10/10 Tucson Trip!

This was my 3rd trip to Tucson with Kendall and they just keep getting better! This was also my umpteenth time flying by myself with my child, which does not keep getting better as she ages, but I think we found a solution (albeit a pricey one.) I purchased Kendall her own seat for the trip out there. And put her carseat in it. Once the carseat was in the seat, it was a brilliant idea. Getting the seat in, however, was comical (at least it is now, a few days later!) I had the Gogo Kidz wheels on the seat and Kendall in it. All was well through the first class cabin and she waved and said "hi!" to everyone as I pushed her down the aisle. Then we hit the main cabin. And got stuck. I had to take Kendall out of the seat and place her on the lap of a total stranger in the bulkhead row (who very graciously offered to hold her) while I got the seat unstuck and detached the wheels. Then the very nice lady offered to keep the seat and wheels at her feet while I took Kendall down to aisle 17 and buckled her in. I had just gotten back to the bulkhead row when I heard "MAAMA!" from behind me and turned around to find my child standing in the seat, pointing and yelling at me. The fact that a 22 month old child can figure out how to unbuckle her seatbelt proves my long held suspicion that the flight attendant's seat belt instructions are indeed unnecessary. At least she was smiling and not freaking out (or leaving the seat.) I carried the seat over my head down to aisle 17 and the flight attendant (at the request of the nice lady in the bulkhead row) took the wheels for me. Then I stuck the carseat in the seat, stuck Kendall in the carseat, and buckled her in. Then I attempted to buckle the carseat into the seat, leaning over my charming daughter who was hitting me in the face and yelling "MOOOVE!" the entire time. After getting my hand stuck and battling for about 10 minutes, I was told to sit down. So the seat was never fully secured, but it was secure enough! I was bleeding and bruised. Kendall fell asleep immediately after takeoff and even after she woke up, she was content to sit in her seat and read the safety instruction manual ... and then peruse the SkyMall catalogue. I was able to have a glass of wine (whice was free b/c the flight attendant felt sorry for me!) and read some of a book. It was the most pleasant flight I've had with her!

Seeing Kendall in Tucson was really special for me. Tucson holds some wonderful memories of my childhood and I really want it to be a part of Kendall's childhood like it was for me. Nana and Saba (who Kendall calls "Saza" for some reason, even though she's perfectly capable of saying her "B's") flew out there the day before we got there.

Day 1: trip to the zoo with Nana and Auntie M!

They were in the process of setting up for their Halloween activities and had some really neat displays. Kendall was initially curious about Jabba the Hut, but quickly decided that he was a bit odd looking and quite possibly might want to eat her.

THEN .... look who we found!!! I don't think I've ever seen my child swoon like this before!

"Big" also received several hugs ...
... as did Oscar.
That afternoon, Kendall got to hang out with ALL of her 2nd cousins! Below is Taylor (on the left) who is 7 months old and August who is 9 months old. Augy is already very used to females bossing him around, which is a good thing to get used to at an early age in this family!
Kendall also spent quite a bit of time with her older 2nd cousin, Izzy. The girls LOVED each other and really seemed to have a good time together! Any time Izzy wasn't around, Kendall would yell "IZZZYYYYZZZZ!" Why Izzy became plural, I do not know. But I think her mother would most likely prefer to keep Izzy singular! :)

My cousin, Stacy (Izzy and Augy's mom) now lives in the house that my Papa and Nana built when I was a child and where I spent all of my childhood Christmases. It was really great to see her there!
It was also awesome to see her as a "desert rat" at what used to be known as "Papa's Park" behind both Stacy and Auntie M's houses.

There are a TON of toys at Auntie M's house and it appears that we need to invest in a water table for Kendall.

.... or perhaps she's still ok with her kiddie pool if this is going to be her use of the table!

It was even warm enough to remain naked for a bit after the dip in the water table!

On Saturday night, we had dinner at Stacy and Jim's (and Izzy and Augy's) house and actually managed to get ONE fairly good shot of the Nanae (plural for Nana!), Stacy, me, and the kids. I really wish we'd have managed to get one with Kevin, Candice and Taylor but it just wasn't meant to be this trip. It definitely means we have to get back up there SOON!

We ate outside on the porch and Kendall got to sit at a kiddie table for the very first time. She did really well ... although I think the only thing she ate was guacamole. And she didn't touch Izzy's dinner that magically appeared on Kendall's plate just prior to Izzy's announcement that she "ate all her dinner!" The kid's a trip!

We met for bagels for breakfast one morning and were introduced to pumpkin bagels, pumpkin cream cheese, AND pumpkin bagel poppers. Ohmygosh YUM!

Later, Kendall and Izzy snuggled up in bed together for what would have been a complete and utter failure of a nap had we let them stay there. But it was adorable!
In Auntie M's backyard, Kendall discovered DIRT. And she didn't try to eat it this time! But she was filthy. She moved dirt in and out of the little playhouse with her bare hands for a good 30 minutes.

And OF COURSE we had to have the requisite picture in the tub together! There are quite a few of these pictures of me, my brother, and Stacy (and assorted other cousins!) in various tubs together throughout our childhood. One does have to wonder how clean one gets sharing the filth of another in a tub (and Kendall was filthy!) but the girls had fun long enough for me to get some pictures.

FINALLY, on the last night we were there, we went BACK to the zoo for their Howl-oween extravaganza. It was SO COOL! Kendall got to try out her costume and even did a few "Frankenbaby's" to get some candy at the trick or treat stations.

Here is Kendall (aka Minnie!) walking in with Auntie M and Izzy (who was dressed as an absolute darling love bug!)

And here is (believe it or not) the best picture we could manage to get of the 4 kids together. At least Izzy posed! Kendall was not in a "stand still" mood and the babies kept toppling over. I think Stacy may have gotten a better one without Kevin (my other cousin and Stacy's brother AND Taylor's dad!) in the shot so I'll swipe that from her blog when I get a chance!

Here is Stacy's slightly better picture (and sans Kevin) but Kendall looks like she's about to burst into tears. It is another great picture of Izzy, however! :)

While we were there, Kendall adjusted her schedule perfectly, slept beautifully, ate well, and behaved (mostly) like a little angel all weekend. This was a wonderful weekend for me and Kendall and we owe a lot to Auntie M (and Papa Hugh!) for their hospitality. It was nothing short of chaotic on more than one occasion in their house! Can't wait to go back ... but we'll give them a little time to recover! :)

Trip #2 to the 2010 TX State Fair!

We made it back to the Fair on the final Saturday it was in town. This time we took Saba and Nana .... and DADDY, who went on a quest for Krispy Kreme cheeseburgers that apparently did not exist at this fair (much to Chris's dismay, but to the relief of his arteries.) Kendall had another Fletcher's Corny dog and this time she felt the need to peel it like a banana, then eat the hot dog part off the stick, and then the cornbread part off the table. Odd. The Fair was A LOT more crowded, but still a good time. Of course we rode her favorite balloon ride. Twice. And also an airplane ride that she may have been a bit short for, but we snuck on anyway! I love that she's a thrill seeker - just like her momma!

Subject + Verb = SENTENCE!

Not only is Kendall repeating virtually every word said in her presence, she has officially started putting words together in a grammatically correct fashion! Mind you, I did not say "flattering" fashion ... but grammatically correct nonetheless. There are so many new words in her vocabulary that I can't even begin to list them all. Some of them are "colorful" and are hopefully not going to be repeated (at least not in public.) But the other day a friend of mine brought her 9 week old baby over to our house and while I was holding the little guy, Kendall walked up, studied him pretty closely, then said "Babay!" Then she went back to her oh-so-riveting activity of Hi hi sorting. But about a minute later, she looked up at me, pointed at the "babay," crinkled her nose and said "Stinks!" She was correct. The baby did indeed stink. A couple of days later, she was sitting in her "eat seat" and Chris was sitting at the table with her. All of a sudden she emphatically stated "Dadda Stinks!" It was a bit unfortunate that Chris was told that he smelled anything less than perfect on his birthday, but he took it well and seemed to share my pride (and amusement!) In fact, she received such a positive reaction for her first real sentence that it appears that everything and everyone now "stinks." Last night Kendall and I were having a perfectly lovely dinner with my parents at their house when all of a sudden she announced, "Mama stinks!" This was immediately followed by "Nana stinks!" Then "Saza (Saba) stinks!" Of course, we all positively reinforced her proper use of the english language by laughing so I'm sure she firmly believes that she is bestowing upon her subjects the highest of compliments when she informs us that we "stink!"

Fall at the Arboretum!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the fall season!!! (what little we have of it here in Dallas!) Kendall and I have been to the Dallas Arboretum 4 out of the past 6 days ... and we intend to go tomorrow too so that means we'll have been there every day this past week that I was not in the office. Here are some pics from our recent visits to the Arboretum and their AMAZING pumpkin village! (yes, the Hi-hi's were with us at each and every visit)

Here is a Hi-hi climbing up a pumpkin.

I try to limit the number of Hi-hi's on our outings to 4 because I know that she can carry that many with little assistance from me.

On Saturday, DADDY joined us!
And gave Mommy a slight heart attack.

But the flying baby was thankfully caught.

And, of course, the water spitting frogs remain a definite favorite spot when it's warm enough.





Even though we always have the wagon ("wag wag") or stroller ("seat") with us, sometimes it's just easier to tote our little 30 pound flight risk. Especially when it's time to go home!

Kendall was not in a great mood for this visit with some friends from her playgroup. I guess we all have our days!

We have known each of the kids in this picture since they were just a few months old. So hard to believe they're almost 2 years old! Kendall was clearly not happy about this picture.

But it was nothing a little tickle session couldn't cure!
And, of course, food still cures most evils!
I LOVE this one of Griffin going to give Kendall a little kiss! She wasn't too sure about it and moved before he made contact. Her daddy would be proud. But Griffin is a little ladykiller so she'll realize what she's missing soon enough!
Here are the shots in her Halloween Outfit. Not her costume, mind you. Her "outfit." Pictures of Kendall in her Halloween costume in the pumpkin village will be coming soon!