Texas Two Step (14 months, 4 wks)

Hey everyone! Well I can now tell you why I couldn't blog last Sunday. We went to Texas! Mommy and Daddy have a rule about not announcing on the Internet when we are going to be out of town. We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa V on Saturday and came back on Wednesday. I have never been to Texas before so I was super excited about the trip. Last time I was at an airport I couldn't walk. This time, I was running all over! I especially liked the moving walkways.

Here I am pointing out the moving walkway to Daddy.

I am so used to pushing around the stroller for my dolls that I thought it was time to try pushing my own stroller. I pushed it all over the airport. It was really fun and got some energy out before the plane ride.

Here I am on the plane with my plane friend, Molly. Molly is 21 months old, has a lot of teeth and a lot more hair than me. I guess I have a lot to look forward to in the next 6 months! Molly and I entertained each other on the flight. Mommy was hoping that Molly would be on the flight home too but she was staying in Texas for the whole week. The flight was really fun as I had Molly in front of me, and the people sitting behind us would play peek-a-boo with me too so I had lots of entertainment. I was what they call "a very good flier." I may not have kept this title on the way home..but we'll talk about that later.

When we got to Grandma and Grandpa V's house it was past my nap time and I hadn't napped yet. I had no interest in sleeping as there was a brand new house to explore so I refused to sleep. You'll notice I'm not wearing a jacket as it was nice and warm in Texas. It was so nice to play outside! This is me playing one of my favorite Texas games. It involves walking over to the hot tub, splashing water, getting up, walking to the pool, splashing water, and then returning to the hot tub, and so on and so forth. It was great fun. It was especially fun as someone was always right next to me because they thought I might actually go in the pool or hot tub so I had a lot of attention. I tried to safely enter the pool by getting down on all fours, and crawling backwards (just like how I go down stairs) but someone always caught me before I went in.

I went to bed pretty early the first night as I hadn't slept at all that day. The next morning was Sunday so we went to church. I got to stay in the sanctuary during the singing part. By the time it got to the sermon, I was getting pretty antsy so Grandma V and I went for a walk. We explored the church, went to the library, and read some books. The most exciting thing was the fire alarm went off so we got to evacuate. Later we found out that the people in the sanctuary said they didn't evacuate because the pastor said that the alarm goes off all the time for no reason and not to worry. When we were leaving church we did notice the fire truck was there. I was so excited about the fire adventure that I decided to play firefighter when we got home!

Grandma and Grandpa V went to college at the University of Michigan so they have this big Michigan bear. I liked carrying it around and playing with it. It's just about as big as me!

When I woke up from my nap, I got to meet Great Aunt Donna and Great Uncle Brad. They live near Grandma and Grandpa V now so it was fun to meet them! We decided to go for a dip in the hot tub. It was warmed to bath water temperature and it was really nice!

This is Daddy and me in the hot tub. Mommy thought that I would have fun with Daddy in the tub and she could just sit on the edge and not get all wet. Well, as you know, I'm sort of clingy to Mommy these days so I didn't enjoy my time away from her that much.

So I sat on the edge of the pool too and we splashed Daddy in the hot tub!

Later that night we went out to eat at a restaurant called Ransoms. I got to try crayons for the first time. It was all fun until I tried to eat one, and then they got taken away!

This is me when I first got my dinner. I had the macaroni and cheese ( of course, it's my 'out to dinner' staple!) It was made with five different cheeses!

This is me about 10 minutes after starting my dinner. It was soooooooooo delicious! I was shoveling it in my mouth and all over my face.

This is me and Mom next to the Longhorn head in the restaurant. It was 'very Texas'

That night there was a gorgeous sunset!

The next day we went to a nearby park. This was my first time actually getting to really play outside. There was a little pond there. This is me on the dock overlooking the pond.

As I may have mentioned before, I'm really into pointing at things. I spend most of my day pointing. Here I am showing Grandma the fountain in the lake or maybe pointing out a duck. I can't remember.

This is Daddy and me playing in the sand. I really liked picking up the sand and watching it fall through my fingers. It was also really weird to walk on sand and on grass. I only would walk on them if someone was holding my hand.

Here is Grandpa V helping me walk up the big hill on grass.

It was such a feat that I broke out in dance. Here is me doing my best John Travolta move.

Then I got to play on the playground equipment. It was a lot of fun. I really liked bouncing up and down on the bridge.

This is me playing peek-a-boo!

The next day was chilly outside so we had to wear our jackets. This is mommy and me blowing bubbles. Well Mommy did the bubbles and I caught them. It was great fun!

Playing bubbles was exhausting so I had to take a little break in a chair that was just my size!

This is me and the bear outside Grandma and Grandpa V's house. Mommy said we should take my picture next to it each time we come visit to see how tall I am getting. On our last day in Texas Mommy and Daddy went to the Houston Rodeo and saw Keith Urban in concert. I stayed back with Grandma and Grandpa and entertained them. We had lots of fun. Mommy and Daddy learned a lot about rodeos and cheered on the calves when they got away from the cowboys. They brought me back a cowgirl outfit that I haven't gotten to try on yet. I'll post a picture when I do. It has to be hand washed so Mommy hasn't had a chance to wash it yet.

By the end of the trip I was less chipper than the beginning. The plane ride home was opposite of the ride to Texas. The people in front of us were 2 old guys who were not so interested in a baby climbing over their seat. There was no one sitting behind us so I had no one to entertain me. I was really tired but wouldn't nap. I had a dirty diaper so I had to have an airplane change (Mommy puts nighttime diapers on me for flights so that we can avoid this..but there's no avoiding it if I have a dirty diaper!). And to top it off, I threw up on Mommy. I guess I ate too much lunch or got airsick or something but Mommy wasn't so impressed and smelled bad the rest of the flight.

Now we are getting accustomed to being at home and are looking forward to a relaxing weekend! I'll blog about my weekend on my regularly scheduled day, Sunday.