Vacation Crashers - Branson Days 1 and 2

A few months ago, I started polling my family to see if we could figure out a time to have a family vacation with all of us. It pretty quickly became apparent that it wasn't going to happen this year. Schedules just weren't colliding. One of the limiting factors was my oldest brother's vacation time with his brand new job...or rather, lack there of. All the vacation time he had was allocated to trips, one of which was a trip he'd planned for his family in Branson, MO. A couple of weeks before their vacation was to start, we decided that we would just crash their vacation so that Dylan could get some quality time in with his cousins. So, very early the morning after our Red Sox VIP experience, we headed to the airport to crash their vacation.

This was the first trip we'd taken with Dylan that 1) wasn't direct, 2) we bought him his own ticket and 3) that he could\would sit focused on watching a movie for a good period of time. #'s 2 and 3 contributed to making the trip down pretty uneventful (yay!). Once there, we found the shuttle to our rental car place, headed over, got outfitted with some wheels and went to meet Jody at the resort we would all be staying.

Once we got to the address of the place we had booked, we tried to locate Jody and Ryker who were waiting for us at the front of the resort. Following their instructions to where they were, we couldn't find them. After a few frustrating minutes of driving around, we finally figured out that we had booked ourselves in a different resort! Doh! Apparently there are a several "Falls Creek" resorts of slightly different names in Branson. Although a big bummer at first, it ended up being not so big a deal. We were only a mile apart and were able to get to each other to meet up easily enough.

Jody's family was going to a show that afternoon so we hung out with them until they had to leave for that. Our check in time was still a ways off so we drove around Branson a bit, took a snooze in the car then went and found a store to get a few groceries for our time there. Then we were able to check in and settle into our hotel. Dylan enjoyed playing out on our screened in porch while Mike and I unpacked the suitcases.

Once Jody's gang finished the show, we met back up with them to head just across the state line to Arkansas where my great aunt Ted is in a nursing home. Her youngest sister, my great Aunt Elizabeth, and her daughter, Jerry Anne, met us all there for a visit. My grandmother's sisters are some pretty cool ladies that I rarely get to see so it was wonderful to spend some time with them and give them some hugs. After we left, I wanted to kick myself (very hard) because I completely forgot to take in the camera to take any pictures of those lovely ladies. Major fail! We called it a night then, caravaned back to our hotels and settled in for some much needed rest.

On day two, we met up pretty early to caravan over to Silver Dollar City, a big amusement park. The youngest were presented with sheriff badges as we entered the park, which they both enjoyed wearing a lot.

Cute Little Sheriffs 

We wandered around a bit and made it over to where the sheriffs could ride some rides while the bigger kids (Jody, Mike, Reece and Presley), headed for some thrills. I had the honor of taking Ryker and Dylan on their first ride. Unfortunately, it was torture for the both of them. While waiting to start, Dylan was a wreck and Ryker and I both tried to calm him.

Once we started, Dylan's tears stopped and he seemed to enjoy it. Ryker screamed in excitement....or so I thought. Soon, the screaming turned into blood curdling and he was shaking and freaking out a bit. I had to try and calm him then! Phew! Just can't please them both at once!

We tried a couple of other rides in the area with a bit more success. Dylan seemed pretty happy with the butterflies and caterpillars while Ryker had fun on the ladybugs (Dylan was too short for that one).

Actually, Dylan was too short for most of the rides...poor guy. He SO wanted to ride the big swings but was a couple of inches shy of the height requirement. He also wanted to ride the tea cups and the elephants (much like the Dumbo ride at Disney) but had the same height issue there. I guess I should have put some platforms on him that day and spiked his hair! Due to the fact that he wasn't it all that great of spirits (already suffering from too little sleep on vacation and not enjoying the southern heat), I stayed with him most of the day. He and I wandered and found ways to entertain ourselves while others were on rides. My biggest entertainment was lemonade slushes...they helped to endure the heat. Yay for them!

There were a couple of rides that we all were able to enjoy together. We went on the Flooded Mine where you shot at targets for points:

Marcy and Reece

Dylan's Ready to Fight Crime

And then followed that up by a super cheesy scripted train ride. Other fun Dylan was able to partake in was the carousel:

And the big playground area where he and Ryker enjoyed tromping around:

Chillin' With My Goat Bud

Look at that, he's got a tail!

Goat Close Up!

It had been a late lunch and the heat had gotten to us all so we decided to go to another ride we could all go on together. It just so happened to be a water ride - Riverblast! Even though Marcy opted to stay "ashore", we blasted her with our water guns so she didn't get left out. The kids LOVED this ride. Even more fun than riding it was running around getting shot by the water guns as spectators for the ride. We hung out for some time because Ryker and Dylan (and even Reece and Presley) were having such a fun time with it.

Mike, Dylan and I went back to our hotel\condo to shower and freshen up then met back over at Jody's for taco night. The kids all watched Tangled (Dylan's first time to see the movie) and played together well. A long fun, very hot day wore us out and we slept well that night!

Walker Gala/Super VIP Night

Back at the beginning of May, we got all fancied up and went to the Walker School Gala. The Walker School is a non profit that my company does a lot of charity work for and the gala is it's big yearly fund raiser. My coworkers always rave about what a fun time it is (and for a good cause) so we decided to go this year.

The Intex Crew
We're just left of center. I'm in the black dress and Mike is behind me.

A big part of that night is the live auction. We got swept up in the excitement and went in with a group of folks to bid on an incredible Red Sox game package and we won! The package was (for a group of 10): a limo ride to the game, VIP tickets that included being on the field for batting practice, dinner and drinks at the State Street Pavilion, a private tour of Fenway park and much coveted tickets on the green monster! We also got a little bag of goodies to take home.

The big game night was the Tuesday following the Memorial Day weekend. One of the couples that bought in was unable to go and very graciously donated their tickets to the group. We scooped one up so that we could bring along my father-in-law, Tom, who dreamed of being able to sit on the green monster. My mother-in-law agreed to babysit and help keep the night a surprise from Tom. We told him we were going to a game but that was it. Boy, was he in for a shock!

I took off from work early, headed home and, just before the limo arrived, we presented Tom with a card with our itinerary for the night. I think he was a little blown away by the surprise!

The limo picked us up (only part of the group would be partaking in this aspect of the package) and dropped us off at Fenway park. We met up with the rest of our crew and waited until the Absolut Clubhouse opened up where we picked up our VIP passes and our guide for the night. He outfitted us with our super cool (but yet a little nerdy) passes which look like back stage concert passes (the plastic sleeve worn around your neck) and took us on the field to the batting practice.

I have to say, even though I'm not the biggest sports fan, it was pretty darned cool to be that close to some pretty famous faces. Unfortunately most of our time there was when the Chicago White Sox (the opposing team that night) was hogging the field but we did get to see a few big Red Sox players - Kevin Youkilis (YOUK!) and David Ortiz (Big Papi). Those also happen to be Dylan's favorite players since he likes saying their nicknames.

Tom and I on the field.

Mike and his Dad.

Youk

Big Papi

My Intex Coworkers (Gabbie,Scott,Colin,Me and Aviva)

Then we were escorted on a private tour of the field. It's not the first time we'd been on a tour of Fenway. We (Mike, Dylan and I) went when my friend Amy and her then boyfriend (now husband), Brad were here in September. But, there's nothing like Fenway park and seeing it before the crowds arrive just doesn't loose the novelty.

Red Chair - Ted Williams longest home run spot.

After our tour, we were escorted to the State Street Pavilion for dinner. From there, you get a nice view of the field and we got to watch (on screen mostly) all the pre game events. But, most importantly, we had an incredible dinner from the awesome buffet!

Our Group
(In the back right corner, that black blob is the back of the organ.
Yep, the live organ player for the game was right there.
We popped over and said hi while he played.)

After stuffing ourselves silly, it was time for the big event - the game! We were escorted to our green monster seats and settled in for a fun night at Fenway. Great seats, fun company, good game (well, we lost, but we made a good almost come back at the end that was exciting)...what more could you ask for?

Mike touching the Pesky Pole - right next  to our seats
(Note, thanks to loyal reader, Sean, I have been corrected.
It's not Pesky's Pole...that's in right field and this is the left field foul pole.)

Our View

Well, I suppose we could ask for more, "free" t-shirts, Red Sox baseball and little tote! We received our gift bags about mid way through the game. As you can see from above, Gabbie and I looked super cute modeling our new t's. 

After the game, we found our limo driver and started out on the long ride home. Getting through traffic around the park was tricky and it took a while to make it back home. It had definitely been a long afternoon\evening but it was a great experience and one that Mike, Tom nor myself will soon forget. Oh, and Nanna and Dylan had a fun time watching cars so fun was really had by all.

Welch-Dickey With a Monkey on our Back

We hadn't been to our NH place since March when there was still snow on the ground, so by the time Memorial Day weekend came around, we were overdue for our first (non snow) hike of the year. Before Dylan came along, we were traditionally doing the Welch-Dickey peaks near our house for that hike. However, the steep granite ledges, rock scrambling, intensity and time weren't super conducive to infant hiking, so we hadn't done the loop in almost 3 years. However, Dylan's a veteran hiker now (and us veterans of hiking with him), so we thought it was time to brave this route.

Since the route is a loop, there are two different directions you can go. One takes you up the steep granite ledges and the other way you're hiking down them. I thought up would be better for hiking up with a kid in a backpack but Mike disagreed. Well, I got my way which meant I agreed to carry him up the ledges. Yay me!

Mike took first shift with Dylan and we made the first part of the hike up to the first great look out. There, we all took a break and Dylan got out of the back pack to explore. There's a lot of flat area for him to move around on but there are definitely some steep drops that made me nervous. However, he did a great job cooperating and held our hands near any more dangerous areas.

Mike's Shirt Says "A Bad Day Outside Is Better Than A Good Day At Work"
Yep, that about says it all!

The next peak over that we would be descending.

Lady Slipper Flower

After we had our fun, we loaded back up and started up the steep granite ledges. Man, Dylan is not the heaviest (almost) 2 year old but carrying 25+ pounds on your back up steep ledge is harder than it looks. Dylan had a fun time looking for holes in the rock (they were all filled with water from the recent rain) and was a trooper during that stretch. Mike was a great assistance, helping to pull me up some of the scrambles and give me a hand when I was nervous about the footing.

See that speck? That's me at the bottom of one stretch of granite.
Once you got through one, you round the corner and see another.
They can seem unending at times!

We made it to the top!

And other people were up there and offered to take a family pic.

After all the excitement climbing the first peak, Dylan decided to take a little snooze. He napped for a whopping 25 minutes (usually has a 2 hour nap)....just enough time to descend the first peak and ascend the 2nd.

Pretty Flowers

Picture of the 1st peak from the 2nd.

Napping.

Then we headed back down. About 1/3 to 1/2 way down, my legs started getting pretty tired so I handed the backpack back over to Mike and he took Dylan the rest of the way down. Though tired after our three and a half hour trek, we were in good spirits. We had tackled a challenging mountain, had some fantastic scenery and had a good time.

But, it was definitely time to reward ourselves with some ice cream! We went to the ice cream shop just a couple of miles from our place, enjoyed some scoops and went back to our condo for showers, TV, relaxation and home made pizza. That is what I call a perfect day in NH!

A Day For Moi?

This is SOOO yesterday's news, I know, but we got some cute pics of the day I really wanted to share. Way back in May, I celebrated my 2nd Mother's Day. With it being Sunday, it was also Mike's soccer day. So, most of the morning, Dylan and I just spent hanging out at the house together doing the usual, reading books and playing with toys. After nap time is when Mike finally got home (an hour and a half later than he told me he would because of a head wound on the field) and then we packed up and headed to the Arnold Arboretum.

The arboretum traditionally has a Lilac Festival on Mother's Day and the weather was supposed to be great and I wanted to attend. Unfortunately, due to Mike's tardiness, we missed the actual festival (yeah, he didn't rack up brownie points that morning). It's a good thing the weather was still nice and the flowers were still in bloom because we managed to have a fun time walking around the park and taking in the beauty.

We're Hiding! Can you See us?

Almost Ran Right Into This Mamma Bird

Playing Peek A Boo in the Tree Branches

All I wanted for the day was to spend some time with my boys playing. And though the schedule didn't go as planned, that's what I got and I was a happy Mom!

23 Months

Hard to believe, but plans are underway for my little guy's 2nd birthday party. With this post being several days late now, the big event is less than a month away!

Between the house hunt which is a very hectic (daily) add to our lives (we've seen over 50 houses now), we've also been traveling (again) and had some other events going on. With so much happening, it's been difficult to find time to document them all but we'll actually be in town this weekend so I'm going to do my best to start getting some words on the blog and catch y'all up on our lives.

But enough about my absence, let's talk about what this post is really about - Dylan! While he definitely is an (almost) 2 year old who likes to assert his needs, I believe we've thus far avoided any major tantrums from him. Sure, we got some slight fits but nothing as embarrassing as having to leave in the middle of a shopping trip or anything like that (yet). I'm not sure how we've lucked out (thus far), but I hypothesize that it's due in part to Dylan's great language set which minimizes frustration in communication and also in part to him being a pretty laid back guy. Obviously takes after his Dad for the latter attribute.

If I thought Dylan was a little parrot last month....wow! I had no idea how much that would increase! Not only does he repeat words and phrases we say directly to him, now he'll also try and mimic entire sentences that are not necessarily directed at him. It's pretty cute.

What was also cute, the first 500 times we heard it, is his new favorite word - "No." He says it matter of fact and without hesitation to most questions asked (or even to commands). When he first started saying it a couple of weeks ago, though sometimes inconvenient, it was also adorable. The adorable is wearing off just a wee bit with overuse though.

His love of the Harry Potter movies continues and he knows most of the main characters' names (hearing him say Draco Malfoy and Hermione never gets old) but we've finally managed to help him branch out in his theatrical tastes. Other movies we've now added to his pre-bedtime\rough afternoon\traveling mixes are Cars, Monsters Inc. and Tangled (just introduced to him by his cousins on vacation last week). His absolute favorite part of Cars is the part of the movie where Lightening McQueen and Mater go tractor tipping. He will literally watch that scene a dozen times in a row and still want to watch it more. It's very cute to watch him "tip" his toy cars like the tractors in the movie while making the mooing sound. And as an extension of Cars, Mike got him Tow Maters Tall Tales to watch. One of the tales in the cartoon is about monster trucks and Dylan now has a few of them. I just love hearing him say "monster (slight pause) truck" in his little boy lisp.

Dylan and Luke Watching Cars
(Must have been a very dramatic moment by the looks shown on their faces.)

As I just mentioned, Dylan just had a vacation where he got to spend time with some of his cousins. (I plan to put some posts up about that trip soon.) With his love of movies increasing, the IPad has been a life saver in our travels and makes our flight times a lot easier. Another adventure he had during this month of his life was a great hike on one of our regular\favorite trails that we haven't done since Dylan's been in existence, the Welch Dickey Trail in NH. (I also plan to do a post on that as well.) Quite the traveling guy over this last month.

(A sneak preview picture from our vacation.)
Reece, Ryker, Dylan and Presley

Dylan's getting a lot more dexterous with the stairs. Normally (and we love that he does this), he asks for our hand to hold to help him get down the stairs. The other day, though, he followed the lead of his older and wiser (by 10 months) friend Luke and went down the back deck stairs with only the assistance of the railing. Not that he hasn't done it solo before, but it usually involved a very clumsily, holding on to the railing for dear life strategy. When he went down solo a couple of days ago, he bounded down like a pro!

Hand is a big word for him. Not only does he look up at us and say "hand" when he wants assistance on stairs, curbs, etc., but he points to objects and says "hand" to let us know he wants to hold them in his hand. Definitely the little world explorer. And when he doesn't have a word for an object he wants, he'll point to it and say "this!"...his new catch all description.

He's been quite the helper now that the season's have changed an outdoor work needs to be done. When Mike mows the lawn, Dylan must "assist" him with his toy lawn mower.

While he's a great Daddy's helper, he's not very good at letting Mike have any fun. If, after pushing Dylan on the swing for an hour, Mike wants to check his email on his phone, Dylan will say "Daddy phone all done." Or if Mike tries to swing alongside him at the park it's "Daddy swing all done." Basically, Dylan apparently doesn't want Daddy to have any fun or any focus outside of him.



A few other things that Dylan has started enjoying in this month of his life - little piggies on his toes, counting (does 1,2 well and 5-8 randomly...the rest not so much), chasing and following (much like Frank the combine tractor on the tipping scene in Cars), and playing hide and go seek (mostly he just likes to hide). He's also really great at smiling on command and normally, it's a nice natural smile. That funny toddler scrunch face can be seen more and more, but we see that come naturally as well (not only when we ask him to smile) so scrunch face is just how he feels like smiling sometimes!

Pure Enjoyment Happening During our Vacation

While he can be a handful for us to figure out how to manage sometimes (come on, he's a very active 2 year old....what can you expect?) he's more often than not a pretty fun guy to be around. We're looking forward to next month when we'll be celebrating 2 wonderful years of this sweet kid running being in our lives.