Friday, July 1, 2011

More Spokane fun and Outdoor Adventures


We have been so lucky since Grant was born to be able to go home to Spokane several times. Cameron's cousin Stephanie was getting married in June and we were able to go home for that as well. We feel so blessed that we have been able to go back and visit so often, and I know the grandparents love it too!




Here is Grant on the first flight and the start to a long day of traveling. We totally lucked out on ALL the flights and were able to have Grant in his own seat. We didn't pay for a seat for him, but I have a theory and it has worked every time since Grant was born... (thats about 16 flights total. Yes he is a seasoned traveler at the age of 10 months). My theory is to board with the family boarding no matter what number/letter you have for boarding. Oh, side note: I guess this would only work for Southwest since you can choose your seats. We have taken mostly Southwest flights, but im not sure how we have lucked out on the other airlines. Anyway, go with the family boarding which is after the A's and before the B's. Go straight to the back of the plane... like the back back row, sit down and buckle yourself and your baby(if he's old enough). Then make best friends with the flight attendants in the back(this will be easy if you have an exceptionally cute baby for them to gush over, lucky for me, I have one!). After you have done all of this, then just wait and keep talking to the flight attendants as people board the plane. This works for three reasons: a. most people wont want to sit by a baby(which is fine by me!) b. if the baby looks a little older they might think he isn't a lap child and that you bought that seat for him. and c. the flight attendants will help direct people away from you because they know you would like to have that extra seat. Let me know if this works for anyone else!

As I mentioned before though, the most important piece to the equation is the adorable child to lure in the flight attendants(and apparently a chubby one helps since people can't resist squishing his "little" legs). Good luck!

On the way to Spokane we had a 5 hour layover in Las Vegas so we decided to get out of the airport for a bit. we got a cab and headed to the strip. Grant was amazed by all the happenings and all the shiny lights! We mostly stayed at the Mandalay Bay since it was the closest to the airport(cheapest to get to) and it was SO hot out. We walked around the hotel, ate some dinner at a restaurant there and then just walked a tiny bit outside till I was sure that I had been cooked from the inside out!


Cameron and Grant outside the hotel on our short walk

Grant looks like he is saying "YES!!!", like he just hit the jackpot!

cousins chillin at Grammy and Papa's house

Grant got to meet Great Grandma Carole!

Not sure what uncle Scott is doing here, but Grant likes it.

Grammy playing with Grant outside

Grandpa met us for lunch on his lunch break from work

Cameron and Grant enjoying the nice Sunday afternoon.

My sister Paige surprised us and came home for the weekend from school. She is an art major and loves photography. In her spare time she took some GREAT pictures of Grant and our little family. We LOVE them, thanks Paige!




By far our favorite family picture to date!


While we were home, these two got ENGAGED!!! We are SO excited for Melissa to join the family. Nicole and I are excited to have someone so great to join the sister-in-law club (:

At the reception... love this picture

Grant and Great Grandma Margaret
a little out of order, but here are Stephanie and Brent just after they were married

We bought this suit at a children's resale thing before Grant was even born(the lady said she paid 90 bucks for her son to wear it to a wedding once... we paid 15!) and I just remembered it right before we left and decided to try it on. Good thing I did too, because it fit perfectly! So cute!

Had to get a cute little yellow tie to match the wedding colors

Grammy and Katelyn out to dinner to celebrate uncle Scott's birthday

Papa and Grant at the Brazilian restaurant, it was SO good!

Although it was a quick trip, we were able to pack a ton of fun into the week. We are so excited to be able to come back AGAIN in August for Sean and Melissa's wedding.


Here are just a few other random happenings around here...


We have been spending a lot of time outside since our house is HOT and it's summer so why not enjoy it while you can?

Here is Grant on one of our many trips to the park(this day was a little cooler, thus the pants. But believe me, it has been shorts weather everyday since then.)

Grant and I on one of our frequent walks around the neighborhood. In this picture we had just stopped at Walgreens to cool off before heading on the rest of our walk.


Grant must be decently comfortable in the backpack carrier because he falls asleep in it almost daily. This was on a Sunday afternoon walk on dad's back.

I just took this picture yesterday when we had gotten home from the gym. Cameron was feeding Grant a bottle before we put him down for his nap. I look over to see both Cameron and Grant sound asleep.

One of our friends gave us a kid tent and Grant loves it, but yesterday he was playing in it and we heard him crying. We came in to find that it had tipped over, door side down. He was resourceful however, and squeezed his way through the tiny hole in the top!

Cameron and I have been on the search for a bike trailer of our own, but have super nice friends who have let us use theirs in the meantime(thanks Jake and Jill!). We have taken Grant on several fun bike rides lately and this is what we spent the afternoon doing yesterday as well. We have huge and awesome parks called the metro parks here in Cleveland... I think I mentioned them last summer too, but we live so close to many of them and they are so nice! They have a million different trails and things to do and are so pretty. You don't even feel like you are in the middle of a city! Here is Cameron pulling Grant along in the trailer.
checking out the leaves

we stopped half way through the ride to drink some water and just hang out in the shade for a bit. Grant was excited to get out and crawl around in the grass too.


back in the trailer with his toys and snacks and ready to go

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Okay Grant is such a handsome little thing!! That's so awesome that he's been able to go to Washington so much :)

Linzi said...

What a big boy! Lovin the suit. So glad you can make it home so often :)

Lori said...

Congratulations on your races! That's awesome. Loved all the pictures and got a good laugh out of the tent story. Look forward to seeing you and your cute baby again in August!