Gone Fishin'

Today we ventured to the family pond to partake in AJ & Abby's first fishing experience.  It was fun to see the kids run around the same pond I did as a kiddo!

Abby chillin' by the pond.

Thanks Grandpa Jim for teaching AJ how to fish!  

We look forward to many more memories at the pond!

AJ was serious about landing his first catch.

But he was a bit confused about exactly how to react to fish at the end of his line...

Good news is, I think we can safely say fish do not make the "scare the crap out of & send AJ running" list.  Yay!

I think AJ's first fishing trip was a memorable one...

On the way back to Grandpa Jim's tonight AJ exclaimed, "Fishing fun!  I tired, take bath, close eyes."  By the time he Skyped with his fave Aunt Jess and daddy, the size of his catch had inflated to as wide as his arms could reach...exaggerating fish stories must be an innate talent amongst the male species...

You've Got To Be Kidding Me...

My child would rub up against the only tree in Grandpa's yard that is hemorrhaging sap...

It's never a good sign when he walks in saying his toes are stuck together & smelling like an air freshener.

FYI: rubbing alcohol will get sap out of clothes & baby oil will get it off your child's body

How Is A Peacock Like A Backhoe?

They both scare the crap out of AJ...HA!

Apparently tractors are only appealing at a great distance...

Kicking the tire...showing it who is boss...

Get me out of here!

Hurry up & get your pictures...I want out of this thing!

Thanks Uncle Bruce for sharing your tractor!

860 Miles & 17 Hours Later

We arrived in Missouri...but I left my sanity back in Colby, Kansas...

AJ playing with his cousins...who knew bamboo flourished in Grandpa Jim's yard?

Don't worry Grandpa Jim...AJ just thinned out your bamboo patch...a bit.

Highlights from our voyage:

chasing AJ through gas stations across Kansas...over & over again

then paying $13.84 for Hot Wheels to bribe him to get back in the car at one of the said gas stations

5 and a half hours straight of hearing Thomas the Train DVD's

more McDonalds then I want to ever consume again

AJ empaling the palm of his hand with a wood chip from the park in Colby, Kansas

Yo-go's smashed into the car seat in a semi-liquid state...

AJ's pull-up leaking all over the car seat thus dissolving the yo-go's underneath 

AJ's speech regressing into whining and grunting as his primary means of communication

Seeing Aunt Jess' face as AJ requests her assistance with going potty at the grossest gas station in America (Thanks Aunt Jess...you get Sainthood & best Aunt points)

Abby expressing her distaste for her infant car seat with 30 minute bouts of screaming

pulling over on K10 for AJ to pee an entire 3 drops into his potty seat amongst 12 inch weeds, as cars zoomed by at 70 mph

turning around after making 30 minutes of peaceful progress toward our final destination to get Abby's formula & bottles I left at Aunt Jess' house...kind-a essential for her survival...

& I am repressing the rest...

But we made it and that is the important part...however this little voice in the back of my head just keeps haunting me with the idea that we have to make the return road trip back...in the mean time I will drink heavily.

THANKS Aunt Jess for partaking in this fun-filled adventure...I truly could not have made it without you!

Ornithophobia..More Specifically: Pavophobia

We had a pleasant morning at the zoo...other than AJ's sudden unnatural onset of pavophobia...fear of peacocks.

I kid you not, this innocent bird sent AJ running, climbing up his mom's side, or taking refuge on top of or under our picnic table.  He breathlessly and desperately screamed, "Don't like PEACOCKS, AJ go home!"

Check out the look of fear in his eyes as he jumped under the table at a peacock sighting a mere 200 feet away.  We had to talk him down from fleeing the zoo by offering a peacock protected train ride.

Do they have therapy for pavophobia?

His New Do

From shaggy....

to clean cut handsome little man!

Etsy It Up!

If you love Etsy like me you are going to love EtsyItUp!  I just entered an absolutely fabulous Baby Prize Pack giveaway!  Go check it out!  There are so many free things to win!!!