Summer Vacation 2011, Chapter 1: Texas!

What a WONDERFUL vacation we had this year!!  This trip had been in the works for a couple years and we were finally able to pull it off- we traveled down to Texas for 5 days to visit Mike's uncle and aunt, and then out to California for 5 days to visit another aunt and uncle.  We hadn't seen the folks in Texas for about 5 years- the only time they saw Justin prior to this trip, he wasn't walking yet.  We were able to see the relatives in California back in 2009 when I was pregnant with Evan, so both had the absolute pleasure of meeting our littlest man for the first time! :)

I was incredibly nervous about how Evan would handle all the traveling- not only all the flight times but also the commutes to and from the airports.  I was absolutely astonished with how well he behaved on all our trips in the car as well as on the plane- absolute angel!!

We left our house at 6:00 AM on Saturday, July 30th to drive an hour to BWI airport, grab some breakfast after we made it through security, and board the plane at 9:00.  I was SO nervous about getting through security since I was bringing along a bottle of milk for Evan- I was all prepared with my rebuttal if they would fight me on the over 3 ounces thing, but we got through just fine.  Whew!  Ate, boarded, installed Evan's car seat, and ready to go.  I learned while traveling with Justin at this age that it is WELL worth the money spent on an extra ticket to let baby have his own seat.  Whenever there is a child crying and carrying on during a flight- I can guarantee at least 90% of the time it is because the child is sitting on someone's lap and doesn't have a seat to him/herself.  This was the case for the family sitting behind us, and I just looked over at Evan napping peacefully and smiled. ;)  He did fuss when it was time to pick him up to board the plane- we let him crawl around to get out some energy before being strapped in his seat again for 3 1/2 more hours, but as soon as I sat him in his seat on the plane and fed him some Cheerios, he was good to go.  He fell asleep a few minutes after take-off and slept about 45 minutes on this first flight to Texas.  He woke up happy and we played a bit; he started to fuss a little for the last 20 minutes or so during descent but nothing too bad.

Uncle Billy graciously picked us all up at the airport, so no rental car expense!  Score!  We piled into his SUV- Evan wasn't too pleased about getting in the car seat AGAIN, but the trusty iPad came to the rescue with a Baby Signing Times video. ;) He was good to go for the entire 2-hour drive to Uncle Billy's house.

While visiting in Texas, we were able to visit with Mike's two cousins as well- my first time meeting both of them. :) Mike hadn't seen them for about 25 years!  Sadly, I was too exhausted to think about snapping a picture while both of them were with us the first evening- I'm waiting for photos from Uncle Billy's camera since he did get some photos while we ate at a restaurant with some of the family.  I didn't get many pics while at the house since I was busy chasing Evan around, keeping him out of trouble! ;) He had a blast exploring E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E. 

Since it was so hot there- in the low 100's during our stay- we didn't really venture out much.  We did enjoy some time in their community pool, and also had a fun excursion on their boat in Lake Conroe.

Fun at the pool

And on the lake!

 The big kids enjoyed getting a turn to drive the boat- shhhhhh don't tell ;)

 

And Evan enjoyed a little snooze!

 

We docked at a small island and let the kids swim around for a bit- they had a blast :)

Those 5 days in Texas went by so fast, and it was then time to move on to California.  I was stressing about landing in Los Angeles at 3:15 PM- just in time for LA rush hour!! ACK!!  Stay tuned for Chapter 2: California, Baby!