Fun Field Trip for Mommy & Max

Last week Max & I took a trip to Austin to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to meet-up with my aunt Brenda (Max's great-aunt Brenda).  

I was not thinking & really should have brought the BOB jogging stroller for the trails, but I did get a good workout pushing his regular stroller through the trails.  There weren't a whole lot of flowers left, as summer has definitely already come here.  We had fun strolling & chatting for a bit.  The day was a great day for an outing as it was overcast and breezy & not ridiculously hot.  There was a small childrens' hut that did not really keep Max entertained (other than that there was a trash can inside).  But outside of the children's area was a fun set-up of flower pots with some gravel with some toy bugs & little shovels for kids to play with.  Max & aunt Brenda had fun playing in the pots of gravel.  I took a ton of pictures for the short period of time Max was out of the stroller, but they were all action shots & most didn't turn out real well.  So here is a short recap of our visit.  

Admiring the Flowers

He really doesn't walk anymore...

Max loved all the tall grassy plants

Has anyone seen Max?!

End of School Program

The last day of Max's spring semester was last week & his school put on a little "program".  I was curious to see how Max would do, because I couldn't imagine that he would stand up at the front & do whatever it was the teachers expected him to do if he saw his Mommy & Daddy sitting in the audience.  Sure enough, the second we walked into the room he was crying & screaming.  His teacher put him down (she was holding him) & he ran over to me & practically tackled me to the floor.  Barrett held him at the front & tried to get him to participate in the program, but he just wasn't interested.  So here are some pictures of Barrett & Max at the spring program.

Beach Trip

Barrett & I went down to Port Aransas last weekend for a family & friends weekend.  We were worried watching the weather forecast as the week progressed, but lucked out.  It rained Saturday morning, but cleared by noon, which was perfect for us.  Several of our friends & Max's buddies met up at the beach Saturday afternoon. The rain had made the weather cooler & more enjoyable. 

This is *technically* Max's 2nd beach trip since he sat on the beach for 5 minutes in October in Galveston.  Let's just say he enjoyed this visit to the beach much much more.  He wasn't so sure about the waves, which was great because we weren't having the chase him away from the water.  He loved being in the water as long as Daddy was holding him.  He stayed close by & didn't wander off very far, which made our adult time much more relaxing.  We went back to the beach Sunday morning for a couple more hours of fun before we needed to check out & head home.  

We had such a fantastic time & want to make another trip down there.  Don't know if that can happen again this summer with Dean's fast approaching arrival, but we'll for sure make at least one annual trip down to the coast.  

Poor little Max caught strep throat *again* on Sunday & his face got all swollen poor thing.  I'm really hoping he's not going to follow in my footsteps & need his tonsils removed at some point, but he's had strep 3 times in 6 months already, so it's definitely a possibility. 

& I was a horrible Mom & totally forgot my camera, so I give my friend Mandy (not my sister) all the credit for getting any shots of us at the beach this year...

Kentucky Derby Fun!

It's been awhile since an update.  We've been super busy & having lots of fun!  A couple of weeks ago we went to a super fun party at our friend's house.  It was a Kentucky Derby Party- meaning all of us girls wore fun hats & all of the guys (including Max) wore cute little ties & one of our horses won 3rd place!  Max had such a fun time running around the big backyard & playing with all the other kiddos.  & it was great that he was so entertained that Barrett & I actually had a chance to have some adult conversation at times throughout the party...

Max also had his first taste of soda.  The older kids had those mini cans of soda & our little scavenger picked one up from a little picnic table.  Next thing I know he's leaned his head back & has orange soda pouring in his mouth & all down his white linen shirt!  After I took the can away he immediately started running around the yard looking for more half-empty cans to steal. 

FINALLY- Italy Recap

So I really think I needed a couple of weeks being back home before I could post about our trip to Italy...  There are many reasons for this: 

1. I was still incredibly freaked out about the fact we were almost stuck there because of the volcano

2. I was exhausted  

3. We got really stinkin busy when we got home 

& 

4.  when you take 450 pictures it takes a long stinkin time to get them all labeled so you won't forget what each picture is of (seriously all the churches & ruins start to look the same)

So here goes nothing.  Our plane ride to Italy was FABULOUS.  We flew on the German airline Lufthansa 1st Class & were treated & fed quite well.  Barrett & I met a man that we have now aspired to never become anything like & had fun making fun of him for the entire trip.  We were still pretty wiped out by the time we arrived in Italy though.  Even with seats that recline into a bed it's hard to sleep on a plane. 

The first 4.5 days we were in Italy we were in Rome & Barrett & I loved it.  We were able to see just about everything we wanted to see & felt it was a pretty good amount of time to be in the city.  It did take me being away for a good day & a half to calm down about leaving Max though.  I was feeling really guilty, sad, & scared at leaving him for the first time ever.  One of the days we went down to Pompeii & explored the ancient city that had been destroyed/preserved from a volcano eruption thousands of years ago.  Funny you should mention volcano...  

The last 2 days were spent in Florence.  We had a good time kicking back & relaxing there.  The pace is so much slower than Rome & since we didn't have as many things we wanted to see there we didn't feel as rushed.  My sister Mandy (who lived there last spring), gave us a wonderful itinerary for the 2 days we were there.  So we didn't have to do much planning, she was our tour guide...  & I must say the very best meal I ate in Italy was at her favorite restaurant in Florence.  & the best gelato I had was also at her favorite gelato cafe!  She did an excellent job planning our stay in Florence.  

So Florence was a nice way to start calming down & relaxing before heading home.  Until we heard about the volcano.  Fun times!  Needless to say we had to start freaking out, because we flew through Frankfurt, Germany on our way to Italy & were supposed to fly back the same way.  As we continued to follow the news & hear about how the volcanic ash was making it's way south over Europe & closing all airports we both started freaking out.  

Unfortunately, the airline wouldn't even consider changing our itinerary until they "officially canceled" our flight home.  That didn't happen until 5pm the day before we were scheduled to leave at 6am.  So all day Friday we continuously checked to see if our flight was canceled so we could start working on getting home.  Finally, the airline officially canceled & rebooked us for 5 days later (um not ok with staying another 5 days- I missed MAX) & with our inability to get through to the airlines my dad & brother started working on how to get us home.  Many hours, lots of frustration & fear later, we had to hop on a train from Florence to head to Rome because Ryan was able to book us home through New York out of Rome (we were supposed to have left from Florence).  So we got back to Rome very late & Ry booked us a hotel while we were on the train.  

OH-  & we almost missed our flight out the next morning, we did miss our connection in New York & had to take the next flight.  BUT throughout all of that, we were able to get home to our little guy (& only a few hours later than we should have with our original itinerary).  So that's our recap!!  Lots of fun on our babymoon until the fear of possibly having to stay in Italy for an extra 5 days or longer hit us.  

Also, my converter still did not allow my Chi to function properly- so excuse the mess of hair!

Barrett insisted on taking pictures of Dean at all the places we visited to say he's been there- so have fun with that!

At the Colosseum: 

Heidi & Dean at the Colosseum:

& at the Ruins:

On top of the Duomo in Florence:

Our Favorite Hotel while we were in Rome:

"Cooking" in the Kitchen of a home in Pompeii:

Barrett in front of the "Doctor's Office/House" in Pompeii (they had actually found a speculum & other medical equipment when they excavated, but unfortunately they were in the museum in Naples so we didn't get to see the actual equipment)

Trevi Fountain in Rome (if you throw a coin it means you'll return for another visit to Rome, we didn't throw a coin, but somehow we returned anyways after we left Florence!)