Iowa 2012

We went to Iowa last weekend to visit family. Jackson did good on the flight. He was tired but wouldn't fall asleep so he was a bit antsy. Luckily the flight is only about an hour and a half.

He loved looking out the windows watching the planes

Playing on the airplane before we took off

         When we got there we stopped to have lunch and then stopped to see Grandma Helen.

Jackson had lots of fun playing in the condo with his Grandpa and Mimi and the dogs.

We took the boat out on Friday and cruised the Mississippi River. We stopped at a little spot called the sandpit. We swam and grilled out some bratworsts for lunch. It was lots of fun!

 

Sorry for the noise - it was pretty windy out

 

 Maggie and Molly went swimming too but just needed a little coaxing to get in!

The following day we went over to John and Heather's for a bbq. It was nice spending time with everyone. Emily, Anthony, Henry and Sophie were there as well as Jim, Julie and of course Grandma Helen.

Listening to Anthony play his bass and feeling the vibrations from it with his hands

Jackson was giving kisses to Grandpa through the window

After brunch on our last day

Mmmm.... Jackson's first taste of Whitey's ice cream. He loved my moose tracks but wasn't so crazy about the black cherry.

Last minute snuggles and tickles with Grandpa and Mimi! 

We had a great time and it was so wonderful to see everyone! We'll be back next year!

He's walking!

Jackson has been taking steps since May 25 and has also been walking while holding on to our fingers for a while now. On Monday July 9th he decided he was ready to go and was off! He's officially walking now! Yay! He still loses his balance and falls but gets right back up again.

Fun in the Car

On our way home from the beach we stopped for lunch. Since we had Cooper in the car we couldn't go in to eat so we all ate in the car.

Jackson had a blast standing up at the wheel and had the wipers going and kept turning the blinkers on. (obviously we were parked) So funny!

Beach Boy

We packed up the car and drove to Flagler Beach, FL for July 4th week. We go there every year and love the quaint little town and its great having this condo to go to. We took Jackson last year for Labor Day when he was only 4 months old. This year was much more fun for him! He did so well on the drive down. It's about a 6.5 hour drive but with our one long lunch stop it took us about 7.5 hours. Jackson took 2 long naps, played with his toys, talked and snacked. Only a little bit of fussing from him :)

We spent most of our days on the beach splashing in the waves, digging in the sand and swimming in the pool. I tried switching Jackson to one nap during the day so we had more time outside but it wasn't working so he took his 2 naps and whenever he wasn't napping we were outside. We slathered the sunscreen on every day and also brought a big tailgate tent to use on the beach. It was perfect! We had our chairs underneath it and there was plenty of sand to dig in as well. We went out to dinner some and cooked in a couple times as well. All that sand and sun really wore Jackson out and he was ready to crash at 7 every night! The first couple of days he was more whiny than normal and not wanting to eat any of his favorite foods. He would scream and drop his food on the floor for Cooper. Not sure what was bothering him but I sure am glad he got over it and had fun the rest of the week.

 Splashing in the waves, digging holes (ok maybe daddy dug the deep one!), and playing in the sand

Lots of fun times playing in the pool and snacking on some watermelon

Fireworks, hugs, putting the hair dryer in the dog food bowl, playing with Cooper, the moon one night

 Jackson "dancing" to the music in the pool. Whenever he hears music he starts dancing!

 My sweet boys on the 4th

 Trying to get a family photo

 Still trying...Jackson didn't want to look at the camera

 He went from happy and clean to cranky and disheveled in about 15 min the 2nd night there!

 Some of my iphone photos

Danny, Candice, Sofia and Rian rented a condo and drove down Tuesday night. I knew Jackson would have fun playing with Sofia.

 Giving Sofia big hugs before they left to go home and a picture with mommy at Snack Jacks

 Jackson loved to climb in and out of the beach chairs while we were on the beach

Jackson found lots of fun new things to play with. The ottoman was lower than our sofas and chairs at home. He climbed up on the ottoman and then into the chair over and over all week. He was cruising all over and taking more and more steps while we were there. He also found a hair dryer in the bathroom drawers and liked to use it as a phone saying "hi" and "hewo". He liked flipping through the phone book. I joked that he was looking for a phone number. Ha! Who even uses phone books anymore?! I couldn't get the camera fast enough but did get him putting the hair dryer in Cooper's bowls. He also liked using the tv remote as a phone.

Overall an awesome week at the beach! We are already planning to go back later this summer :)