July 4th Weekend

It's been a week since Jackson and I returned from Indiana, so this vacation report is long overdue. Sorry. 

[For those who didn't notice my 2-week absence from this blog, I was out of town for a few days, and then recovering from the vacation after we returned.]

Jackson and I visited family in Indiana over the 4th of July weekend. [Unfortunately, John was unable to come with us because he only has 2 Sundays off per year, which basically prevents him from traveling on weekends. Don't get me started on that... If you want to exhaust and frustrate your employees, allow them 2 weekends off per year and you'll be off to a good start. I'm just sayin'.]

First things first... I was so  worried  panic-stricken over the prospect of traveling by myself with Jackson. But my worry was unfounded because Jackson did really well on the plane. Nevertheless, I was exhausted when we landed in Chicago, mostly because I had been stressing myself out about the whole traveling-solo-thing. But we made it safely and with all my hair intact. 

Jackson's Papa was so excited to see him! (My dad hadn't seen Jack since he was 6 weeks old.)

Papa was worried at first because Jackson fussed when he picked him up.
Jackson ended up fussing a lot over the weekend.

I can only assume he was out of sorts because of the new environment and the literally hoards of "strange" people who wanted to hold him, touch him, talk to him and just all-around smother him with love.

We barely made it to Elkhart before Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Wolf headed over to see Jackson.

They couldn't wait to get their hands on him. They hugged him and kissed him.

And held him some more.

One of the most exciting things for me was to meet my nephew, Jacob ("Jake") Benjamin Fisher. He is eight weeks younger than Jackson, and we had not seen him yet.

Of course, I also got to see Carter Bear (A.K.A. Jake's big brother).He is really growing up!

Carter is like the Energizer bunny. He keeps going...

and going....

barely pausing to recharge....

Before he gets going again.

Thankfully, Jackson does require some rest. (Otherwise I'd be in trouble.)

 

Walks in the stroller did the trick!

 Apparently other members of the family needed rest, too...

 including Papa

which reminded me of this...

Jackson's first time in a pool was at Nana and Papa's house.

Jackson loved the water!

So we swam until we were water logged.

 Jake likes the water, too.

And so does Carter!

Jackson got to visit with Great-Grandpa Pool and Great-Grandma Pool.

It was fun to watch them interact.

Jackson especially liked Great-Grandpa Pool,
who enjoyed reciting nursery rhymes to Jack.

We enjoyed lots of time with family and friends. Here is Jackson with cousin, Crystal.

And a close friend of our family, Darcy Anderson.

And, of course, Aunt Michelle, who is great with him.

Jackson couldn't get enough of Nana...

 

or Papa.

I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual.

 

Jackson really liked the swing...

So did Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Wolf....

and all the grandkids

I've never seen Grandpa and Grandma more happy.

Jackson tried out the tractor, although he isn't quite big enough to drive yet.

So, Aunt Danae showed him how it's done.

I got some great shots of Danae with Jake.

And Nana with Jake.

And Tim with Jake.

And Michelle with Jake.

 Jake is just very photogenic.

 

Too cute for words.

It was a great weekend, a time for me to recharge my batteries as only family can do. It was a good thing. But I think the weekend may have overwhelmed Jack because:

1) He was fussy

2) He wanted me (and only me!)

3) He didn't sleep well over the weekend. 

This resulted in a very tired mama.

On the way back to Idaho, our flight was "weather delayed" in Chicago for three hours.

[It's important to note here that I was sitting next to a window in the airport when they announced the airport was closed to all incoming and outbound planes "due to weather in the Chicago area". I didn't see any weather except a rain shower. No wind. No thunder. No lightning. So I'm not sure why they shut down the Chicago airports.] 

Despite the 3-hour "weather delay" in Chicago, thankfully our connection in Denver did not require us to change planes. [Most everyone on our flight missed their connecting flights, and they were stuck in Denver overnight.] So we did make it home... at  the butt crack of dawn  3:00 a.m. Boise time (5 a.m. Elkhart time). We were absolutely dead tired, but....

This was worth every bit of the exhaustion.

The trip was so great that I have refused to unpack my suitcase in an effort to hold onto the joy I felt during the trip... That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.