Labor Day 2012

A family vacation to Canyon Lake, TX.  Where, you may ask?  Somewhere between Austin and San Antonio...near Wimberly, in hill country Texas.  At a vacation rental called the treehouse, BEAUTIFUL view of the lake from up in the trees.  It was just the getaway I/we needed.

Michael had his vacation planned for my birthday week this year, but I will be 9 months pregnant.  Need I elaborate?  We will most likely do a chill celebration this year (my dad and his girlfriend who is my bday buddy, usually do something with us)- tear.  So, Michael put in a request to have time off starting this weekend.  Not only was this a family weekend with my father, his girlfriend, my three sisters and their significant others, but my husband was able to attend as well.  It makes everything that much better.

I guess I should start off with the honest truth, Addison almost lost her life on the flight down to Houston.  We took the last flight out...9:35 pm.  Perfect for Addison to sleep on, just like the handful of times before.  Well, she had a sore throat and a slight fever.  We boarded the flight and there happened to be a maintenance problem (a light bulb out in the luggage compartment, so the workers went on strike).  As we sat on the airplane for at least 30 more minutes, the flight attendant came on the intercom letting us know that by law he has to tell us we are allowed to get up and move around, deplane the airplane and return once the issue was fixed.  Adults were restless, imagine our 17 month old.  Usually, if she's tired, she's out right after takeoff.  I think it's the noise of the airplane...lulls her right to sleep.  At this point, she is now over tired, beyond being consoled, and wanted nothing to do with anything.  She screamed- demon like screams, for a good 10-20 minutes before we finally took off.  I still blame the stupid maintenance problem.  She fell asleep on the floor of the aircraft...sick, I know.  But I truly didn't care at that point.  However, you cannot land with an infant on the floor...even if they were screaming demon-like screams.  I get it...safety, the law...blah, blah, blah.  BUT this is my child and she isn't in any shape to be moved at this point.  I do as I am told.  My motherly instinct is rearing it's ugly head.  Addison woke up...and resumed her same screaming pattern as before.  So another 10-15 minutes goes by and we deplane.  While walking out, some male yells out, "It's just her ears!"  Had it not been 1 am and had I truly cared to give this man my two cents, he would have gotten at ear full.  "Sir, we took our daughter to the doctor this morning due to a fever, thinking you were in fact right and she had an ear infection, however, we learned she had sore throat filled with puss.  You may be surprised, but she has been on roughly 15 flights since she was 3 months old and has never shown any sign of ear issues- EVER.  So, as her mother, I would like to inform you that my 17 month old is simply beyond exhausted and would like her crib to sleep.  It is not her ears.  Let me be the parent and you keep your opinion to yourself.  Thanks."

To top that off, we had a 45 minute drive to my dad's house.  Addison screamed from the minute we put her in the car seat to the minute we pulled into my dad's driveway.  THE WHOLE ENTIRE TIME.    We thought she'd fade and she would, but two seconds later the scream would start back up.  She didn't give up.  It was great to see some dedication, but I was spent.  Little Lou, mommy and daddy love you very much.  We are sorry we put you through hell, but you gave it your all to give us hell right back!  Man.

Thankfully, that was the end of the "bad behavior" for our trip.  We drove 4 hours to the lake house on Friday afternoon.  Once we arrived, we just hung out.  Dad and Jenny went to the grocery store and we cooked pizzas for dinner.  Emily and Daniel were the first to arrive and Daniel's niece, Ava, who Addison will walk down the aisle with as a flower girl, got to come for the night too.  It was SO cute to see these two interact.  Ava was so sweet, Addison was her sassy, non-sharing self ; )  She has learned to stand her own ground at school, not share, which will change over time, I'm confident.  Ava fed Addison some mac n'cheese.  Before we knew it, bedtime was upon us and night number one was in the books.  Caitlin came in next, and in between my dozes on the couch, Andrew and Hannah came  at last.

{Ava, Michael, Addison enjoying some 'Einstein'}

Biscuits and gravy topped the list for breakfast foods.  We headed to a local 'beach' for a couple of hours.  Addison fell asleep on the 5 minute drive there, so she took an hour nap in the car thanks to Papa.  Of course, Dad lost his glasses- it wouldn't be a trip without him doing this.  My wonderful husband found them at the bottom of the lake, sacrificing one of his contacts.  They are both blind, so it would have been one heck of a trip to have them both out of eyewear!  Luckily, we were only down one eye :)  My dad rented a pontoon...yes, the country song was on repeat in my head.  It was such a good day for the lake, it was perfect.  Lou loved the water.  I forgot to grab her lifejacket in my suitcase, but thankfully those were a plenty at the dock.  This trip really made me realize just how bad my memory is (pregnancy post to come).  That night we had steaks on the grill and hung out for some quality family time.

{Princess}

{family photo}

{Our Captain}

{Papa and Addison}

{Andrew and Caitlin}

{most of our crew}

{lovin the water}

{right before Addie fell asleep}

Sadly, Sunday was our last full day at the lake.  I had anxiety about our flight out- on a holiday and I HAD to get back for work.  Plus, given our experience with Addison on the way down, I was a little worried about peanuts behavior on another flight.  We played a hilarious game of Yatzee and lazed around all morning.  Most of the crew went zip lining.  My dad, Jenny, Addison, and I opted for the scenic, watch them zip line tour.  It was great, but down right HOT.  We got the world's best snow cone afterwards....SO worth the whole sweaty trip!  (I still crave them...prego thing.)  More grilling happened that night.  We made s'mores on over the grill's fire.  Everyone hung out again that night and had some good bell aching laughs...Addison and I checked in earlier on in the night.  I just couldn't hang anymore.  Exhaustion set in for me and I was down for the count!

{Addison and her buddy}

{they're ready}

{Addie, Papa, Jenny}

{fear of heights in action}

{hot baby girl}

All in all a fabulous trip.  I'd love to make this annual.  I love how our family is still new at this whole growing up and having traditions thing.  I love that we can all come together and have a great time at least once a year.  I am thankful I was able to attend.