Southern Adventures

Trevor has started a two week short class that will be every day for two hours, in addition to his regular semester load.  Needless to say, he has been very busy and suggested that Grayson and I go down to Alabama for the two weeks to visit my family.  We have been quite enjoying our stay, but still missing Trevor of course.  I'm so grateful for technology, however, which allows us to call and/or video chat every day.

We have been really busy since we got to Alabama.  Grayson was a champion traveler on the way down and the drive went very smoothly.  We visited my sister Decia and her family on Wednesday.  Her older kids were very upset that school had started and they would be missing most of the fun.  We were still there when they got back from school though, so that made up for it some.  I even went with my sister to pick them up while my mom stayed with the little guys at Decia's house.  My nephew Trevor got in the car and said, "Who's that sitting in the front?"  I thought it was really funny.  

My niece Mary Beth was nice enough to share her favorite toy, her kitty.

While we were visiting my sister and her family, we went to Five Guys for lunch and got some dessert from a local cupcake place.  Then we went to a really cool park near their house.  The floor of the playground area was gated and covered in this springy, cushioned material, so Grayson was able to crawl around.  Although, when I actually put him down, I don't think he liked the material very much he wouldn't really go far.  All that being said, he had a fun time, it was such a great park!!  

He couldn't decide how he felt about the slides.  He seemed kind of indifferent.

Grayson really loved this tunnel.  He would crawl through it so quickly and then I would help him out the other side.

Outside the playground area, there were some beautiful gardens and some really fun rock and animal statues.  Grayon really liked to play on the various statues.  We even saw a really big praying mantis in some of the grass, it was really cool.

The first thing he did when I showed him the frog statue was give it a great big kiss.

It was so fun to see everyone.  When the older kids got home from school, the kids all had to take turns holding Grayson.  My oldest niece got her guinea pig out and let Grayson pet her.  He would just poke her at first, but then he started trying to grab her ears, so we had to give the poor guinea pig some space.  

The next day, we went to my sister Sarah's house to visit her and her family.  Grayson always gets so excited to see his cousins.  He loves being around little kids.  My nephew David is the youngest of my sisters' kids and he was really sweet playing with Grayson.  He shared his toys and kept patting Grayson on the head.  It was really cute.

Grayson kept trying to 'climb' on David, it was too funny.  David wasn't sure how he felt about it.

We of course had to go visit one of my favorite stores while we were there, the Unclaimed Baggage Center.  It's so fun, you never know what you're going to find.  

Today Sarah and her family and my older sister Dawn came over for lunch.  My sweet niece Emma was Grayson's buddy and was playing with him a lot and giving him toys.  She kept making silly faces and making him laugh.  Of course Grayson wanted to hug her and 'climb' on her.  He accidentally toppled her over, which made me laugh.  

Grayson and David playing with Legos together. 

My cute niece Anna was a good help and helped Grayson practice walking while he held her hands.

My dad was giving Grayson a lesson on manly things like tools and such.  He was very fascinated by the needle nose pliers, much to my chagrin.  Grayson really liked exploring all of my dad's equipment.

Beanie Babies, BBQ's and Bilbo Baggins

We have been incredibly busy for the last couple of weeks.  We wanted to take advantage of the end of the summer before Trevor started school again.  He started this past Wednesday and is enjoying his classes so far and looking forward to a new semester.  The week before that though, we went out with a bang.  We went to an ice cream social to meet some of the new first year law students on Monday.  It was a lot of fun.  On Tuesday, I went out to a frozen yogurt place with some of the other law wives.  Then on Wednesday, we had some friends over or a movie night.  Thursday, we had a friend over for dinner. 

For the weekend, we drove up to Alexandria, VA to see some friends.  My friend Katie and I were in the room next to each other in the dorms Freshman year of college and we were even in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) at the same time.  Her and her husband recently moved to Alexandria, so we decided to go up for the weekend to visit.  We drove up after Trevor finished his last day of work on Friday and spent the night at our friend's apartment.  It was so much fun to catch up with friends.  We spent the evening talking and playing games.

On Saturday we went to visit Arlington National Cemetery.  We had never been there and was amazed at how big it was. 

We got to watch the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier.  It was really neat to watch.  It was a special experience and was a good reminder for me of all those who have worked hard and sacrificed for us so that we can enjoy this country we live in.

After we left the Arlington National Cemetery, we drove around Old Town Alexandria.  It was really pretty.  We also found an awesome restaurant, Bilbo Baggins Global Restaurant complete with the Green Dragon Pub.  How cool is that!  The food was really good and we had a great time.

I pulled out my stuffed animals that I saved from when I was a kid and he had fun playing with them.  I discovered that I have waaaayyyy too many Beanie Babies.  Grayson sure liked them though.  

He was mostly interested in the tags.

He found the laundry basket.

Grayson really liked his spinach for lunch....mostly playing with it, but hey I'll take anything I can get.

We set up a obstacle course for Grayson because he loves to climb things.

Monday we had a BBQ with some friends.  We love that we can grill right on our balcony.  Trevor makes the best burgers.

Grayson the Explorer

Grayson is getting faster and more mobile every day.  I can't get over how stinking cute this kid is.

Climbing on dad.

He got a kick out of riding around in this empty box.

Trevor's parents sent him a puzzle postcard in the mail and he had fun 'helping' dad put together the puzzle.  

Every time Trevor would get some pieces together, Grayson had to come closer to examine his work and give him a hand.

He now likes to climb over his piano.  He has flipped it before, so I have to keep an eye on him.

Love this little face!!!

We have started having to move a few things around and better baby proof the house.  He has been getting better at pulling himself up on things around the house.  He'll even walk around with us when we hold our hands.  He gets so excited when he stands up.  He loves to look around.  This weekend, we found him exploring our Wii games.  

We also had to lower the crib this weekend as well.  I had put him down for a nap and was doing my make up in the bathroom when I heard a little cute voice.  I looked in the mirror and there he was standing up hanging onto the top of the crib and grinning and me.  We decided to put the crib down right then.  He was very proud of himself that he had pulled himself up and of course, I couldn't help but feel proud myself.  

Grayson loves to blow raspberries!

More climbing!!

Busy Weekend

Trevor and I went out on a date this weekend!  It was so much fun.  We decided to go out to eat to celebrate Trevor having survived his week of On Grounds Interviews for his next summer internship.  It was a very busy week for both of us, so it was nice to relax and have some fun this weekend.  We tried a new Italian restaurant and it was absolutely fantastic.  I love Italian food!  We went home after dinner and watched a movie.  It was a great night.

On Saturday morning, we went to a neighborhood street fair.  There were performers.  We even saw a girl on stilts.  There were balloon animals, a piano performing, vendors and a small farmers' market.  We had a good time walking around.

After we went to the neighborhood street fair, we went to the downtown pedestrian mall and went to the farmers' market there.  I haven't been to a farmers' market in a long time and it was a lot of fun to look around.  The produce was beautiful and the food smelled delicious.  I do love the summer.

Augusta County Fair

We have been trying to take advantage of the last of summer and get out to do fun things. Last weekend, we decided to go visit the Augusta County Fair.  We had a good time.  They had lots of food, vendors, exhibits and rides.  I think Grayson had a good time too.  He loves to see new things.  

Model trains always make me think of my dad.

Grayson got to go to his first petting zoo!

He got excited when he saw the baby duck and wanted to pet it.

Sitting up like a big boy in the stroller!  He really liked looking out, he especially liked watching any dogs nearby.

We had to get a funnel cake!  Man those things are good.

Grayson and I chilling with the cows.