Bumps in the Road

The above picture was after our first day of travels on the way home from MN. It was the last bit of peace we had on the trip home! Cole woke up at 3:30am that night and would not go back to sleep. We ended up packing up and hitting the road by 4:30. The hotel clerk was nice enough to scrounge up some yogurt and fruit for us from the breakfast that we would miss. She actually already knew us from our trip out to MN...it must have been the hotel...because the last time we stayed in it, Cole woke up around 4:30 or so & we hung out with her in the lobby. The clerk talked to us for quite a while & hooked Cole up with some crayons and paper. :o) We couldn't find a place to stop, so we ended up travelling for 12 hours that day. During our 12 hours of travel, Cole took one of the muddiest stretch breaks EVER! He found one little mud puddle in a HUGE parking lot & made the most of it. He needed a total body wipe-down and a wardrobe change before we could hit the road again. Once we did finally find a hotel & a place to eat dinner, we faced the 'Great Hotel Room Incident of 2008' (as described below) the following morning. We were fortunate enough, though, to make another quick stop in Allentown on our way home. We were able to relax for a bit before our last leg up to RI, but Cole was still waking up in the middle of the night. A few days after we got home, we understood why Cole was so out of sorts...in addition to getting his molars, he started with a really high fever that lasted several days. It got up to over 104, which was pretty scary to us. It turns out that he had roseola & the virus had been picking up steam on our whole return trip. We're just thankful that all of this happened on the way home...and not on the way there. That would not have been a great way to start our visit!!!

The Great Hotel Room Incident of 2008!

As with the Great Chair Incident of 2008, I have no photos to accompany this story...and you'll see why. Let me start with a little background... When we were staying in hotels along the way, we tried to stay in hotels that had 'suites'...it was helpful to have two rooms, so that we didn't have to go to sleep at 7:00 with Cole. Well, the one hotel we stayed in had two full adjoining rooms that had two doors between them. Each door had a doorknob with a lock on the side facing the room, but had no doorknob on the side that faced the other room. (Make sense?) Each room also had an outside door that led into the hallway. During the night we put the latch lock on both outside doors for extra security. So...in the morning, while we were packing up our stuff, Cole was busy exporing and going back and forth between the two rooms. At one point, Mike and I were both in the same room & I heard the door close between the rooms. Cole had closed the door from his side, so there was no way for us to open it from our room. We could hear Cole trying to turn the doorknob on his own, but he wasn't able to open it. Trying not to panic, I realized we could just get to him from the 'outside' door with our key. No big deal. Except for the fact that the latch lock was still on from the night before. We ran around to that door anyway & were able to open the door as much as the latch would allow...Cole was reaching his little hand through the crack, saying, "Mama! Dada!" & obviously getting a little panicked. My phone call didn't reach the front desk for some reason, so I ran down to get some help. One of the managers said she had to go down to the maintenance room, but would be back to help us. So Mike and I waited by our room, talking with Cole & trying to keep him calm. The manager came back with a big tool and asked Mike if he would do the honors...he had to strong-arm his way into the room by cutting the latch lock off the door. Dad to the rescue once again!! When the door opened, Cole rushed into my arms and had plenty of kisses for both of us. The clerk assured us that this was not the first time this had happened & that it was no problem for them to put a new latch on the door. Good times....good times. :o)

30th Anniversary Party

Mike's parents have been married for 30 years! We were fortunate to be able to stay for their big bash...we actually extended our stay in MN, so that we could celebrate with them. We had an absolute blast & enjoyed all of our time spent with Mike's immediate and extended family. AND...Mike's sister, Pam, ROCKED OUT on the saxophone! She was amazing! She played 'Bad to the Bone'...and it was! It was one of the highlights of the evening for us! Go, Pam! :o)

Pushing chairs!

Cole LOVED the 'kiddie' chairs that Grandma & Grandpa have on their deck...not so much for sitting as for pushing. BUT...he was not content to just push them back and forth on the deck...not our son! Each time he came near an edge of the deck, he had to push the chairs over the first step, far enough so that he would have to squat down to keep holding the chair and keep his balance. It was a lovely game for parents to watch. This worked out most times for him...but if you look close enough in the top picture, you can see the red welt on his head. He had just fallen down the stairs and was immediately back at the 'game'.

Running in MN...

We decided to try our hand at a little exercise while in MN. They had a 10K run and a 2 mile as part of the Wild Rice Festival. While Mike ran the 10K, Cole and I walked the 2 miles with some of Mike's family. Mike even came in 1st in his age group!!! Wahhoooooooo!!! (Ok..there was only one other guy in his age group...but still!!) Although Cole looks like he just finished the walk on his own...he did get to enjoy a stroller ride! We also got to see Mike's dad march in the parade, which was a treat for us. He is the second from the left.

Rollercoaster Ride!

Cole went on his first rides at the Wild Rice Festival in MN. He tried the rollercoaster first, after we talked the 'ride guy' into letting me tag along. He LOVED it! As soon as we stopped, he started saying, "Again? Again? Ride? Again?" Mike & I tried to take him over to the carousel, but Cole started crying and ran back to the rollercoaster. He hung on the gates until we took him on it a second time! He liked the carousel, too...but it did not get the same strong reaction as the coaster. It clearly wasn't wild enough! After our rides, we had some refreshing fresh lemonade...mmmmm...Cole enjoyed it so much that we had to wrestle it away from him. :o)

Hep! Hep!

Cole is big into 'helping' these days! The moment we start to do something he runs over and says, "Hep! Hep!" At home, he is a great laundry helper...when I say it's time to do the laundry, he charges upstairs to the laundry room & helps me do everything from moving the clothes to starting up the machines. Why is he just sitting in the first picture?? He's just taking a breather in between helping Dad, Grandma & Grandpa, of course! It's time to cool off! This is actually Cole's Great-Grandma's wash basin!

Cousins!!

Cole had a BLAST with his cousins this summer. Even if he was feeling a bit grumpy, his face would light up with a huge smile when he saw them. He had a great time running all around and playing on the swing set with 'A-i-son' (Allison) and 'Nat-a-nee' (Natalie). He was a bit intimidated by 'Na-na' (Christina...the baby)! She kept trying to eat his snacks (which is a big negative in Cole's mind) and she would grab him and try to give him big, juicy kisses. Cole warmed up to her by the end of our trip, though, & even gave her some sugars of his own! He gave lots of sugars to Lydia, Amelia & Peter...he just loved playing with all of them, too. Poor Peter...Cole force-fed him about 100 pretzels in one sitting. Sorry about that, Peter!

ABC, 123!

Before we left for our trip, Cole's favorite number was 9. He shocked us one night when he read a '9' off of one of his bath toys. We thought it was just a coincidence until he started finding nines everywhere & getting very excited about them! I'm not sure if it was the fresh country air...or all the 4-wheeler rides...but he had a vocabulary explosion out in MN! He came back to RI knowing the whole alphabet, numbers up to 12 and a whole slew of new words! It's crazy...he just loves letters and numbers. His favorite thing to do at the moment is to climb up on our dining room chairs and 'read' the magazines we have on the table. He just flips through page after page, shouting out numbers, letters & other 'stuff' he recognizes. He's growing up so quickly!!!

Ride? Ride? Ride?

Cole's obsession out in MN was going for tractor and 4-wheeler rides. He would wake up in the morning, run to the door & say, "Outside? Ride? Ride? Outside?"...this would go on until Mike or Grandpa would take him for a ride. All throughout the day, he would run over to the 4-wheeler or tractor and hang on it until someone would give in.

This is Cole resting on the 4-wheeler, waiting for yet another ride. How can you say 'no' to a face like that?!?!?!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

On our way out to Minnesota, we were able to stop in PA to visit with my family. My dad was having a birthday party the day we came to PA, so we were able to swing by and surprise him! Happy Birthday, Dad!!