Moving On

Now that we've arrived in Michigan, we're starting a new phase of life. One new thing is that we're going to have a NEW blog - one that's for everyone in the family. Starting with the day the first group of us arrived in Grand Rapids, you can read all about our adventures of livin' & lovin' here.

Flying

Simon showing his baby doll and froggy puppet the planes out the window as we took off

Snuggling with Mommy & Anson

Grandma Lizzy was the best person to travel with. She had so many surprises & snacks for Simon that every time she'd reach in her bag for anything he'd say "there's another treat for Simon!" and she'd have to come up with something. Thankfully, she'd planned ahead, so there was always something fun or yummy. I recommend everyone get themselves a Grandma Lizzy to help if you're traveling with small kids! She's a hero!

Grandma TRIED to get Simon to relax and rest, but it wouldn't happen. I think she might have dozed a few times though.

Getting To The Airport

Monday morning we all left New Mexico! Grandma Lizzy, Mom, Simon & Anson got in the car & drove to Albuquerque where we caught our first airplane. Daddy & Grandpa & Tia left just an hour or two later after giving the house a good final cleaning in their big yellow truck. They stopped in Albuquerque and picked up our car from short-term parking on their way, and headed as far NE as they could that day.

We decided later that even though it was a little hectic with the two kids, we had the easier trip. We drove through the Black Range mountains one last time...and Simon got a little carsick with all the winding around. As soon as we hit the straight highway he was great though. We stopped once for diaper changes & bought some ice cream sandwiches. We had packed lunches and several snacks to get us through, and that worked great.

Simon showing off his "zoomy cars" from Grandma Lizzy. Some of his gifts for being a good traveler. You might even be able to see the dog stickers on the window. We sang many many choruses of "How Much is That Doggy in the Window - Arf Arf!" on the 4 hour drive!

Simon was SO excited to see all the airplanes at the airport.

Driving mom's car for a minute while we unloaded the suitcases

Watching the zoomy planes from the airport window. He kept telling us he wanted to ride on the blue one, but it was a different airline. Maybe next time, kiddo!

Last Two Days in Silver City

Grandma Lizzy, Grandpa Gerry & Tia Melissa showed up on Saturday morning in the big yellow truck. For the rest of Saturday and Sunday we packed & organized & cleaned & fit in a little time for stories & fun too.

Grandma Lizzy reading a bedtime story to the squirmy Simon

Simon liked to "help" Grandpa load the truck.

When we could get him to, we gave him a project. Tia helped him draw chalk pictures all over the sidewalk. He did a lot of dancing & spinning & running around on it too. Not sure why he didn't have any clothes on...although chances are he was playing in the hose with some buckets & got soaked. That happens a lot.

Last bath in Silver City! Grandma Lizzy let him have all the toys he wanted...which was all of them.

Farewell Party with Silver City Friends

Silver City friends threw us a little farewell party the day before family showed up to help us move. We grilled food, watched the kids be crazy, had a few beers, and had a remarkably normal gathering. I choked up a bit as we said "hasta la vista" but otherwise it was all fun.

Adam & the kids (Anson, Simon, Rylie, Lily) checking out a huge bug we'd never seen before.

Kids in the sandbox, mostly. L-R:Lily, Simon, Sebastian, Rylie, Sylvia, Joseph

Lily & Simon riding bikes with Aaron watching

Big

Simon's getting big. I'm kind of amazed at his abilities & creativity at 2 1/2.

Getting ready for a play date with his friends Joseph & Sebastian Castello. Got a water bottle and a backpack full of extra diapers & a change of clothes...play dates are inevitably messy and wet.

Showing off his new t-shirt to remember his age/size when we left New Mexico. It's the New Mexico state flag with the zia symbol.

Riding his bike with helmet, elbow & knee pads on the north "yard" side of the house

"I'm riding backwards into the wall, Mom!"

Walking the 'Hood

Simon loves to go for walks. We don't go far and we don't go fast, but we certainly explore every little detail along the way. I suggested that we look for cool rocks and see what flowers we could find, so of course he stops to look at every rock (including landscaping full of rocks, as you see below) to claim them as "cool." We saw some mule deer in one yard, and Simon was a little startled by them. After that he seemed nervous about happening upon more deer, so we started talking about them more. I found some deer tracks a few times, so we pointed them out and explained that's what deer footprints looked like. We found lots of deer poop, and explained how that was another way we could tell where deer had been. Soon after the latter explanation, Simon requested that we "go look for more deer poop." I tried to explain that deer poop was something we came across by accident, not something we go looking for, but that's the mind of a 2 1/2 year old versus the (boring) mind of a 28-year old mom!

Cool rocks, Mom

Walking with Daddy & sleepy Anson through an alley

Stopping to check out the flowers with Mom

"Two boys up" for the last stretch home

Reading

"And Tango Makes Three" with Daddy & Anson on the couch

"Little Chicks' Mothers and All The Others" with viking Mom and Simon's hoodie

I'm Holding My Little Brother!

Simon is positively gleeful about Anson - especially when he gets to hold him. He tells us, repeatedly and ever louder, "I'm holding my little brother!" Yes, Simon, you sure are. Good job, big brother.

Grapes & Grins

In the Johnny Depp version of Charlie & The Chocolate Factory there's a line by one of the grandmas that gets a laugh out of Adam every time. Randomly, she says "I love grapes." This has become a "quoteable" line in our home, so every time we have grapes Adam gets Simon to quote the line. It's funny every time...at least to Adam. :) Here's Simon loving grapes on the couch:

Grape in the belly button

Laughing...it's fun to have a big grape cluster! And to be allowed to eat on the couch - joy!

Cute stuff, Simon G.

Hoodie

As we get closer & closer to Moving Day I am doing more laundry even more promptly than I already did, because then I can pack stuff as soon as it's clean & dry again. I've been rounding up cold-weather clothes as we sweat through 90+ weather day after day. I'd recently come across a sweatshirt of Simon's in the car, so I threw it in with the next load of like colors. Simon, of course, pulled it out of the clean laundry basket before I could fold it and insisted on wearing it, zipping it up, putting the hood on, and sticking his hands in his pockets.

Hands in the pockets

THESE hands go in the pockets, Mom. Grrr...

Giggle butt. It's funny to wear a hoodie with pockets in the summer, especially with dinosaur pajama pants on bottom.

What Is It?

Hoo, boy. We are fully entrenched in a 2 1/2-year-old phase called:

"What's that?
What's that?
What's that?"

Blessings

Yesterday Simon told me he blessed his bed, and there was a small damp spot on the sheet. We figured it out pretty quickly, and it happened a few times today at the yard sale again. He'd look up suddenly and point to a person browsing and say, "he blessed."

Get it?

Sneezing=blessing, because we say "bless you" every time.

Say "Frosty!"

Today we got lunch from Wendy's. We don't do fast food very often, but Simon knows what french fries are, and he likes a frosty as much as the next person. Fortunately, Wendy's also offers a side dish of mandarin oranges, which he devoured.

Simon and I shared a small frosty, and he asked for his half in his "teddy bear cup with two handles." I complied. He ate some of it with a spoon, and dipped his fries in it a few times too (he learned that one from watching us) but mostly he just picked up the handles and drank it. Since it was lunchtime in New Mexico, it was 96 degrees and the frosty melted faster than any of us could eat it. When Simon drank it, I think the frosty puddle in his cup slid into his face. Either that, or he jumped in when we weren't looking.

Birth Announcement Rejects

I found a great family-centered online business to make birth announcements for Anson. They gave some suggestions for a photo shoot of baby, and how to include an older sibling. I took about 250 pictures within a few hours - waiting for waking/sleeping to occur - and most of them were cute. Here are a few, however, that didn't make the cut and will NOT be on the birth announcements we send out.