Vacation Number 2....

Three days after we all got home from Florida, Isaac and I left for Utah for my best friend, Rachel's, wedding. We stayed with my other best friend, Janelle. It was such a fun trip and I am so glad I went. I was a little worried about flying alone with Isaac, but he did great-partly due to helpful flight attendants who gave me two seats when I only paid for one on both of my long flights (Isaac LOVED having his own seat and tray and seatbelt and armrest and window and safety cards....anyone who's ever flown with a small child can understand that)-and partly due to Isaac's great sleeping on planes. The wedding was beautiful and I had a blast getting caught up with Janelle and her family. She has a little boy who is just 5 weeks older than Isaac-yes, Isaac is small for his age and Gavin is very tall for his age...the pictures speak for themselves. I don't know that they became best pals like we were hoping, but they kept each other somewhat occupied if nothing else. Not to mention Isaac loved playing with someone else's toys! Congrats again, Rachel and Micah and thanks again, Janelle!

Rachel and Micah coming out of the temple-not the best picture, I know-I was trying to help Isaac recover from being left with someone he barely knew for an hour. Sorry buddy!

Isaac on his flight to Salt Lake. Isn't he the cutest frequent flier ever?!? Goodness-I forgot already how short his hair was-it's way longer already!

Isaac and Gavin "sharing" some toys and Isaac attempting to master Gavin's truck-his little legs were just a little too short. He had to lean to one side and only one foot touched the ground-the other just dangled.

Happy Father's Day!

This is Jake's second Father's Day as a dad and what a great daddy he is! Isaac is always so thrilled to see him when he comes home each evening. Jake always can get him to smile and giggle and is such a great help with whatever I need. I always knew he'd be a wonderful father and he has surpassed my expectations! Happy Father's Day, Jake. Thank you for all you do-we love you so much!

Daytona and Beyond...

The day after Isaac's birthday we left for Florida with my family. We flew into Orlando and drove to Daytona Beach where my parents had rented a house. We spent lots of time just laying on the beach and playing in the waves-it was so great to be back in the ocean. One day we went to Downtown Disney (the only part of Disney we could afford-it was free!). Despite our efforts to buy Isaac some great souvenir, he chose (really, he wasn't interested in anything else) a $1.50 tin of candy (that I ate) and a $3 Mickey shovel. Dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe was great. Thankfully, Isaac enjoyed the realistic animals and thunderstorms and was not terrified of it all. We also spent a few hours at the Daytona Raceway. It was warm that day, but enjoyable nonetheless.

This was actually Isaac's third official trip via plane. He was quite squirmy, but he did just fine.

Just a random picture of Isaac playing at the table with my family...he loves this little ball-thanks Mom and Dad!

Us at LegoLand and Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney.

This little sundome was a really lifesaver-he figured pretty quickly how to get the sand into the tent, but he was happy and out of the sun and much as possible-thanks Grandma and Grandpa Chapman!

One of Jake's goals in Florida was to catch a crab-and he did! I lived in Florida for many years when I was a child and never thought to dig them up after I saw their little air bubbles. Jake roped my brother into a few digs and they were usually successfull-boys will be boys, right?

There is a small chocolate factory in Daytona Beach that gives free tours (and samples!). It was a cute little place with very yummy chocolate. We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. that night for dinner-here's Jake showing off his lobster claws from his "Bucket O Trash." The whole restaurant was a Forest Gump theme-very fun and the food was great!

A couple of pictures from the track-we took a tour out onto the track and the infield (I think that's what it's called). It was a lot of fun-Isaac was our little speed racer that day!

One morning my sister in-law had to go to the doctor for an ear infection (bummer!) so Jake and my sister and her husband and I all went to the most random place-I actually can't think of what's it called right now. Basically, it was a garden, the ruins from a sugar mill, and the remains of a 50 year old amusement park (that's what this dino is from). It was pretty-and free-and it gave us something to do while everyone else was at the doctor.

We were so glad for the opportunity to go to Florida with my family. Thankfully, Isaac enjoyed the sand and even the surf by the end of the week. Hopefully this will be one of many trips to the ocean!

Happy First (and Belated!) Birthday, Isaac!

While we celebrated Isaac's birthday on time, I am obviously a few weeks late posting about it. (See following posts for explanation in my lack of blogging...) We had a party for him at Jake's parents' house with just (all 40 of us!) family. We did a little swimming, some eating, and even a pinata! Isaac seemed to really have a good time-especially once he got his first ice cream! I was so excited because he never ate anything with a spoon-never ate rice cereal, baby food-nothing...until he tried that ice cream. He couldn't get enough of it. I thought-yay! Maybe now he'll start eating applesauce and mashed potatoes. How wrong I was-he will still eat ONLY ice cream from a spoon.

We had a farm theme for his party-this is the cow cake that Jake and I made for him (thanks, FamilyFun.com for the idea and directions!) and one of the little farmer cupcakes.

I called every party store in Des Moines looking for a cow, pig, chicken, horse, etc. pinata and no one had one! I could find them online, but I hate paying shipping for something I can get without paying extra. I settled on this one-no pun intended-and it worked out just fine. The kids had a great time with it. I think I'll be expected to have a pinata at all of Isaac's parties from now on. :)

Isaac enjoyed attempting to open his gifts-he cried a few times when we would open one, take it away, and then get the next one. He didn't understand why he could only have his toy for a few seconds. Poor guy! Because we left for Florida the next day, he didn't get much time to play with his new toys. Now that we are back and settled from all our adventures, he's really enjoying all the new toys and books (and I love all his cute new clothes!).