Little Gazes and Side Looks

I don't know how I did it, but I managed to forget to post my most favorite picture from our trip!  Oops!  This was taken in our car, while we were on the Ferry Boat on our exciting ride over Friday night.  Jackson thought he was so cool because we let him sit on my lap in the front seat while we were parked on the boat.  He discovered the side mirror and kept himself busy looking at himself, making faces, and watching what was going on behind us.  This was one of those moments I was lucky enough to capture on film.

Kelleys Island or Bust!

We were lucky enough this past weekend to have an impromptu vacation on Kelley's Island when Bonnie and Neil's renter's canceled last minute at Cedar Cottage.  They asked if we would like to use it and, with nothing else really on the agenda we snagged it up!  And what a wonderful mini break it was!

*if you click on the pictures it will enlarge them

This trip was worth it, if only for the ferry ride alone.  Jackson was sooooooooo excited!  He could hardly contain himself!  The picture of Scott holding him captures the energy perfectly.  Look at that smile!

The next morning Little Man and I woke up for a nice quite time, letting Daddy sleep in a bit.  Jackson loved walking behind the big curtains and I captured some cool pictures of his shadow.  They remind me of illustrations from the book The Little Prince or Peter Pan listening to Wendy's stories.

Then I had to take the boys to see the Glacial Grooves.  These amazing cuts and "grooves" in the stone were created by the Glaciers 10,000 years ago!  They are the most famous glacial grooves in the world.

Off to the beach.  The sand here is so soft and the water is super shallow.  I can actually walk all the way out to the buoys and have the water be right under my waist.  Jackson prefers to play in the sand.

Hi!  I'm just playing around with the camera, waiting for the boys to finish getting ready for the evening....

After the beach and a nice long family nap, we got ourselves cleaned up for a night out on the town.  Dinner at the Village Pump of course, then a game of Mini Golf, dancing to the fun live music, and watching the boats come in.

It was very cute watching Scottie teach Jackson how to play Put-Put.  He'll get it in time- he's got a great teacher!  We got a kick out of how when we "weren't watching" Jackson would pick up his ball and move it next to the hole so he cold hit it right in.

Then of course we had to have ice cream!  

It was such a great day.  Unfortunately Scott was feeling a little under the weather, but considering it was so relaxing and laid back he was still able to enjoy himself.  Gotta love Island life.

The next morning after breakfast we just had to let Little Man get wild at the playground.  He was just dying to check it out!

He had such fun and has gotten so brave.  He will try out everything now, with no hesitation.  He has become a PRO at climbing!  Anything there to climb up, he scurries up it nothing flat.  Jackson is getting way too big!

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end.  But at least we get to end our fun trip with another fun ferry ride!  We were so hot and sweaty!  It was a scorcher on Sunday- *phew*  Thank goodness we got splashed a little bit by the waves.  It felt great!

Thank you Bonnie and Neil for giving us a vacation at your beautiful cabin!  It was a wonderful time- can't wait to go back!

We're back from OBX!

This has to be a short journal entry because I have to get myself ready for work. But I wanted to be sure to tell you that all of the pictures from our trip are uploaded into the Baby Albums page. I will tell you more about our vacation later this week once I am off of work. But I can say that it was incredibly hard to get back to the real world of working and getting up early (because we have to, not because Jackson woke us up)! We had a fabulous time and are so sorry that it is over all ready. It was one fast week!

So be sure to check out the pictures from Jackson's first vacation and if you have time, leave us a note in the guest book. We always love hearing from you guys!

We leave tomorrow for OBX!

We are all so excited! This will be Jackson's first vacation, his first time feeling sand and the ocean on his feet. It will be so neat for us to watch all of his reactions. I have the day off today so I will be working like a mad woman to do all the laundry, straighten up the house (so we don't have to come home to a messy home) and then try and get everything packed. Although I am sure I will forget something along the way- thank goodness for Food Lion! It is really amazing how much stuff an infant needs for vacation. I think Jackson has more stuff then Scott and I combined!

We are splitting up our drive between two days. We will drive halfway tomorrow, stay overnight in a hotel and then finish the trip on Sunday our check in day. In the past we have driven straight through. But with a baby we are concerned that it would be too much for him. Plus, we don't need to enter our vacation stressed out if we don't need to. We have stocked up on Baby Einstein, Praise Baby and Classical Baby DVD's and have borrowed Bonnie and Neil's portable DVD player. We are hoping that these will bring a little bit of entertainment for Jackson so he won't be completely bored and thus fussy. Keep your fingers crossed that the drive won't be a total nightmare for all of us- we are remaining positive!

I am definitely excited for this trip for other reasons too. This will be the perfect opportunity for Jackson to get completely cozy with Grammy and Pop, and Great Grandma Lois and GiGi. At his age if he isn't seeing people on a very regular basis he gets a bit nervous and clingy with me. The books call it Separation Anxiety. If it has been a week or longer since his last visit with a person he has to get comfortable all over again with them. So it will be pretty cool for everyone for some nice bonding time together.

There is a hurricane coming through the surrounding area of OBX- not hitting us but we will probably be feeling the affects. Hopefully they will be minimal and we can still enjoy the weather and not have all rain everyday! A day here or there is OK, perfect shopping weather :) But I need a tan, darn it! Please God, send us some nice weather!

Well, when we get back I will upload all of the pictures of our trip, so be sure to check back in a week! Lots of love to you all and we will talk to you all soon!