created especially for us: "Vacation"

This is happening. I'm blogging not only twice in the same month, but the same week! Here's to that. And Friday. And a weekend with no real plans!

Two weeks ago we were able to spend over a week at Brian's parents' house. It became an unexpected "vacation" which was kind of ironic because just days before that I was saying how nice it was going to be to have a long weekend (Fourth of July weekend) with no plans to go anywhere, to just hang out and be together. I use the term vacation loosely because it was sandwiched by funerals, and anyone who has ever vacationed with little kids knows that it's really more work than it would be to just stay home. In our case, we had a little bit of a built-in babysitter, but your kids never sleep as well when they're away from their own bed (not at this age anyway) which means both parents don't sleep well because you're all sleeping in the same room. All your plans of working out regularly and going on fun dates get thrown out the window because all you really want is a nap. Zombie status: engaged.

Outside of being tired, our time there was wonderful. It's about a five and a half to six hour drive for us which means we don't see Brian's side of the family nearly as often as we'd like to, so spending time with them is always extra special. James got to go swimming for the first time, which he was kind of unsure of at first, but warmed up to it pretty quickly. There's so much joy in watching your child experience things for the first time. He got to interact with a lot of extended family and show of a little of his happy, easy going personality.

The last leg of our trip we ended up taking James in for his first urgent care visit. He woke up in the middle of the night BURNING up, so we stripped him down and got him back to sleep to make sure he just wasn't overheated. A few hours later, when he wasn't cooling down, Brian made a three a.m. trip to the store to get medicine for him (go Dad!). The next morning he was very fussy which is so out of character for him that we decided to take him in to make sure it wasn't anything major like an ear infection. His temperature was a little elevated (even while on medicine) but other than that he was fine. It ended up turning into a cold which he is just now at the very tail end of and Brian is still getting over it himself. Having a sick kid is slightly more worrisome when you're away from home. I love seeing so much family all at once, but each time it happens lately, several people end up very sick and this time was no exception. Not cool.

Brian's parents had a chicken coop built for their yard this past spring and have five chickens in it. Callie was beside herself with excitement and literally scared the poo out of them. When Brian was little, he had nicknames for his grandparents. He called his Dad's parents Grandma and Grandpa Pretzel because his Grandpa always had pretzels by his chair. His Mom's parents were Grandma and Grandpa Ding Ding because they had a pinball machine. I told Brian's parents that they were going to end up being Grandma and Grandpa Chicken. They were okay with that =)

We are blessed to be seeing Brian's side of the family again next weekend and again for Labor Day weekend as we have two weddings to celebrate in IL. The drives are long, but always worth it.