Vermont Visit & Martha's Vineyard with the Walls

I am going to try to make this post a short one since I am so busy getting ready to go to camp meeting in Maine at the end of this week.

Last Friday I worked and I have no idea what my mom and Caleb did all day. She did send me one picture.

On Friday night we went out to Thai food for supper with my parents, Rad & Jen, and Dania. We had a lovely time and of course, the food was delicious! Then we came home to get Caleb ready for bed. After he went to bed, we got packed up to head to Vermont the next morning.

Sabbath morning we headed out to Vermont to Steve's parents' house after Caleb got up and we fed him breakfast. We were planning on making it to church for at least a little while (knowing that we would probably have to leave in order to get him home for his nap), but Steve decided to take a different route to the church that he thought would be quicker and we got a little lost and went way out of our way and by the time we finally figured out where we were, we just decided to go straight to his parents' house instead. So we let Caleb play for a little while since he had been cooped up in the car and then we got him all ready for his nap and got him down before everybody got home from church. He was tired and slept about an hour and a half, which is pretty good for being in a different house.

The main reason we went up for the weekend was because Amy, Greg, Tyler & Ryan had just gotten home from Thailand for several weeks and we wanted to see them! So it was great to see them again! Sabbath afternoon we had a nice lunch and then we took a short walk to a playground where the boys played around.

After that for the rest of the day, we pretty much just sat around and talked. Caleb had no trouble going to sleep in a foreign location, so that was good.

Sunday morning Caleb woke up right at 6:00 and lay in bed with us for a few minutes. Then we were up for the day! I still needed to work even though we were in Vermont, but I do have a lot of extra hours accumulated, so I didn't need to work as much as I usually do. I still worked about 4 hours in between breakfast and visiting. Steve and Caleb headed up to Bruce's cabins for a little while and Caleb enjoyed seeing the chickens and roosters and was trying to imitate them. We put Caleb down for his nap and then we had lunch and got ready to go while he slept. He slept for about 2 hours and we wanted to head home, so we kinda woke him up. Steve went in there and started moving things around, so he woke up on his own but he probably would have slept a little longer if we hadn't done that. We had an uneventful trip home and let Caleb run around and play for awhile before we had to get him ready for bed. I think he missed being home because he was very excited to go and play in his room!

On Monday, we went to storytime at the Centerville library and met up with our friends Beth and Charlie. Caleb seems to enjoy the storytime but he has a little hard time sitting still as you can imagine!

In the afternoon, I folded and put away a couple loads of laundry and then Caleb spent some time outside playing with his water table (that we got for free). I didn't take his shirt off before playing, so I did have to change him but it was worth it. He had a lot of fun splashing around!

Yesterday we had a fun but very busy day! We went to Martha's Vineyard with my mom, Uncle Kevin, Jonathan, Marcela, Zasha & Luccia. I brought Caleb into my office for a few minutes before getting on the boat and then I met up with everyone on the boat. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we sat outside on the boat on the way there.

We got off the boat in Oak Bluffs and headed to the carousel for the kids! Jonathan and I rode with the kids and they had a lot of fun! I stood behind Caleb on the horse and I was grabbing the rings as they went by and we ended up with the brass ring at the end! That meant we could get a free ride and we could have stayed on if we wanted, but the girls would have had to get off because there was a line, so we ended up just getting a coupon for a free ride next time instead. 

Holding his free coupon!

After the carousel, we walked over to the gingerbread cottages for awhile and the kids had fun running around. 

Then we had lunch at a cute little restaurant and we all crammed into a pretty large booth. We had a nice lunch and then headed out to catch a bus to Edgartown. By this time Caleb was getting very tired because it was well past his nap time, so as soon as we got out in Edgartown, I put him in the stroller and covered him with the canopy and he was passed out in less than a minute! Of course he only slept for about 30 minutes, which is what I expected, but I am just glad that he slept at all! While Caleb slept, we walked around and got ice cream right next to the harbor in a beautiful location! 

Then we walked around for a few more minutes before heading back to the bus to go back and catch the boat in Oak Bluffs. We had another great ride back in the sun, although Caleb was getting a little antsy and tired.

Caleb ate his supper in the car on the way home so he could run around and play when we got home after being cooped up in the car, boat, and bus all day! We had a lot of fun and it was great to spend the day with the Walls!

Today I worked and my mom and Caleb had a good day, shopping at BJ's and cooking at home.

Watching Grammy cook

Well, that's about it. Here are a few more pictures! There will be no post next week because of camp meeting so stay tuned in 2 weeks! 

No More Nursing, Heritage Plantation Visit & Obsessed with the Drum

So, I will start this off by saying that we have reached a big milestone this week: Caleb is no longer nursing at all. We were down to just doing it at nighttime for awhile, but Saturday night was our last night and Sunday night he started getting milk from a sippy cup before bed instead. It was a smooth transition for both of us. I thought I would probably cry but I was fine because he was definitely ready to be done and I still have that quiet time with him giving him the sippy cup instead. So, I am proud of both of us and it is nice to not be tied down anymore, even though it never really bothered me.

Last Friday I didn't work because I had worked Monday and Wednesday, but it had been a long time since I had brought Caleb in to visit my work, so we headed up there right after breakfast because I wanted to make sure we were back in time for his nap (and I didn't want him falling asleep in the car). We were there for about an hour and a half and Caleb had fun just running around. He also enjoyed playing with the calculator in my boss's office. One of my coworkers knew we were coming and had brought a ball to give to Caleb, so that was a big hit. Everyone was really excited to see him and thought he was so cute. I wish that I didn't live so far away from work. If I lived closer, I would bring him in to visit all the time. But it is 45 minutes away, so it is quite a trek when we go.

Sitting at my desk

I don't remember doing much else the rest of the day on Friday. I think I just worked while Caleb napped and then we probably spent time in the playroom or outside. That's what we normally do! 

On Sabbath, we went to Sabbath School and there were a lot of kids there. Our class seems to be growing, which is nice. I brought Caleb home for his nap as always and he took a pretty long nap, which was great! After his nap we went to Heritage Plantation in Sandwich. We had bought a yearly pass and hadn't been yet since it opened for the season, so we thought it would be a good time to go. It had been kind of a yucky day earlier, but right when we went, it brightened up and the sun came out, so it was perfect. And there was hardly anyone there probably because of the weather earlier. It is just a really nice place with lots of trees and flowers. There is a lot of walking paths and there is a natural play area called Hidden Hollow for kids. Caleb had a great time there. 

All over the grounds are these huge bugs made out of wood

This was Caleb's favorite part of Hidden Hollow

Caleb was fascinated by the water falling

He was also fascinated by the wristbands we had to wear 

We got back from Heritage and gave Caleb supper and then Rad and Jen came over for a quick visit. They hadn't seen the finished playroom yet, so we wanted them to see it. They were very impressed and loved it! After Caleb went to bed, I spent the rest of the evening finishing up my latest photo book. It feels really good to have that done! 

Sunday was Father's Day, but I still had to work, so we didn't really do anything special. My dad was still on vacation, and all I did for Steve was get him a card (from Caleb) and a dessert from Trader Joe's! He had bought himself a tool that he wanted as his present, so I didn't get him anything else. After Caleb got up from his nap, I took him grocery shopping before coming home to eat supper and get Caleb to bed. 

On Monday, it was a beautiful day. We were going to go to the library for storytime, so we went to the playgroun first for a little while since it is right across the street. 

We went to storytime and turns out they weren't having it because the librarian that usually does it was on vacation. I mean, really, how hard would it be for another librarian to read a story to a few kids? Oh well. One of our friends showed up as well so we just talked for a little while while Caleb colored with some crayons (and decided to bite them when I wasn't looking as well). Then we went home and Caleb ate lunch and then went down for his nap. I don't know what happened but he slept for 2 hours and 45 minutes!! Usually it is about 2 hours, so that was great! One of the things that was so funny on Monday is that Caleb was obsessed with wearing his drum around his neck to do everything. When we were in the playroom he was walking around with it, jumping on the trampoline, etc. It was so funny because he would bend down to pick something off the floor and he had to move the drum out of the way, but he wouldn't take it off! 

On Tuesday we headed up to the bridge and went to Market Basket and Carters. Carters was having a big clearance and that is my favorite kids store, so we went and bought some good things. I also earned $10 in rewards that I can use at the Carters store in Freeport when we go to camp meeting. Tuesday's nap was about as opposite as Monday's nap as can be. Caleb woke up crying after about 35 minutes. That was very unusual because he never wakes up crying. I went in and rubbed his back and he settled down for a few more minutes but then started crying again. This happened for a little while and I finally got him up. So, it was a very short nap. He was initially a little grumpy, but was happy the rest of the afternoon. I did put him to bed about half an hour earlier than normal and he went right to sleep and slept 12 hours that night instead of 11, so that worked out ok.

He is really into pillows, although he doesn't have one in his crib

On Wednesday, Caleb went to Grammy's house. It had been awhile since he went there. And since it had been awhile, Steve forgot to transfer the car seat from our car to my mom's car, but luckily we had driven to work together and the other car seat was in the van at home, so my mom had to go over there and get it out. Caleb and Grammy had a good day, although I don't know everything they did. Caleb napped well for Grammy which I wasn't sure would happen since he had slept 12 hours the night before and hadn't been at her house for a couple of weeks. My mom had the girls come over and play with Caleb in the afternoon and then when their mom got out of work, they watched him at our house for the last hour of the day.

Well, that's about it. I have a few more pictures to close.

All ready for camp meeting!

He is also obsessed with his fireman's hat

He has started to do this when he knows I am taking a picture!