Wordless Wednesday

Since my blogging has been a little scant lately, I thought I'd start doing "Wordless Wednesday" to at least get me to sign in and upload something in hopes that will lead to a little more .

Ambrose now when told something is hot will blow on it.

*sorry it's sideways, the computer doesn't let me fix that ( or if it does I can't figure out how), so tilt your head a little.

Reunion

I have found that each year that passes and as each family member grows up, gets married or has kids it becomes harder and harder to get together for family reunions. Well, this year the stars aligned and my mom's entire side of the family were all able to make it to the same location at the same time.

We stayed in 5 different cabins up in the beautiful Black hills and children and adults alike played and had a wonderful time.

On our first day it rained, and while it was a bummer to unpack in the rain, Ambrose found it to be quite to his liking.

We did some hiking in the beautiful hills. It was my first time hiking with Ambrose and in true Ambrose form he ate, drank and hung out. I had a much different experience, but just as enjoyable none the less.

The kids ( great grand kids, to be clear....I still throw myself in the "kids" category when around family, which is OK, because the kids table is always more fun :) were in heaven out at the cabins. There was tons to do and many loving and willing eyes and hands to keep them out of trouble.

One of the highlights, and a family tradition, was Christmas in July. We go big or go home in my family, so we celebrated with strung Christmas lights and unwrapped gifts under a decorated Christmas tree.

What? You don't play goofy relay races in Santa costumes at your family Christmas? you're missing out!

It isn't easy for everyone to get together anymore, and we don't to it nearly as often as all of us would like, but we make up for lost time when we do.

From the flight deck

Ambrose has flown 11 out of his 15 months of life. Surly I'd be an expert by now, but no, not by a long shot.
I have, however learned a few things. Let me impart some of my flying wisdom on you:

One: this ghetto ride is the best thing to hit the airport since like...the dawn of time. I purchased yet another car seat. This is # 4 for those of you keeping track, and this thing was cheap but more importantly, it was incredibly light, which, as it turns out, is very important when you're trying to get the thing down an aisle the size of my thigh. We attached the car seat to a $15.99 luggage carrier and...bippity-boppity-boo, the thing turned into a sanity-saving, airport-sprinting, 31lb kid-carrying machine. Awesome, awesome awesome! This thing blows the socks off traveling with the BOB. We actually figured out a way to attach it to the cart with the latch straps; call me if you want the cliff-notes.

Two: those that tell you an airplane lulls a child to sleep.....they LIE. Big fat liars. Don't believe them. It turns kids into screaming, kicking, over tired messes. Well, at least my kid.

Three: the lighter you can travel the better. I try to bring the bare minimum yet still be prepared. A small backpack and carseat on wheels is all I travel with. Again, BOB travelers, Whaaaat?

Four: DVD players are a life saver, except when the stewardess informs you that all electronic devices must be turned off. Because then, your child turns into a screaming, back-arching, kicking (oh my gosh the kicking) mess.

Five: turns out, people don't care too much for the said mess that is a tantruming toddler. They will sigh, give you the look, and make it perfectly clear that your child is making THEIR flight a tad uncomfortable.

Six: for every sighing and annoyed person on the flight there will be two prepared to offer you help or give you a sympathetic glance.

Seven: when said person offers help, TAKE it!!

Eight: Don't think twice about spending the moolah on a second seat, best money I've spent in a long while. Do it!

Nine: (This is sure to win me mother of the year award) I have been known to put an overnight diaper on my little guy in anticipation of the gate change sprinting that is now flying (what gives Delta? Do you really think that landing from one flight at the time I should be boarding another is really a nice thing to do....do ya?). Trust me, subjecting my son to a wardrobe change in the airplane bathroom after his regular diaper has leaked is a far worse predicament to be in.

Ten: when opening a sippy-cup with straw, warn those around you because apparently the change in cabin pressure causes the straw to spew it's contents all over the passengers within a ten foot radius.

6 years

Today (well, yesterday, forgot to hit the "publish" button on the post), John and I have been married 6 years! I had no idea, but getting married over the 4th of July weekend was ingenious! We are almost always guaranteed at least a three day weekend and many times, like this weekend, a 4 day weekend. See, ingenious!

After seeing this on a friends blog , I thought I'd include it on mine. So a break down of our time together.

Time together: 10years 8months.

time married: 6 years

Homes we've lived in: 6

states we lived: Texas, Oregon, New Mexico and Florida

countries: U.S & Japan

cars purchased: 6

homes purchased: 1

time geographically separated: I count the time that we did the whole long distance relationship while in college, and that was 4 LONG years. After that though we have been incredibly blessed and the longest chunk of time we've been away from one another is 8-10 weeks. He does short trips a handful of times per year, but rarely longer than a month at a time. Ah, we are SO blessed for that!

What an amazing adventure we've had.