On Thursday I embarked on my FIRST plane trip (complete with connections) with both Pavin and Gracen. We headed out for our FIRST Bowers/Denton Family get together with all four kids. The trip out was thankfully smooth and relatively event/meltdown free. We were greeted by three of our favorite people in the world and instantly paired up into three very well matched sets! :)
On the day of our arrival, Sam experienced his FIRST broken bone, resulting in his FIRST cast (Colts blue!). He was a real trooper and Stacey and I cracked up all week at how quickly he developed his own special way of getting around…rather quickly I might add. Somehow I missed getting a photo of the actual injury, but here he is with his Diego “feel better cookie”.
Gracen began to feel a little left out as the days passed and developed her own (pretend) foot injury. Here she is with her Dora “feel better cookie”.
Sam and Gracen definitely spoke the same language this go around. Their equally stellar imaginations were a hilarious combination! They loved giving each other “check-ups” (ie: playing “sick” or “docker”). Gracen also got a kick out of having someone to sing along with all of her shows. As for Pavin and Max, though not super far apart in age, they don’t exactly have a perfect developmental match. (Though that will change before we know it.) They played together wonderfully none-the-less.
Pavin’s favorite family member this time around was Trinity. She seemed to share a similar admiration and really, really wanted to give him constant kisses. She was a good girl though and they were a funny pair. She held herself back from loving him up with licks and he desperately tried to “swim” over to her every time he had the chance.
On Saturday, we enjoyed our FIRST visit with the Warner Newlyweds, Tim and Mindy. Tim did a terrific job on the grill and mixed up some yummy strawberry sangrias. They have a cute little house right across from an ice cream shop, so that practically made it an amusement park for the kids. As usual, Mindy was everyone’s favorite friend and Gracen couldn’t stop talking about “Mimi”! In the afternoon, Stacey treated me to a spa day at Aveda for my birthday. We got hot stone pedicures together (my FIRST) and then I stayed on for a massage, facial and hair cut. It was awesome! (Thanks again, Stace!)
Sunday was quite eventful. After a great church service, we headed over to Cookie Cutters, where Max was given his FIRST mohawk and Gracen received her FIRST haircut! The mohawk is awesome and Maximus truly is a Rockstar for Jesus!
As for Gracen, we’d been talking about getting a “Snow White” hair cut for a while now. We’d talked her through it a little and also chatted about the Beautiful Lengths program. We explained that she could get a new princess hair cut and then give her old princess hair to boys and girls that don’t have any hair of their own. Initially, this was a difficult concept for her to grasp (in fact she freaked out the first time we mentioned it), but I think she eventually got it (as much as a 3 yr old can).
She did great! She sat in a pink princess jeep and watched a princess movie as 9 inches were chopped off in one quick cut. I instantly teared up…partly out of nostalgia, partly out of nervousness as to if it was going to turn out okay and partly out of fear that Freddy was going to kill me when we got home!
It is absolutely adorable and she loves it. She kept saying she couldn’t wait to show her Daddy because “him going to love it and say it so beautiful!” She’s also enjoyed talking about giving her hair to “the boys and girls without any hair.” Here are a few of the highlights…
Preparing for the big cut.
" Look at my ponytail!"
Beautiful Snow White hair!
We spent most of Monday morning packing, but squeezed in a quick visit with the Collins brothers, who met Pavin for the FIRST time. It was so great to see them!
Pavin, Scott and Super Why (in the background).
Pavin with Jeff...getting an eye full of baby fist.
After an absolutely wonderful time, we headed home yesterday afternoon. Now while any trip with two kids can technically be considered a success should all parties arrive safely and unscathed, our return trip was far from uneventful, traumatic and tantrum free and I’m not even including what happened with the kids! They actually fared a lot better than me in the long run. The full story is just too long and frustrating to recap and ultimately returning home safely (albeit at 1am this morning!) was all that mattered. Let’s just say “the friendly skies” aren’t so friendly these days and I fear it will only get worse before it gets better…a tirade for another time…
Thanks all around to Max, Sam, Aunt Stacey and “Uncle Naffin” for a fabulous week! We miss you already and can’t wait to see you again soon!
Home at last...with super cute hair!
