car. Thankfully, Wheels on the Bus seemed to help and 50 verses later we were home!

Videorama

A little video montage of our day of travel. They are all super short, just to give you a taste of the adventure!