Knee High by the 4th of July
For the 4th of July this year we flew to NC to spend time with David's family. We had a rough series of events on the way there - thunderstorms delayed all of our flights, and instead of arriving at 8:30pm we arrived around 1am. If it's not one thing, it's another. We seem to have a history of delayed flights. Such is life. However, Kayla did (reasonably) well on the flights. She fights sleep, and gave a nice production for everyone to hear on the 2nd flight. But once she fell asleep, she didn't wake up until the next morning (even after being carried off the plane, put into the car seat, taken out of the carseat and put into her bed... which was in a closet!!).
While there, we were able to relax and I got a much needed break from Kayla. I still played with her some, and fed her and took some responsibility for her. But with 6 willing babysitters around (plus David), I really didn't do much! I have an internal dilema- I feel guilty asking others to take responsible for her... I feel like people view me as lazy if I don't take charge of her. I realize that to people who don't spend time with her every day, it's a joy to take on that responsibility.... but it still is work, and I have trouble skirting my work, if that makes sense. But Mom Taylor especially made me feel guilt free and encouraged me to get time away from her. I read an entire book on our trip, often stepping outside and reading on the deck so I wouldn't even see or hear Kayla and be distracted! It was a true vacation for me. I was able to relax and enjoy myself and really truly get a break from Kayla. I can't even begin to say how valuable that was to me. Back home alone with her this week has actually been a lot of fun, because I hadn't spent one-on-one time with her very much the past several days.
Grandma and Pop-pop had fun shopping for some new toys for Kayla! She was in her glory, and enjoyed each of them. She would have loved to play with Indy too (their dog), but Indy was not so excited about that arrangement. By the end, Indy warmed up to her - although I think it was more in hopes of Kayla dropping more food from her high chair!!
Our first day there we spent time at their country club pool. They bought a crab pool float for her, and we took her to the baby pool. It was only about 2 feet deep, and she was able to walk around on the bottom of it. Without the float, she kept falling, and the water got in her face, which wasn't fun. But with the float she could walk around and stay with her head above the water, and she was having a blast (um, nevermind that the directions to the crab spefically mention that the child should not be able to touch the bottom of the pool and walk)!! There was also a waterslide that David and I went down a few times! It was a nice relaxing afternoon.
Friday was the 4th. We spent the morning and afternoon chilling at the house. Then we headed to a park area where they had an orchestra playing and fireworks at dark. We sat on a blanket and had a picnic! The music was fun, but sadly right before the fireworks were about to start a huge thunderstorm rolled in and they were canceled. We amazingly didn't get too soaked on our walk back to the car (we stayed under a tree while the heavy rains came down, then left during the calm between storms!). We had a good evening, but were sad not to have seen the fireworks.
On Saturday Steph and Nick joined us. We went to a huge Fleamarket area ("It's just like, it's just like a mini-mall") where there are hundreds (thousands maybe) of vendors. When we got back, we took a walk around their neighborhood and fed the ducks!! Then we had a huge family dinner together! Kayla enjoyed helping Grandma with the cooking! Fireworks were rescheduled for Saturday night, so we drove to see them. However, they started 30 mins before they were scheduled (due to another storm coming in), so we ended up in a parking lot to watch them instead of up close. Oh well! Kayla seemed to enjoy them, and it wasn't too loud for her. Afterwords, we headed back to the house and played with sparklers which Kayla enjoyed!
Sunday we spent on the lake on a pontoon boat, and Steph and Nick brought their jetski. It wasn't supposed to be a nice day, but it turned out to be beautiful! We had such a good time. I'd never been on a jetski before, and it was quite thrilling.... I screamed about the whole time I was on it!! Kayla did not enjoy her life jacket to start, but then got used to it, and really enjoyed being on a boat! She even got her sea-legs after walking around for a little bit! She really enjoyed being in the water too!
We also had a chance to take some family photos!!
Monday was our last day there, and we went out to a late lunch before heading to the airport. We had a wonderful trip. It was so fun to see everyone interact with Kayla. It makes us so sad that we live so far away and don't see family more often than we do. I just re-read what I wrote on my "I need a vacation" post, and smiled :) I feel so refreshed and so relaxed. What an answer to prayer!!
More pictures from our trip and some new videos have been added!