Vacation Update - Part 2

To continue our vacation story... The first part of the week we played tourist. The second part of the week we got to visit with family.

Wednesday, August 19... Family Visit and the Astros Game
We headed up to Deer Park (where I grew up) on Wednesday morning to see my Grandmother Buchanan. When we got to her house, we discovered that she had been cooking - a lot - there was honestly enough food to feed about half the town. All of that food was to feed us, my Aunt Denise, my cousin Brooke, and her husband Jeremy. It was good to see everybody and get to meet Brooke and Jeremy's new little girl. It took Emma a few minutes to warm up, but once she did she was moving non stop! We were curious about how she'd do with baby Makenna, but she did great. Emma was very gentle with her and other than getting confused about who's binky was who's, the girls did really well together. All of the excitement had Emma calling a time out a little after 1 in the afternoon. She started telling everyone "bye bye" and she did something for the first time. As she reached for me, she actually said "Mommy." I was so excited!!!!
We headed back to Mom and Dad's and later in the afternoon, Dave and I headed back out for a "date." We went to the Houston Astros game at Minute Maid Park to watch them play the Marlins. Our seats were out in right field, but were pretty close to the field. The pitching wasn't terrific, so it meant that we actually got to see a lot of action in the outfield.
Emma really enjoyed herself too. She stayed with Mom and Dad, played well, and did great at bed time. It was the first time someone other than Dave or myself had put her to bed, so we were a little worried, but there was no reason too.

Thursday... Visit with Dave's family
We took it easy in the morning and headed up to Cypress to visit with Dave's family in the afternoon. Emma had gotten to meet Pete and Judi earlier in the summer, but it was the first time she had gotten to meet everyone else. We had a great visit and a great dinner!

Friday... Cousin Day
Rhonda had to work on Friday, so Mom went and picked up Hannah and Drew and brought them back to her house. The kids had a lot of fun playing together and watching movies. Hannah and Drew were really great with Emma! I was impressed with how gentle Drew was with her... especially since he is only three. After a fun day of playing, we headed into Friendswood and met Rhonda and Chris for dinner at Luna's. Emma was the entertainment at dinner... she had her own little plate for chips and queso and kept trying to lick the cheese off of her plate like a dog. The topper was when she put the plate on her head like a hat!

Saturday... Coming home
The morning was tough. Emma seemed to know something was going on and she got VERY unhappy when she saw us packing away her toys. There were lots of tears and I really don't think she wanted to leave Gigi and Poppy's house. We got the car returned, luggage checked, and through security at the airport without any issues only to find a BIG problem when we got to our gate. Our flight was delayed nearly 2 hours because of FAA random inspections. We got ourselves some lunch and managed to keep Emma entertained, but just barely. We finally got on the plane, got settled, and were on our way. Shortly after take off, Emma fell asleep. Her little head was just bobbing away and she looked so uncomfortable in her little harness. We got her unbuckled and laid her head on her stuffed animal and her feet in Dave's lap. Poor little girl was so tired that she slept for about an hour. After the delay at the airport, Dave and I needed the mental break, so the nap was a good thing for all of us!
We made it back to our house and have been working on getting back into the swing of things.

Random Emma notes...
I've noticed with Emma that her vocabulary seems to grow very quickly when we are around other people for a few days and the same proved true with this trip. She added at least three new words and learned a new song... not the words of course, but she gets excited when you start to sing "If you're happy..."
We also saw Emma's imagination blossom on this trip. Because Hannah is 9, Drew is 3, and Emma is 1, Mom has a wide range of kids toys and they are all mixed together. One evening Emma had a mid size box and decide to use it as a table to have a "tea party" It was really cool to watch! She knew exactly what to do with the little bowls and utensils and kept herself occupied for a long time. It makes me a little sad because all we have here are "baby toys" and I wonder if they are challenging enough for her.